A Righteous Congregation to Serve our God
1
King David asks: Who shall ascend the
When the psalmist prays:
How can a young man cleanse his way to keep your
word (Psalm 119:9) God
answers through Micah: You have been told man, what rightness is. And what does Yahuh
requires from you, but to act
rightly, love mercy and be modest in dealing with your
God. (Micah
6:8)
2
Yahuh said to
And the apostle Paul
writes to the Christian congregations that lived the corrupted city of
These words emphasize
the fact that in order to enjoy a relationship with God and receive the promised
blessings, we must seek physical and spiritual uprightness, love of truth and
integrity in work, projects and intentions. The rejection of worlds corrupted
practices is a key factor in true worship, he who seeks God's approval, must
understand and love Gods concept of what is upright.
3
The instructions on Gods law received by Moses, virtually regulated any
aspect of everyday life, exposing what was permitted and what was not. Yahuh had
and still has a special commission for his people, and just as the obedience to
God's Law protected the Israel of the Old Covenant from the immoral practices of
the nations around them, the obedience to the words of Christ, who said I came down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will
of him who sent me, (John
6:38-40) protects from the corrupt practices of the world, the spiritual
Israel of the New Covenant.
Yahuh said to his people
through Moses: Now, if you obey my voice and keep my
covenant, then you shall be from among all the peoples, a possession for me. In
fact the whole earth is mine but you will be a kingdom of priests and a nation
holy for me. (Exodus 19:5,
6)
Should not these words
give pause to the followers of Christ, who are through the New Covenant, God's
people? Because even if it is true that Christians are not under the Law of
Moses, they should be aware that the things written in it are the foreshadowing of things to come and that the reality is Christ. (Colossians 2:17) But if the law contains a shadow of good things to come
(Hebrews 10:1) and the
things in it are for us an example and were written as a warning for those of us
who would come to the end of times, (1 Corinthians 10:11) it is essential to
consider seriously the words of God about the moral condition of his people,
since he warns: I, Yahuh, do not change. (Malachi 3:6) So the fact that the
followers of Christ safeguard their integrity is as important today as in the
days of the Law.
4
Let us recall that Yahuh rejected the nation of
God describes his people
as a stray nation, a people laden with
iniquity who insulted the Holy One of
Israel by going back, (Isaiah 1:4) and says: What is to me your abundance of sacrifices? ...I am tired of
Holocaust... do not keep bringing
empty offerings! ... I cannot stand illegality and congregation... when you lift
the palms of your hands I conceal my face. Even if you multiply your prayers, I
do not listen... wash yourselves, clean yourselves. Take away from my presence
the immorality of your deeds and cease practicing what is harmful. (Isaiah 1:11-16) When voluntarily and for personal advantage, a Christian abandons the
integrity required by God from his people, religiosity and worship are useless,
and add hypocrisy to error.
5
About due obedience, Jesus spoke this parable: A man had two sons. Going to the first he said: «Son, go
work today in my vineyard», and he replied: «I do not want» but later he
repented and went. Then he went to the other, told him the same thing and he
answered: «I shall go sir» but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of
their Father? (Matthew
21:28-31)
Yahuh does not consider
words and exterior appearances, but deeds, and he looks and considers the
desires of the heart. Solomon says: More than
anything else care to protect your heart, because life flows from it,
(Proverbs 4:23) and Jesus declared:
From the heart come evil intentions, murder,
adultery, idolatry, theft, false declarations and blasphemy. (Matthew 15:19) So if we do not monitor
carefully the desires of the heart, and reject those that lead to a lifestyle
proper of the world, we will certainly forsake the purity and the faithfulness
we owe to our God.
Paul warns: We should not live to satisfy the material wishes of the
flesh, for if we live to please them, we may be sure to die, but if we live in
harmony with the spirit, and get rid of the sinful practices of the body, we
shall live. (Romans 8:12-13)
Justifying and defending anything that may lead us astray from the loyalty due
to God, is irresponsible and useless. What is the advantage of moving away from God to achieve an illusion
of happiness which only is the pleasure of one day? (2 Peter 2:13) Our time in this unjust
world is a short and uncertain period. Could this period be for us more
important than the everlasting life that Christ has placed within reach of
men?
