By the Scripture’s Own Writers
New Way of Living for Christians
Definition
The Scripturally outlined course of conduct for true Christians especially in the time of the end. Not an effort at “character development”, it requires accurate knowledge of God’s basic principles and righteous requirements for those of His new world with an honest desire and earnest effort to live by them, coupled with a sincere love of God and neighbor.
It recognizes the need for the operation of God’s active force in one’s life, since many righteous qualities are themselves actually fruits of the Spirit.
It means a completely changed thinking process from that of the former course in satan’s system of things, a development of a new life pattern by daily strengthening of proper habits, leanings and mental attitude.
God Foretold a New World Fashioned According to His Righteous Principles
Isaiah 65:17 “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
2 Peter 3:13 “But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to His promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”
Isaiah 11:5 “And righteousness shall be the girdle of His waist, and faithfulness the girdle of His loins.”
Those of New World Society Are Taught According to His Revealed Will
Isaiah 54:13 “And all your children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of your children.”
Isaiah 55:8, 9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Members of That Society Are Certain to Be Established
Isaiah 66:1, 22 “Thus says Jehovah, Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: … For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, says Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain.”
Eve’s Mind Corrupted and Bent Away from True Worship
2 Corinthians 11:3, 14 “But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its craftiness, your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ. And no wonder, for satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light.”
Continued Evil Bent of Thinking Brought Flood
Genesis 6:5, 13 “And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
Fallen Man’s Mind Bent Toward Evil from Youth
Genesis 8:21 “And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, for that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.”
Continued Wrong Thinking Foreseen
Deuteronomy 31:21 “And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.”
Further Evil Bent of Man’s Mind in Last Days Foretold
Matthew 24:37 “For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be.”
2 Timothy 3:1, 8 “But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. Now in the way that Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also go on resisting the truth, men completely corrupted in mind, disapproved as regards the faith.”
Romans 1:22, 28, 29 “Although asserting they were wise, they became foolish. And just as they did not approve of holding God in accurate knowledge, God gave them up to a disapproved mental state, to do the things not fitting, filled as they were with all unrighteousness.”
Satan, God of This World, Is Responsible for Wrong Thinking
Revelation 12:9 “So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 “Among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.”
Satan Feeds Man’s Mind on Wrong Things According to His System of Things
Colossians 1:21 “Indeed, you who were once alienated and enemies because your minds were on the works that were wicked, He now has again reconciled.”
Ephesians 2:2, 3 “You at one time walked according to the system of things of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience. Yes, among them we all at one time conducted ourselves in harmony with the desires of our flesh, doing the things the flesh and the thoughts willed.”
Harmony with God’s New World Arrangement Requires Completely Changed Course of Thinking
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 “But when there is a turning to Jehovah, the veil is taken away. Now Jehovah is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of Jehovah is, there is freedom. And all of us, while we with unveiled faces reflect like mirrors the glory of Jehovah, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, exactly as done by Jehovah the Spirit.”
Romans 12:2 “And quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and complete will of God.”
Active Force of God Needed to Effect a Change in Thinking and Conduct
Titus 3:3-6 “For even we were once senseless, disobedient, being misled, being slaves to various desires and pleasures, carrying on in maliciousness and envy, hateful, hating one another. However, when the kindness and the love for man on the part of our Savior, God, was manifested, owing to no activities in righteousness that we had performed, but according to His mercy He saved us through the bath that brought us to life and through the making of us new by holy spirit. This spirit He poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
1 Corinthians 2:10, 12 “For it is to us God has revealed them through His spirit, for the spirit searches into all things, even the deep things of God. Now we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been kindly given us by God.”
Must Be in Sincerity of Heart
Psalm 51:10, 11 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence; and take not Your holy spirit from me.”
God’s Written Word Able to Search Out Man’s Inmost Thoughts and Direct His Course
Psalm 119:9 “How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Your Word.”
Hebrews 4:12, 13 “For the Word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and their marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is not a creation that is not manifest to His sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of Him with whom we have an accounting.”
Christian Living Means Becoming a New Personality
Ephesians 4:22-24 “That you should rut away the old personality which conforms to your former course of conduct and which is being corrupted according to its deceptive desires; but that you should be made new in the force actuating your mind, and should put on the new personality which was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loving-kindness.”
Law of Sin Through Adam Wars Against Law of This New Mind
Galatians 5:18, 17 “But I say, Keep walking by spirit and you will carry out no fleshly desire at all. For the flesh is against the spirit in its desire, and the spirit against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, so that the very things that you would like to do you do not do.”
