Living the Christian life: Goals & Tools

 

Welcome back to my blog. I am so happy you visited. Today we continue a fascinating discussion on the Christian life. Last week we discussed its foundation. Today let us consider the goals and tools needed for leading a successful Christian life.

 

Goals for the Christian life

 

• Be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16) – We are to strive to develop godly characteristics in our life.
• Serve God with your entire life (Romans 12:1-2) – In accomplishing this goal we have great freedom.
• Live a life of faith (Romans 14:23, Colossians 2:6)
• Obey – We are to adhere to scripture (Romans 6:12,16; 2 Thessalonians 3:14)

 

Tools for leading the Christian life

 

The Bible - We are to accept God’s word as a true guide for our lives (1 Thessalonians 1:6). In Paul’s informative prayer in Colossians 1:9-14, he indicates the importance of approaching our Christian life in a knowledgeable way (verse 9). Accordingly, to act correctly (verse 10) we first must know how to think. We do this first by knowing God’s Word, especially the epistles in the New Testament (Romans to Revelation 3). This is the section meant specifically to provide directions for the church age.

·      Biblical authority for the Christian life – The Bible speaks of accepting God’s word and using it as a basis for how we live our lives (2 Timothy 3:16; Ephesians 6:17; 2 Peter 3:16; 1 Timothy 6:14; Titus 1:3). Consequently, we receive not only the will of God and the benefits of the Spirit but also a healthy mind and good wellbeing through the Christian life as outlined in the Bible (1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:7).

·      Freedom- Far from being restrictive, the Epistles (the section meant for the church-time believers) liberate us by teaching us wisdom and truth … with very few commands! It allows us to live a life of faith without being deceived by damaging practices in the world (1 Timothy 4:4-5). The Bible is our guidebook for life. As we live in faith we prove God is working within us with the accompanying joy of seeing Him bring fruit into our lives (Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 5:9).

 

God’s Power – God’s power in the New Testament for believers is manifested generally in two ways:

 

·      Through the gospel (Romans 1:16-17) – This is the power of God to salvation! The Spirit is active in the salvation process by convicting unbelievers of their sin (John 16:10).

·      In the Christian life (Ephesians 6:10-17) – The magnificent armor of God passage is critical to understanding our Christian life because it instructs us how to access God’s power by describing a Greek hoplite soldier and his armament. Often Christians wonder how they can know the power of God. These great verses describe it! However, it is also important in showing the role of the Spirit because His mighty actions are linked to each of the pieces of armor in other scripture.

• Truth (our belt to prepare us V.14) – Living in truth is a fruit of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:9) and prepares our mind to make proper decisions and actions.
• Righteousness (our breastplate V.14) – A fruit of the Spirit is a holy heart that is set apart to serve God and perceives and rejects sin (Ephesians 5:9).
• Share the gospel (the shoes to carry us to battle V.15) – By telling others the message of salvation we see the power of God to change others and positively affect our society, which is assisted by the Spirit (Romans 1:16-17; 2 Timothy 1:7; John 16:8-11).
• Faith (our shield V.16) – A fruit of the Spirit also is faith in which we make our decisions and what God desires from us (Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 14:23).
• Eternal security (our helmet V.17) – The sound knowledge of our security of salvation protects our heads as we face troubles in this world and its function is from the Spirit (Romans 15:13, Romans 8:16).
• The Bible (our sword V.17) – The power of God we experience in our Christian life is through the action of the Spirit in accordance to the Bible (Hebrews 4:12).

 

What great truths! These passages tell us how the Spirit acts in our lives to cause us to please God and to experience His power.

 

The Holy Spirit

 

·      Many scriptures detail helpful attributes God desires us to have. One of the most important is stated in Galatians 5:22-23 which discusses the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility and self-control.

·      As they are a fruit of the Spirit, how can they be gained?

·      In general, there are three roles in the Christian’s relationship with the Spirit. These roles can be used to gain the 9 attributes of the fruit of the Spirit as well as other godly characteristics that can improve our lives.

o   Non-variable actions of the Spirit: A Christian should first realize they possess the Holy Spirit permanently: He dwells inside us with all of His available power (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5); Further the Spirit placed us in the church and He is our seal (guarantee) of salvation and cannot be removed (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30).

o   Variable actions of Christians: It is only believers themselves who can limit the action of the Spirit in their lives. Therefore, we are told to “walk” (i.e., conduct our lifestyle) in the Spirit and become mature in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18). We do this by being obedient and seeking the attributes of God through scripture. In contrast, we are told not to quench or grieve the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19)

o   Variable actions of the Spirit: If allowed, the Spirit through the word of God can empower our lives, put to death the deeds of the flesh, and comfort us that we are God’s children (Romans 8:13-16), changes us to godliness (2 Corinthians 3:18) and help produce in us the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

o   Not only may these characteristics contribute potentially to better personal wellbeing, but their presence is a measure of our maturity as a believer and a marker that we are led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18; Romans 8:14).

o   Other verses also speak about wonderful attributes the Christian may acquire from the Spirit (Romans 15:13; Romans 8:6; 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 14:17; Ephesians 5:9).

 

What a privilege to be able to serve God through our lives. Glory to God for the tools he gives us to allow us to live in a righteous way before him. 

 

Thank you for joining me today. Please come again next time as we continue our discussion on living a fruitful Christian life, specifically the goals and the tools for the Christian life.

 

Read more on similar topics at: 

https://teleiosresearch.com/living-the-christian-life/

https://teleiosresearch.com/standing-before-we-walk/

https://teleiosresearch.com/tools-to-maturity/ 

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

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