I am drafting this post on Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those who have gone before us and made sacrifices for our freedom. I pray we remember the families of all that have given their last full measure for our Country and for God.
I have entitled this post “To Be Like Christ”, I originally was going to name this post Christlike, from the dictionary definition of a Christian. But I decided to change it, they all mean the same thing though. We as Christians, should be like Christ, we are to follow his teachings in the Bible and have a daily walk with him.
Religion I believe sometimes clouds what this should look like though, as I discussed in my “Do You See Him?” post. I have pondered and meditated on this much over the years. I have developed three things that I believe being a follower of Christ means for me. This is my personal interpretation for my life of what it means to be like Christ, and hopefully it will be a help to someone out there. I have used this content for sermons I have preached over the years and have been told by many that it helped them with determining what it really means to be a Christian and be like Christ.
The three things I feel I should be as a Christian are as follows. The first is a Soldier, I am not talking about a U.S. Army Soldier, as I have been. I am talking about being a Soldier for Christ. The second is to be Salt to the World, this includes spreading the Gospel of our Lord, preaching and teaching. The third is to be a light to the world, an example for others to follow. I will go into each of these in detail in the rest of this post.
When you get saved and accept Jesus our Lord as your personal Saviour, you are devoting your life to Him. This is the same as Joining the U.S. Army, when I gave my oath to the Army, I made a pledge to defend this country, to follow the orders of the officers appointed over me, and to lay down my life for the defense of this country. Once we become a child of God we also become His Soldier, we make a commitment to follow him and all the “orders” directions and guidance for our lives in his service.
We also make a commitment to serve and worship God, even when it means we will be killed for his service. I discussed this in my last post “Christian”, which was a sort of precursor to this post. I have met people over the years, including Christians who have the perception that Christians should be weak individuals, who love everyone, never hate anything, and let people walk all over them.
This could not be further from the truth. To be a great Christian you need to be a great warrior for Christ. This does not mean you need to join the U.S. Army or Marines in order to be a good Christian, but there are certain traits we should have as Soldiers for Christ. All these traits are summed up in the scriptures, in one of my favorite passages in the Bible, Ephesians 6:10-24, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 21 But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: 22 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. 23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.”
I like the words ambassador in bonds, just as a Soldier in the Army is in bonds to the Government until their commitment is up, we are in bonds to serve our master, for all eternity. In this passage we see that we are to put on armour every day and wear it into the battles against our own sin. Against the devil and his demons, who are evil powers in this world, and war against Christians on a daily basis.
I have these verses many places in my house, including on a statue on my desk of a Roman Soldier’s Armor and has this verse on the bottom of it. I have a hard plastic card that looks just like a credit card in my wallet, where I see it every time I open my wallet, it is black background with a picture of a medieval knight in silver armor on it, and looks pretty cool. On the back of the card is the above verse. I keep it there, so every time I go into my wallet, which is at least once a day I see it and it reminds me to continue the fight.
We see in these verses that to be a Soldier for Christ, we must first girt our loins with truth, and place the breastplate of righteousness on. When you get dressed, if you are like me, you probably place your pants and shirt on first, before shoes, jacket, etc. This is telling us that we must first be in the right heart and spirit, to be filled with truth and righteousness. Then it tells us to shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We see in Romans 10:15, Paul explains this more, as we are to know and prepare ourselves to preach the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour, as the great commission commands us to do.
After you have your clothes on, then you get your weapons of warfare ready for battle. We see next you take the shield of faith, which can deflect all evil weapons fired at us in a spiritual sense. If we have true faith in God, all the attacks of the devil, will not prevail. This is a defensive weapon to protect us as Christians. We then place the helmet of Salvation on, this is also a defensive weapon, as in physical combat, the helmet is there to protect the most vital part of your body, your head. Salvation protects you from Hell and damnation for all eternity, it protects you in knowing you have already defeated the devil and his attacks for your soul and spirit.
Of course every Soldier needs a weapon, and is why I named this website the “Sword of the Spirit”, as the word of God, the Bible is our sword to fight our daily battles with. Of course if we never pull our sword out and practice with it, we get weak and will be defeated in battles with the evil in this world, if we pull it out every day and practice (Read, Study and Meditate on the Bible), we will be proficient and win all of our battles with decisiveness.
Where do our battles daily take place, we see that next in these verses, we need to spend as much time as possible in prayer and supplication with the Lord and Saviour, our God. Our battles take place on our knees, in our closets, next to our beds, in our vehicles driving to work, and all the places we should spend time in prayer with our God, and ask him for the victory, for with God all things are possible (Mt. 19:26 and Mk. 10:27).
We are to be salt to the world. “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” (Matt 5:13). The Bible tells us to be salt to the world, but what does that mean, I have been asked that many times over the years.
