By Carl A. Allen
The word Christian is a name given to those who have obeyed the Gospel, and who are supposed to be obedient followers of the Lord. This word is found three times in the New Testament: Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16. In Acts 11:26 the name is given to the followers of Christ. In Acts 26:28 Agrippa almost becomes a Christian, and in 1 Peter 4:16, there were those who were suffering for being a Christian.
Someone has said, “The Christian is a man who has ceased to do what he wants to do and who has begun to do what Jesus wants him to do.” This is a wonderful way of expressing the actions of the Christian. It is no longer the flesh and the desires of the flesh that are the master; but rather, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
Paul expresses himself in a way to show that we are no longer under the domain of the flesh: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:16-17). This has produced a change in the man. It caused him to respect the master of the universe, to honor and glorify him in word and deed. Truly, he is a changed man who has “ceased to do what he wants to do and who has begun to do what Jesus wants him to do.”
I heard one of my preacher friends express it this way: “When these old people of the world come knocking on the door, you tell them — I used to, but I don’t no more!”
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