The Christian way of life is the pillar and support of the truth and should be concerned about congregational purity. The entire life course of a faithful Christian is actually governed by faith, enabling them to overcome obstacles that would hinder their service to the true God. The Christian congregation serves as a ?pillar and support of the truth,? preserving the purity of the truth, defending and upholding it. (1 Tim, 3:15)
The Christian way to upholding the truth is especially important when those entrusted with oversight in the congregation are able to handle the ?word of the truth? aright. Proper use of God's Word enables True Christians to combat false teaching in the congregation, instructing ?those not favorably disposed; as perhaps God may give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth.?
The disciple James wrote: ?who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show out of his fine conduct the works with a meekness that belongs to wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.?
The Christian way to seeking true understanding is through prayer to God: ?Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed I shall observe it with my whole heart. The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; Give me understanding, and I shall live.? (Ps 119:34, 144) This is the right Christian motive. The apostle prayed for the Colossian Christians that they might be ?filled with knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding in order to walk worthily of the Lord.? (Col 1:9-10)
For the Christian congregation to be ?a pillar and support of the truth,? the Christian members thereof must, through fine conduct, manifest the truth in their lives. (Eph 5:9) They have to be consistent and undeviating in right conduct, as if ?girded about with truth.? (Eph 6:14) Besides maintaining personal purity, Christians must be concerned about congregational purity. When emphasizing the need to keep the Christian congregation clean from the defilement of lawless persons, the apostle Paul wrote: ?Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.? (1 Cor. 5:7-8)
By God's helping with our Christian way, one can come to an ?understanding heart,? that is, to learn right motive and also be able to discern bad motives, one's own or those of others (Prov 8:5), and by adhering to right motivation can avoid being distracted, misled or sidetracked into a devious and foolish course, and instead can be upright and head straight for one's goal. (Prov 15:21)
What it means to follow the Christian way is this: Jesus extended the invitation to be His follower, saying: ?If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.? (Matt 16:24) Those who are true Christian have full faith that Jesus is God's specially Anointed One and only begotten Son, the Promised Seed who sacrificed His human life as a ransom, was resurrected and exalted to the right hand of God, and the one who received authority to subdue his enemies and vindicate God's name.(Matt 20:28) Christians view the Bible as the inspired Word of God, absolute truth beneficial for teaching and disciplining mankind.(Matt 17:17) and (2 Tim 3:16)
More is required of true Christians than mere confession of faith through the Christian way. It is necessary that belief be demonstrated by works. (James 2: 17, 26) Born as sinners, those who follow the Christian way and repent, (turn around) dedicate their lives to God's worship and service, and submit to water baptism.(Matt 28:19) From then on they keep themselves clean from fornication, and idolatry. (Acts 15:20, 29) They strip off old personalities with their fits of anger, obscene talk, lying, stealing, drunkenness, and ?things like these,? and bring their lives into accord with Bible principles.(Gal 5:19-21)
Peter wrote to Christians, ?Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a busybody in other people's matters,? (1 Pet 4:15) Our Christian way is to be kind and considerate, mild tempered and long-suffering, lovingly exercising self-control. (5:22-23) Christians provide and care for their own and love their neighbors as themselves. (1Tim 5:8) and (Matt 22:36-40) The main identifying quality by which true Christians are recognized is the outstanding love they have toward one another. ?By this,? Jesus said, ?all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.? (John 13:34-35
Christianity is the way of the truth (2 pet 2:2) and those who assist others in furthering the interests of the Christian way become ?fellow workers in the truth.? (3 John 8) The entire body of Christian teachings, which latter became part of the written Word of God, is the ?truth? or the ?truth of the good news.? Adherence to or ?walking? in this truth is essential for an individual to gain salvation. (Rom 2:8 2, Cor 4:2, Eph 1:13) In the case of those who conduct themselves aright, the truth, the conformity of their Christian ways to God's Word and the actual results of their course, testifies to the fact that they are examples worthy of imitation.(3 John 11-12)
True Christians imitate Jesus? example as the Great Teacher and Faithful Witness of God. (John 18:37) ?Go make disciples of people of all the nations, teaching them to do the same things I taught you to do,? is their Leader's command, and in carrying it out Christians urge people everywhere to put their hope and confidence in God's Kingdom. (Matt 28:19-20)
Christian Way Of Life
Christian Spanking
Christian spanking, when brought up for discussion in today's liberal society will inevitably cause great debate amongst those for and against it. Spanking a child for disciplinary reasons has virtually been outlawed but have we as a society gone too far?
As the child of christian parents, spanking was part of the regime when I was growing up but let me make it clear, it was never administered recklessly. Breaking the rules set by my parents was something I did on a regular basis and occasionally, spanking was the form of punishment.
Corporal punishment at school was also part of the landscape 30-40 years ago and again, this author recieved his fair share of punishment via spanking. Was it the christian way? I'm not sure and a little confused. Why? Well isn't our christian God supposed to be a loving God? Doesn't spanking go against the grain of what God is really all about?
Getting The Parenting Balance Right?
Finding a happy medium between christian parenting and other forms of child rearing is an obvious solution. Strict discipline combined with letting a child understand and know they are valued within a family environment seems a logical choice. Let's make it quite clear; parenting can be a pretty tough job. Most people enjoy being parents but I'm guessing many don't enjoy the art of parenting.
When Should Spanking Be An Option
I'm all for disciplining a child from an early age but spanking should be used only in extreme circumstances. What do I class as extreme? Certainly not for accident-type incidents such as spilling a glass of milk or potty training. This is when a parent should show tolerance and leadership but when a child defies the ground rules set down by his or her parents then yes, controlled spanking becomes an option.
Christian Parenting Classes
Your local ministry can provide information on christian parenting classes. Are they worthwhile? Yes they are. If you are a little confused about this style of parenting and want some of the principles enforced, then they will prove an invaluable resource.
For those people a little more reserved and protective of their anonymity, then a christian parenting class online is a great option. Again, ministries in your area should be able to provide you with enough information on where and how to find online courses. Going online yourself will also yield lots of results although it's not guaranteed you'll find classes run by your preferred denomination.
One final thought on christian spanking? I figure it didn't do me any harm and being completely honest, while it was uncomfortable at the time, it certainly had an effect on the way I grew up to respect society's laws. However, I'm a firm believer it should only be used as a last resort, just one of a number of options available to a parent to use.
Both Francis Hirak & Dean Caporella are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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