Prayer and Revelation - Online Christian Library

commands and remain in his love." In his first general letter, John writes, "Dear friends,if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from himanything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him….Those whoobey his commands live in him, and he in them" (1 John 3:21-22, 24).We abide in Christ by obeying his commands. John himself insists that we mayoccasionally stumble, and says, "If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to bea liar and his word has no place in our lives. My dear children, I write this to you so thatyou will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in ourdefense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (1 John 1:10-2:1). So he is not speaking ofperfection, but a lifestyle that clearly exhibits obedience toward God's commands. Manypeople think that they are abiding in Christ just because they continue to say that theybelieve in Christ. But Christ's response is, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do notdo what I say?" (Luke 6:46); therefore, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' willenter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is inheaven" (Matthew 7:21).You may have heard that, "Christianity is not about following a set of rules." This is truein a sense, but only in a sense, and those who say this often have an unbiblicalantinomian outlook. Doubtless Christianity does not consist of a set of rules that says,"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!" (Colossians 2:21), as far as these are"human commands and teachings" (v. 22). But how about these: "Do not be proud, but bewilling to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repayanyone evil for evil….Do not take revenge, my friends…Do not be overcome by evil, butovercome evil with good" (Romans 12:16-21)? Surely the Christian life makes thedemand, "Love your neighbor as yourself," but that is only a summary for, "'Do notcommit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not covet,' and whatever othercommandment there may be" (Romans 13:9), because "love is the fulfillment of the law"(v. 10). That is, to walk in love is to do whatever the law commands."Christianity is not about following a set of rules" is therefore a very misleadingstatement. We are not justified by obeying the commands of God, since we cannot obeythem before we become Christians. But when God saves us, he gives us the Holy Spirit tocause us to obey his laws: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I willremove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put mySpirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws"(Ezekiel 36:26-27).Therefore, if by saying, "Christianity is not about following a set of rules," we mean thatwe are not justified by obeying the laws of God, then this is true. But if we mean thatthere are no divine laws to follow in the Christian life, then this is false. In fact, believersare regenerated and justified so that they may obey the laws and commands of God, somuch so that if a person does not exhibit a definite lifestyle of obedience toward biblicalcommands, he is not a Christian no matter what he says. He can say with greatconviction, "Jesus Christ died for my sins and I trust him as my Savior. Jesus is Lord!"This person is not telling the truth; he is not a Christian. Again, a person is not saved by53