Being a Christian is Tough

Following Christ faithfully will be very challenging at times. But many will make their lives unnecessarily difficult because of wrong choices that lead them deeper into sin. We must face up to the harsh reality that we all have the potential to behave in a way that draws us away from God. Real Christians can almost destroy their own souls by stepping back from God’s will. Ultimately they get bogged down in the mire they walked into with both eyes open.

Do you think this could never happen to you? What are you capable of? Do you really know? Be honest with yourself. Do you think you’ve been fully tested? It will be of no comfort that those who are so quick to judge and condemn others, may themselves be humbled by sin someday. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” is a solemn warning from the Bible (1st Corinthians 10:12).

The Christian’s life is an endurance race for Christ. When our pain and troubles aren’t caused by our own choices, we may dare to wonder if God asks too much of us. Superficially at least, that seems to be a reasonable complaint in a harsh world where we wonder why it seems we are continually put in harm’s way. In the Christian’s life suffering and heartache are very common.

We are hurt by so many troubles, and we are riddled with so many contradictions and wayward tendencies that we get to the stage where we feel we just can’t go on. If we’re honest, there are times when many of us get so tired hearing about godly high standards that seem to be beyond us no matter how hard we try. Ultimately our weariness may lead to hypocritical behaviour that dishonours Christ.

A lukewarm faith is evidence that we are on a slippery slope. Rather than fighting our natural tendencies we just give in and let the flow carry us wherever it’s headed. We may even end up with selective hearing, filtering out what doesn’t suit us and whatever makes us uncomfortable.

Many of those we fellowship with may privately hold to a mere form of godliness that has no spiritual power. None. And they have no interest in examining themselves to see if they are in the faith. If you have a comfortable Christian faith and a religious lifestyle that make no demands of you, you can be sure you’re falling well short of God’s standards. This is a precarious ledge to walk along.

In this mixed up religious world the church you sometimes attend might be more of a hindrance to you than a help. Occasionally some churches seem to be little more than Christianised social clubs that have edited down Bible teaching to make it socially acceptable and all-inclusive. These assemblies are more John 3:16 than John 3:36. But the two are in fact one truth. God isn’t all-inclusive by nature. He is both a loving Saviour and a wrathful judge. Liberal evangelical churches, that are on the rise everywhere, have too easily been influenced by the expectations of the world around them.

Maybe from the day of your baptism you’ve been in the grip of an ecclesiastical system that has you chasing your tail trying to be good enough. You are told what you must do to earn God’s favour, and you know you’ll be in trouble with God if you don’t. You hope to get to heaven, but you’re not sure if you ever will. This isn’t the true God you’re trying to please. This isn’t the salvation the real Jesus bought for us with his blood, freely given to those who will believe in him.

Following Christ should be challenging, but in an enriching way that step by step leads us into spiritual maturity and insight.

Christ taught that we should consider what it costs to follow him. It’s costly. Why bother at all if we aren’t prepared to give all we are and all we have? He demands everything of those He commands to abide in him. We don’t follow him grudgingly, or like robots, but willingly, as those who believe in his faithfulness and his power to save us. If you want to be fit for his kingdom, you’ll be determined to put your hand to the plough and not look back. This is a relationship we are to nourish every day, not now and then.

If you say you’re his follower, you will shoulder your heavy cross and follow him faithfully?

If you truly love him it will be your heart’s desire to keep his commandments. You’ll want to be set apart to live as Christ lived according to God’s Word. When you do you can be sure the world will hate you for it. A lot of religious people might avoid you too. You might even expect to be persecuted for your life of faith, as many do around the world.

And speaking of the world, if you become comfortable with the worldly system around you and you’re deeply attracted to it, you have become God’s enemy. These are strong words, yes, but they are God’s words. The world is totally controlled by your spiritual enemy.

If you don’t think this kind of teaching, and a lot more besides, explains what it means to be a normal Christian, then you’re not accepting the truth, and you’re not on the narrow path God has laid out for you to follow.

Being a real follower of Christ demands our full commitment. How could it be anything else? And it’s not something we should be doing alone. God intends that we should be part of a local assembly where we can lean on one another and grow spiritually.

