Outside of the Lordship of Christ is there anything we as believers do have in common which can give us the ability to judge whether or not a brother is truly under the Lordship of Christ even though Jesus calling and order in our lives may be different? Yes. First, as we have already mentioned, every believer is to morally repent of any known sin. If a Person claims to be a Christian but lives in immorality, we have a right to question the genuineness of his salvation. One should realize, though, that just a problem with immorality in itself does not mean they are not saved. We are talking here about a willful lifestyle of immorality. If you know a Christian who has given his life to Jesus but finds himself from time to time having a problem with a previous habit of sin, this does not mean he is not saved, but needs help. There is a special sensitivity in knowing how to approach a brother or sister having this kind of problem before taking it upon oneself to be God’s judge. This will be dealt with in much detail in a later part of this section.

Second, we have in common that Jesus has called all of us to help build His kingdom by taking time in our busy weeks to go out and share the love of Jesus with others so that they to might come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We covered this issue thoroughly in Sections 1 and 3.

A third thing that all believers have in common is found in Romans Chapter 13. Paul the Apostle states,

"Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves." (Rom 13:1-2).

Even though we are no longer under the Law of the Old Testament yet for conscience sake Paul states here that we are to submit to governing authorities so far as it does not violate the clear teaching of Scripture.²³ When Pharaoh commanded the midwives to kill all male Hebrew children at birth, many of them did not obey because of their fear of God. The Bible forbids murder. We are not to obey the government when asked to do that which is immoral as defined by the Bible. Daniel and all subjects of Nebuchadnezzar in the third chapter of Daniel were commanded to worship a golden image Nebuchadnezzar had made. If they refused they were to be throne into the fiery furnace. Daniel's friends: Shadrach, meshack and Abednego refused and were thrown into the fiery furnace. We are not to worship anyone but God and we are to continue worshiping God when told not to even if it results in the death of the body. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Paul in Romans Chapter 13 gives examples of what he means by submitting to governing authorities: we are to pay taxes to whom tax is due because the government is there to serve and protect our God given rights.²⁴ I do not claim to be a Biblical expert, at present anyway, of what is meant by God given rights, but I assume that when these rights are violated, if we chose not to submit to the government in the violation of these rights, we must be willing to suffer the consequences such as imprisonment, death or whatever else that entails.²⁵ The first century Christians forfeited their lives because they refused to deny Jesus as Lord.

A fourth area all believers have in common is in what the Bible teaches concerning the Biblical concept of relationship in marriage. The Bible teaches that the man is to love his wife as Christ loved the church and that the woman is to submit to and obey her husband in all things.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. . . . So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body." (Eph 5:25, 28-30).

"Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything." (Eph 5:22-24).

The Scripture commands that the man is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. This means first of all that he must be willing to give up his life for her as Christ did for us. Second, it means that the man is to serve his wife and family as Jesus serves the church, "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." To serve means to help his wife and children become all that Christ called them to be individually just as Jesus does with us individually, and to make sure their physical, mental, and spiritual needs are met. Third, the Scripture teaches that the man is to love his wife as his own body. Just as you would not hurt or starve your body unnecessarily so the man is to give his wife the same treatment "for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church."

This teaching of Scripture which teaches that the wife is to submit to her husband in all things rubs against the popular philosophy of today which teaches that everyone should have his right to do his own thing. If you are a woman and you are claiming that Jesus is Lord of your life, but do not submit to your husband’s leadership in the home in all areas, then Jesus is not Lord of your life. The Bible teaches that the woman is to submit to her husband as to the Lord. As to the Lord means just as you are to submit to Jesus in all things. The only exception is if the woman is asked to do something which is immoral, then she must be willing to submit to the consequences of obeying Christ’s moral commands. There is a cost to truly be Jesus’ disciple.

Other than what has been stated above, the only other thing that we are subject to is the individual dictates of Jesus to our lives personally as a result of the surrender of our lives to His Lordship. Only you and Jesus know what that is. I realize there are many other commands and admonishments in the New Testament, but they fit under a different category other than what has just been discussed. This will be dealt with later.

Jesus states in Matthew,

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets, I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or one point shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:17-19).

Jesus says three things here: one, He says that He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it; two, that heaven and earth will not pass away until all that is written in the Law is accomplished; and three, if you preach anything contrary to what is written you will be called least in God’s kingdom, but if you teach the truth of the Law you will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

This passage from appearance seems to contradict what we said earlier about Jesus being the end of the Law. It does if we read it by itself, but if we read it in the context of the Bible as a whole it does not. To understand the meaning of the above passage, we need to understand how we as individuals fulfill the Law.

What is the requirement of the Law? Paul states in Galatians, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to perform them." (Gal 3:10). James states, "For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." (James 2:10). Paul states here that if we do not live according to the Law perfectly we are cursed. James states that if we keep the Law and only stumble on the least of the commandments, God will hold us guilty of having broken all the commandments; even the big ones. Someone might say, "You mean if all I ever do is tell a small lie to my mother, I am as guilty as Hitler who murdered six million Jews?" Yes. "How can this be?" There are only two ways to fulfill the Law: one, by obeying it perfectly without sin; or two, if you cannot obey it perfectly then you fulfill the Law by paying its penalty.

What is the penalty of sin? Paul tells us in the book of Romans, "For the wages of sin is death. . ." (Rom 6:23a). There is only one penalty for sin whether great or small: Death! This is why we are held guilty of all the Law if all we ever did is tell a small lie, because the penalty for lying and the penalty for killing six million Jews is the same: Death! This is also why good works do not save us because the only payment for sin that will satisfy sin’s penalty is death, nothing else.

What does the Bible mean by death? Paul tells us in the book of 1 Thessalonians, "And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." (1 Thess 1:9). According to this passage of Scripture death means to be eternally separated from God and the destruction of your soul-life.

Since no one can or has been able to live according to the Law perfectly outside of Jesus, everyone is cursed to fulfill its penalty. God, so to speak, gives us two options in ourselves to fulfill the Law, "Obey it perfectly or pay its penalty." Since no man has been able to fulfill the first option we are all stuck with the second option.