* ALL Questions about the Christian Life *

[Patriot]

What is an “on-fire” Christian?​

Answer

To be “on fire” is to be eager, zealous, or “burning” with enthusiasm. Sometimes we speak of “lighting a fire under” someone, by which we mean “motivating” that person or “urging” him or her to action. Related expressions used in the church include on-fire Christian (“a zealous Christian”) and on fire for the Lord (“filled with enthusiasm for God”). Such idioms are not in the Bible, but we do find examples there of people with “burning” zeal and descriptions of the Lord’s work using terms associated with “fire.”

The Old Testament counterpart of an “on-fire” Christian is a person who had zeal for the Lord and acted on it. Examples include Phinehas (Numbers 25:10–11), David (1 Samuel 13:14; 1 Kings 3:6), Elijah (1 Kings 19:10–14), Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:1–7), and Josiah (2 Kings 22–23).

John the Baptist told the crowds about the coming Messiah, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). That prophecy was first fulfilled on the day of Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection. The disciples were huddled together in a house, fearing persecution, when the Holy Spirit came on each in the form of “tongues of fire” (Acts 2:2–3). Instantly, their fear was replaced with supernatural boldness and zeal for the Lord. These “on-fire Christians” went out into the streets of Jerusalem and fearlessly preached the gospel to huge crowds, including the same people who had recently murdered Christ.

The result was clearly a miracle. Three thousand people came to Christ after just one sermon (Acts 2:41). These new believers, who were certainly “on fire for the Lord,” exhibited love, sacrificial giving, and service to others. Phenomenal church growth continued as the apostles continued preaching and “everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles” (verse 43).

The “on-fire” apostles were marked by a boldness to serve God without compromise, whatever the personal cost or danger. The Sanhedrin was astonished by “the courage of Peter and John,” who were “unschooled, ordinary men” (Acts 4:13). When arrested and ordered to stop preaching about Jesus, the apostles replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (verses 19–20). The next time they were arrested and ordered to stop, they replied, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29). When they were beaten, they rejoiced for being “counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (verse 41). Such is the behavior of those who are “on fire” for the Lord.

Before His crucifixion, Jesus revealed some of the difficulties coming to His followers. Not only would Christians face opposition from the rulers, but even from their own families: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:49–53).

The opposite of an “on-fire” Christian is a lukewarm one. The wealthy, complacent believers in Laodicea were rebuked by the Lord: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15–16). Lukewarm is the least desirable attribute for water or for spiritual commitment. Spiritually, a person who is “hot” or “on fire” for Christ can be very useful. But a person who is “lukewarm” toward Jesus possesses only tepid commitment and lives without joy, without love, and without the fire of the Spirit. “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly” (2 Timothy 3:5, NLT).

Christians who are “on fire” for the Lord reject the safe, comfortable life in favor of accomplishing God’s will; they actively “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11). They are “eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14). Some believers today need to heed Paul’s advice: “I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you” (2 Timothy 1:6, NLT).

For Further Study​

Ignited: A Fresh Approach to Getting--and Staying--on Fire for God by Jonni Parsons

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[Patriot]

What does it mean to be a child of God?​

Answer

The New Testament uses the phrase child of God or children of God several times. First John 3:10 explains what it means to be a child of God: “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” John is not referring here to legalists who rigidly work to earn God’s favor (Titus 3:5). He is describing the life of someone who has truly received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The life of a child of God will be radically different from the life of an unbeliever. A child of God has a desire to live in a way that pleases the heavenly Father (1 Corinthians 10:31), a life characterized by love.

Many people wrongly believe that everyone is a child of God. Since human beings are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), aren’t we all His children? The Bible says no. Every human being is designed by God and loved by Him, but we can only become His children when we are adopted by Him (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 8:15). Because of our sin, we live under the tyranny of Satan, the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). We are enslaved by sin and live to follow its dictates (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). Sin-drenched humanity cannot enter the presence of a holy God. Our sin must be forgiven and our natures restored before we can have fellowship with the One we have offended (Psalm 51:7).

Second Corinthians 5:17 describes what happens when we are born again into the family of God through faith in Jesus: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (KJV). Jesus taught that becoming children of God means we must experience the new birth (John 3:3). To be a child of God means our old sin nature is replaced with a nature that wants to please the Lord. We still sin (1 John 1:8), but we have “an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). Being a child of God means our sins are paid for and our fellowship with God has been restored.

