A Community of God's People

God sent Jesus Christ to save the world and beside him there is no other name given under the heaven by which man can be saved (Acts 4:12). No one can come to the Father except through Jesus. By believing in him and what he accomplished on the cross, our sins are forgiven. Equally important, but less emphasised, is the fact that we must crucify our desires and passion on the cross so that we may be delivered from the power of sin.  This will enable us to live a new life in God’s kingdom and follow its values. The forgiveness of sins and deliverance from its power are both important, and all this is accomplished by faith in Jesus Christ. The new values or principles that we must abide by, in the new life, are outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. If we follow these values diligently all will be well with us.

There are five essential things of our faith that we must adhere to, so that we may not change the way, that Jesus came to establish, into a religion. If we take good care and stick to these essentials, we won’t drift away from God.

Love

To love God who is our creator, and our heavenly Father should come naturally to us, but it does not. We are affected by the world and its things so much that we struggle to love God. John rightly said that if we love the world and its things then God’s love can’t find its foothold in our hearts, and that is what has happened to many Christians (1 John 2:15). God gives us twenty-four hours each day, but we don’t sit in his presence even for thirty minutes. When we pray, our prayers are filled with a long list of demands, and we repeat familiar phrases without meaning them. Jesus warned us not be like the Gentiles who talk too much, but we do. So, what has gone wrong. Why have we become what Jesus asked us not to?

This, I believe, is due to a fundamental error that the church committed during the post-Constantine period. The church changed the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached into the gospel of personal salvation. The gospel or the Good New according to Jesus was the arrival of God’s kingdom on this earth. And Jesus asked his followers to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness. That meant that we must leave the kingdom of this world and relocate into the kingdom of God where new values are followed, which Jesus outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. But sadly, the kingdom values became irrelevant, and the Roman empire was mistaken for the kingdom of God. The line between worldly kingdom and God’s kingdom was erased. It was all about name, fame and money. The apostolic faith was reduced to a religion that was primarily focused on gaining a place in heaven and how we live in this world was neglected. Naturally, this changed everything. The emphasis shifted to the worldly benefit that could be gained in this world rather than God’s righteousness, which Jesus demanded.

This is the reason why the divine love does not find place in our hearts. I believe, the water baptism must be followed by the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus who was the Son of God received it and all the apostles received it, and so did the thousands of believers in the first century. Most of the distinctives that Paul wrote, in his letters, were of such people. We assume that we have these qualities without receiving the baptism in the Spirit. A baptism in the Holy Spirit will fill us with divine love and unite us as one family enabling us to fulfil the righteousness of God.

Obedience

Those who love me will obey my commandments, Jesus said (John 14:23). Love without obedience is a fluffy love that is of little value. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus emphasised that we must uphold God’s commandments (5:17̶ 20). He said that we should go above and beyond the Mosaic law (Matt. 5:21̶ 42). For example, in the old times it was said, “Thou shall not commit adultery,” but Jesus said, “If you look at a woman with a lustful eye, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart.”

It is true that standard of God’s righteousness is very high but unless we live by them the consequences will be serious, Jesus warned in Matthew 7:24 ̶ 27. Whoever teaches that God’s commandments do not apply to the followers of Christ should pay attention to this warning. It is true that God’s righteousness is not easy to fulfil, but God has not left us without help. This is the beauty of our faith that though we are asked to follow a very high standard of righteousness we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower us. But unless we show an honest intent to follow the righteousness of God’s kingdom, we will not receive it. Nothing is automatic and we must strive patiently for it. Jesus has sent us a Helper – the Holy Spirit. Who can help and guid us to fulfil the demands of the Sermon on the Mount.

The problem is that we have not received the empowerment by the Holy Spirit in the same way as the early disciples had. The Holy Spirit prompted them to make right decisions on crucial matters (Acts 9:10; 10:13-16; 13:2; 15:28; 16:7). But today, we depend upon our interpretation of the scripture, which is not always right. This is the reason; we have created a watered-down spirituality like the Pharisees had done in Jesus’ time. And we give all kinds of arguments to justify it.

