The Sunday Christian
Exodus 17-19 | Psalm 23 | Romans 2
In today's reading of Exodus God promises Israel that if they obey Him fully and keep His covenant, they will be for Him a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation". The Israelites were to know God's will and seek to apply it in their lives.
When we read of Paul's day (well over a thousand years later) in his letter to the Roman believers, we find that he has to rebuke the Jewish believers for acting as though their knowledge of God's law made them superior to the Gentile (non-Jewish) believers. 'It isn't important whether you have been given the law or not,' writes Paul, 'rather, it is important to keep the law if you know it. All men have consciences and know right from wrong, and those who haven't been given God's law will be judged by their consciences.'
The Jews Paul wrote to had lost sight of the meaning of the Law and simply trusted in knowing it, lording it over the struggling Gentile believers. But the law was there so that the Israelites could know God's will and apply it to their lives. Failing to do God's will after having received it in written form is much like a lawyer who fails to see that the law of the land actually applies to him - the whole point in both cases is the application of the law, not the knowledge of the law.
Christians today often fall into a similar trap: it is not uncommon for believers to follow a path of works though outwardly paying tribute to salvation by faith alone. "Sunday Christians" is a term categorizing those who 'act Christian' around their Christian friends or at church, whilst reverting to other behavior at all other times.
It is easy to grow to think that attending Church is all that God wants, indeed this seems to be a common belief in parts of the established Church. It is easy to believe that regular outward shows of a loyalty to the Christian Church is sufficient - as opposed to possessing faith in Christ.
Such thinking is a loss of sight of the real purpose of our faith: God wants to be in a relationship with us and so sent His Son to die in order that those relationships could happen. Then He sent His Holy Spirit so that those relationships could flourish and eventuate in eternal life with Him.
Regular church attendance - as well as good deeds and other Christian acts - are important and beneficial but aren't in themselves a relationship with God - they are not the purpose for which God sent His son to die. The Church was established by Jesus so that believers could carry out God's will together, receiving encouragement and support from each other - it is simply meant to aid believers in their relationship with God. Like the Jews who focused on the means God provided to the end rather than the end itself, believers can focus on the Christian lifestyle rather than the Christian purpose.
Satan does His best to pervert the will of God in this world and the fallacy of a Christian without faith in Christ is a common tool he uses.
Reflect on today's psalm, and pray that God will aid you in your faith in Him: that you may always trust Him and always remain focused on your salvation through faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment