Genuine Versus Generic

Generic (def) - characteristic of or relating to a class or group of things; not specific

Genuine (def) - truly what something is said to be; authentic. When we think of our faith as believers in Jesus we can sometimes paint a very broad brush stoke on what our faith is and that can be dangerous. Our faith is so personal to the point that the God of the Universe, God Almighty would reach out to us as an individual soul and birth us again purely and spiritually. Jesus called this born-again and it was not a group effort, but a very personal, intimate, relationship with God Almighty. To make this relationship religious tends to lead us to want to blend it with others' impressions of who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross and come to a consensus about what it is we believe.

God has made this a HUGE step in a much deeper relationship that is centered around an individual calling out to God for salvation by faith and God responds to that individual and establishes an intimate relationship with the person who calls out. To insure this relationship deepens God has given us His living Word to guide us in all things God and sent the Holy Spirit to help us discern what that Word says and all of this works in perfect harmony in a believer's life. Peter wrote this in 2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. All of who we are was given to us by God through Jesus and He knows our name and responds to us by name. This is an authentic, faith-driven relationship that God has given us and He sacrificed His Son, Jesus to take all barriers away from this relationship to make it genuine in every form and way. To lessen the effort or will of God in this relationship is to keep us from growing and knowing God as He intends.

We live in a world that looks at "religion" as the end-all and knows all, but it isn't. There is so much more. God reaches to the deepest part of who we are, our soul, and does a great change that we call sanctification. This sanctification changes who are at our core and in that change makes us holy, as He is holy. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1: 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.

Only through personal a relationship can this change in life and lifestyle be accomplished and it is only possible through the grace of God. This wonderful grace sets us on a course of living in the freedom offered by God to all who receive it. And this grace changes us dramatically. A generic faith will never get us to this place of intimacy because our impressions will cloud the truth that is offered by God to all who come to Him by their personal faith. Religion cannot truly offer this. A relationship can. Where are you? Are you religious? Or are you Born-again?

The Pilgrimage Continues

David Warren