A Life Of Love

By Keith Storment

What is “this thing called love”? Our society bandies about the word “love” with careless abandon. We hear people speak of loving their dogs, their cars, their husbands or wives, and last night’s meal. Folks fall in love, make love, then fall out of love. Did the Bible writers have this in mind when they stressed the importance of love in our lives as Christians? A current song gets very close to the Bible definition of love when it states: “Love isn’t some- thing we’re in — it’s something that we do . . .”

True Love Is Active Goodwill

To arrive at this definition for Bible love, we need only look at love as the Bible writers use the word. The love that God possessed was not a gushy “butterflies in the stomach” emotion. Rather, God’s great love compelled him to act decisively for our salvation (John 3:16).

The love which God has shown us teaches us how to love each other (1 John 4:10-11). As with the love of God, our love is not to be a mushy sentimentalism expressed in flowery words, but an active force in our day-to-day dealings with others (1 John 3:18). Love would move us literally to give our life on behalf of another (v. 16). On a daily basis, love should compel us to put self on the shelf and open ourselves to the physical and spiritual needs of others (v. 17).

So, looking at both human and divine love, we see that love is not an emotion we fall into and out of. Rather, love makes a conscious decision to do what is best for others without regard for their worthiness or our personal cost. True love, biblical love, sees the needs of others and acts to meet those needs, if at all possible. As another popular song states, “Love doesn’t count the cost.”

Who Should We Love?

Matthew 22 provides a good outline on whom we are to love. Asked to name the supreme law, Jesus replied with the Old Testament command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind ” (vv. 35-37). Jesus then ranked a second command along with this paramount duty: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 39). According to Jesus, human love knows three primary objects: God, our fellow man, and ourselves. We need to make certain we observe the right priority in loving each of these. Many spiritual problems arise in our lives when we place the interests of self or others ahead of pleasing God.

God: The Object of My Supreme Love

While on earth, Jesus taught that we must love him so strongly and deeply that the fondest of earthly loves becomes hatred by comparison. Otherwise we cannot be his disciples (Luke 14:26). But how can we show our love for God? After all, God does not need anything from us in the sense that he will be impoverished if we fail to provide it (Acts 17:24-25).

We demonstrate our love for God by placing the things of God supreme in our priorities. When I seek the kingdom of God (his church) and her interests first (Matt. 6:33), I am showing my love for God. When I love the word of God (Ps. 119:97), when I study, meditate, and learn from the Scriptures, when I seek opportunities to teach the gospel to others, when I am willing to defend the truth against its foes, I am evidencing the deep, supreme love I have for God. If I truly love God, I will seek to learn his will and obey that will in all things (1 John 5:2, 3).

Loving My Neighbor: The Secondary Objects of My Love

Who are my neighbors? Are they just the people who live next door to me? Are they only those people who are just like me, with whom I share a bond of common inter- ests, likes and dislikes? When a certain lawyer asked this question of Jesus, he turned the question around, and in one of his best known illustrations taught us to consider to whom we should be a neighbor in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-36). In the same way, the neighbor we are to love is anyone whose needs we are in a position to meet. Specifically, we are to love our fellow Christians. Jesus commands us to “love one another” (John 13:35). Paul strove to show the Corinthians this “more excellent way” (1 Cor. 13:30). Husbands are commanded to love their wives (Eph. 5:25), and wives should be taught to love their husbands (Tit. 2:4). Difficult as it may seem, Jesus even commands us to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). This would be almost impossible to do if love were a warm, fuzzy feeling. We all would have a difficult time feeling warm and fuzzy about someone who has inflicted (or sought to inflict) some injury upon us. But if we understand love’s biblical meaning of active goodwill to others, then we all can strive to do good even for those who hate us (Rom. 12:19-21).

Loving Myself: The Final Object of Love

Are we really to love ourselves? Just recently in a letter to the editor of a religious publication, a man said he “found no command in the entire Bible to love myself.” He writes that to teach love of self contradicts Paul’s statement in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that one of the marks of the last days is those who are “lovers of self.” Certainly this passage presents some difficulties to the concept of loving self, and needs to be dealt with. But first, is there no command to love self in the entire Bible? It depends on how hard one is willing to look.

If one is seeking a specific passage that explicitly says, “You shall love yourself,” I agree. To the best of my knowledge, no such passage exists. But God certainly implies that we are to love ourselves. The Lord commands us to “love our neighbor as ourselves” (Matt. 22:39). But if I am not to love myself at all, how am I to love my neighbor? Paul commands husbands to “love their own wives as their own bodies” (Eph. 5:28). Again, if self-love is completely forbidden, how are husbands to love their wives? The same verse goes on to say “he who loves his own wife loves himself.” So perhaps husbands ought to stop loving their wives since that’s the same as loving themselves, and we all know how bad that is!

