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Europe- the very heart of Western
Christian civil ization.
Were the men, women and even
chi ldren involved in these wars true
followers of the humble carpenter of
N azareth who said: "Lave your ene–
mies"? Remember that these people
called themselves by the name of
Christ- "Christian."
l t seems that nearly all Western
religions, philosophies a nd sects per–
sist in applying the name of Christ to
their ideas, teachings and practices,
however far removed from the teach–
ings of Christ they may be. In an–
c ient times, the pagans at least hon–
est ly and openly acknowledged the
idols they worshiped.
Uslng Christ's Name Proves
Nothing
Since the life, death and resurrection
of the Son of God, Cbrist's name has
been placed on every type of pagan,
perverted philosophy of man that has
come along! The fact that many doc–
trines, ideas and practices of men a re
called "Christian" proves absolutely
nothing!
Oíd Christ start these ideas and
institutions? Do they follow His
teaching and His example? How can
you know? What was the teaching of
Jesus Christ?
The only authoritative answer is
found in the inspired record of what
Jesus did teach and in the perfect
example He set for us to follow. Your
own Bible contains this inspired
record.
With the above questions in mind,
let's look into the Bible honestly,
openly and without prejudice.
What did Jesus-the Author of
true Christianity-actua lly teach
and do? And remember that a true
"Christian" is one who
follows
Christ
and His teaching!
What Dld Jesus Teach?
At the beginning of His mtmstry,
" Jesus carne into Gali lee, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God,
and saying, The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand: re–
pent ye, and believe the gospel"
(Mark 1:14-15).
The word "kingdom" implies gov–
ernment. Jesus was talking about the
coming government of God over this
The
PLAIN TRUTH June·July 1979
earth. He commanded: " Repent ye,
and believe the gospel"!
To repent means to be so sorry that
you are not onlywilling toquit living in
what theologians call "sin" - but that
you are alsowilling to turn around and
go theother way. But what is sin? God
answers, "Sin is the trapsgression of
the law" ( IJohn 3:4).
So we must repent of disobeying
God's government-<>f breaking His
law!
Again, notice Jesus' own inspired
words on this subject: "Think nót
[although many do want to think
this] that
1
am come to dest roy the
law, or the prophets:
1
am not come
to destroy, but to fulfil" (Matthew
5: 17). Greek scholars 1!Cknowledge
that the word transla ted "fulfil "
means not only todo or per form, but
a lso to fill to the full. In other words,
Jesus, in His own life, filled to the
full and perfectly performed the spi r–
itual intent and purpose of God's
law- to !ove God with a ll your might
and to love your neighbor as your–
self.
Why did He do this? To do away
with God's law by this means? That's
what men will try to tell you! The
ultimate criterion for right and
wrong, many church leaders say, is
not divine command, but the individ–
ual 's subjective perception of what is
good for himself. "We a re delivered
from the law," they expostulate. But
Jet God answer. In a prophecy about
the coming Messiah, lsaiah wrote:
" The Lord is well pleased for his
righteousness' sake; he will magnify
the law, and make it honourable"
(lsaiah 42:21) .
Jesus Magnifled God's Law
To magnify does not mean to destroy,
but to show forth and enlarge to the
fullest possible extent. Jesus perfect–
ly fu lfi lled and magnified God's law
to show us its fullest spi ritual appli–
cation and also to set us an example
that we should follow in His steps
(1
Peter 2:21).
Jesus continued in this same dis–
course: "Whosoever therefore shall
break one of these least command–
ments, and shall teach men so, he
shall be called the least in the king–
dom of heaven: but whosoever shall
do and teach them, the same shall be
called great in tbe ki ngdom of heav–
en" (Matthew 5: 19). So according to
Jesus' teaching, you have to both do
and teach even the least of God's
commandments if you are to become
great in His Kingdom. This is just
the opposite of the common teaching
of "Christianity" today. Probably
you were taught to believe Jesus did
away with the law of God.
Jesus showed that even to bate a
brother-involving as it does the
spirit of murder- is bringing us into
j udgment befare the spi ritual law of
God (Matthew 5:21-26). He vividly
illustra ted how one can commit adul–
tery not only by performing the act,
but also by just lusting after a woman
in his heart (verses 27-28).
Read these examples in your own
Bible. Think about them. In every
case they obviously do not do away
with God 's law, but rather they make
it all the more binding!
Matthew's fifth chapter ends with
Jesus' instruction: " Be ye ("become
ye" is the litera l, original Greek]
therefore perfect, even as your Fa–
ther which is in heaven is perfect"
(verse 48) .
Obedience to God and .His law is
the keynote of the entire Sermon on
the Mount. Jesus declared: "Not
every one that sai th unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven" (Mat–
thew 7:21).
Did Jesus Set a Perfect Example?
Remember, a Christian is one who
literally follows the example of Jesus
Christ! Jesus was the "light" that God
sent into theworld toshow man how he
ought to live. "Thatwas the true Light,
which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world" (John 1:9).
Peter was inspired to record that
Jesus Christ lived according to God's
ways, leaving usan example, that we
should
follow His steps
(1 Peter
2:21 ). Jesus obeyed God. He did not
sin- and sin is the "transgression of
the law." Ra ther He obeyed God and
suffered willingly in service to others,
and in all this, set an example for us
to follow.
The apostle John was inspired to
write: " He that saith he abideth in
him [Christ] ought bimself also soto
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