What is the Christian life supposed to be like?

These are the two great principles of the christian life, seen in the Lord Jesus Christ, obedience and love; these made up His life, and were the path of that life as manifested in all its perfection in Him. "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me," He could say, "but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do." (John 14:30-31) He is our life, hence it is the test of true abiding in Him that we walk as He walked. (1 John 2:6) Our hearts condemn us the instant we do not, and confidence in God is hindered. If God is love, how could we dwell in God if we did not dwell in love? And love, as we have seen and known so well for our own souls, is active. How cold and withered up hearts are when love is not active, going out to all the family of God, God's first circle of interest, embracing all that are His, seeking their blessing, and to serve and give up self for my brother. Then again, there is the world lying without, but not outside the activity of His love, nor of ours to whom He has given of His Spirit. There is freshness when His love is active in us. It is the atmosphere in which He dwells — and we, too, if we dwell in love. Any infringement of love is the absolute hindrance of such dwelling. But oh, what incentive to love we possess — it was "not that we loved him, but that he loved us." "We love him, because he first loved us." And now we possess the very nature of Him who so loved us. How blessed to be seeking to express it! But the deep spring is in Him, and abiding in Him it is impossible but that it should flow out. And as we dwell in love we dwell in God.

It is a very blessed privilege to be able to appreciate the lovely, holy life of Jesus as we read the Gospels, and how great the privilege of being able, in some little measure, to manifest that same holy life, a life of love, righteousness, holiness, obedience and subjection to God’s will, but we must possess this life by faith before we can show it to others in testimony for God, we must be in constant touch with the Son of God as abiding in Him by faith, we must allow the Holy Spirit to have His way with us, while refusing what is of the flesh and of the world. May we therefore be in constant exercise before God, ever seeking to appreciate and to live the life of Jesus.

Let us not merely reply that these are true of every believer in Christ; but rather ask ourselves how fully true they are of ourselves in reference to putting them into daily practice. Faith and love should be the basic motives for everything in our lives: all that is inconsistent with this is contrary to our true nature. Faith of course recognizes that the claims of the Lord Jesus are paramount: it gives Him the place of highest dignity, and delights to submit to His authority. But love toward one another is the necessary accompaniment of this. Let it then have its full, unhindered character in every department of our lives. Is it not with this consistency in view that the apostle adds, “as He gave us commandment”?

Love is the second great characteristic of God, and there­fore of the Christian's walk. We are exhorted to walk in love — love to God, to our fellow believers, to our fellow men. Love to God shows itself in obedience. Obedience, to be worth anything, is the offspring of love. Thus alone Christ obeyed, and to His obedience are we set apart (1 Pet.1:2-14). Turning instinc­tively to God for direction in every event of life, waiting till we get it, and then following it. Such is the path of Psalm 32, and that of the obedient child—a path of security, of happiness, of freedom from care, though not from carefulness. “To obey,” too, “is better than sacrifice,” and it springs from hearkening, which is better than “the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). It may not bring us much praise or credit, but it always pleases God, and even when we are slow of under­standing, if the desire is to obey, the Lord will guide. This then is the proof of love to God, and a special blessing is re­served for those who thus walk (John 14:23). Love to our brethren is mostly shown in washing one another's feet; this is the most delicate proof of real love that can be given, and the rarest (John 13). Love can be shown in the cup of cold water, in the offering of a sweet-smelling savor (Phil. 4:18), in caring for bodily or spiritual needs. The heart that is “at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympathize,” will readily dis­cover the appropriate way of showing love. Love to the world at large is most shown in pointing them to Christ. Caring for the suffering and the poor is an essentially Christian duty; but care for the soul comes first, though it may not always be made the most prominent.

The daily walk in holiness is unfolded in these verses. These are precious exhortations and every Christian should read them often and order his daily life accordingly. Love stands first, for it is the great essential of the divine nature. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16). It is to be unfeigned. Love seeketh not her own and therefore we are to prefer in honor one another. "Not slothful in business" is often misunderstood and many have thought it means devotion to a secular business. But the correct translation is, "In diligence, not slothful." Then there is rejoicing in hope, patience in suffering, prayer, sympathy with others and many other blessed things into which we cannot enter in detail. The child of God desires all these things and the Spirit of God is with us to produce these blessed fruits in our lives.

