THE FOUR INGREDIENTS OF AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANITY - Dr. Adrian Rogers
In the story of the rich young ruler, we found five qualities which made this man special--eagerness, humility, discernment, spiritual interest, and moral purity. The power of all five will get you everywhere in the world, but they won't open the gates of heaven.
Your neighbors will love you, your boss may even give you a raise, but these qualities won't move you an inch closer to knowing Christ, or any nearer to living authentic Christianity.
The rich young ruler was still missing four essential things: conviction about the absolute holy character of God, obedience to the greatest commandments of God on love, conversion to God in repentance and faith, and commitment to God.
Read about these and examine your heart. Determine whether you truly know the Lord Jesus Christ. Sooner than some of us may dream, we will stand in His presence to be welcomed or to be judged.
The Character Of God
"There is none good but One...."
At first, it seems like the Lord Jesus treats this young ruler roughly. He begins with a rebuke. "Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but One, that is, God." Matthew 19:17. The very first thing Jesus did was to emphasize the character of God, which is the very root of New Testament Christianity.
Was Jesus saying that He Himself is not good? Not at all. He simply wanted to challenge the young ruler's thinking. So, what does "good" mean in this passage? It means holy and perfect.
Jesus is saying, "Don't throw around the word 'good.' Don't call Me 'Good Master' if you are not ready to call Me 'Almighty God. '" This rich young man was not prepared to call Him Lord.
We have a generation today of people who are baptized pagans, members of our churches who have never understood the absolute holiness of God. They join the church thinking they're doing God a favor. They call Him "Good Master,: but they never intend to look at the matchless character of God.
They see "good' in many things, even in themselves. And this causes them to underestimate what the word "good" means when describing God. No one has ever truly been saved until he or she understands the infinite goodness of Almighty God.
We hear over and over again that God is love, and it's true. God is love, He really is. He epitomizes infinite, measureless, fathomless love, but that is not the whole truth.
If all you see is the love of God, without grasping the holiness of God, I doubt you have ever known authentic Christianity. When you take part of the truth and try to make it all of the truth, the result is an untruth.
Exodus 34:6-7a
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin....
What a wonderful description of our God! But look at how verse 7 ends:
b)...and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Yes, God is a God of mercy and loe. He is a longsuffering God. But the Bible clearly says He is a God "that will by no means clear the guilty." God never has, never can, and never will let one half of one sin go unpunished.
Unless you see the inherent and infinite holiness of God, you need to ask yourself, "Am I really born again?" Before you are convicted of sin, you must understand the holiness of God.
The first checkpoint on your road to authentic Christianity is a conviction of the absolute holiness, the unsullied goodness of God. There is none good but One, and that is God.
(Sorry this is so long. I don't like long posts, myself.)
In the story of the rich young ruler, we found five qualities which made this man special--eagerness, humility, discernment, spiritual interest, and moral purity. The power of all five will get you everywhere in the world, but they won't open the gates of heaven.
Your neighbors will love you, your boss may even give you a raise, but these qualities won't move you an inch closer to knowing Christ, or any nearer to living authentic Christianity.
The rich young ruler was still missing four essential things: conviction about the absolute holy character of God, obedience to the greatest commandments of God on love, conversion to God in repentance and faith, and commitment to God.
Read about these and examine your heart. Determine whether you truly know the Lord Jesus Christ. Sooner than some of us may dream, we will stand in His presence to be welcomed or to be judged.
The Character Of God
"There is none good but One...."
At first, it seems like the Lord Jesus treats this young ruler roughly. He begins with a rebuke. "Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but One, that is, God." Matthew 19:17. The very first thing Jesus did was to emphasize the character of God, which is the very root of New Testament Christianity.
Was Jesus saying that He Himself is not good? Not at all. He simply wanted to challenge the young ruler's thinking. So, what does "good" mean in this passage? It means holy and perfect.
Jesus is saying, "Don't throw around the word 'good.' Don't call Me 'Good Master' if you are not ready to call Me 'Almighty God. '" This rich young man was not prepared to call Him Lord.
We have a generation today of people who are baptized pagans, members of our churches who have never understood the absolute holiness of God. They join the church thinking they're doing God a favor. They call Him "Good Master,: but they never intend to look at the matchless character of God.
They see "good' in many things, even in themselves. And this causes them to underestimate what the word "good" means when describing God. No one has ever truly been saved until he or she understands the infinite goodness of Almighty God.
We hear over and over again that God is love, and it's true. God is love, He really is. He epitomizes infinite, measureless, fathomless love, but that is not the whole truth.
If all you see is the love of God, without grasping the holiness of God, I doubt you have ever known authentic Christianity. When you take part of the truth and try to make it all of the truth, the result is an untruth.
Exodus 34:6-7a
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin....
What a wonderful description of our God! But look at how verse 7 ends:
b)...and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Yes, God is a God of mercy and loe. He is a longsuffering God. But the Bible clearly says He is a God "that will by no means clear the guilty." God never has, never can, and never will let one half of one sin go unpunished.
Unless you see the inherent and infinite holiness of God, you need to ask yourself, "Am I really born again?" Before you are convicted of sin, you must understand the holiness of God.
The first checkpoint on your road to authentic Christianity is a conviction of the absolute holiness, the unsullied goodness of God. There is none good but One, and that is God.
(Sorry this is so long. I don't like long posts, myself.)
