First Baptist Church
I don’t know if you have ever had the opportunity or experience of singing this little song, but in it can be found some very solid theology. What did he just write? Yes, there is some very solid theology in that song. What theology? I am glad you asked.
First, the song asks us to be honest with ourselves about how and who we are. Jesus, after He fed the 5000, turned and told the crowds they could not be His disciples if they would not eat His body and drink His blood. Why would He do this? Because He wanted them to see if they could handle being His disciples. It is the same for you and I. We need to test ourselves and see if we are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5). We need to be honest with ourselves about who we are and whose we are. We are not Christians because we go to church, got baptized, have put aside some bad things we do, have taken on some new good things, or even that we prayed a prayer with a preacher at the end of a service. We are Christians because Jesus is the Lord of our lives, and we are kept by Him and hang on to Him with all of our hearts.
Second, the song says that being happy should produce a result. If you are happy, then you should clap your hands. For many people that call themselves Christians, there is not enough evidence in their life to convict them of being a follower of Christ. So, what would be some evidence that a person really does belong to Christ and know Him as Savior and Lord? Here are just a few taken from Donald S. Whitney’s Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health:
1. Do you thirst for God?
2. Are you governed increasingly by God’s Word?
3. Are you more loving?
4. Are you more sensitive to God’s presence?
5. Do you have a growing concern for the spiritual and temporal needs of others?
6. Do you delight in the bride of Christ?
7. Are the spiritual disciplines increasingly important to you?
8. Do you still grieve over sin?
9. Are you a quicker forgiver?
10. Do you yearn for Heaven and to be with Jesus?1
“So what do I do if I don’t see these things in my life at all?” Well, you should probably get saved. You should turn away from your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
“So what do I do if I see some and not others, or I am not happy with the amount of each I see in my life?” I am glad you asked! Jesus addressed this in his letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:5 “Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent.”2 The best place for you get help in these and other matters is your local church. I am not saying you must go to my church in order to grow. That would be prideful and ridiculous! But you must attend a Bible-believing church that preaches and teaches and disciples people in the Word of God.
(1. Donald S. Whitney, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spirtual Health, Navpress, Colorado Springs, CO,
2. New American Standsard Bible, The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA, 1995.)