Welcome to the MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my eighty ninth episode. In this episode I want to talk to you about how to be a Christian. I think it’s important that we talk about this because you’ll often hear people (including myself) telling you that you need to strive and struggle toward the sovereign ideal. You need to rise up each day in an effort to improve yourself. The risk that comes with instructing individuals to improve themselves across time is that they might be aiming at the wrong thing. When I say improve yourself, you might be thinking of a different ideal than I am.
So what we need is a way to communicate the aim. We can start by saying that the sovereign ideal is Jesus Christ. So you are to strive and struggle in your efforts to become Christlike. Becoming Christlike should be the center of gravity for all of your efforts. But for the sake of communication, it is insufficient to simply say that you should work to become Christlike. This is because your understanding of Christ and my understanding of Christ might be different. So if you aim at your understanding of Christ and I aim at my understanding of Christ – we may end up at divergent goals. There is a way to solve this problem and that solution is to increase the resolution of our conversation. We need to explain what we mean by Christlike. We need some sort of markers to determine whether we are walking the right path. Fortunately for us, Jesus Himself gives us these markers in Matthew 7:15-20:
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
So Jesus is telling us that there are certain outward characteristics that can help us determine the inward quality of ourselves and others. In short, these characteristics (or fruits) can tell us whether we are walking the right path in improving ourselves. I want to plant a massive flag at this point and warn you that you must never, ever use these characteristics to judge or condemn others. These are not meant to function as evidence in your court case of forming judgment on a person. They are simply markers that help you stay on the right path and help us communicate what it means to improve. Proverbs 16:2 says:
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.
In Matthew 7:1-3 Jesus says:
7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
God is the One who sits on the throne of judgment and He will not share that position with anyone. When Jesus tells us that we will be able to recognize a tree by its fruit, He’s giving us markers that are meant to help us. We are not to weaponize these markers and use them to accuse others. But now that we know we have markers, then next question is: what are they? The answer is found in Galatians 5:16-23:
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[c] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[d] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
In this passage Paul first gives us the negative markers that tell us when something is wrong. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, etc. For many Christians a problem arises because they build the foundation of their aim in the avoidance of these things. Yes, you need to avoid these things – but avoidance of sin cannot make up the deepest level of your relationship with God. If it does, then your relationship with God will be fundamentally negative and you will become legalistic. God will be a drag on you and you will feel like you are serving an impossible tyrant. This will make you bitter and resentful – and you will take out this resentment on others in the form of judgmental behavior. Building your relationship with God on the negative of avoiding sin is like saying: I didn’t marry my spouse because I love my spouse, I married my spouse because I’m determined not to cheat on them.
The proper footing upon which to establish your relationship with God is a commitment to the positive markers. The positive markers characterize a mode of being that is Christlike. They are not works. They are ways of being. So when I talk about these markers in regards to you – it’s not what you do or what you’ve done – it’s who you are and how you are. These markers, these ways of being are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Notice that none of these things are actions or works in an of themselves. They are ways of being which lead to actions and works. These ways of being are more important than spiritual gifts. This is why intelligent people are not made virtuous simply because they are intelligent. Many intelligent people have wielded their gift to spread destruction and evil. And many people who lack intelligence have lived Spirit-filled lives of great goodness.
So now we have the positive markers by which to model ourselves into Christlike being. The Bible calls these markers the fruit of the Spirit – which means they emanate out from the Spirit. You are not the source of these ways of being. These ways of being cannot manifest themselves in you apart from God. So, the degree to which you demonstrate these ways of being is the degree to which you are surrendered to the Spirit of God. For example, If I do something that irritates you and you choose to respond with patience instead of violence – you are surrendering to the Spirit of God instead of to the fallen nature of yourself. Surrendering to the Spirit of God in all things all the time is the highest ideal of our lives. This is what we must be aiming at. Of course, none of us can do it successfully all the time which is why Christ went to the cross so we could be forgiven. We need a Savior.
But just because we have a Savior does not mean we should give up our efforts in becoming Christlike. To the contrary, it is because we have a Savior that we can be brave enough to step out in faith and walk uphill toward the ideal. When we talk about these markers of the ideal Christian, we have to be careful not to define each one too tightly. Each one needs to maintain an element of mystery because mystery is what prevents ideology. For example, if I define self-control as never eating bad food – then I create a world in which the joy of having ice cream with your loved ones is sinful. This is the problem with religious dogmatists. They set up a system for living which they believe covers all possible variables – so when a variable their system never considered surfaces, they have to silence it because it exposes the flaws in their system.
