Radical Christianity pt. 5

We are now coming to the last two points of my Radical Christianity, and I pray going through these points have been helpful to you as you strive to be a bonafide Christian, approved to God and unashamed. We come now to my fourth point which states that true Christianity involves radical measures for present living. What I mean by this is that the true Christian will take the necessary means to live an obedient, holy, and blameless life, living as in the world but not of the world. As John Owen writes in his classic, "On the Mortification of Sin," "Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you."

It is this kind of drastic and radical mindset towards obedience that marks the true Christian, and sadly, it is missing in present day popular Christianity. So called "Christians" care very little about obedience and make all sorts of excuses to live a life of disobedience. They are content with mediocre holiness, if there is such a thing. We must be striving for holiness, and we must take radical measures in this life that so tempts us to walk in a manner unworthy of the calling which we have received. We must delight in obedience as obedience reflects love for the Lord. Let me simply list you some verses (with italics for emphasis) from Scripture that personally challenged me on my view of obedience and holiness. I pray these verses would remind you of the significance and gravity of obedience as well as our responsibility to pursue holiness.

Matthew 5:48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Hebrews 12:14 "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord."

James 2:26 "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."

Matthew 5:29,30 "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of the body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. "

Romans 6:19b "For just as you have presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as salves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification."

1 John 1:6 "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."

Titus 1:16 "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worhtless for any good deed."

2 Timothy 2:22 "Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. "

Galatians 5:24 "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Romans 8:6-8 "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Philippians 2:12,13 "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

1 John 5:3 " For this is the love of God, that we observe His commandments."

1 Samuel 15:22 "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LOrd? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."

Now, I must be quite clear, I am not advocating a works based salvation. Salvation is by grace alone and justification is by faith alone. But because of this stress on Sola Fide, it seems that the doctrine of sanctification has now become non-existent in some Christian circles. I am reminded of the phrase, "If God hasn't changed you, He hasn't saved you." R.C. Sproul in a panel discussion reminds us that the "Justified person is a regenerate person whose sanctification begins immediately and necessarily with our justification." Christians by nature are obedient and marked by holiness. There is no truly saved Christian that God is not conforming to the perfect image of His Son in obedience and holiness (Romans 8:28-30).

For those of us who think that obedience is beneath us, that calling God "Lord" and "Master" is not fitting because He's our "Father" and "Friend," I wish to remind you of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the extent to which He submitted in obedience to God the Father. Jesus, "although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:6,7). I pray that all of us would strive and take radical measures for perfect obedience and holiness for we have a Lord who is worthy of such and a Savior who paved the way by His example. Let it be our cry along with the Apostles, "We must obey God rather than man" (Acts 5:29)! God be merciful to us!