Life in Christ. No-one may dare to claim that he lives in Christ and Christ in him unless he is obedient to the three fundamental commands which John has been expounding (1 Jn. 4:24) which are belief in Christ, love for the brothers and moral righteousness. 'Living in Christ' is not a mystical experience which anyone may claim; its indispensable accompaniments are the confession of Jesus as the Son of God come in the flesh, and a consistent life of holiness and love.

Morality and Holiness. Daily living. Paul's epistles refer often to the Christian's private life in the home. He tells husbands to love their wives and wives to be submissive to their husbands; children to obey their parents and parents to discipline their children; slaves to serve their masters and masters to be fair to their slaves. He tells citizens to respect authority and to pay their taxes.

Life in the Spirit. Speaking in tongues. What, then, about the contemporary practice of private tongue-speaking as an aid to personal devotion? Many are claiming to discover through it a new degree of fluency in their approach to God. Others have spoken of a kind of 'psychic release' which they have found liberating and which one would not want to deny them. On the other hand, it needs to be said (from 1 Cor.

The Christian and good works. Although we cannot be saved by works, we also cannot be saved without them. Good works are not the way of salvation, but its proper and necessary evidence. A faith which does not express itself in works is dead.---From "Christ the Controversialist" by John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
1/9/2009