R.O.Y.A.L. - 5 Characteristics of a Life Lived "In Christ," Part 2

Here's part two of 5 Characteristics of a Life Lived "In Christ."

We saw last time that if we are heirs of Christ we are R.O.Y.A.L. And we looked at the first characteristic, that of being Reliant.

This week let us look at the second characteristic.

O. We are to be OBEDIENT.

The Christian’s life is to be marked by obedience. Obedience has always been a key factor in relationship with God. Back in Deuteronomy 6:1-2, Moses told the people, “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.”  Again to the people of Israel, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendents, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may life in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them” (Deut. 30:19-20)

Obedience wasn’t just for the Old Testament folks. It’s for us today as well. See the passages in Matthew and Luke I just mentioned. Also in his first letter, Peter says this in his greeting, “to those…who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood…” (1:1-2). And John writes, “This is the commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another (we’ll get to this on later), just as He commands us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in Him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 John 3:23-24).

And in some of Jesus’ final words to His disciples before His ascension, He tells them this, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe (that is, to heed and obey) all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20).

Obedience to God and what He has commanded is an essential characteristic of a life that is lived in Christ. Obedience can be hard, though. Paul writes in Romans 7:14-25 about the inner struggle we often face as Christians. Often we know what is right and what it is we are to do, and yet we do not do it. We still live in this earthly flesh, and there is a war in us between our fleshly nature and the Spirit who lives in us. Paul ends that passage though with this word: “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:24-25). So we have this struggle within us. There are also those circumstances that call for us to make a decision, where we have to determine what it is that God wants us to do (such as “Should I marry this person?” “Should I go to seminary?” “Is God calling me into vocational ministry?” – those sort of questions.)  This is where the third characteristic comes into play, which we'll look at in the next post.

R.O.Y.A.L. - 5 Characteristics of a Life Lived "In Christ," Part 1

A few weeks ago, an assignment for one of my classes asked me to write three to five characteristics of a life lived in Christ. I was only going to do the minimum (yeah, call me a slacker), but as I was writing it out five characteristics did indeed come to me, and they came in the form of an acronym. And this word is tied in with another idea in Scripture, and that is that if we are in Christ, we are children of God, and as His children, we are heirs.

After telling them that if they are in Christ then the Spirit lives in them, Paul writes to the Romans that “we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:12-17)

Now there is a lot of stuff in this passage, but the idea that I want to pick up on is the idea of we as His children being heirs. We are not just heirs to anybody. We are heirs to God, to the King of Kings. As such, we are to be ROYAL!

So there’s the acronym. We are to be R.O.Y.A.L. What does it mean? Over the next few days/week, we'll take a look at these characteristics, but let's go ahead and delve into the first characteristic.

R. We are to be RELIANT.

A life lived in Christ is one that is reliant upon Him. Paul writes in Colossians 1:16-17 that “by Him all things were created…all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Christ is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and we are in Him.

Paul also writes to the Galatians that he had “been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for Me”(2:20). Our lives are not lived under our own power, but in the power of God.

I know that when I try to live life under my own power, I fail at it. I’m just not strong enough. But God is strong enough. Instead we are to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). Part of Psalm 48 (a great psalm indeed) reads, “Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” We are children of God, the King of glory, who is strong and mighty! I thank God that I can, as the old hymn gets at, lean on His everlasting arms. He doesn’t tire. Indeed! Isaiah writes, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable” (Isaiah 40:28). This is the God who has adopted those who place their faith in Christ, adopted us as sons, and calls us His heirs!  Praise the Lord that I can rely on Him.

At other times, I (and I’ll go ahead and hazard a guess that you do this as well) tend to try and measure my life by worldly standards (it’s all about me). Instead of this weak and unstable foundation for life, the children of God are to find their foundation in the solid rock that is Christ and His teachings. Jesus gave an illustration of this in Matthew 7:24-27 (also in Luke 6:46-69). The person who hears and does what Jesus commands has built a house on the solid rock, and not the shifting sands. This leads us to the next characteristic that will be the subject fo the next post: Obedient.