Welcome To The Arena Of Indubitable Truth!
Topic:
In Christ (Part 21)
Text Of Interest:
“But ye are come unto mount
Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the
firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that
of Abel.”
Heb 12:22 – 24 (KJV)
However, for one to be patient means
that he or she is hoping for something, better still he is an expectant.
Therefore, since faith is the force that pushes or resists a negative opposing
force that would like to establish itself in the life of the believer, patience
on the other hand is the vehicle that carries faith till it fulfills its task.
When one receives a promise either from the word of God or by prophecy, he
hopes to see the actualization of the promise but without patience the hope or
promise will not come to reality. Hence the submission that without patience
promises will not be received as the writer of the book of Hebrews puts it and
I quote “For ye have need of patience,
that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Heb
10:36). Suffice it to say that for a
believer to actually be a goal-getter he or she must equip himself or herself
with patience without which he or she will be found in endless dash of hopes in
life.
However, Apostle Peter went ahead to
suggest to believers that “to patience godliness”. Meaning that they should add
to their patience godliness, implying that someone who thinks that the previous
attributes are enough should rethink because it is important he or she add
godliness to his character. Godliness here means piety or piousness. This
quality is very important in the life of a believer because it showcases who or
what he has been made of. Godliness portrays the culture of the believer to the
world, I mean how believers live and socialize among people. The disposition
they put on that makes them look distinct in public that one needs not to guess
if they are believers or not. Now is important to say this, that no believer
wears a signboard or a mark on his or her face indicating that he or she is a
believer but through this character of godliness everyone around will
definitely agree that he or she is a believer.
Godliness, involves a believer getting
himself or herself into the things of God and participating actively in them.
That is, one cannot say he or she is a believer without having the hunger to go
all out and preach the Good News and consequently winning souls. This is a
function that no meaning believer will allow to elude him or her, because this
is the height of godliness in the life of every believer. Also a believer is
expected to participate in his or her local church activities, such as in
leadership programs and activities. Being a member of the team of choristers
and youth and elderly events and activities and every other thing that
promotions Christ in the life of believers.It also includes having the urge and
hunger to always read the Scripture and feel it in your spirit even as you read
it. Godliness is needed from the believer in order to work and deal with the
society or public. Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians wrote thus
and I quote “But I keep under my body,
and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to
others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1Cor 9:27).
Godliness is making sure that you
don’t take from the society rather you gave what you have obtained from your
base which is in Christ to them. It might take you constraining yourself in
avoiding certain things in order to maintain your status as a believer. It
means there are certain places you cannot go, just because of who you are in Christ.
Somehow, people may think that you are proud or thinking yourself more highly
than you ought to think, but the truth is that you cannot descend and is not
pride. There are things you cannot be found eating or taking in just because of
who you are in Christ. Godliness therefore, is the nature every believer has
obtained from the indwelling Spirit of God residence inside him or her; a
believer portraying Godliness is normal and natural for him because that is the
way he or she has been configured to be. It is the
believer’s aura! He doesn’t find himself
living that way by his own making and he cannot help but be that way. Like I
said earlier, the Spirit inside has regenerated him and gave him a culture that
is very unique and one of these unique cultures is Godliness.
Though this culture is a product of
the Spirit of God in the believer, he is not under duress to take or add it to
his character, because God does not coerce people. The work of the Holy Ghost
in the believer is to bring him to the reality of this culture in his life.
Making it known to him that he has been made to be that way, at that point it
is left for the believer to yield to the instruction or advice of the Holy
Ghost. And when he does, he will find himself encapsulated in this character
and it begins to manifest in his life voluntarily.
To be continued…..
Till I come your way again, keep on
basking in the Arena of Indubitable Truth!
Chukwuemeka C. Asiegbu
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