Part 1: An Overview

It has been my desire and intent for some time now to begin a series of articles based on "The Christian Lifestyle." Some of these articles will require multiple parts to adequately cover the subject. The approach to this series will be an examination of selected verses of Scripture that directly relate to the specific area of concentration. This introductory article will be an Overview with future articles covering the following topics:

1. Pursuing God and Obedience

2. Communication with God

3. Sanctification

4. Specific Christian Virtues to be Developed.

The Divine Standard:

At the outset we must understand the mindset of the true Christian if we are to understand the lifestyle of the true Christian. C. H. Spurgeon says about the true Christian:

Now let us try to find out the true Christian—the enlightened Christian. The true Christian has all from Christ; the heaven-taught Christian feels it is so. You remember that the apostle Paul said of himself that he was the chief of sinners.. A little while before he says he was the least of all the saints, and last of all he says, "Though I be nothing." John Newton says, "Young Christians think themselves little; growing Christians think themselves nothing; full-grown Christians think themselves less than nothing." So as we grow up we grow down; as Christ increases we must decrease; as he is glorified, the flesh gets dishonoured in our esteem…

There are many who claim to be Christian, but it seems have only become so by climbing through the back window as would a thief under the protection of darkness. "Christians" often make God in their own image whenever the God of the Bible conflicts with their chosen lifestyle. They have developed a philosophical concept of the Christian lifestyle packaging the new into the old box. Though they agree with some parts of the Bible, they reject or ignore other parts. Obedience and submission never really become an issue until their own desires conflict with the desires, commands, and expectations of the One they claim to be submitting themselves unto. There is no evidence of a life of humbleness and thankfulness. Many of the very things that characterize the heathen are present within the lives of the multitudes of Christendom. These same "Christians" believe they were saved by grace, but once they were saved, they act like it is necessary to live the Christian life by human effort. Paul says in Galatians 3:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live I live be the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

The Christian lifestyle is not such that it comes packaged as a gift presented to us at our profession of faith or our admission into the Church. It is a lifestyle that accompanies a true confession with its demands of obedience and with a divine model as an example. Many of the things that we may have considered marginal in a pre-conversion state, we should now find of no practical use in the post-conversion lifestyle.

The post-conversion life is based on grace. John 1:16 says, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." Here we see the first indication that our Christian lifestyle is based on God’s continued exercise of grace extended to His people. God has promised a "well" that shall never run dry for we shall receive "grace upon grace." As one grace finishes its designed task, another immediately begins. We are a people that are constantly receiving the benefits of God’s grace. The very "fulness" that we experience in our new life is due to the fact that God always has His hand of grace upon us. Yet, we must grasp it for what it is and understand that our Christian life is wholly sustained and nurtured by His free and continued application of grace.

Likewise, 2 Peter 1:3 says, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:" We are given knowledge of our lifestyle because of our calling. As God is not in the process of calling us, neither is He in the process of determining His righteous demands of the Christian lifestyle. God has extended to His children the divine design and the practical expression as to our Christian duty, piety, and active obedience. Colossians 2:6-7 confirms this: "6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." As we therefore have been "received" by faith, we also have been rooted in the firm foundation of Christ Jesus the Lord. We therefore find our "walk" to be a process of being built up and confirmed based on the Foundation. Such a walk denotes a way of life of which the nature and manner of the walk makes it clear as to Who governs it.

This Foundation is the model; Jesus Christ. Matthew 5:48 states, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." God as the absolute model of perfection is to be our model. The end or goal of the Christian life is to share a relationship with the living God through belief in Him. Our Christian lifestyle is a radical change in behavior based upon love for God rather than a belief in one’s ability to achieve perfection. We have been extended an invitation to share in a relationship that ensures us a wholeness or a completeness of life.

Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, did not leave us to speculate about what was expected of us, but gave instructions that if we were to live out our salvation in a manner wherefore, we must refrain from lustfulness, pray for the welfare of those who hate us, give charity secretly, not hoard the means of wealth, and that should we call a brother "a fool" (and fail to repent) we would "be in danger of hell fire"! Such definite statements leave us in little doubt how we should act, yet there is one commandment He left us which many conclude is impossible for us to keep, and therefore seek to excuse themselves from obeying: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Therefore many are ready to quickly return to the "flesh pots" of Egypt where they become repossessers of that which is customary, commodious, and captivating. If we think this not so, look at Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:3; "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Paul was basically saying, "Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" Many think that their acts of self-motivated kindness, restraint, piety, and consistency to Christian duty fulfill the requirements of the Christian lifestyle, while all along they are leading the secret life of Walter Middy. Many live their lives similar to that of the old Baptist creed, "We don’t smoke, we don’t chew, we don’t go with girls who do." Do you know the problem with these rules? If rules were enough, we wouldn’t need grace! Believers are certainly not saved by works, and we should not expect the model of the Christian life to be one in which conformity to external standards is the rule of conduct whereby we are conformed to the image of His Son.

The Two Citizenships:

According to the Bible there are two citizenships; one is worldly and the other heavenly. The question that we must ask ourselves is, "which one do we find ourselves in?" In The Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan one will find the following poem:

"The things eternal I pursue
And happiness is beyond the view
Of those who basely pant
For things by nature felt and seen;
Their honours, wealth, and pleasure mean,
I neither have nor want.
Nothing on earth I call my own:
A stranger to the world unknown,
I all their goods despise:
I trample on their whole delight,
A country in the skies.

"If you are of the world, the Bible says that you mind earthly things. That is, your life revolves around, and your heart seeks the things, the pleasures, the riches, the honors of this present world. Maybe there is an outward show of religious belief and confession, yet your heart seeks the worldly honors and pleasures. The goals of the world are yours. How much money? What kind of pleasures? The amount of honor and power. You live, then, to gratify your own lusts. You speak your own diluted language deceiving yourself and calling God a liar. You worry about losing what you have. Your god really is your belly, your own appetites. That is what you serve. Life to you, then, is how much money you have, the good times you experience, the things you possess, the satisfying of your cravings: that is your life.

But if, by the living and powerful grace of God, you are a citizen of heaven, then, although you live in this world, your heart revolves around and your love centers in Jesus Christ. You feel out of place here below. As you grow and as you move about in this world you feel that this world cannot satisfy you, cannot be your home. You speak a different, spiritual language. And there is a tension in your life to be with the Lord. Behind all of your planning, all of your building of a home, your working, your training for a job, behind all of your life is the eager expectation of the coming of Jesus Christ, the day of glory, the day when you will be with Him. You feel as if you are an alien on the earth. You do not fit in spiritually. A different spirit dwells in you" (Carl Haak).

A verse that sheds more light on this is Philippians 3:20: "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:" It is not as it was, where our conversation in times past were in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others (Eph. 2:3). As Christians there has been a radical change in position for we now function as citizens of heaven and our performance and manner of life is from a heavenly perspective and not an worldly one. We are now seen by God as a "colony of heaven" or a "community or commonwealth" of heaven. In fact, we are a franchise or a replica of the Master’s plan. Thus is the Church and the saints that constitute it; we are, or should be, a functioning replica of heaven earnestly and patiently awaiting the return of the Lord Jesus. We need to withdraw our attention from inferior things and look forward to the future manifestation of the glory of Christ and His people. This is emphatic; we are to have such a lifestyle that allows us to patiently await the return of Christ. We are not to be overly concerned with what we don’t have now and how we can get it, but what we shall expect in the future. Our affections have been changed; our corrupt nature has been change to a glorious nature; we have been translated from this world to reside in heavenly places. The union that we have in Christ has placed us in a new position, a legal position. This new position requires a new lifestyle. If we are to reside in "heavenly places" we must be a stranger to the old lifestyle and a pilgrim in this world. We must reject that which rendered pleasure in this world and seek after the high calling of God. Our dreams, aspirations, and goals are now defined from a spiritual standpoint and not a self-seeking, self-gratifying, self-fulfilling worldly view.