6
Peter writes to the disciples: Blessed be the
God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy made us be born
again to a hope of life by rising Jesus Christ from the dead. An inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled and eternal reserved in heaven for you who by the power
of God, are guarded because of the faith, for the salvation to be revealed in
the last days. (1 Peter
1:3-5) Do not forget that God has justified us through the faith in Christ
and has called us to follow the way of truth and life. Therefore, beloved, says Peter, I urge you as foreigners and temporary residents, to abstain
from the material desires which are in
conflict with the spiritual life, so that your way of living among the
people of the nations is blameless. (1 Peter 2:11-12) And since you call Father, he who judges each one according
to his works without personal preferences, while you stay in this land where you
are like strangers, conduct yourselves with respectful fear. (1 Peter 1:17)
Solomon wrote, The awe of Yahuh means to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13) To please God and be
ready to receive his blessings, it is essential that we do not try to justify
our mistakes, because if we do not put the righteousness in the first place, one
day Jesus will tell us, Go away from me, doers of
lawlessness. (Matthew
7:23)
7
Isaiah says: He who walks in his integrity and
speaks uprightly, he who rejects gain from extortion, removes his hands from the
gain of bribery, shuts his ears to consider bloodshed and shuts his eyes to the
consideration of evil will dwell on high, his shelter shall be inaccessible
fortresses, his food will be delivered to him and his water will be
guaranteed. (Isaiah
33:15-16)
The protection of Yahuh
means safety for his people. Wealth, prestige and power so much valued in the
world, are useless to achieve the life that through Christ, God has made
available to humanity. Jesus told his disciples: Be
not anxious for life, what to eat, neither for the body, how to dress. Life is
more than food and the body is more than clothes ... And who of you may by
worrying, add one cubit to his height? So if you cannot do this, why worry about
the rest? Think of how the lilies grow, never tire nor spin, yet I tell you that
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of them, and if God
clothes so the vegetation which is today in the field and tomorrow is thrown
into the oven, how much more you, men of little faith! Do not be looking for
what you can eat and what you can drink and do not be anxious. This is what all the
nations of this world are looking for, but your Father knows that you need these
things. You must seek the kingdom of God and these
things shall be added to you. (Luke 12:22-31)
8
Jesus encouraged his disciples to live sustained by trust. He told them:
Fear not little flock, for your Father approves
giving you the kingdom. Make for you
purses that do not grow old, a
treasure in heaven which does not fail, where no thief approaches and no
moth consumes, for where your treasure is, there will your heart also be. (Luke 12:32-34) And speaking of the way
that his disciples should take, he said: Enter by the
narrow entrance, for wide is the entrance and broad is the road that leads to
destruction and many are entering in it, but narrow is the entrance and narrow
the path that leads to life and few are those who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
This was the path that
Jesus followed, he did not seek to please himself (Romans 15:3) and gave himself for our sins, so to take us from this present
evil world, according to the will of God our Father, (Galatians 1:4) so this is also the path
that all his disciples must take, because he who
says: «I have known him» and does not observe his teaching, is a liar and the truth is not in him...
and he who says to be united with him, should also walk as he walked.
(1 John 2:4-6)
9
What does the Scripture say of the path that by the will of God, Christ's
disciples should follow?
First, it is essential
be baptized in the name of Jesus, this is the only valuable baptism before God,
as Jesus himself says in these words: I am the Way,
the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me,
(John 14:6) and Luke declares that
Peter commanded the followers of Jesus, to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, (Acts 10:48) for There is salvation in no other, because under Heaven there
is no other name given to men by which we may be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Paul writes: Dont you know that when you were baptized in Jesus Christ,
you were all baptized into his death? Through baptism we were then buried in his
death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by his glorious Father, we too
may walk into a new life, because if we have been united with him in the
likeness of his death, we certainly also shall be in the likeness of his
resurrection. (Romans 6:3-5)
He says: In Christ dwells all the perfection of a
divine person, he is the head of all principality and authority,
and
you partake of his perfection. You have been circumcised in him, not
with a circumcision made with hands that deprives you of a body part, but with
the circumcision of Christ, that is, being buried with him through baptism and
re-emerging with him through faith in the power of God, who has risen him from
the dead. (Colossians
2:9-12)
Because "when the goodness of our God and his love for the men was
manifested, he saved us by redemption, but not because of the righteous deeds we
have done but by his mercy. And through baptism, he gave us birth again
regenerated by the Holy Spirit that he shed abundantly on us through our Savior
Jesus Christ. Thus justified by his generous gift we became heirs, according to
the hope of eternal life. (Titus
3:4-7)
John tells the baptized
in Christ, The whole world is under the power of the
Malignant, but we know that we have been originated from God, (1 John 5:19) because after the baptism,
they no longer are part of this unjust world and they consider themselves
strangers in it, living sustained by faith and by the hope on the promises of
God, that made them his children.
10
Second, all who put faith in the good news of the Kingdom of God preached
by Christ, must strive to declare it and share the hope of living forever, free
from all kind of evil, because according to his
promise, we are waiting for new heavens and for a new earth harboring
justice. (2 Peter
3:13)
Jesus, calling the
people towards his disciples, said: «If anyone wants
to come after me, must deny himself, take his stake and follow me, because who
wants to preserve his soul (=life) will destroy
it but whoever loses his soul for my sake and for the good news will save it.