Jesus asked his followers to go to all nations and make disciples teaching them everything they had been commanded to do. Our problem is that we ourselves don’t keep his commandments and still go and try to make disciples, sometimes with ignominious results. We follow a religion and compete with other religions. This creates ill feelings towards Christian faith when we claim that our religion is true, and their religion is false.

Many Jews also complain about the antisemitic sentiments of the Christians that has hardened their hearts towards Jesus. Paul asked the Gentile Christians to develop jealousy in their hearts, but what we have done has created ill feeling in their hearts towards their Messiah. Paul would be turning in his grave by seeing what the gentiles Christians, for whom he fought with the Jews and was ready to even shed his blood, have done to his people (Phil. 2:17).

All this need to change, and we must seek first his kingdom and its righteousness and then go and make disciples. It does not mean that everything done so far has been dishonourable. Many people of God have preached the gospel to the best of their ability according to what they knew, and God has honoured it. But the world would have been a much better place if we had preached the gospel of the kingdom and lived by its values.

Unity

Love and obedience among God’s people create unity. The apostles emphasised strongly on the unity of mind and spirit (1 Cor. 1:10; Acts 4:32). If there is no united body of Christ, then there is no Ecclesia. The unity is the work of the Holy Spirit. That is why we must receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Today we operate on a different level and argue that we have ‘unity in diversity’ and ‘we agree to disagree’. These good sounding platitudes are not scriptural. They may give us a superficial unity but the unity the early church had was much deeper. They became one family and were able to live and die for one another!

It requires complete surrender of our will to God. This would bring the reality of heaven, in some measure, on this earth. Because in heaven only God’s will is done. Surprisingly, all Christian repeat this very sentiment in Lord’s pray all over the world. We pray, “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” but do not realise that this is not the reality, because if it was true, we will have the joy of heaven in our lives, here and now. Meister Eckhart says, “The perfection of our will means being in harmony with the divine will by willing what God wills, and the way he wills it.”

It is necessary that we leave the kingdom of this world and enter the kingdom of God and live by its values. If we live in the kingdom of this world we will be affected by its values, as indeed we are. James advised Christians not get polluted by the world (James 1:27). The Holy Spirit and the word of God should be our guides and not the popular culture of the day. If we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and walk accordingly, we will achieve a much deeper unity in the body of Christ.

Righteousness

Living a righteous life is an essential part of our faith. The scripture says that without holiness no one will see God. Apostle Petre quoting a verse from the Leviticus said, “We must be holy as He is holy” (1 Pet. 1:8; Lev. 11:44). Obedience to God’s commandments will produce character in us that will lead to holiness. (Matt. 7:24). Moral purity is crucial for God’s people. In the modern world where morals are eclectic and are changed according to the popular culture, it is even more important that Christ’s followers uphold the moral law of God, as Jesus emphasised in the Sermon on the Mount. It does not make any sense that after receiving forgiveness we continue to sin and justify them by saying that we can’t be perfect. When we begin from this weak position, we can’t expect to achieve much, which is evident from the level of sin that exists among God’s people. It is a false teaching, which says that we will continue to sin in this life but when we get to heaven then suddenly everything will be alright. Imperfection aside, everything that we will achieve in heaven must have its beginning here and now in this life.

Henry Scougal says, “True religion is a union of the soul with God, a real participation of the divine nature, the very image of God drawn upon the soul, or, in the apostle’s phrase, “it is Christ formed within us.”” (Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man, p. 4). The mind of Christ prompts us from within to do the will of God. Outward show of piety may stand us in good stead before men but not in God’s sight, where it matters.

The early disciples lived extraordinary lives for one hundred years, and so must we. God’s moral law still stands today as it did two thousand years ago, and God certainly has not changed. It is our perception of God’s law that has changed. This is a dangerous view. Our arguments will not save us when we stand before the all-consuming fire of God that will test every man’s works (1 Cor. 3:10-15).