The best way to prevent becoming this type of person is to remember that Christlike attributes are ways of being and not actions. The moment you try to particularize them into actions you become ideological – you generate a flawed system of living. The fact is that enjoying ice cream with your loved ones is not sinful so long as your are doing it out of Christlike motives. It only becomes sinful when you are doing it out of compulsive addiction that sacrifices your health. The difference is one of being, not doing. This is why being an alcoholic makes walking into a bar different than being non-alcoholic walking into a bar. This is also why a silver-tongued preacher whose interest is glorifying himself is different than a silver-tongued preacher whose interest is glorifying God.
Being Christlike is about who or what you are surrendered to. So, if we are committed to living out the fruit of the Spirit, then we are surrendered to the Spirit of God. To communicate this Christlike mode of being we need to see what the Bible says about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You’ll find that all of these overlap with each other – and that’s because they are consistent with each other. Being one of them doesn’t contradict the others.
So let’s start with love. When discussing love the marquee passage is 1 Corinthians 13. I want to read it to you and then we’ll break it apart. You can preach entire sermons on 1 Corinthians 13, but we are going to look at it just closely enough to get the idea across. Remember, we don’t want to over-define these characteristics or we risk entrenching ourselves in ideology. Let’s read:
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The love that is enumerated in 1 Corinthians 13 is agape or God’s pure, self-sacrificial love. Paul says that all of your spiritual gifts, your faith, and your sacrifices mean nothing if they are not imbued with love. He describes love as patient, kind, hopeful, and enduring. He says love rejoices in the truth and bears all things. He also says love believes all things. What he means by this is that the person who is filled with love believes in the good parts of others. This would be in contrast to the person who is cynical and chooses to believe only in the evil parts of others. Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing. Here we see Paul using the negative to help us define the positive. He does the same thing in Galatians where he uses the negatives to help define the positive attributes called the fruit of the Spirit.
Finally, Paul says that love is eternal – your love is going to follow you into eternal life. So the first attribute of a Christlike character is agape, or self-sacrificial love. This is the first and most important part of your being because if you aren’t filled with love then you aren’t filled with God. Listen to 1 John 4:7-12:
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Love is the foundation of the Christian life. It is the first and most important attribute of Christ that you should work on improving. It also happens to be the most difficult. Next let’s take a look at joy. The first thing to notice about joy is that it is not the same thing as happiness. Happiness is fleeting but joy is durable. You can be absent of happiness yet remain filled with joy. Joy, in large part, is a consequence of realizing your salvation and eternal future in heaven with Jesus Christ. When you believe this and cling to it – you begin to interpret the realities of daily life differently. The things which steal the joy of the person given over to their temporal lifespan will not hurt you as much – because you are given over to eternal life. Where the temporal person is filled with the anxiety of trying to fit eternal aspirations into 80 years of life, you are set free to blossom in this life and the next. Listen to Peter’s take on joy in 1 Peter 1:3-9:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Realizing your salvation and living your earthly life in light of eternity is pivotal to being filled with joy. Contrast this with the person who is caught in the rat-race pursuing the satisfaction of self-imposed conditions they believe they need to achieve happiness. I’ll be happy if I have a new car. I’ll be happy if I have a bigger house. I’ll be happy if I get that promotion. I’ll be happy if I travel the world. None of these things are inherently wrong or bad, but you must be pursuing them for the proper reasons. Trying to arrive at joy by pursuing happiness is like trying to quench your thirst by drinking salt water. Joy comes from the Spirit of God and will be a light for you when darkness falls on your life. Happiness comes and goes of its own accord and will abandon you when you need it most. You should thank and praise God for your moments of happiness – but set your aim on joy.