So by implication, God does command us to love our- selves. Now, have we found a contradiction with 2 Timothy 3:2 that condemns loving self? We find one solution in the lexicons where the word “love” in 2 Timothy 3:2 is not the same word “love” used in Matthew 22. We find the best solution in the context. In verse 5, Paul uses the phrase “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” The phrase “lovers of pleasure” is identical in construction to all the other “loves” condemned in this passage. Paul now pinpoints what is wrong with each one of them. We do not sin in just loving money, self, or pleasure. We sin when we love these things more than we love God. When we take one or all of these things and make them our substitute god, we fail to observe the proper order in our love: God must rank supreme over all other loves in our lives, including the love of self.

How can I properly love self? I must not allow selfishness and greed to rule my life, but I do need to cherish and protect the life God has given me. Love demands that I sacrifice my life if faithfulness to God demands it. Love asks that I be willing to lose my life in protecting the life of another. But I certainly should not recklessly cast my life away either by suicide or by indulging in those practices that I know will endanger my health.

Love plays a critical role in the life of the Christian. The immeasurable, indescribable love of God has made it possible for us to have this wonderful life. With the thought of serving God ever foremost in our minds, we should reach out in love to those around us, seeking to meet their need for salvation through the gospel, and in all things seek to emulate Jesus in “going about doing good” (Acts 10:38).

A Life of Faith

By Lewis Willis

Defining the Christian Life is critical. We must know what God prescribed as the essence of that life, noting especially the defining features and attributes of each aspect of it. In this article we shall focus on A Life Of Faith.

Personal Faith

Stay with me for just one moment as I attempt to explain something important on this matter.

The Bible sometimes uses faith in the sense of what I believe. This is the faith of Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” One cannot deny that faith is an essential part of the Christian Life. My faith must be properly placed, but I must have faith! In Hebrews 11:1, the writer explains: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” I need some basis for living my life; I need something upon which to build my life; I need a foundation. That foundation is my faith in the faith of the Lord, and this all the evidence I need to make the choices I have to make in Christ. Paul explains, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

The Faith — The Gospel

The word faith is used in another sense — to refer to the doctrine of Christ. In Galatians 2:19-20, Paul wrote: “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” How did Paul live before? He said he lived by the Law. “How do you live now, Paul?” He said, “I live by the faith of the Son of God.” He is not telling us that he lived by what Jesus believed. He is saying he lived by the gospel, the faith of the Son of God.

Now, these two ideas — personal faith and the faith — are not mutually exclusive; they go together. When saying that the Christian Life is a Life of Faith, we simply mean that we must have personal faith in the doctrine of faith.

Faith-Based

Occasionally we hear someone say that the Christian Life is faith-based. What this means is that faith is its foundation. You take personal faith out of your life and it is a shell. In like manner, when you take the gospel of faith out of it, it is even more useless. I don’t want that to happen to me because I know without faith I am lost! Thus, I must understand the importance of living A Life of Faith. How is this done? What is the nature of that Life of Faith?

The Meaning of a Faith-Based Life

The remainder of this article will identify some of the specific aspects of faith in the life of a Christian.

1. Children of God by Faith. Paul wrote, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27). Paul is not writing about what these Galatians believed. He is talking about this system of faith that he had preached to them, which came by Jesus Christ. By the direction of that system of faith — as an expression of their personal faith — they were baptized into Christ and became sons of God. Now what does sonship mean? What does it mean when the prayers of God’s children go up to him? Do you realize that there are people all over the world praying to God? But Peter says the eyes and ears of the Lord are only over the righteous (1 Pet. 3:12). Are they praying? Oh yes, they pray. But God only hears the prayers of his children; those who become children by faith in Christ Jesus!

2. The Household of Faith. In Galatians 6:10, Paul says, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” The gospel and our mutually shared faith bring us together, framing and forming us into the household of faith. Furthermore, Paul explains that the household of faith is: “. . . the house of God, which is the church of the living God . . .” (1 Tim. 3:15). Many people think they are in the household of faith; the church, even though they do not know the truth about the church. They have been told that denominationalism is the household of faith. However, there is not a shred of evidence that the division, confusion, and hostility of denominationalism comprise the household of faith. We must trust the gospel enough to obey it, then God puts us into his family.

