In the Scriptures God speaks about the believer’s “walk.” This walk–style of life–is also called a “race” which one must run and finish according to the Racemaster’s rules in order to receive the winner’s reward (1 Cor. 9:24/Heb. 12:1). Many, Paul wrote under the power of the Holy Spirit, run the race, but few will cross the finish line. Some of those who finish the race will have cheated and will be disqualified. They will come before the Lord erroneously believing that they will receive the God-promised reward (Mat. 7:16-27). The Lord tells us that on Judgment Day only a “few” will have “found” the right starting gate, will have run the right race, and will have run it according to His rules (Mat. 7:13,14). Only His true church–His”little flock” (Lk. 12:32), having run and finished the race according to the rules–will be allowed to enter the Kingdom of God. Let us examine the Lord’s commanded “walk”/”race” to determine whether we are walking the walk or are merely talking the talk.

The best starting place is John 12:44-50. Here Jesus tells us that God spoke His Words to Him. He in turn spoke them to His apostles who recorded them for us to know, believe and obey. The Lord also tells us that every human who ever lived will be judged by those everlasting Words–the Holy Bible–and that to reject any of His/His Father’s Words is to reject both of Them personally. If I am to be judged/paid/advanced, etc. by the quality and quantity of my production, I want to know exactly what it is that I am to produce and what the finished product looks like. The same is true in the spiritual sense. I insist on knowing what I must do and how I must do it in order to receive the reward/prize promised by the prize Awarder. I will not ask someone else about these things; I will go directly to the One Who determines what, when, where, how, etc. relative to the race. Eternity is too important to trust to other people’s beliefs. For this reason God commands that we individually “Study to show yourself approved of God” (not man) (2 Tim. 2:15). We can receive God’s approval only by obeying Him–not church doctrine, catachisms, Sunday School lessons, messages from street handouts, sermons, etc. We are commanded to “test the spirits” of those who lead us. The Bible is the testing instrument. One can test against it only if one knows what is written therein. The Bible is like the test key a teacher uses to grade student exams.

In the Scriptures we find several men who walked with God: Enoc, Noah, Abraham and Moses to name a few. The one thing these men had in common was obedience to the Words of God. This made these men His “friends.” Jesus tells us how to be His friends in John 15:14,15. Notice that He is speaking to His apostles: “You are My friends IF you do whatsoever (everything) I command (not suggest to) you …. I have called you “friends” because all things that I have heard from My Father I have make known unto you.” The prophets and apostles made known to us what the Father said. Only the friends/brethren of Jesus will receive eternal life and live it in the Kingdom of God. He made clear exactly who were His friends/brethren in Matthew 12:46-50 where, having been told that His mother and brethren (half brothers and sisters) wanted to speak to Him, He replied, “‘Who is my mother? and who are My brethren?’ And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples and said, ‘Behold My mother and My brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister and mother'”–His brethren/friends. Where do we find God’s will? ONLY in the Holy Bible.

To “walk with God” clearly means to keep His commandments and Laws and to do what is pleasing in His sight. This is a partial answer to the question: “What is a Christian.” To be continued. L.J.