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Main Idea
Anyone can live an effective Christian life.
I think that is a pretty intriguing question, don’t you? I know I would love to know how to be an effective Christian. If you had to answer that question right now, what would your answer be? What definition would you bring to the table?
Does effectiveness or success look like:
- A satisfactory level of accomplishment in spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, and Bible reading?
- The level of closeness you feel with God?
- The accumulated amount of knowledge about God and His word?
- The number of people you have evangelized? Discipled?
- The reality of your children walking in the faith?
Are these things what define your effectiveness or success in Christian living? What if I told you those were all evidence of a successful Christian life but not the actual reasons for it?
What if I told you that I could sum up the answer to this question in three simple points… three simple steps to learn… that will make you successful? Would you believe me?
Well, let’s find out!
Outline
I – Learn who God is
II – Learn who I am
III – Learn what it means
I – Learn who God is
God must be the starting point of our venture, amen? Since God is the only eternal being in existence, we need to start with Him. Our kids in VBS learned a lot about who God is from Moses in a passage of scripture that is only four verses long. Let’s take a look at those together:
Exodus 34:4–7 ESV
4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…
From this short passage, we can glean six different attributes of God to discover, so let’s dig deeper into them.
Merciful
Mercy means that God doesn’t give us what we deserve (punishment) and does give us what we do not deserve. Instead of God being uncompassionate, like a big sky bully who uses a magnifying glass to burn the ant hill, He is actually a God who has mercy on His creation. Why mercy? Because we sin. He saves us despite our fatal conditions brought about by our sinfulness. He certainly didn’t save us because of who we are. That must mean that He did it because of who He is. Part of learning about God is discovering these same truths from different vantage points that bring in similar and additional information, such as Paul’s thoughts in his letter to the church in Ephesus.
Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Gracious
Grace means a pouring out of kindness and goodwill from one person to another, especially from one in a position of power over another. In this case, God is giving the blessings of His love, forgiveness, & mercy… (otherwise known as His unmerited favor) to us who haven’t earned or deserved it. The more we understand our own inclinations toward sin, the more we stand amazed at the grace God gives us.
“The ultimate test of our spirituality is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God.”
– Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Nehemiah 9:31 ESV
31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
Patient
God never gets in a hurry. Because He lives outside of time, He is the embodiment of long-suffering. This is seen throughout scripture in places like the wilderness journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.
- How often do we waiver in our faith because we think too much time has passed as we wait for a promise to be fulfilled?
- Or, how many of us have fallen victim to the idea that God is done with us because we have failed too many times?
God doesn’t grow weary and throw up His hands in frustration as we do. He patiently works with you as a Father, delighting in the growth of His child.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Loving
If we aren’t careful, we can conclude that love is something that God has, as if there was a finite amount of the thing called love that is dispensed until it is gone, like lemonade in a glass pitcher. That is a much better description of human love, but it is not at all an accurate description of God’s love.
Instead, John tells us that God IS love… meaning it is at the core of His very being. So, an infinite God contains an infinite amount of love, and from that love comes His mercy and grace. We can no more separate love from God than we can separate an apple from being a fruit. It is what it is, and God is who He is – love.
1 John 4:8 ESV
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Faithful
God is faithful, even when we are not. In this relationship, only one person always moves away from the other. When we fail, God’s love draws us back. When we seek pleasures outside of our relationship with Him, he stands as a loyal husband calling out to a wayward wife to return to his side. When our strength fails, His remains steadfast.
2 Timothy 2:13 ESV
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
…because God is perfect and unchanging, and if faithfulness is a part of who He is, it is impossible for Him to be unfaithful to those He promised His faithfulness to.
Forgiving
This is a natural consequence of these other attributes. If we fail, He is faithful. If He is loving, gracious, and merciful toward fallen creatures, He must be willing to forgive our numerous shortcomings. This is an actionable result of the other attributes.
Psalm 86:5 ESV
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
Because God is forgiving, we can be everything that we will learn about next.
And as you learn these things, you must do so intellectually and experientially. To know who God is with your mind only leads to arrogance and pride. To know who God is with your heart and emotions only leads to shallowness and anchor-less, like a ship at sea being tossed around by the storm. You need both/and. Jesus said to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. To know Him in any other way would leave you lacking.
So, the key to lesson one is to dedicate yourself to a lifetime of learning who God is and delighting in what you discover.
That is step one in being a successful Christian. Now, let’s look at step two.
II – Learn who I am
The pursuit of our individual identity is one of the most important topics in our culture today. We can so easily get caught up in our own selfish pursuits that we forget where our identity should come from. It doesn’t come from the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the friends we have, the career we pursue, the lifestyle we project, or sexual preferences. Those all stem from ourselves, and I’m convinced that a host of issues we see in our culture would fade away if we could learn this one lesson.
Our identity is not rooted in who we think we are or who we want to be. Our identity is in who God says we are as people who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
So, as we did with God, let’s briefly explore six of our God-given identities.
Created
This identity applies to the entire human race.
Genesis 1:27 ESV
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
In Latin, this is called the Imago Dei. Every human on earth is made in God’s image and is, therefore, worthy of honor, respect, and love. It is the basis for all human rights, social justice, and evangelistic outreach to non-believers. We are not like the animals. We are the apex of God’s creation, hand-crafted to reflect His glory.
