Knowing The Difference!
Do you know the difference between a disciple of Christ – and an ordinary religious person? 1. The ordinary religious person plays around the edges of church and religion – the disciple of Christ follows the teachings of Jesus every day. Acts 2:42 2. The ordinary religious person identifies with Denominational Christianity in general – the disciple of Christ is not ashamed to claim membership in the Church of Jesus Christ, the one body. Rom. 16:16 3. The ordinary religious person is flexible, willing to compromise and be a silent believer – the disciple of Christ holds to the pattern of apostolic teaching, without giving any ground to the world. Gal. 1:6-12 4. The ordinary religious person doesn’t care if they miss the Lord’s Supper, having no real conviction about it – the disciple of Christ knows what the New Testament says about this memorial on the first day of the week and wants to partake. Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:17-34 5. The ordinary religious person can move about from church to church and denomination to denomination without any concerns – the disciple of Christ cannot endorse or become involved in that for which there is no Biblical authority. 1 Pet. 4:11 6. The ordinary religious person has no qualms about worldliness – and may think preachers are just not with it about having fun, drinking and dancing and playing around – the true disciples of Christ – according to Eph. 5:11 – will have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness and has decided to not be a friend of the world (Jas. 4:4). 7. The ordinary religious person doesn’t care much about what the Bible says about how to become a Christian – so to him or her – virtually everybody is a Christian. The disciple of Christ believes the only way to become a Christian is to do what the apostles of Christ said and wrote. Acts 2:37-41 8. The ordinary religious person does not consult Scripture – to verify what preachers say . . . The disciple of Christ must do that. Acts 17:11 You have to decide – are you going to be just an ordinary religious person, some sort of generic “Christian,” or – a true disciple of Christ, committed to His teachings! By Warren E. Berkley The Final Page
