The Goal of Christian Conversion

The goal of sharing the good news about Jesus and inviting people to embrace in exchange for their belief is to transform that person. This transformation is explained by using different terminologies which include born again , new man , new life , new man , resurrected life , eternal life , zoe etc. But the best word to describe this transformation , conversion is to use the term  "Christlike" . The goal of Christian conversion is  to make man "Christlike".

It starts with
1. Repentance and Faith - To believe is to repent and to repent is the first expression of belief.They both are interwoven.To believe is to trust that Christ died as a substitute for one's sins and came back to life on the third day. To confess is to confess publically that one is now a follower of Christ.
2. Discipleship - The repenting person who expressed faith in Christ as his saviour and Lord is the disciple of Christ.
The invitation to accept Christ is a call to become a disciple or follower of Christ. The goal of discipleship is to transform the disciple and make him "Christlike" in character , attitude , motive and action without destroying his individuality. 
3. A disciple is a Child of God , has a new identity , new nature as a person who has a relationship with God and a new purpose and destiny  to reach and fulfill.

The more Christlike a person is the more free he is to be  good  , do good and spread the goodness which results from being Christlike.

Becoming Christlike is akin to returning to innocence , returning to purity in attitude , values , motive and action .

To be Christlike is to love and live like Christ and interpret holiness not legalistically just as a set of do and don't but as being and living like Christ with pure motive and pure love.

"Men need a goal for character and Jesus is the goal" - Dr. E.Stanley Jones

The goal of conversion is to invite men into a relationship with God through Christ with the goal of that person becoming Christlike in and through a process of transformation and spiritual formation. The spiritual formation is the transformation of the person into the image of Christ.It is the process of being delivered from the power of sin and becoming more Christlike.

The plan of God to fix the world is make more and more Christlike souls who will continue his good work and live a life of sacrifice and love.

It is in and through this creation of christlike inviduals , Christ is preached without uttering a single word and God is glorified.

The goal of conversion is to glorify God by transforming sinful souls into the image  of Christ .

Jesus is the God expressing and revealing himself as a human being. This universe is a Christ centered one. "Everything was created by him and for him ."Colossians 1. When anyone aligns with this great axiom of life , when anyone repents ,turns and starts living for Christ , he is aligning with the purpose for which the universe was created . He is instantly given the Holy Spirit and is filled with peace and joy which he has never experienced before. This common after conversion experience roots the new believer in Christ and confirms to him , through the inner witness of the Holy Spirit that he is indeed God's Child who has the backing of the almighty God in his pursuit to live for and according to Christ.
The aim of Christian conversion is to call one to alignment with the purpose of the universe.The call goes to all. No one is exempt. When that alignment occurs in a single life , heaven celebrates , angels party. That's how precious we are to God. That's why Christ is the good news.

Jones' Principles of Sharing Christ in a cross cultural /multicultural environment

 1.Christianity should be defined as Christ , not the old testament , not western civilization ,not even the systems built around him in the west , but only Christ himself and to be a Christian is to follow him.

2.Christ must be interpreted in terms of Christian experience rather than through mere arguments .

3. Be absolutely frank - there should be no camouflage in hiding ones meaning or purpose by non-committal subjects.The audience should know exactly what it is they are coming to hear

4. Announce beforehand that there is to be no attack on anybody's religion. There should be only a positive presentation of Christ. "You cannot cut the nose and then give a rose to smell".

5. Allow them to ask questions at the close - face everything and dodge no difficulties.

Rev. Stanley Jones , Christ of the Indian Road

Incarnation Theology : Principles and Applications

Incarnational theology is studying and knowing God in the process of Incarnation of Christ , the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Key words: Kenosis , emptying ,self giving, taking up a lowly form, humbling to the point of death on the cross for no fault of His.
Passage : Philippians 2


Philippians 2

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

 

Strikings Words - He made himself nothing  . For God Jesus to become man and to live as servant and dying on the cross for the sins of others is the greatest expression of love. God has expressed , demonstrated his love for us in this.

 

  ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5

 

 ¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^{[f] 15} that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”^{[g] 16} For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

 

Jesus coming into this world and dying for us is how God demonstrated how much he loves us. 

 

Application of Incarnation theology :

 

Responsibility:

 1. ¹⁸ People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. But people who do not believe are already judged, because they have not believed in God’s only Son.

Repent of your unbelief and Believe him as your saviour and God .

 

2. ¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16

You got to do the same thing

 

3.  Missions : Leaving your comfort zone. Going where you are called . Serving like Jesus and sharing the same love of Christ to those who do not know him.

4. Living a life of simplicity and humility

 

Privilages :

5. Always remembering , "Jesus loves you/me. No greater love can anyone show you/me more than this.You are always loved and accepted .You are a Child of God. He is always there for you"

6. Living worry free :
³² He even let his own Son suffer for us. God gave his Son for all of us. So now with Jesus, God will surely give us all things. Romans 5

 

 

 

 

Principles of Political Theology - 1

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. Ezekial 16:49 , 50

I recently bought a book "From the ruins of Empire" by Pankaj Mishra , which depicts the rise and fall of the east and the west in Asia. The first observable thing as in all of history is the 'P' FACTOR or PRIDE FACTOR , which invites God's judgement and indignation.

As an empire , any empire grew in size and power , it's P factor also significantly heightened and within a period of time depending on it's level of P factor , it went down . The conquerors or destroyers were no different and sooner of later reached the critical level of P FACTOR which led to their destruction also. This can be seen getting repeated from time immemorial in human history .

