Every denomination, congregation, or assembly is made up of believers who, often without realizing it, are striving to be something more complicated than simply Christian. Their denominations establish traditions, creeds, rites, and rituals. Adherence to these becomes necessary for full inclusion in that body of believers. Traditions add rules and assign levels of compliance. In many traditional congregations, being simply Christian is made complex, complicated, and nearly unattainable.

“Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, ‘Rejoice!’ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4–7, WEB) A life of peace beyond anything we can imagine is ours now. All that is asked of us is to rejoice in the Lord and to show gentleness to all. Peace comes as a simple matter of thankful prayer and honest requests. Christ is with us even now. He “is at hand.” He is not only seated at the right hand of the Father; He lives in us as well. The peace of God is His gift. He shields us and guards our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Even so, the ways of the world stand constantly before us, enticing and tempting us. I am convinced that nearly all, if not all, who are still reading this book have at least been tempted by the flesh. And I suspect most of us, in one way or another, have taken a bite of that fruit. That is not an exaggeration.

“Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy. For God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!” (Romans 11:28–33, WEB)

This is Good News. It is the Gospel. Here we see impartial grace in the light of Christ’s Gospel. God has consigned all to disobedience so that He might have mercy on all. His love is boundless and relentless, far deeper than our traditions allow. He is benevolent without end. He is good. His grace is impartial.

His mercy will be over all. It is the same mercy He showed to the disciples and early believers. It is the same mercy He gives to traditionalists and to all others. Traditions—especially the doctrine of eternal conscious torment—deny our Father’s power and intent to reconcile all.

Traditions and denominations often stir up the sin in us. They can extinguish the liberty we have in Him. They separate, divide, and label. Denominations create anxiety and exploit believers. Traditions demand qualified performance and measure adherence to doctrines. “Keep these rules,” we are told, “and you may belong here.”

We worry about our children, parents, jobs, churches, and spiritual standing. Our doctrines are challenged. Our sense of security wavers. Doubt and anxiety become serious challenges to our trust in His sovereignty. At times, our worry suggests that God does not know what He is doing. We surrender very little and feed the fires of worry. We fail to hear His command to love one another. Traditions and denominations fuel these anxieties; the Word of God does not.

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.’ Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. For you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.’ But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil. To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:13–17, WEB) We are called to live according to what God commands. We know what is good in His sight. To refuse to do the good we know is to sin. We know His command to love one another, yet too often good men do not love—and that is sin. Without God, the best efforts and plans of men are fruitless. In their vanity, they will reap what they sow. Our harvest will also match what we sow.

We are of God. We are to abide in Him. Traditions often work against that abiding; they can negate the command to love unconditionally.

“Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:4–7, WEB) Jesus makes it abundantly clear that we will only be worthy witnesses when our hearts, words, thoughts, and deeds are in Him. If we step away from the Word of God to follow fear, we poison our portion of the branch. Our branch will not bear testimony to the grace upon grace given to us by God; instead, it will bear unworthy fruit. To be simply Christian is to embrace the truth that “apart from me you can do nothing.”

“If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love. I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:10–11, WEB) Apart from Him, we cannot keep His commandments. Traditional congregations have often obscured Divine love with doctrines of division, including that of eternal conscious torment. It seems reasonable to say that to live in continual worry is, in practice, to confess that we are not remaining in His love. Worry is not joy. Even a little worry displaces the fullness of joy in Him.

Christ commands us not to worry. Scripture teaches us not to worry about what we will eat or wear. God clothes the lilies of the field more splendidly than Solomon on his best day. The crows do not worry about food. The Father cares for us far more than He cares for lilies and birds. We have no reason to worry—yet we do. Traditions complicate our walk with Christ, burdening us with rules and authoritarian expectations.

“But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him: he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.” (1 John 2:5–6, WEB) Jesus did not walk in fear of what governments or religious traditionalists might do to Him. He did not walk in anxiety about His daily needs. He walked in Truth, preaching His Gospel of salvation. To be simply Christian is to walk in love, even toward those who hate us. Traditions that diminish impartial grace become unnecessary obstacles in that walk.

“Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him.” (1 John 2:28–29, WEB) Traditions and doctrines often slice “righteousness” into so many pieces that the word loses meaning. Christ-like righteousness is simple: loving as He loved, walking as He walked. A righteous life is a life lived in Him. The fruit of our testimony about Him, through Him, and in Him will keep us from standing naked and ashamed before Him.

“Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him, neither knows him.” (1 John 3:3–6, WEB) Being simply Christian is a matter of abiding in Christ and trusting His power to purify us. Traditions that create divisions—denominations being the visible proof—work against Christ-like unity and therefore against His will. Traditionalists elevate their doctrines to supremacy and then bend the Word of God to fit their theology.

“Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and doesn’t remain in the teaching of Christ, doesn’t have God. He who remains in the teaching, the same has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you, and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him, for he who welcomes him participates in his evil works.” (2 John 1:8–11, WEB) Being simply Christian requires only dedication to Him—to serve Him and to remain in His teaching. He tells us to love orphans and widows, to care for them. One who persists in sin will neither see God nor know Him. When we abide in Christ, our gifts are many: spiritual fruitfulness, answered prayer, abundant peace, new life, and a deeper dedication to Him than to our fears.

“There is nothing to fear” is not just a slogan; it is a spiritual reality for those who abide in Christ. Our lives reflect the Truth, and we honor our Savior and Lord. Traditions demand adherence to rules established and enforced by men. Jesus teaches: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:1–7, WEB) Jesus speaks to us as the true Vine in whom we find our life. Christ Jesus sustains us. We are already in the Vine, and the expectation is to bear His fruit. Abiding in Him, feeding from the Vine, is a choice. We choose to abide in Him. As we do, we learn to enjoy life in Him as He lives in us. By His grace, He leads us to bear much fruit. The Father tends the Vine. His purpose is to make it fruitful. He prunes unproductive branches and grafts in new ones. He constantly watches over His Vine and, in doing so, makes it stronger and more fruitful.

Consider the disciples. The young men Christ chose were green and immature. Yet He called them and grafted them in. Which of the Twelve was cut away and lost forever? Judas Iscariot is often cited by traditionalists as an example of a branch cut off and destined for eternal conscious torment. Peter, who denied Christ three times, was restored. Paul, once “chief of sinners,” was grafted in after persecuting the church.

The doctrine of eternal conscious torment claims that Judas’ branch was cut away, left to wither, and is now eternally burning. Paul’s branch, however, was grafted in. Traditionalists often presume to take up the Vintner’s shears, deciding for themselves which branches God must cut away, and which He may graft in. Their doctrines overstep Divine sovereignty and lean heavily on the traditions of men.

Some among us began well in belief but have walked away. They have taken on, for a time, a spirit opposed to Christ. Traditionalists insist such branches are destined for unending fire. Yet even a cut-away branch remains, in origin, a part of the Vine’s creation. The Vintner is still sovereign over what happens to it. Others live a “church life,” drawing their sense of worth from position and recognition. They may become hardened, legalistic, and bound to ritual rather than to Christ. Their branch withers, and if not revived, it too is cut away.

“If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7, WEB) To be simply Christian is to rest in the assurance that every true need—and even our deepest desires—will be met as we abide in Christ and His words abide in us. He is the Word. His words are His doctrines, His Gospel, the full counsel of God. His words shape our daily lives. We love because He first loved us. We treat others with dignity and respect because His words live in us. We advance the Truth of His Gospel because His words are rooted in our hearts. This assurance of answered prayer is never taken away, but it can be hidden. Traditions act like a basket placed over a lit lamp. When we keep His commandments and hold to His teaching, we can rest in His keeping. Rites, rituals, creeds, and man-made commitments often obscure the Light.

“Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments. I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,—the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.” (John 14:13–18, WEB) If we are truly simply Christian, then our prayers will increasingly reflect His will: that the Spirit guide us, that Christ be glorified, that love be perfected in us. We will not be asking for the trinkets of this world. We will be asking for holiness, integrity, humility, and love.

