RADIO MESSAGE
Who are the true people of God?
Some say that those who are Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham, are by
nature God's true people. Roman Catholicism says that those who follow the pope
and worship Mary are God's true people. The Russelites, Jehovah Witnesses, say
that they alone are God's true people. The Campbellites, the Church of Christ,
claim that they are God's true people. And many Baptists, those who are
themselves "Landmark Baptists", say that only those who are Baptists
are the Lord's true people. But what does the Word of God say? Does the Bible
lay down any clear marks by which we may determine who God's true people are?
Am I one of God's true people? Are you?
Yes, the Word of God clearly identifies God's true
people in many ways. They are not identified as men and women of a particular
race, or of a particular church or denomination, or even of certain doctrinal
persuasions. The true people of God, those to whom the promises of Holy
Scripture are given, those who are truly born of God and heirs to eternal life,
are identified by spiritual marks, the marks of true faith and love. And in
Philippians the third chapters verse three, the Apostle Paul gives us three clear
marks of identification by which we may determine whether or not we belong to
the household of faith. He says, "We are the circumcision", or we are
God's true people, "which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh".
First, the Apostle tells us that God's true people
are those men and women, who "WORSHIP GOD IN THE SPIRIT". They
are not idolaters. The people of God do not worship idols of Buddha, or idols
of Mary, or idols representing Christ. Their worship is not the physical
worship of religious ritualism, but the spiritual worship of the heart. Our
Lord said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in
Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). The object of our worship is the infinite,
eternal God in the Trinity of his blessed Persons. We worship God as he is
revealed in Holy Scripture. The manner of our worship is spiritual. We worship
by the power, leadership, and direction of the Holy Spirit. Our worship is an
act of the heart. It is spiritual. Secondly, Paul tells us that God's true
people are those who "REJOICE IN CHRIST JESUS". That word
"rejoice" means to trust with joy. Those who are born of God
willfully and gladly trust Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with all their hearts.
We trust his righteousness as our only righteousness. We trust his blood as our
only atonement. We trust Christ himself as our only Savior, his power, his
grace, his intercession, and his faithfulness. We recognize that our only
acceptance before God is in Christ our Substitute. We rest our souls upon him
with confident joy. And thirdly, Paul tells us that God's true people "HAVE
NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH". We place no confidence in ourselves
before God. We do not, in anyway, trust who we are, what we have experienced,
or what we have done for our acceptance with God. We rest our souls entirely
upon Christ.
My hope is built on nothing less |
Are you one of God's true people? If you
"worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh", you are. God has made you one of His own.