The Christian Life

Ed Gallagher

• Publisher: Cypress Publications
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781087964515
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theologie & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblische Studien

What is the Christian life supposed to look like? What kinds of things ought Christians to be doing? In this book-designed as a simple, biblical study for teachers of Bible classes and small groups-Gallagher focuses on the human response to God's offer of grace. With chapters on the labels applied to Christians in the New Testament (e.g., "brothers and sisters, " "disciples, " "saints"), basic elements of the Christian religion (e.g., faith, repentance, baptism), along with the importance of worship, Scripture, the Christian mission, and more, The Christian Life: Chapters for Bible Teachers reminds Christians how their lives ought to be structured and challenges them to pursue a more profoundengagement with the God who loves them.

Chapter 1

The Christian Family

And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:34–35)

What is a Christian called in the New Testament? Not a “Christian” (at least, not very often), a term appearing only three times. In what city did Christians first receive the name “Christian”? Luke tells us it was Antioch, in Syria, perhaps at the beginning of the 40s AD (Acts 11:26). (In the next chapter of Acts, we read about the death of Herod Agrippa I [12:20–23], which occurred in AD 44.) Very likely it was a term applied to Christians by non-Christians (thus, not a self-designation), as suggested by the rarity of the term within the New Testament and by the other two appearances of the term, one of which appears on the lips of a non-Christian (Acts 26:28) while the other implies that the name “Christian” is used as an insult by outsiders (1 Pet 4:16). So, if they weren’t often called Christians, what were they called? In this lesson we’ll talk about the most common term.

What term is used most often in the New Testament to describe God’s people? The most common term is adelphoi, “brothers.” Paul routinely addresses his readers with this term (e.g. Rom 1:13; 7:1; 1 Cor 1:10; 2 Cor 1:8; Gal 1:11). Why does he call them brothers? What about the women? Paul does use the term “sister” (adelphē) a few times (Rom 16:1; 1 Cor 7:15; 9:4; Phlm 2), but often Paul includes women within the term “brother,” as in Phil 4:1–2, where he specifically addresses the women Euodia and Syntyche along with other believers as “brothers.”¹ (Compare the English word “man,” which until recently could refer to males or to humans generally.)

The term “brother” bears a metaphorical meaning (i.e., not referring to biological brothers) 271 times in the New Testament and is so used in every New Testament book except Titus and Jude. Israelites also used the term “brother” in a similar way in the Old Testament (e.g., Exod 2:11; 4:18). A “brother” should be treated differently than a non-Israelite (cf. Deut 15:2–3, 7).

As mentioned earlier, Paul uses the term frequently. Why does Paul use this term? Paul wants his readers to think of themselves as bound together within a new family with one Father (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; etc.). We are adopted as “sons” by God (Rom 8:14–16; Gal 4:5). In that sense, Jesus, the Son of God, is our brother (Rom 8:29; Heb 2:11). Does it matter that we are adopted “as sons,” according to Paul? Why not “as sons and daughters”? What difference would there be in Paul’s time between being a son and being a daughter? Sons were the heirs in Antiquity (and mostly throughout history, though not universally: Num 27),² so if we are adopted “as sons,” we inherit God’s kingdom (Matt 25:34; Gal 4:7; Rom 8:17), whereas those who are wedded to sin “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9; Gal 5:21). In fact, in the Roman world, adoption usually happened when a rich man without sons needed to appoint (adopt) someone as his heir, a designated beneficiary of his estate (such as the case of Julius Caesar adopting Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus). Of course, this Christian adoption “as sons” involves both men and women, all who are called “children of God” (Rom 8:16–17). All believers, men and women, are adopted “as sons” with full inheritance rights.

* * *

The Language of Adoption

The Greek word translated in some English versions (e.g., ESV) as "adoption as sons" is huiothesia, appearing five times in the New Testament (Rom 8:15, 23; 9:4; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5). The first few letters, huio, is related to the Greek word for "son" (huios). The NET Bible uses different translations to convey the force of this word: "adopted as sons with full rights" (Gal 4:5); "adoption as his legal heirs" (Eph 1:5). 

