Fellow ship > Mandatory Traits of A True Christian: Introduction

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Mandatory Traits of a True Christian


"As He is, so are we in this world"
(1John 4:17).
"22 The Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith,
23 Meekness, Temperance: against such there is no Law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit"
(Galatians 5:22-25).

Introduction --- this page
Mandatory Trait 1. Loving ---New Window
Mandatory Trait 2. Joyful ---New Window
Mandatory Trait 3. Peaceful --- coming soon


by Katie Stewart



Introduction to the Series

The Fruits of the Spirit

he Apostle John recorded his description of a Christian: "As He [the LORD] is, so are we in this world" (1John 4:17). Jesus Christ said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My Saying, he shall never see death" (John 8:51). Christ is our Example. "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an Example, that ye should follow His Steps" (1Peter 2:21). "His Steps" are the Record of the Scriptures, for "His Name is called The Word of God" (Revelation 19:13).

How can you know you are truly a Christian? "Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit" (1John 4:13). The Holy Spirit of the LORD is only given to those who obey and walk according to His Word. "And we are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, Whom God hath given to them that obey Him" (Acts 5:32).

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). It is His Holy Spirit Who speaks to us and directs us into the Way of Love and Obedience. "And thine ears shall hear a Word behind thee, saying, This is the Way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isaiah 30:21). And, it is this Same Spirit of Truth Who rings true in our hearts, testifying to us the validity of our oneness in Him. "The Spirit [Himself] beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).

"22 The Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith,
23 Meekness, Temperance: against such there is no Law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
(Galatians 5:22-25).

The Apostle John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper" (John 21:20), knew what it meant to Love the LORD. "Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us" (1John 4:13).. A true Christian is like Christ-- not in His Infiniteness, or Divineness-- but in His Character. "As He is, so are we in this world" (1John 4:17). The Epistle of 1John is the Book of Knowing, or of the Assurance of Knowing, that we belong to Christ.

• (1John 2:5) "Whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the Love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are IN Him."
  
  
• (1John 2:6) "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."
  
  
• (1John 2:28) "And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His Coming."
  
  
• (1John 3:1) "Behold, what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not."
  
  
• (1John 3:7) "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth Righteousness is righteous, even as He is Righteous."
  
  
• (1John 3:16) "Hereby perceive we the Love of God, because He laid down His Life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
  
  
• (1John 4:12) "No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us."

A Christian is like Christ. The LORD gives His 100% (in His Infiniteness), and we give our 100% (in our finiteness). "As He is, so are we in this world" (1John 4:17).

In An Age of Deception

he Church Age Dispensation that defines the time and space in which we live is called Laodicea. The typical characteristics, or traits, of professing Christians in this period of Church History are the worst in all of Church History. Laodicea was the church that ceased to be The Church.

"What saith the Scripture?" (Romans 4:3).

"15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold [i.e., a non-professor of Christianity] nor hot [i.e., a true Christian]: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm [a false professor of Christianity], and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I Love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man [will] hear My Voice [i.e., His Word], and open the door [i.e., obey], I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His Throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches"
(Revelation 3:15-22).

The worst Church period is described by the LORD in Revelation, Chapter 3, and reveals that even being in a lost condition is better than being a false professor of Him, i.e., "I would thou wert cold or hot" (3:15), but being "lukewarm... neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth" (3:16). A person who claims to be a Christian, yet does not live like Christ, is a person who literally sickens God Almighty! A false Christian is a vomitous mess to the LORD! This is a description of the Church Age in which we live today. Therefore, the LORD has given Special Promise to those who overcome Laodicea. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne" (3:21).

Jesus sits at the right hand of His Father, on His Throne. This is His Privilege. "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for My Father is Greater than I... I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father... And now, O Father, Glorify Thou Me with thine Own Self with the Glory which I had with Thee before the world was" (John 14:28; 16:28; 17:5). This Privileged Position, of sitting at the right hand of His Father, the LORD Jesus desires to share with His people. "And the Glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are One" (John 17:22). Therefore, does He offer to share this Privilege Position by allowing His people to sit together with Himself and with His Father. "3 And I heard a Great Voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God... 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son" (Revelation 21:3,7). Those who overcome being Laodicean, are promised to sit with the LORD Jesus on His Throne. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne" (3:21). Those who overcome Laodicea are promised to sit with the LORD Jesus. But, the Church as a whole, is one body, and therefore are the last two verses above directed at the Church in general, not just those coming out of Laodicea. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His Throne" (3:21). "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God" (2:7). "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Hidden Manna, and will give him a White Stone, and in the stone a New Name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it" (2:17).

• (Romans 8:17) "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together."
  
  
• (2Corinthians 6:18) "And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the LORD Almighty."
  
  
• (Galatians 3:26) "For ye are all the children of God by Faith in Christ Jesus."
  
  
• (Galatians 4:7) "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
  
  
• (Ephesians 1:19-23) "19 And what is the Exceeding Greatness of His Power to us-ward who believe, according to the Working of His Mighty Power, :20 which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the Heavenly Places, 21 far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be The Head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all."
  
  
• (1Peter 1:3) "Blessed be the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, which according to His Abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a Lively Hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
  
  
• (1John 3:2) "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is."
  
  
• (Ephesians 1:17-18) "17 That the God of our LORD Jesus Christ, The Father Of Glory, may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of Him: 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may KNOW what is the Hope of His Calling, and what [is] the Riches of the Glory of His Inheritance in the saints."

The Biblical Standard

n Old Testament days, a standard was the banner under which your camp rested. "And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts" (Numbers 1:52).

• A standard represented family, heritage, and inheritance. "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people" (Isaiah 62:10).
  
  
• A standard stood for the virtue in a name, and stood against the evil in a name. "Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces" (Jeremiah 50:2).
  
  
• A standard united a just people in a just cause. "Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which He spake against the inhabitants of Babylon" (Jeremiah 51:12).
  
  
• The Standard, under which all other standards ought to stand, is the LORD's. "So shall they fear the Name of the LORD from the west, and His Glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a Standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19).
  
  
• And, it is to The Standard of the LORD, that all of the Righteous gather. "Thus saith the LORD GOD, Behold, I will lift up Mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up My Standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders" (Isaiah 49:22).

The Standard, placed where all could see, showed the way the people were to travel. "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people" (Isaiah 62:10). Whenever there was evil opposing the people, The Standard was set towards the people and against the enemy. "Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the North, and a great destruction" (Jeremiah 4:6).

• (Isaiah 59:19) "So shall they fear the Name of the LORD from the West, and His Glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a Standard against him."
  
  
• (Jeremiah 4:21) "How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?"
  
  
• (Jeremiah 50:2) "Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces."

The Path We Are to Take

his series will discuss the privileges and characteristics of true Christianity. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). In this Age of Deception, we do so need to measure ourselves by "what saith the Scripture," for by it, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for Righteousness" (Romans 4:3). Our Example is Christ, and our obedience to Him demonstrates the Fruit of His Spirit. "As He is, so are we in this world" (1John 4:17).

Mandatory Trait 1. Loving ---New Window

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