Even Demons Believe, Chapter Seventeen

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17. Why Become A Christian?

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This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19–20)

Whether you honestly want God’s mercy and grace can be answered with a very simple question. Are you tired of a life in the darkness and do you hunger for light? Jesus died for mankind to allow those who hunger for holiness, truth, goodness, purity, and love a chance to possess these qualities. Those who hate evil come into the light to become righteous like Jesus. In short, there is only one real reason why someone would want to become a disciple.

You might be asking yourself, with all the suering and loss involved in a Christian’s life why would anyone want to be a disciple? e answer is very simple, yet few want it. It is a matter of loving God. True love for God is stronger than death, even death to self. God is holy, perfect love and those who desire God want to be with Him, and be like their Father.

Which Father do you want to be like? Those who do not love God this way belong to their “father, the devil” and want to do what pleases him and themselves. There is no middle ground, either it is the cross in a man’s life or it is the devil in his life. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire … (John 8:44)

Disciples love what is good, and God is very good. In fact, God is the only one good and in loving Him we love all that is good. Only when we desire everything noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy can we expect the “God of peace” in our lives. God only loves and fellowships with those who love righteousness. Those who come to Jesus just because their lives are miserable are in for a terrible shock on judgment day.

  • Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me —put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8–9)

Now is our time of “testing.” A man who loves God, loves righteousness, truth, and holiness no matter the suering or loss. Those who love wickedness want a false Jesus who will bless them in a worldly manner. If you love God with a true desire, you consider the cross in your life a thing of beauty and joy. The cross forms a person into the image of Jesus and is God’s method for making us ready for His holiness. Those dying to themselves are transformed into the likeness of Jesus and therefore sin gradually vanishes. A true Christian sins less and less each day. If you know someone who claims to be a Christian but is a hypocrite, they are not really of Jesus. Because Jesus “appeared” to “take away our sins” so that a person will stop sinning.

  • But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in
    him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:5–6)

Anyone who tells you they know God but continues to sin is a liar. Just like the demons who believe in God but keep on sinning, so too, such people have a demonic faith without the life-changing power of a crucifying cross. Don’t “let anyone lead you astray” in this matter. Someone who honestly follows Jesus will stop sinning. A true disciple sees new sins to die to each day while they stop the old sins of the past from rising up. Indeed, they “cannot go on sinning, because” they have “been born of God.”

  • Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:7–9)

If you do not nd the cross to be a joy, the odds are you will persecute those who do follow Jesus on the narrow road. ink about Moses who made a conscious choice to be “mistreated” with the “people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” Admittedly, sin is fun and enjoyable, while the cross brings pain and crucies us to the world. If someone portrays Christianity as fun and enjoyable, they preach a false Jesus.

  • He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. (Hebrews 11:25–26)

The cross gives us each a choice. If we “value” the “treasures of Egypt” more than the love of God, we reject this message. Our acceptance or rejection of the message of the cross reveals who and what we love.

If you “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” God makes you into a brand new person so that your righteousness results from His power.

  • Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be lled. (Matthew 5:6)

The salvation call of Jesus comes with true “authority” and power. His salvation call demands we obey all He requires by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith. This is what God means by “grace,” it is His power in us to say “No” to sin the good news of God grants us a “festival” of righteousness, denying self, and hating our lives in this world. TThe good news lets us obey God, having our sins washed away, so that we can enjoy sweet fellowship with Him. God’s amazing grace gives us the power to become totally new creations. ose who merely want the blessings of God apart from the crucified life use God to indulge themselves in their sinful desires. They are like demons who believe in God, yet are still demons by nature. Like devils, they want the things of God for their own ends, but are not in love with God’s character. ose who honestly love God want to be like Jesus, and Jesus became who He was, as the Son of Man, by the cross manifested in His life. A true disciple lives for the hope of being “like him.” If we really love Jesus then we will want to imitate Him while we are in “this world.” Only with this message can we have “condence” that our faith is ready for “the day of judgment.”

  • In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have condence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. (1 John 4:17)

Truths To Ponder, Beliefs To Examine

  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?
  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?
  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?

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