So what is plain, fundamental, easy to understand and follow Christianity?
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:37 NIV)
Jesus gives us rest from all our struggling to earn God's grace and salvation! And He rejects no one thatncomes to Him! With me so far?
This leads us to:
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5 NIV)
This is the true state of basic, fundamental Christianity. Abiding in Jesus. Coming to Him and receiving His rest are just the beginning steps. Abiding is the daily state of blessedness for all believers. it is what God made us in Christ for. To abide in Him and He in us!
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27 NIV)
It's not about formulas and how many do-goods you can do before your time is up. It's about a relationship with Jesus, the One who shed is blood so you can draw near to God.
So how do you abide? It's not in doing good. Nor do you earn the right to abide by how well you behave or how many right deeds you do.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, (Colossians 2:6 NIV)
Just as you received Jesus! You are to continue your life in Him!
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 NIV)
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (1 John 3:23, 24 NIV)
By believing you receive the Holy Spirit, (Ephesians 1:13-14) by continuing in that state of believing your "fruit" will grow (Galatians 5:22-23) First and foremost is love! 1 Corinthians 13
We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 NIV)
So we also see that there is a direct correlation between Him loving us and us loving others. We can do so only because he loved us first and poured out that love into our hearts by giving us the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)
So basic, fundamental Christianity is to live everyday of your life in utter and complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you and transform you more and more into the image of His likeness!
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NIV)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:37 NIV)
Jesus gives us rest from all our struggling to earn God's grace and salvation! And He rejects no one thatncomes to Him! With me so far?
This leads us to:
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5 NIV)
This is the true state of basic, fundamental Christianity. Abiding in Jesus. Coming to Him and receiving His rest are just the beginning steps. Abiding is the daily state of blessedness for all believers. it is what God made us in Christ for. To abide in Him and He in us!
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27 NIV)
It's not about formulas and how many do-goods you can do before your time is up. It's about a relationship with Jesus, the One who shed is blood so you can draw near to God.
So how do you abide? It's not in doing good. Nor do you earn the right to abide by how well you behave or how many right deeds you do.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, (Colossians 2:6 NIV)
Just as you received Jesus! You are to continue your life in Him!
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 NIV)
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (1 John 3:23, 24 NIV)
By believing you receive the Holy Spirit, (Ephesians 1:13-14) by continuing in that state of believing your "fruit" will grow (Galatians 5:22-23) First and foremost is love! 1 Corinthians 13
We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 NIV)
So we also see that there is a direct correlation between Him loving us and us loving others. We can do so only because he loved us first and poured out that love into our hearts by giving us the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)
So basic, fundamental Christianity is to live everyday of your life in utter and complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you and transform you more and more into the image of His likeness!
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NIV)
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