1
The scientists who investigate the secrets of the universe marvel at
the enormous amount of energy in the cosmos. Our sun, a star of average size,
produces every second an amount of energy equivalent to that released by the
explosion of 100,000 hydrogen bombs of one megaton power. These things remind us
that the power of the Creator, who designed and controls all heavenly bodies, is
unlimited.
Paul says that the power
and personality of God are noticeable through the things created, but his
appearance is unimaginable. Mankind has always tended to make images to
represent their gods, however, Isaiah wrote: the Most
Holy says: With who will you compare me
and with whom shall I be leveled? Lift up your eyes on high and behold! Who
has created all these things? Their multitude was organized by their Maker and
he calls all of them by name; through the magnitude of his power and the potency
of his strength, none of them has been forgotten. (Isaiah 40:25-26)
Through the Hubble space
telescope, scientist have discovered that the galaxies of our universe are
numerous as the sands of the seas and the deserts together, and if God remembers
and cares for the milliards of galaxies in the universe, how much more for
mankind to whom he gave free will, moral faculties, logic and spiritual
abilities. But which is the path set by the Creator to care for men and show
them the way to follow?
2
God guides men by making them aware of his high principles. The prophet
Micah records these words from God: You have been
told, man, what rightfulness is, and what does Yahuh requires of you, but to act
honestly, to love mercy and to be modest when dealing with your God?
(Micah 6:8)
Mans modesty before God
is necessary and appropriate, he is extremely pleased when the sons created to
reflect his image, freely choose to obey him. He did not predetermine mankind for blind obedience, but gave men
freedom to choose according to their wishes and tastes, and, as a good father
does, he provided them with the archetypes or models that would enable them to
act with knowledge and take beneficial and rightful decisions. Jesus, who
reflects the image of his Father, told his disciples: If you do what I say you are my friends, so I will not call
you servants; the servant does not know what his master does, but I call you
friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my
Father. (John
15:14-15)
People under service
have no other choice than to obey what their master commands them; however,
friendship comes from qualities that encourage love, trust and reciprocal
feelings. In his words Jesus links the friendship with God and with him to
obedience, as he does when he says: Whoever loves me
will keep my word and my Father will love him, then we will
come to him and make with him our dwelling. He who does not love me does not obey my
word, but the word that you heard is not mine but of the Father who sent
me. (John
14:23-24)
A sincere obedience to the commands of Yahuh allows us to express our
love for him and grants us his love and the love of
Christ.
Yet, which is the prevailing
attitude in the world?
3 Kungshi, kungshi fa tsai! May luck and wealth favors you! Say the greetings on the first day
of the Chinese New Year. In our world, the material prosperity is of utmost
importance and when the objective is to reach the ability of making money, even
the academic credits may become a cult object. For this reason, in some of the
Eastern countries the main concern of many parents is to enroll their children
in the best schools and in the most prestigious universities, but also in
Western countries there are many young people which believe that the best thing
in life is to have lots of money, and their main priority is to obtain a high
level of income, with all the advantages that this may provide
them.
4 This way of thinking reflects a widespread
attitude, so we might reflect on whether there is an agreement between the
desperate search for money or material welfare and the obedience to biblical
principles. The answer lies in the warning given by Jesus to his disciples when
he said: No one can serve two
masters, either he will hate one of them
and love the other, or he will stick to one of them, despising all others.
You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew
6:24)
King Solomon, one of the
wisest and richest men in the ancient world, recorded an observation that
reflects the truth: Whoever loves money will never
become satiated of money or he who loves wealth, of profit.
(Ecclesiastes 5:9)
5 The husband and wife, who work tirelessly to
enjoy a high standard of living, are often so busy that do not have time to
enjoy their life together and all the things they get, if it is not
bragging about them to others. In contrast with this attitude, Paul writes to
Timothy: the practice of the faith and the
contentment with what one has is a great wealth, because we brought nothing into
the world and we certainly cannot carry anything out of it, so we must be
content if we have food and clothing... Without doubt, the love of money is the
root of all kinds of evil and thus, some who have cultivated it have been led
astray from the faith and have sought out many sorrows. And he advised
him: You, as a friend of God, flee these things and
seek justice, fidelity, faith, love, perseverance and humility.
(1Timothy 6:6-11)
The divine principles
6 Which is the meaning of divine principles? The dictionary says of the
word principle: standard that governs the thinking or the
behavior, and also: Originating idea,
standard from which a system of ideas derives or on which reasoning is
based.
Now, the study of the
Bible reveals that our heavenly Father provided us with principles, with
guidelines or basic essential ideas for our approach to any aspect of life. His
spirit spoke these words through King Solomon: Listen
my son and hold on my sayings, then the years of your life will be
many. I led you towards the way of wisdom; I directed you toward the
paths of righteousness. (Proverbs 4:10-11) The fact of thinking
and acting in harmony with the basic principles provided by God through the
Scriptures, not only makes us wiser in our spiritual life and in our decisions,
but also in our daily life dealings.
7 Speaking of the principles that condition
the relation of the people with their God, Jesus said, You shall love your God Yahuh with all your heart and
with all your soul, with your entire mind and with all your
might. (Mark 12:30) And said of the relationship people
should have with each other: Whatever you wish that
people do to you, you must also do to them. (Matthew 7:12) These
two general principles involve a multitude of things to be done and not to be
done.
Paul wrote to the
disciples: You must do all things for the glory of
God whether you eat or drink or whether you do anything else, and you should not
be a stumbling block for the Jews or for Greeks or for the congregation of God. So behave as I
do, striving to please others in everything and not seeking my own advantage but
that of others, so that everyone can reach salvation. (1 Corinthians
10:31-33) And recommends them: Let us consider
each other to encourage love and good deeds, and let us not be absent from the
meetings as some usually do. Rather, let us exhort one another while we see how
the Day approaches. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
The advice Paul gives in
his letters cannot be regarded as strict rules, it is based on the principle of
love and intended for the common benefit. God is
love (1 John 4:8) and love is the basis for the happiness of
all his sons. So he writes them: Why as if you were
still living in the world, you allow the imposition of dogmas or precepts such
as: Do not take, do not try, and do not touch? These are all human precepts and
teachings intended to be abolished, that may perhaps have an appearance of
wisdom, of false humility and of personal austerity within a kind of
self-imposed religion, but which are not of any value to fight the desire of the
senses. (Colossians 2:21-23)
Our actions and our thoughts must be based on
principles
8 Even if the commandments in
Commenting the words of
Jesus Paul writes: Do not owe anything to anyone but
the love you owe to each other, for he who loves others has fulfilled the
Law. The commandments: you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder,
you shall not steal, you shall not covet and all the others can be summarized in
these words: You must love your neighbor as yourself, and since love does not
hurt your fellow, love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans
13:8-10)
9 The deep understanding of the principles
provided by God will help us to apply them appropriately in all situations and
circumstances, proving that we have reached spiritual maturity. However, if we
do not try hard to practice them in our conduct and decisions, the new
personality we must strive to dress will never be able to grow in the right
direction and our faith will surely weaken. As Paul says, we would remain like children, agitated by any new idea and pushed
from one side to another by the wind, and fall into the error of the people who proceed with falsehood and cunning. Thus, let us grow in harmony with Christ, the head to whom the
whole body is harmoniously connected to receive the strength that allows it to
grow and get edified in love, by the help of each joint and the energy from each
one of its members. (Ephesians 4:14-16)
10 The fact of resorting faithfully to the
biblical principles is not in our everyday life, as simple as the obedience to
precise and explicit rules. Human beings are defective and therefore tend to
avoid the effort required to consider the proper application of the principles
in all circumstances, preferring the comfort of following some established
standards accepted by all. So when the Bible does not say anything concrete
about a problem, it may seem appropriate for an elder of the congregation lay
down a rule that permits people avoiding the consideration of the question. This
is what a man did, when coming out of the crowd that followed Jesus, told him:
Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance
with me, but Jesus said to him: Man! Who
appointed me judge or divider over you? And he said: Watch and beware of all covetousness, for one's life is not in the abundance of goods. (Luke 12:13-15) With this, instead of publicly rebuking the
greedy brother or provide any relevant rules for a personal situation, he gave
all his listeners a broad general principle, a model to follow
that was useful then and is useful today.
11 Many people tend to obey laws and
regulations carefully, for the fear of fines and punishments, but respect for
principles does not stimulate this attitude, because their very nature
motivate the hearts of those who follow them. In fact, disobedience to
God's principles does not involve an immediate punishment for those who ignore
them; this fact permits to demonstrate the selfless obedience of those who
follow them.
As our knowledge and appreciation for Yahuh and his provisions
increases, our conscience or moral sense, will help us to implement God's
principles in all circumstances, even in intimate and personal
issues; then we will no longer look for gaps in the rules or imitate those
who try to ascertain what limit can be reached without violating a specific
rule.
Concerning these things, Paul wrote: I do
not attempt to establish a justification from my own point of view and
based upon the Law, but based on the faith in Christ, I seek the
justification that comes from God and originates from faith.
(Philippians 3:9)
12 Indeed, if we want to be guided by Gods
principles, the desire to know and to unite our thinking to that of Yahuh is
essential. In the Psalms we read: All of
you, who love Yahuh, must
hate evil! (Psalm 97:10) But what is evil? Evil is
anything Yahuh hates, so we must love what Yahuh loves and hate what he
hates. The desire to imitate our God will make easier the fact of living in
harmony with his principles, which will become standard practice and will
protect us from falling into the trap of an empty and formal worship. The
fact of guiding ourselves by his principles, which are in our hearts, is not
like having to obey submissively and without thinking, to some rules and dogmas.
