Alive in Jesus

Oh, my brothers and sisters, let us be single-minded so that in everything we do, we do it to please Christ Jesus, our Lord. God’s Word tells us that we should increase our faith¹. And the Scriptures show us how to avoid deception² and how to live in this fallen world³.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24 ESV – Bible Gateway

How We Live

With Jesus as our King, we hunger to live Christ-like lives⁴. We study God’s Word⁵, practice God’s teachings⁶, we trust in God’s promises⁷. We find our joy in Jesus⁸. And, in Christ, we find the reason for every thought we think, every motive we embrace, every hope we hold onto.

Cultural Christianity

There is a deception in the world called Cultural Christianity that is attempting to harm the Body of Christ. This Cultural Christianity⁹ has been exposed for what it is: a philosophy devoid of God’s power. The website radicallychristian.com provides an insightful post titled “What is Cultural Christianity and What are the Dangers?” Here is a quote from this post:

A cultural Christian is someone who identifies as a Christian, but whose religious ideas and practices come more from popular culture than from Christ.

What is Cultural Christianity and What are the Dangers? – Radically Christian

Elon Musk has described himself as a “cultural Christian¹⁰.” The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has identified himself as a cultural Christian, calling himself an “Orthodox atheist¹¹.” And English atheist Richard Dawkins has described himself in several interviews as a “cultural Christian¹².”

For every famous person identifying themselves as a cultural Christian, tens of thousands of everyday people must identify with this philosophy; when we talk to someone about Christianity, we need to be able to identify this deception and help that person understand his or her fallacy. Hopefully, we can direct that person to Jesus Christ and His Salvation.

We Can Know

But what about us? Can we know if we’ve been deceived? No worries! We can know that we are born again by examining ourselves to see if the Holy Spirit is producing His fruit in our lives.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Galatians 5:22-23 NLT – Bible Gateway

Conclusion

Let’s encourage each other. Let’s find our fulfillment in Jesus, our Master. Let’s find hope in what God spoke through the prophet Isaiah.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 41:10 NLT – Bible Gateway

---

Footnotes

1. Bible Gateway passage: 2 Corinthians 10:15 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2010%3A15&version=ESV ↩︎
2. Bible Gateway passage: Colossians 2:8 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%202%3A8&version=ESV, Bible Gateway, Romans 12:2 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012%3A2&version=ESV ↩︎
3. Bible Gateway passage: Titus 2:11-12 – New Living Translation. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus%202%3A11-12&version=NLT ↩︎
4. Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 11:1 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2011%3A1&version=ESV ↩︎
5. 2 Timothy 2:15 – The Lord’s Approved Workman. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://biblehub.com/2_timothy/2-15.htm ↩︎
6. Bible Gateway passage: James 1:22 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201%3A22&version=ESV ↩︎
7. Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 28:7 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2028%3A7&version=ESV ↩︎
8. Bible Gateway passage: 1 Peter 1:8-9 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%201%3A8-9&version=ESV ↩︎
9. Wikipedia contributors. (2024, August 25). Cultural Christians. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cultural_Christians&oldid=1242110744 ↩︎
10. Moreno, J. (2024, July 26). Elon Musk says he’s a “cultural Christian.” Christian Today. https://www.christiantoday.com/article/elon-musk-says-hes-a-cultural-christian/141964.htm ↩︎
11. “Belarus president visits Vatican”. BBC News_. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2010. ↩︎
12. “Dawkins: I’m a cultural Christian”. BBC News_. 10 December 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2008. ↩︎