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Morning Message Text: Galatians 3: 23-29
Children of God
23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.
24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.
25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Morning Message:
What does it mean to be nominal? I didn’t say phenomenal; to be phenomenal would mean that you are a remarkable or exceptional person. To be nominal means to be something in name only. In other words, you are not what you claim to be, you pretend to be something that you are not. To be true means that you are real, genuine, loyal, faithful, legitimate. Many times, you can tell when someone is being genuine and real; sometimes you can’t. Truth becomes more difficult to distinguish every day. I swore that I would never become what I now find myself becoming: cynical. Do you know what the definition of the word cynic is? “One who believes that only selfishness motivates human actions.” Now as a Christian I know that I need to temper these feelings because there must still be good, honest people in this world with more than just their self-interests at heart. They are just becoming more difficult to find, and the nominal actors in our society seem to be growing.
Politicians are very easy to be critical of. It is hard to find an honest politician who truly understands that they are not elected to serve themselves and get rich. But, let’s look at another category of people that are in the news almost every day. So called peaceful protesters. For those of us who lived through and grew up in the sixties, we are very familiar with protests. The people that you see on the streets today are nominal protesters; protesters in name only. Real, true protesters are out there because they truly believe in something, and they want to bring attention to something that they believe is wrong. Unlike these pretenders today who are paid hundreds of dollars a day to go out to loot and steal and attack and injure innocent people. They don’t even know what they are protesting, nor do they truly care. Nominal, in name only.
Let me ask you this, do you have daily devotions? Something biblically based that you read every day. I find that I gain so much Godly insight from my devotions. I had this one marked because it started the wheels of my brain turning. It is titled, “Nominal or Personal.” The scripture is from Matthew 3: verse 9: “And do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” Let’s just think about that for a moment. These words from Jesus are not just meant for the Jewish people of that day and age, but these words should affect the way we see ourselves. You are special in the sight of God, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that God can’t exist without you.
Listen to what this says. “One of the dangers of organizations and institutions is that it can be difficult to determine whether members are nominal (in name only) or true believers. Some may join seeking status, privilege, or notoriety. In the case of long-established institutions, some may inherit their membership as a legacy status. These nominal members stand in stark contrast to those who truly embrace the goals and values of the organization, the true believers. When John the Baptist appeared in Judea to announce the coming appearance of Jesus of Nazareth, he encountered many nominal Jews. They shared an inherited status as Jews based on their genetic lineage—being descendants of Abraham. But John disabused them of that notion. Being a physical Jew was not the same as being a spiritual Jew who observed the true spirit of the faith and not just the letter of the law. Thus, John invited them to be baptized in repentance—to change their minds and actions in anticipation of the arrival of their Messiah. We probably can’t even contemplate how difficult it must have been for these Jewish people who lived knowing that they were God’s chosen people, to come and be baptized.
If we are true believers in Jesus, we are not under the law. We don’t need the law as a guardrail to keep us in line because as true believers we have the Holy Spirit to correct us and show us the true way which God calls us to. Listen, because this is important today. The world, sometimes our own leaders, try to divide us into groups. “There is neither Jew or Gentile, neither slave or free, nor is there male and female.” Let me add to that: black or white, rich or poor, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. I hate when politicians put us in boxes, in groups according to race or ethnicity or class, or classify people and try to win votes by separating us. In God’s eyes there are only two categories of mankind, those who are saved and those who have not yet come to Jesus. You are either washed in the blood of the Lamb and headed to heaven or you need to hurry up and get right with God.
Today, we must guard against nominal Christianity. Church membership, religious affiliation, or charitable works are no substitute for a personal, demonstrable, life-altering, faith-based relationship with Jesus Christ. You know, there are so many ways in today’s world that you can go through the motions of faith. There are apps for your phones, and an endless list of services that you can download and listen to. There are apps that you can pay for that will pray with you; I suppose that could be helpful, but true faith can’t be manufactured. It takes little or no effort to be a nominal Christian, but that is not a Christian at all.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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