The Christian's life light

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (kjv)

• A Christian should shine as a light in this world so people see their good works. 
• A Christian’s good works should be visible so people will glorify God the Father in heaven.
• Therefore, a Christian should reflect God’s glorious light, and not his own glory. 
• The true Christian should always direct the unbeliever towards praising God: not to themselves, a sinner. 
• The Christian only has good works because of the work of God in him.

© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Don't be saltless

Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (kjv)

It is important that the doctrine of the messenger is always profitable. Theology should never just be a purely academic exercise. Profitable teaching should always have a positive effect in seasoning those that accept the message. The bearer of the message ought to be seasoned in both word and deed.

A religious doctrine that preaches righteousness through your own works is vain: it is without seasoning. 

A doctrine that teaches righteousness through Christ’s righteousness is valuable and full of flavour.

Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (kjv)

The scribes and Pharisees were often portrayed as having a very proud self righteous view of themselves. 

However, those who are justified before God are those who are humble before him coming without their own righteousness. 

Read Luke 18:14 if you would like to read an example of this.


© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Be this the right attitude? part 8

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: (kjv)

If we are to be peace makers who bring the gospel of peace, it is likely that we will be suffer persecution of some kind.

However despite this persecution Jesus says we will be blessed.



© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Be this the right attitude? part 7

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peace makers: for they shall be called the children of God. (kjv)

How do we become peace makers? 




In Ephesians 2:14 we are told where peace can be found. It says, ‘He is our peace’: the Lord Jesus Christ is our peace. Jesus gives us life. Jesus makes it possible for us to be renewed and to live out the Christian life. 

Jesus has removed the barrier between man and God. 

God’s peace is about bringing about oneness of relationship between God and his people. It is about the Lord Jesus Christ who has become the peace of Christians: the mediator between God and us.

So who are the peace makers? Those who proclaim Christ’s peace to all: those who proclaim the gospel.  

In Ephesians 6:15 we are told to have our, “..feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”

‘a peacemaker’: one who courageously proclaims God's requirements for making a person whole.

© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Be this the right attitude? part 6

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (kjv)

In order to see God we must be pure. We must not be mixed with any impurities.

How is this possible when we are full of sin? Well, we need to be washed by God. Only the spotless Lamb of God can take away sin.

Psalm 51:2-7-10:

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin

 ...wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow

 ...Create in me a clean heart, O God; (kjv)

© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Be this the right attitude? part 5

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (kjv)

When a Christian has received mercy from Christ, the 'Bread of Life', he starts to become thankful and loving towards God. Because he comes to appreciate God’s merciful love towards him, he cannot help but love God. 

A Christian's love should be born out of his trust in God's love by the Holy Spirit. This love of God and his mercy then helps to motivate him to become more merciful towards others.

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us. (kjv)

Some modern scholars remove the word 'him' due to their textual preferences. Personally my textual preference is to keep it in. I'm not going to argue over manuscript evidence in this post, however, I believe this is the beginning of a logical argument through verses 19-21. First he loves us so we then love him. 

It is natural to reciprocate love to those who love us. 

When a Christian sees the mercy God gives him, he becomes thankful and begins to love him. As we learn to love him, we start to conform to his desires. Because we love his desires we begin to love those who he loves. 

This theme is developed in verses 20 and 21.

1 John 4:20 “If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar...” (kjv) 

Verse 20 prevents misinterpretation of verse 19. It prevents us professing that we fully love him without the necessary evidence of loving our brother. Verse 20 helps us to understand what loving God really means. The evidence of loving him is when we love our brothers (verse 20). 

It is a bit like this: if a teacher were to say to a class of children, "Have you all washed your hands?" Then, in response, all of the children put up their hands and shout, "Yes!" But then the teacher says, "Why then do your hands still look dirty?" 

The evidence of true hand washing is for your hands to look clean. To apply the example we can say:

The evidence of loving God is to love your brother.

In verse 21, again the emphasis is first a focus on loving God and then the evidence of that is to have love for your brother. In verse 19 it makes less sense to me to describe love as a generic, non-specific love, otherwise the progression of loving God to loving our brothers is less apparent. I believe the fruit of God's love is that we love him, and the fruit of loving him is to love your brother.

It is important to remember that no Christian has perfect love. 

We will be made perfect by the Holy Spirit. When a Christian has faith in Christ, a process begins which is called progressive sanctification. God works in them so that they start to become practically righteous. When a Christian's love fails they are forgiven through faith in Christ. 

© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Be this the right attitude? part 4

Rumbling for righteousness

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (kjv)

We must hunger and thirst after righteousness. 