In keeping with this, Jesus told the people: I say to
you that unless your justice is more abundant than that of the scribes and
Pharisees, no way will you enter the kingdom of heaven. You heard
that the ancestors were told: «You shall not commit homicide and anyone who
commits homicide shall be guilty of conviction», but I tell you that anyone who
is irate with his brother shall be guilty of conviction. You heard that it was
said: «You shall not commit adultery», but I tell you that whoever looks at a
woman with a lustful intention, has already committed adultery with her in his
heart. (Matthew 5:21-28)
13 The scribes and Pharisees had moved away
the people from God by adding many regulations and precepts to each of the
commandments given to Moses. This fact misrepresented and concealed the meaning
and the spirit of the Law, creating a tradition that was for them, higher than
the principles of Yahuh, and any disobedience of their rules, even in its
smallest details, was interpreted as a violation of the
Law.
They did not instruct people about the deep moral and spiritual
significance of the principles underlying the mandates of God. To have a chance
to accuse Jesus, they asked him whether it was lawful to heal a man on Saturday,
then he reminded them one of the principles underlying the Law, and
said: What man among you, when one of his sheep falls into a pit in
Sabbath, does not help to pull her out? And a man is much more than a sheep! So,
on the Sabbath it is lawful to do well. (Matthew 12:9-12) Then he healed the man and none of them
dared to say anything against him.
Jesus reproached the religious leaders of
For example, when Jesus said whoever looks
at a woman with a lustful intention, has already committed adultery with her in
his heart, he taught his people that they must never lose sight of the
principle which gives rise to the command or provision of the Law, because God's
favor cannot be sought through conventional morality. He told the Pharisees, who
reproached his disciples the fact that while walking through a wheat field on
the Sabbath, picked up wheat grains to eat: Had you
understood what «I want mercy and not sacrifice» means, you would not condemn
those who have no guilt. (Matthew 12:7, where Jesus
quotes Hosea 6:6)
If we guide ourselves by the principles in the Scriptures, we shall
become free and responsible; our conduct will not mean a blind obedience to a
set of rules, neither will we require them to others, we shall then understand
the words of Jesus and approach God through love and fidelity, without worrying
about conventional outward expressions of spirituality.
The happy result of being guided by principles
15 We must always remember that all
commandments God gave to man through his angels and prophets are based on
fundamental principles. For example, Luke writes in the Acts of the Apostles
that Jacob (James), together with all the elders of the congregation in
Jerusalem, gave this command to the people of the nations that turned to Christ:
It seemed good to the holy spirit and to us, not
to lay upon you any other burden than these necessary things: To
abstain from the things sacrificed to idols, that is: from the blood and from
the fornication; if you take care of these things you will do well.
(Acts 15:28-29)
Which is the principle
behind these necessary things? The
principle is love and an exclusive loyalty to God and his purpose.
The people from the nations that turned to Christ, could not because of their
love and respect for God and his mandates, participate in spiritually and
morally degrading social behavior.
The fact of
understanding that the biblical injunctions are based on fundamental principles
will make obedience much easier. It is important to understand that they are not
dogmatic impositions but divine instructions that work on our behalf. By obeying
them, the Disciples of Christ do not only get spiritual blessings; they also
receive material benefits, because whoever does not smoke or drink too much,
does not use drugs, and has a morally pure life, favors family life and may
enjoy within his circumstances, of a good health, safe from many diseases that
could also affect his offspring.
However, the Disciples
of Christ obey Gods principles because they love him. They confidently wait for
his justice and his kingdom, and as the powerful spirits in heaven do, they
glorify the Father and Creator of life from their hearts, saying: You, Yahuh, are worthy of the glory and of the power, for
you created all things, and these exist and came into being by your
will. (Revelation 4:11)
16 God, the father of all existence, has
provided from the beginning, care and fatherly guidance to humankind. He warned
man that the fact of deciding subjectively what is morally right and what is
morally wrong would not benefit him; and when man despised his guide, he continued to love humanity and
led it to survival through the flood. Later he chose a people to observe his
guidance and his mandates, and advised Joshua: You
will not put away from your mouth (the words of) this book of the Law and you will meditate on it day and
night, being vigilant to act in accordance with everything written in it,
then you will prosper in your way. (Joshua
1:8)
Yahuh took care of the
Israelites sending them judges and prophets, until the time to send to the world
the redeemer of the life for humanity; and he made through his spirit, that the
good news of redemption and of his kingdom, be extended to all
nations.
To accept the guidance
of his principles, directs our lives in the right direction, making them profitable now and in an eternal future. But we also may collaborate in his purpose through our example,
attracting other people towards him and participating in the designs of the God
that desires all men to be saved.
(1Timothy 2:4) It is thus important to consider the fact of honoring God
in our way of life. If our decisions are in harmony with his principles, Yahuh
will bring us closer to him and of his blessings, and we may be confident that
neither death nor life, neither angels nor
governments, nor things present or future, nor powers, nor height or depth and
no other creation, will be able to take us apart from the love of God and of
Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Romans
8:38-39)