The kingdom lifestyle described in the Beatitudes requires a spirit of submission unto God. Jesus is teaching this understanding to identify the emptiness a person must have to be filled and made whole. Afterward, a person can begin to be a witness of the salt and light, which is Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John records Jesus Christ saying “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life (Jn. 8:32, NASB). Light is a sign of righteousness and truth and knowledge. Salt, then, is just as effective, because it helps purify the heart of mankind. In the Bible, James states, “ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” …show more content…
God has given divine instruction on how a person should live the life as followers of Jesus Christ on earth. God’s words are inchangable and confusion is absent. Paul writes, “God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the Saints” (1 Cor. 14:33, NASB). The peace of God is essential, along with prayer and fasting in the kindgom lifestyle. All in all, the description of the kingdom lifestyle is a personal relationship with God and the love for others. It is the ulimate way of living with Jesus Christ and fulfilling the mission commanded, that is, making disciples for Jesus Christ. It is the “dos” that need to be done in obedience to God, by faith. Furthermore, Paul provides even more evidence to the church in Colossae. He indicates that as believers of Jesus Christ, a person must now walk in the ways of newness. A newness contributing much needed righteous fruit, before humanity. The oldness of man is sin, but the newness is the life in Jesus Christ. The Bible records, “If my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land”( 2 …show more content…
God is to be glorify and lifted high in all the earth, because of who we have become and made to be in Him. Integrity allows such glory to be behold for the Lord in all doings. Without a doubt, glory is due to the Lord. As a result, both code of ethics are needed in the body of Christ, especially in the leadership, for God’s glory. The ethic of the Sermon the Mount compared to the Apostle Paul explanation of the old and new man declares a surrendering spirit to receive the blessing of God. A person has no room for God, if filled with idoltary and self-filling ambition. That is why, the Apostle Paul strips away such things, if we are walk and practice the ways of God. Although, both ethics stand independently, the Holy Spirit help is still needed to do what is right. Trull and Carter asked a question concerning ethics, “Does what I am determine what I do, or does what I do shape who I am? The answer to these two questions is yes. Being affects doing, and doing shapes being.” Therefore, there is no difference between the two ethic, because God’s word need to be fulfilled in both ethic. Both ethic indicate that we are to give our all to God. The Bible records from the Old Testament over into the New Testament ethical standard. Ethical standards are a result of a person’s
xvi) On the same exact page Hill states, “Christian ethics does not involve either or analysis as if we could choose between holiness, justice and love, but rather a synthesis in which all three conditions must be met before an action can be considered moral.” The Bible recognizes this concept by saying, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” (Hebrews
In his thought-provoking book, “The Pursuit of Holiness,” Jerry Bridges offers a personal look on what it means to be holy like Christ. The book is scripture backed and covers all areas of holiness as a Christian. In the book, Bridges starts off with assessing just what holiness is. To be holy is to be morally blameless and to have no sin (p. 15). Holiness is being separated from the ways of the world and becoming more like Christ. To be holy does not mean that you obey a set of rules, but is instead string to do always do what is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. In Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2, Paul challenges the people to give up their bodies as a holy sacrifice for kingdom work. He continues on saying that this is truly
The first portion of Jesus teachings were made up of blessings known as beatitudes. Beatitudes are a set of teachings by Jesus. The word beatitude stimulates from a Latin adjective beatitudo which means happiness, fortunate, and blissful. The beatitudes are mainly located in versus 3 to 6. According to Wilkins, “They apply in an almost, “upside down” reality and this vision that should be adhered to life in operating the kingdom life among God’s people.” If an individual decided to disobey or decided to not follow the rules of the pattern of this world, God would considered that type of behavior as an upside down life style. If you are an authentic discipline you would follow the guidelines of the beatitudes. “Jesus was looking to set goals in the beatitudes and the whole Sermon on the Mount. These goals should not be seen as impossible ideals, rather a new kind of life that strives,permeats and change lives”(Robinson, et al.).
In the beginning of chapter 12 he writes, “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice”, and “Do not be conformed to this world” . Much of the errors and trials that Paul dealt with in his “Epistles”, were because the believers had conformed their lives to the world and not to God. The Lord wants us to see His glory. He has created an incredibly beautiful and marvelously expanding universe to proclaim His glory and omnipotence. He has given us Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to us. He does not withdraw Himself, cover Himself and hide Himself. He is bringing a revelation of His glory throughout all His creation and He will be seen in all the earth. This is the beauty of the gospel message. The scriptures declare that the earth is filled with the glory of God. "The whole earth is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6:3) At present we are not aware of it, but it will be manifested throughout the earth. "Nevertheless, as surely as I live, and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth” (Numbers
The church has more than one definition. The local church, which is a body of believers that have a specific place that they gather to worship and study the Word of God. The other definition is the Body of Christ, which includes every person that has accepted Christ as personal Lord and Savior. Both of these “organisms” preach and nurture Christians, which is missions.” God birthed the church, and when the church puts God at the center of the church, the focus of the church will change from being a church centered mission to a mission centered church and God will begin to use the church as His instrument for missions. Jesus after He was raised from the dead told all of His followers to proclaim that salvation was complete through His death burial and resurrection and it was/is free to those who will receive it. (Luke 24:44-48) The church has been divinely appointed by God to get the Gospel out into the world. The work of the church and God’s message of salvation will be for nothing if the church is not obedient and follow through with the instructions that God has tasked it with. (Acts 10:36) When the church is in line with God’s intention and is Spirit led, God the Father will be preparing hearts, Christ the Son will invite “whosoever will” and the Holy Spirit will convict and draw sinners to respond. (Rev.
