Leonard Ravenhill said, "I do not think that Christianity today is true Christianity." I would like to pose a thought from the scriptures to you. Paul was told by King Agrippa, "Your great learning has made you insane." He appeared insane. He was so different from anything Agrippa knew that he seemed to be crazy--so great was his message. I submit to you that... the radical Christian life is the normal Christian life and anything less is abnormal or an abomination.True Christianity costs your life, for, "He who would come after me must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me," and, "those who belonged to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires," and those who are "baptized with Christ are... dead indeed unto sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." In other words, those who are Christ's lost their own identity in a baptism or immersion into Christ's death and they come out of the water of baptism as a new man who is dead to what he once was and is not wholly given over to God. Notice that the crucifixion of the believer is not only passive, but also active (done by the believer,) for, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." There is no known torture, brutal or painful or grotesque end for a man than crucifixion. So great is the dichotomy between the old man and the new that the first has to be tortured and executed for the other to come to be.A believer who has come to Christ has fully cut off his identity with the old man. He is a good soldier who lives only to please his master and does not get involved in civilian affairs. He mortifies by the Spirit the deeds of the flesh. He abstains from fleshly desires that was against his soul. His heart is on things above. He is truly a citizen of another world. He is other-worldly. His hope creates questions in the eyes of those who see him. He is set-apart enough to be cast-out from society. His life is not his own. He has pledged his head to heaven. When men see him they see an ambassador for another world. Men intuitively think of Jesus when they think of him because he always and only speaks and acts in His name. His inward and outward holiness fulfills the Sermon on the Mount by the Spirit. The blood of the New Covenant is his daily drink. He is satisfied with the bread of Jesus Christ. He is so thirsty for the Holy Spirit through Christ that out of his heart gushes forth torrents of living water to utterly and continually quench his thirst. He is an enigma to the skeptic. He is known for his self-sacrificial love that deals death to himself to give life to others. He is a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God (acceptable meaning without blemish.) His word is more sure than a thousand promises of the men of this age. He is above the world. He endures all, believes all and hopes all. His life is for Christ who loved him and gave Himself up for him. In fact, there is nothing left of what he once was--so changed is his identity--but Christ lives in him so that he counts all things loss for the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. He is given over to God. He has lost his life.Anything less than that, is abnormal and/or an abomination. The promise of the New Covenant is that we have His law written on our minds and hearts. Grace is not a license for sin but the power not to sin. The New Covenant says, "those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." There is no license for sin, but there is a deep intolerance for it that would rather throw one's own eye than tolerate sin. In fact, the Christian is intolerant of sin. He is as willing as Christ to give His life for sinners and as intolerant of sin as the cross He died on. There is no room in the heart of a believer for anything but his First Love. His loyalty to and love for Christ causes him to say of those who do not see Him as he does, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha."We are all slaves. We are all radically given over. We are enslaved. "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" We are slave to whatever we give ourselves to, to whatever holds our heat, "For by whatever a man is overcome, by that he is enslaved." We are either for Christ or against Christ and we are either a slave to Christ or to Satan. There is no middle ground. "Those who know God ought also to walk as He walked." Jesus's walk caused His family to rebuke Him, to make men think He was demon-possessed, offended or converted and got Him crucified.He foretold and said:"They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.""Blessed are you when men revile you, persecute you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake.""If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ""If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you."These things and what I said before describe the life of a normal Christian. "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." What are you doing and what are you teaching?"Whoever would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me."Dan
