I Follow Christ

Written by Warren |Posted on April 1, 2009 | Comments

Many people think that if they hook themselves into reading books by popular authors such as Charles Spurgeon, Martyn-Lloyd Jones, John MacArthur, etc would give them the license to become a “true” Christian. It would make them belong to the “right” group. That would be their 3 seconder advertisement of the validity of their Christianity. “No questions asked, surely you are a Christian when you read Spurgeon books!” they would say. “I can tell if they’re saved by just looking at which Facebook group they register into.”

This is no different from the Catholics wherein they would focus on tradition rather than on their personal conviction. We are not commanded to join ourselves into certain groups, religion, or Christian leaders. We are not commanded to follow the Pauls, the Appollos, the Cephas. We are commanded to follow Christ and Him alone! And even if we know this fact, we rarely put them to practice.

There are leaders such as D.L.Moody or John MacArthur. Follow one of them and you’d become extremists. Follow D.L.Moody, you’d be labeled as saved by easy-believism or cheap grace. Follow John MacArthur and you will be labeled as a legalist. The Bible has many contrasts in the human eyes. On one part Elijah is calling fire from heaven (2 Kings 1:10-14) on another Jesus would rebuke His disciples for attempting to do the same (Luke 9:54-55)! But by faith we strongly believe that they are not contradicting each other. The intentions of the disciples were selfish as opposed to that of Elijah’s.

Following man will only cause division because as Paul challenges us “is Christ divided?” The more we follow Christ the more we lessen the divisions. But that too is no guarantee because of our depraved state as we have witnessed the attitudes among the disciples while Christ was still on earth. If following Christ, with our depraved flesh, is still not a guarantee to perfect unity how much more if we follow man.

Identifying yourself with the right Christians who have the right doctrines doesn’t give you extra meter nearer to God. Head knowledge doesn’t get you anywhere. Head knowledge alone is of the flesh and means nothing as circumcision in the flesh means nothing (Jeremiah 9:25). Circumcision in the heart is what matters most (Romans 2:29). The parable of the sower is about the sower planting the Word of God into the hearts of men. Jesus commands us to love God with all our heart (Matthew 22:37). The heart is what matters most and it should be the only thing to be circumcised not our flesh.

Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.” Jeremiah 17:5

I have seen so many so-called Christians who read the right books, know the right doctrines, talk the right stuff, but their love for Christ doesn’t bear fruit. What matters is the conviction of the heart and not of the flesh.