From time to time Christian leaders need to assess a situation and make a call to "Back to the Basics". What are the basics of the Christian faith? At the center of the faith is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ is alive today and gives Spiritual life and renewal to his people if we call out to him. In fact, he delights to bring restoration to his children in grace and through the Holy Spirit. We must emphasize in Christian renewal that the Christian faith is a Spiritual life in Christ, we cannot live this life in our own strength. This is why we need Spiritual renewal.
It is absolutely fundamental therefore that we seek the Holy Spirit to come to us through the Word of God. It was the Holy Spirit that inspired the writing of the Word, and it is this same inspiration that brings us alive to the Word today. We find in Scripture many different words of encouragement and inspiration. The Bible brings us comfort and rest, as well as correction and reproof.
King David tells us in Psalm 23:1-3, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” David knew the importance of taking time to rest and be restored in his soul. He found that renewal in who God is and what God has done. First, we must find Spiritual rest.
The Apostle John also sees a key element in the Spiritual life through walking in the light, or the truth, and turning away from the darkness. In 1 John 1:5-7, we see, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin.”
John shows us that fellowship with God is always fellowship in the Light, which is a metaphor for truth. But it is more than just intellectual truth, it is Spiritual Life, the truth of living in the Spirit. And we must be actively walking in the Light. The second fundamental for renewal is to turn away from darkness and walk in the Light.
John continues to prescribe another essential element in Spiritual renewal. He also teaches us in chapter one, (v.8-10), “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.” These verses contain some of the most precious truths and stern warnings in all of Scripture.
It is absolutely essential to acknowledge sin in our lives to be forgiven and then to be restored to fellowship with Christ. Even more, if we claim that we have no sin, we in essence are saying that God is a liar, and then the Word of God has no place in us. The third fundamental of renewal is to confess and repent from any sin in our life.
We see that the Word of God is tantamount to a vital Spiritual life. We must have the Scriptures in us, in our hearts as we rest beside the quiet waters, as we seek to walk in the Light, and as we confess and repent from sin. These three fundamentals are essential to return to the basics and find the renewal of Spiritual life.
FAITH TODAY: 1 Peter 2:1-2, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”
