Basic Rules for the Christian to Follow

“...The apostles and elders, your brothers, 

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: 

Greetings. 

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 

So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.... 

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 

You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. 

Farewell.” 

         Acts15:23b-26,28,29

The above words are those of the apostles and elders of the church in Jerusalem to the Church at large.
The men responsible for those words wrote them within living memory of Jesus. Many if not all of those men knew Jesus. Certainly the apostles sat under the teaching of Jesus.
At the time there was a debate within the church as to how much of the old Testament law the gentiles entering the church should follow.
After much debate they set a very basic set of rules for all new converts to follow.

 “You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.” Acts 15:29.

Once again God made coming to know Him simple. God through the apostles and elders made things very simple for the gentiles to come to know Him.
The rules laid down for the gentiles were simple and to the point. There was no gray area.
That is the way it is with Christianity as a whole. The early church fathers recognized that it wasn’t the law that saved a person, it was their faith.
Paul writing to the Ephesians states,

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”Ephesians 2:8-9.

The writer of Hebrews stating,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. 

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible..... 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 

                                                                                      Hebrews 11:1-3,6

This was not a change from the Old Testament it was a continuation of what had already been happening for centuries. The writer of Hebrews noting,

 “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 

By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

   Hebrews 11:8-10 

The message of Christianity is one of a walk of faith. The other message is that of God’s love for mankind.
Jesus as quoted in John states,

 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not sent His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”                                                                                                                          John 3:16,17.

At the same time Jesus issues a warning to those who would not believe when He states,

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” 

                                                                                                      John 3:18

Christians are told to take this message to the whole world. To anyone who would listen to them. At the same time Jesus makes it very clear that we are not to judge anyone.  Matthew 7:1,2 stating,

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

                                                                                           Matthew 7:1,2.

For a Christian to judge anyone is wrong. That is not our job. Our job is to win souls for Christ. If we were to judge someone, we run the risk of turning them away from God. Potentially sentencing them to an eternity in hell.
We as mortal men do not understand the hearts of other men. We have no idea of what caused a person to be what they are. Only God know. It is therefor our place to simply  present the gospel in a none judgmental way to anyone who would listen. It is then up to the individual to make their own decision.
The last words of Jesus recorded in Matthew are,

“...All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

                                                                                      Matthew 28:18-20 

The world in which the Christian is sent has many faults and flaws. It’s easy to look at them and judge them.
It’s very easy to scream from the pulpit, the pew or our livingroom couch that the world is going to hell.
It’s much harder to go out to that world and introduce the world the one who truly loves and cares for them. The God who in love sent His one and only son to die for us.
Think about it.