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"The one who says that he abides in him (Christ) must live the same way he himself lived." - 1 John 2:6
Just because you may have met someone and talk to them on occasion doesn't mean you really know them. While you may be somewhat acquainted them, it doesn't mean you are actually friends.
A lot of professing Christians today seem to think that just because they've read / studied Jesus' biography and can recite a couple of His teachings that they actually know Him. The truth is they are no better off than a teenage girl with a crush on the latest pop music teen heart throb. Sure she may know a lot about him from reading up on him and may be able to sing all of his songs by heart, but that does not mean that she can just waltz backstage at a concert and strut into his dressing room as if she was a family member.
While the Bible itself may be considered our "ticket" to the concert, it is not a backstage pass nor does it give us access to Jesus' "dressing room". You can only gain access to the intimate places through authentic faith, a faith which inspires humility, prayer and repentance.
Scripture teaches us that we can tell true Christians from the counterfeit because the authentic have spent so much time in the presence of God that His nature literally becomes their own. Then and only then does Jesus call you "friend".
Just because you may have met someone and talk to them on occasion doesn't mean you really know them. While you may be somewhat acquainted them, it doesn't mean you are actually friends.
A lot of professing Christians today seem to think that just because they've read / studied Jesus' biography and can recite a couple of His teachings that they actually know Him. The truth is they are no better off than a teenage girl with a crush on the latest pop music teen heart throb. Sure she may know a lot about him from reading up on him and may be able to sing all of his songs by heart, but that does not mean that she can just waltz backstage at a concert and strut into his dressing room as if she was a family member.
While the Bible itself may be considered our "ticket" to the concert, it is not a backstage pass nor does it give us access to Jesus' "dressing room". You can only gain access to the intimate places through authentic faith, a faith which inspires humility, prayer and repentance.
Scripture teaches us that we can tell true Christians from the counterfeit because the authentic have spent so much time in the presence of God that His nature literally becomes their own. Then and only then does Jesus call you "friend".