Because all believers represent Christ to the world, we who believe should strive to conduct ourselves in a manner that exalts him. As servants of God together, we should expect this kind of conduct of one another. The following is a general description of the kind of life that we strive to live.

1. God's children are to be examples of moral purity, faith, and love in Christ.

   "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not once be named among you, as becomes saints" (Eph. 5:3). And, "be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless" (2Pet. 3:14).

2. God's children are to dress according to holiness.

   What this means is that the saints are to dress appropriate to the occasion, in modesty and cleanliness, considering the customs of the times. In short, use common sense and be decent. The saints are not to use their clothing to allure or to arouse the lust of the flesh in others.

3. God's children are to refrain from gluttony and other excesses.

   Jesus warned us specifically of this evil, that it would actually cause some saints to loose their souls. "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting [overeating], and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares" (Lk. 21:34).

4. No child of God who desires to be a good testimony for Jesus will allow himself to be overpowered by filthy habits, such as the non-medical use of drugs or alcohol, tobacco in the form of cigarettes, chewing tobacco, etc., nor yet any such thing that may become popular with the world.

   In all things, we are to obey the exhortation of Paul, who wrote, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2Cor. 7:1). Because our bodies are the temple of God, we are to "glorify God" in our bodies as well as in our spirits (1Cor. 6:19-20), being warned that, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy" (1Cor. 3:17).

5. Concerning worldly "entanglements", God's children are to have none.

   Paul explained, "No man who goes to war entangles himself with the affairs of this life, so that he may please Him who has chosen him to be a soldier" (2Tim. 2:4). Whether worldly entertainments, social affairs, or political events, the cause of Christ always has priority in a heart that's pure. The task given to us by God requires that our lives be as free as possible from worldly commitments which interfere with the accomplishing of our purpose.

6. Wise servants of God strive to be good citizens of the country where they live, obedient to the laws for the Lord's sake, and doing nothing that would endanger or demean the earthly powers which God has placed over them.

   Peter said, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. . . . for so is the will of God" (1Pet. 2:13-15). The saints' relationship to the rulers of their country is simply this: "First of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made. . . . for all who are in authority" (1Tim. 2:1-20). Whether concerning laws, rulers, or the customs of an earthly nation, obedient saints will conduct themselves as "ambassadors for Christ", without sarcasm or cynicism toward the governments of men, but with good will toward all.

7. God commands His people to render tithes and offerings for the support of the men He ordains to feed them His knowledge.

   Any child of God who does not render to God his tithes and offerings is a thief: "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings" (Mal. 3:8). God has never repealed the tithe and offering system for the support of his earthly ministers. On the contrary, Christ established it, being a "High Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 6:20), who himself received tithes from Abraham (Gen. 14:17-20). We believe that God's tithes and offerings should be given to a human rather than to an organization, especially a religious organization that dictates what doctrine must be taught. The man of God is to be free to hear from God for the good of God's people. There is no support whatsoever in the Scriptures for the concept of an anointed religious organization to which the tithes and offerings of God's children should go. Nor is there any Scriptural support for the concept of hiring a man to act as pastor or the firing of a man from that position.

8. Obedient followers of Jesus pay their debts, or at least make a sincere effort to pay them.

   We are told to "owe no man any thing, but to love one another" (Rom. 13:8). God's children may borrow money, but we must make timely payments on the debt. It is a reproach to Christ if we fail to meet financial commitments, for he has promised to deliver us from the curse of debt if we will walk uprightly (Deut. 28:12-13).

9. God's will is that His people marry within the faith of Christ.

   The commandment that children of God marry "only in the Lord" is so clear and consistent throughout the Bible that marrying outside the body of Christ is tantamount to a denial of the faith.

10. Every member of God's family everywhere should treat every other member of God's family with respect and love, regardless of his or her doctrinal persuasion.

    Every blood-washed saint on earth is our brother or sister in Christ. As such, they are due our love and our best efforts to edify them. This is why we have rejected the fragmented religious system called "Christianity". That religious system separates the children of God from one another, dividing them into hundreds of conflicting sects. One could argue that even if we all obey God's call to come out of Christianity, the hope of unity of the body of Christ may still be small. On the other hand, if we all remain within the religious system of Christianity, the hope of unity among God's people is non-existent. Therefore, we have come out, in obedience to God's call and in love for His people, trusting God to remove everything from our hearts that hinders the unity of the body of Christ that Jesus prayed for.

These standards are basic to holiness, and are not intended to be exhaustive. None of these standards will seem distasteful to the soul who truly desires to please God. In matters not covered in this description of holy conduct, we must humbly approach the Scriptures in the fear of God and with the help of the Spirit, who alone is able to "guide us into all truth". Now, we ask Paul to complete this general description of the right life, required of all of us who hope to enter into eternal life with Christ:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Of the which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law.

This I say, then. Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.

Amen.