Love is the foundation of the Christian life. Joy is what fills you when you live in light of eternity. Next let’s look at peace. There are many Scriptures we may reference to understand peace, but two of my favorites are found in the gospel of John and in Philippians. First let’s read John 16:25-33:
25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.[a] 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Christ is warning us that earthly life is going to bring us trials and tribulations. But He’s also telling us that we need not allow these trials to crush us. He’s telling us that He has already overcome the evil and the suffering of fallen reality. Indeed, He has even overcome death. Trauma is one of the most common causes of a person losing his or her peace. It could be watching something terrible happen to yourself or to others. But it can also be watching yourself do something terrible. If you tell yourself the wrong story about such a terrible thing, you risk losing your peace. But if you tell yourself the truth that no amount of suffering and no amount of evil goes beyond the grace and power of God to forgive and set right – it won’t make the memory go away but it will allow you to interpret the memory properly thus maintaining your peace.
I think telling yourself the proper story about a traumatic event is why different people can experience the same thing and some of them get traumatized while the others do not. A reliable way to cause PTSD is to take a naive or innocent person and expose them to evil. This is not to say that those who have been traumatized are to blame for their own trauma. Indeed, trauma often occurs when the individual is so young that they have no choice but to tell themselves the wrong story.
It’s true that we can take action to mitigate the suffering and evil of this world – but it’s also true that we cannot remove it. So the best bet is to cultivate resilience in our people so that they can endure the suffering without incurring pathological damage. A good example is to ask yourself this question: Who would be safer in the war zones of the Middle East – a Navy SEAL or a 12 year old kid? The external circumstances and environment are identical for both, but the SEAL is much safer because of his training and resilience. The world is made safer through the proper development of individuals – individuals are not made safer through the proper development of the world. Christ tells us that when we set our minds on Him and His victory over suffering, evil, and death – then we will be able to put such things in their proper perspectives – thus maintaining our peace. Having proper perspective is one thing, but in John 16 Christ also tells us that our peace is maintained through prayer. And that brings me into Philippians chapter 4:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness[d] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned[e] and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
In this passage Paul is telling us to take our anxieties to the Lord in prayer. In keeping with Christ’s instruction, Paul says that if we do this the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. Furthermore, he says that if we focus on practicing good things the God of peace will be with us. He’s identifying the fact that our peace is internal – but it’s not all internal. To some degree it is tied to external things. But it begins internally. Two people could be experiencing the same thing and one could be at peace while the other is not. This indicates that peace is had internally. But, if a peaceful person practices sin externally they make themselves vulnerable to losing their peace internally. So you can see that peace is not some meditative effort at denying reality. It’s okay to feel pain. It’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to suffer. The difference lies between the person who walks through these things peacefully and the one who walks through them destructively.
Since we are outlining 9 different attributes and since each of them are so important, I’m going to keep repeating them as we go along. Love is the foundation of the Christian life. Joy is what fills you when you live in light of eternity. Peace is an internal state that is guarded by your focus on God; His victory over suffering, evil, and death; as well as your focus on godly things. Next is patience. Paul provides us with a good commentary on what it looks like to be a patient person in Romans 12:9-21:
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[g] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.[h] Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[i] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
To be patient is to endure the wrongful actions of people and the arbitrary unfairness of life with the aim of being a peacemaker. Notice how I emphasize the aim of being a peacemaker. Being patient is not about pacifism or being a doormat. It’s about returning conflict with love when the conflict is aimed at you. If the conflict is aimed at a helpless creature or a helpless person, then you must use minimal necessary force to neutralize the conflict. A doormat doesn’t return conflict with love, a doormat allows others to disrespect him and then he becomes quietly resentful about it. It takes incredible patience to love and the patience required to love your enemies is miraculous – it can only come from the Spirit of God inside of you. Listen to what Jesus says about loving your enemies in His Sermon on the Mount:
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,[h] let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[i] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Notice how the directive to return conflict with love is meant to be between you and the other person. You turn your own cheek when you are struck – you don’t turn away when someone else is struck. To drive home the point that this is not about how you should respond when you see someone else being hurt, here’s Psalm 82:3-4:
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
Love is the foundation of the Christian life. Joy is what fills you when you live in light of eternity. Peace is an internal state that is guarded by your focus on God; His victory over suffering, evil, and death; as well as your focus on godly things. Patience is enduring the wrongful actions of people and the arbitrary unfairness of life with the aim of being a peacemaker. Next is kindness.
