Becoming a Christian

Coming up next on Renewing Your Mind. The foundations of the gospel, the basic principles of growing up as a Christian and going on as a Christian are principles that you and I need to revisit regularly. The story goes that as training camp began for the 1961 season, legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi realized he needed to start from scratch with a team that had suffered a disappointing loss in the championship game the season before.

So with his players gathered together, he held up the pigskin in his right hand and said, gentlemen, this is a football. The message was clear, and it applies on some level to us as Christians too. As we grow in our knowledge of God and His character, as we learn the finer points of our treasured doctrines, we must always and only build on the fundamentals of the faith.

Here's Dr. Sinclair Ferguson. We're going to be thinking about some of the most basic things in the Christian life, and I want us to try and do that with different kinds of people in view. If, for example, someone were wondering, what does it mean to be a Christian? Very helpful for them to understand what are the foundation stones, what are the basics of belonging to Jesus Christ, belonging to His people, knowing Him and trusting Him and loving Him. And then, of course, and then, of course, some of us may be thinking about membership in a Christian church and a new fellowship. And we wonder, what does it mean to belong to the family of God in this place? And it's so helpful for us to be reminded again of what it really means to know and serve the Lord Jesus. And then, many of us no doubt feel that we are seasoned Christians.

And we may wonder, do we really need to go back to some of the basics of growing up as a Christian and going on as a Christian? I'm reminded of a television advert I saw a number of years ago for a well-known brand of cornflakes. And there was a young man with a bowl of cornflakes in front of him. He was eating the cornflakes for breakfast, and then, if I remember, he looked up and he said, I'd forgotten how good they really are. It sent me back to my cornflakes, and I actually shared the same experience.

Such a basic breakfast cereal for people of my generation, and I'd forgotten how good they actually were. And the gospel is like that. And the foundations of the gospel, the basic principles of growing up as a Christian and going on as a Christian are principles that you and I need to revisit regularly, just as, for example, we may have someone make sure that the foundations of a house that we are living in or going to purchase are solid and reliable. So, it's such an important thing for us in the Christian life to understand the basic principles of coming in, growing up, and going on. I often think about a little book I bought on how to play golf written by the great American golfer Jack Nicklaus.

I actually originally bought it for one of my sons as a Christmas present, but being a sensible father, I thought, I'd better read first what he's going to read. And I was struck by the way in which Jack Nicklaus, at that time the greatest golfer on the planet, wrote in his introduction that at the beginning of every season, he would go to the man who had taught him to play golf. He would meet him on the practice area, and Jack Nicklaus would have a golf club in his hand. And he would say to his coach, Mr. Grout, teach me to play golf. And Jack Grout would take him back to the basics, how you grip the club, how you stand, how you swing.

And here was this mature and seasoned and brilliant golfer who well understood that he needed year after year to keep going back to the foundations. And so, that's what we're going to try and do together. We'll think first of all about what does it mean to become a Christian and to be someone who belongs to Christ and His people. And then we'll move on to a second stage in which we'll think about the ways in which God gives us gifts that enable us to grow in Christ. And then in a third stage, we'll think about what it means for us to live the Christian life and to run the Christian race right to the very end. I want to begin by reading some words of the Lord Jesus from John's Gospel chapter 8 and verse 12.

And eventually, I'll explain why it is that I've chosen these particular words in this passage, which we'll look at in a minute, for us to focus our attention. This is the Jewish festival of light. And in that context, in John chapter 8 verse 12, Jesus spoke again to them and said, I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. He's telling these people what it means to become and to be a Christian. And there's a very personal reason I have for referring to these verses.

First of all, I want to think about them not in a personal way, not in a relationship to myself, but in what is happening here in John chapter 8. Jesus is at the Feast of Booths when God's people would gather together, often in Jerusalem, and they would live in makeshift tents to remind themselves of how God had brought His people out of bondage in Egypt. And at the Feast of Booths, there was a kind of double symbolism used. It was partly a water liturgy, and that reminded them of how God had given them water in the desert. And it was partly a liturgy of light, which reminded them of how God had led them by the pillar of cloud during the day and the pillar of fire during the night. And we're told in the previous chapter, in John chapter 7, that on the last day of the Feast, which was a day when they did not draw water as part of the liturgy, on the last day of the Feast, Jesus said, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. And He was really saying, that water that was provided in the wilderness for your forefathers was really pointing forwards to the water that only I can give. And John tells us He was speaking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. But on that same day in the Feast of Booths, not only was no water drawn as was customary, but every day of the Feast, lights were lit, huge amounts of oil were poured into massive light formations in the temple in Jerusalem, and there was celebration and there was dancing.