3. Established in Faith. Paul told the Colossian church of blessings awaiting it, “. . . if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel . . .” (Col. 1:23). He is not telling this church simply to continue in whatever they might believe, but to continue in the faith, the gospel. Christians must be grounded or settled in the faith. We must not allow ourselves to be moved away from the gospel. Perhaps the saddest things we deal with in the church are Christians who fall away from the faith. Let’s be honest, there are circumstances that test every ounce of our faith, and we will also be overthrown unless there is depth and root to our faith. We will only be as strong as our faith is strong! Our regard for the gospel of the Lord will determine whether or not we remain faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10).

4. We Must Stand in the Faith. Paul exhorted the Philippians to “. . . stand fast in one spirit, . . . striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27). Are you in your place, standing where you are supposed to stand? Does the church stand as a mighty army, ready to take on the forces of evil? Or, are there breaches in the lines caused by wavering Christians with sinking courage?

5. We Must Contend for the Faith. Jude said, “. . . earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). I can remember a time in the church when an assault of error against truth would have been met with a ready band of Christians, contending for the faith. Brethren offered no apology when someone preached the truth, exposing false religion that will damn the soul.

But, today we are too nice for that! Why, we might offend someone! We need to put the fight back into faith. Paul told us to fight the good fight of faith; only by doing so will we lay hold on eternal life! (1 Tim. 6:12).

6. We Must Preach the Faith. It was said of Paul, “. . . he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed” (Gal. 1:23). Must preachers and Bible-class teachers preach or teach that gospel today? Oh yes! Could there be an obvious reason why we do not baptize people today as we used to? To baptize people, they must be taught (Matt. 28:19). The less teaching we do, the fewer we baptize. Pretty simple, isn’t it?

7. Faith Saves the Soul. The Hebrew writer said we must be among those “. . . that believe to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10:39). When personal faith in the gospel produces obedience, then we believe to the saving of our soul. It’s that simple, folks!

8. We are Kept by Faith. Paul said that he had “. . . kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7-8). As a result, a crown of life was laid up for him, and for us, if we will also be kept by faith. Peter speaks of an incorruptible inheritance for those “. .

. who are kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Pet. 1:4-5). What does this mean? The meaning is, we are kept in safety; kept where we are supposed to be; kept in the sense of sustaining us in trial and tribulation. God keeps us! How does he do that? He keeps us through our personal faith in the faith, the gospel.

Conclusion

The Christian life is a life of faith; it is faith-based! Make no apology for your faith. You have nothing for which to apologize. Rejoice in your faith; share your faith; keep the faith, and God will keep you. That’s what he promised to do. I like the sound of that! I can pillow my head at night in blessed assurance, because of faith. Do you have that faith?

A Changed Life

By Jim Walsh

Paul wrote, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17). He also wrote that when one is baptized into Christ’s death, he is resurrected to a new life (Rom. 6:4). Think about what it’s like to get something new — something that doesn’t wear out anytime soon. Having something that’s new makes us feel good. There is even an emotional change. The problem with new things is that they never stay new. All too soon they become old and begin to decay, as does all life. Peter helps us with this problem by reminding the Christian that this new life is to be a changing life. In 1 Peter 4:1-4, he wrote that several things need to happen if this change is to be permanent. (1) Our new life has to be a life that changes in thought by following the mind of Christ (4:1). (2) Our new life must be a life that changes in desire, by obeying the will of God (4:2). (3) Our new life must be a life that changes in activities, by refusing to lust after the flesh 4:3). (4) Our new life must also change in direction, by no longer walking after the world (4:4). Beginning The Changed Life

First, we must understand what new means: it means a new beginning. When we obey the gospel, we start with a clean slate; our sins are forgiven. God promises to remove our sins and our iniquities and “. . . remember them no more” (Heb. 8:12). This means that our forgiveness is complete and absolute. God is not holding on to any of our sins. He has removed them and treats us as if they never existed. We need to have the same attitude toward past sins. We  need to forget them and not carry the chains of guilt over past sins. Christ died and shed his blood so that we might have the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14). Do we believe in the power of Christ’s blood to do as he promised? If so, then we need to realize that when we become Christians, God removes all of our sins.

Also, we need to see our new relationship with God as an ongoing one. In his first epistle, John mentions that our relationship can continue with God, so long as we continue to do his will. John wrote, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Our relationship with God is conditional upon our remaining obedient to him. God has given us our start in this new life by removing our sins. We must do our part by keeping away from sin. In so doing, we maintain our fellowship with God, Christ, and other Christians. If we sin, we must repent in order for God to remove our sin and keep us in this new life (1 John 1:9). God’s promise then is that faithfulness and repentance from sin maintain this new relationship.