...f the kingdom will and should be realized in the Gospel. There needs to be concrete ministries of the church to show that God cares for the lost individuals as well as the total wellbeing of a culture and society.
Not our own personal gain or our own popularity, but to be humbled and shine as the salt and light of the Earth. In the new testament book of Matthew, in chapter 5, Jesus is teaching to his disciples on a mountainside. He has already began to decribe what a life of following Chirst entails. In verses 13-16:
The Sermon on the Mount, we should look at the different beliefs the two have about life, and virtue by asking questions such as; what are we all pursing in this life? Or, what exactly is virtue, and how does Aristotle’s and Jesus’s view compare to each other? Another question that presents its self when reading about these two is, what exactly makes somebody 's character truly virtuous or moral? Although there is no one for sure answer to these questions, both Aristotle and Jesus devoted their lives to study and teach about what they believed were the right answers. Both stories bring two very different but very interesting points of views on how Greek and Christian viewed
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:3). The most confusing part of Christianity is the Trinity. Understanding God in three persons is difficult. He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Humanity is to trust in the Father’s providential care; trust in the Son 's forgiving, justifying work; and trust in the Spirit 's comfort and witness to the truth of the Word (Johnson, 2014). Christianity will therefore change the way a person thinks and behaves. To live for Christ and have the Holy Spirit means that one dies to themselves. Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians
The Apostle Paul rights about the conviction of the heart (Romans 2:15), when as Christians our perception of right and wrong is only justified by a common morality of other Christian believers. How instead we should live is in our justification of our savior, giving to him our body, sprite and mind and all he asks of it. By using the meaning of our life and our talents to influence those with the naturalistic and pantheism beliefs, shows our God is the creator and alive (Hebrews 11:32-40).
Christianity has its challenges. It places demands on us that set us apart from the rest of our world. The bible calls us a peculiar people, who navigate the challenge of living IN the world, without being OF the world. When we say ‘no’ to temptations that are enjoyed by the masses, we are labeled as self-righteous snobs, religious weirdoes, or worse. But we persevere, and we press toward that invisible line the Apostle Paul drew in the sands of time…for the high calling in Christ Jesus.
The code of ethic for the clergy and ministry leaders focuses on the morals of the leader’s life because according to Trull and Carter, "Ministerial behavior is a crucial ingredient in the performance of the ministry. Acting in ways both unethical and indiscreet can seriously
“Christian Ethics is fundamentally a matter of participating in the unfolding drama of God’s creative and redemptive purposes for the world. Put otherwise, it is a matter of dwelling within the biblical story and of having one’s life shaped and formed by the love, the judgement, and the mercy of God” .
I believe ethics is proliferate through the depth of honesty and presenting altruism towards others; these ethical principles distinguishes, who I am professionally and personally. The basic principles that I build my ethical standards on are honesty, honor, and justice. I present theses ethical standards in my day-to –day relationships in our society, and I facilitate these ethical standards in my professional relationships in the workplace. In my personal relationships, I am especially mindful to act on these ethical principles for infinitively they identify who I am truly. In my personal life, these ethical standards are based on codes of virtues or values. Honesty is one of most important basic ethical principles that I can process as a person. I believe that I am an honesty person, which is a direct correlation to my growing up in a Christian church. The church has influence me greatly and helped in shaping my values. Growing up in the church, I learned to be respectful and be truthful to others, but most importantly to have respect for you, in return these beliefs will transmitting love and respect to others. I can recall in bible study, one of my favorite structures was Colossians 3:9-10. The meaning of this passage is “Do not lie to anybody, since you laid aside the old self with its deprave practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created God." God wanted his aficionado to be very honest and trustworthy in life. God understands that no one can be consistently honest without a commitment to the truth, and he is aware at times honesty will hurt somebody’s feelings, but it does not mean that dishonesty is preferable.
The Messiah left the people hopeful by explaining how easy it is to enter the kingdom of Heaven. According to Matthew 5:3-12, the people with righteous hearts will definitely inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus inspires everyone to be humble, merciful, peaceful, and kind to one another, and he also mentions the importance of forgiveness and love several times, portraying his loving nature. Christ warns the nations to not fear persecution, because their reward in heaven will be great. Jesus mentions that Christians are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. However, salt without saltiness is worthless; hence, Christians without spiritual knowledge won’t get far in life. Christ motivates Christians to stand out by being loving, kind, compassionate; a reflection of Jesus so that unbelievers are eager to become Christians as well (New International Version, Matt.5:13-17). Additionally, he mentions the consequences of murder, adultery, and divorce. He talks about the sincerity of oaths and the importance of loving your enemies and giving to the poor. Jesus preaches about the importance of prayer because it is the way of communicating with the Lord. The Lord favors intimate and personal prayers over hypocritical prayers in public (New International Version, Matt.5.21-33,43, 6.1-5,25). Christ mentions the