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Doctors agree to a basic principle of the Hippocratic Oath: "First, do no harm." But what is the basic tenant of a follower of the Jesus Christ of the Bible?
Our world doesn’t think much about the Bible and the God, in fact, it doesn’t think very deeply at all. Near the end of the first decade of the 21 st century the militant atheism movement sponsored ads on buses in many cities. Why would somebody pay money to promote belief in non-belief? Subsequently, we’ve seen dramatically increasing atheistic militancy, including anti-Christian, anti-Bible legislation.
Net result: All brands of Christianity are on the run, as well as Judaism which is also drawn from the Bible. It would seem that atheistic secularism with its key messages of same-sex marriage, abortion rights, casual sex, legalizing drugs and a new and more virulent feminism is out to take over the world. And in its wake the teen years of the 21 st century are launching the Second Drug Revolution and the Second Sexual Revolution.
Bible prophecies alerted us to these concerning trends in modern society. The determined rejection of the influence of the Bible is totally predictable! It’s the way of human nature yoked to the evil sway of Satan, the Devil.
How do you combat that dark spirit’s negative momentum? If you believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, you may feel overwhelmed. What can you do-now, today?
The medical doctors’ dictum distilled from the writings of the Greek medicine man and philosopher Hippocrates states: “First, do no harm.” But since followers of Jesus Christ ought to understand good vs. evil, our prime directive ought to reflect God’s true values: First, do some good.
A young man once asked Christ, “ Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” And Jesus responded, “Why do you call Me good ? No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:16-18, emphasis added throughout).
He obviously didn’t comprehend Christ’s divine origin of true goodness. So how do you define God’s goodness? And then how do you distill that into practical steps of faith in your life?
Jesus knew you’d ask that question-because we’re really similar today to that young man then who wanted eternal life. Notice Christ’s answer: “But if you want to enter into life , keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” the young man queried (a surprising question from a young, Jewish man). What did he mean by, which commandments ?
Christ patiently answered: “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s half the Ten Commandments plus their fundamental, love-your-neighbor summary!
Did you notice that Christ connected eternal life with keeping God’s commandments-also known as God’s law? Unfortunately, much of modern Christianity doesn’t make that connection, often ridiculing God’s law. That doctrinal mindset creates a problem, precisely because God’s law is the law of good .
In fact, the Bible says that “… the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). Remember that God is good and that He created the universe, including humanity. God is thus the ultimate arbiter of what is good, and conversely, what is evil. It’s not a matter of “if it feels good, do it”-a foolish catchphrase for evil, sinful, immoral behavior in the First Sexual and Drug Revolution of the 1960’s.
Our feelings are fairly uneducated until we decide to live God’s way of life. Then, as we live by God’s law of good, our emotions or feelings begin to align with God’s definition of good. Therefore, good (as defined by God’s law) gradually becomes what we want and feel like doing.
Imagine yourself taking on the entire, cosmic battle of Good vs. Evil. There you are seemingly standing alone against the Devil’s evil influence in society!
Ready for that? Didn’t think so-a little too overwhelming. So where do you start? What do you do first?
Here’s the battle plan…
When answering another question about goodness, Jesus Christ summarized the Ten Commandments with two greater commandments, “'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). And they actually summarize the entire Bible.
The first four of the Ten Commandments specifically show our love for God above all else. Commands five through ten focus on loving your neighbor (fellow humans).
You can start doing good by helping, serving and caring for others. Honor your parents. Be peaceful and not violent. Truly love your spouse, or future spouse. Tell the truth. Respect what belongs to others. And don’t covet what others have.
You begin to love God through prayer and studying the Bible while you seek God’s true teachings. Then remove anything that you treasure more than God, clean up your language by not taking God’s name in vain, and finally learn about and begin to keep the biblical Sabbath as God’s holy day of rest.
That may still sound like a lot to do, but Jesus Christ Himself spelled it out for all to see. Taking one step at a time as Christ indicated will lead you to true spiritual conversion through Him, and then doing “good” will gradually become natural.
Pick one of God’s laws now and begin to do the good thing by obeying it. Then the other laws of good will follow along until it becomes your way of life.
Doctors are given a good priority: First, do no harm. As a true Christian you can be more proactive: First, do some good!
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Keywords: do good prime directive God's law ten commandments
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