The Elements of a Christian Home- Christians

Introduction

Today we are going to begin a 5 week sermon series on “The Elements of a Christian Home”.

If you are like me when you think of elements your mind goes back to science class and the Periodic Table of the Elements. These are the basic building block of everything in our universe.

Over the next several weeks we are going to examine the basic building blocks that, when combined together, will produce a truly Christian home.

Ephesians chapter 5 is going to be the foundational scripture passage for all of the elements that we will discuss.

The first element that we are going to deal with is also the most basic to the formation of a Christian Home and that is Christians!

If we are to ever have truly Christian homes, it is necessary that each member of the family who is able lives their life as a Christian!

We see a description of this in the beginning portion of Ephesians chapter 5. Some may think that it is purely coincidence that Paul deals in great detail with how we should live our lives individually before he moves to his instruction on the home and the relationships within it.

However, I do not believe that there are coincidences in the Word of God. I think Paul knew that the home could never be what it ought to be if each member were not committed first to Christ.

If we are to have a real Christian home, each member of the family-husbands, wives, children must be:

Saved (Vs. 1-2)

A Christian home will never develop if the members of the home do not each have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ love us so much that He was willing to pay the price for our sins upon the cross of Calvary. He died in your place so that you could find forgiveness and eternal life in Him.

The unfortunate reality is that there are many who are attempting to build a Christian home who have not entered into a personal relationship with Christ. This is a recipe for failure.

The Christian home requires a husband/father who knows Christ, a wife/mother who is saved, and children who, if they are of age to comprehend, have placed their faith in Jesus!

It would be a wonderful idea to sit down as a family and share your testimony of salvation with one another. If you do not have a testimony of salvation it is time that you get one!

Jesus Christ died on the cross for yours sins, rose again three days later, ascended to the father and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God, ready to intercede on your behalf. All that is necessary is that you place your faith in HIM!

This is the most fundamental part of being a Christian but it is not all that being a Christian entails for to be called a Christian means to be an imitator of Christ.

You must not only be saved but also:

Separated from Sin (Vs. 3-13)

If you want to be a “Christian”, there are some things that you must separate yourself from.

We cannot rightly call ourselves Christians if we are unwilling to separate from those behaviors and activities that are contrary to holiness and godliness.

Paul give a number of specific behaviors that we are to separate ourselves from as we follow Christ.

He begins with sexual sins (fornication & uncleanness)- we cannot be followers of Christ while engaging in sexual activity outside of the boundaries God has set forth.

Then he names covetousness- the unhealthy desire for that which belongs to another. -we must beware of greed that would motivate us to chase after temporal riches.

He then deals with the sins of the tongue (Vs. 5)- filthiness- obscenity, foolish talking- conversation without purpose or substance, jesting- coarse joking. We must guard our tongues if we profess to be a “Christian.”

We must guard our tongues if we profess to be a Christian.

Paul warns that those who habitually practice sin will have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. Those who refuse to separate from known sin put forth evidence that their conversion to Christ is not sincere.

(Vs. 7)- We who are believers in Christ are not to any longer live as those who have rejected Christ. We are to separate ourselves from those who practice sin.

We have been made children of light by our faith in Christ and now we are to walk as children of the light. We must shun the darkness of the old life and of this world that we may walk in the way that is pleasing to the Lord.

As the light shines upon our live it will expose our sinful behavior as well as exposing our association with those who habitually practice sin.

The Christian home will be made up of members who have separated themselves from these sinful behaviors and sinful relationships in order to follow Christ.

Surrendered to the Will of God (Vs. 14-17)

A “Christian” will be deliberately surrendered to knowing and doing the will of God.

A Christian home will be made up of a husband, wife, and children who have a sincere desire to seek out and to carry out the will of God for their lives.

We will never have a Christian home if each member of the home is only interested in going their own way. There must be a careful and deliberate searching for the will of God and then a sincere desire to act on what is revealed to us.

We can ill afford to waste time selfishly following our own will and our own plans when God has a perfect plan for our lives.

Imagine what a wonderful harmony would exist in a home where the husband, the wife, and the children are each sincerely seeking the will of God and living according to the wisdom they have received from God.

We must admit that we need wisdom from God. We do not have the wisdom to do as we should on our own.

Spirit-Filled (Vs. 18-20)

A “Christian” should also be fully yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit in their life.

A Christian home is made up of a husband, a wife, and children who are constantly led by the Spirit of God.

In our role as a husband and father we ought to be always striving to be sensitive to the leadership of the Spirit of God as we lead our family.

In your role as a wife and mother you ought to have a sincere desire to yield yourself to the Spirit’s influence as you care for your husband and children.

In your role as a child you ought to be allowing the Spirit of God to direct you as you grow and mature and as you respond to the authority that God has given to your parents.

There will never disharmony or division in the home if every member of the family is fully yielded to the Spirit of God’s control!

Conclusion

If we want a Christian home we must be sure that we are living as Christians.

Have you placed your faith in Christ for salvation?

Have you separated yourself from sin and immorality?

Have you surrendered your will to the will of God?

Have you sought to yield yourself fully to the Spirit of God’s control?