Are You a Modern Day Pilgrim?

by Tracy Tennant

Almost four hundred years ago a group of brave men and women boarded the Mayflower to sail to the New World for religious and economic freedom. King James and his Church of England had become corrupt, not holding to what the Bible says a church should be. Some people believed the Church of England needed to be more pure; they wanted to reform the Church. They became known as the Puritans. Others thought that the Church of England was so corrupt it was beyond repair, so they decided to separate themselves from it and start their own church. These people became known as Separatists. In any case, it was illegal to start a new church and the lower class had no control over initiating change in the existing one. The pilgrims first traveled to Holland to enjoy the religious freedom afforded there. After ten years, as their children began to speak Dutch and pick up parts of the culture that their parents found objectionable, they sailed for America and settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

There is much to be thankful for and much to learn from our pilgrim forbears. The Encarta dictionary defines a pilgrim as a “religious traveler: somebody who goes on a journey to a holy place for religious reasons.” I’d like to suggest that you don’t have to travel far to be a pilgrim. In fact, Biblical Christians are pilgrims by nature. Some of us have fled from religious systems that made us slaves to rituals and regulations. Some of us have been persecuted for our faith in Jesus Christ alone. We travel to a holy place each time we engage in prayer. We are on a spiritual journey in which the Holy Spirit constantly works in us, to conform us into the image of Christ. In light of this, we might ask, what does it mean to belong to the Lord’s Church?

In its earliest form, the church was not a building, nor a denomination. It was not a program or an official organization. When a person put their total trust in Jesus Christ, relying on Him alone for salvation, he or she then became a “child of God through adoption.”

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, ?if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Romans 8:15-17).

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:1-7).

"Redeem," meaning “to buy from the slave market,” is a term used only by Paul in the NT (3:13; Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). The verb describes Christ’s supreme and final payment for the sins of humanity (Rom. 3:23–25). This payment, His death on the Cross, frees those who believe on Him from the curse of the law and slavery to sin. This decisive payment and resulting freedom clears the way for Christians to become God’s sons. Although there is only one natural Son in God’s family, Jesus Christ (vv. 4, 6), God has graciously adopted all believers as His sons. We are no longer slaves to sin, nor children under the guardianship of the law.

4:7 Paul summarizes the illustrations and teaching of the preceding section (vv. 1–6) by speaking of the transformation of the believer from being a spiritual slave to being a son with full rights. To be an heir of God is true of all “sons” unconditionally. This should be distinguished, however, from being an heir of the kingdom. The Scripture speaks of two inheritances (Rom. 8:17). All children of God by faith (John 1:12) have an inheritance in heaven which can never fade (1 Pet. 1:3–5), but the inheritance in the earthly reign of Christ is earned as a result of our sufferings for Him (2 Tim. 2:12). (Nelson’s new Illustrated Bible Commentary).

Members of Christ’s church, then, are those who have been redeemed, adopted into God’s family, and made joint-heirs with Christ. In the early Church, believers met together in small groups in homes on Sunday, the first day of the week; because it was the first day of the creation and the day Jesus was resurrected. The time of worship included reading the memoirs of the apostles, which were called “gospels” even at that time (remember, this was before the canonization of the New Testament) or the writings of the prophets, exhortation and encouragement by the worship leader, prayer and thanksgiving, collecting money to care for those in need, and partaking of the Lord’s supper—which was bread, representing the body of Christ, and wine mixed with water (when Jesus hung on the cross and the spear cast into His side, a mixture of blood and water came out). There was singing, though it was not a prominent part of the service as it is today, and departing each other’s company with a “holy kiss.” Believers stood when they worshiped and prayer was offered with eyes wide open looking toward heaven and arms outstretched (This information can be found in Justin Martyr’s First Apology, around 156 A.D.).

As members of “the church,” commonly known as “the body of Christ” in Christian terminology, we are not only God’s children, but also the bride of Christ. The Greek term for “church” is “ekklesia.”

Ekklesia always referred to people—originally to the citizens of a city, and later to a gathering of believers. There is no evidence that it meant a church building until the fourth century a.d….[The ekklesia, or church] implies all Christian believers, regardless of geographic location or time in history—what is often called the universal (or catholic) church (Eph. 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23–32). (What Does the Bible Say About…The Ultimate A to Z resource, 2001, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

At the end of the second century, someone wrote;

“Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind by either country, speech, customs; the fact is, they nowhere settle in cities of their own; they use no peculiar language; they cultivate no eccentric mode of life. Yet while they dwell in both Greek and non-Greek cities, as each one’s lot was cast, and conform to the customs of the country in dress, food, and mode of life in general, the whole tenor of their way of living stamps it as worthy of admiration and admittedly extraordinary” (source unknown).

What is extraordinary about the church is that people from all walks of life belong to it.  It is universal; it encompasses all denominations and transcends our national citizenship. Paul reminds us that our we are not of this world, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:17). As fellow believers in Christ Jesus, we belong to the family of God! True Christians have the following in common; the belief that Jesus is God incarnate; that salvation comes through Christ’s work on the cross and not our own efforts, it is a gift from God; the Bible is the inerrant word of God (“the scripture cannot be broken,” John 10:35); and the belief that Christ’s church consists of the “body of believers,” or “the called out ones.” True followers of Christ our Lord believe God says what He means and means what He says.

The world may persecute us for our beliefs; we may be unpopular; we may even be criticized by others who call themselves Christians; but as long as we hold to what the Bible teaches about God and salvation, we are pilgrims. We stand for truth. We stand for the Lord Jesus Christ and the message of His gospel. We are His bride. Let us ever be thankful for our awesome God!

------------------------------------

Copyright © 2005 Equipping Christians Ministries