The Five Principles Of A Christian Life

How do we live the Christian life? Paul narrows it done to five principles: Be on guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong, and do everything in love.

"Be on guard.

Stand firm in the faith.

Be courageous. 

Be strong.

And do everything with love."

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NLT)

1. Be on guard. We are to stay alert and watch out for our greatest enemy, the devil, and also continually keep watch for the return of Jesus Christ.

"Stay alert!

Watch out for your great enemy,

the devil.

He prowls around

like a roaring lion,

looking for someone to devour."

1 Peter 1:5 (NLT)

"So you, too, must keep watch!
For you do not know
the day or hour of My return."
Matthew 25:13 (NLT)

2. Stand firm in the faith. We are to hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, and put on every piece of God's armor, so we will be able to resist the enemy.

"Let us hold tightly
without wavering
to the hope we affirm,
for God can be trusted
to keep His promise,"
Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)

"Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor
so you will be able to resist the enemy
in the time of evil.
Then after the battle
you will still be standing firm."
Ephesians 6:13 (NLT)

3. Be courageous. We are to wait patiently for the Lord and put our trust confidently in Him.

"Wait patiently for the Lord.

Be brave and courageous.

Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."

Psalm 27:14 (NLT)

"They do not fear bad news;

they confidently trust the Lord

to care for them."

Psalm 112:7 (NLT)

4. Be strong. We are to be strong by relying on God's mighty, glorious and unlimited power which is given to us through His Holy Spirit.

"A final word:
Be strong in the Lord
and in His mighty power."
Ephesians 6:10 (NLT)

"I pray that from His glorious,
unlimited resources
He will empower you
with inner strength
through His Spirit."
Ephesians 3:16 (NLT)

5. Do everything with love. We are always to be loyal, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.

"Never let loyalty and kindness

leave you!

Tie them around your neck

as a reminder.

Write them deep within your heart."

Proverbs 3:3 (NLT)

"Always be humble and gentle.

Be patient with each other,

making allowance for each other's faults

because of your love."

Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

At Home With The Lord In Paradise

As soon as a child of God dies, his/her spirit immediately returns to God who gave it.

"For then the dust will return to the earth,

and the spirit will return to God

who gave it."

Ecclesiastes 12:7 (NLT)

When the thief of the Cross accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour, Jesus assured the thief He would see him in paradise that day.

"And Jesus replied, 

'I assure you, today you will be with Me 

in paradise."

Luke 23:43 (NLT)

Then when Jesus took His last breath on the Cross, He entrusted His spirit into His Heavenly Father's hands.

"Then Jesus shouted, 

'Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!'

And with those words

he breathed His last."

Luke 23:46 (NLT)

Later when Stephen was being stoned to death for his faith in God, he prayed to Jesus to receive his spirit.

"And they stoned him,

Stephen prayed,

'Lord Jesus, 

receive my spirit.'"

Acts 7:59 (NLT)

Those who are in Christ, can be fully confident that when we leave our earthly bodies, our spirits will be at home in paradise with the Lord!

"Yes, we are fully confident,

and we would rather be away

from these earthly bodies,

for then we will be at home

 with the Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:8 (NLT)

The Apostle Paul wanted to live on earth as long as he could, so he could bring more people to Jesus Christ, but he also longed to leave earth, so he could finally be with His beloved Lord and Saviour. Paul was torn between two desires, but the latter desire would be far better for him.

"But if I live,
I can do more fruitful work for Christ.
So I really don't know which is better.
I'm torn between two desires:
I long to go and be with Christ,
which would be far better for me."
Philippians 1:22-23 (NLT)

We may not have our heavenly bodies yet when we die, but we will still be very much alive enjoying the presence of God and living with Him in paradise. And we know one thing for sure, that would be far better for us than living here!

Preaching For Personal Profit

We are called of God to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume because our lives is to be like a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But those who preach the Word of God for personal profit is insincere and not under Christ's authority. These people are a like a stench to God.

"You see, we are not like the many hucksters

 who preach for personal profit.

We preach the Word of God with sincerity 

and with Christ's authority,

knowing that God is watching us."

2 Corinthians 2:17 (NLT)

A Wonderful Secret

As God's children, we have a wonderful secret that we seldom share any more---the Second Coming of Jesus Christ! In only a moment, in a blink of an eye when the last trumpet sounds, those who have died in Christ will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed into glorious bodies that will never die, just like the one Jesus had after His resurrection from the dead.

"But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret.

We will not all die,

but we will all be transformed!

It will happen in a moment,

in the blink of an eye,

when the last trumpet is blown.

For when the trumpet sounds,

those who have died

will be raised to live forever.

And we who are living 

will also be transformed.

For our dying bodies must be transformed

into bodies that will never die;

our mortal bodies must be 

transformed into immortal bodies."

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NLT)

I believe if we talk and think about Christ's second coming more, we would view and live our lives so much differently. We have a wonderful secret that needs to be cherished, but not kept to ourselves!

Hold Firmly To The Word

The Bible states that it is by the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are saved, but we must hold firmly to the Word of God. Otherwise, our belief in Jesus Christ is useless.

"By this Gospel you are saved,

if you hold firmly to the Word

I preached to you.

Otherwise, you have believed in vain."

