Are You My Brother? – Christian Essentials

ARE YOU MY BROTHER? – CHRISTIAN ESSENTIALS

INTRODUCTION

By what right or privilege do we call one another brother? Is it because we put forth, without any reservation or secret evasion, the challenge that we know the one true God: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Or is it because we claim to know His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ; and, that this knowledge results is our obedience to the word of God as it is written in scripture?

For many Americans, the answer is: none of the above. Americans use the term Christian as if it were a title anyone can wear, simply by choosing to call yourself a Christian. That is why you have people who call their self a Christian but they do not believe in fundamental gospel truths such as: the virgin birth, the incarnation, atonement, bodily resurrection of Jesus or the divinity of Jesus. It is almost as if people consider that being born in America and not being a Muslim or Jew or Hindu or other religion automatically makes you a Christian. It has gotten so bad people seem to think that being a Christian is a matter of genetics; grandpa was a Christian so I must be a Christian.

I certainly wish that everyone who wears the name Christian was a Christian; but, that is far from being a reality. The only way a person can be a Christian is to truly believe that Jesus was the Messiah and that Jesus’ teachings are not His own but are from God, who sent Him. We also must accept the fact that if anyone is to do the will of God then he or she must obey the teachings of Jesus, as recorded in the New Testament. It is only through submitting our self-will to the teachings of Jesus that we can come to God; for there is no other way for us to come unto God but through His son Jesus. To say that we know God apart from Jesus is a lie and the truth is not in us. If we wear the title Christian but do not obey all that Jesus taught we are nothing more than a fool who has put on a cloth of righteousness, which we call Christian.

Therefore, those who have allowed themselves to be caught up in religious movements such as post-modern spiritualism, and liberalism, and the Emerging Church, and the prosperity gospel, and other false doctrines have no scriptural justification for taking the name Christian. Those, who deny the deity of Christ and cast dispersion on the Holy Bible, may claim to be Christians but they have no foundation for making that claim. It does not matter that they are spiritual and religious and socially minded; they worship the mind of man and refuse to bow their knee to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords: Jesus Christ. Thus, they are no Christians.

If we would call one another brother it is because we have been born again into the same family, the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In our new birth, we are all, both male and female, sons of the one true living God.

BROTHER VERSES SISTER

The very first thing I would like to do is to establish my position relative to brother and sister: I consider both male and female my brother. I am not advocating a genderless notion … I am simply saying: “from the perspective of your being my sibling, I have chosen to use the term ‘brother’ over brother and sister.” I have taken this position because I believe, in almost all scriptural teachings; Christ’s expectations apply to both female and male. I also believe that New Testament authors have taken the same approach. For example, in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he writes: “… In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ …” (Ephesians 1:3-14) Now, we know for certain that God also intended on saving females! Therefore, why didn’t Paul say sons and daughters instead of sons?

I would propose that in the process of being born-from-above God has not made a distinction between male and female, especially when it comes to our mission. Paul wrote: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; …” (2 Corinthians 5:11-21) Please note: when Paul was teaching from the perspective of our being born again that he made no distinction between male and female.