Seeing that Christ remains, and that Christ is the Same (Heb. 1:11-12), it is still possible, amidst the gathering gloom of these closing days, for the simplest believer to enjoy this same true Christian experience — this joy in the Lord, confidence in the Lord, peace in the midst of trials, love that flows out to the saints, hope that looks for the coming of Christ, and faith that counts upon His support to lift us above every trial by the way.

In the case of the Lord Jesus, in John 11, they sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick," but He abode two days still in the same place without stirring. He had not a word from His Father to move. God was letting Lazarus die that He might shew the power of resurrection over death. "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God." "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God." Presently, nothing will stop Him. "The Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?" But that was no hindrance. We find the true principle of Christian obedience which makes it a perfect law of liberty (and yet it is obedience) because the new man delights in it. Quite true, of course, that a great deal of breaking down has to come in, because of our actual state; whenever self works, it must be judged and broken down, for the true spring and motive of our conduct must be that God has a will. It is a terrible thing whenever the flesh is not so broken down as to have no will. Flesh does not like that. Flesh will reason, 'Am I never to do anything to please myself, what a God you have got?' Ah! that betrays where the heart is. But it is perfectly natural to the heart, and therefore His commandments are grievous to the flesh. The way obedience is made a delight and a blessing to us is, "His commandments are not grievous, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world." It is what is in the world that makes it difficult, but "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." It is subjective, for it is a life in us; but it is also objective, for Christ is its object. That is where the heart of the Christian is set. The new man born of God cannot live on itself, it must have some object. As the apostle says in Galatians 2: "I am crucified with Christ," there is the end of the old man for faith; "nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." That is what he lived for, and upon, too. And that is what Christian life is, but the way by which it lives is by an object which is not in the world at all, it is Christ.

But we see clear after we believe. Faith in Christ takes away our blindness, as it removes every other impediment. For the grace of God gives us Christ not merely as life and propitiation, but for every day's walk and for every day's danger or difficulty. Oh what encouragement there is in the simplest yet deepest way in which the apostle urges those two tests or signs of the real Christian: first obedience, and then love; in both no longer walking in darkness like the world, but having the light of life; because we follow Christ believingly and obediently, we also walk in love.

How could prayer to One who is so interested in us be in vain? The knowledge of His care of us in the smallest things should encourage us in every thing to pray and with our prayers to give thanks. The better we know Him the more will we pray, and the more we pray the more will we turn to His Word. Hearing His word and speaking to Him in prayer, with the obedience that comes from hearkening and the supplies of grace and mercy that come through prayer make up our practical Christian life.

To follow the teaching of the passage we may ask ourselves three questions: (1) What is the fruit of which the Lord speaks? (2) What are the means taken that the true disciples may be fruitful? (3) What is the great end in view in fruit-bearing? What then does the Lord mean when He speaks of fruit? May we not say that fruit is all that in our lives which is agreeable to God? It follows that only that which is of Christ in us can be for the Father's delight. We may therefore say, that fruit is the character of Christ reproduced in the lives of His disciples. We read in Galatians 5:22, that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control" (N. Tn.). These are the very qualities that marked Christ in His path down here, and that called forth the Father's expression of pleasure, for the voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I have found my delight." Fruit, then, is not simply preaching and teaching, or activity in different forms of service, or in this passage even souls won for Christ through the preaching, but rather the beautiful qualities of Christ seen in the souls that are won. Alas! it is possible to be very active in Christian service and yet exhibit very little of the character of Christ in the life, and, therefore, bring forth but little fruit for the delight of the Father. Moreover, let us remember that what goes up to God as fruit, goes out to man as testimony. These two thoughts are expressed by the Lord's words, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." The life that glorifies the Father and delights His heart becomes a testimony to the world that we are Christ's disciples. That we are truly His disciples will be far more manifest by a little meekness and gentleness, than by any amount of activity. Mary's quiet dependence upon the Lord, that led her to sit at His feet and hear His word, brought forth fruit that was far more pleasing to the heart of Christ than all Martha's sincere energy. We are not all called or gifted to take an active part in preaching or teaching, or many other forms of service; but it is open to all — the youngest as the oldest believer — to express in our life the beautiful traits of Christ, and thus bring forth fruit for the Father and testimony before men. Christ, personally, is no longer on earth; but God desires that Christ, morally, should still be seen in His people. In the measure in which this is true there will be fruit and testimony.