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Can we be the church of the New
Testament?
Yes, if we live according to
the New Testament
In this series of lessons we have seen that the
New Testament itself teaches that we can be the church of the New
Testament:
- if we hold fast the New-Testament pattern of
sound words.
- Paul told Timothy:
“Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard
from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2
Timothy 1:13).
- if we obey the gospel of the New
Testament.
- Paul commended the
Romans: “You obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to
which you were delivered” (Romans 6:17).
- if we worship according to the New
Testament.
- Jesus told the woman at
the well that the true worshipers, “worship the Father in
spirit and truth” (John 4:23).
- if church leadership complies with the New
Testament.
- The Lord gave elders,
deacons, evangelists and teachers “for the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ” (Ephesians 4:11, 12).
- if we live according to the New
Testament.
- In addition to
following the New-Testament pattern as we obey the gospel, worship
God and organize congregations, we must also do so in our daily
lives.
Jesus said: “I have come that they may have
life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John
10:10). The life of a Christian is the greatest life in the world!
By the grace of God we have been cleansed and sanctified to serve
God and man.
God’s covenant governs not only
congregational activities but also our personal lives. As we start
reading through the New Testament, Jesus tells us to repent, to
bear fruit, to be meek, to hunger for righteousness, to be
merciful, to be pure in heart, to be peacemakers, to do good, not
to call anyone a fool, not to commit adultery, not to look at a
woman lustfully, not to divorce our spouses, not to swear, to turn
the other cheek, to go the second mile, to love our enemies, to be
perfect like our Father, not to be religious for show, to forgive,
not to lay up treasures on earth but in heaven, not to worship
money, not to be anxious about physical needs, to seek God’s
kingdom and righteousness first, not to judge, to do to others as
we want them to do to us, to do what He says, to be wise as
serpents and harmless as doves, to endure to the end, to be like
Him, to preach the gospel ... just to mention a few items selected
from the first ten chapters of Matthew!
To be the church of the New Testament we must
live according to the New Testament. God not only tells us how to
be saved, how to worship and how to organize our congregations, He
also tells us how to live our lives.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good
and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1,2). In
our actions, our bodies must be living sacrifices. In our
attitudes, our minds must be renewed, “bringing every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians
10:5).
We have an awesome calling: “You are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
We “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). “As He who
called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am
holy’” (1 Peter 1:15, 16).
To be the church of the New Testament we must be
holy. We must avoid evil and do good.
To be the church of the New Testament we
must avoid evil.
In the New Covenant the way we live is referred
to as our walk. We may not walk in darkness. “This is the
message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God
is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not
practice the truth” (1 John 1:5, 6).
This means that we may not continue in a life of
sin. After emphasizing the grace of God, Paul says: “What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with
Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life” (Romans 6:1-4). When we become Christians,
we rise from baptism to walk in newness of life, not to stumble on
in darkness.
“But fornication and all uncleanness or
covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for
saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse
jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For
this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous
man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and God.
“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of
these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as
children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable
to the Lord.
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to
speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all
things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for
whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: ‘Awake,
you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you
light.’ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools
but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil”
(Ephesians 5:3-16).
The days are still evil. We live in a heathen,
hedonistic society. Moral values have been jettisoned. Sexual
relationships outside of marriage and same-sex relationships are
viewed as ‘normal’. It is politically incorrect -- even
an alleged violation of human rights -- to expose these works of
darkness. This ‘anything-goes’ mentality can infiltrate
the church. Like a boat in water, the church can safely sail in a
sea of immorality. God designed it to thrive in a hostile world.
But if we bore a hole in the boat and allow immorality to flood
into the church, it will not be the church of the New
Testament.
Paul reprimanded the church at Corinth for
tolerating immorality: “It is actually reported that there
is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as
is not even named among the Gentiles -- that a man has his
father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather
mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from
among you” (1 Corinthians 5:1, 2).
The church must be pure: “Your glorying
is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens
the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be
a new lump, since you truly are unleavened” (1 Corinthians
5:6, 7).
To be the church of the New Testament we
must do good.
Jesus tells us: “Love your enemies, do good
to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). “Therefore, as we
have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who
are of the household of faith” (Galatians
6:10).
We must walk in the light. “If we walk in
the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all
sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a
liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John
1:7-10).
Notice that we have fellowship only if we walk in
the light. Light and darkness cannot coexist. Someone walking in
darkness cannot have fellowship with someone walking in light, nor
with God.
Notice also that we receive forgiveness of sins
only if we walk in the light: “If we walk in the light as He
is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John
1:7).
Therefore, walking in the light does not mean
that we are completely without sin. Although we “hunger and
thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6), although we
“desire to live godly in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:12)
we still sin “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23).
We need God’s mercy: “For the grace
of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the
blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from
every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special
people, zealous for good works” (Titus
2:11-14).
John goes on to explain: “My little
children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And
if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and
not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know
that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
“He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever
keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this
we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought
himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John
2:1-6).
Although we sin and need God’s grace, this
does not mean that gross sin may be tolerated in the church. People
who continue in sin are not walking in the light. To be the church
of the New Testament we must uphold the moral standards of the New
Testament.
To be the church of the New Testament we must
walk as Christ walked. “Then Jesus spoke to them again,
saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall
not walk in darkness, but have the light of life’”
(John 8:12). “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6).
Our walk must be in truth, in love and according
to God’s commandments. In his second letter John wrote:
“I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your
children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the
Father. And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new
commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning:
that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to
His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard
from the beginning, you should walk in it” (2 John
4-6).
We must walk according to the Spirit, not
according to the flesh: “For what the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He
condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the
law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh
but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the
flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who
live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit”
(Romans 8:3-5).
To be the church of the New Testament we must
bear the fruit of the Spirit. “Walk in the Spirit, and you
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you
wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the
law.
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred,
contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions,
dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and
the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told
you in time past, that those who practice such things will
not inherit the kingdom of God.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions
and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-25).
Can we be the church of the New
Testament?
Yes, if we live according to the New Testament,
if we avoid evil and do good, if we walk in the light, in newness
of life. Although we are not without sin, we set our minds on
things of the Spirit. We live soberly, righteously, and godly in
the present age. Walking in the light, we have fellowship with one
another and the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin. To be the
church of the New Testament we must live according to the New
Testament.
Yes, if our leadership complies with the New
Testament: if we are guided by Christ through the Scriptures, if
our congregations are led and served by qualified elders and
deacons, and if our preachers and teachers faithfully proclaim and
teach the New Testament of Christ.
Yes, if we worship according to the New
Testament. Christians come together on the first day of the week to
eat the Lord’s supper and to give of their means. They sing
and pray. They listen reverently to the word of
God.
Yes, if we obey the gospel of the New
Testament.
Yes, certainly. If we follow the pattern of the
New Testament, if we comply with the conditions and provisions of
the new covenant, if we abide in the word of Christ, if we continue
steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, if we hold fast the
pattern of sound words, if we use the Scriptures for doctrine,
reproof, correction and instruction, if we obey from the heart that
form of doctrine to which we have been delivered, if we do not go
beyond what is written, if we hold fast the faithful word, if we
have the same faith and obey the same gospel, if we abide in the
doctrine of Christ... we can be the church of the New
Testament.
Roy Davison
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson
Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.
Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)
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