IV. The People of God
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…”
I Pet.2.9
Friendship: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal.6.2) No Christian should ever have to go it alone. Every member is united in one Spirit and encouraged to commit himself to every other member.
Accountability: “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” (Gal.6.1) The purity of the church can only be preserved if each member is held lovingly accountable to biblical standards.
Repentance: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God… For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.” (I Thes. 4.3-5,7). Living right before God begins with doctrinal truth and ends with individual commitment to live righteously before God.