Kindness is most purely expressed as an act of love given to someone who cannot return the favor. God’s kindness to us is His grace and mercy. His grace means we get the salvation we don’t deserve. His mercy means we are spared the punishment we do deserve. In the same way, your kindness must be given to everyone – even to those who do not deserve it or cannot return it. Kindness is our ability to imitate the grace of our Creator. In Matthew chapter 25 Jesus tells a story explaining how when you extend kindness to the least of people – you simultaneously extend kindness to Him. Paul describes the kindness of God and the kindness we should demonstrate in the first 11 verses of Titus chapter 3:
3 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Love is the foundation of the Christian life. Joy is what fills you when you live in light of eternity. Peace is an internal state that is guarded by your focus on God; His victory over suffering, evil, and death; as well as your focus on godly things. Patience is enduring the wrongful actions of people and the arbitrary unfairness of life with the aim of being a peacemaker. Kindness is our ability to imitate the grace of our Creator – it is most purely expressed as an act of love given to someone who cannot return the favor. Next is goodness. The parameters on what is good are set by God’s character Himself. Good is that which is consistent with God. So goodness is the degree to which we align ourselves with God’s character by keeping His commandments. James says:
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[d] 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
James is saying that all which is good comes from God and without God there is no goodness. Jesus drives this point home in his response to the rich young ruler in Luke 18:
18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
The point Jesus is making is that we must allow God to set the boundaries on what is good. His response to the rich young ruler was not to claim that the Father is good and the Son is not – but rather to rebuke the ruler for attempting to be the judge over what is good. Determining what is good is the battleground where the war of moral relativism is fought. Nietzsche correctly predicted that societies turning away from God would result in humanity fighting bloody conflicts over whose system of values is true. This war rages on today. Without appealing to God, it is impossible to make a sound argument for what is good.
Love is the foundation of the Christian life. Joy is what fills you when you live in light of eternity. Peace is an internal state that is guarded by your focus on God; His victory over suffering, evil, and death; as well as your focus on godly things. Patience is enduring the wrongful actions of people and the arbitrary unfairness of life with the aim of being a peacemaker. Kindness is our ability to imitate the grace of our Creator – it is most purely expressed as an act of love given to someone who cannot return the favor. Goodness is the degree to which we align ourselves with God’s character by keeping His commandments. Next is faithfulness. We find the biblical definition of faith in Hebrews chapter 11:
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
So, in a sense, faithfulness is the fuel that allows you carry out the other 8 aspects of a Christlike mode of being. You need faithfulness because you cannot see the future. Our carnal desires and our need for self-preservation tell us that being Christlike doesn’t make any sense. It’s not until after we assume a Christlike mode of being that we see it was always the proper way and that it maximizes our spiritual well being. This is what Paul meant when he said in Romans 13:8-14:
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Paul is likening faithfulness to waking up from sleep. Without faith our understanding of the future is blank because we cannot see it. But the reality of the future is not blank. It’s already been written and if we conduct ourselves in such a way that is inconsistent with that future – we won’t be in it. Faith is like the reason you get up and go to work. It doesn’t make any sense to make the sacrifice of going to work – but since you have faith that you’re going to be around 2 weeks from now – you step out and earn your paycheck so that you can extend yourself into a good future. If you never make that leap of faith, you will continually remain enslaved to your immediate concerns and a sense of ultimate meaninglessness will devour you from the inside.
Love is the foundation of the Christian life. Joy is what fills you when you live in light of eternity. Peace is an internal state that is guarded by your focus on God; His victory over suffering, evil, and death; as well as your focus on godly things. Patience is enduring the wrongful actions of people and the arbitrary unfairness of life with the aim of being a peacemaker. Kindness is our ability to imitate the grace of our Creator – it is most purely expressed as an act of love given to someone who cannot return the favor. Goodness is the degree to which we align ourselves with God’s character by keeping His commandments. Faithfulness is the fuel we use to embody the other 8 aspects of a Christlike character. Next is gentleness. Proverbs 15:1 says:
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
All the time you hear people talk about how we live in a cold, hard world. Gentleness is like the opposite of that. Being enslaved to sin is a harsh and terrible way to walk through life. Submitting yourself to Christ is like the opposite of that. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30:
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
That’s gentleness. If you’re doing your best to live submitted to God – you get gentle Jesus. If you’re doing your best to rebel against God – you get harsh judgment. And you can make a solidly biblical argument that living in rebellion to God simply results in Him withdrawing His graceful protection and allowing you your desire of being fully enveloped in the fallen reality. You tear yourself to pieces and you refuse to allow Him to save you. In Matthew 13:15 Jesus says:
For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
Paul calls on us to emulate Christ’s gentleness when others go astray. Here’s how he puts it in the first verse of Galatians 6:
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Gentleness is the understanding that none of us really know what we’re doing and so all of us need grace. Psalm 103:14 pictures gentleness beautifully by giving us a look at ourselves from God’s perspective:
14 For he knows our frame;[a]
he remembers that we are dust.