What benefit is for man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? And what can
a man give in exchange for his soul? From whosoever is ashamed of me and my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he
comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:34-38)
Paul writes: I am not ashamed of the good news, because it is the
mighty means of God to bring salvation to everyone who has faith, first to the
Jew and then to the Greek. (Romans 1:16) Also, If I proclaim the good news, for me is not a merit but a
duty. Woe to me if I did not preach it! I would have merit if I proclaimed it by
my own initiative, but I do not do it by my own initiative because I have been entrusted with a
mandate. (1Corinthians
9:16-17) And he says: Though I am free, I have
become a servant to all in order to win a greater number of people... I have put
myself in the place of the weak to win the weak. I have put myself in the place
of everybody to win somebody. And I do
it all on behalf of the good news, in order to share them with the
others. (1Corinthians
9:19-23)
11 Those
who wish to walk in the way of Christ must also understand and pay attention to
this warning of Paul, who says: You must not enter into a union unequal with the
unbelievers; for what connection is there
between righteousness and lawlessness? What communion between light and darkness? What agreement between
Christ and the Devil? What relationship
between the faithful and the unbeliever? Also, what harmony is there between
the
This provides a
fundamental principle to preserve spiritual integrity, a principle that governs
the rapport of the Christian in marriage, work and business, and with this world
at large and its politics, which have nothing to do with Gods kingdom. And it
is important to keep it in mind when taking decisions.
12 John
writes that Christ gave himself for us, to redeem us
from our sinful condition and to establish a people that belongs to him, and is
pure and diligent in good works. (Titus 2:14)
In our daily life, the
practice of good works includes to glorify the name of God, remaining in touch
with him through prayer while we endeavor to signify by our behavior, the fruits
of his spirit. Paul says the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-discipline... Those who belong to Jesus Christ have set the body with its
passions and desires, on the stake. If we live by the spirit, let us also walk
guided by the spirit. Let us not be conceited and envious, competing with each
other, (Galatians 5:22-26)
and let us do good and not lose courage, because if
we do not get tired, at due time we will collect ... while we have time, let us
do good to everyone, but above all to our brothers in faith. (Galatians 6:9-10)
We must not forget the
people who suffer from diseases, natural disasters and other human
tragedies. Remember that Yahuh loves generosity and that the most important
gifts received in this world by the Disciples of Christ remain unchanged and are faith, hope and love. (1Corinthians
13:12)
13
Every athlete, Paul says, is subjected to rigid discipline to win a perishable prize
while we, one which is incorruptible. So I run, but not without a
purpose.
I aim my punches so as not to hit the air. In fact, I submit to harsh
discipline dominating my senses that does not happen that after having preached
to others, be disqualified myself. (1Corinthians
9:25-27)
As servants of the
Almighty, we have to show integrity before the difficulties that life holds for
us and help each other to overcome them, putting first as Christ did, loyalty
to our God who says through Solomon Be wise my son,
rejoice my heart and I will answer him that is defying me (Proverbs 27:11) And in fact the
Scripture shows us that there is a challenge, for example, when Satan speaks of the loyalty of Job, says: Did Job
fear God without benefit? Did you not build a wall around him, his house and
around all that is his? (Job
1:9-10) But if you extend your hand and touch all
that he has, he will curse you in your face. (Job 1:11) And then accuses men saying
everything that man has he will give for his life,
but touch his bones and his flesh, and he will curse you in your face.
(Job 2:5)
Yahuh knows that as
Christ and many faithful men, demonstrated this claim is false but by remaining
loyal and obedient in adversity we may have the great privilege to cheer his
heart.
14
Remember John heard these words in his vision: Those who have overcome will inherit these things
(God's promises). I will be their God and they
shall be my sons, but, those who are cowards, those who do not have faith... and
all liars will find their place in the lake of fire burning with brimstone,
which means the second death. (Revelation
21:7-8)
Do not let the worlds
pressures bow down the righteousness we owe our Father. Paul tells us: I urge you, brothers, to present yourselves as living
sacrifices, holy and approved as an eloquent offering to God. (Romans 12:1) The privilege of having
been cleansed by baptism in Christ is of immense value, and since we know that
all things shall be dissolved, let us live
in fidelity and purity, while we wait the arrival as soon as possible of the Lord's Day, in which
the heavens will be dissolved and the elements intensely hot will melt.
So while we wait for these things, let us
pray with all our heart to God so that he finds us spotless, blameless and at peace. (2Peter 3:11-14)