Humility

Our faith journey starts with humility, and we can only continue in it, in humility. It must precede, stay and follow everything we do in our lives. Humility draws us closer to God and helps us acknowledge our sinfulness. It allows us to continue to walk with God in our new life. Humility is an essential part of our faith, without it we can neither come near God nor continue forward in our spiritual journey. The work of our salvation begins when we humble ourselves before God, and the Holy Spirit helps and guides us in our journey when we walk humbly. The works we do will find God’s approval only when we remain humble before him. As prophet Micah said, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:8). Augustine of Hippo, a fifth-century bishop and theologian, wrote, “The way to Christ is first through humility, second through humility, third through humility. If humility does not precede and accompany and follow every good work we do, if it is not before us to focus on, if it is not beside us to lean upon, if it is not behind us to fence us in, pride will wrench from our hand any good deed we do at the very moment we do it.”

Jude also says, “keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life” (Jude 1:21). We depend on the mercy of our Lord for the eternal life and not who we are and what we have done. Jesus said to his disciples that after doing everything that they have been commanded to do, to say that they are his unworthy servants and have done only what was their duty. So, we can see that we need to be humble throughout our lives, from the beginning to the end, without which we cannot please God.

These attributes of the Christian faith are five pillars that support our lives and help us to follow Jesus. The standard of righteousness that kingdom of God demands can be achieved by the help of Holy Spirit. Unless we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to go very far in our spiritual journey. It is extremely hard to fake these qualities. Still, sometimes, it is possible to have an illusion that we love God, obey his commandments, live in unity and are living humbly a holy life. The Pharisees thought they were following all these things! We can also delude ourselves in the same way. Do not be surprised at this because human beings are geniuses when it comes to feigning. The only problem is that we may be able to fool ourselves but not others, and definitely not God, who know every intent of our hearts. So, how can we safeguard against such a tragic outcome.

The empowerment by the Holy Spirit, to me, is the crucial missing factor. The abundance of Holy Spirit in our hearts, or continuous filling of the Holy Spirit in our lives, is the only way we can safeguard against this. This help was not available to the people before the advent of Christ, but now it is, and we must make sure that we walk according to the Holy Spirit. No man should take over the place of the Holy Spirit, not even the church or its leaders. Only the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father has this right (John 15:24; 16:7,13). As Paul says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25 NKJV). A close fellowship with the Father and listening to His Spirit, on a daily basis, is the only way one can avoid failure. Many Christian communities of faithful people either disbanded completely or became legalistic cults when they stopped listening to the Holy Spirit.

What Jesus demanded from his would-be followers was an impossible thing to do in human strength. And it does seem harsh and unreasonable. Who can leave his father, mother, brothers and sisters, children and even spouse. But what God did by sacrificing His only Son for our sins, forces us to reconsider our initial reaction. Still, it is a hard thing to do. Why did Jesus ask his followers to make such a sacrifice? What does this achieve? Is it just a test us, to see who really loves God. Maybe it is. The narrative of Abraham shows that God tests his people to see whether they really love him more than anything in the world. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son. His faith was not mere words, but he trusted God unreservedly and was ready to sacrifice his only son. This is what God wants to see in our lives.

The Jews of the first century left their loved ones as Jesus had commanded. It was not a test, as in the case of Abraham, but they left everything, for real. How could they do it? The answer lies in one thing that we do not see today, where a group of people love one another more than they love their own lives. We see this reality in the earthly families, where parents are willing to give their lives for their children and vice-versa, but not anywhere else. Simply because it is humanly impossible. But this is what God did when he changed the lives of his disciples on the day of the Pentecost by the immersion (baptism) in the Holy Spirit. Something wonderful happened and people from different families and from various social backgrounds were united as one family. This was the impact of the divine love (Agape) that was poured into their hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). They found more love in this new family than they had experienced in their earthly families. Because the divine love is the most sublime and pure form of love that cannot be procure from any other source. It emanates from God alone. Only this kind of love can unite people into one family ̶ a household of God. And when this happens then leaving earthly family will not appear difficult and harsh. But the best thing that happened in the first church, which surpasses everything else, was that God started living with them by his Spirit. This was the fulfilment of the promise given to the Jews at Jesus’ birth that his name will be Immanuel, which means, God with us (Matt. 1:23).

