Christian Living is our goal. We would like to emulate the life of Christ in every way possible. We find the Bible to be the source of our knowledgy of Christian Living and, increasing the knowledge of the Bible, we increase our knowledge of God.
When we conform to the guidance of the Bible, we find a tremendous liberty in doing the will of God as illuminated through scripture.
Here is a little information about "Christian Living" from 1 Thessalonians:
What about the future?
One thing above all appears to have been troubling the church at Thessalonica. They understood well the relationship that ought to exist among the members of their community, but what about those Christians who had died shortly after Paul’s departure from the city? Perhaps Paul’s teaching on the parousia had been misunderstood, as some of these converts seem to have had the idea that no Christians would die at all before Christ returned in glory. Paul corrected this by providing a clear statement spelling out his beliefs on the matter, and emphasizing that, though Christ’s presence was already operative in the church through the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would one day come back openly and in glory (4:13–18). Meanwhile, the Thessalonian Christians should not worry unduly about loved ones who had died: ‘since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep’ (4:14).
Paul appreciated the potential pitfalls in emphasizing what God would do in the future, so he went on to remind the Thessalonian Christians that their belief in the future return of Jesus was no excuse for inactivity in the present. Though some people would not be prepared for ‘the day of the Lord’, Christians ought to be. Their business was not to try to calculate ‘the times and the seasons’ (5:1), but to ‘encourage one another and build one another up’ (5:11).
Living the Christian life
Finally, Paul gave some advice to his readers on a number of topics, summarizing all that he had said before (5:12–21).
● In the church, the Christians should:
— respect those who laboured among them, that is the leaders;
— be at peace among themselves (a repetition and reinforcement of what he had said in 4:9–12);
— encourage one another in their faith in Christ (5:14).
● In their everyday lives, Christians should:
— return good for evil (5:15), one of the most characteristic marks of the Christian (see also Matthew 5:44);
— ‘rejoice always’ (5:16).
● In their relationship to God, Christians must:
— live in an attitude of prayer (5:17);
— allow the Holy Spirit to direct their lives (5:19–20).
Paul signed off with his usual blessing and greeting, making a last appeal and promise to his readers. He reminded them that the secret of successful Christian living was to be found in the work of the living Christ continuing to operate through the lives of his followers, and ‘the one who calls you is faithful, and will do this’ (5:24).
Drane, J. W. (2000). Introducing the New Testament (Completely rev. and updated.) (312). Oxford: Lion Publishing plc.
