Monday, January 31, 2011

Relationship with Jesus doesn’t mean you are perfect!

Acts 8

Many people think that coming into relationship with Jesus means that you must be perfect. The confusion comes because He is perfect. As our love and relationship grow we are certainly growing stronger, more like Jesus and sin less. We are far from perfect. So it was with Simon the sorcerer.

Couple important points to note here; the Saul in this passage is the same man who later would become Paul the apostle. Second, Philip was chosen as one of the original deacons in the church. We often think of deacons as the guys and gals that set up the chairs. Here we see Philip preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, and casting out demons, pretty serious stuff for a guy who should be setting up chairs. The position of deacon in the church is a much more powerful position then what we may have thought in the past. The third point we need to look at in this chapter is that the Samaritans had come to Christ and been baptized. Then Peter and John were sent so they might receive the Holy Spirit. The in-filling or Baptism in the Holy Spirit was something that is an additional move of God in our lives beyond salvation to empower us to reach the world for Christ.

Back to the story!

Simon had been a deceiver for many years then he heard the truth. Instantly he came to Christ was baptized, even worked with Philip while he was in Samaria. However once he saw the power of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit his old nature came out, he thought he could purchase the power of God.

When we come to relationship with Christ we are constantly at odds with our old nature. Our natural response to things is to war with God. No one ever needs to teach a baby to be bad; we must train children to be good. Simon, like us had to be disciplined to correct thinking. Even as Christians people want to try to manipulate and control. If you have young children, think about how much they control you. Selfishness is a very natural response. We don’t know what the motivation was for Simon but we do know you can not purchase the gifts of God, they are free to whomever has their heart right before the Lord. All of God’s gift are that way, we can’t earn them, purchase them, or work for them they are “gifts” from the Lord to us. The purity of their working in us depends upon the purity of our hearts. The closer we draw in relationship to Jesus the purer our hearts become and the more effective our lives become and the more effective the gifts are through us. Out of a polluted well comes polluted water. Out of a clean well comes clean water. Until this confrontation with Peter, Simon still had some pollution to deal with in his heart.

We grow in maturity and perfection; salvation doesn’t make us perfect it does however open the doors of heaven and real relationship with Jesus. Where are you today? Do you feel you need to be perfect? Are you playing games with the Lord and calling it relationship? Do you have a loving growing relationship with Jesus? I hope you are the latter but if not, make the change today. A real relationship with Jesus fills your life with joy, love, and peace, as you may have never known.

Tomorrow Acts 10,11

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