Purpose Of Being Christian

[mfblume]

Hebrews 4:1 KJV Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Hebrews 4:9 KJV There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Here, the Bible has plainly told us of something we must reach. A destination is given to us. Hebrews 4 teaches the believer that they are to enter into His rest. The Bible says, "There remainth therefore a rest for the people of God"? What does that mean? That doesn't mean that there remains a place in God where you can just lay around and not work and have everything come to you. It means that "in Christ", in His finished and completed work, everything was accomplished to make you stop working to become spiritually successful. It is entering into what He did and to become more successful than you've every dreamed you could make yourself.

There is a rest that remains to the people of God. That's our inheritance. It's entering into the Promise Land, or the rest of the finished work of Christ, and then doing more than you've ever dreamed of for the Lord before.

We have tried and tried, preached this sermon and that, we have cried out for our loved ones to get saved. Tried to make Church's work and nothing seems to work. Finally we must come to the place where we rest in the finished work of God, give it to Him, and let Him get it done.

We believe that the Church as a whole is tired of working. They have done everything they know to do and they are completely worn out. They are spiritually and physically tired. Jesus is the one that takes us over into the land through testings and trials. It's resting in what He did. We must know enough about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and ask ourselves, “Did the Cross already put me over into this situation?” And find out what the bble says the cross did for usm and rest in it and understand you do not need to work for it because it is already provided. That's the rest. You're not supposed to be the One whom you are to depend upon.

You do have some things to do, though! You're to renew your mind to the finished work of Christ. You're to find out what the Cross really bought and paid for and what is true of you today. Everything that the Word of God says about someone who is in Christ is true of you today if you are in Christ.

You’re not trying to become more than a conqueror. You read that Scripture in Romans 8, "we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" and people say, "Oh, I hope that takes place in my life someday!"

That is not a promise to reach for. That is already an existing fact about you. We erringly read statements of fact in the New Testament and then make promises out of them. The Bible doesn't say that a believer can become more than a conqueror. You were born more than a conqueror when you were born the second time.

These things are already true of you. But many people don't know how these things became true of them, so they do not think it is true of them. Therefore, they struggle to become someone they already are.

Hebrews 4:11 KJV Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

The struggle that we must enter into, the labor to enter into His rest, is the renewing of your mind. The giants that you have to overcome in the promise land are between your ears!

continued later...

Thoughts?

[Pressing-On]

Good post, Brother Blume!

Isaiah 28:11-12 "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear."

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

His Spirit out poured is what gives us rest.

Jude 1:20 "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,..."

I was talking to an old friend yesterday. Our friendship goes back a ways and we were going over the circumstances surrounding his life when he got in church. Lord, so much confusion going on. We discussed many things that had taken place and we asked, "How did we even keep believing in God all this time?"

He talked about how he had a long drive to work every morning and would pour out his heart to God and God's presence would comfort him, speak to him, counsel him.

We talked about how the most awesome times in church are when God's Spirit seems to hover over the place and it settles our minds, our hearts and causes us to forgive and start over.

I remember being alone at church one day. No one around and the Lord told me to read Psalm 91:1 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

His presence was so strong as though it surrounded me. He spoke to me and said, "This is the secret place."

When I come into the presence of the Lord
When I come into the presence of the Lord
Chains are broken and my heart is free again
When I come into the presence of the Lord

This is the rest and this is the refreshing!

[mfblume]

Beautiful!

Amen. And it's so easy for religion to remove us from this goal of a rest, and to toil and spin. Consider the lilies. How they grow. They do not toil and spin. They sink their roots into the soil where they draw out nutrients. They do not lift weights and work and toil. That is how WE grow.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Beautiful!

Amen. And it's so easy for religion to remove us from this goal of a rest, and to toil and spin. Consider the lilies. How they grow. They do not toil and spin. They sink their roots into the soil where they draw out nutrients. They do not lift weights and work and toil. That is how WE grow.

So true!!

You realize when you are alone with Him - that you have been toiling - needlessly!

Good thread, Brother Blume!

[mfblume]

We do not see victory come into our lives becuase we do not really know who we are. We all know that we were displeasing to God before salvation. And somehow we think that is pulled over into ou Christianity and we have to now make attempts at being pleasing to Him. We somehow thought that once we are saved, we care about what God thinks and so we have to now begin to please Him. But salvation already made us pleasing to God, itself!

The bible says we are more than conquerors through Christ. It also says we are new creatures in Christ. We think these are things we must ACHIEVE now that we are saved, when in reality we ARE THOSE THINGS since we are saved. But because we look to our behaviour and feelings, we think these are not true of us.

The way to begin this proper growth process is by first looking at all the things the Bible says we are once we are in Christ. Disregard feelings and what your behaviour is like. Just read what the Word says we are. Even if we do not understand how we are already more than conquerors and how we are new creatures, we have to simply realize we are, solely because the Word says we are.

That is the beginning.

And then we must realize that growing will begin after this point through LEARNING HOW this came to be so with us. As we continue hearing good preaching about these things and reading the Word's explanations of it all, God will "walk us through" the understanding of it all.

Once we are convinced of something concerning us, we can begin to expect greater things from us. We had low expectations of our victory in everyday life because we never knew all the things God made us when he saved us. We lived by feelings and behaviour so much that we felt like losers as we looked towards those feelings and that behaviour. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. So, the Word corrects this misconception and shows us what we really are since salvation. And as we learn WHY we are like that now, and understand it, we become more and more convinced of it. And once you are convinced you are more than a conqueror, all the belittlement of yourself goes away. This self-belittlement has been nothing more than a HINDRANCE for God to work through us.

