Lesson 12. The Christian Life and Ministry. A school covering the foundations of the Christian faith that every Christian should know. The school consists of twelve lessons. The school was founded by the Christian Bible Institute.
The Christian and the Church
Every Christian has the privilege and responsibility to serve the Lord by building His Church on earth and proclaiming the Good News to those who do not know it.
1. Serving Through Your Gifts
God has given every Christian special gifts through which they can serve others. These gifts differ from one another, but each is important in the eyes of God. God has given you exactly the gifts you can use to serve the Body of Christ as a whole.
1 Peter 4:10: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
Christian ministry is work directed toward advancing God’s interests on earth.
2. Material Service
Material ministry is commanded of every Christian. God gives us physical strength and abilities to create material wealth. Everything we have is given to us by Christ to manage and use for His glory.
In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were required to bring to the temple a tenth of everything they acquired, as well as many other special sacrifices and offerings.
Deut. 12:5 “But you shall seek the place which the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes, to put His name there for His habitation; and there you shall go. 6 There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks”;
In the New Testament, material ministry plays an equally important role.
2 Cor. 9:6 “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows generously will also reap generously. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”
Train yourself to serve the Lord with your finances from the very beginning.
The Christian and the World
One form of a Christian’s ministry is his influence on the world around him. Christ chose the lives and testimonies of Christians as one of the primary means of spreading the Good News among people.
Matt. 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
This influence is achieved, above all, in two ways: through our testimony and through our lives.
1. Testimony with our words.
Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Not only those with special training can and should testify about Christ; absolutely everyone who has experienced the new birth can share it with others.
Mark 5:19: “But Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them what the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.’”
2. Testimony through one’s life.
1 Peter 2:11: “Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul, 12 and to live virtuous lives among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God on the day He visits us… 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people—16 as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as servants of God.”
In addition to being responsible for spreading the influence of the Good News directly around us, God has also entrusted the Church with proclaiming the Gospel in every corner of the earth.
Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The Christian and the State
A Christian must submit to the governing authorities, regardless of whether they are good or bad.
Romans 13:1–7: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God; and the authorities that exist have been appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists God’s ordinance, and those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will receive praise from it, for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword for nothing; it is God’s servant, an avenger who brings punishment on the one who does evil. Therefore it is necessary to submit, not only because of punishment but also for conscience’ sake. For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers, continually engaged in this very thing. Therefore give everyone what is due: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due.”
The exception is when the authorities urge a Christian to sin. In that case, the Christian must not obey them but act according to the Bible.
The World’s Hostility
At conversion, a Christian is delivered from the dominion of the devil and becomes a subject of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, until the end of our earthly life, we must continue living among people.
John 15:20: “Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you”;
2 Timothy 3:12: “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
The world resists the Good News (as well as those who represent it) because people do not want to abandon their sinful, self-centered nature and submit to Jesus Christ.
John 3:19 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come into the light, lest his deeds should be exposed, because they are evil,”
Unwilling to submit to God, the world, driven by the devil’s ideas, seeks to force Christians to live by its standards.
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
A Christian must resist the ideology of this world because its nature is built on the supremacy of humanity and the rejection of God’s sovereign rule.
Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night! 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
Homework: Memorize 1 John 2:15–17
Source: Christian Bible Institute