The idea of hungering and thirsting suggests we are looking for nourishment outside of ourselves. 

The righteousness we should seek is found in the Lord Jesus Christ: the living bread and water of life. It is not found in us, but in Jesus Christ.  



© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Be this the right attitude? part 3

Meek's meaning

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth (kjv)

Meekness in the Biblical sense is nothing to do with weakness: it is all about having strength, but having it with gentleness.

We must come to God meekly. In other words, come with faith of the Holy Spirit which tames our sinful will. 

Faith enables Christians to be directed by the powerful Holy Spirit through faith in God’s Word . 

© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Be this the right attitude? part 2

Be aware of your loss

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn
(kjv)

Mourning is what we do when we have lost someone precious. Due to our sin we have lost our relationship with God. 

We need to recognise this loss and seek him for his salvation and righteousness and not our own.







© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Be this the right attitude? part 1

Jesus Christ said:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

(Matthew 5:3, kjv)

If we are to be blessed by God and want to see God’s kingdom, we must first be humble before him. This is the difference between true Christianity and much of the religion of that time and today. 

Religion is often full of the self righteous. 

First we should come before God humbly accepting our sin and weakness. We should submit ourselves to his mercy, recognising, we are hopeless without him.



© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Fighting sin with words

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4 kjv) 

Receiving God’s words brings life.

The context of this verse is when the devil tempts Jesus. The devil suggests that Jesus should turn stones into bread to ease his hunger. Jesus resists the devil by reciting the truth of God's Word to him. 

In Matthew 4, Christ continues to be tempted by the devil. Each time he is tempted he uses the Word of God to counteract the devil’s temptation. 

It is Christ’s trust in God's words that enables him to overcome temptation. 

When we struggle with stopping sinning, we must not fight it with our own words or strenght.  

We must fight sin by having faith in and understanding of God's words. We need to be convinced that his words are the right way to thing and go.

It is no good saying to a Christian who is struggling with sin, ‘fight your sin’, unless they have God’s Word as a sword and faith as a shield.

In the Lord’s Prayer we are directed to ask God for 'our daily bread', and pray 'Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil'. 

In order to overcome sin practically, it is necessary for us to prayerfully seek God for his grace and to depend on the truth of his words. We need to ask Jesus for help because he is the very Word of God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us 

(John 1:1&14, kjv)

© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Are you a snake’s offspring?

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

...bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

(Matthew 3:7-8, kjv)


John the Baptist had been preaching,”Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. People from Jerusalem, Judea and from around Jordan had come to John the Baptist confessing their sins. They were baptised by him in the river Jordan. 


When John saw that there were many Pharisees and Sadducees amongst those who had come to his baptism he calls them a ‘generation of vipers’.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were very religious and very concerned with their own self-righteousness.

The way John speaks to them sounds quite harsh and judgmental. The phrase ‘generation of vipers’, I am informed, was an expression used to express those filled with malice; those with evil intent.

How might you feel if someone called you an offspring of a viper?

John the Baptist is illustrating, who they were, and that what they taught was poisonous.

Although John the Baptist may have sounded harsh he actually doesn’t seek to prevent the Pharisees and Sadducees from finding peace with God. He tells them, in verse 8, to be fruitful in repentance.

John gave them good advice that would have helped them if they had listened.

Rather than being so self righteous, they should have come humbly before God, accepting their unrighteousness so they could have received mercy.

© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Is there a Christian class system? 3 of 3

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (kjv)

We are have here the reason as to why the Bible was written.

The whole of the Bible was written for this reason: that it might lead God's people to hope. 

The Christian faith is based on the teachings of the Bible. These teachings were designed to give all Christians everywhere hope.

Therefore, we ought to support the weaker brother or sister so they might be be able to increased hope. 

© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

Is there a Christian class system? 2 of 3

For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 
(Romans 15:3, kjv)

Here we have the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.  When considering how Christians should behave towards weaker brothers and sisters in Christ, we have the example of Jesus.

The Jesus Christ, who is fully God, became like one like us, in weakness as a  man.  

He didn't just communicate with us from heaven, he came down to earth and became one of us. He took, on himself, the curse of our sins, our weaknesses, upon himself. 

How then, should we as Christians, deal with the weaker brother and sister?  

Do you think we ought to meet them with love and humility rather than condescending to them with our superior theology and judgement?  

If we follow the example of Jesus, we would be willing to become weak for the weak, so they can become strong.

Helping the weaker Christian brother or sister isn't just a matter of relating to them more diligently, but should be about developing a supporting humble attitude towards them.  

When we consider ourselves with the example of Jesus Christ how do we match up?

Part Three


© Alan Yates 2012-13, All Rights Reserved

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