Faith and the Family at Christmas

The key to harmony in families is not one we naturally want to apply. Ephesians 5:21 says to "submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." Submission is in direct opposition to our flesh's desire to rule and have its way. We defend our rights, champion our causes, defend our opinions, and assert our own agendas whenever possible. God's way is to crucify our flesh (Galatians 5:24; Romans 6:11) and submit to the needs and wishes of others whenever we can. Jesus is our model for that kind of submission to God's will. First Peter 2:23 says, "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

Most family problems could be lessened if we all followed the instructions found in Philippians 2:3-4: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." When we adopt the spirit of humility and treat others as Jesus would treat them, we can resolve many of our family and relationship problems. Source

[The essence of true Christian behaviour is to surrender] our hearts and yield our bodies to Christ so He might continue God's work through us. We are to be beacons of light in a dark world, using our spiritual gifts to advance His kingdom. It is living here on earth the way Jesus lived when He was here. It also means living to please one Person — God. We do this when we abide in His Word and then live it out as we are enabled by His Spirit, just as our Saviour did until He took His last breath. As He was dying on the cross, Christ looked out at His executioners and asked His Father to forgive them (Luke 23:34). Jesus was doing more than fulfilling prophecy and making "intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12), He was practicing what He preached (Luke 6:27-28). Source

The only unpardonable sin today is that of continued unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who dies in unbelief. John 3:16 tells us, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." The only condition in which someone would have no forgiveness is if he/she is not among the "whoever" that believes in Him. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). Source

[When] we understand what the Bible teaches about election, we understand that God elects individuals to salvation and that only those that are elect will be saved (John 6:44-65). God elects individuals to salvation (Romans 9:6-18), and those that are elect believe and are saved (Acts 13:48). Salvation is entirely from God, from start to finish, and we should be confident in His power to save...

[Christians should] earnestly hope, pray, and work for the salvation of their families. And while there are times as foretold by Jesus in Matthew 10:34-36 that salvation will divide a family, there are also many times where the God of Abraham also becomes the God of Sarah, and then of Isaac and then of Jacob. As Charles Spurgeon said: "...though grace does not run in the blood, and regeneration is not of blood nor of birth, yet doth it very frequently — I was about to say almost always — happen that God, by means of one of a household, draws the rest to himself. He calls an individual, and then uses him to be a sort of spiritual decoy to bring the rest of the family into the gospel net." God has not only appointed or elected individuals to salvation. He has also ordained the means by which they will be saved, which is hearing and responding in faith to the Gospel message. As Spurgeon so eloquently communicates, this often involves a family member, as God saves one person and then uses him/her in such a way that others in the family hear the Word of God, believe, and are saved. Source