You may have seen some orthodox Jews dancing as part of the liturgy of their services as they've celebrated great occasions, and there was dancing for the men. And the light apparently illumined the whole of Jerusalem. Indeed, it was said by the rabbis, whoever has never seen this has never seen joy. But on the last day of the Feast, not only was there no water, but the lamps were not lit. And it was on that day Jesus said to the people here in John chapter 8 verse 12, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. And in the rest of this chapter, Jesus explains to them why it is they need Him so much, and He does it in terms of being in the darkness and being in the light. From verse 12 to verse 20 in John 8, He tells them that they were walking in spiritual darkness. He implies that in verse 12, you are walking in darkness unless you have Me as the light of life. And He means obviously not just physical darkness, but spiritual darkness. You remember what Nicodemus says in his interview with Jesus in John chapter 3 in verse 3. He can't understand what Jesus is saying, and Jesus says to him, Nicodemus, unless you are born from above, you'll never be able to see the kingdom of God. And Jesus is telling His contemporaries this is their natural condition. Remember how He said in the Sermon on the Mount, if what you think is the light within you, and of course most people think that way, don't they?

I see clearly. But He says, what if the light that is in you is actually darkness? Then how great is that darkness? There is so much spiritual darkness within that you are not able to see and understand the gospel. And Jesus is saying to these people, this is your spiritual condition, you know, that the reason you do not understand Me or follow Me is not because God's revelation is not clear.

It is because you live and you walk in darkness. And the indication of that, He tells them in verse 15, is that you judge everything according to the flesh, worldly standards of understanding. But then Jesus adds to this, they not only walked in spiritual darkness, but in verses 21 through 30, they lived in spiritual death. Look at what He says in verse 21, Jesus said to them, I'm going away and you will seek Me and you will die in your sins. And again in verse 24, I told you that unless you believe that I am He that is the Savior, you will die in your sins. They thought of themselves as being alive. But Jesus is saying, don't you understand that spiritually you are dead. You may have all the trappings of life, but you have no real life. Paul says something similar, doesn't he, in Ephesians chapter 2.

He says, we are dead in the trespasses and sins in which we walk. Our home is in the highlands of Scotland, I remember sitting in the garden one day, and I saw a beautiful red robin just beside the path. And as I looked at it, I thought, what a beautiful creation this is.

What a marvelous color. And then the longer I looked, I realized that there was no movement, and I went over. At the kind of poignant moment, I realized the robin in all its beauty had no life.

It was dead. And I thought, what a parable of our lives, the way in which we dress ourselves up to give the impression that we know what it really means to live. And Jesus is saying to these people, many of whom had all the trappings of a religious life, you know, if you don't know Me and trust Me, you may feel that you are alive, but in actual fact, you are spiritually dead. And then thirdly, He adds something else in verses 31 through 36. Not only did they walk in spiritual darkness and live in spiritual death, but He says, you know, you are actually being held in spiritual bondage.

He says, if you trust in Me and in My Word, then verse 32, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And you notice their response. It's a very typical response. It's a distinctively Jewish response, but it's a form of a very common response. I am absolutely free.

I am absolutely free. And Jesus begins to show them how in fact their response to Him indicates that they are actually in spiritual bondage. He's really saying, you know, the litmus test of real freedom is that you have discovered the freedom that God gives in and through Me. And of course, it's one of the things that happens to people, isn't it, when God is working in their lives? One of the first things they come to realize is that they are, you remember, how Wesley puts it in his hymn, fast bound in sin and nature's night.

And as they're awakened, so many people say, I'm going to do better and I'm going to try harder. And what in fact they discover is that they are more and more conscious of their spiritual bondage. And this is what Jesus is saying, by nature, we are slaves to sin and only He can set us free.

And we see this in the response they make to Him. And Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. They say, no, we are the offspring of Abram.

We are free. No, He says, because you sin, you have become slaves to sin. And they didn't really realize it. They didn't understand that if they didn't trust in Jesus Christ, that was a sure sign they were actually in slavery. I often think actually in this context of the story of the two Wesley brothers.

You know, they came to what were the colonies that are now the United States of America, and there they met Moravian missionaries. And both of the brothers were asked fairly pointedly, do you hope to be saved? Here is what Charles Wesley, already a clergyman in the Church of England, said in response. He said, I do hope to be saved. And Peter Bowler asked him, on what ground? This was Wesley's response, that I have used my best endeavors to serve God.

And Peter Bowler simply shook his head. He was a man who had studied theology, who was an ordained clergyman, and he was like Nicodemus. He was, as Charles Wesley would later write, fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thank God he and his brother both came to saving faith.

But this is the story. Walking in spiritual darkness, living in spiritual death, held in spiritual bondage, and then Jesus adds in verses 37 through 59, they had also become spiritual orphans. And he challenges them about this. Oh no, they say, we have Abraham as our Father. And he says, well, you may have Abraham as your Father, but your real spiritual condition is that you don't really know God as your Father.

