Romans 8:29
"for those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;"
Romans 12:2
"and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
This website is designed for anyone who wants to go beyond "believing in Jesus" to a "faithful following of Jesus." It examines practical applications of faithfulness in the 21st century. It is practical because Jesus was practical. It challenges us to be faithful followers, because Jesus accepted the challenge to be a completely faithful follower of our Father in Heaven. When Jesus said, "Follow Me," He was inviting us to be obedient as He was obedient, and to live in right relationship to God. He conformed every aspect of His life to the nature and will of God.
Jesus had to choose between two paths. He had to choose to follow Satan or follow God the Father. The same choice stands before us today. We must choose between the same two alternatives. The first path is the path of worldliness that continues to be promoted by Satan. The path of conformity to the world was offered to Jesus during Satan's three temptations.
Matthew 4:1-10
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
3 And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"
5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU'; and 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'"
7 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"
8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;
9 and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me."
10 Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
Satan places these three temptations in the lives of every Christian. The first temptation targets human lust for personal pleasure and satisfaction. We are invited to depend on self-effort for our needs instead of depending on God. The second temptation targets lust to control God. We are invited to try and manipulate God to do our bidding instead of submitting to God's will. The third temptation targets lust for the power to control others and for accumulating wealth. Satan invites us to strike a bargain with him through which we submit to his rulership instead of submitting to one another within the Body of Christ. These three temptations, which promise happiness and prosperity, invite us to be conformed to the world. They describe worldly values and worldly behavior. They emphasize pride, selfishness, control, and power.
The alternative path, which Jesus chose, was to reject all three of Satan's temptations and to remain humble. Once Jesus chose this path, Jesus could then exercise His authority over Satan and issue the command, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.
'" (Matthew 4:10). Once Jesus firmly established Himself in right relationship with His Father, then angels of heaven could come and meet His needs. "Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
" (Matthew 4:11).
Christians are either on one path or the other. We either subject ourselves to Satan and are conformed to the world by our yielding to his many temptations, or we are conformed to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. There has never been a fence to sit on or the slightest possibility of a middle ground between these two paths.
Matthew 6:24
"Unfortunately, many Christians unknowingly struggle to walk two paths. We follow Jesus on Sunday morning, and then follow a different path at most other times during the week. We are double minded.No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
Regardless of our denominational differences as Christians, we share the goal of establishing a personal relationship with God, where God is to be the center and supreme authority in our lives. In this committed relationship, we are to place God above everything. No person, no activity, no physical object, no allegiance, and no alliance is to be elevated above our relationship with God.
Sadly, many Christian believers do not understand the Christian commitment, and many others are not prepared to live-out the Christian commitment on a daily basis. This website will help believers to consciously choose to elevate God above everything else and to become a bondservant of Jesus.
A bondservant of Jesus is a former slave of worldly lusts who makes a voluntary commitment to be a permanent servant of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. In making this change, we move from a life of servitude, to a life of servanthood. We move from worldly captivity to true freedom in Christ. We no longer plan to follow Jesus in the future, but feel that our reason for living is to follow Jesus today and everyday.
Mark 8:34
"And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."
Mark 10:21
"Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
John 10:27
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me"
John 12:26
"If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."
John 21:19
"Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!'"
Every day is another opportunity to find new ways to be conformed to Christ and to no longer be conformed to the world. Christians are to follow Jesus with every breath we breathe and with every step we make. Jesus was always obedient to the Father. It didn't matter if He was in the temple or on the road, teaching His disciples, healing the sick, praying, or eating with sinners, His attitudes and behaviors always reflected His close relationship with His Father. He was always following. He was always conformed to God. He was always obedient.
Conformity to Christ is not a matter of adopting a certain theology or set of denominational beliefs. Being conformed to Christ is about following the extremely practical instructions that Jesus gave us regardless of circumstances. We must believe all that Jesus said and faithfully follow Him through every twist and turn of life. These instructions were reiterated by the Apostle Paul and explained for the various congregations that Paul served as teacher and mentor. Jesus told us everything we need to know in order to follow Him. Paul followed Jesus, and Paul explained how his own life could be used as an example of living in right relationship to God. Paul conformed his life to Christ and gave himself fully to the new church as its servant.
Based on all of Paul's letters, the Apostle's central set of instructions to us as Christians can be summarized this way.
I urge you, with the greatest emphasis possible, to:
Be Conformed to the Image of God's Son, Christ Jesus!
Do not be conformed to this world!
Transform your mind by changing your thinking!
Let your life be a testimony to the good and acceptable and perfect will of God!
Follow Jesus!
As this website grows, there will be a series of studies that will help Christian believers become Christian followers. The first Study is called "Fragrance of God
." It deals with a practical problem in the Body of Christ today. It is a blueprint for examining your patterns of conformity. In a very practical way, it will challenge you to closely consider whether you are conformed to Christ or conformed to the world. It will present you with an opportunity to become more conformed to Christ, and will improve your ability to follow Jesus wherever He may lead.
Even though this study is a self-study, we hope you will accept our invitation to participate in conversation with us. There is a "Conversation"
link on the navigation bar of the Fragrance of God study page that you can use to initiate conversation. I hope you will ask questions and leave comments, so that the "Conversation Area" will grow into a resource that will help all of us be conformed to Christ and follow Jesus faithfully.
Click Here to Begin the Study
Fragrance of God
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