Romans 7:21-25 “I find, then, this law in my case: that when I wish to do what is right, what is bad is present with me. I really delight in the Law of God according to the man I am within, but I behold in my members another law warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive to sin’s law that is in my members…. So, then, with my mind I myself am a slave to God’s law, but with my flesh to sin’s law.”
Failure to Renew Mind Leads into Corrupted Mental State
1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If any man teaches other doctrine and does not assent to healthful words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor to the teaching that accords with godly devotion, he is puffed up with pride, not understanding anything, but being mentally diseased over questionings and debates about words. From these things spring envy, strife, abusive speeches, wicked suspicions, violent disputes about trifles on the part of men corrupted in mind and despoiled of the truth, thinking that godly devotion is a means of gain.”
The End of Wrong Thinking Is Death
Philippians 3:18, 19 “For there are many, I used to mention them often but now I mention them also with weeping, who are walking as the enemies of the torture stake of the Christ, and their finish is destruction, and their god is their belly, and their glory consists in their shame, and they have their minds upon things on the earth.”
Mind Must Be Trained in Right Processes of Thinking
Proverbs 23:26 “My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes delight in [“observe”] my ways.”
Romans 8:5-8 “For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those in accord with the spirit on the things of the spirit. For the minding of the flesh means death, but the minding of the spirit means life and peace; because the minding of the flesh means enmity with God, for it is not under subjection to the law of God, nor, in fact, can it be. So those who are in harmony with the flesh cannot please God.”
Love of God Essential
Matthew 22:37 “He said to him: ‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ “
Being of a Double Mind Is Fatal
Psalm 119:113 “I hate them that are of a double mind; but Your law do I love.”
Revelation 3:16 “So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.”
Positive Thinking Required, Considering Forward- looking Plans
Philippians 3:13-16 “Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead, I am pursuing down toward the goal for the prize of the calling above and which God extends in Christ Jesus. Let us, then, as many of us as are mature, be of this mental attitude; and if you are mentally inclined otherwise in any respect, God will reveal the above attitude to you. At any rate, to what extent we have made progress, let us go on walking orderly in this same routine.”
Philippians 2:5 “Keep this mental attitude in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Must Get Truth into Mind and Heart, Making It One’s Motivating Force, Not Being Overburdened with Cares of This World
Luke 8:5-8, 11, 13-15 “A sower went out to sow his seed. Well, as he was sowing, some of it. . . landed upon the rock-mass, and, after sprouting, it dried up because of not having moisture. Some other fell among the thorns, and the thorns that grew up with it choked it off. Some other fell upon the good soil, and after sprouting, it produced fruit a hundredfold. . . . Now the illustration means this: The seed is the Word of God. Those upon the rock-mass are the ones who, when they hear it, receive the word with joy, but these have no root; they believe for a season, but in a season of testing they fall away. As for that which fell among the thorns, these are the ones that have heard, but, by being carried away by anxieties and wealth and pleasures of this life, they are completely choked and bring nothing to perfection. As for that on the right soil, these are the ones that, after hearing the Word with a right and good heart, retain it and bear fruit with endurance.”
Accurate Knowledge of God’s Requirements Necessary
Colossians 3:2, 9, 10 “Keep your minds fixed on the things above, not on the things upon the earth…. Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality which through accurate knowledge is being renewed according to the image of the one who created it.”
Requirements of God Extend into Daily Living
1 Timothy 6:13, 14 “In the sight of God who preserves all things alive and of Christ Jesus, who as a witness made the right public declaration in the audience of Pontius Pilate, I give you orders that you observe the commandment in a spotless and irreprehensible way until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
James 1:27 “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.”
Everyday Affairs of Life Should Be Governed by Mental Attitude Toward Christ
1 Peter 1:13-16 “Hence brace up your minds for activity, keep completely balanced and set your hope upon the undeserved kindness that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, quit being fashioned according to the desires you formerly had in your ignorance, but, in accord with the holy One who called you, do you also become holy yourselves in all your conduct, because it is written: ‘You must be holy, because I am holy.’ “
Gossip and Backbiting, Thoughtless, Tactless and Unkind Remarks Avoided
James 1:26 “If any man seems to himself to be a formal worshiper and yet does not bridle his tongue, but goes on deceiving his own heart, this man’s form of worship is futile.”
James 3:6, 8-10 “The tongue is a fire. The tongue is constituted a world of unrighteousness among our members, for it spots up all the body and sets the wheel of natural life aflame and it is set aflame by Gehenna. … An unruly injurious thing, it is full of death-dealing poison. With it we bless Jehovah, even the Father, and yet with it we curse men who have come into existence ‘in the likeness of God’…. It is not proper, my brothers, for these things to go on occurring this way.”
