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B I B L E S T U D Y C O U R S E L E S S O N 1 1
Christianity: AWayof Life
 
hristianity has been Western civilization’s princi-pal religion for centuries. Yet its influence doesn’tseem to have noticeably reduced the ravages of war or curtailed man’s inhumanity to man. As aresult,millions of people regard Jesus Christ’s teachingsas impractical and unworkable in the real world. Is theirconclusion a valid view of the way of life Jesus taught?Not at all! On the contrary,statistics gathered throughsurveys reveal an obvious reason popular Christianity isso ineffective:
Few who profess to follow Christ actually practice what He preached.
To this day the vast majorityof professing Christians are followers of Christ in nameonly. They simplydo not live the wayJesus taught.America is themost religious of thenations that professto be mostly Chris-tian. But notice thisadmission by aneducator acquaintedwith the country’sreligious trends. Ina Dec. 25,1995,interview—con-ducted by thePublic BroadcastingSystem’s MargaretWarner—RobertFranklin,director of black-church studies at the CandlerSchool of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta,remarked:“... Although we learned [from a Gallup Poll]that 96 percent of Americans claim to believe in God ...I’m not sure that it’s bankable information ... I think thatpeople express belief in God as a kind of badge of mem-bership,a very cheap badge of membership in the civi-lized society. Americans,in my assessment,have a veryhigh valuation of the aesthetic dimension of religion. Welove Handel’s
 Messiah,
we listen to the Negro spirituals,[admire] the art in the Sistine Chapel,but when it comesto adhering to the Ten Commandments,to the Sermon onthe Mount,to the ethics of religion,I find that we’ve stillgot a long way to go.”People hold varying ideas about what constitutesChristianity. But few of them are based solidly on whatthe Bible teaches. Many polls and surveys of professingChristians indicate they think that as long as they believein Jesus,attend church occasionally and are basicallygood people,they are pleasing God.Religion,to them,is more or less whatever they wantit to be. They think that any personal religious preferenceor practice,as long as it is motivated by good intentions,is acceptable to God.Furthermore,many religious leaders teach their flocksto believe that any effort on their part to practice goodworks as a way of life based on the Scriptures,beyondthat of simply “believing,”could be an effrontery towardGod. Some even claim that God expects
nothing
of thembeyond believing in Jesus’existence,or “believing onChrist’s name.”The belief that Christianity should be
a way of life
—that God expects us to
do
something tomeet His approval—has practically disappeared.Is it acceptable to believe we are free to worship Godas we wish,to refashion God in our own image? Or hasGod revealed an approach to life that He
expects us to follow?
Does He care about what we do and how weconduct ourselves? Is He concerned about the way welive? Does His Word define a
way of life
that He expectsus to practice? If so,what is it? Does it make any differ-ence in the relationship we are supposed to have withHim? In this lesson we examine the answers to thesequestions from the Scriptures.
THE GODLY WAY OF LIFE
Is merely believing on Jesus as Lord and Saviorsufficient to receive eternal life?
“Not everyone who says to Me,‘Lord,Lord,’shallenter the kingdom of heaven,but he who does thewill of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Mein that day,‘Lord,Lord,have we not prophesied in Your name,cast out demons in Your name,and done many wonders in Your name?’And then I willdeclare to them,‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”(Matthew 7:21-23;compare Luke 9:23).
Although the acceptance and honor of Christ’s rolein our salvation is essential,Jesus said merely believingon His name does not fulfill all of God’s requirementsregarding the way we should live. We must also
do
thewill of the Father.Jesus explained that He expects much more from Hisfollowers than simply believing that He is the Christ—the Messiah—and calling Him Lord. He also requiresthat we
change the way we live.
How did Christ describe the way we should live?
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction,and thereare many who go in by it. Because narrow is thegate and difficult is the way which leads to life,and 
there are few who find it”
(Matthew 7:13-14; com- pare Luke 13:23-25; emphasis added throughout).
Christianity:A Way of Life
2
 Bible Study Course Lesson 11
C
Christianity’s influence doesn’t  seem to have noticeably reducedthe ravages of war or curtailedman’s inhumanity to man.