In addition, we need to appreciate that this is a new relationship only if it is “in Christ.” This means that there is no relationship outside of Christ because there is no forgiveness outside of Christ. When we become Christians by baptism, we are placed “into Christ” (Rom. 6:3). Before being in Christ, we are separated from God. We are placed into Christ by baptism. In this act of obedience, our old life is “crucified” and “buried” (Rom. 6:4). Why resurrect the old and dead when Christ gives me the new and living? It is only “in Christ” that we can have freedom from the condemnation that was the consequence of sin (Rom. 8:1). Therefore, God equates our being in Christ with being alive. We are truly new creatures because God has created us anew, and put us in a place where he say that everything is good. That place is in Christ.

Maintaining the Changed Life

Change will not be complete if we are not committed to that change. We will not experience the full appreciation of the freedom that is in Christ if we keep trying to leave him and go back to the old way of sins. What are some ways we might fail to realize a complete change?

1. When one does not continue to purify himself with God’s word. Peter instructs us to “. . . purify your souls . . . not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God” (1 Pet. 1:22, 23). Too often, people do not treat God’s word as the purifying agent it is. He provided it to guard and preserve us. Those who embrace the changed life are to depend fully upon God’s word to maintain their new life. There is nothing else that can instruct man in how to purify one’s soul because there is nothing else in this world that is free from decay and corruption. God’s word comes from him. It comes from him who is everlasting. It is ever- lasting. As Peter wrote, it “. . . liveth and abideth forever” (1 Pet. 1:23). We can only remain free from corruption by continuing to purify ourselves with God’s word.

2. When one does not appreciate the process of removal and replacement. When we turn from the old, we must discard it to make room for the new. Paul instructed the Philippians to “. . . put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteous- ness and true holiness” (Phil. 4:22-24). Paul said to put off that old man, to get rid of him. Too often we hold onto the old man. We treat the old man of sin like the mad doctors treated vampires in old horror movies; they kept digging them up! God instructs us to be holy as he is holy (1 Pet. 1:16). God considered those under the Old Covenant as unclean if they came in contact with the dead (Num. 19:11). Why go back to the old man and become unholy by coming in contact with that which is dead? God removed the old man when we were baptized into Christ (Rom. 6: 4). Leave the dead alone and live in Christ as a new man.

3. The changed life requires regular self-examination. Paul reminds us that we must examine ourselves to make sure we are staying in Christ (2 Cor. 13:5). We are to examine ourselves against the standard of God’s word. If we are not measuring up to what God would have us to be, then we need to complete the change we began. Failure to continue to examine ourselves, and to grow and change to comply with God’s word, will cause us to fall (2 Pet. 1:3-12).

This is where Peter’s admonition in 1 Peter 4:1-4 applies. We must compare ourselves to Christ in thought, desire, activity, and direction. We must have the same mind as Christ. We must have the same desires as Christ in obeying the Father’s will. We must have the same activity as Christ, living according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Finally, we must set the same course as the Captain of our salvation: the course for Heaven.

Conclusion

A new life has been made available to us in Jesus Christ. We begin this new life without sin being held against us. God recreates us as if we are brand new. He has given us his incorruptible word to help guide us beyond this corruptible world. His plan of redemption places us in his Son, Jesus Christ, so that we can continue to be renewed. He has provided everything. All we need to do is follow him. What a loving Father, and what a wonderful Savior!

How to Become a Christian

By Paul R. Blake

Having learned how valuable is the Christian life, one might now ask: “How do I become a Christian and obtain this wonderful new life?” This is a noble and important question, and it deserves an answer from the word of God.

The process by which one becomes a Christian, when followed by the whole of his being, brings new life through salvation in Jesus Christ. In addition, obedience to the Gospel renews living by setting him free from sin, bringing peace in this life and hope in the everlasting life to come. Furthermore, his whole manner of life is changed by the plan of salvation when it is obeyed in full faith from the heart. By the plan of salvation, one gains the best possible life.

Hear

Before one can follow the Divinely ordained plan of salvation, it naturally follows that he must know it in its original, unchanged form. There are many schemes of redemption taught by religious leaders, but the Lord has given only one valid method of becoming a child of God. There is only “one faith” (Eph. 4:5) given only “once for all” (Jude 3) by the Father to save man from his sins. He who desires salvation must humbly and care- fully listen to it. Jesus charged his countrymen with dulling their hearing so that they would not absorb the word of God (Matt. 13:15-16). Clearly, those who listen can be converted, and those who hear will be blessed. Therefore, the first step in becoming a Christian is to hear; to listen to what the Lord has said.

