I was reading this last night at “Carried by Christ”, and thought it was a worthwhile read.

What rang true for was the phrase “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Which is from Matthew 7:16-20.

Christ’s sacrifice is an incredible free gift, all we need to do is accept it. But along with that acceptance, comes a change.

Once such a commitment is made, the battle with sin is not over. In fact, it is then that the battle is just beginning. Our fruits do not earn us placement with our Heavenly Father, but our fruits do reflect our faith and our walk with the Lord. The relationship with the Lord, when in the proper context, will produce good fruit.

One hopes that happens, because if it doesn’t, we will never move past the ‘child in Christ’ stage. Doug refers to the ‘lukewarm Christian’ who is inadvertently doing the bidding of the enemy. Christianity isn’t just a set of beliefs. It isn’t about going to church or doing good deeds to get brownie points. It is, as David Treybig puts it,

a way of thinking, a way of responding to God, a way of dealing with others, a way of putting material things in proper perspective, a way of life.

I pray today that I am not “lukewarm”; and that I truly am walking the walk.

Being a Christian involves a lot more than playing empty lip service to a belief system. It’s a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Mark Copeland outlines the three stages in a Christian’s life, which are the ‘babe in Christ’ or infancy stage, youth, and then maturity.

Theoretically, a person could live an entire lifetime in Christ as a spiritual infant and never progress.

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