January 18, 2015 Becoming an Authentic Christian
/Becoming an authentic Christian
James 2:19 – You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.
James 2:26 – Faith without works is dead.
FOUR TESTS OF AN AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN
1. The test of a major change.
Verse 8 – By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went even though he did not know where he was going.
Lesson Number One – An authentic Christian will follow God's leading without knowing where.
2. The test of a delayed promise.
Verse 9 – By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country, he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
Lesson Number Two – An authentic Christian will wait for God's timing.
3. The test of an impossible problem.
Verses 11 & 12 – By faith, Abraham, even though he was past age, and Sarah herself was barren, was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise and so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Genesis 18:10, 12, 14 – The Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son, so Sarah laughed to herself, then the Lord said, is anything too hard for the Lord?
Lesson Number Three – An authentic Christian will expect a miracle without knowing how.
4. The test of why.
Verses 17-19 – By faith, Abraham, when God tested him offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
Lesson Number Four – An authentic Christian will trust God's purpose without knowing why.
Mark 9:24 – I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.