If you’re unsure about why you should be part of a genuine local church, use your New Testament to answer the following three questions. If you do you’ll have no more doubts about gathering with other believers. If you can, ask mature believers to help you understand what the Bible teaches. This may take some time, but it will be worth the effort you put in.

Question 1
What is Christ’s Church?

Question 2
What is a local church for?

Question 3
How should a local church function?

Enjoying a Holy Lifestyle

Let’s think for a few minutes about the kind of behaviour that honours Christ, a way of living that encourages spiritual growth and that’s centred in God’s will. Firstly, here are a few Scripture verses we should keep in mind. As always with God’s Word, there’s no point in digging into Scripture if it doesn’t nourish us spiritually by renewing our minds with sound teaching.
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As part of Christ’s body, the Church, do we fully appreciate what it means to be set apart and pure? In His Word God’s people are expected to be “holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4). This Christ-like holy goodness can only spring from a submissive heart that habitually communes with God. Anything less is little more than a fruitless religious practice that’s sure to fail when the deeds of the flesh rise up and take control, or when the cares of this life seem too much to bear.

Indeed, the fruit of the Spirit includes “goodness” (Galatians 5:22). Christ is the Light of the world and those who walk in the Spirit, and in the Light, will be fully committed to abiding in Him throughout each day. Being “full of goodness” they “will not carry out the desire of the flesh,” and sin shall not be master over them (read Romans 6:14, Galatians 5:16 and Romans 15:14).

No person can ever be holy in the sense the Lord God is holy. His holiness is the unmatchable perfection of goodness and righteousness. Those who come near Him must fully acknowledge this perfect holiness. (Read 1st Samuel 2:2 and Leviticus 10:3.) Only those who are born again can “have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19).

Those who have accepted Christ are temples, or dwelling places, of the Holy Spirit. As such the believer’s body is in fact a “holy place” that must be continually set apart to bring glory to God. (Read 1st Corinthians 6:19, 20.) Our bodies must be presented to Him as a living and holy sacrifices (see Romans 12:1). As “the temple of the living God,” His separated people must cleanse themselves “from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (read 2nd Corinthians 6:16 and 7:1).

Each believer should be “separated and set apart for pure and holy living,” and “should know how to possess, (control, manage), his own body in consecration, (purity, separated from things profane), and honor” (1st Thessalonians 4:4, Amplified Bible). The Amplified Bible defines sanctification in this way: “spiritually transformed, made holy, and set apart for God’s purpose.” This is an ongoing process. Those who follow Christ must “discipline” themselves “for the purpose of godliness; for godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1st Timothy 4:7, 8).

Self-discipline is key because without it “the purpose of godliness” will not be realised in the disciple’s life. Holy conduct and godliness do not come naturally to us. Rather they are evidence of a dedicated spiritual walk with Christ. It should be our goal to live in a way that pleases him. We must learn to remain in Him while despising the tireless inclinations of our fallen nature. The sinful nature and the Spirit Who is within us are relentlessly opposed to each other. Consider this pivotal truth carefully in context in context in Galatians 5.

In a sobering revelation of His character God proclaims, “I will be jealous for My holy name” (Ezekiel 39:25). This is why He leads us “in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). The NET Bible puts it this way: “He leads me down the right paths for the sake of his reputation.”

We must abide in Christ. We must remain in him each day, for apart from Him we can accomplish nothing (see John 15:5). When we fail to remain in Him, the genuine goodness we want to flourish in our lives will certainly elude us. Instead, as God’s representatives, who are called to glorify the name of Jesus, we may practice the very “evil” that we don’t want to do. Consider carefully and prayerfully the teaching in Romans 7.

We will quickly discover that ungodliness is present within us when we want to do what is good. (see v. 21). This is why we must encourage one another to deliberately “put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth,” (Ephesians 4:24). Putting on the new self is our responsibility.

We are commanded to die to sin and live to righteousness, hate what is evil and cling to what is good, (see 1st Peter 2:24 and Romans 12:9). Maintaining and developing holy character in Christ is a deliberate act of the will that humbly surrenders to God’s authority through the inward working of the Holy Spirit.