Proverbs 16:28 “A whisperer separates chief friends.”
Uninvited Meddling in Others’ Personal Affairs Condemned
1 Timothy 5:13 “At the same time they also learn to be unoccupied, gadding about to the houses, yes, not only unoccupied, but also gossipers and meddlers in other people’s affairs, talking of things they ought not.”
1 Peter 4:15 “However, let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a busybody in other people’s matters.”
Disagreements and Strife Forgotten
1 Corinthians 3:3 “For you are yet fleshly. For whereas there are jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and are you not walking as men do?”
Maliciously Criticizing Others’ Shortcomings Improper
Galatians 6:1 “Brothers, even though a man takes some false step before he is aware of it, you who have spiritual qualifications try to restore such a man in a spirit of mildness, as you each keep an eye on yourself, for fear you also may be tempted.”
Closeness of Family Relationship in Congregation Requires Continued United Effort Abounding in Love
Colossians 3:12-14 “Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness and longsuffering. Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely if anyone has a cause for complaint against another. Even as Jehovah freely forgave you, so do you also. But, besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.”
Philippians 1:27, 28 “Only behave in a manner worthy of the good news about the Christ,. .. standing firm in one spirit, with one soul fighting side by side for the faith of the good news, and in no respect being frightened by your opponents. This very thing is a proof of destruction for them, but of salvation for you; and this indication is from God.”
Galatians 6:2 “Go on carrying the burdens of one another, and thus fulfill the law of the Christ.”
Personal Family Dissensions, Contentiousness Should Be Overcome
Colossians 3:18-21 “You wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as it is becoming in the Lord. You husbands, keep on loving your wives and do not be bitterly angry with them. You children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord. You fathers, do not be exasperating your children, so that they do not become downhearted.”
Balanced Viewpoint Maintained Through Proper Moderation in Eating, Drinking
Philippians 4:5, 6 “Let your reasonableness become known to all men…. Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God.”
Proverbs 23:20, 21 “Be not among winebibbers, among gluttonous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.”
1 Timothy 5:23 “Do not drink water any longer, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent cases of sickness.”
1 Timothy 3:8 “Ministerial servants should likewise be serious, not double-tongued, not giving themselves to a lot of wine.”
Romans 14:21 “It is well not to eat flesh or to drink wine or do anything over which your brother stumbles.”
Individual Decision Necessary as to Choice of Entertainment, Remembering Christ Is Model
Colossians 3:17 “And whatever it is that you do in word or in work, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through Him.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 “Therefore, whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory.”
1 Peter 2:21 “In fact, to this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model for you to follow His steps closely.”
One’s Own Conscience, Trained in God’s Word, to Determine Choice as to Work and Other Such Activities
Acts 24:16 “In this respect, indeed, I am exercising myself continually to have a consciousness of committing no offense against God and men.”
Romans 14:4 “Who are you to judge the house servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for Jehovah can make him stand.”
1 Corinthians 10:29, 30 “Why should it be that my freedom is judged by another person’s conscience? If I am partaking with thanks, why am I to be spoken of abusively over that for which I give thanks?”
1 Timothy 3:9 “Holding the sacred secret of the faith with a clean conscience.”
Not to Cheat Employer but Give Full Day’s Work
Colossians 3:22-25 “You slaves, be obedient in everything to those who are your masters in a fleshly sense, not with acts of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, with fear of Jehovah. Whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled as to Jehovah, and not to men, for you know that it is from Jehovah you will receive the due reward of the inheritance. You are slaves to the Master Christ. Certainly the man that is doing unrighteousness will receive back what he unrighteously did, and there is no partiality.”
Godly Conduct Outside the Organization Imperative
1 Timothy 6:1 “Let as many as are slaves under a yoke keep on considering their owners worthy of full honor, that the Name of God and the teaching may never be spoken of injuriously.”
1 Timothy 3:7 “Moreover, he should also have a favorable testimony from people on the outside, in order that he might not fall into reproach and a snare of the devil.”
Must Be Example of Christian Living, Not Compromising with Uncleanness Just to Appear “Good Fellow”
Ephesians 5:1, 3, 4 “Therefore, become imitators of God, as beloved children. Let fornication and uncleanness of every kind or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people, neither shameful conduct nor foolish talking nor obscene jesting, things which are not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks.”