Cover, clockwise from top left: © 2000 PhotoDisc, Inc., Scott Ashley, © 2000 PhotoDisc, Inc., Scott Ashley. This page: © 2000 PhotoDisc, Inc.
 
George Barna,an American pollster who specializesin observing and cataloging religious trends and behav-ior,says modern Christianity is
a mile wide and an inchdeep.
But mile-wide Christianity is not the path to God’sKingdom. Rather,according to Jesus,it is the highwayto destruction.The way leading to eternal life is the way of 
livingwithin the boundaries defined in God’s law.
It is not thebroad and popular way that approves of any behavioralpreference and practice.
What is the source of most people’s views on the waythey should serve and worship God?
“These people draw near to Me with their mouth,and honor Me with their lips,but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me,teaching as doc-trines the commandments of men”(Matthew 15:8-9).“I have not sent these prophets,yet they ran. I have not spoken to them,yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel,and had caused  My people to hear My words,then they would have turned them from their evil way and from theevil of their doings”(Jeremiah 23:21-22; compare2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
As it was in the days of Jesus and the biblicalprophets,so is it today! Most people put their faith inthe words and opinions of the religious teachers theylike the most. Few look first to God’s words in theScriptures as the primary basis of their beliefs.
What should be the source of our beliefs and theguide for our behavior?
“So then faith comes by hearing,and hearing bythe word of God”(Romans 10:17; compare verses15-16).“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word,it is because there isno light in them”(Isaiah 8:20).
If we really want to follow God according to Hisinstructions,we must honestly evaluate the
origins
of our present worship habits and way of life. We need toask ourselves whether they are derived
 from the Scrip-tures.
Are our teachers faithful to God’s Word? Or arethey merely disseminating the ideas and teachings of men? The answer to these questions make an enormousdifference in whether God will work with us as Hisservants or whether He will reject us.
Is worshiping God in vain a recent trend?
“Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you,saying:‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,and honor Me with their lips,but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me,teach-ing as doctrines the commandments of men’”(Matthew 15:7-9).“My people come to you,as they usually do,and sit before you to listen to your words,but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they expressdevotion,but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed,to them you are nothing more than one whosings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays aninstrument well,for they hear your words but do not  put them into practice”(Ezekiel 33:31-32,New InternationalVersion).
More than2,500 years agothe prophetsIsaiah and Ezekieldescribed the self-serving and ulti-mately worthlessapproach to wor-ship the Israeliteshad taken. Thepeople heard thewords of God’smessengers,butthey
didnot practice
what they heard. Later,in NewTestament times,Jesus said this approach amounted toworship of God
in vain—
ultimately fruitless and worth-less
.
Little has changed. Our age is the age of disbelief.
How do the Scriptures describe the beliefs and conductof the earliest Christians?
“... When Priscilla and Aquila heard [Apollos],they took him aside and explained 
the Way
of God to him more accurately”(Acts 18:26,New Revised Standard Version).“And about that time there arose a great commotionabout 
the Way”
(Acts 19:23).“But when Felix heard these things,having moreaccurate knowledge of 
the Way,
he adjourned the proceedings and said,‘When Lysias the commander comes down,I will make a decision on your case’”(Acts 24:22; compare Acts 9:1-2; 19:1-2,9-10).
Members of the early Church often referred to them-selves as those who followed
the Way.
Paul refers totheir way of life as
“theway
of the Lord”and
“theway
of God”(Acts 18:25-26). In other words,the earlyChristians,directly taught by Christ’s apostles,were rec-ognized by their
deedsand actions.
Their
godly way of life
distinguished them from the society around them.The way of life of the early Christians was called
theWay
because they lived
the wayChrist lived.
They fol-lowed His example. They obeyed His instructions. The“Way”was then,and still is,a way of living and think-ing that is profoundly different from that followed bythe vast majority of humanity.
THE FOUNDATION
When Christ came to earth He explained that this dif-ferent way of thinking would—through the power of the
Christianity: AWay of Life
3
“... Narrow is the gate and diffi-cult is the way which leads to life,and there are few who find it.”
© 2000 PhotoDisc, Inc.
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