THE CHRISTIAN PATH OF FOLLOWING GOD
(This is one of the chapters of the book GOD AND HIS ETERNAL PLAN)
When a person prays and believes in God, from that moment on he begins a new life and takes on a new name. He will be called a Christian, which means someone who belongs to Christ.
How long such a new life continues depends on the individual Christian’s decision. Many have decided to live in this new life until death. We call this the process of following God.
This article is written to contribute to the recognition of the important steps that every Christian needs to take in the process of following God in the world.
To put it simply and easily, the process of following God includes 3 general steps: First is BELIEVE, then REBORN, and finally SANCTIFICATION so that Christians can be accepted into God’s Kingdom in the future.
JOHN 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
JOHN 3:3 – Jesus answered and said unto him: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man BE BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
HEBREWS 12:14 – Pursue peace with all men, and HOLINESS, without which no one will see the Lord.
Thus, the Word of God clearly states that a person who wants to enter Heaven must possess the above three elements, namely FAITH, REBIRTH, and SANCTIFICATION.
If a person merely believes in God without being born again in his personal life, that is, being completely renewed, he cannot enter Heaven.
But if after being renewed, one does not become better and better each and every day, that is, sanctified, then according to the words of the Lord just quoted above, that person will not be allowed to enter Heaven.
Although the Word of God has clearly stated this, there are still many Christians who do not understand its meanings clearly, but think that just praying and believing in God is enough to be saved, while the issues of rebirth and sanctification are ignored and often left unthought of.
That is why we wrote this article to share and help our brothers and sisters in God see more clearly the standards that God has appointed and recorded in the Bible to help us Christians understand what the life of a believer in Jesus Christ must be like so that we can receive salvation and be accepted into God’s Heaven in the future.
Also based on the Word of God in the Bible, we expand it in detail so that we can see that this process includes ten basic steps that Christians need to go through, starting from the moment they hear the Gospel and accept Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives, in order to meet the three criteria mentioned above, which are BELIEVE, BE BORN AGAIN and BE SANCTIFIED to be saved.
STEP ONE: Recognize that you are guilty.
STEP TWO: Repent of the sins you have committed.
STEP THREE: Believe that God is real and that Jesus died for your sins.
STEP FOUR: Accept God as Lord of your life from now on.
STEP FIVE: Desire to be renewed to express your desire to live in Heaven.
STEP SIX: Put off the old self and be born again.
…….
STEP SEVEN: Grow in your spiritual life to begin the process of sanctification.
To begin the process of sanctification, Christians must be truly strong, because in this seventh step, God’s people need to make great efforts in both spiritual and physical aspects. Such efforts cannot be made by a spiritual child.
So we see that this seventh step is related to the sixth step, which means that having made an effort to put off the old self, that effort must now be intensified and must be made every day in the life of a follower of Christ.
Growth and strength are inextricably linked. A strong person cannot help but grow, and true growth must be expressed through personal strength. The word growth means to grow in faith and has the following characteristics:
– This spiritual growth has no limits, meaning there is no stopping.
– Growth in the spiritual life means continuing to be better than you were yesterday.
– This betterment is according to God’s standards, not according to personal standards or standards of human opinions.
To grow and be strong in the spiritual life, Christians need to do the following:
– Christians must realize that in order for us to be strong in our spiritual life, we need to rely on God’s strength, as the Bible tells us in…
PSALM 105:24 – The LORD has increased His people greatly. He has made them stronger than their adversaries.
– When Christians want to be empowered by God through the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to pray fervently for it, as revealed in…
PSALM 138:3 – On the day I called, You answered me and strengthened me.
– To grow and become strong in spiritual life, Christians also need to listen to holy sermons according to the principles of the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as stated in…
ACTS 15:32 – And Judas and Silas, who were also prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words, and strengthened them.
– In addition, Christians also need to have a strong determination that they themselves need to mature in the Lord, because that is what God wants His children to achieve, as stated in…
ACTS 23:11 – And the night after the Lord stood by him, and said to him: Take courage; for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify at Rome.
– Christians also need to rely on each other’s faith to grow together in God, as stated in…
ROMANS 1:12 – That is, I am with you, that you may be encouraged together by the common faith, both yours and mine.
EPHESIANS 3:16 – I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.
2TIMOTHY 2:1 – Therefore, my children, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
1JOHN 2:14 – I write to you, little children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
PERSONAL GROWTH ASSESSMENT
Every Christian needs to know how to recognize his or her own spiritual growth. Such recognition is not to judge others or to be arrogant, but to recognize that we personally need more help from God. Christians measure our growth by relying on the standards that God’s word in the Bible has given.
1CORINTHIANS 16:13 – Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong.
2PETER 3:17 – Therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, be on your guard lest you also, being led away with the error of the lawless, fall from your own steadfastness.
2TIMOTHY 1:17 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.
