Coconut
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Totally God's
by Ralph I. Tilley
Shallow Christianity is a nuisance to the world, a delight to the devil, a stench to God, and an embarrassment to the church. He who confesses the name of Christ has an obligation to live a life of godly integrity, to act like a Christian.
Alexander the Great once had a subordinate brought before him who was charged with conduct unbecoming a soldier. Alexander asked the man, "What is your name, Soldier?" The soldier replied, "Alexander, Sir." With great indignation, the general asked again, "What is your name, Soldier?" With trembling voice, the accused responded, "Alexander, Sir." Enraged, Alexander the Great barked, "Soldier, either change your conduct, or change your name." We who bear the holy name of Christ are called to bring honor to that blessed Name.
Too many Christians are living in spiritual lowlands; they content themselves with being "born again,” being baptized, joining the church, and paying their respects to God by attending church once a week. They are basically moral, upright individuals who behave like Christians as long as it doesn't cost them anything or inconvenience them. They are religious, but not real; they follow a form, but fail to be fervent toward God. They are religious sleepwalkers.
What is the cure for insipid, half-hearted Christianity? How can one get rid of this spirit of indifference and casualness toward God? Is there an answer to spiritual ambivalence, lukewarmness and lack of commitment? There is. With inspired direction, the apostle Paul points the way out of this wilderness. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, he writes: "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through."
Paul's concern for his converts prompted him to lay before them the challenge of being totally set apart to God: that they be God's persons both intensively and extensively, inwardly and outwardly.
Various theological persuasions may argue about the terminology of sanctlj1ed living; however, no hungry-hearted believer will stumble long over God's call in this text of Scripture. For here God is calling every repentant believer to total sanctification: spirit, soul and body. This is God's cure for weak Christians; this is God's answer for all who would be totally His.
How may one become totally God's? First, we must be convicted of our need. This goes beneath the surface. The Holy Spirit often hovers over one area of our interior life, an area we wish to keep to ourselves. He reveals our dearest Idols; He exposes objects of pride; He concentrates on our desire, passions and appetites.
Secondly, if we are to be totally God's, we must be convinced we cannot live another day without making a complete surrender to Christ's claims upon our life. Our desire for God's fullness must become our consuming passion, our soul's preoccupation. With Jacob of old we will cry out, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
Thirdly, we must be consecrated–consecrated in the sense of making a full surrender of our total selves to Jesus Christ. Our plans, ambitions and talents must all be offered to God and placed on Christ, our Altar. We must renounce sovereignty over self; we must vacate our throne so He can reign without rival.
When the Holy Spirit leads an honest, hungry soul through the above described spiritual terrain, that soul is not far from knowing what it means to be totally God's.
Some years ago a Haitian pastor illustrated for his congregation the need of total consecration by sharing the following parable. There was a certain man who wanted to sell his house for the sum of $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy the house but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original asking price--with just one condition: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding over the front door.
After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog and hung it from the single nail he still owned in the house. Soon the house became unlivable and the family was forced to sell the house back to the owner of the nail.
The Haitian pastor's conclusion: "If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it."
God does not recommend to us a level of grace that makes sin an impossibility, but He does hold out for each thirsty-hearted soul a relationship which makes Christ authentic to each believer, God's goal for each of us is that we be totally His--"through and through.”
– Soli Deo Gloria –
by Ralph I. Tilley
Shallow Christianity is a nuisance to the world, a delight to the devil, a stench to God, and an embarrassment to the church. He who confesses the name of Christ has an obligation to live a life of godly integrity, to act like a Christian.
Alexander the Great once had a subordinate brought before him who was charged with conduct unbecoming a soldier. Alexander asked the man, "What is your name, Soldier?" The soldier replied, "Alexander, Sir." With great indignation, the general asked again, "What is your name, Soldier?" With trembling voice, the accused responded, "Alexander, Sir." Enraged, Alexander the Great barked, "Soldier, either change your conduct, or change your name." We who bear the holy name of Christ are called to bring honor to that blessed Name.
Too many Christians are living in spiritual lowlands; they content themselves with being "born again,” being baptized, joining the church, and paying their respects to God by attending church once a week. They are basically moral, upright individuals who behave like Christians as long as it doesn't cost them anything or inconvenience them. They are religious, but not real; they follow a form, but fail to be fervent toward God. They are religious sleepwalkers.
What is the cure for insipid, half-hearted Christianity? How can one get rid of this spirit of indifference and casualness toward God? Is there an answer to spiritual ambivalence, lukewarmness and lack of commitment? There is. With inspired direction, the apostle Paul points the way out of this wilderness. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, he writes: "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through."
Paul's concern for his converts prompted him to lay before them the challenge of being totally set apart to God: that they be God's persons both intensively and extensively, inwardly and outwardly.
Various theological persuasions may argue about the terminology of sanctlj1ed living; however, no hungry-hearted believer will stumble long over God's call in this text of Scripture. For here God is calling every repentant believer to total sanctification: spirit, soul and body. This is God's cure for weak Christians; this is God's answer for all who would be totally His.
How may one become totally God's? First, we must be convicted of our need. This goes beneath the surface. The Holy Spirit often hovers over one area of our interior life, an area we wish to keep to ourselves. He reveals our dearest Idols; He exposes objects of pride; He concentrates on our desire, passions and appetites.
Secondly, if we are to be totally God's, we must be convinced we cannot live another day without making a complete surrender to Christ's claims upon our life. Our desire for God's fullness must become our consuming passion, our soul's preoccupation. With Jacob of old we will cry out, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
Thirdly, we must be consecrated–consecrated in the sense of making a full surrender of our total selves to Jesus Christ. Our plans, ambitions and talents must all be offered to God and placed on Christ, our Altar. We must renounce sovereignty over self; we must vacate our throne so He can reign without rival.
When the Holy Spirit leads an honest, hungry soul through the above described spiritual terrain, that soul is not far from knowing what it means to be totally God's.
Some years ago a Haitian pastor illustrated for his congregation the need of total consecration by sharing the following parable. There was a certain man who wanted to sell his house for the sum of $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy the house but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original asking price--with just one condition: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding over the front door.
After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog and hung it from the single nail he still owned in the house. Soon the house became unlivable and the family was forced to sell the house back to the owner of the nail.
The Haitian pastor's conclusion: "If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it."
God does not recommend to us a level of grace that makes sin an impossibility, but He does hold out for each thirsty-hearted soul a relationship which makes Christ authentic to each believer, God's goal for each of us is that we be totally His--"through and through.”
– Soli Deo Gloria –
