What God Requires Of Me – Chapter 1
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
ONE of everything. NOT multiple faiths, each with its own set of different doctrines.
Jesus said:
Luke 12:32
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom”.
Matthew 10:22
And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.
Matthew 15:8-9
‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ ”
A True Christian belongs to a church that is “little”. A church with millions or even hundreds of thousands of members is not a little flock. Jesus also said that a True Christian would be hated and persecuted.
He taught that only a few would find the way to eternal life in this age.
Matthew 7:14
But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
Matthew 20:16
“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”
Jesus also said that there would be many that think they are disciples but DO NOT qualify for eternal life.
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
So, how do we know that we are doing the will of God?
If we truly wish to follow someone we will live and work as they did. We will try and replicate their lives and aim to be successful in everything we do. Jesus never sinned. Therefore, we know that we can follow his example.
That is fine up to the point where we are told that Jesus changed everything and now, we do things differently. We are told that Gentiles (probably most Christians) are no longer required to keep “Jewish” laws. Is this true though?
Paul was commissioned by God to go and preach the gospel to Gentiles. What did he tell these Gentiles in Corinth?
1 Corinthians 11:1
And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
Unless Paul is a liar, we can be sure that anything he teaches us through his words, or his lifestyle is fully in synchronisation with God’s requirements for our lives.
Let’s get a couple of “changes” out of the ways first. There were just two basic ones that many misunderstand.
First, Jesus kept ALL God’s Law. What he didn’t keep were the extra bits that the Jews added to God’s Law. Things that were traditions such as washing hands before eating. Good to do yes, but NOT required by God.
Luke 11:37-38
As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom.
The only change from Old Testament requirements to keep the Law involve the Passover service and animal sacrifices. They pointed to the blood of Jesus being shed for us. Jesus changed the way that Christians should keep Passover from then onwards. He shed his blood and we no longer need to offer a sacrifice or sprinkle blood.
To be in the little flock that Jesus recognises as his own we need to observe ALL that is written in the Old Testament, just as Jesus did. And we need to observe ALL that is written in the New Testament, just as Paul did. If we do that then we are safely on our journey to being a True Christian that will be accepted by Jesus when we stand before him at the end of days.