Are there Christians here?
What nonsense are you saying? According to the encyclopedia Wikipedia about quarter to third of
the world population are christians and you are asking are there Christians!
I repeat , are there Christians ? I challenge to show me a single one!
Who is a Christian?
A christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ. A few quotations from the bible are given here for
example :
The commandment of Jesus :
Mathew 28 :18 " Therefore go and make disciples of all nations ,baptizing them in the name of
the Father,and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..."
Preach , baptize , make disciples is the commandment given.Throughout the Gospels we read the
followers of Christ ,disciples
Accordingly the Apostles preached , baptized and made disciples. Read the Acts of the Apostles :
Acts 6:1 "
The number of disciples was increasing"
Acts 11: 26
" After spending some time in Antioch,Paul set out from there and travelled from place to place
throughout the region of Galatia and Phyrgia,strengthening the disciples"
Acts 14 : 21,22
"Then they returned to Lystra,Iconium,and Antioch,strengthening the disciples and encouraging
them to remain true to the faith"
No where here the term ' Christian' is mentioned.Then when this name began to be called ?
Read Acts 11:26
" The disciples were called christians first at Antioch"
The conclusion :
To be called a christian he must first be a disciple.
Now, we come to the important and relevent point : What are the marks of a disciple ? One who
has authority to decide this, is the Master himself.
What did the Master say?
What the Master said is this :
'' A new commandment I give you : love one another . As I have loved you , so you
must love one another.By this all men will knowthat you are my disciples,if you love
another"
" Love one another,as I have loved you " .This the Master gave to the disciples as " A
NEW COMMANDMENT"- John 13:34The powers of darkness in all cunningness have tried to replace this mark of the disciple with the
man made regulations ; for example,in certain sections this is replaced by not wearing ornaments
etc.
No Disciples , No Christians
It is when one tries to discern a disciple by this criterion he finds to his disappointment , that there
are not even many, if not none, worthy of being called so.
The Infant baptism churches do not give least importance to disciple making. And they are the
vast majority! The so called Full gospel Churches busy baptizing also do not give attention to
disciple making.They also are being turned to ritualistic and traditional. Love as commanded by
the Master is not found anywhere. Instead, every kind of hypocrysy is prevalent.
Are these churches the churches of Christ ? Are these so called christians disciples?
Regeneration
Jesus declared : " I tell you the truth,no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born
again" - John 3:3
"Born again " means regeneration
What is regenaration if it dos'nt generate Divine love? What is baptism of the Spirit ,if it does'nt fill
one with love? What is the result of all these church meettings and bible classes, fastings
,worships ,if they don't help believers to be disciples loving one another as the Master has
commanded.
I think, the understanding and the meaning of regeneration , baptism of faith, baptism of the Holy
Spirit, worship in spirit and truth , breaking of the Bread .and many many bible based teachings
are to be re-examined and taught again in the light of the result they are aimed at.
In short
The reason of the decadence of present day chrisians and christian churches are the sad result
of the misinterpretations and misunderstanding of the basic truths.The so called christians are not
even born again according to what the Master has meant by that experience [ see John 3 :3 - 6 ]
What then to do?
Let us humble ourselves before the Lord and pray to mould us and the Churches according to His
Heart !
Silvester Ezhumala , H.L.M - Centre,Kaloor, Cochin - 682017 ,Kerala ,India
email: hlmcentre@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment