Message Notes

YOU ASKED FOR IT!
What's a "Real Christian?"
Is it as Easy as Saying a Prayer and You're "In?"
June 26, 2005

What is a Christian? It's really pretty simple!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. . . but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles
1 Corinthians 1:18, 23

The Real Issue -- The Difference between "Justification" and "Sanctification"

  • Justified =                                                            never sinned

  • Sanctified = being made                     , more and more into the                           of Christ

    The Tension: We want both --                           and the                          

    "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
    Matthew 7:21

    Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
    1 John 2:15-17

    "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
    Matthew 7:13-14

  • A Christian life is a                                gate -- you can't ride on the road that leads to life with sin, self-righteousness, false beliefs, vices, etc. firmly in hand --                                                               !

  • The world's                                                    are easy -- you can cart them almost anywhere

  • Don't just look at the gate -- look at the                                                        

    "Destruction" = the                                                               of heavenly life after death

     

    How to Walk God's Road to Life

    1.                         like Jesus

    But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
    1 John 2:5-6

    2.    Your Christian Faith must                               
    (1 John 2:12-14 )

    3.    Time for a "                                                    " - Jesus above all

    Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
    1 John 2:15