| Back | April 2001 | May 2001 | June 2001 | July 2001 | October 2001 |
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
One of the truths which Reformed believers hold
dear is the doctrine of sanctification. In particular we believe that the Bible
teaches that once a person has become a Christian that one will begin to live
more and more to the glory of God and be made conformable to the image of
Jesus Christ. We sometimes refer to this as the doctrine of "progressive
sanctification." Because of this belief we acknowledge that the church
needs to exercise great patience with new converts. A novice isn't expected
to immediately manifest the maturity of a person who has been a Christian for
twenty or thirty years. But having said that, we should expect, over a period
of time, to see evidence that such a one is indeed growing in grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The question I want to raise is just this: what are we to say of the person
who remains a "babe in Christ?" It will not do to say of some that
we can never expect them to reach the degree of Christian maturity we possess
because they did not have a Christian background similar to our own. That is
a form of pride. It reasons, "We have it; they will never have it."
Neither will it do that we should always be making excuses for such people by
constantly referring to them as "babes." If a baby doesn't eat,
grow, and develop, something is terribly wrong, and we consult a physician to
see what the problem is. The same needs to be done in the case of such
professing Christians. To be sure, all of us may be guilty at times of acting
like little children in the faith. This was true with the Corinthians in I
Cor. 3:1-3. Paul had to speak to these Christians as though they were babes in
Christ. He had to deal with them as he did carnal men (unsaved). These people
were acting like unsaved men in their envying, strife, and divisions. But
this was not the characteristic feature of their entire Christian profession.
The same might be said of those Hebrew Christians addressed in Heb. 5:12-14.
These people had been Christians long enough to attain a knowledge of the
truth that would qualify them to be teachers of others. But instead they had
become lazy, careless, and dull of hearing. In this area they had been acting
like babies with no teeth and who can only drink milk. They were not in a
position to receive the deeper truths of God's Word, the strong meat. Yet as
with the Corinthians being a babe in Christ was not characteristic of these Hebrew
believers in a general fashion. In other ways, such as enduring suffering and
persecution for the faith, their maturity was to be admired.
The real issue is what are we to say of the professing Christian who never
seems to get beyond the stage of being a babe? He seems to make no progress
in learning more of the Word. He constantly neglects the services of worship
in God's House, and when the elders seek to speak to him of this, he always
finds some rationalization for why he cannot be there. What are we to say of
the person who claims to be a follower of Christ, but who, if you met him on
the street or at the place of business, you would have no reason to think him
any different from a raw pagan? What are we to say of the professing
Christian whose family life is a constant turmoil and who refuses the good
advice and counsel offered to him by the church? What are we to say of the
person who claims to be a Christian but evidences no thankfulness to God
either by giving of his material substance to the work of the Lord, or by
seeking to walk in the commandments of the Lord? Granted, we are not in the
position to judge what is in the heart of any man. Only God can do that.
However, our Lord told us "by their fruit ye shall know them." To
be sure there are degrees of growth and development that vary from one
Christian to the next, and there are differing sins that may more easily
beset one Christian than another. But somewhere we need to open our eyes to
the fact that "not all professors are possessors." The Bible
recognizes that there are people who are young in the faith, people who are
novices. It recognizes that there are weak Christians, strong Christians, and
Christians who stumble and fall. But nowhere does the Bible recognize
Christians who are forever babes, whose entire walk and behavior is carnal,
one that resembles that of natural men. If a man who professes faith in
Christ never makes progress in the life of faith and obedience, one which
makes itself evident by his speech and walk, we must conclude, that such a
man is a stranger to grace, and we must begin to pray for him as such and to
witness to him as such. Let us never flatter men with the notion that they
can have the world and heaven too.
Rev. Claude D. DePrine, III
To contact the pastor by e-mail go to Pastor@providenceopc.org
| Back | April 2001 |
May 2001
| June 2001
|
July 2001
| October 2001 |