Actually, I think again this can be very typical of religious people. They say the Our Father, but you know one of the things that is characteristic of religious people who are not in their hearts true disciples of Christ is that when the crisis comes, there is no inner instinct to call out Abba Father. And often they will say things like, oh God, but they don't have the instinct to say Father.

And this was true of these people. They claimed that God was their Father because Abraham was their Father, but none of them would ever have prayed, our Father in heaven, let your name be holy. Because they were spiritually orphans.

They had no family. They were adrift on a sea of religion that could not bring them into any intimate fellowship with the Lord. And Jesus points out the litmus test of that. He says, you know, if God were really your Father, you would love His Son. I wonder if any of you men ever married a woman who said, love me, love my mother.

We come as a package deal. And that's what Jesus is saying. The litmus test of whether God is your Father is that Jesus has become your Savior.

But He says in verse 43, your problem is that you can't even bear to listen to the Word of God's Son. So here they were. They assumed they could see that they had life, that they were free, and that they belonged to the family. But the truth of the matter is they were in darkness, and they were spiritually dead, and they were in bondage, and they were spiritual orphans and outside of the family of God. And so Jesus invited them to Himself out of the darkness. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will no longer walk in darkness but have the light of life. I began with that verse because in a way, my own Christian life began with that verse.

In fact, I think I could summarize what it's meant for me to become a Christian and to be one these last fifty years and more now in terms of this verse. How when I was a nine-year-old boy and began to read the Bible for myself, for five long years, Christ shone the light of His Word upon my mind. But my mind was darkened. I didn't think it was because I lacked intelligence. It was that I just couldn't see. I was like a young Nicodemus.

I just couldn't see. And then in His grace, Christ began to shine His light upon people I knew. And I began to see there was a connection between what I'd been reading in the Bible and the kind of new life that these people I knew were living. And then Christ began to shine His light from His Word right into my heart. I remember as a fourteen-year-old boy reading the words of Jesus in John 5, 39 and 40 where He says, you study the Scriptures because by doing that, you think you have eternal life and you won't come to Me to have life. And I think that was the first time in my life God's Word seemed to walk off the page and I sensed that Jesus is speaking.

This is a perfect description of where I've been for five years, thinking that by doing religious things, reading the Bible every day, saying my prayers, trying to help others, that's what would make me a Christian. And it was as though Jesus walked off the page full of light and said, Sinclair, I'm speaking to you. You're not coming to Me, but if you come to Me, you will enjoy both light and life. And so, with the encouragement and prayers of others, I went to a service in my home city, and the sermon that was preached was on John chapter 8, verse 12, and it was during that sermon. I heard the voice of Jesus say, as Horatius Bonner says in his hymn, come to Me, come into the light, and you will never again walk in darkness. Now, of course, there are days of darkness. I've had dark days, sad days, painful days in my life, but I think I want to testify after decades of seeking to follow the Lord Jesus that He's never left me in the darkness, because He's always there as He promised, shining into our lives as the light of the world.

And since that day, it was the first Saturday night of February in 1963. Since that day, I think I've been able to say the word that Jesus spoke here, I myself have known to be true. And so, I want to say the greatest thing in the world is to be a Christian, trusting in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.

But I also sometimes think the greatest mistake a Christian speaker could ever make is to think that everyone who is listening to him has already become a Christian. And so, it's good for us to end this first session by asking that question of ourselves. Are you in the darkness or are you in the light? Are you trusting in Jesus Christ or are you walking in a spiritual death? And listen to His voice and come into the light and know His blessing. That's Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, and you're listening to Renewing Your Mind.

We're glad you've joined us today. The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 13 to examine ourselves to see if we're in the faith. And Dr. Ferguson provides us with a great basis for doing that in his teaching series, The Basics of the Christian Life.

What we just heard is the first of 12 messages in that series. He explains what it means to be a Christian, how to discover God's will, and how to endure hardships, among other principles. And we'd like to send you this two-DVD set for your donation of any amount to Ligonier Ministries. You can make your request online at renewingyourmind.org, or you can call us with your gift. Our number is 800-435-4343. Living the Christian life boils down to living for the glory of God, and each session in this series examines a different aspect of our lives in Christ.

So again, request The Basics of the Christian Life. Our phone number again is 800-435-4343. And on behalf of all of my colleagues here at Ligonier Ministries, let me thank you for your generous financial gift. Have you checked out our internet radio station? Every day, RefNet features a fresh playlist of trustworthy teaching just like we heard today, along with Bible readings and music. And you can listen at any time. Just download the free RefNet app to your phone or tablet.

Learn more at RefNet.fm. Tomorrow on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. Ferguson returns, and here's just a portion of what we'll hear. The true Christian is a different person with a different identity. He or she is given a new instinct by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. And so one of the marks of that is that we cry out, Abba, Father. What does it mean to be a Christian? We hope you'll join us Tuesday for Renewing Your Mind.