If you’re born again then you are to be of a manner of character that reveals God’s image in what you do whether it’s having a conversation or in helping others by some means of material, physical or monetary assistance. I recently had a conversation with someone about how the Democrats are being called anti-Christians because of what they do or say. And the gist of it was focused around the fact no one can say someone isn’t a Christian just by what they do or say. This is true, but scripture reveals when one comes to Christ there is a repentance change that takes place in the heart leaving them with a conscious knowledge that they’re no longer the same person as before.
The problem is believers easily become a product of their environment and act in the same manner as those around them who are not like Christ. 14 Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. It doesn’t take a lot to encourage us to be as we were before simply because it fits right into the normal activity of the day that any evil is always present in. 15 As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. He has a better plan and way of life that doesn’t cater to the mannerisms of the world, but the key to living it is obedience.
This issue of Democrats being non-Christian isn’t played out in the annals of congress or the halls of any statute of government. It’s convened and judged by God with respect to any holiness that might be present. Some things are clearly not based on the fact that by some religiously mannered activity they’re made holy or acceptable in their hypocrisy. Since holiness comes only through Christ and His salvation promise. 16 God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” This verse has sparked many a conversation around whether we make ourselves this way or are we made this way and need to live up to it.
17 You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living. Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. If one thinks they can get away with being a poor representative of holiness they need to think again. God purposed His offspring’s way of living long before any of us were ever conceived by the word of truth. And He established it in Christ before the foundations of the earth were ever made, making it still laced in His expectations as a Father today.
How is any of this relevant to Christians? It’s the fact many believers go array regarding what manner of life they are to present because they’re led away from the truth. 18 It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. 19 He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. 20 And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. 21 It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. 22 Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it.
The very thing that brings any of us to God through Christ by the Holy Spirit is the word of truth that we hear. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! Herein lies a fact that for any believer to be as the world is they must no longer see themselves as a Child of God. 24 That’s why the prophet said, The old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop, 25 God’s Word goes on and on forever. This is the Word that conceived the new life in you. 1 Peter 1:14-25 (MSG)
Now do not get your anxieties wrapped around the fact that I used the Democrats as an example in this. They are no worse off than anyone else whether it be a Republican or Independent or whoever that acts unholy. This isn’t tied to politics, but the political arena has given way to this evil mannerisms way too often. And the hypocrisy that is seen in it is discouraging to those who want to be seen as God expects them to be. Jesus made it clear anyone who testifies falsely of who’s they are and seeks honor from others for it, is of their father the devil. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Any aspect of why they are of the devil is engrained in the hypocrisy and untruths they speak, as this is exactly the way he speaks. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. It’s the very nature of Satan to destroy life, most especially any life that God has ordained to be, and words are an effective way of accomplishing this. But they clearly must be words structured with lies to defer any consciousness of life that God testifies of. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. John 8:41-45
Jesus was hated for telling the truth that He and the Father were one and that He had come from above. They could not hear the words He was saying simply because Christ’s voice was too dissimilar to the voice their ears were so used to hearing, even though they spoke the same Hebrew language. Though we all might speak the same language we’re not able to hear one another simply because of our indifference in how we speak, why we speak, and what we speak. This means there is much more to proving who one is than any communication of a language we both know.
