CHRIST Defines "Christianity"
Let us put our own ideas and human opinions aside for a moment, and SEE WHAT JESUS CHRIST SAYS ABOUT THIS MATTER.
After all, He is the One who really KNOWS!
In what is known as the "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus taught His disciples the basis of His Christian message. These teachings contain more spiritual truth than whole volumes that have been written by men.
Jesus taught the disciples that to be great in God's Kingdom, we must do and teach "His Commandments" (Matthew 5:19). He revealed that God's law is a spiritual law. One not only breaks the command against adultery by a physical act, but, "whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:28).
Christ instructed His disciples not only to obey the commandment against killing, but He said: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Verse 44).
He summed up these instructions by commanding them: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Verse 48).
How many people calling themselves "Christian" are actively striving to follow these spiritual principles in their daily lives? Do they LOVE their enemies and pray for them? Are they growing spiritually every day toward the goal of having perfect character even as God? Or have we forgotten what JESUS HIMSELF said His followers should do? Continuing, we find that Jesus taught His disciples how they should give "alms" or perform good deeds, how they should pray, and how they should fast (Matthew 6:1-18). In each case, Jesus assumed that His followers would be leading THAT KIND OF LIFE. He was teaching them HOW TO LIVE — to GIVE to others, to PRAY to God the Father on their knees, to FAST in order to be closer to God — not some empty ritual or impractical theory.
GOD'S WORD IS CONSISTENT
The religious ideas and teachings of men are varied and confused. Even the great denominations have repeatedly changed their doctrines from time to time — although NOT in the direction of truth! But the teaching of the Bible is consistent and unchanging.
The true servants of God in all ages have taught and written the same basic WAY of obedience to God. "Thy WORD is truth," Jesus said (John 17:17). And again He said, "The scripture CANNOT be broken" (John 10:35). God does not contradict Himself in His inspired Word!
We should ALWAYS bear this in mind when studying the Bible.
So Jesus continued to teach the SAME truths all through His ministry, and the Apostles preached the same Gospel — not something different.
Later in Jesus' ministry, one asked Him, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"
Jesus answered, "Why tallest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou will enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS" (Matthew 19:16-17).
This is the WAY Jesus taught would lead to eternal life. He taught the need for REPENTANCE from past sins, of FAITH in Him as our Savior, and of OBEDIENCE to the laws and ways of God. Jesus said if He was to be your Lord you would have to OBEY Him!
Did Jesus know what He was talking about? Many organizations of men seem to think that He didn't, for they have substituted a DEAD faith and belief in His person, but deny the WAY of salvation and life which He taught.
The apostles were commanded to continue preaching the SAME message which Jesus preached. Before His ascension into heaven, He commanded them to go forth and instruct ALL nations — both Jews and Gentiles, "teaching them to observe ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20).
If you would like to learn, in detail, how to really keep and LIVE BY God's Ten Commandments, then write for our fascinating and informative free booklet entitled, "The Ten Commandments." Study this booklet with your Bible. It contains a wealth of information and spiritual "meat."
Take Action on What You Know
Perhaps the best definition of a "Christian" contained in any one verse of the Bible is found in I John 2:6. The Weymouth translation makes the intended meaning more clear than the older King James wording. It reads: "He who says that he abides in Him is BOUND to live as He (Christ) lived."
How many of today's professing "Christians" feel bound to actually LIVE as Jesus did?
To do this — to fulfill the PURPOSE for which you were born — you need to STUDY the Bible as most of you have never done before in all your lives! You need to earnestly PRAY to God the Father on your knees two or three times each day — develop the habit of personal prayer to God for at least thirty minutes to an hour every day! You need, occasionally, to set aside a day or two for FASTING — total abstention from all food in order to realize your own nothingness, to draw closer to God, and to have the extra time and impetus for earnest prayer and study.
To be a true Christian, you need to begin practicing TOTAL HONESTY in your speech, in your business, and in your entire way of life! You need to FORSAKE your personal idols, and begin to honor your parents, obey the laws of man and God, and WORSHIP your Creator and your Heavenly Father and SEEK Him in study, prayer, and fasting in the way the prophets of old did!
Once you have decided to make a total surrender to God, You need — as already mentioned — to be baptized! Accordingly, be sure to read Garner Ted Armstrong's helpful and important article in this issue on water baptism, and apply it to yourself, personally! Then, through the POWER of the Holy Spirit which you are promised to receive after baptism, you will have placed within you the very nature and character of God Himself! You must develop, strengthen and nurture this character! Never forget the instruction: "But GROW in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Pet. 3:18).
Don't Procrastinate!
Thousands of you have come to realize that you are getting the truth, the understanding and the Message of God through this Work — The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast and The PLAIN TRUTH magazine. You are beginning to realize that this is the true Work of God on earth — preparing for Christ's second coming and the world tomorrow.
But many of you are delaying and procrastinating before DOING anything about this knowledge you have been given!
If you are in this boat, then quit procrastinating — quit arguing and reasoning and delaying — and begin to OBEY the precious spiritual truth which God is showing you through His servants on earth in these last days! One TREMENDOUS step you could take in this direction would be to sign up for the Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course and begin systematically STUDYING — and UNDERSTANDING — the Bible, perhaps for the first time in your life!
Learn to WALK in the light as God gives the light. Keep changing in the direction of TRUTH, keep GROWING and YIELDING your life into the hands of the Living Christ. After baptism, ask in faith and confidence for Him — through His Spirit — to literally LIVE His life in you! Remember that He will live the SAME basic way of life in you today as He did live nineteen hundred years ago (Heb. 13:8).
He will teach you to study and understand the Word of God, to pray to God as your personal Father and really come to KNOW Him in a wonderful and personal way; He will lead you to OBEY the holy and spiritual laws of God — summarized in the Ten Commandments — which tell us HOW to love God and how to love our neighbor; He will lead you to KEEP HOLY the same days which God made holy — lead you to LOVE even your enemies — to master your human vanity and selfishness — to surrender your will, in everything, to the will of your God and Maker.
There are many names and titles religious organizations and groups could choose for themselves. But Jesus asks: "Why call ye ME, Lord, Lord, and do NOT the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46)
Let's quit kidding ourselves! Only those who have the Holy Spirit of God within them — who have CHRIST living within them — are really Christians. Only those who — through the POWER of His Spirit — are keeping the laws of God and living the WAY of God and His Word are properly called by the name of Christ!