Are Bible-believing Christians “radical”?
Time and again, we hear that Christians who live faithfully according to the Bible and thereby distance themselves from secular society are “radical.” The word “radical” usually has negative connotations. It should be noted that God does not differentiate between “radical” and “moderate” or “liberal” Christians. For God, there are only two groups of people: those who fear Him and obey His commandments, and those who do not. God wants us humans to love Him with all our hearts. Loving God means obeying His commandments, which He reveals to us in the Bible. Anyone who obeys God and does what pleases Him is a child of God and is under His blessing. But anyone who intentionally disregards His commandments does not belong to God.
Those who consistently live according to God's Word are not "radical," but rather demonstrate that they love God and respect His will. Those who want to serve God must be willing to accept His commandments as the standard for their lives. This in turn means that we must change attitudes and lifestyles that contradict God's will. For those who love God cannot simultaneously do things that displease God. However, if we sincerely confess our sins to God, we can receive forgiveness and have peace with God again. Furthermore, God wants us to allow our minds to be renewed by His Word. In this way, we can draw closer to our Creator and find our true purpose. The example we humans should follow is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In his earthly life, Jesus demonstrated that faith in him requires a willingness to sacrifice. Jesus led a very humble existence among people. Throughout his mission, Jesus endured hatred and persecution. Those who want to follow Jesus must also be prepared to be persecuted. But Jesus promises that everyone who is willing to make sacrifices for their faith will be richly rewarded by God. Furthermore, God's love and care are extended to all who remain faithful to Him, even under the most difficult circumstances.
Many people who call themselves "Christians" follow Jesus only half-heartedly. While some want to cling to their old, comfortable lives, most are simply unwilling to renounce their sins and submit to God's will. At the same time, they accuse those who conscientiously do so of being "radical." Instead of following Jesus on the narrow path of life, they prefer to swim with the tide of the masses that leads to damnation. The result is that their faith is weak, and the necessary change of heart fails to occur. God wants Christians to model for others what a godly life looks like. A "liberal" Christianity that denies God's commandments and replaces them by own values and morals is of no use to God.
Whenever God wants to change us, it is always for our benefit. In this respect, there is no reason to stop us from trusting God and submitting our lives to His guidance. If we do this willingly, we will have fellowship with God that will continue for all eternity. However, those who refuse to change their lives and renounce sin to the very end will receive God's just judgment and be lost forever and ever...
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Psalm 1,1-6
Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart— they do no wrong but follow his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me. How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord, teach me your decrees.
Psalm 119,1-12
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Matthew 5,10-12
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Matthew 7,12-14
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Mark 8,34-38
Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Mark 10,28-31
“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Luke 10,16
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Luke 11,27-28
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. hen you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8,31-32
"If you love me, keep my commands. (...) Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. (...) Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
John 14,15 + 21 + 23-24
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12,2
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
2nd Timothy 3,12
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2,11-14
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
James 4,4
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
1st Peter 1,14-16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1st John 2,15-17