Basic HTML Version
16: 16-17). Here, Jesus showed that
God's Kingdom or governrnent is
connected with God's law. He
showed that law would never fail!
Then He went on to show what law
He was talking about (verse
18)
by
commenting on the commandment
concerning adultery - one of the
Ten Commandments!
So the good news of God's King–
dom - which is not understood or
p reached by the mainst ream of
today's Christianity - is re la ted to
the law of God as contained in the
Ten Commandments. Jesus always
magnified and kept this law during
His lifetime. He said,
" 1
have kept
my Father's commandments" (John
15: 10).
After Christ's resurrection, when
He was commissioning His disciples
to preach His message to all na tions,
He commanded: "Go ye tberefore,
and teach all nations, baptizing
tbem in the name ofthe Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
teaching them to observe
ALL THJNGS
whatsoever
I
have commanded you:
and, lo,
l
am witb you alway, even
unto the end of the world" (Mat–
thew
28: 19-20).
Here, Jesus is clearly and plainly
telling His apostles to go out to a ll
na tions, preaching exactly the same
message of obedience to God's law
a nd His government as He Himself
had taught them. And ye t, many
theologians and religious leaders
today rebel at the teaching of obedi–
ence to God's commandments. They
claim, "The Ten Commandments
are out ofdate!"
Plainly, as the African student
mentioned in the beginning of this
article noticed, modero Christianity
has strayed far from the simple
teachings ofJesus!
Did Jesus Set a Perfect
Example?
Remember, a Chris tian is one
who literally follows the example of
Jesus Christ! Jesus was the " light"
that God sent into the world to
show man how he ought to live.
16
' 'That was the true Light, which
lighteth every man tha t cometh into
the world" (John
1:9).
Peter was inspired to record that
Jesus Christ lived and walked, Jeav–
ing us an example, tha t we should
follow His steps
(1
Pe ter
2:2 1).
Jesus
obeyed God. He did not sin - and
sin is the "transgression of the law."
Rather, He obeyed God and suf–
fered willingly in service to others,
and in allthis, set a n example for us
to follow.
Tbe apostle John was inspired to
write: "He that saith he abideth in
him [Christ] ought himself also soto
walk [to live], even as he walk:ed"
(1
John 2:6).
The New English Bible
translation
renders this in more modero
English : "Here is the test by which
we can make sure tha t we are in
him: wboever claims to be dwelling
in him, binds himself to live as
Christ himselflived."
Jesus lived a life of giving and
serving. He conducted himself asan
ambassador of a foreign kingdom or
government - God's government in
heaven which will soon come to
earth to replace a ll human govem–
ments. How many "Chris tians"
really believe this?
Paul was inspired to write that
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever (Hebrews
13:8).
Christ has not changed. He will
guide you to live the same kind of
life today that He Jived in His own
human body
1900
years ago. And
remember, Jesus "was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without
sin" (Hebrews
4 : 15).
How will Jesus guide you to do
this? The apostle Paul put
it
this
way, describing his own experience:
"I am crucified with Christ: never–
theless I live; yet not I, but
Christ
liveth in me:
and the life which I
now live in the ftesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me" (Ga–
latians
2:20).
Here we see that Christ comes
to
live His life in the true Christian. He
does this through His Spirit (Ro–
mans
8:9).
The Holy Spirit imparts
to the individual the very faitb of
Jesus Christ - the same faith tha t
guided and motivated Jesus when
be dwelled in mortal ftesh.
Through the Holy Spirit, then,
you can receive the very nature and
powe r of Christ to obey the com–
mandments and laws of Almighty
God. The Holy Spirit imparts the
power to keep God's spiritual law.
lt
is His righteousness operating in
your body, a body that you have
willingly yielded to Him as His in–
stru ment. What percentage of
"Christians" do that today?
How the Holy Spirit
Functions
But how does one receive God's
Holy Spirit? Peter addressed a large
audience of people in his day ,
saying, " Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in tbe name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit" (Acts
2 :38).
This
same principie applies to our day.
Since your old self must be fig–
ura tively buried - baptized for the
remission of sin - you must first re–
pent of sin. That means to repent of
breaking God's law! Then after
truly repenting and accepting,
through faith , Christ's shed blood as
payment for your past sins, you
must be baptized
in
order to receive
the gift ofGod's Holy Spirit.
Baptism - immersion in a watery
grave - is an outward acknowledg–
ment of the death penalty you have
brought upon yourself by disobey–
ing the law of your Creator and is
an acknowledgment of your wiUing–
ness to Jet your old self figuratively
die.
The Love of God
Then, through His Spirit, Christ
places His nature wíthin you - His
love, His fait h, His strength to over–
come your own nature and the
tempta tions of Satan and of this
world (see Galatians 5:22-23).
PLAIN TRUTH Morch 1973