Taking The Test

I was talking to my brother the other day on the phone and by the time our conversation was over, I felt like a better person. At least I felt extremely wiser. I have come to understand that my brother has great wisdom. But there was something he said that especially caught my attention. He said that the world as it currently is has just one major function. The trial of our faith. At first when he said it I was startled. But as I thought about it the more, I realized that he was right.

Jesus told us that we are in this world but not of the world. The Bible tells us that we live in a fallen world. A world that is extremely distant from God’s glory. The Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans that we should not be conformed to this world but rather we should be transformed by the renewal of our minds. That tells me that there are things and situations that we will face that will try to make us conform but we need to rise above them so that we can be transformed. It tells me that transformation involves a lot of work. It tells me that transformation will not happen by itself but we need to take an active part in the process. Transformation will not occur passively.

The book of Galatians tells about the fruit of the Spirit in Chapter 5 at verses 22 to 23. The Bible doesn’t refer to them as “fruits” but fruit. That means that if you find one of them you are most likely to find the others. I believe the fruit was what Paul was referring to when he said we should let Christ be formed in us. The presence of the fruit shows that how much of Christ we have imbibed or how much we have matured into measure of the stature of Christ.

The world we live in is radically against Christ. The world hates him. To be able to live successfully as disciples of Christ, we need to have the same attributes and gifts he had. Just as the world did not like Christ because its works were those of darkness, the world will also be violently opposed to us if we decide to come out of darkness into the light. If you decide to say you belong to Christ, the world will test what you profess. How you respond to the tests the world throws at you will determine how much you grow as a Christian. Someone said Goliath was actually Saul’s giant to kill but he cowered and hid and David killed Goliath and received the reward. There are tests waiting for us when we wake up every day.  The Bible said for the glory that was before him Christ endured the cross. There are tests we need to pass daily so that we can grow and receive the crown. Rather than cower in fear, we should go out in boldness and faith every day, seeking to conquer the things that seek to conquer us. We should go out every day knowing the Holy Spirit in us will cause us to win. If only we would ask for his help. Like Lecrae said, “We have the power to start a riot, how can we deny it?”

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal

I Won't Judge (But Can I Say You're Wrong?)

Anyone who has read the first chapter of the book of Galatians would immediately realise that the Apostle Paul was quite annoyed, possibly extremely angry and livid when he wrote the letter. He could barely wait to write his usual gracious greeting before laying into the Galatians. The first few verses are a greeting blessing them and praying for the grace of God on their lives. Then he switches. While reading it, I thought to myself that the first verse should have given us a clue what was coming. In the first verse, Apostle Paul practically gave us his resume and the reason why he was qualified to write the letter. According to him, he was not an Apostle ordained by men both one ordained by God himself. Then he proceeded to tell the Galatians where they had got it wrong.

There is a constant refrain everywhere today both in the church and the world about how we shouldn't judge. I have begun to think this is another way of saying we shouldn't tell people about their faults just because we have our own. The other day I listened as a female artiste laughed away accusations of being a home wrecker even though she ended up with someone else's husband. We seem not to want to hear about the things we are doing wrong just because we feel no one is perfect.

For me, judging is not telling people what they've done wrong. It's about making a conclusion about what would happen to someone based on what they were doing wrong. For instance, telling someone it's wrong to have an affair with a married man is not judging. It's telling them what is biblically correct. However, saying the person will end up in hell and be damned and will never be happy is judging. Maybe I'm looking at it from a lawyers perspective. To put it another way, telling someone what they've done wrong with an attitude of love cannot be judgment. Telling them the consequences of their actions is judgment. And I think that is the way it should be. Or am I missing something?