The Christian Life
To live the Christian life, we should be holy. But how?
Romans 12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We are to present ourselves – our bodies- to God as a living sacrifice daily upon His holy Altar. We are to be transformed in our minds by His holy Word. We are to submit to the holy Lord God and no other.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His abundant mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to and incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. … 13 Therefore guard your minds, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 14 As obedient children do not conduct yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. 15 But as He Who has called you is holy, so be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
We come into the Christian life when we accept Jesus as our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer. This coming into the Kingdom of God is called new birth for it is then our spirit man is reborn because of the Blood of Jesus. We are now children of God and His heirs. Our inheritance of His Kingdom never goes away. We are protected by our Father God. Knowing this we are to guard our minds with reading and believing in His Word – the Bible. We are to let the Word transform us so that we do not do the former sinful things that we once did. The Holy Spirit seals us in the Kingdom of God. Let us be holy as God is holy.
Requirements from God
Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what do the the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord they God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve they Lord thy God with all they heart with all thy soul. 13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good?
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee. O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord required of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.
We are to love love God and serve Him only. We are to keep His commandments. We are to walk humbly before Him and His ways.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: 5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all they heart, and with all they souls and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it; Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all they commandments is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all they soul, and with all they mind, and with all they strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like namely this , Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
We are to first love the Lord God with every fiber of our being – spirit, soul, and body. Then we are to love our neighbors like we love ourselves. We are to love ourselves before we can learn to love others.
Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not give false testimony, You shall not covet, and if there are any other commandments, are summed up in this saying, You shall love your neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
We are to be loving creatures that God created. We are to love God our Creator, love ourselves, and love others. We are to love ourselves in the context and parameters of Jesus and His Cross. We are NOT to be selfish, we are to be giving creatures. We are to freely give to others what we have received.
Abundant and Eternal Life
John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy, I came that they may life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet shall he live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do You believe this?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
1 John 5:12 Whover has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
The abundant and eternal life that a Christian receives comes as a free gift when they accept the Son of God Jesus as the Christ – the Messiah.
Being In The Spirit
Galatians 5:16 I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, These are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Galatians 5:24 Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Choosing to be walking and living in the Spirit is the way to achieve a happy and abundant life here on earth and into eternity.