Aspects of an Abundant Life
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Previously we have given thought to abundant Christian living in terms of living a crucified life and maintaining a grounded life. This week attention is drawn to how living a separated life can contribute to an abundant life. Immediately the admonition of 2 Corinthians 6:14–17 comes to mind: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” It’s directive is followed by the imperative, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.”
Abundant living cannot be sustained if we seek pleasure and fulfillment in wrong places, with wrong people, in wrong pursuits or with wrong priorities. In seeking to live a separated life we must be careful that our motivation is not to have others pat us on the back while we are communicating a “holier than thou” attitude.
A godly influence
Living a separated life must be for right reasons. Among such reasons that are compatible with abundant Christian living is desiring to cast a godly influence in an ungodly world, as well as setting a positive example for others and keeping ourselves from being ruled by our own fleshly desires or having our lives shaped by the world’s mold.
We might say separated living has to do with the manner of our lives not with our life’s mission. Our mission is to be in the world but not of the world. Jesus expects us to be salt and light in our circles of influence. This happens only when we make our mission contact with the world without letting the world dictate the manner of our living.
Call to repentance
We recall that Jesus’ opponents criticized Him for keeping company with people His opponents sought to avoid. Of course Jesus’ purpose was not to keep company with ungodly people in order to join them in their actions of wrongdoing or wrong thinking but to seek and to save them from the consequence of their manner of living. He put it like this, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick” (Matt. 9:12). He did not move among sinners because He was one of them but to show compassion and love toward them and to call them to repentance for the sake of His saving mission.
Part of abundant Christian living is the joy of seeing sinners come to the Savior as well as causing joy in heaven over each sinner who repents. In order to see this happen we must be among sinners as to our mission as witnesses but not as to the manner of our own behavior.
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