* * *

If we are children of God, what does that imply about who God is to us? Jesus teaches the disciples to address God as “Father” (Matt 6:9; Mark 11:25; John 16:23–24). This theme is especially prominent in Matthew (where God appears as “Father” 44 times) and John (109 times). In the Old Testament, God is the “Father” of Israel (Exod 4:22; Hos 11:1), and particularly of the king (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26–27). Jewish prayers in New Testament times could also address God as Father, such as in the prayer called Avinu Malkeinu (see Wikipedia), Hebrew for “Our Father, Our King.” But the use of this terminology in the New Testament increases dramatically, and we notice that Jesus created controversy with the way that he called God “Father,” which seemed to some of his contemporaries to be “making himself equal with God” (John 5:18). It may have become known that there were some abnormalities about Jesus’s birth, and this idea might have fed into the question, “Where is your Father?” (8:19) addressed to Jesus by the Pharisees (v. 13). But this question was also prompted by Jesus’s repeated references to God as his Father. This unique relationship that Jesus has with God is likewise indicated by Jesus’s calling himself “the Son” (John 5:19–24), just as New Testament writers describe Jesus as the “son of God” in a special sense (Rom 1:3). But in a different sense other believers can become sons of God (Gal 4:4–6). We can become children of God (John 1:12–13). God is the Father not only of Jesus but also of his followers: “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (John 20:17). Jesus becomes “the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29). We address God as “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6–7; Rom 8:15–16), echoing Jesus’s own prayer (Mark 14:36).

Jesus downplays the significance of blood kinship when he says that “whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:31–35). His followers must recognize that they are all brothers (and sisters) (Matt 23:8). What did Jesus think that someone’s acceptance of him as the Messiah might mean for that person’s relations to his family? He thought it could be hazardous (Mark 13:12; Luke 12:51–53). Why? A decision for Jesus is a decision against certain (ungodly) family traditions. Jesus said discipleship requires “hatred” of family and one’s own life (Luke 14:26; Matt 10:37). The message of Christ could separate families, so it was important for his followers to understand their position in a new family, with new brothers and sisters and mothers. This notion was reinforced by the common practice of worshipping in each other’s homes and eating together (Acts 2:42–47).³

What does the label “brothers and sisters” as a description of believers imply about their relationship to one another? Paul insists that they display “brotherly love” (philadelphia; 1 Thess 4:9) and that they be unified. The Corinthians struggled with division, so Paul repeatedly calls them “brother” in this context (note esp. 1 Cor 1:10–11; 6:5–7; 8:11–13). Conflict within a social club might destroy the social club, but usually conflict within a family does not destroy the family. Paul wants his readers to think of themselves as members not of a social club but of a family.

Conclusion

Jesus and the New Testament writers emphasize the close relationship Christians have to one another by constantly referring to believers with family language. With God as our Father and Jesus as our brother, we have entered a new family that now includes people we don’t necessarily know very well. The New Testament expects us to treat one another like loving brothers and sisters.

Discussion Questions

1. Read Mark 10:29–30. What does Jesus mean about leaving houses and brothers and sisters, etc? What does he mean about receiving more brothers and sisters and mothers, etc.?
2. Jesus says that his followers must hate their parents (Luke 14:26; cf. Matt 10:37). Are you familiar with a situation in which someone’s attachment to his/her family created a roadblock toward obedience to Christ?
3. What does the language about adoption and inheritance mean? See Galatians 4:1–7.
4. How does Paul expect Christians to treat one another since they are members of the same family? See 1 Corinthians 6:1–8; 8:1–13.
5. Sometimes a congregation will feature among its members several large biological families, sometimes with multiple generations (grandparents, parents, children, maybe even great grandchildren, along with assorted aunts, uncles, cousins). The same congregation will also include many members without such kinship ties, maybe without any biological family. For such a congregation, what special challenges or opportunities might there be in living out the New Testament vision of the church as a new family?

Endnotes

1. Other probable examples: Rom 14:10; Col 4:15; 2 Tim 4:21.

2. See Wikipedia: “Historical Inheritance Systems.”

3. On churches meeting in homes, see Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15; Phlm 2. Christians also sometimes met in spaces other than homes; see Larry Hurtado’s Blog, “Where Did Earliest Christians Meet?” (Nov 20, 2013).

Chapter 2

Disciples

And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:61–62)

In the previous lesson we saw that the term “Christian” does not appear much in the New Testament, but rather the word most commonly used to refer to Christians is “brothers (and sisters).” This lesson will explore another common way of referring to followers of Jesus in the New Testament: “disciple” (Greek: mathetes). This term appears 261 times in the Bible, always in the Gospels and Acts. (Paul never uses the word “disciple.”) What does the term “disciple” mean? Apprentice or student. In the ancient world, a disciple would follow a master around in order to learn his ways and absorb his teaching. Mostly the Gospels use the word in this literal way: people who actually followed Jesus and learned from him were his disciples. What did these disciples have to leave behind in order to follow Jesus? When Jesus called his first disciples (Peter and Andrew), the text says “they left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:18), and then about James and John, “they left their father Zebedee …” (v. 20). Luke’s account of this story says “they left everything and followed him” (5:11). Later, reflecting back on this moment, Peter said, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28), including their homes and families (v. 29). Why did they have to leave behind their families? Because that’s what a disciple would do in order to learn from a master. We can think about this period as an apprenticeship, or even like going off to college. A disciple would have an intense period of study with a master, but this period would last only a limited time. Peter did not leave his wife permanently; even if he did not spend much time at home for the rest of his ...