Great Bible Doctrines
Lesson No. 8: Holy Christian Living

Date: July 10, 2002, Wednesday Evening Adult Bible Class
Speaker: John Phillis

We are continuing our study on the Great Bible Doctrines. Last time we looked at the doctrine of the Bible concerning the matter of the Plan of Salvation, so to speak. We first looked at what the Bible has to say in the way of Doctrine regarding God’s Grace and Atonement, and then subsequent to that the following week, we looked at Man’s Part in Salvation.

A natural follow-up to those is what we will discuss tonight: Holy Christian Living. Once we become a Christian, a child of God, then what next? What does the Bible say about Holy Christian Living? Of course as we have said many times in this series, and this is the eighth lesson in this series that we are looking at, this word doctrine is not a “dirty word” as some would want to believe, but rather, it is a good word. It means “instruction,” or “teaching.” So what does the Bible instruct, or teach, about Holy Christian Living?

Once one has been baptized, that is, has been born again, has put on Christ, has become a Christian, there is an obligation that one has to follow God’s Word, and to obey His Will. This obligation is a never-ending obligation. “Never-ending” as long as one is in this life. That obligation ends only at death. So once one becomes a Christian, that is not the end of the journey. It may be the end of one’s journey searching for Christ, but it’s just the beginning of another journey, a life-long journey.

While in this life, we as Christians must continue to appropriate [to take for one’s own use] the grace of God in our lives. The New Testament often speaks of this grace, the grace of God in our lives. For example, on one occasion Paul and Barnabas were talking to a group of Jews and Proselytes about Judaism and urged them, “to continue in the grace of God,” Acts 13, verse 43 [“Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.”]. The Hebrew writer will say on this matter, “It is good that the heart be established in grace,” Hebrews 13, verse 9 [“Do not be carried aboutwith various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.”] And Peter, in his first epistle, describes what he has written as “exhorting and testifying,” and “that this is the true grace of God in which you stand,” 1 Peter 5, verse 12 [“By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.”].

Let’s turn our Bibles to Romans, chapter 5, and look at what Paul has to say on this matter of standing in the grace of God in his epistle to the church of Christ in Rome. In Romans, chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, Paul says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through Whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

We note from what Paul says here in Romans, and from what Peter says there in his first epistle, as well as in other places, that they talk about “standing” in God’s grace—“standing in,” “remaining in,” “continuing in” God’s grace. The “acquiring” of God’s grace is not a one time event; rather, it is a perpetual happening. It is a continuing obligation that we have as Christians—to remain standing, to continue continuing, if you will.

Yes, God’s grace, His “unmerited favor,” is a gift that is freely given! We cannot earn it, we cannot merit it, and we do not deserve it. But we must remain in it. Just as we discussed when we were talking about grace, while it is a free gift, while it is unmerited, while it is undeserved, man still has a part to play in acquiring it, coming into it, and as we have seen and are discussing now, man has an obligation to remain in it, to stay plugged into it, to continue standing in it.

Recognizing, then, that this is an obligation that we have, how is it that we do this? How is it that we continue in God’s grace? Well, we might simply refer to it as holy Christian living! We remain in God’s grace as we live holy lives, as we walk the Christian way. And so in this lesson this evening, we are going to look at seven characteristics or things that we can and must do to remain in God’s grace. All of them revolve around holy Christian living.

First of all, the Christian life begins with a new birth. That is the new birth that Jesus spoke about to Nicodemus in the long ago. In John 3, verse 3, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” And then just a brief time later, Jesus will put it this way. Once again He begins by saying, “Most assuredly,” or your translation may say, “Verily, verily,” emphasizing that what He says is absolutely true, and is absolutely a must and required. “Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’” John 3, verse 5.