THE MARKS OF THE COMMITTED CHRISTIAN

Paul said, “… I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” (Galatians 6:17).
Paul was in prison at that time. Chains were upon his ankles, but his soul was free. He was a prisoner of Rome, but he was a free man in Christ. He was in bondage to Ceasar, but Christ was his Lord and Master. As he sits in prison writing this letter to the Galatians, he notices that everything around him is marked with sign of Ceasar. His clothes, the chains, even the guard is marked. He realizes that he too is marked, but not with the mark of Ceaser… He bears the marks of the Lord Jesus in his body. Though he had physical marks inflicted on him at Philippi and Lystra, he had literally been marked for his faith in Christ – spiritual marks that distinguished him from others.
You and I may not bear the physical marks of suffering for our faith in Christ, but we ought to bear the spiritual marks of being a Christian. If we do not have these marks, we are not bearing fruit in our Christian life.    Some of the distinguishing marks of a committed Christian are:-
1)  Filled with God’s love:   This is the most significant of all in terms of  practical living. As believers in Christ, we have a new God-given capacity to love.  The love of Christ is shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5), and Romans 13:8-10 tells us that love eliminates the necessity of a legal system. Because of love, we simply do not need to live by a set of rules and regulations. Genuine love makes all those rules superfluous.  Jesus said, “Love one another, even as I have loved you.” That sets the standard high, doesn’t it? Jesus’ love is selfless, sacrificial, indiscriminate, understanding, and forgiving. Unless your love is like that, you have not fulfilled the new commandment.
If the church existed in that kind of love, it would absolutely overwhelm the world. Unfortunately, that isn’t the way the professing church operates. There are factions, little groups, splits, and cliques. People gossip, backbite, talk, and criticize. The world looks, and they don’t see much love. So there is no way for them to know whether those who call themselves Christians are real or not.
One reason pseudo-Christian cults and false doctrines have so much influence today is that not many Christians are definitive disciples. It is often virtually impossible to distinguish a true disciple from a false one, for there isn’t a lot of visible manifestation of God’s love in those who claim to be the disciples of Jesus. Thus the world doesn’t know to whom to go to find the truth. When the average person looks at the spectrum of “Christianity” and all that goes with it, he is baffled. Those around him who claim to be Christians seem to have no identifying marks, and if anything, they often seem to be more lacking in love than in any other character quality.

How can we manifest visible love? First, we can admit it when we have wronged someone. If you are not willing to go to somebody you have wronged and make things right, you don’t want to be a committed Christian, and the whole body of Christ will be incapacitated because of your unwillingness to love.
Most of the bitterness within the visible church has nothing to do with doctrinal differences. It can be traced instead to a fundamental lack of love, and an unwillingness to accept the humility that love demands. A second way to show love is by forgiving those who have wronged us – whether we are asked or not. No matter how serious the wrong you have suffered may be, love demands that you forgive it. Christ forgave those who had mocked Him, spat on Him, and then crucified Him. The wrongs we generally suffer seem insignificant compared to what He suffered, and yet He was immediately willing to forgive.
Real love is costly, and the one who truly loves will have to sacrifice.  However,   while you sacrifice in this world, you’re gaining immeasurably in the spiritual realm and you are displaying the most visible, practical, obvious mark of a true Christian.
2)  An Unending Preoccupation with the Glory of God:  The committed Christian is preoccupied and absorbed with his Lord’s glory. He is concerned only with living to give glory to God. He’s not concerned about himself. He’s not worried about what brings honour to him. He’s not on a popularity binge. He’s not trying to climb the ladder, to get something bigger and better for himself.  He realizes that it doesn’t matter what people think of him, but only that they glorify God. His motive, his theme, his goal, his reason, his purpose is to give the Lord glory in everything he does. His life reflects the attributes of God, and God is praised by the way he lives.
One of the greatest ways we can give glory to God is to declare the gospel. The message of the gospel radiates the glory of God like nothing else in all the universe. When we declare the gospel, we are declaring the clearest and most powerful aspects of God’s glory. Thus in a sense, witnessing is one of the highest and purest forms of worship, because it most clearly affirms the glory of God. God’s glory is wrapped up in His attributes. His love, mercy, grace, wisdom, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence—all the attributes of God—reflect and declare His glory. We glorify God when we in any way praise or acknowledge or experience or display His attributes. When we are examples of His love, for instance, we glorify Him. When we acknowledge and yield to His sovereignty, we glorify Him. That is what it means to glorify God.
3).  An Unswerving Loyalty to the Son of God:  Discipleship is more than a promised loyalty. It must go beyond making a vow to God (which we tend to do glibly and frequently). Discipleship demands a practiced loyalty – an operating, functioning kind of loyalty that holds up under every kind of pressure.
Loyalty to God means loyalty to His mission for our lives. Jesus was a great example of loyalty. He was loyal to His heavenly Father (Hebrews 10:9). Great temptations came upon Him, but nothing could turn Him aside from the purpose of His life. He was loyal from the cradle to the grave.
Think about Apostle Paul, from the moment he met Christ on the road to Damascus till he lost his head in Rome, he was loyal. He could have  saved himself from suffering and death; he could have been a man of fame, wealth, and honour; but Christ meant more to him than all that the world could offer.   (Phil. 3: 4-11).
What kind of a Christian are you? Are you everything you promised Jesus Christ you would be when you first believed? Are you everything you promised Christ you would be perhaps more recently, when you re-evaluated your life and recommitted it to Him? Are there visible, distinguishing marks that show you are a deeply committed believer?
You may lack the marks of a committed Christian, but God can transform you into a true disciple if you simply surrender and let Him have your will. The life of a committed Christian may be costly, but it is the only kind of life that really counts for eternity.
Have a fruitful week as you continue to walk with the Almighty God and reflect His marks on you.

 Your brother, Vicar & Archdeacon
Igein Isemede