Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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Now, my father called himself a Christian. I call myself a non-Christian. But he was more of a non-Christian than I am yet. A real non-Christian heeds the Voice. As long as we are not recognizing that Voice to be Who it is, and as long as we don’t have the courage to go ahead and be misunderstood and falsely accused, to appear to be doing the wrong thing, to be accused of being unloving and self-willed – whatever the criticism may be – as long as we do not follow the Voice and remain afraid of what man will do to us, we are still Christians! Fearing man is being a Christian, and a good one. That’s why the Spirit of God in me was raging, because it’s not a Christian. It hates sin. It reproves sin. It yields to nothing and wants us to yield to him.
No matter what kind of revelation, no matter what kind of understanding, no matter what kind of knowledge, no matter what spiritual place God has led us to, whenever I look down, I can see the footprints of those who led us to Christ. They’ve already been through this territory. We haven’t out-grown them. We are on the road they were on. In fact, by following after the Spirit, those old saints showed us how to be non-Christians.
What difference does it make what we claim, anyway? What difference does it make to God if those old saints claimed to be Christians while they were listening to the Spirit? What difference does it make to God if we claim to be non-Christians when we do not listen to the Spirit? Claiming to be a non-Christian is the equivalent of claiming to be saved already, if we’re not walking in the Spirit. It’s just another worthless claim of the flesh.
Glory to God! We must listen to that wonderful, loving Voice! It alone knows the way home, and when it comes, it comes to save us, to keep us from falling into a trap, to protect us from having our victory robbed by a slick-talking minister. And God wants us to grow into that place in spiritual life where you know what is right and you have the strength to do it, even if there is nobody around to tell you what to do. In Christ, you have that light inside of you. And it’s showing you the way, every day.
Oh God, help us hear His Voice, to recognize it for what it is, and to have the courage to live by it! That’s being led by the Spirit. That’s being a real non-Christian. In fact, that is being a real non-human, for when the Word of the Lord comes to us, it creates in us an attitude, and understanding, and a power that is far more than what is simply human.