Church, let us learn who we are, first. And then learn how we came to be that way, next. Whateve tthe bible says about people who ar ein Chirst is true of us because we are in Christ. It's not true because we fell so powerful. It's true becuase the Bible says it is. And we will then begin a wonderful journey towards Spiritual Maturity.

Without this understanding of true spiritual growth, we will settle with ourselves and slump into a rut of continuing to simply try OUR best, when OUR best will never be good, anyway. In fact, our BEST, and all our efforst to be our best, have been a hindrance to God as well, and will always be a hindrance to Him!

[Felicity]

Just thinking a little about the title of this thread i.e. what is the "purpose of a Christian".

Jesus said that we were to become disciples of His and fulfill His purpose and will. This can't be done without toil, work, labour and sacrifice.

• Carrying out a calling, a vision, a burden......
  
  
• Pastoring a church, pioneering new works, breaking new ground .....
  
  
• Teaching, preaching, learning, studying .....
  
  
• Praying, ministering to the needs of others .....
  
  
• Building new churches, organizing people effectively....

....... all of this requires work and effort and toil. We can't serve God effectively without it. And we can't fulfill our Christian duty and responsibility within our individual callings without blood, sweat and tears.

We have to remember that there is rest, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Part of the reason why people get so stressed out is because they're not taking time to spend time in the presence of God and allow Him to fill us up. This is where strength, joy, peace and passion is renewed.

Our purpose as individual Christians in regard to calling is varied, but we're ALL called to reflect Christ to the world. This is easy to do when our attention is centered on Christ, our life is hid in Him, and when we're walking in the Spirit and living in obedience to His will. It's the natural outgrowth of a life that is resting in Christ and allowing His Spirit and Word to have their way.

Problem is that way too often people are focused on the "natural" and take their focus off the "eternal".

Just a few thots ....

[mfblume]

Felicity, this brings to mind the proper balance to Christianity.

People work and toil to BE Christians, when there is no work to BE a Christian. There is much ACTIVITY required to REACH this world with the salvation message. But BEING a Christian, in and of itself, is what God worked to accomplish, and not us, and it was finished by the cross.

This means I cannot toil to become righteous. I cannot toil to become holy. I cannot toil to go to Heaven. But there is lots of ACTIVITY, not really toil I think, to work for God and reach this world. But even then, it is "Christ liveth in me," and not me sweating up my own self-energy.



I think that is why we read the priests in the temple could not wear wool (fleshliness of self-effort) but linen (His righteousness and Spirit-empowerment) since wool would cause "sweat".

[Felicity]

In what sense do you think people work and tarry to be "be" Christians?

[mfblume]

The entire concept the Bible gives us of doing God's will can be mistaken as requiring self-effort, without any leading nor empowerment from the Spirit by faith. Ther eis a lot of work to do. But HOW does Gdo want us to accomplish it?

Hebrews 4 says there is a REST to enter into. This is for the purpose of allowing God to manifest and live through us, and thereby empower us to reach the world.

People can strain and toil in their self-energy of fleshliness, and think there is no other source to draw from in order to do God's work in the world. But although we must work in this world, we are not to do it in fleshly self-effort. God wants us to come to the fullness of Christ in order to be able to MANIFEST through us and WORK WITH us.

Coming to the rest is a rest in His finished work on the cross, so that we ar enot wasting God's precious time in striving to do His will through the futile means of self-effort, when He wants to live and flow through us.

Paul said Christ lived in him, in Gal 2:20. The works Paul did, which were many and mighty, were accomplished in just the same way Christ did His ministry on earth.

John 14:10 KJV Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

John 5:30 KJV I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

John 5:19 KJV Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

John 8:28 KJV Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

I think many overlook the need for us to go about our work for God in the same manner Chirst did.... dependence on the leaidng of the Spirit and empowerment of the Spirit.

Paul spoke of growing up into Christ. Why? Just to grow? Just to say "I am mature"? No. It is to come to the place where God can use us by being able to easily work through us in ministry, without the hindrance of our fleshliness conjuring up all sorts of our OWN ideas on what to do for God.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Felicity

In what sense do you think people work and tarry to be "be" Christians?

BEING a Christian is being a righteous one, ready for glory and pleasing to God as a person. People strive to be more holy and strive to be righteous. They try to force themselves to be what they already are in the Spirit.

It reminds me of the devil's temptation. Satan told the woman that she would be LIKE GOD if she followed satan's directives. She already WAS like God. God made her in HIS LIKENESS.

And this is exactly the struggle in so many. They ARE righteous, and they ARE more than conquerors just because they are in Christ. This is my issue here. They strive for what they are already. And since they live by feelings and outward observance, they feel weak and cannot see much activity in their lives to validate their position as conquerors and new creatures and righteous ones, so they try to make themselves be that way. But the problem is that is not the path we must take in order to behave more righteously. We already are these things because of God's work. So there is no need to strive to BE these things.

They strive to be pleasing to God. God made them pleasing to Him when He saved them. The first moment we are saved, we cannot be more pleasing to God than what we are. Now, I am talking about position, here. Being pleasing to God as a Christian.

It's a whole new way of thinking, requiring a renewing of the mind. And people have distanced this issue from working for God in this world. But in reality, successful work for God requires us to come to the fullness of Christ. That is a state in which we are so full of God that all we say and do is actually God coming out through our lives and touching this lost world.