CHRISTIAN TRAITS 10: VISITING ORPHANS & WIDOWS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Christian Traits
a) Many people are uncertain of their salvation. Some denominations teach that you can lose your salvation. Some Christians believe they can lose their salvation. How can you be sure that you are a Christian?
b) Here is one the 10 true Christian traits or ways that you can rest assured that you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, working in you, which provide solid, biblical evidence that you are a Christian and that you can know that you are saved.
2. Visiting Orphans and Widows
a) This might be one of the most overlooked job descriptions of a Christian. It seems too simple yet few believers and even those in the church do. That is to visit the widows and orphans. This is what pure and undefiled religion is really all about.
b) James put it succinctly when he wrote, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). We do not want to overlook the part about keeping oneself from being polluted by the world.
c) James did not specify what age these orphans and widows would be. Why wouldn’t God be pleased that we include disenfranchised people in our visits? They are no less orphans and widows/widowers than young or middle age people who have lost their mates and they are no different than children who have lost their parents. Visiting them is part of what James (and God) calls pure religion. This is the meat and potatoes of Christianity. God is a Father to the fatherless. He is a defender of the widows and widowers. God is not interested in religion but in a relationship. We are to be the hands and feet of Christ on earth.
The End ...
1. Christian Traitsa) Many people are uncertain of their salvation. Some denominations teach that you can lose your salvation. Some Christians believe they can lose their salvation. How can you be sure that you are a Christian?
b) Here is one the 10 true Christian traits or ways that you can rest assured that you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, working in you, which provide solid, biblical evidence that you are a Christian and that you can know that you are saved.
2. Visiting Orphans and Widows
a) This might be one of the most overlooked job descriptions of a Christian. It seems too simple yet few believers and even those in the church do. That is to visit the widows and orphans. This is what pure and undefiled religion is really all about.
b) James put it succinctly when he wrote, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). We do not want to overlook the part about keeping oneself from being polluted by the world.
c) James did not specify what age these orphans and widows would be. Why wouldn’t God be pleased that we include disenfranchised people in our visits? They are no less orphans and widows/widowers than young or middle age people who have lost their mates and they are no different than children who have lost their parents. Visiting them is part of what James (and God) calls pure religion. This is the meat and potatoes of Christianity. God is a Father to the fatherless. He is a defender of the widows and widowers. God is not interested in religion but in a relationship. We are to be the hands and feet of Christ on earth.
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