Bible Lesson 174
THE BIBLICAL PATTERN FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE STYLE
“I, THEREFORE, THE PRISONER OF THE Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called..” Ephesians 4:1
“SOME SEEM TO THINK THAT IF WE ARE CHRISTIANS, GOD IS NOT GOING TO BRING UP ANYTHING DONE IN THIS LIFE. IT IS ALL UNDER THE BLOOD. PUT EVERYTHING ON JESUS AND LIVE ANY WAY YOU PLEASE. SURELY THAT CANNOT BE RIGHT. KEITH L. BROOKS
In this lesson we will open our Bibles and look to determine what God has said about our lives as His children. None of what we write here will apply to those who have never cast themselves (their lives), upon Jesus Christ as He hung in our place on the cross and all that means to truly saved people. It seem as I look about me in today”s world, that human beings have become drifters, floaters, always moving away from God and toward the world and the worldly. How else can we account for what is happening all around the world today. What do we see around us’ War, man”s inhumanity to man, and in general rape, pillage, and ruin.
If that is not what you see, then you simply do not have your eyes open and all God”s children have eyes, eyes that see plainly. We are not like the drunk at the bar, who begins to see more beauty, as he drinks more alcohol. We enjoy the worlds production of what the devil knows we will follow. What most people in our world today desire, is that they would have a good job, a lot of money, no trouble and heaven as a reward. And if many had to make a choice, of one of those things I mentioned, sadly, it would be the money. Heaven, for most, is a delayed dream. We have decided to go after what the world goes after and only then we will seek to please God.
That is not going to be beneficial to us; and the only Savior of men tells us in His first or finest sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, that we must demonstrate our salvation by the way that we live. Many have taken the edge off the Sermon on the Mount by declaring it to be the way we will live in heaven.
That is in no way what the Sermon on the Mount tells us! What Jesus was saying there, as evidenced by the rest of the Bible, is that God demands of His Children a holy lifestyle. We have attempted to deceive God and the other members of our congregations that we are living out the sermon on our own, and that nobody can live that way so we are all just sinners. They are right about one thing and that is that no flesh can and will act that way, unless it has been inhabited by the Savior Jesus Christ.
Perhaps we ought to pay more attention to the Bible as we read it rather than simply perusing it. If we scan over the words of the Bible without bringing away the truth of the meaning of each verse in connection with the rest of the Bible, we are really ignoring God, because the Bible is the record of God speaking to His creatures. As creatures, we human beings would be offended if we were having a conversation with someone and they were obviously not paying attention, and you can be certain that God is offended at the way most of us read His warning to us.
Sadly the fear of God has been preached out of most congregations today. Most everyone is afraid to be afraid of the One who not only created us, but the One who sustains us and saves us when we truly believe. The question now becomes, does God expect those whom He saves, to live in a certain way'” The answer is definitely God does and in fact He demands that we do! God gives each of us things that we will do: That is if we are truly His Children, and if you are not His child, you are going to hell anyway, unless you begin to desire to know God by reading His Word or finding some faithful interpreter of His Word to train you.
Now that may cause you to be stressed, that God would dare to demand anything from you who are such a great and good person; but you can be sure that God does and will judge everyone of us by how we have aligned our lives according to His Word and Will. God early on chose a man we call Abraham, to inherit the promised land, and God said to Abraham, at the time of the Covenant between Abraham and God; “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless”. Blameless means, in the words of my dear old Mother, obey me, mind me, do all that I say. When God saves any person, God gives them a planned life and that life is clearly outlined in the Bible. You should have noticed the lesson text that I used in the heading of this lesson, from Ephesians 4:1, in which God, speaking through The Apostle Paul, commands us to “Walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called”!
Paul uses the word “Therefore” which is meant to drive us back to see what he is referring to in the preceding verses, and that is pure and simply to remind us that, if we are saved by God”s Grace, we have a work to do and that work is to carry the gospel to the lost. That reminds us of the scripture there in Ephesians 2:10, that says “We are God”s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared before-hand that we should walk in them.” That scripture reminds us that, at our birth we are “born dead in trespass and sin”, and in Salvation God quickens us”, gives us Spiritual life. That begins our salvation and we are “born from above” or born again, in Christ so that we will continue the work of preaching the Gospel to the lost.
