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Christian behavior
Christian behavior is based on trust and loving loyalty to our Savior, who loved us and gave himself up for us. Trust in Jesus Christ is expressed in faith in the gospel and in works of love. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ transforms the hearts of his believers and makes them bear fruit: love, joy, peace, faithfulness, patience, kindness, meekness, self-control, justice and truth. (1. John 3,23-24; 4,20-21; 2. Corinthians 5,15; Galatians 5,6.22-23; Ephesians 5,9)
Standards of behavior in Christianity
Christians are not under the law of Moses, and we cannot be saved by any law, including the New Testament commandments. But Christianity still has standards of behavior. It involves changes in the way we live. It makes demands on our life. We are to live for Christ, not for ourselves (2. Corinthians 5,15). God is our God, our priority in everything, and He has something to say about the way we live.
One of the last things Jesus told His disciples was to teach the people to "keep everything that I commanded you" (Matthew 28,20). Jesus gave commandments, and as His disciples we must also preach commandments and obedience. We preach and obey these commandments not as a means of salvation, not as a norm of condemnation, but as instructions from the Son of God. People should obey his words, not out of fear of punishment, but simply because their Savior says so.
Perfect obedience is not the goal of Christian life; the goal of Christian life is to belong to God. We belong to God when Christ lives in us, and Christ lives in us when we put our trust in him. Christ in us leads us to obedience through the Holy Spirit.
God transforms us into the image of Christ. By God's power and grace we become increasingly like Christ. His commandments concern not only external behavior, but also the thoughts and motivations of our heart. These thoughts and motivations of our hearts require the transforming power of the Holy Spirit; we cannot change it simply by our own willpower. So part of faith is to trust in God to do his work of transformation in us.
The greatest commandment - the love of God - is therefore the greatest motivation for obedience. We obey him because we love him and we love him because by grace he has brought us into his own house. It is God who works in us to effect both the will and the accomplishment according to his good will (Philippians 2,13).
What do we do if we don't achieve the goal? Of course, we repent and ask for forgiveness, with the full confidence that it is available to us. We do not want to take this lightly, but we should always use it.
What do we do when others fail? Do you condemn and insist that they do good works to prove their righteousness? This seems to be the human tendency, but it is exactly what Christ says we shouldn't be doing7,3).
New Testament Commandments
What is Christian life like? There are several hundred commandments in the New Testament. We are not lacking in guidance on how a life based on faith works in the real world. There are commandments how the rich should treat the poor, there are commandments how husbands should treat their wives, there are commandments about how we as a church should work together.
1. Thessalonians 5,21-22 contains a simple list:
- Keep peace with one another ...
- Correct the messy
- comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone.
- Make sure that no one repays evil for evil ...
- always pursues the good ...
- Be happy always;
- pray without ceasing;
- be grateful in all things ...
- Doesn't dampen the mind;
- prophetic speech does not despise.
- But check everything.
- Keep the good.
- Avoid all forms of evil.
Paul knew that the Christians in Thessalonica had the Holy Spirit to guide and teach them. He also knew that they needed some elementary admonitions and reminders regarding the Christian life. The Holy Spirit chose to teach and guide them through Paul himself. Paul did not threaten to throw them out of the church if they did not meet the requirements - he simply gave them commandments to guide them to walk in the paths of fidelity.
Warning of disobedience
Paul had high standards. Although forgiveness of sin is available, there are penalties for sin in this life - and these sometimes include social penalties. “You shall have nothing to do with anyone who is called a brother and is a fornicator, or a miser, or an idolater, or a blasphemer, or a drunkard, or a robber; you shouldn't eat with one either" (1. Corinthians 5,11).
Paul did not want the church to become a safe haven for obvious, recalcitrant sinners. The church is a sort of hospital for recovery, but not a "safe zone" for societal parasites. Paul instructed the Christians in Corinth to discipline a man who had committed incest (1. Corinthians 5,5-8) and he also encouraged her to forgive him after repenting (2. Corinthians 2,5-8).
The New Testament has much to say about sin and gives us many commandments. Let's just take a quick look at Galatians. In this manifesto of Christian freedom from the law, Paul also gives us some bold commandments. Christians are not under the law, but neither are they lawless. He warns, "Do not be circumcised or you will fall from grace!" This is a pretty serious commandment (Galatians 5,2-4). Do not be enslaved by an outdated commandment!
Paul warns the Galatians against people who would try to "prevent them from obeying the truth" (verse 7). Paul turned the tide against the Judaizers. They claimed to obey God, but Paul said they didn't. We are disobeying God when we try to command something that is now obsolete.
Paul takes a different turn in verse 9: "A little leaven leavens all the dough." In this case, the sinful leaven is a law-based attitude toward religion. This error can spread if the truth of grace is not preached. There are always people willing to look to the law as a measure of how religious they are. Even restrictive regulations find favor with well-intentioned people (Colossians 2,23).
Christians are called to liberty—“But see that in liberty you give not room to the flesh; but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5,13). With freedom comes obligations, otherwise one person's "freedom" would interfere with another's. No one should be at liberty to lead others into slavery by preaching, or to gain a following for themselves, or to commodify God's people. Such divisive and unchristian behavior is not permitted.
Our responsibility
“The whole law is fulfilled in one word,” says Paul in verse 14: “Love your neighbor as yourself!” This sums up our responsibility to one another. The opposite approach, fighting for one's own benefit, is indeed self-destructive (v. 15)
"Live in the spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh" (v. 16). Spirit will lead us to love, not selfishness. Selfish thoughts come from the flesh, but the Spirit of God creates better thoughts. “For the flesh rebels against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; they are against one another...” (v. 17). Because of this conflict between the spirit and the flesh, we sometimes sin even though we don't want to.
So what is the solution to the sins that so easily afflict us? Bring back the law? No!
"But if the Spirit rules you, you are not under the law" (verse 18). Our approach to life is different. We look to the Spirit and the Spirit will develop in us the desire and the power to live the commandments of Christ. We put the horse in front of the cart.
We look to Jesus first, and we see His commandments in the context of our personal allegiance to Him, not as rules "to be obeyed or we will be punished."
In Galatians 5 Paul lists a variety of sins: “Fornication, impurity, licentiousness; idolatry and sorcery; enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, discord, divisions and envy; drinking, eating, and the like” (vv. 19-21). Some of these are behaviors, some are attitudes, but all are self-centered and stem from the sinful heart.
Paul solemnly warns us: "...those who do these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (verse 21). This is not God's way; this is not how we want to be; this is not how we want the church to be...
Forgiveness is available for all of these sins (1. Corinthians 6,9-11). Does this mean that the Church should turn a blind eye to sin? No, the church is not a blanket or a safe haven for such sins. The church is meant to be a place where grace and forgiveness are expressed and granted, not a place where sin is allowed to spread uncontrollably.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, chastity" (Galatians 5,22-23). This is the result of a heart devoted to God. "But those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh together with its passions and its lusts" (v. 24). With the Spirit working in us, we grow in will and power to reject the works of the flesh. We carry the fruits of God's work within us.
Paul's message is clear: We are not under the law - but we are not lawless. We are under Christ's authority, under His law, under the leading of the Holy Spirit. Our life is based on faith, motivated by love, characterized by joy, peace and growth. "If we walk in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (v. 25).
Joseph Tkach