1 Peter 4:3-5 “For the time that has passed by is sufficient for you to have worked out the will of the nations when you proceeded in deeds of loose conduct, lusts, excesses with wine, revelries, drinking matches, and idolatries that are without legal restraint. Because you do not continue running with them in this course to the same low sink of debauchery, they are puzzled and go on speaking abusively of you. But these people will render an account to the one ready to judge those living and those dead.”
1 Peter 3:16, 17 “Hold a good conscience, so that in the particular in which you are spoken against they may get ashamed who are speaking slightingly of your good conduct in connection with Christ. For it is better to suffer because you are doing good, if the will of God wishes it, than because you are doing evil.”
Compromising Righteous Principles Is Beginning of Apostasy
Colossians 1:23 “Continue in the faith, established on the foundation and steadfast and not being shifted away from the hope of that good news which you heard, and which was preached in all creation that is under heaven.”
1 Timothy 1:18-20 “Go on waging the right warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, which some have thrust aside and have experienced shipwreck concerning their faith. Hymenaeus and Alexander belong to these, and I have handed them over to satan that they may be taught by discipline not to blaspheme.”
2 Timothy 2:18, 19 “These very men have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred, and they are subverting the faith of some. For all that, the solid foundation of God stays standing, having this seal, ‘Jehovah knows those who belong to Him,’ and, ‘Let everyone mentioning the name of Jehovah renounce unrighteousness.’ “
Mind Must Be Continually Filled with Right Matters
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things.”
Requires Constant Self-Discipline in Even the Smallest Matters of Daily Living, as Children Receive Correction from a Father
Hebrews 12:5, 6, 11-17 “‘My son, do not belittle the discipline from Jehovah, neither give out when you are corrected by Him; for whom Jehovah loves, He disciplines, in fact He scourges everyone whom He receives as a son.’ True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it, it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness. Hence lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen the enfeebled knees, and keep making straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather that it may be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, carefully watching that no one may be deprived of the undeserved kindness of God; that no poisonous root may spring up and cause trouble and many be defiled by it; that there may be no fornicator nor anyone not appreciating sacred things, like Esau, who in exchange for one meal gave away his rights as firstborn. For you know that afterward also when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected, for, although he earnestly sought a change of mind with tears, he found no place for it.”
Continued Personal Study Necessary
1 Timothy 4:6 “By giving these advices to the brothers you will be a right kind of minister of Christ Jesus, one nourished with the words of the faith and of the right teaching which you have followed closely.”
2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your utmost to present yourself approved to God, a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright.”
Regular Attendance at Congregational Meetings Essential to Receive Full Direction of Holy Spirit
2 Peter 1:20, 21 “No prophecy of Scripture springs from any private release [“comes out of private disclosure”]. For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.”
Acts 2:46, 47 “And day after day they were in constant attendance at the temple with one accord, and they took their meals in private homes and partook of nourishment with great rejoicing and sincerity of heart, praising God and finding acceptance with all the people. At the same time Jehovah continued to join to them daily those being saved.”
Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.”
Association in a Social Way with Those Outside the Truth Is Dangerous
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.”
2 Corinthians 6:14, 15 “Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever?”
Associate with Christian Brothers; Help, Edify One Another
Acts 2:42 “And they continued devoting themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to association together, to taking of meals and to prayers.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore keep comforting one another and building one another up, just as you are in fact doing.”
Luke 24:32 “And they said to each other: ‘Were not our hearts burning as He was speaking to us on the road, as He was fully opening up the Scriptures to us?’ “
Hebrews 2:17 “Consequently He was obliged to become like his ‘brothers’ in all respects, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, in order to offer propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the people.”
Hebrews 3:13 “Keep on exhorting one another each day, as long as it may be called ‘Today’.”
Modern Assembly of New World Society of Far Greater Significance and Awe-inspiring Splendor than Assembly of Israel at Mt. Sinai
Psalm 68:8 “The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God: Sinai trembled at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”
Exodus 19:18, 19 “And mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.”
Hebrews 12:18, 19, 22-24 “For you have not approached that which can be felt and which has been set aflame with fire, and a dark cloud and thick darkness and a tempest, and the blare of a trumpet and the voice of words, on hearing which voice the people implored that no word should be added to them. But you have approached a mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels, in general assembly, and the congregation of the firstborn who have been enrolled in the heavens, and God the Judge of all, and the spiritual lives of righteous ones who have been made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling which speaks in a better way than Abel’s blood.”
Full and Complete Giving of Self Certain to Bring God’s Reward
Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now herewith, says Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
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