Marks of a True Christian

She says her attitude is not always good but if she waits a minute a better one comes up. As I read a section in Charnock and another in the NT, I have to smile once again. I also have to ask God to help me think before I react.

My protests are mild. A driver cuts me off. A clerk short-changes me. Someone is rude, or ignores me. Blah, blah, blah. She is ordered to do something painful, given conflicting information, or no information, but she waits on that better attitude. I so often don’t.

Charnock talks about God being “slow to anger, and great in power” in that His power moderates His anger. He is not at the command of His passions, as many of us are, but instead  restrains His anger even when provoked to exercise it. His power over Himself is the cause of his slowness to wrath. 

In Numbers 14:13-19, Moses pleads for pardon for the people on that basis, that God will not clear the guilty, but is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression.” I find it easy to be angry and slow to abound in love, quite the opposite. But not all of His people are like that. I am watching this one who is provoked but waits for a better attitude to come along. Anger may be powerful but as Charnock says, it is a want of a power over self that makes us do unbecoming things when provoked. A prince that can bridle his passion is a king over himself, as well as over his subjects. God is slow to anger, because He is great in power: He hath no less power over himself than over His creatures: He can sustain great injuries without an immediate and quick revenge: He hath the power of patience, as well as the power of justice.

For this reason, He can tell me to be like Him, not in the sense where He can deal with evil, but in the restraining of that desire so I may love like He loves. He speaks loudly to me, not only through the example of another, but in these words that describe what He wants from me:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9–21)

PRAY: Lord, Your Word and Your people are to show the world what You are like, not in Your wrath for that belongs only to You, but in Your power to be merciful, to hate evil but leave it to You to deal with those who oppose me in any way. When I think about it, the rude and unkind people are not my greatest enemy. Instead, the hardest battles are in trying to put down my own selfishness. Grant me great willingness to abhor the bad attitudes that pop up far too easily in my own life. I am my own worst enemy.

Unity in Diversity

MacArthur writes how God brought together opposites, like Simon the Zealot, Matthew the tax collector, Simon the fisherman and others with diverse backgrounds.

In our church, we have doctors, retired farmers, engineers, teachers, homemakers, former pastors, students, and others from varying walks of life, yet there is harmony.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1–6)

Unity is a work of the Holy Spirit. I recall in early days supporting a few missionaries in prayer and with my limited funds. On a vacation, we managed to meet with one of those couples and I still remember how surprised I was at the unity we had with them, total strangers in many ways yet we had in common the Lord Jesus Christ.

This unity is precious. The Spirit produces the ingredients. We know we are called into the family of God, not because of anything we have done, hence humility. We know the gentleness of God who patiently deals with our sins and issues of life. We know His love and, in that love, we know His promises and the hope that He gives us.

We also know the brevity of life and the senselessness of making issues out of our differences when God offers us that amazing peace that passes understanding. Whatever we lack in common ground in this life is more than made up for with the common ground of being God’s children. We together battle sin and together wage war with the forces of evil. We know there is no other ‘body’ of people like us. We know the power of the Holy Spirit as He leads and guides us.

We also know that there is only one Lord who is Jesus, and one faith — people trust Him or not! We also are aware of the unity He produces and the unity that is in Him, our three in One God who is sovereign and in us all. This Holy Spirit power and presence, as long as we walk in Him, is our unity. The past cannot separate us nor can our current differences.

In fact, we can relish the differences, enjoy them but also profit by them. The Spirit gives us varying gifts and when I need encouragement, God sends someone with that gift. When I need leadership, there are others who are better at vision and being organized that can guide me. Like the parts of a human body, we make up an entire unit. How lovely is the work of God in us!

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4–7)

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Corinthians 12:18–26)

PRAY: Lord Jesus, I thank You for giving Your people unity through the power of the Holy Spirit. It really is an amazing reality, another one of those ‘only God’ things for which we are blessed. Continue to bless our church family with unity and should anything arise to push us apart, may You grant us the grace to drop any faction or disruption and be one in the Spirit, one in the Lord, just as You have so graciously made possible.

READ Romans 12:9–21. Are any of these attitudes missing in my life? If so, what can I do to restore them?