No 7

(Applying the Bible to daily life)

The Bible is the Word of God; it is a book about love…and it is unchangeable. Why? Because it addresses problems about humans that are just as prevalent today as they were in the days when it was written. It is a book about the salvation of man provided by a God who is thrice Holy and who cares about us dearly. Some say that because the Bible was inspired by God, it can only be understood by an elite class of people; of course, this is wrong for the simple reason that God made it specifically so that we could understand it. John, in his gospel (Chapt 20 :31) and in his first letter (chapt 5 :13) says very clearly why these words were written. Since God cannot be with each and everyone of us physically, He gave us what I call the “one anothers” of the Bible. Here is a list of them so we can refresh our memory and see just how far we are to go in caring for “one another”.

In John’s gospel alone there are four :

John 13:14 “wash one another’s feet”

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another”

John 15:12 “That ye love one another, as I have loved you”

John 15:17 “ye love one another”

In the epistles there so many (32), that I cannot list them all but here are the main ones :

Romans 12:10 “Be kindly affectioned one to another with love; in honour preferring one another”

Romans 14:13 “Let us not therefore judge one another”

Romans 15:14 “to admonish one another”

Galatians 5:13 “serve one another”

Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ”

Ephesians 4:2 “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love”

Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”

Colossians 3:13 “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another”

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another”

Hebrews 3:13 “But exhort one another daily”

Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves…but exhorting one another”

1 John 4:11 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another”

So, in conclusion, how far does one go? As far as it takes or as Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 18 : 22, “seventy times seven” and that’s in one day (implied).

Let’s not get bogged down with quarrels and bickering or even heavy ministerial duties, for that matter and forget one of the purposes of us being together in the same Body. Jesus said in John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”.