Articles
'As' We Should
It is an admirable thing to want to become a child of God, and those of us who are already Christians should be spending the majority of our time trying to lead others to follow us in obedience to the gospel. I will always encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to continuously make efforts to teach others and study with the lost that they may become a child of God, for there is no greater duty for the disciple of Christ, other than serving the Lord Himself.
But when they do obey the gospel, what must we teach them then? What do they do then? How are they then expected to live? Does it matter? Some teach that it doesn't matter how one lives after becoming a child of God, because nothing he can do will affect his soul's salvation one bit. They call that the "perseverance of the saints," otherwise known as "once saved, always saved." As reprehensible as this doctrine is, many people believe it and the consequences of it all is that people believe that once they become a child of God, then it doesn't matter how they live. Such could not be further from the truth. There is a way of life that we must follow after we become a child of God. As John said: “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:6) That is how we are to live!
But what does it mean to “walk just as He walked”? We need to take a look at how God's word tells us we must live if we are true children of God. We need to study the word of God to see how the Lord has commanded we should live, and then examine ourselves to see if we are doing just that. Let us examine ourselves to see if we are living “as” we should. Let us pattern our lives after the divine pattern, and not our own opinions or our own desires. If we seek to please the Lord whom we claim to serve, we should endeavor to know His will and make it our own. Let us first see that we should:
Do All Things Heartily. (Col. 3:23) The apostle Paul commanded the early disciples, “whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” There is, without a doubt, a great need for disciples to work in the Lord's kingdom heartily, giving their best and doing all they can, for there are always souls in need of a Savior. Who will tell them of the world's only Savior? Who will lead them out of darkness into the light? Once, Jesus looked out over the audience who followed Him and said to the disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matt. 9:37, 38). Will you be one of the workers, or will you at least pray for those who are the workers, and the work they do?
When it comes to this work, we should be “always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). This is not something we should consider lightly, or do halfheartedly; with souls at stake, we should labor heartily, as to the Lord!
We should also…
Love One Another. Jesus commanded us, “that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). It would be in our best interest to understand His love if we are to love one another in the same way, would it not? And what we find is, His love was demonstrated in the fact He “has loved us and given Himself for us” (Eph. 5:2). Jesus Himself said there is no greater love than one who lays down his life for his friends, but He then exceeded even that, for He died for His enemies (Rom. 5:8)! He told us that we should do the same (Matt. 5:44), and if we are to be His disciples, we must love one another with that same degree of love.
We should also…
Be United. Not long before He was taken away to be tried and crucified, Jesus prayed for the disciples who would come, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). In this prayer, we see that we disciples should be united just as God and Christ are one. That obviously is not the case in today's world but, friends and brethren, that is how it should be!
The unity God and Christ have and of which He spoke is not a unity of compromise or conflicting goals, but of complete and total unity. Jesus did not have one plan and God another; they were both in total agreement. When Jesus came to this earth, He equated His words, His works, and His goals with those of the Father because they were one and the same. Paul appealed to this standard when he pleaded with the disciples in Corinth, writing, “that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). I know some people think this is simply not possible, but this is as it should be!
We should also…
Be Merciful. Though we often appeal to Scriptures and the need to follow truth and condemn sin, that doesn't mean we should overlook or ignore altogether the need for mercy. Jesus, in fact, said to us, “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). God's love was manifested toward us in that He did what had to be done for our salvation, seeing that we could not bring it about without His intervention. He did what we could not do. We must not forget that we didn't save ourselves, but it was by His mercy any man was and is saved (Titus 3:5).
For us, that means we must be ever aware of the needs of others and act as He did, doing for others what they are unable to do. It is the height of arrogance and the greatest degree of indifference when we see others who have a need while we have the ability to help, and we do nothing. What we must remember in this is that this is done even for those who are undeserving — because that is how God did it.
We must also…
Serve Others. When Jesus met with the apostles shortly before His death, He “rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:4, 5), When He finished, He told them, “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him” (John 13:13-16).
Let us note that Jesus demonstrated the supreme degree of service in that He did what He did willingly, without regard for who He was or whom He served, and He did so despite how others might have treated Him, or would treat Him. If we are to follow His example and serve as He served, we must humble ourselves as He did (Phil. 2:5), offer ourselves fully to the Lord (Rom. 12:1), and then act, for even the best intentions mean nothing without deeds to back them up.
Yes, it matters how we live; it must be ‘as’ God demands! — Steven Harper
