The Book of Acts tells us that when people became Christians they were not left without contact with other Christians, and without guidance concerning how to live a Christian life.

We are told that when new converts were added to the Church they were discipled by the leaders. “They devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching.” Acts 2:42

James, Peter and Paul taught that receiving new life in Christ involved a change of life-style. Each writer spells out a common pattern of attitudes and actions: ‘Put off and put on’; ‘Submit’; ‘Watch and Pray’; ‘Stand’; and ‘Love’.

This pattern of life is a pattern for new believers today.

1. Put Off The Old Nature And Put On The New Nature
   
   With vivid pictures, the Apostles’ words teach us to change our garments daily, replacing the dirty, worn garments of our former sinful life with new clothes delightful to the eyes of the Lord. “With regard to your former way of life, put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; be made new in the attitudes of your minds; and put on the new self, created to be life God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24 [Compare: Colossians 3:9,10; James 1:19-21].
   
   The righteous life the Lord desires will not come about by us doing nothing, but by making decisions, taking steps of faith, and trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit. Growth into holiness comes by definite decisions to ‘put off and put on’. This is not a matter of feeling good but being good.

2. Submit
   Another part of a new Christian life-style is submission to God - to his words in the Bible and to the promptings of the Spirit; also to the delegated authorities God has appointed over us.

   Before we became Christians we were rebellious and disobedient: “No one will tell me what to do! I will do what I decide to do!” was our attitude.

   Submission to those in authority over us makes a way for God to rule over us for our good. Those in authority over us are imperfect and sometimes make wrong decisions. Nevertheless, we still have to submit to them and trust God with the outcome of our obedience.

   When we decide to submit to others we are deciding to submit to the Lord who has appointed them (with all their faults and inadequacies).

   The teaching of the Apostles makes clear to whom submission is required by the Lord. “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord... children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord... Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything...” Colossians 3:18-22 [See also: Ephesians 5:21, 24; 6:1, 5-8; 1 Peter 2:13-18].

   We can rightly replace ‘slaves’ with employees.

3. Watch And Pray
   The teaching of the Apostle tells us that we bring God’s rule into other’s lives and circumstances by prayer. “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” 1 Peter 4:7

   All kinds of prayer

   “Pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18

   “Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray... confess your sins to each other so that you may be healed... the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” or “...tremendous power is available through a good man’s prayer.” James 5:13-18 JBP

   The writers of the New Testament state strongly and clearly that prayer is not an option, but an order. Talking to God is an essential part of a Christian’s life-style. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

   A priority

   “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2

   Here are some guidelines for prayer:

   Speak normally and naturally to God

   You do not need to use formal or religious language. God is your Father and wants you to be yourself when you speak to him.

   Your requests can be about anything and everything. Nothing is too small or trivial for your heavenly Father. “Whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer.” Philippians 4:6,7

   Use Bible prayers

   Pray using the prayers in the Bible, because these are inspired and you can be sure that you are praying in line with Father’s wishes, for example, the Lord’s prayer, a corporate prayer; Matthew 6:7-13, and the prayer of the Apostle Paul; Ephesians 3:14-21.
   Pray the promises of God recorded in the Bible. When you do that you can be sure of an answer: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; and knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:11-13

   We can pray with the promise Jesus made: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:35-38

   Pray with faith

   We can be confident that God hears our prayers: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14,15

   Expect God to answer your prayers. Take him at his word.

   Persevere

   Do not give up praying. Accept the encouragement of Jesus’ parables concerning prayer; Luke 11:5-10.

   Pray with a partner

   Jesus said when we resolve disputes in the Church we will be in a position to pray prayers of agreement, which he will most surely answer. “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:19,20

4. Stand
   The Apostles Peter, Paul and James are unanimous in urging believers to stand against Satan and his agents.

   As one Christian teacher writes, “spiritual warfare has nothing to do with personality, gifting or calling. When we signed up to be Christians, we automatically entered warfare. It is not a matter of preference, spiritual warfare begins with recognizing that we are already in the midst of it.”

   The Kingdom of the air

   Satan’s realm is in the atmosphere above the earth; that is why he is called ‘the prince (or ruler) of the power of the air’. Before we come to Christ we are strongly under this dark ruler’s influence. “You followed the ways of this world, and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” Ephesians 2:1,2

   One of the reasons Jesus came to earth was to win a decisive victory over Satan and his fellow-workers. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” - 1 John 3:8.

