What does the Bible say about Christian behavior?

Daily Life. — Turning to daily life (12:9-21), we learn of the Christian man's possible surroundings. Intercourse he would of course have with Christians, but with others as well; and he might have to experience, though undeservedly, the malice and enmity of neighbours or acquaintances, the outflow of hearts estranged from God, and venting themselves on His servant. To this he was liable. From it he could not expect to be wholly exempt. Through much tribulation" (or, many tribulations), was the apostolic warning, we must enter into the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). So, he was not to seek for a hermit's cell. An anchorite's life was never intended for a Christian. The Lord's life on earth would teach us that, and these directions by the Spirit through the apostle confirm it. In the world, but not of the world, the Christian would find opportunities for the outflow of spiritual life in healthy activity, such as he might seek for in vain in a cell, and that towards saints, towards men around him, and even towards his enemies, the spring of it all being love, the activity of the Divine nature, which is to be without dissimulation or hypocrisy. Was compromise with evil to characterise him? No. The first injunction forbids that: "Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good" (9). Then beginning with the circle of Christian brotherhood, the members of it were to be kindly or tenderly affectioned one to another. Christian brotherly love, they were reminded by the term used, was of that character known as family affection.* They were brothers and sisters. This leads on to various displays of spiritual life in connection with saints, and the service in which the individual might be engaged, and the spirit in which he was to walk. Then extending the sphere of Christian activity, so as to embrace all men, graciousness and upright dealing he was to cultivate, and kindness was to be shown even to his enemies when needed. Under the law retaliation in righteousness was permitted. In the Gospel love to enemies is enjoined (Matt. 5:38-47). To no man was the Christian to recompense evil for evil. With all, if possible, he was to be at peace. Avengement of himself was not to be his aim, but to leave that with the Lord. And watchfulness was to be exercised, not to be overcome of evil, but, on the contrary, to overcome evil with good.

But now a word as to what follows. It is the very pith and essence of that which concerns our relation towards others here below; the great active principle from which all right conduct flows. This is the question of the true character and limits of love. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy" (ver. 43). This was the expression that the Jews drew from the general tenor of the law. There had been the sanction of God for the extermination of their enemies; and from that they drew the principle, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." Here was a thing that the law never could teach — it is grace. In a thousand practical instances, the question is not whether the thing is right. We often hear Christians asking, Is such a thing wrong? But this is not the sole question for the Christian. Suppose wrong is done him; what is to be his feeling then? If there is enmity to him in another, what is he to cherish in his own heart? "Love your enemies … do good to them that hate you … that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven;" thus they show in practical ways that they belong to such a parentage, "For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust … Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (vers. 44-48).

This has no reference to the question of whether there is sin in our nature or not. There is always the evil principle in a man as long as he lives here below. But what the Lord insists on is this: Our Father is the perfect pattern in His ways with His enemies now, and He calls upon us to be thorough in that same grace and love in which our Father deals. It is in pointed contrast with the Jew, or with anything that had been enjoined before. Abraham was not called to walk in this way. He was, I believe, justified in arming his servants for the recovery of Lot; as were the Israelites in taking up the sword against the Canaanites. But we are called on (as a rule of Christian life, as that which governs our thoughts and feelings and ways) to walk on the principle of gracious long-suffering. We are in the midst of the enemies of Christ, of our enemies too because of Him. It may not come out at once, nor always. Persecution may pass out of fashion, but the enmity is always there; and if God were only to remove certain restraints, the old hatred would burst out as ever. Nevertheless, only one course is open to the Christian who desires to walk as Christ walked; "Love your enemies;" and this really not by a mere show of smooth ways or words. We know that, in certain cases, to go and speak to an angry person would only draw out bitterness of wrath, and there the right course would be to keep away; but under all circumstances there should be all readiness to seek the blessing of our adversary. To do real kindness to one who has injured me, even if it should never be known by a creature upon earth, is the only thing worthy of a Christian. The Lord thus gives us opportunities of showing love to those that hate us. When the provocation occurs, we should have it settled in our souls that the Christian is here for the purpose of expressing Christ; for indeed we are His epistle, known and read of all men. We ought to desire to reflect what Christ would have done under the same circumstances.

Verse 17. There is a principle here, which it is of importance to have a firm hold of: it is, that the whole conduct of the Christian flows from salvation, and is not in order that he may be saved: it is not that we do not gain something, or that Paul does not exhort us to run towards the mark (1 Cor. 9:24); but the whole walk of the Christian ought to be the manifestation of a new life. The moment that we hear an exhortation as to conduct, and that we do not hear it as addressed to a saved person, the gospel is displaced. All must be addressed to me as a child of God; this is why the apostle says, "I beseech you," etc. It is because of this grace that I beseech you. The moment that I mix up an exhortation with the freeness of salvation, man is not in the position in which Christ has set him; it may have the appearance of piety, but the fact remains, that if I exhort, and at the same time admit a question about salvation, I deny, and I have not a right consciousness of, the state of ruin in which man is, any more than of salvation.