Loved
If God is love, we get to receive that love. In the ultimate act of a particular aspect of His love – a sacrificial love – God sent His Son into the world to die and redeem His people.
John 3:16–17 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Some of you need to hear this today. You may be thinking that you are under God’s wrath right now, but we are assured that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved and are, therefore, no longer under His wrath but under His grace.
Restored
What does it mean to restore something or someone? I love woodworking. Years ago, I bought an old, dilapidated wooden desk. It was in pitiful shape, but I restored it. I stripped off the old varnish, sanded down the scuffs, fixed the broken drawer tracks, applied a new coat of stain, and put a new finish on it. What was once broken was now fully functional and beautiful.
Romans 5:10–11 ESV
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
We should all appreciate what Jesus did to restore our relationship with God. The fact is, we were once enemies of God and spiritually dead in our sins. That sinfulness and deadness destroyed our relationship with God, but through Jesus’ sacrifice, that relationship has been restored or reconciled. Our old varnish, scuffs, and brokenness have been removed, and we are restored to our Heavenly Father.
Adopted
And not only do we get our relationship restored, but we are also adopted into the family! God took His enemies and took them on as His sons and daughters!
Romans 8:15–17 ESV
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
With God as your Father, you get to enjoy all the benefits of being his child. His limitless love, grace, and mercy are yours!
Agent
Now that we are comforted and cared for as children and heirs, we also get to be part of the family business. We are God’s Kingdom representatives on earth.
2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
The role of an Ambassador is to live in a foreign land to represent the head of their nation and speak on behalf of the King, President, or Ruler. This comes with authority and representation. What you do reflects who God is. Have you ever thought about it like that? If I sent you to another county to conduct business on behalf of Ashe Alliance, you would speak for me. People will view your conduct as a way I would conduct myself. It’s no different with God as His Ambassador and Son or Daughter. People will glean their understanding of what God is like by the way you carry yourself, speak, and act.
New
And finally, you are new. Literally a new creation. If it’s true that you were once dead in your sin, then it is equally as true that you have been regenerated to new life in your relationship with Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
That doesn’t mean that you will never struggle with past sins, habits, and addictions that you did in the ‘old self,’ but it does mean that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you can overcome them in the ‘new self.’ You were born once and created in God’s image, and upon receiving Christ as Lord and Savior, you were born a second time to new spiritual life!
So, this is who you are. You are not what you do, such as an accountant. That is what you do. You are not the guy with the cool car or the woman with the beautiful house. Those things are what you have. You are created in God’s image who has been forgiven, restored, and adopted as His children, who are loved and given the wonderful purpose of proclaiming the excellencies of your King and Father in this foreign land.
And the beautiful thing about finding your identity in God is that no one or no thing can ever take it away.
Knowing who you are in Christ is step two. And, just as step one, you can spend the rest of your life discovering new things about who you are and how that changes you. Now, we have to combine steps one and two and discover what we do with it.
III – Learn what it means
So, in summary, here is what we have just learned:
God is:
1. Merciful (tie into goodness)
2. Gracious
3. Patient
4. Love
5. Faithful
6. Forgiving (tie into peace)
We are:
1. Created in His image
2. Loved
3. Restored (tie into joy)
4. Adopted children
5. Agents (tie into self-control)
6. New Creations
I am God’s tree
To help drive this final point home, I want you to understand this biblical metaphor. In the Bible, God compares Himself to a Gardener, and his children are compared to plants… specifically trees.
Take a look with me at the very first psalm:
Psalm 1:1–3 ESV
1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
Matthew 7:17–18 ESV
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
I bear fruit
Now, what do most trees do? They bear fruit, don’t they? So, as you discover more profoundly who God is and who you are in Him, it will begin to change you. Because you are spiritually alive, you will begin to bear spiritual fruit. Paul tells us what that is in his letter to the Galatians:
Galatians 5:22–23 ESV
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
1. love
2. joy
3. peace
4. patience
5. kindness
6. goodness
7. faithfulness
8. gentleness
9. self-control
Why… those look a lot like God’s attributes and our identities, don’t they?
- God is love, and we are loved by God.
- God restored our relationship by dying on the cross to remove our sins. We should be pretty joyful every time we think about that, shouldn’t we?
- Because God is forgiving, we have peace with Him.
- God is patient and slow to anger. If He is that way, we should be patient with each other, shouldn’t we?
- God is kind… showing us a grace we didn’t deserve.
- God is good… being merciful and giving us what we didn’t deserve… adoption!
- God is faithful to us, even when we aren’t faithful to him. Understanding his faithfulness helps us to be more faithful.
- God gently deals with us, loving us as sons and daughters and encouraging us to be less sinful and more like Him.
- And, because we represent God to others, we can learn to control ourselves and act in a way that brings Him honor and glory.
Bearing fruit is step three and is where this all comes together.
When you learn more about God (through scripture and daily living) and start seeing yourself as God sees you, you bear fruit. If you passionately pursue these two things, your discoveries will naturally translate into action, just like James talks about when he says we are to be doers of the Word and not just hearers only.
Evangelism, discipleship, spiritual disciplines, Christian fellowship, maturity… all of these things come out of these three simple steps.
So, now you have a new mission. Now that you have discovered these exciting truths, you have put in the work and live them out. Learn who God is, learn who you are, and bear the fruit that grows as a result.