John Gill aptly wrote, "the city whereof we are freemen is heaven, and we behave ourselves here below, as citizens of the city above;" Although we have not yet obtained to that heavenly city, our mind, heart, desire, is be on that which we most long for. And what is it that the Christian is longing for? We seek, we desire, we await, to be with Christ. Contrast the difference of the desires of the world’s lifestyle with the desires of the Christian. One is a selfish pleasure seeking carnality while the other is a desire to be complete in Christ. Such completeness can only be realized in its fullness when we reside with Christ upon our departure from this world. Yet, we are to conduct ourselves in such a manner and we are to live as though we are already there. Our desires are not worldly but heavenly.

Now if we are citizens of heaven we are under the rule and government of heaven. That is to say, that our Christian lifestyle is governed by the laws and commands of God. "The Spirit of God rules in our mortal bodies, grace reigns through righteousness, and we wear the easy yoke of Jesus" (Spurgeon). Romans 8:29 says, "For whom he did foreknow he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." As we reside in Christ we reside in heavenly places as the sons of God, and as such, we have a resemblance to Christ. Now how can our lives not reflect this image? For we have been granted the power of God to be conformed to the image of His most precious Son. If we reflect the desires of this world we are not conducting ourselves as proper citizens. For we are not of this world, our citizenship is in heaven and our walk, our conversation, our acts are such as should be consistent with our citizenship. I would not expect to go to another country where I was not a citizen and expect the same laws and rules of conduct to apply to me there as they do in this country. So why should the Christian think that he can claim heavenly citizenship and live like hell?

When Paul found himself in trouble in Acts 25:11 he appealed to Caesar. In other words, Paul made his appeal as to his lawful right as a citizen of Rome. As citizens of heaven, born again Christians, in what direction does our lifestyle find its appeal. Does our lifestyle appeal to the world, or is our appeal directed to heaven? We appeal according to our citizenship and if our conformity is to the world, we appeal to the world. Likewise, if our lives are holy, acceptable, and not conformed to this world but are transformed by the renewing of our minds, and if we seek after the perfect will of God, then our citizenship abides in heavenly places.

Another verse, the sister verse to Philippians 3:20 is Ephesians 2:6: "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" Once again, this verse shows a marked contrast between the believer’s former lost condition and their present situation in Christ. This present condition finds the believer residing in "heavenly places," being raised up by spiritual resemblance with Christ. Our condition has been changed from one of residing in a ditch to being caused to sit together with Christ in heavenly places; until the end.

And what is our assurance? It is the resurrection of Christ Himself. Because He has been raised, we are assured that we have prepared for us a heavenly mansion. All that Christ has done for us has prepared for us such a residence. But, we should not expect to suddenly undergo a radical change when the last breath leaves our body. The radical change has already taken place. We are living in the post-conversion state and as such that which was prior to, that which is old has been done away with; "behold all things have become new." What is Christianity if it is not new life, newness in walk, new desires, new affections, all directed to Him that is the Creator.

Conclusion:

In the divine scheme of things those to whom God extends his grace He has also caused to reside in heavenly places. This may be the blueprint for which the Christian lifestyle may be patterned. Our calling is a higher calling and much is expected of us because much was given for us. The very holiness which the Christian now possesses necessitates that he separate himself from all that is contrary to the new nature. The Christian lifestyle is to be wholly dedicated to and governed by God, and not the world. All that is in the world, the lusts, the pleasures, the enticements, are not of the Father but are of the world. How can we expect to be not conformed to this world when the very god that we worship is our own bellies. We must not, we can not, claim heavenly citizenship when the appeal of the world means more to us than the commands of God. However, that is just what the Word of God claims for the Christian. We reside in heavenly places! Is this a paradox? God forbid! As they say here in Texas "You’re either or, or you ain’t." You either reside in heaven, or you don’t. The Bible confirms that the Christian does. The Christian lifestyle is evidence of this confirmation.

Providence Baptist Ministries © copyright_date PBM Desktop Publications © copyright_date All rights reserved Revised: February 14, 2005