Being children of God means we have access to the “throne of grace” through prayer, any time and from any place; we have the promise that “we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). The child of God trusts his Father to supply all his needs “according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). He is confident that the “Father in heaven [will] give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11).

A child of God has an eternity in heaven guaranteed (Ephesians 1:13–14; John 3:16–18). Jesus has already paid the entry fee for every person who trusts in His death and resurrection. Children of God live in the hope of seeing Jesus face to face, and so they “purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). A child of God is eager to do good works (Titus 2:14), because saving faith is a faith that changes us (James 2:14, 26).

A child of God is no longer a child of the devil and no longer plays in the devil’s backyard. God sets about transforming His children through the power of the Holy Spirit, and they begin to take on a family resemblance (Philippians 2:12–15). If we do not begin to look like our Heavenly Father in word, desire, and action, we are most likely not really His (1 John 1:5–6; 2:3–4).

Human beings were created to live as children of God. Sin marred that purpose and broke that relationship with God. Christ restores us to that original relationship as we repent of sin and place faith in Him. God calls people from every era, region, and status in life to be his children (John 6:44). For all eternity, the sons and daughters of God will worship Him as one, united as a family from “every nation, tribe, and tongue” (Revelation 7:9; 14:6). A child of God lives for Him on earth and eagerly awaits a future with Him in heaven (Philippians 1:21; Galatians 2:20).

For Further Study​

The Quest Study Bible

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[Patriot]

What is the conflict of flesh vs. spirit?​

Answer

The New Testament speaks often about the conflict between the flesh and the spirit. Sometimes the issue is complicated because it is not clear whether the human spirit is in view or God’s Holy Spirit. Sometimes the contrast is between the body with all of its physical limitations and the immaterial part of a person, but often it is between the body’s connection to the temporal world and the immaterial human spirit that has been brought to life by God’s Spirit.

When Jesus wanted His disciples to pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion, they kept falling asleep. Jesus warned them, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). People are normally dominated by the body and the temporal, physical world.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:6). A person can be alive physically (in the body or the flesh) but dead spiritually. A person who has been born again by God’s Spirit is made alive spiritually (see Ephesians 2:1 and Colossians 2:13).

In Romans 8, Paul contrasts those who live by the flesh with those who live by the Spirit. It is clear from the context that he is not referring to fleshly Christians and spiritual Christians but rather to those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit and those who have not. Paul says this explicitly in verse 9: “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” Christians are described as “those who do not live according to the flesh but according to the spirit” (verse 4). Those who are in the flesh are hostile toward God, cannot submit to God, and cannot please God (verses 7–8). This can only describe unbelievers.

Paul elaborates on the conflict of flesh vs. spirit more extensively than any other New Testament writer. In Paul’s writings, the flesh stands for the natural desires of a person operating apart from God. A person who has not been raised to life spiritually is still “in the flesh.” To Paul, a person who is spiritual is one who has been born by the Spirit, even if that person will occasionally fail to live up to that reality. He warns the Galatians, “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3).

Once the spirit of a person has been raised to life by the Spirit of God, the old desires of the flesh do not immediately disappear. There is a battle that rages on. “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want” (Galatians 5:16–17).

The person who has been brought to spiritual life—the work of the Holy Spirit within—will want to please God. But the pull of the world and temporal, physical needs and pleasures are still present. Therefore, the Christian must feed on spiritual food and continually yield to God’s Spirit on a day-by-day, minute-by-minute basis. Feeding the spirit and yielding to the Spirit are done by reading, studying, and obeying God’s Word and then availing oneself of all of the means of spiritual nourishment that the Word prescribes, such as prayer and fellowship. The more one gets into the Word, the more he or she will desire what God desires. The more a person gets into “the world,” the more he or she will desire what “the world” desires. Although Paul does not use the flesh vs. spirit motif in Colossians 3:1–2, the verses do present the same idea: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

The strength of the Christian’s spirit’s alignment with God’s Spirit is in direct correlation to what the Christian chooses to focus on. A focus on God’s Word will cause a person to see things from His perspective and react in ways that please God. A focus on popular culture, worldly philosophy, and conventional wisdom will inevitably cause one to take the perspective of “the flesh” and will subtly or not so subtly warp his or her judgment. Living in the world, we are constantly bombarded with the values and desires of the flesh. Unless we take steps to counteract those messages, we will find ourselves out of step with the Spirit of God who lives within us.

For Further Study​

The Owner's Manual for Christians: The Essential Guide for a God-Honoring Life by Charles Swindoll

More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software

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