We are not saved to sit, we are saved to serve. We brighten the corner where we are by learning the Word and Will of God by study of the Bible, and then training others to obey all that God has commanded us to do. This Commission to Go and Teach is not satisfied by our glad-handing or back-slapping. It is not nearly enough that we tell others as we pass on by, that God loves them and so do we. It is a lifestyle that every truly saved person has, even though it may differ in the call that God gives us. I mean by that, some are called to pastor, some to evangelize, some to serve the body of the church; however all are called to do the same thing and that is to train others to the point that we can point them to the Cross of Christ. We save nobody, God saves those that He has set apart from before the foundation of the World. None are called to spread the gospel second- hand. We must know God”s Word for ourselves. I am not saying that we can”t trust faithful pastors to teach us but we always trust but verify, because there are many false preachers out there.
God is not like most parents in our day, He does not constantly say no, no, no, and never discipline us when we are disobedient. Whatever God has said to us in His Word, must be understood as a command. God does not suggest, or offer things that we can ignore. Now, perhaps we need to understand something about our Creator God. He is offended by sin and when He gets offended, we need to understand that He will finally discipline us. We do not have to look far to find out something about our God. Look to that perfect time as God creates all that we know, and finally creates in His own image, Adam and Eve. God has created everything else first for these creatures in His image, and He places them in Paradise, the Garden of Eden, with only one command “Do not eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil.” What did God do when they disobeyed Him’ He drove them out of the garden and placed a flaming sword in the hand of a Cherub to keep them out forever; and that only after God had cursed the serpent, increased Eve”s pain in childbearing, and placed her under the rule of her husband Adam.
God did not stop there He said to the man, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, about which I commanded you, not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you, in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. It shall bring forth thorns and thistles, and you shall eat bread by the sweat of your brow, until you return to dust.”(Genesis 3:1-19. Time and space will not allow us to list every time that God disciplined His creatures, but we will look at a few more. Remember Moses, who God used to lead the Hebrew nation out of Egyptian slavery’ He obeyed God in many things but in one thing he lost his temper and God forbid his entry into he Promise land, (Numbers 20:7-13). God”s chosen Nation (Israel), the first time, sent spies across the Jordan to spy out the land before they entered it. Upon their return ten of the spies did not trust God to protect them and they voted not to cross, but two of their number (Joshua and Caleb), had faith and encouraged the people to cross. The people refused and God punished them by sending them all back into the wilderness to wander until everyone over the age of twenty years died in the wilderness and then God brought them back into the promised land. (Numbers 13: 25-14:32).
Now for those who will say, well, that”s all in the Old Testament, let me remind you that we worship today, the same God that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshiped, God does not change! The only thing that has changed is that The Messiah, the seed of the Woman, has finally left heaven and come to the earth through the womb of Mary, and God has established a time of grace for those of us who live in the world since that time. It does not change anything, it only postpones punishment for sin until the end time for those who never yield their lives to God through His Son Jesus Christ. To prove my point let me remind you of Ananias and Sapphira that were instantly killed because the lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). I seriously doubt that they are the only ones who have died premature deaths because they crossed that line that God has laid down about presumption. We can like it or lump it folks, but all of us will either bend the knee to Jesus Christ, and submit to His Lordship or we can bow our neck and refuse His control of our lives, and die and go out into eternity without a Savior.
Knowing how God calls us to a life of Faith, (Hebrews 11:6), and how He does indeed reward those who are obedient, with eternal life in heaven; and those who disobey, with eternity in torment and suffering in hell…how then shall we live’ (Romans 2:5-13). Do not be confused, true saving faith induces holiness. We are commanded to be holy in Matthew 5:48; and God made that possible in our salvation. We are perfect if we are truly saved because Christ lived perfectly on our behalf and died to pay our sin debt. If it was not so critical, it would be almost funny to hear many say about calling people to live as God has said; that we should not make laundry lists of do”s and don”ts. I always say to those who use that saying,I don”t have to make a laundry list; because God has already made the list, and we find it over and over again on the pages of God”s inerrant Word, the Bible.
