Who Are The True People Of God?
Among those who make a profession of religion
there have always been, and there will continue to be, carnal debates as to who
are the true church and people of God. The Baptist, the Roman Catholics, the
Campbellites, and many others profess to be the true church, the true people of
God. Such people make the external observations of religion the basis of their
claim. Like the Pharisees, they pride themselves in their outward and strict
adherence to the ceremonies of religion. And they exclude everyone from the
body of Christ who do not conform to their particular standards of religion.
But those who are God's true children can never be satisfied with the mere
outward form of religion. They delight in the privileges of public worship; but
they must have more. They feel the necessity of that vital power, life, and
heart of Christianity. In Philippians 3:3, the apostle Paul gives us a
threefold description of those "who are the true people of God".
"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh."
1. They Worship God in the
Spirit.
True worship is the exercise of faith, love, and praise toward God, through the
merits and mediation of Christ. It is spiritual. God's people worship him in
their hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our outward acts of devotion are
only a reflection of our inner life in Christ.
2. They Rejoice in Christ Jesus.
Those who have a true apprehension of themselves, realize that there is
nothing in them to boast of or rejoice in. We make Christ alone our glory and
boast. We rejoice in Christ's wisdom, his righteousness, his redemption, his
strength, and the riches of his grace. To them that believe Christ is all.
"He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
3. They Have No Confidence in
the Flesh.
The true people of God place no confidence in themselves, nor in
anything they have done, either moral or religious. Christ alone is the
confidence of the true believer before God. We trust him for our justification
our sanctification, and our eternal glory. He alone is our hope in life, in
death, and in the judgment.
Don Fortner