We miss out on this kind of ethereal joy because we have started to believe that baptism in the Holy Spirit is not essential or is not required. Many other similar arguments are given these days by well-meaning Christians. But it is incorrect. Jesus came to baptise us in the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist said this, and Jesus made it very clear (Mark 1:8; Acts 1:5). The immersion in the Holy Spirit alone can empower us to become one family. Jesus also said that when we are united as one, the world will believe that God has sent Jesus into this world (John 17:21). Nothing else will convince the world of the truth, more than the united family of God, where His love abides in abundance.

For far too long we have pursued a form of Christian faith that has degenerated into a religion. We have left Jesus out of our deliberations and have tried to interpret his words using our limited human understanding that has changed ‘The Way’ into a religion. In the early church his Spirit guided everyone and everything (Acts 8:26; 11:28; 13:2; 21:4). He decided where they should go and what they should do (Acts 15:28; 16:7-9). Sadhu Sunder Singh says, “The Master never wrote anything down, nor did he ask his followers to record his teachings. His words are spirit and life. Spirit can only infuse spirit. Life can only infuse life. The Master’s teaching cannot be contained on the pages of a book. Other great teachers left behind books to replace the living voice, to guide and help their bereft followers. But the Master did not do this, because he has not left us. He is always with us, and his living voice guides and counsels us.” (Wisdom of the Sadhu: Teachings of Sunder Singh, Plough Publishing House). Jesus emphatically said that he will be with us till the very end of the age (Matt. 28:20). Isn’t it amazing that Jesus never left us as it says above? But we act as if we are on our own. We dishonour Jesus by making him a silent guest during our conversations. We should learn to be silent before him and try to listen to what the Holy Spirit says.

These changes happened so long ago that we have started to believe that things have been always like this but is not true. During the times when the apostles and their disciples were on this earth, things were quite different. The History of the Church by Eusebius and the writings of the early church fathers provide enough evidence on this matter. Since the church drifted away about 1500 years ago the gospel of the kingdom of God that Jesus and the apostles preached has been abridged to personal salvation. This has had a devastating impact on the life of the church. Instead of following the values of God’s kingdom, Christians have started following the values of this world. And there is no difference between the life of those who believe and those who don’t.

The time has come, in fact it is way past, to reclaim the gospel of the kingdom and follow its values outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. If we wait any longer the danger is that like the Jews, we may also be rejected.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6). We are quite familiar with this verse, but often fail to appreciate the gravity of this statement. This seemingly simple declaration did away with all the religions of the world by which people try to attain salvation. If the church leaders and theologians had understood this one simple truth, they would not have erred. The church leaders converted the Way into a religion a long time ago. They also changed the gospel of the kingdom of God to the gospel of personal salvation. We have developed an impressive theology that does away with the essential values of God’s kingdom. We have built a selective moral code that has mollified our conscience into believing that everything is alright, when it is not.

The single most serious sin that human beings can commit is to thwart the purposes of God. Jesus said to the Pharisees again and again that by their traditions they were frustrating the purposes of God (Matt. 15:2). The other thing they were guilty of was the show of their piety, which exhibited their holiness to other people. They said one thing and did exactly the opposite (Matt. 23). We can see that the pharisees made these mistakes but, somehow, cannot see that we are committing the same mistake. We claim to have repented of our sins and have received a new life, but there is no difference in our lives and that of the others who do not believe. We can see the hypocrisy of the Jews, but we are totally oblivious of ours. These are very serious matters. There are host of other issues e.g., cultural pride, wealth, greed, power, and the use of violence that need addressing.

Jesus laid down a few conditions before his followers and said that they can’t be his disciples, or they can’t enter his kingdom unless they fulfil them. One of those conditions was obedience. Jesus warned his followers that unless they obey his commandments, they will not find his favour on the judgement day, even if they had called him their Lord and performed great signs and wonders in his name (Matt.7:22-23). This was the result of following a religion rather than obeying Jesus, as mentioned above. There are seven conditions that Jesus put forward before the crowd that followed him. We have just discussed one here to show the serious consequences of not living by them.

God simply wants us to love him and love one another. This is only possible if we submit our lives completely to him and follow the values of his kingdom that Jesus outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. We may throw our hands up in despair and say that it is impossible, and that we can’t live by these lofty values. But Jesus promised that he will send a Comforter, the ‘Holy Spirit,’ who will help us fulfil these demands. The new life in Jesus Christ lived by the help of the Holy Spirit is the only way we can find God’s approval. Jesus is the Way. Saint Catherine of Siena Said, “All the Way to heaven is Heaven, because He said, I am the Way.” We need to make sure that we are following Jesus and not a religion.