Looking at this verse, what is salt used for most in our society, for seasoning food in order to taste better. Salt has been used for this purpose since Biblical times, and is what is pictured here. We are to develop interest and excitement in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour. One definition of salt, according to www.dictionary.com, is to “add interest or excitement, and to have Wit or be witty.” The great commission was given to us to spread the gospel of our Lord and Saviour to the entire world, if we do this with a frown and act like the world is ending, we will not be productive for the lord, we are salt with no flavor, we are useless to our Lords work.
We need to be filled with the joy and peace that comes with being a Christian and we need to take that and spread it to others like salt adds flavor to a bland food. I have met Christians, who were always in a “bad mood”, worried about everything in their life and depressed about life in general. This world is relentless in its attacks as we discussed above, but we have a conqueror over the things of this world.
The Bible tells us to not let the cares of life overcome us, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:34-36).
We are to be filled with the joy of the Lord, “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost” (1 Thess 1:6). I was a member of a church once that started to really grow fast in attendance. One night I asked a couple brothers and sisters in Christ, why they had come to that church, and they all stated the same thing, the pastor. The pastor at that time was always happy and joyful and it only took a few moments of being around him to know there was something different about him. Many of them stated he encouraged and motivated them to be stronger in the faith as they wanted what he had, he was salt to the world.
Salt is also used as a type of fertilizer to help vegetables grow, and many consider it a miracle growth additive for tomato and pepper growth. We are to be the salt, meaning to be joyful and spread the gospel of our Lord and Saviour with joy and excitement in our hearts to serving God. We see Salt is also used to grow and as a preservative for foods. We have an obligation to joyfully grow and grow others in the Word of God and in the Christian life.
We are also to memorize and preserve the Word of God for sharing it with the world as we fulfill the great commission. Part of being the salt to the world, is to be a preacher. There are some that are called into full time service as a pastor, but all are called to the great commission, which means all are called to be preachers of the word. In Romans 10:12-17, we see that the only way to spread the Gospel is to preach it.
Are we not all called to fulfill the great commission? Of course we are, and some people do this from the pulpit and others from their desk at work. I was asked once to preach at an event, about an hour before it started, as the speaker had to back out last minute. They asked me if I would be able to speak as they did not know what else to do. I always carry sermon notes in my Bible and I was taught when I was young to always be ready to discuss the Bible and Salvation with anyone. I joyfully accepted and preached, afterward several people came up to me and were amazed that I just got up and preached such a good sermon, I stated thank you, but I didn’t, God preached it through me, as it should be with all of us as we witness and preach.
Lastly we are to be a light to the world. “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 5:14-16).
I really like that we are to be the light of the world, but what does that really mean. I think this verse is pretty clear, and there are many other verses that describe this aspect of being a Christian. Our good works are to be a light to men, so they will see them, and God will be glorified through them.
What are your good works, you may ask. I have heard many different interpretations of this over the years, but I think the Bible is clear that our example is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus our Christ. We see this in the lives of the apostles and early church, “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Tim 3:10-17). Wow, what a passage of scripture.
When it comes to doing good works so the world can see and praise God for them, one word comes to mind for me. This word is mentioned many times in the Bible and is really stressed in the New Testament, it is Charity. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor 13:1-3).
If you look at the life of Christ, what aspects of his life on this earth really attracted the people to come to him. It was his miracles, he healed the sick and lame, and cast out devils, and forgave the worst of sinners. He showed compassion and charity. I have known churches that wanted their congregation to separate themselves completely from the world and sin. To sanitize their houses of anything “secular”. To no let the members or their children socialize with anyone outside of the church.
This includes homeschooling their children so they would not be around secular children and get influenced, yes I went there. I wanted to caveat that I am not against homeschooling. My wife is a school teacher by profession, and we have our kids in public school because of the academic options available to our children, and the opportunity for them to be a light to other children who do not have light in their lives.
Did our Lord and Saviour take his disciples to a secret place and hide and only do miracles and teach them. No he went into the cities and showed charity and compassion to all, he taught all the people. He surrounded himself with some of the worst sinners, and showed them the light, and how to come out of the darkness to the light. We cannot shine our light if we are hiding it from the world. Showing compassion and charity to the poor, lost and dying world, you will be shining a light in a dark world that will make a difference in souls and where they will spend eternity. As a Christian this is something we must do to be like Christ.
I feel to be the salt and light to the world, we must first be the Soldier, and stand firm in our faith, commitment and dedication to our God. Then we can go into the world and be the salt and light and influence lives for Christ, instead of them influencing you to come back to the darkness.
This was a long post, but I wanted to end it with another of my favorite verses, and is one that I hope every Christian can say at the end of their time on this earth.
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:1-8).
In Christ.
The Sword of the Spirit 