“Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you feel Christ's presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians...?” – 2Corinthians 13:5 TLB
A story is told of a family that had a dog that had bitten the legs of several people. Not wanting to get into trouble, they put the dog in a large cage. But although in a cage, the dog is still longing to bite legs. The dog hasn't changed at all, but has only been restrained.
Sadly, this is the state of many “Christians” today. Though they go to Church, they still love to sin. Church only serves as a cage for them; immediately church is over, they are back to their normal life of sin.
Paul the Apostle had a similar problem and revealed the reason in Romans 7:15-17 - “I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can't. I do what I don't want to - what I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong... But I can't help myself... It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am that makes me do these evil things.”
Nobody can be a Christian without first being delivered from the nature of sin inside of him. We were all born with this nature (Psalm 51:5) and thus destined to perish in hell, except we repent and believe in Jesus Christ who came to save us from sin/God's wrath.
How to become a Christian
Getting Born Again is the first step to becoming a Christian. It entails a change of nature.
Ezekiel 36:25-27 CEV - “I will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be clean... I will take away your stubborn heart and give you a new heart and a desire to be faithful. You will have only pure thoughts, because I will put my Spirit in you and make you eager to obey my laws and teachings.”
This is what happens when you get born again. God takes away your stubborn heart (sin nature), that makes you always disobey Him and puts the Holy Spirit in you (alongside a new heart or nature) that will empower you to obey God easily, without any struggle.
Salvation is not by obeying the Ten Commandments (Rom.3:19-28) or trying to be a good person (Acts 10:2-6). It is not by water baptism, anointing with oil etc. (1Cor.1:14-18, Titus 3:5). Doing all these is like a man barking everyday hoping he will eventually become a dog.
To become a dog, you would need to be born by a dog and have the nature of a dog. In the same vein, nobody can be a Christian (like Christ) without being born of God (born again) and having God's nature and Spirit in him (Rom.8:9).
Are you born again? Do you have the Holy Spirit in you? Is being a Christian a struggle for you? You must stop pretending, repent and call on JESUS to save you from your sins and God’s wrath. Be convicted and pray: Lord Jesus I believe that you died for me and rose again from the dead.
I ask now that you save me and put your Holy Spirit in me. I genuinely repent of my sins and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Amen! - See John 1:12, Rom. 10:9-13 and Eph. 2:8-9.
Becoming a stronger Christian
-
Renew your mind
The next step after getting born-again is to renew your mind with God’s Word. The renewing of the mind simply means to replace worldly thoughts in your mind with godly thoughts through a biblical process called meditation and by practicing God's Worduntil you fully develop the character of Christ (Rom. 12:2).
This is important because whatever gains control of our minds controls our actions (Prov. 4:23). Every sin begins with a thought and when the thought is fully formed, it becomes an action. What this means is that before one fornicates for example, they must have first seen themselves doing it in their minds over and over again before it actually happens.
Sin doesn't just happen; it must first be processed in the mind (James 1:13-15). So, if Big Brother Nigeria and other TV shows, as well as secular movies and musicians like Burna Boy etc, are still your delight, and what you fill your mind with, you will remain a slave to sin. The opposite of this is delighting yourself in God's Word and filling your mind with it.
The Word of God is what renews your mind and keeps you from falling into sin (Psalm 119:11).
-
Stay full of the Holy Spirit
Someone rightly said that, “It is foolishness to become a Christian and then ignore the Holy Spirit.”This is the basic reason many Christians are still struggling to live like Christ; they have not learnt to engage the Holy Spirit in true and deep fellowship by speaking in tongues daily.
Speaking in tongues is divine ability to speak in a language you are not familiar with. It is meant to edify (build up) every believer in Christ (Mark 16:17, 1Cor. 14:4).
Key benefits of tongues
- It will get you full of (under the control of) the Holy Spirit and free from the control of the flesh (that is, bad habits like - anger, lying, drug abuse etc, will lose their hold on you), and it will help you cultivate godly character (fruits) - Gal. 5:16-24.
- Speaking in tongues will make you more intimate with God, help you discover God's will (vision) and pray it into manifestation - Rom. 8:26-27. Nothing can stop the will of God for a believer who daily speaks in tongues and aligns with God - 1John 5:14-15.
- It will stir up other gifts of the Spirit and grant you boldness to serve God and witness for Christ. You can see the sick healed, saved and mighty miracles done in Jesus name, if you will simply speak in tongues often - 2Tim. 1:6-7.
Receiving the gift of tongues
Luke 11:9-13 - “…If ye then... know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
Get hungry and ask God for His Spirit, expecting an instant response. Do not be afraid of faking it. Open your mouth in faith and speak in tongues. Stay full of the Spirit and live victorious in Christ.
