The Guidelines in the Scriptures for Christians to be Victorious
I often say that not all who profess to be Christians are truly Christians. And for the nth time, I say it again: not all who claim to be Christians are really Christians; not all who call themselves Christians are Christians in the truest sense of the word.
The root word of the word Christian is “Christ,” and Christ is the leader of Christianity. So, a Christian means a follower of Christ. Therefore, if we are Christians we have to be followers of Christ. But, who are the people whom the Bible refers to as Christians?
ACTS 11:26 (KJV) says,
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Christians are the people in the Church who were taught the teachings of Christ. You have to be taught thoroughly and rigorously of all the doctrines and commandments of Christ to be a Christian. It should be all. Do all of those who call themselves as Christians abide by all the doctrines and commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ? Had they been thoroughly taught all of His doctrines? An example of the doctrines of Christ is written in 1 TIMOTHY 2:9-10 (KJV).
9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
In the Modern King James Version, 1 Timothy 2:9 was worded as:
In the same way also, I desire that women adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and sensibleness, not adorned with braiding, or gold, or pearls, or costly clothing,
That is what Christian women must do. But look around you. Do you see women wearing decent clothing or are they practically baring their body to the public? Are they Christians? Do they deserve to be called Christians?
By the apparel alone you could already determine who are the real Christians and who are not.
If you are a Christian, there are struggles that you would have to face. What struggles are these?
2 TIMOTHY 3:12 (KJV) says,
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
If you are a Christian, you are bound to suffer from persecutions. That is inevitable. What kind of persecution does a Christian have to endure and struggle from?
MATTHEW 5:11 (KJV) says,
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Why will they treat Christians that way? Why will they persecute and revile us? Why will they say evil things against us? Have we done them any wrong?
1 PETER 4:3-4 (KJV) says,
3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
The Revised Standard Version rendered 1 PETER 4:3-4 as:
3 Let the time that is past suffice for doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry.
4 They are surprised that you do not now join them in the same wild profligacy, and they abuse you;
The reason why they revile Christians is because we no longer join them in the kind of activities that they are engaged in. We are no longer like them who are drunkards and idol worshippers that is why they speak of evil things against us.
That is most likely the fate of every Christian — he will be persecuted by non-Christians, by drunkards, by criminals, by the ungodly men. Why? Simply because we are no longer like them, and we do not belong to their world anymore.
JOHN 15:19-20 (KJV) says,
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
So what are we going to do in order to be victorious in our struggles as Christians?
HEBREWS 3:6 (KJV) says,
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
All we have to do is to hold on firmly to the hope and confidence that we have in God and in Christ. Let us stick to that hope because that will save our souls.
HEBREWS 6:19 (KJV)
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
The hope that we have as Christians is not with the people that live on earth. Our hope is that God will resurrect us and save us come judgment day. The only religion whose leader had shown hope is Christianity. Our leader died on the cross but, after three days, He resurrected to give us hope, and because of that hope, we must struggle unceasingly to endure up to the end.
You do not have to guess, you do not have to be double-minded, you do not have to doubt, because the hope that was given by Christ to His disciples is that, after death, there will be a resurrection. And on that resurrection, all the good things that we had done and all the sufferings we had endured would be rewarded by our Lord. We have to keep that hope until the end, and having that hope will keep us whole.
1 JOHN 3:3 (KJV) says,
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Those men who do not purify themselves and do evil things instead are without hope. Christians have something very important in them, and that is the hope in Christ. Having that hope, we have to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, which is one of the hallmarks of a true religion. Let us not learn the ways of the world, let us stay away from the lusts and desires of the world. Let us purify ourselves; let us continue with the purification process that was started by our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us hold on firmly to that hope as Christians that even if we die, our Lord Jesus Christ will come again and resurrect us.
Aside from the hope in us, what else?
TITUS 2:11-13 (KJV) says,
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
These are the guidelines for Christians to follow: hold on to that hope; purify yourself; do not live with the lust of the world; continue as a disciple; and look unto that blessed hope in the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN.
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