Albert Barnes comments that our prayers are heard when we keep the commandments of Christ and live by faith in Him. Were we perfect in all things, he suggests, we would never make an improper petition.

“If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened.” (Psalm 66:18, WEB) Selfish motives in prayer fall on deaf ears. Prideful prayers are not heard. But prayers rising from the love of God and for the good of others are listened to and answered. Being simply Christian means allowing the Holy Spirit within us to shape our desires and our requests.

“I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, WEB) Jesus told His disciples they would scatter and leave Him alone. They did. John later returned and stood near the cross. Even then, Jesus was not truly alone; the Father was with Him. In this single verse we find comfort, courage, and peace. Christ has overcome the world. He carries our burdens—those of believers and unbelievers alike. Being simply Christian is acknowledging that we will suffer in this world, but that there is nothing we cannot face as we abide in Him.

Traditions often preach that we must “do” something to satisfy their demands in order to be truly accepted. But Christ carried the true burden. The rites and rituals of tradition add weight to the shoulders He has already promised to lift.

“He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again. Therefore we know no one after the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:15–21, WEB) It is vanity to claim, “I am in Christ,” while living according to the flesh. A Christian’s heart is changed. The old man dies; the new man lives. To be simply Christian is to live as one reconciled and to carry the ministry of reconciliation to others.

“If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:26–27, WEB) This is what God expects from those who believe. There should be no neglected orphan among us, no forgotten widow. And we should guard our hearts from the world’s stains. Traditions that divide and diminish others are stains.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta offers a powerful example of someone devoted to caring for orphans and the poorest of the poor. Yet traditionalist voices have questioned whether her faith “qualified” her for heaven. Some claim her devotion, while extraordinary, was still essentially worthless unless it fit their doctrinal grid. Such judgments reveal the depth to which traditions can override the plain teaching of Scripture about pure and undefiled religion.

Paul writes: “I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord… that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own… but that which is through faith in Christ…” (Philippians 3:8–21, WEB) Knowing Christ is a gift from Christ. Paul calls us to press on toward that high calling. There is but one rule: to strive to walk as Christ walked. His life, suffering, death, and resurrection are the pattern. We do not reach perfection in this life, but by striving, abiding, and trusting, we live as simply Christian.

“But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed… even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 3:21–26, WEB) My friends, abiding in Christ is the honor our Lord deserves. Worship and praise on Sunday are good but not sufficient by themselves. Teaching a Sunday school class or preaching a sermon is good but not enough. Giving tithes and offerings is good but not enough. Like Mother Teresa’s bushel of good works, our works, apart from abiding in Christ, cannot be the ground of our hope.

“As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. You know the commandments…’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth.’ Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.’ But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions…” (Mark 10:17–31, WEB) To be simply Christian is to abide in Christ and to give Him all. The rich young ruler would not. He loved his possessions more than Christ. Traditions are often guarded in the same way—held tightly, protected fiercely. Traditional doctrines teach that it is “too late” for people like the rich young ruler, that they are bound for eternal conscious torment. Yet Christ reminds us that “with God all things are possible.”

In 2 Kings 21–23, we read of Josiah’s reforms in Judah. Though it was “too late” to avert judgment on the nation, Josiah still did what was right. He tore down idols, cleansed the temple, and restored true worship. His actions mattered, even if the national outcome was set. Traditions can be like the idols Josiah destroyed. Traditionalists speak against idolatry while clinging to their own: doctrines, rites, rituals, and systems that they will not surrender. Their eternal fires still burn—sometimes more fiercely in pulpits than in any pagan grove.

Conclusion

To be simply Christian is to set aside every confidence in tradition, denomination, or personal achievement and to rest wholly in Christ. It is to abide in Him as the true Vine, to walk as He walked, to love as He loved, and to trust that His impartial grace is greater than all our divisions. Traditions may have their place, but they must never take the place of Jesus. When we let go of what is merely man-made and cling to Him alone, we discover the peace, freedom, and unity that have always been ours in Him. That is the life of being simply Christian.