What Defines Our Christianity

Last week my pastor continued preaching through John, and finished up John 8. In contrasting the believing world and unbelieving world, Jesus stressed that the true believers, in believing in Him and what He said, will define their Christianity by their relationship with Him. Unbelievers, on the other hand, may be zealous for God but not find themselves in a relationship with Jesus.

Why is this distinction important? The Apostle Paul, in several places, exhorts Christians to have zeal for God, but it must be according to knowledge (see Romans 10:2). In other words, the zeal for God must be anchored in our relationship with Jesus as His Son--the zeal (and any works that arise from it) must flow from this relationship, not be the basis of our standing before God. Our inner desires drive our actions, and having a right relationship through Christ changes those desires so that we are not faulted with being ignorant of these spiritual truths.

In the end of Chapter 8, John shows Jesus pointing out to those Jews who claim that God is their Father, that if He was their Father, then they would love him, and hear his words. Since they do not hear, they are not of God. This is harsh! But this connects back to John 6, in that those that hear are called by the Father (see 8:47).

So what does this mean for us? That we cannot rely on our zeal for God in our activities (and our own self-righteousness) to save us, even if given to service in the Lord, because it is our relationship with Him that saves. We cannot find our own path to God--it must be through Christ.