Believers who are spiritually disciplined can expect to face distractions that have the potential to weaken their resolve and cause them to sin. When we know the right thing to do but don’t do it, to us it is sin. To put this another way, if our heart doesn’t condemn us, we can have confidence before God. Those who pursue goodness, holiness and purity in Christ will certainly be challenged in at least four distinct ways:

1) The World

One of the most pernicious distractions we face in everyday life is the powerful influence of the world around us. If we are undisciplined it has the potential to undermine our allegiance to Christ. When we touch the world we are interacting with an evil authority that is insidiously and comprehensively opposed to the lordship of Christ. By His Spirit God wants us to be transformed into Christ’s likeness according to the “pattern of sound teaching” laid out for us in God’s Word (see 2nd Timothy 1:13).

The Bible’s God-breathed, all-sufficient teaching is uniquely rooted in His absolute authority. In contrast, “the whole world” around us, in every context imaginable, is under the authority “of the evil one” (see 1st John 5:19). If we are inattentive and careless the world has the potential to shape our thinking according to its godless convictions. The world’s ethos can subtly alter a believer’s renewed mind, creating an uncomfortable contention that encourages godless attitudes.

Many Christians today are exposed to worldly ideologies on a daily basis. In fact, the character of the world impacts their minds much more frequently than the life-changing truthfulness of God’s Word. How does this happen in practice? In the believer’s daily life, the Internet, television and radio are relentless sources of distorted beliefs and godless world-views. Think about this prayerfully: If the whole world lies in the grip of evil, what should we expect the scheming forces of wickedness to accomplish through the entertainment industry and media outlets in general?

The Bible is clear about how we should use our minds: “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

In the lives of too many believers, more time is spent exposed to the world’s godless values than is given over to Christ, loving fellowship with other believers, and the indispensable fullness of Bible teaching. God’s Word pulls no punches. As already mentioned, friendship with the world turns us into God’s enemy: “Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God” (see James 4:4 in the Amplified Bible). Rather than being the world’s friend, we are to do what we can to make sure we are never stained by it.

The more we are wilfully subjected to Christless attitudes, unbelieving life philosophies and a humanist value-system, the more likely it is our fallen nature will rise within us and connect with them. This in turn makes it less likely we will be drawn to God’s truths. His perfect will for us will be obscured. Gradually our holy disciplines will weaken allowing us to be brought under the influence and authority of the wrong spirit.

If we aren’t protecting our minds and walking in the Spirit, the ways of the world will eventually rub off on us. It’s crucial therefore that we renew our thinking each day to protect us from damaging influences that could lead us away from the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit and the empowering “mind of Christ” (1st Corinthians 2:16).

2) Sexual Issues

When we allow ourselves to become undisciplined in our holy walk with Christ we may eventually be tempted to give in to impure thoughts and sexual desires. We live in a world were sexuality and sensuality are flaunted openly. We must remember that as the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit the believer’s “body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body” (1st Corinthians 6:13).

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). “For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you” (1st Thessalonians 4:3; 7, 8).

We shouldn’t shy away from lovingly reminding one another that sexual sins are very destructive and can be spiritually ruinous.

3) The Wrong Company

When inner godliness and goodness don’t characterise our lives we may be led to choose our friends unwisely, further compromising our life of faith. “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals’” (1st Corinthians 15:33). Our conscience will usually tell us when we are willingly mixing with the wrong company. Sometimes, however, it’s not quite so obvious. Company that’s ‘bad’ for us may be found in our church fellowships, and even among the leadership there. An unbelieving friend we have known for years could also cause us to stumble. It could even be a spouse.

Those in the world who don’t belong to Christ, have no spiritual life or insight. They haven’t been born anew from above. Although we are to love the lost, we are also warned, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers. What has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (2nd Corinthians 6:14, 15). Believers and unbelievers are radically different. In this world we are Christ’s representatives. We can be friendly and caring without being spiritually compromised. There’s no getting away from the fact that there may be people in our lives it’s best to avoid.

4) Money

Money is another potential snare to those who desire to desire to live righteously in Christ. Being “free from the love of money,” (see 1st Timothy 3:3), characterises those who serve Him. “The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1st Timothy 6:10). “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will, never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5). “He has sent the rich away empty-handed” (Luke 1:53).

Conclusion

“Live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1).​