Last Sunday morning, I listened to a sermon on TV in which the preacher said, “You can tell Christians by the way we act.” How true that is! A true Christian lives a dedicated life in which he strives to “follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21) that is, in the steps of Christ, our Master. The earlier part of that same verse says that “He left us an example.” Christ was totally devoted in His service to God, and even though we are not able to give what Christ did as He gave His precious blood for the redemption of man’s sins, we must live in such a way as to reflect our love and devotion to God. What must we do to show our love for God? He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). However, let’s look at just a few things in the book of 1 Peter alone to see what we must do so that our lives reflect that we are, in fact, living Christian lives. Christians must study God’s Word and live by its instructions: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow by it” (1 Peter 2:1). If one truly loves God and wants to please Him, one must know what He wants of us and expects us to do. The only way we can do that is by reading and studying His Word and doing what it says. We have no other means

I recently saw an article that encouraged people to “Be Bad, Be Happy, Break A Few Rules.” I did not read the article; the heading was enough for me! However, I wondered how many people actually read it and were encouraged to put into practice what it said. Be bad! The whole of God’s Holy Word teaches quite the contrary. The definition for “bad” is evil or vicious. It is so hard to understand that there are many in this world who actually are vicious and choose to be evil. Another word for evil is iniquity, and God plainly says, “Woe to those who devise iniquity” (Micah 2:1), and then in Matthew 7:22-23 one reads, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and in you name we have cast out devils and in your name have done many wonderful works? And then I will profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me you who work iniquity.” You see there is a “bad” consequence for choosing to be bad. Although there are exceptions to the rule, in the audience of this editorial, most of us have told our children from birth to “be good.” That means to be kind and gentle and choose to do the right thing. We have taught them that one should “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12), just as God has taught us. We even tell our animals to

One of the interesting discussions presented in the religious world today is about the concept of “law.” On one hand, men claim there is no compelling, overriding law that pertains to our moral, ethical and religious activities. On the other hand, we find those who want to open the Bible and contend that every word from Genesis to Revelation is bound on us today. Scripture teaches that both positions are without merit. Let’s look at Paul’s teaching about the first principle above and see if there is compelling evidence about religious activities. Paul said, “Sin shall have no dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). To understand the true meaning of this statement, one must determine which law Paul is talking about and how it applies to us today. At first review, it would seem that we are somehow “without law” – that is, that there are no laws that apply to us, and we can do whatever we want whenever we want. However, further study shows that position is not correct as we read 1 John 3:4: “Whoever commits sin commits lawlessness and sin is lawlessness.” Paul says we are not under the law and John tells us that sin is lawlessness. Lawlessness means there has to be a law to violate. How can these two verses be harmonized? The answer is easy if we do not confuse the issue. Paul tells the Roman Christians (and us) that the Law of Moses

There are so many “faith only” advocates in the religious world. It’s beyond me to understand this when the Bible is so explicit about faith and works. They go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. Let’s examine this a little further. We know that one who practices Christian religion of any sort must have faith, that is, believe in God and His power, the gift of His Son, etc. One of the very first Scriptures that most Christian people ever learn about is Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God for the one who comes to Him must believe that He is [that is that God exists] and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” This is just a basic fact of any “Christian” religion because it makes sense. In the first place, if you don’t believe in something, you certainly are not going to make any effort to make it successful. In the second place, you must believe that there is reason for believing in an entity, in this case, a reward for our faithfulness and diligence. Continuing in this 11th chapter of Hebrews, we see many examples of faith being exercised by different people: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the walls of Jericho compassed about and falling, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, Samuel, the prophets, etc. The list of faithful accomplishments is enough to impress and bring to attention even the greatest