Christlikeness

Focus: 1 John 3:2-3 - KJV

2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

1 John 3:1-10

There is no controversy regarding the being of the believer in God. From the day he confesses Christ as Lord and Savior, he becomes a child of God with a view to making him mature into sonship. There lies the issue. A child, for as long as he remains a child is not greater than a servant. He is easily mesmerized by the enemy with doctrines. But, once the believer becomes a son, he is like Christ on earth. At that level, he has grown to being like Jesus and he is no longer susceptible to sin. Someone spoke about stumbling: that operates at the level of being children. As for trials and temptation, that is always around the believer whether as a child or as a son. Even Christ was tempted by the enemy. The devil is no respecter of the anointing when it comes to temptation.

For clarity, one is either a son of God or of the devil. The one that is of God carries the Spirit of God in him and therefore no longer sins; on the flip side, those who do sin do not yet carry God in them. God is love, and so anyone who carries His Spirit in him, also shows Christlikeness through love. Peter denied Christ while he was still a child and was not yet like Him. No wonder when Christ went looking for them, when they returned to fishing, He addressed them as little children. Once we embrace sonship by our doing righteousness and eschewing unrighteous deeds, we are not only going to be like Him as He showed as a son of man, we also carry the hope of being like Him as He is in glory. That is not in any way comparable to our current status in Christlikeness.

There is no double standard in the Lord. It is either we belong to Him or we do not. The surprise will be overwhelming when He returns for those that are His. No one will be able to bribe his or her way into salvation. You are either saved or you are not. The strictness of the Lord’s rules is decipherable in the matter of Sodom. God would have preserved Sodom if there were only ten righteous people there. Does it mean everyone in Sodom, save Lot’s family, was engaged in sodomy? It does not appear so. But almost everyone there was unrighteous for God to consider them for salvation. In our time, unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, there is no way to cross the salvation line. No wonder we are enjoined to take heed if we think we stand, lest we fall. Totality is the key word, when it comes to purity with God.

SOLUTION: Purity is a strict rule for becoming sons of God. The one we claim to emulate is pure. Anyone who is not pure can therefore not be likened to Him. We must be pure to be His.

Please pray:

·      Give thanks to God for the grace made available to you to be like God

·      Ask Him to please forgive you of your childish behaviors of the past and help you to operate in new found growth as His son

·      Pray that everything in you that is not of God be expunged forthwith so that henceforth you will only bear the fruit of the Spirit

·      Pray God to please release into your heart the more, the Spirit that will groom you into sonship so that you no longer operate in unrighteousness ever

·      Ask God for the spiritual meal that will keep you righteous better than ever

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