SINNERS, BELIEVERS AND CHRISTIANS

“But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” – Rom 5:8

Who is a sinner? According to the bible – NOBODY! Sinners existed before Christ but from the time Jesus died and rose, sinners ceased to exist. They simply went extinct!

The bible says “By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” Heb 10:10. The word here is “ONCE FOR ALL” He doesn’t die every time a soul accepts Him as savior. NO! More than 2,000 years ago, He died and enveloped the whole world in a blanket of forgiveness. It is when you accept that that it becomes real to you but it doesn’t change the fact that He had already forgiven you ages ago.

Let me put it like this, if someone pays for a holiday cruise for you, as in pays all the bills, then you choose not to eat on the ship, does that mean the meal hasn’t been paid for? If you start eating on the fourth day of the cruise, does that mean the bill was just paid on the fourth day?

Christ has already paid the bill in full but we have to believe that fact and accept it and start ‘eating’ up for us to enjoy. That is when you become a believer.

You grow into Christianity. Look at the first time the word Christian was used in the bible – “And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the church, and taught much people, and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” Acts 11:26. It was when the group of disciples and believers became so much like Christ in their behavior and ways and teachings that people saw it and started calling them ‘CHRISTIANOS’ meaning ‘followers of Christ’

You become a Christian when you become like Christ. Free of every limitation and restriction. When you are full and complete. It is when you become ‘god’ on earth like Christ was. Above every situation and impossibility.

The believer has life, the Christian has abundant life!

So technically and biblically, I’m a believer not a Christian. But that’s okay. I will grow and mature into Christianity. That’s why the Christian life is a journey. With God, you crawl, stumble, limp, walk, fall, run, fly, crash till you are firmly rooted. It is a life measured in steps not time. It’s a journey that can be short or long depending on our willingness, submission and obedience.

I will get to full maturity but in the mean time I’m having a blast honeymooning with Christ as a believer!