1 Corinthians 15:2 (NIV)

Is it our desire to bring people to Christ or it is our desire to bring people to Church? If it is our desire to bring people to Christ, then we as individuals and the Church must hold firmly to the principles of God's Word. In other words, we must get back to the basis of our faith and salvation and that is to the Word of God as the sole source of our beliefs and teachings.

"And I Show You A More Excellent Way"

There are nine gifts of the Spirit and it is the Holy Spirit who distributes all these gifts to believers who earnestly seek them. They are: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gift of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, the ability to speak in unknown languages, and the interpretation of the unknown languages. 

"A spiritual gift if given to each of us

so we can help each other.

To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice;

to another the same Spirit gives
a message of special knowledge.

The same Spirit gives great faith to another,

and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.

He gives one person the power to perform miracles,

and another the ability to prophesy.

He gives someone else the ability to discern

 whether a message is from the Spirit of God
or from another spirit.

Still another person is given the ability
to speak in unknown languages,

while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts.

He alone decides which gift each person should have.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NLT)

The main purpose of these spiritual gifts is to help each other. However, today we do not commonly see these spiritual gifts practiced. Why? Because we lack the most important thing and the basis for all these gifts: love for one another. Unless we truly love one another, these spiritual gifts will sound repulsive, do nothing for us, or be of any benefit to anyone else.

If we want to see more of the spiritual gifts practiced in our churches today, we need to seek first a more excellent way.

And I show you a still more excellent way."

1 Corinthians 12:31b (NLT)

Extra Honor And Care Must Be Given

The Bible states we are to clothe with the greatest care, carefully protect and give extra honor to the less honorable and undignified members of God's body of believers.

"In fact, some parts of the body 

that seem weakest and least important

are actually the most necessary.

And the parts we regard as less honorable

are those we clothe with the greatest care.

So we carefully protect those parts 

that should not be seen,

while the more honorable parts

do not require this special care.

So God has put the body together

such that extra honor and care

are given to those parts that have less dignity.

This makes for harmony among the members,

so that all the members care for each other."

1 Corinthians 12:22-25 (NLT)

In the body of Christ, we are all equally important. However, the honorable members should not require special care, including giving them titles. If a title needs to be given to any member of God's church, it should only be "Servant". If a church is in discord, which is the majority of them today, it is because we give extra honor to the wrong people and forget about those who we are called by God to honor and protect with the greatest care.

The ABCD Of Becoming A Christian

When I was a girl growing up in church, I learned the ABC's of becoming a Christian. A is admitting to God you are a sinner and repenting from your sins. B is believing that Jesus Christ is God's Son and accepting God's gift of forgiveness from your sins. C is confessing your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

However, when I matured in Christ, I realized the ABC's of becoming a Christian was missing a vital part, D. D is dying to self daily. If we want to be a follower of Christ, we must turn from our selfish ways, and take up our cross daily.

"Then He said to the crowd,

'If any of you wants to be My follower,

you must turn from your selfish ways,

take up your cross daily,

and follow Me."

Luke 9:23 (NLT)

Until Christ Comes Again

God's people need to regularly partake in Communion to remember two very important things: the Lord's death for us and the examination of ourselves. Detrimentally, there is often little or no emphasis on the second one. As a result, many professing Christians are continuing to live in sin and eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord unworthily.

"For every time you eat this bread

and drink this cup,

you are announcing the Lord's death

until He comes again.

So anyone who eats this bread 

or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily

is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

That is why you should examine yourself

before eating the bread and drinking the cup.

For if you eat the bread or drink the cup

without honoring the body of Christ,

you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself.

That is why many of you are weak and sick

and some have even died." (1 Corinthians 11:26-30)

When professing Christians dishonor the body and blood of the Lord, they are actually eating and drinking God's judgment upon themselves. Churches today need to stress the importance of God's people regularly examining themselves before communion, so they don't suffer serous repercussions of dishonoring Him.

Until Christ comes again, we need to regularly remember His death on the Cross and the examination of our hearts and lives.

God Will Test Us, But We Are Not To Test Him

Throughout our Christian walk, God will test us many times to see what place He has in our hearts, but we are never to test Him. The things that happened to the people of Israel when they wandered the wilderness for forty years were written down to warn us today.

"Nor should we put Christ to the test,

as some of them did

and then died from snakebites.

And don't grumble as some of them did,

and then were destroyed by the angel of death.

These things happened to them as examples to us.

They were written down to warn us

who live at the end of the age."

1 Corinthians 10:9-11 (NLT)

God is a jealous God and we are never to rouse His jealousy. Therefore we cannot serve both the Lord and the demons of this world. We must make a choice. In other words it is not possible to combine Christ and God's Word with that of the world's views and desires. God will simply not tolerate it.

"You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord

and from the cup of demons, too.

You cannot eat at the Lord's Table 

and at the table of demons, too.

What?

Do we dare to rouse the Lord's jealousy?

Do you think we are stronger than He is?

1 Corinthians 10:21-22 (NLT)

Disastrously, Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians are very seldom or never taught in our modern churches today because most have now adopted a combined lifestyle allowing them to fit in both the world and the church. Many professing Christians are not realizing it, but they are putting God to the test and daring Him to act. Do they not realize how powerful God is?