Jesus viewed humanity this way even as they were nailing Him to the cross when He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Love is the foundation of the Christian life. Joy is what fills you when you live in light of eternity. Peace is an internal state that is guarded by your focus on God; His victory over suffering, evil, and death; as well as your focus on godly things. Patience is enduring the wrongful actions of people and the arbitrary unfairness of life with the aim of being a peacemaker. Kindness is our ability to imitate the grace of our Creator – it is most purely expressed as an act of love given to someone who cannot return the favor. Goodness is the degree to which we align ourselves with God’s character by keeping His commandments. Faithfulness is the fuel we use to embody the other 8 aspects of a Christlike character. Gentleness is the understanding that none of us really know what we’re doing and so all of us need grace. Last up is self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says:
A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.
Self-control is the most important quality for protecting yourself from yourself. Let that sink in. The thing which you need most protection from is yourself. This is because you are the one who controls the destination of your eternity. Your free will is the greatest of your God-given rights and so it is also your greatest responsibility. One of the more famous verses on self-control is 1 Corinthians 10:13:
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Self-control is the main reason I will always oppose theocracy. Throughout history, some Christians have attempted to instantiate their values in governmental structures so they could force the populace to abide by them. This is a terrible thing to do because it robs individuals of their freedom to choose. The only thing you really have in life which cannot be taken from you is your freedom to choose God. If He protects that freedom, who are we to impose on it? Too many people think that we can structure a world in which self-control is not necessary – a utopia. If a society attempts to build this type of social order, all that happens is the population loses self-control and all hell breaks loose. This is because our freedom to choose only extends to choosing which thing we will surrender to. Listen to Paul in Romans 6:15-18:
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Will we be slaves to our own impulses? Will be slaves to sin? Or will we surrender ourselves to the One who sets us free?
At the beginning of this episode we endeavored to find out how to be a Christian. We’ve walked through the Scriptures and we’ve produced something like a description of a Christlike mode of being. We’ve held close to the understanding that hard and fast definitions lead to ideology and that we must accept some measure of mystery to prevent that. I’ve repeated the description of what a Christian’s being should look like throughout this episode to help remember what we’ve come up with. Now, for the last time, I give it to you complete. Here is how to be a Christian:
Love is the foundation of the Christian life. Joy is what fills you when you live in light of eternity. Peace is an internal state that is guarded by your focus on God; His victory over suffering, evil, and death; as well as your focus on godly things. Patience is enduring the wrongful actions of people and the arbitrary unfairness of life with the aim of being a peacemaker. Kindness is our ability to imitate the grace of our Creator – it is most purely expressed as an act of love given to someone who cannot return the favor. Goodness is the degree to which we align ourselves with God’s character by keeping His commandments. Faithfulness is the fuel we use to embody the other 8 aspects of a Christlike character. Gentleness is the understanding that none of us really know what we’re doing and so all of us need grace. Self-control is the most important quality for protecting yourself from yourself.
I hope this description has been helpful to you. Our desire for simple answers presents an ever-present risk of slipping into dogmatism. The more we attempt to explore these things through fellowship, through living, and through good faith conversations the better off we will be. I believe when we get together and do this we are not alone in it. When we get together and love each other as we embark on our journey to seek the truth – we are not alone in it. Jesus said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
If you find this content valuable, feel free to share it and to use it in your own studies. If you’d like to support this podcast, you can do so at www.patreon.com/michaelhbaun. There is a link in the description. Your generosity goes a long way to promoting the growth of this enterprise and the cause of free speech. Thank you all for joining me this evening, and I will see you in the next episode.
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