What is the Only Duty of a True Christian?

 

If I were to ask you what duty or duties are required of a true Christian, or what is our purpose, what does God expect of us, you might say"

 

• Read the Bible
• Attend Church
• Fellowship with other Christians
• Avoid sin
• Repent
• Pray often
• Be a witness to others
• Obey the Ten Commandments
• Love my neighbor as myself
• Etc...

These are all GREAT things and obviously are all a part of being a follower of Jesus. But what is the one thing that transcends ALL these things?

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11

 

The Apostle Paul was the greatest evangelist who ever lived. He was truly a great man of God who spent his entire life in the ministry of Jesus and spreading the Gospel. Throughout his letters, he had many instructions for Christians, but here in Philippians, we see him get personal. We hear from his own lips, the one thing that he strives for more than anything else. 

 

That is to know Jesus. 

 

Well, you say, "I know Jesus. I believe in Him."  But I'm not talking about knowing about Jesus. I'm talking about knowing Him as a best friend knows a best friend or a spouse knows a spouse. I'm talking about a one-on-one personal, intimate, day to day sharing relationship.  It's one thing to know about someone and quite another to know them. You may study all about some famous person and know everything about them, but when you run across them in public, they won't have a clue who you are.  This is why Jesus says in Matthew 7

 

 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 

 

These people obvious knew about Jesus. They even did miracles in His name. But none of that mattered when they came face to face with Jesus. They didn't know Him and thus, He didn't know them. There was no relationship between them.  

 

The Apostle Paul says that everything He had ever learned or attained was all rubbish, all his wealth, prestige, education, power, etc... all of it was garbage in light of his truly knowing Jesus.  This was not a casual knowing but a deep, personal walk with the Savior. 

 

This is our One and Only Duty as Christians. We are to walk hand in hand with Jesus in the cool of the Garden as Adam and Eve did once so long ago. When Jesus died and rose again, He opened the way for us to have that close fellowship with Him just like they did. Yet so many Christians turn down His invitation.  

 

Interesting that Paul went a little further when he said

 

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  

 

Paul also longed to know the resurrection power of Jesus AND to endure the same sufferings, which would create in Paul a heart willing to die for Him. He longed to be conformed to the image of Jesus, to be like Him so that Paul could attain to the resurrection of the dead. (That's the Rapture, folks!) 

How are we conformed to be like Jesus? There's only one way, and that is to spend time with Him, to hang out, to walk in the cool of the garden, to converse, to be in a close relationship. I'm not talking about a 15 minute prayer in the morning or even a 20 minute Bible reading. I'm talking about quality time, one on one time. 

The thing about getting to know Jesus and spending time with Him is that all the other things we listed above as "duties" of a Christian all fall into place the more we love Jesus. The more we fall in love with Jesus, the more we want to read the Bible, pray, do good works, fellowship with other believers, and love our neighbor. 

So, how do we spend time with someone we can't see, hear, or touch? We can't do those things in the physical realm, but if you are born again, your spirit sees and hears Jesus. Treat Him the same way as you would if He was sitting with you on your couch and you could actually see and hear Him. Don't just sit down and spill out your list of requests, say thank you, and get up and leave. That's not a relationship! Try that on your spouse and see how good that works!

The thing is, it's hard to learn to focus on your spirit and learn to listen to the voice of God. Spend some time praising Him, singing worship songs.. and then ask Him to speak to you. Tell Him you want to hear. You long to hear from Him. Ask Him for wisdom on a particular thing, or just ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Learn to shift your focus inward and wait for Him to answer. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. Praise Him and listen for His voice. Soon, you'll be able to recognize it so that speaking back and forth with Him will be come natural. 

Don't play religion with God. God is not in a church building. He is a Father. He wants to know you and for you to know Him. I sense in my spirit a warning from God. Like Paul, make it your utmost goal to get to know Jesus, because nothing else matters. The day of the Resurrection of the Dead is upon us. Make sure you attain it!