   However, Satan continues his destructive work. That is why there are troubles and tragic events. He is the author of sin, sickness, temptation and death.

   Jesus described Satan as ‘a liar and murderer’, out to steal the word of truth from our minds; to break us down; to take away God’s blessing from us and prevent us from doing the work of the Lord.

   Satan’s ambition

   Satan’s present ambition is to hurt Jesus’ disciples, to hinder and oppose God’s Kingdom and the growth of his Church. He has many schemes in mind, especially against believers young in the faith: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12.

   Every believer is a target of Satan’s attack. Because of this the Apostles urge every believer to be on guard; and to stand and resist these spiritual attacks.

   God’s armour

   Paul says “Put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” Ephesians 6:13

   Some Christians “put on the full armour of God’ piece by piece each day. The other Apostles join Paul in underlining the fact that we are targets of a spiritual enemy.

   Peter says “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8,9

   Victory over Satan

   James alerts us with similar warnings:

   “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4.7. When the day of evil comes we will see victory over Satan if we do the following: recognize his activities, resist his attacks, wear the armour God supplies, use the word of God to talk back to the devil and stand our ground against all his schemes.

   The Holy Spirit himself will help us win the victory. “Greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4.

   Jesus tells us to pray for one another “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13

5. Love
   A final theme about Christian love is spelled out in detail in Ephesians, Colossians, and by Peter and by James. That theme is Christian love.

   “Be kind and compassionate to one another... live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 4:32; 5:2.
   “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive... and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14.

   “If you keep the royal law in Scripture ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ you are doing right.” James 2:8

   Love is a decision! It is an act of will.

   Heart- felt love

   “Pure and faultless religion acceptable to God,” says James, is a practical matter: looking after widows and orphans in their distress; doing something about Christian brothers or sisters without clothes and daily food; James 1:27; 2:14-17. The Holy Spirit gives us a heart for other believers.

   Inner motivation

   Now we have been born again, says Peter, we have the inner motivation of the Spirit to sincerely love our fellow Christians: “Love one another deeply from the heart.” 1 Peter 1:22.

   This practical heart-felt love he says should be expressed outwardly: “Greet one another with a kiss of love.” 1 Peter 5:14

   Christian love is inspired by the Holy Spirit, modeled on the life and death of Jesus. It starts on the inside and is expressed outwardly in practical help, greeting and embrace.

   This love reaches out to others both inside and outside the Church circle to supply the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of oppressed people everywhere: widows, orphans, refugees and the poor.

CONCLUSION

Transformed lives

“Do not confirm any longer to the pattern of this world” says that Apostle Paul, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

We have seen what this transformation means. The new life of the Spirit is expressed in a new life-style, or pattern, different and distinctive from the various cultures in the world. This new life-style, the Apostles agree, is the Christian culture of the new people of God.

They instruct old and new believers to copy the following.

HOMEWORK

A Warning from History

Read 1 Samuel 15:10-26

THE IMPORTANCE OF AUTHORITY AND SUBMISSION

The Prophet Samuel was God’s delegated authority over King Saul. Because of his independent spirit and his fear of the people he did not submit to the Prophet’s authority. God judged Saul’s rebellion and took away his authority.

Take special notice of what the Prophet Samuel says about obeying the voice of the Lord through others in authority over us in 1 Samuel 15:22,23.

The Chinese Christian teacher Watchman Nee commented on this story:

“Why did Samuel say that ‘obedience is better than sacrifice’? Because even in sacrifice there can be an element of self-will. Obedience alone is absolutely honoring to God, for it alone takes God’s will as its center.

For authority to be expressed there must be subjection. As God’s servants, the first thing we should meet is authority. Our entire relationship with God is regulated by whether or not we have met authority. If we have, then we shall encounter authority everywhere, and being thus restrained by God we can begin to be used by him.”

Who has the Lord placed in authority over you: in your home, in the Church, at school; at work, etc.?
What is your present attitude towards them?
Does the Lord wish you to change your attitude to any of them?

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Look out this week for two people to whom you can show love in one or more of the ways mentioned in the teaching in this session.

PRAYER

Read the parable Jesus taught to encourage you to persevere in prayer: Luke 18:1-8.

Next Lesson - All Together - Living With Others In The Church