All you have to do is read and study the Bible. Of course you probably won”t find it in too many of the bookstores latest best sellers, which for the most part are best sellers; because they make you believe that you are gods. God gives His children the answers to life”s questions in His Word, and in Galatians 2:20, you will find the Apostle Paul, writing about His experience in salvation when He writes for us, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” Paul is here making the case that He is saved by Grace, and placed “in Christ” who lives and guides him in his life. He is not doing it under the law, but by God”s grace which has given Him a new nature and a holy life, lived by the power of God. We are all born under the law, condemned by the law and under the Wrath of God (Ephesians 2:1-10). When we truly yield our lives to Christ, without reservation, we die to self and are raised with Christ and in Christ.
We are no longer under the law because we have been freed from the law of sin and death because we walk (live) according to the Spirit. Think about this, God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2nd Corinthians 5:21). God has made it possible for us to live sanctified lives and we will always cooperate with Him in our lives, as we live the way He has commanded. Our lives are not to be spent bowing and scraping to those who are opposed to living for Christ, instead we are to always remember that there are two classes of people around us. Some are being saved and others are perishing and to those who are being saved we have the aroma of life leading to life; and to those who are perishing we have the aroma of death leading to death (2nd Corinthians 2:1-16). That should remind us that it is our lives that gives that aroma not our perfume or after-shave.
How should we then live’ We are to present our bodies to God, as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. Our faith should be strong enough that we enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, because He consecrated a new and living way through the veil, which is His flesh, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works (Hebrews 10:19-24). If we are saved we have been called according to God”s purpose, predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, Justified , and glorified. (Romans 8:28-30). How can anyone who accepts the truth about our being saved to be conformed to the image of Christ, not believe that we are dramatically changed in true salvation. Our salvation is not begun or finished by us, but by God, and Our Creator God does not do anything that is not perfect. When God recreates us in His One and Only Son Jesus Christ, we are new creatures “in Christ”; and God assures us that “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new (2nd Corinthians 5:17) Please notice the tense of those verbs that I have printed in italics, they are all past tense, which means that in our salvation when we are saved, we are that instant, new creatures, and the old things have pass and all things have become new. So our holy lives begin the moment we are saved. There are many things to be learned from the Word but it is already printed on our hearts.
We are saved by Grace thorough Faith and neither of those (Grace or Faith) is ours until God gifts us with them, other wise they would amount to works for our salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9. Once God has extended His grace to us, we are never without His Grace. We are saved by Grace, and then Grace becomes our teacher. Grace teaches us that, “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.(Titus 2:11-14).
We will never be able to live like Christ unless and until we come to see our selves in the correct relation to God. The vast majority of church members today, do not understand that we are the creature, and God is the creator. We are the clay and God is the Potter, we are the slaves and God is the Master. We are those who have a desperate need of a savior and God is that savior. Once we get our minds straight, we can then proceed to submit our lives to Him who made that perfect plan, that changes a lost and dying, blind and unheeding rebel, into an adopted child of God. The question now becomes “Are Christians Saint or Sinners’ Do you really believe that you could, if you wanted to, live like a saint, or are you satisfied to be a sinner’ I know that we have all been taught that we are sinners, saved by Grace; and that is true, if we understand what that says.
We all were sinners at our birth, some have realized that being a sinner before a Holy God is not really a good idea. Could we live above sin’ I agree with R.C. Sproul, who said when asked that question, “We could but we don”t want to”. We have been taught that we are still sinners, even though Christ shed His blood and died on the cross to change us. We have the power of God indwelling us (Holy Spirit) and that means that when we want to commit our secret sins, we must first, make a lie out of our profession, second, dismiss the Word of God, crawl over the prayers of the saints, third, trod on the Cross of Jesus Christ, fourth, deny Jesus for self, and last we must appear an apostate from our religion. If we think about it, by the time we do all of that, we should be too tired to sin.