It does not matter which national party comes into power, because all we should care about is that the kingdom of God is established among us. We do pray for those who are appointed to govern the nation, so that we may be able to worship God in peace, as Paul says in Romans 13, but our focus should be the kingdom of God.

Unfortunately, we align ourselves with the right or the left and start following their policies because of our stakes in the world. Whereas, Jesus asked us to leave the world and its things, so that we can follow him. But due to our vested interests, it is impossible to obey Jesus’ command. Jesus also asked us not to store-up our treasurers on earth but to store them up in heaven. He warned, that our heart will be where our treasure is. He also said we can’t serve two masters – God and mammon. If we love the world and its things the love of God is not in us, said the apostle John. Against all these warnings, we still have become so involved in world and its things, that the kingdom of God takes a second place.

The direction in which the kingdom of this world may go should be secondary. For us, the focus must be that God may freely rule over us, as we carry out his will in this world. God decides the agenda for our involvement in the world, and not our material possessions.

The church strayed away from the gospel Jesus preached a long time ago, and it’s still far away from it. We think the gospel is about our personal salvation and have added it to the other blessing of life, unwittingly subscribing to the prosperity gospel. Jesus said that we can’t follow him, unless we leave the world and its things, but we disregard it or justify it by clever arguments. Apostle John says that if we love the world and its things then the love of God is not in us, but we don’t see this as a problem and have an answer for it. These answers may be able to pacify our conscience, but it won’t help us before the Almighty God. He gave his life to change us, and unless that happens everything else is false. Our lives which are very similar to those who don’t believe, are a proof of our failure. Going to the church and the bible study are not going to help, if we remain unchanged or change superficially. It must change completely, and this can only happen, if we live according to the values of the kingdom.

Jesus described the values of his kingdom in the beatitudes and in all the parables. Almost all the parables are about the kingdom of God. Jesus preached about the kingdom throughout his ministry and he lived by its values. When he rose from the dead and was with his disciples for forty days, he talked to them about the kingdom of God. He also said that seek the kingdom of God first and then the other things will be given to us as well. Doesn’t it strike to us as strange, that we hardly talk about this and have neglected the most important thing for which Jesus came into the world. We have turned it into a religion or have become self-righteous like the pharisees. All the churches from one end of the spectrum to the other, have stumbled like the Jews had. They have failed to see, what matters the most.

The good news Jesus announced was that the time has been fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near. Jesus established this kingdom after his resurrection. Most of the Jews couldn’t understand this except for a few, who formed the first church at Jerusalem. They lived as Jesus himself lived, and the kingdom of God was amongst them. Their values were completely different from the world around them. They shared everything they had with others and there was a great joy and rejoicing among them. It was not the abundance of material things that gave them the joy but the absence of selfishness and greed that had enslaved the whole world. They were free from the bondage of sin and God lived among them through his Spirit. The kingdom of God must be established in this world, among those who believe in Christ Jesus. This is what Jesus proclaimed, lived and died for.

When we repent and are forgiven, we must crucify our old nature and destroy the desires and passions of the flesh. This will remove the cause of sinning. We sinned because our sinful desires prompted us to do wrong things. This must be dealt with. It will cleanse our hearts and remove what is evil and dark within us, allowing the Holy Spirit to fill our being with the divine love. Equipped with humility and the love of God, we will unite as a community of God’s people, and be able to witness the power of God at work among us. We will be able to show Christ and not just talk about him. This is the true conversion that has the power to unite us into the body of Christ. We will begin to share our lives and our material resources with others, like the early church.

The kingdom of God must begin among his people in this world. This is the whole purpose of our salvation. Jesus said to the little group of disciples, that it is the sweet pleasure of God to give them the kingdom. It was not offered to the big and the powerful but to the meek and the lowly, who were overlooked by the world. It has always been the case and even today the kingdom of God is for those who are meek and lowly. Anyone who humbles himself and genuinely repents, will find the kingdom of God in this world.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton