By T. M. MoorePublished Date: January 04, 2015
Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. [Hebrews 13:9]
Our survey of full and true Christian faith began with an exhortation to run our race with endurance (Heb. 12:1). The course of life is long and the course of Christian life is difficult and demanding. We can expect many distractions along the way – subtle voices telling us that concentrating on unseen things is folly, that if God really loved you He wouldn’t make your life so difficult, that worship on Sunday is sufficient, that others should be loving and sharing with you rather than you taking all the initiative, that you don’t need to submit to any church leaders, and that you don’t need more teaching from the Word, or that you can decide for yourself just what the Christian life really ought to be. There will be no shortage of voices suggesting that this whole “full faith” enterprise isn’t worth it, and that all you have to do anyway is just believe.
Such voices, however, are not those of the Word of God.
In every age there have been smart, clever, articulate, and persuasive false teachers who have led many believers into a compromised faith. They use all the language of Scripture and elevate the Name of Jesus, but their teaching departs from the truth of Scripture in subtle ways, and those who follow them never quite get around to knowing full and abundant life in Christ. The writer of Hebrews is as urgent about this as Paul and Peter and John: Do not allow yourself to come under the thrall of false teachers, no matter how appealing they may be, for you will not attain full faith in Christ sitting at their feet.
So how do we keep ourselves from being led astray by false teaching? By pursuing full faith in Christ day by day! The only way to keep from being led off the course of the race we have been appointed to run is to make sure that we are staying on that course, day-in and day-out. This means ongoing attention to both facets of full faith – making sure of the hope we have in Jesus Christ, and working to bring forth the evidence of that hope in every aspect of our lives.
Living the Christian life is a full-time endeavor. The tendency among so many contemporary Christians is to live their lives in niches – work life here, family life here, avocations and diversions here, church and Christianity here, and so on. As many studies and polls have shown over the years, the vast majority of those who profess to be born-again followers of Jesus Christ lead lives which are barely distinguishable from their unbelieving contemporaries. They spend their money in the same way, watch as much television, participate in the same diversions, carry about as much debt, and divorce at about the same rate. This is because they’re living their faith in a niche – the niche of church and Christian activities. This is where they do their “Christian thing.” The rest of their lives seem hardly affected by their profession of faith in the King of glory.
If this is how you live, then you will certainly be vulnerable to being pulled off the course of full and vibrant Christian faith. Our Lord Jesus has redeemed, not just the souls of those who believe in Him, but their whole lives. He has reconciled us, whole and part, back to God, and He is now in the business, by His Word and Spirit, of making all things new in our lives. Assured of eternal life because we have trusted in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation, we must now be about the business, as Paul puts it (Phil. 2:12), of working out – out, not for – our salvation day by day. We must strive to yield all our relationships, roles, responsibilities, possessions, and time to the Lord Jesus Christ. From these staging-grounds we may show the watching world the reality of full faith, evidenced in the undeniable power of transformed lives.
Live this way – live full faith! – and you will not be led astray.