But it may be asked, "Has a Christian then no duties to perform as a member of the human family, and has he not a place and functions in the social system of which he forms, even if involuntarily, a part?" The answer to this is at once ready. It is in the several relations of human life and society, that a Christian is to adorn the doctrine of God his Saviour. A Christian is not called to be an eremite. He is called to have his conversation in the world, according to the truth of the Gospel, and by the grace of God (2 Cor. 1:12; Phil. 1:27). He is to act in the various situations of human relationship according to the will of God. The same things are to be done and discharged by the believer as by other men, in very many respects. But the motive principle in either case is utterly different. Policy, expediency, advantage, self-esteem, emulation, natural inclination or affection, hope or fear, with other motives, variously acting according to circumstances and natural temperament on the minds of men, form the regulating springs by which the general course of the world is governed and maintained. On the other hand, the Christian is to walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7). Whether as a father or a child, a husband or a wife, a master or a servant, a subject, or in what other relationship soever he may be, it is to the Lord that what he does is to be done; it is in the Lord that all these relations are to be held (Col. 3:18, 23; Eph. 6:1-4; 1 Cor. 7:22).

“By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20), is a test so obvious that it needs no proving. If a young man or woman professes to be converted, it will certainly be evidenced by a change of life. It is true that salvation is by grace alone, through faith, “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9). It is equally true that believers “are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). These works do not procure salvation in the smallest degree, but are the evidence that we are saved. They are the product, not of the old nature, not of the flesh, but of the new nature, the new man “created in Christ Jesus.” The very grace of God that has brought us salvation teaches us “that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:12).

Loving one's neighbor applied to Israelites in Lev.19:18, but as regards enemies in the land of Canaan Israel was commended to destroy them. Ammonites and Moabites were refused acceptance into Israel to the tenth generation; and Jews were told, "Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days forever" (Lev.23:3-6). But the authority of the Lord Jesus is above that of law; and in introducing a new dispensation He says, "Love your enemies." This is contrary to our corrupted human nature, but it is a character perfectly seen in Him personally, who has while on earth blessed His enemies, has done good to them, and prayed for them (Mt.26:47-50; Lk.22:50-51; Lk.23:34) and has died to reconcile His enemies to Himself (Rom.5:10). In showing such kindness we shall be, in practical character, Sons of our Father who is in heaven. Believers are to be an exception to the common rule of loving those who love them. Love, respect, consideration of unbelievers as well as believers is the normal fruit of being partakers of the divine nature. The perfection of verse 48 implies maturity with no element lacking. In our Father this standard is fully seen: we are certainly allowed no lower standard.Verse 1 warns against practicing righteousness (margin) before men to attract their attention. This is self-righteousness, a mere show. How can we expect the Father to reward what we do merely to impress men? Again, the Lord searches our motives. This is applied in verse 2 specifically to the giving of alms, though verse 1 is of wider application. Hypocrites sounding a trumpet is a graphic expression, indicating their advertising the good they do in order to secure men's adulation. This is the reward they want, and all they will get.

No greater compass of truth could possibly be brought within the bounds of so few words. Then our Lord goes back to the fifth petition to enforce the principle of Christian forgiveness. We shall meet with an even fuller development of it later, but here it is laid down as the basis on which God deals with His children in government. We may be smitten (verse 39), wronged (verse 40), sinned against (verse 41), despised (verse 44), hated or persecuted (verse 44). How are we to meet it? By asserting our rights and demanding apology and reparation? The world would do so, and it would be considered right in the eyes of the world. But, "No," says the Lord, "forgive men their trespasses." And more, it is not that the Christian walks through this world a merely passive or impassive sufferer. The very suffering he may be brought into only brings out the spirit of Christ, who was Himself, the perfect exponent in His own history of His divine teaching, and who is our perfect Example. So the Apostle could say, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves" — the first thing nature thinks of. But here is the divine way, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head." "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

The Christian is characterised as a child of obedience. This is far more energetic than the "obedient children" of the A.V. which rightly speaks of men in their unrenewed state as the children (or rather sons) of disobedience (Eph. 2:2, Col. 3:6). It is the habitual bent of fallen nature to disobey God. Now on the contrary, when sanctified by the Spirit, we are so for obedience, childlike obedience, as we see its perfection in our Lord Jesus. As He is our pattern as well as life, it is to His obedience we are livingly set apart, no less than to the sprinkling of His blood. Quickened by the faith of Christ, we are neither left to ourselves like the Gentiles, nor set under the law as the Jews; but are subject to Christ and His word as the perfect law of liberty; even as it was His meat to do the will of the Father that sent Him.

Since privileges always entail responsibilities it is well now to consider these. They also are summed up in a single sentence, but a striking phrase, as "walking worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." As in the case of privileges so in that of responsibilities, these are also further set out in fuller detail. To be long-suffering, forbearing, diligent, truthful, generous, grateful, loving, compassionate, forgiving, in short to be imitators of GOD as dear children, and to walk as children of light in all goodness and righteousness and truth, redeeming the time for the days are evil.

Our lives are practically to reflect this deliverance from the guilt and power of sin. In Romans 12 Paul writes: ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God’ (vs. 1–2). In view of all that God has done for us this is the spiritually intelligent response and one that is acceptable to God. It is both inward (through the renewing of our minds) and outward (the presentation of our bodies as a living sacrifice), and a prerequisite to proving the good and acceptable and perfect will of God in our lives day by day.