Know Who You Are in Christ
Over half a century ago, Donald Grey Barnhouse, the pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, was asked the question, “If Satan could take control of a town in America what would he do? He surprised everybody by saying, “If Satan were in charge in Philadelphia,” he said, “all the bars and the pool halls would be closed, pornography would be banished, there would be pristine streets and sidewalks, occupied with tidy pedestrians who smile at each another. There would be no swearing and the kids would answer “yes sir, no ma’am,” and the churches would be full on Sunday where Christ is not preached.”
Satan has been very busy seeking to make people religious and respectable. If he can produce a pseudo-Christian, he can lull that person into a mediocre state which will keep the individual from hungering for a real relationship with Christ. On the surface, everything may look fine. That is the nature of a good counterfeit. There is more than one way that Satan can deceive someone to follow him. If Satan can lead an individual down a path of obvious self-destruction, a life which is full of recklessness and harm to others, he will do so, causing as much destruction along the way as possible. Often however, he takes a more subtle approach which is less noticeable, but just as effective. If he can gently and quietly lead multitudes down a path that appears to be safe and self-righteous, and keep them self satisfied and unaware of the life they could experience with Christ, he will still succeed in leading those individuals into the darkness just as easily. Either way will do. There are two things that Satan tries his utmost to hinder: 1) He seeks to keep the “not-yet Christians” from entering churches that preach Christ. 2) The other strategy is to keep the true Christians in the dark concerning who they are in Christ after they are converted in order to hinder their fruitfulness. The enemy’s first objective in other words, is to keep us from experiencing life in Christ. If he fails in this task, the second objective is to keep that life of Christ from spreading to others (his plan of “damage control.”) After all, if we live a life of fulfillment in Christ, and realize the power that is available, it will attract many others to true faith. People are attracted to the “real thing.” They know it when they see it. If we are ever to live a life of faith in Christ, we must view ourselves as God sees us.
We must know who we are in Christ. To read more, go to: www.groupbiblestudy.com, click on the tab, Topical Studies and scroll to the series on Growing Faith. Click on the study, “In Covenant with the King.”
