Wednesday, April 19, 2017

The Spirit of Christ

As Christians it would be wonderful to fully possess the spirit of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul told the Romans “...Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9). Therefore, we realize that as Christians we must possess the spirit of Christ. The first question one may ask at this point is “What kind of spirit did Christ possess?” Let’s look at many of the different types of spirit that Christ had. When we think of Christ we often times think that He was obedient as it states in Philippians 2:8. In addition, Jesus was Humble (Matthew 11:29), Forgiving (Luke 23:34), Prayerful (Mark 1:35), Diligent (Luke 2:49), Sympathetic (Hebrews 4:14-15), Merciful (Hebrews 2:17), Self-sacrificing (Matthew 8:20), Pure (1 John 3:3), Loving (John 15:13), Righteous (Matthew 3:15), Patient (1 Peter 2:20-21), Serving (Philippians 2:5-6), and Non-reviling (1 Peter 2:23). I’m sure there are many others that you could name from the scriptures but these are just a few, enough for us to realize that the Christ we serve was perfect. We should want and strive to have the spirit of Christ because we want to be His. As Paul mentioned earlier, we can’t belong to Christ if we don’t take on the spirit of Christ. So how can one obtain this precious spirit? By imitating each spirit that Christ our Lord possessed. When we make a commitment to follow Jesus we are also making a commitment to put on the spirit of Christ. It takes a conscious, sincere effort to follow Jesus. Are we putting on the spirit of Christ? Does He know that we are an imitator of Him?

Thursday, April 13, 2017

The Plan of Salvation

There are many souls in the world that need to be saved today. The gospel plan of salvation to save man is not difficult but it MUST be followed in order for one to be saved. God loved man so much that he gave His only Son to die for all of us. In John 3:16 it says; “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”. We can also see this in Romans 5:8-11. God did his part for man by giving His Son and then he ensured that all men would be able to come to the knowledge of the truth by sending the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, guiding them into all truth “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13). Therefore, it is now up to each one of us to do our part if we really desire eternal salvation. Man must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17; Acts 7:37), Believe it (Acts 16:31; Hebrews 11:6), Repent from past sins and make a determination to serve Christ from this time forward (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30), Confess Jesus as the Son of God (Romans 10:10; Matthew 10:32), and be Baptized (Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 22:16; Mark 16:16). Once this has been done then one must continue to live the Christian life and grow in the Christian characteristics (2 Peter 1:5-7). God has given us the opportunity to be saved, now you and I must do our part to obey the commands of God. What man can do, he MUST do!