Summary of the ideas in God’s Word about the Seventh Step in the Process of Sanctification:
– The growing Christian is one who has faithfulness
REVELATION 3:3 – Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If you do not watch, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
– Spiritual adults no longer have the habits of children, that is, they have the mind of a child but do not act like a child.
1CORINTHIANS 13:11 – When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1CORINTHIANS 14:20 – Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; but in regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
– A spiritual mature person is one who understands the will and ways of God.
EPHESIANS 4:13 – Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
– A spiritual mature person is one who has unity with other Christians in the same faith.
– A spiritual mature person is one who is able to distinguish accurately what should be done and what should be avoided.
HEBREWS 5:14 – But solid food belongs to those who are mature, who through use have their senses trained to distinguish both good and evil.
– A spiritual mature person is one who does not waver or doubt about the word of God.
ROMANS 4:20 – He did not waver in unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God,
– A spiritual mature person is one who tries his best to please God.
1CORINTHIANS 16:13 – Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be men, be strong.
– A spiritual mature person is one who accepts suffering for the name of the Lord.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:10 – Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
– A spiritual mature person is one who knows how to love according to God’s Truth.
2TIMOTHY 1:7 – For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.
– A spiritual mature person is one who knows how to use God’s grace properly.
2TIMOTHY 2:1 – Therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
STEP EIGHT: Continue to be renewed (a better person) every day.
This eighth step is called sanctification. According to the Word of God in the Bible, in order for a person to be saved and enter Heaven in the future, he or she must go through three basic spiritual stages, which are Believing, Being Born Again, and Sanctification. The eighth step in the Christian’s journey is sanctification according to God’s will.
To put it simply and easy to understand, sanctification is a process of daily renewal, that is, each Christian must be better than he was yesterday, and such improvement must happen continuously, without stopping, that is, not only in this life but throughout eternity without stopping. This must happen because Christians must imitate God and His holiness is infinite, so the sanctification of Christians must also be continuous, without stopping. That is why sanctification has no limits, no set standards, and no stopping point.
This process of sanctification is very important, because if a Christian is not sanctified, he will never receive salvation from God, even if he has prayed and followed the Lord all his life. The importance of sanctification is affirmed in the Word of God in…
HEBREWS 12:14 – Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE SANCTIFICATION IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN?
Sanctification is a spiritual process that occurs within a person’s life, so it can be difficult to perceive. However, God’s Word does provide some models by which Christians can perceive themselves and others in terms of their sanctification as they follow God.
According to the general observation of most Christians, a sanctified person is one who bears the characteristics of life in the Holy Spirit, as stated in…
GALATIANS 5: 22 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
These characteristics are naturally present in the life of a sanctified person, for the Holy Spirit will not dwell in an impure life. But when He dwells in the life of a sanctified person, the spiritual characteristics listed in Galatians 5:22 must be present in that person’s life.
But as we have just mentioned above, sanctification in a person’s life is difficult to recognize, because there are many times when a particular person has actions or words that are completely contrary to the common view of the characteristics of sanctification, such as love. So how can one know whether that person has been sanctified or not? It is because everyone agrees that love is the first characteristic of a person who has the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
To examine this issue in detail, let us reflect and learn about the lives of two famous prophets in the Bible, Elijah and Elisha. Both were inspired by the Holy Spirit and are considered holy men in the Bible, but there were things they did that made many people think that they were not loving.
The first Scripture we will look at together regarding the prophet Elijah is 2 Kings 1:1-16. The word of God in verses 9 through 12 of this passage tells us that the prophet Elijah twice called down fire from heaven to consume 100 soldiers and their two captains.
2KINGS 1: 9-12 – 9 Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him: Man of God, the king says, Come down!. 10 Elijah answered the captain: If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men! Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men. 11 At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him: Man of God, this is what the king says, Come down at once!’. 12 If I am a man of God, Elijah replied, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men! Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
Many have argued that Elijah’s actions were unloving, because if the two captains had been arrogant toward him, he could have called down fire on them. But the 100 soldiers had not directly committed a crime. They were just following orders from their superiors, so Elijah should have forgiven them, because that would be called loving. Those people have cited Scripture to show that the actions of the prophet Elijah were contrary to the standard of love, such as verses in…
MATTHEW 5: 44 – But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
ROMANS 12: 14 – Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Even some who are often opposed to belief in Christ have used this example to make accusations that the Bible is full of contradictions and that its teachings are unreliable.
But we know for sure that the prophet Elijah was a holy man of God and that his life pleased God so much that he received the most important privilege from God that only two people in the entire history of mankind received, that is, he and Enoch were taken up by God and never knew death.
HEBREWS 11: 5 – By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death. He could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
2KINGS 2: 11 – As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
When the Bible says that the prophet Elijah was taken up like Enoch because he lived a life pleasing to God, it means that he was a holy man and had greater love than anyone else in the world, because after him no one else received such a privilege. We know that because God is just, His rewards are also just, commensurate with each person’s life.
That is why we know that the prophet Elijah was a man of great love. But why did he call down fire from heaven to burn alive 102 people just because of a short word from the two captains?
(to be continued)