Can and do real Christians ever sin’ The answer is a qualified yes, they do; however we would be fools to recommend it. Sin in the lives of the Children of God breaks our line of communication with God, our prayers are not heard, and we are left in a situation that has to be corrected by true repentance. 1st John 2:1, tells us “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Mark that word “If”: it is to understood that a condition exists, or it says to us that we are not to sin, but if (Possibility not probability). The ideal that should be met is that Christians do not sin, however, due to the weakness of the flesh, not the Spirit, some may sin, and when they do, if they are truly Children of God, they have an advocate with the Father, that assures their forgiveness, as soon as they truly repent.
God expects us to live a life of repentance; and Christ pointed that out when He gave the disciples the model for payer, which reminds us that we are always t0 pray to our Father in Heaven ( and only those who have been born again and are obedient have a father in heaven), all others have a father but His place will be eternal hell. In the model prayer we are told to ask forgiveness for our debt (Sin), and we are always to forgive the debts of others against us (See Matthew 6:14-15). We as born again, and obedient Christians are citizens of heaven who live for a while here on the earth which is a place of darkness and sin, and so even without our knowledge of it, we walk in a place that is oozing sin and evil, that is the reason the Lord washed the disciples feet.(John 13:1-10). The content of 1st John 2:1 is that Christians should not sin, and we should remember that instead of always claiming to be sinners, we should strive to live up to the standard of the Saint that we were called to be. We are called to be like Jesus Christ, not like Lucifer the devil. (Romans 1:7).
We should never teach that we are sinners as if that doesn”t matter to God. God hates sin (Proverbs 6:16-19; 1st John 3:1-8). I hope and pray that I have stated nothing but Biblical truths, and backed them up with scripture. In case some are confused, let me close by saying that it is always God that saves, but He saves based upon His Grace in the gift of Faith that He grants to those whom He will. Nothing I can say or do will ever save a soul. That belongs to God however, God gives us His inerrant Word, the Bible to guide us to that place where His Grace comes to the person whom God will save. Now, once saved, the Bible teaches us the path that has been predestined for all of God”s children to walk (Psalms 119:105). I find no place in the Bible that would encourage any of God”s Children to sin, rather we are always encouraged, and commanded to walk like our Savior. We are saved to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). We are not left by God to bring our conformation under the power of flesh, because that is impossible: Instead we are lead, guided, instructed by the Holy Spirit as God works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). The secret is in believing, and a saving belief requires us to know the Word and Will of God and to believe it to the point of obedience.
It is amazing to hear some of the weak professions of people who have never really heard the truth about obedience on the part of people who have been saved. Whether we believe it or not, obedience is the corner-stone of our lives, once we have been saved by grace. Christians are referred to in the Word of God, the Bible, in a military sense, we fight the good fight (1st Timothy 6:12; 2nd Timothy4:7). We are to “arm ourselves with the mind of Christ”, who was obedient unto death (1st Peter 4:1-5). We are to put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). We are not called to sit and sing, or retreat from the fray, but thru faith, subdue kingdoms, work righteousness, obtain promises, stop the mouths of lions, quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword and become valiant in battle, and fight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:33-34). We put on the whole Armor of God, In order to stand against the wiles of the devil.
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:11-12). In order to do all of that we must steel ourselves to confront sin and sinners. Christ was confrontational, when it came to sin and sinners, that is the reason that they nailed Him to the cross. We are to conform to the image of Christ in our own lives and therefore we must be confrontational. Of course, we must do it in love but love does not cover the reality of telling a person that they are wrong. That”s the reason that Christ tells us that we are going to be hated if we are truly following Him. You can get by with doing nothing, if you have not been born again and are not saved by God”s Grace. If you were saved by your church or your pastor or simply because you chose to be saved, you are not a true Christian, and you are not following Christ, so the world will love you; but if you are on fire, sold out and obeying the Word of God, then you will be hated. Jesus Christ said so in John 15:18-21; John 17:14; Matthew 5:10-12; 2nd Timothy 3:12). Suffering persecution and hatred from the world, must not be because of your being hateful and surly, but because you walk like your Lord and Savior. All that is left now is for you to learn the Word of God, and follow it!
Until next time,
may God bless and keep you
This is Bro. Bob