God abhors pride and indifference. Even in Bible , Sodom , Judah , Babylon etc bring out the effect of P FACTOR in their history.

So history can be predicted to repeat this  rise and fall caused by P FACTOR in   different empires and nations and kingdoms .

Remember , the cause of destruction is internal decay , pride and abundance leading to indifference neglect of the poor and the abundance leading to   complacency and compromise with sin . Sin gets trivialized and glorified . The decay in sexual relations and conduct can be seen reflected in the art and it indicates the end is imminent. The Lord's words, "I did away with them will hold true ".

There is still hope . Read Ninevah ,repenting at the preaching of Jonah and God averting the disaster he had planned. So it all depends on their P factor. If they resist the message of God and do not humble themselves  , the Lord God almighty will do away with them.

Hearers and doers - Jesus states the significant difference

    Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
(Luke 8:19-21 ESV)

What best describes you? You are just a hearer , hearing always but never intending to follow Christ seriously ?

You may claim to have a relationship with God through Christ, but for Jesus to say the same thing you should be a doer of the word of God and not just a listener or hearer.

Believers and Followers : Making the vital distinction

Believers in Christ as their saviour from sin have to contend with these two categories. Believing is an important part of Christianity.

There are statements of belief  , which articulate the truths about God, which must be believed in order to be called a Christian. This is finely taught and firmly stressed by most Christian churches. This is basic and necessary and we are doing a good job.

All of us believe Jesus is the incarnate son of God , coequal with the Father and he is the saviour i.e saviour from God's wrath and judgement , from the penalty of sin , from the power of sin , the sinful nature , the worldly system and Satan and his demons. There is no one else who can save us from these entities. Jesus is the only way. He opened the doors for all to be saved by believing that he ,Jesus , the sinless son of God died in our stead , taking up our punishment due for our sin and opening the way for us to have a relationship with God.

What we mean is that , we cannot do anything by ourselves to atone for our sins. Only in Christ , forgiveness of sins is made available to anyone who "Repents of his sinful life and believes in Christ and petitions God to forgive his sins". There is no other way. This aspect of salvation is accomplished by repentance and faith.

Many Christians are not taught this basic tenent of Christianity very clearly and repeatedly. People are taught to believe , but not repent.  These are the first type of "born again" believers.They are told they can have a relationship with God. They don't know what they are saved for ,which is good works , obedience , living like Jesus ,which is what their relationship with God is ,according to the teaching of Christ and his apostles. They believe they are saved by grace, by which they mean forgiveness of sins, but have not understood the other side of grace ,which is the grace given to say "no! to sin and live self controlled and Godly lives in this present age"(Titus 2)
¹¹ "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,  while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,  
 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."  

They don't believe in "working out their salvation in fear and trembling for it is God who works in them" Philippians 2 .So they don't work out their salvation as the apostle teaches. That has become an optional teaching.
These guys believe only half the gospel ,because they know only about 1/2 the work of grace i.e faith and forgiveness of the same sins again and again. They don't think it is necessary to overcome sin and work towards perfection.

Second group , are those who start well . They do repent and believe. But after that , they are not taught to go the full way of self denial , cross carrying and loving God and loving neighbours like Jesus did. These type two believers are taught to read the bible and pray and to attend church service ,without sufficiently emphasizing , teaching and modelling repeatdly the commandments of Christ. They are not self denying , cross carrying followers . They only follow when it is convenient. Inconvenience , threats and insecurities lead them to justify their unfaithfulness to the teachings of Christ and give themselves false assurance of salvation inspite of willful unrepentant sin based on the fact that they still believe in Christ. Their brand of Christianity can be called convenient Christianity , inspite of their initial and continuing  repentance and faith. They are not sincere in their continuing repentance . They think they can live with willful unrepentance of certain sins and still continue in Christ. Theses form the majority of the believers of the Church of this age. These christians work out their salvation , but not with fear and trembling but insincerely. They try and adjust and accommodate unrepentant willful sins to their own destruction. These people believe and overcome sins , but are not willing to confess , repent and forgo some sins intentionally and repeateldly because they don't think it is necessary. They think they can still reach heaven with their willful , repeated , unrepentant sins. They fit the verse in hebrews , " You have not resisted sin to the point of shedding your blood" Hebrews 12. They are still holding themselves back. They do not love God or their neighbours with all their heart ,soul ,mind and strength.

Type three believers are those who repent , believe Christ died for their sins , bear fruit in keeping with repentance and take seriously the commands of Christ , which is nothing but self denial , carrying the cross and loving like Jesus both God and fellow humans. They take their sins seriously .They mourn over their spiritual poverty. They rejoice in overcoming sin and obeying to the point of shedding their blood . They seek to love God with all their heart ,soul , mind and strength and God fulfill the hunger of their heart by teaching them to love God and neighbour like Jesus did. They are not just believers , they are serious followers of the teachings of Christ. This rare group have entered the small gate and narrow way of Christ .These are few , who sincerely love God. Their understanding of love for God is very biblical.They believe the words of Jesus, "The one who obeys me is the one who loves me." These are proactive Christians , not reactive in their obedience.Their obedience to Christ is not based on circumstances. Their obedience does not change with insecurities , threats and inconveniences. They are ready to sacrifice all and they do sacrifice whatever necessary then and there to follow Christ , to express their love and gratitude to God . These are the ones God is looking for , seeking for .These are the ones whose names can be added to the Hebrews 12. They walk by faith , not by sight. They express their faith through holy love. They have grasped what it means to follow Christ.