Hearing brings enlightenment through the knowledge of God, dispel- ling the darkness of ignorance. This knowledge has the power to develop responsive faith within the careful listener. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). The word of God brightly lights up the way out of sin and into righteousness. David said in praise to God: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). Knowing the truth by means of whole-heartedly hearing the word of God gives one the means whereby he can be set free from his sins. In a prayer, the Savior said to the Father: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). The reaction of the honest hearer to the preaching of the truth is best demonstrated by Peter’s audience at the close of the gospel sermon on Pentecost. The hearers immediately asked what they must do (Acts 2:37). Hearing the word is the first step to becoming a Christian and obtaining the best life possible. Hearing is itself a life changing action that provides needed guidance to the lost listener.

Believe

Faith follows hearing the word of God. The careful listener becomes a believer in God. This belief leads him further along the path to becoming a Christian. It is essential that the hearer believe in God and in his plan to be saved from his sins. The writer of Hebrews clearly states that faith is vital to anyone who would please God (11:6). Faith provides the motivation necessary to make the changes that will make one a Christian. Strong belief moves him to careful obedience to the Gospel, for without faith, he will not effectively obey and will remain in a lost condition. The apostle Paul spoke of people who fell short of pleasing God through a lack of belief. “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? (Rom. 10:16). One must believe before he can become a Christian.

Besides leading unto salvation (Rom. 10:9-10), faith also provides purpose and meaning to life. A person no longer needs to wander aimlessly through life, pointlessly living until he dies. Faith gives one an understanding of who he is, why he is here, and where he is going when life is over. All important questions are answered by a well informed faith in God.

Repent

A strong faith will generate a change in the believer’s moral purpose in life. The believer must also repent of his sins and regret a life lived without God’s unchanging word. Repentance becomes the means by which man turns away from sin, changes his direction in life, and embraces right living. The Ephesians were told to put off the old man of sin, change their way of thinking, and to put on the new man (4:22-24). First, one repents by sorrowing over the sins he has committed, sins that made it necessary for Christ to die on the cross for him. Second, he evolves or changes his view of sin and righteousness to conform to God’s way of viewing them. Third, he focuses his attention and will on doing only those things that please the Lord. If a believer chooses not to repent, he cannot be saved. In the words of Jesus Christ: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish (Luke 13:3).

By repentance, one steps even closer to becoming a Christian. In turning from sin, he develops a better character . . . a character that will enable him to walk faithfully as a Christian upon completing his obedience to the Gospel. He is changing into a better person, which is one of the blessings of becoming a Christian.

Confess

Besides believing and repenting, God expects the petitioner for salvation to declare his faith unashamedly before others. When one confesses Jesus Christ as the Son of God, he professes the maturity of his faith. He now believes that God took an active role in sending his only begotten Son into the world to pay the price for the sins of humankind. He believes that Jesus Christ is Immanuel (God with us), and that he has the power to save man from his sins. When one confesses his faith in Jesus, all witnesses to that confession know that the speaker is moved by the word of God to obey the Gospel. One who confesses Christ before men prepares the way for Jesus to declare his name before God. “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32).

When the Ethiopian eunuch heard the preaching of the Gospel, he responded by desiring immersion. When Philip asked if he believed, he answered by saying, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37). Man will never speak greater or higher words than these. Confessing Jesus as the Son of God is a demonstration of courage and a herald of one’s desire to become a Christian.

Be Baptized

Finally, the confessor must be baptized to become a Christian. It is only through baptism that he becomes a partaker in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Savior (Rom. 6:3-4). Only in baptism are sins washed away (Acts

22:16). It is by baptism that one is saved (Mark 16:16). Baptism puts him in Christ (Gal. 3:27). If one is not baptized, he falls short of his goal of becoming a Christian.

When one is baptized, he becomes spiritually clean, free from all of his sins. He enters into the family of God as one of the Father’s cherished children. He has access to all the blessings, rights, and privileges of that family. There exists no greater joy than that of the obedient believer who rises from the waters of baptism as a new creature in Christ.

Conclusion

In view of what is written in Scripture, it is evident that the plan of salvation not only saves one from sin and makes him a Christian, but it also changes his life and the way he lives it, making it the best life possible. Hearing the word enlightens him (2 Tim. 3:15). Believing the word motivates him (Heb. 10:39). Repenting changes his direction in life (2 Cor. 7:10). Confessing Jesus as the Christ declares his faith and desire to become a Christian (Rom. 10:10). Finally, being baptized changes his life, changes his living, and gives him new life (Rom. 6:6-8). By this process, and this alone, one becomes a Christian and gains the best life possible.