Behaviour

Examples of good behaviour

Ge 6:22; Lk 1:6

See also Ge 5:24; 2 Ki 18:3; Job 1:8; Jn 1:47; 3 Jn 3; 3 Jn 5–6; 3 Jn 12

Examples of bad behaviour

1 Kings 16:30 The Message

Ahab son of Omri did even more open evil before God than anyone yet—a new champion in evil!

See also Ge 4:8; Ge 6:5; 1 Sa 25:3; 2 Ti 4:14; 3 Jn 9–10

Good behaviour towards God is commanded

Exodus 20:2–11 The Message

I am God, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery. No other gods, only me. No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments. No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name. Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.

Obedience to God’s word

Psalm 1:2 The Message

Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night.

See also Ps 19:7–11; Ps 119:1–4

Good behaviour towards other people is commanded

1 Peter 2:12 The Message

Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

See also Ex 20:12–17; Ps 15:1–5; Pr 12:2 Pr 10:1-31:31 contains much wisdom concerning good and bad behaviour; Mt 5:21–24

Good behaviour does not earn salvation

Ro 3:20; Tt 3:5

See also Ga 2:15–16; Eph 2:8–9; Php 3:9

Good behaviour confirms a believer’s profession of faith

Jas 2:14–19; 2 Pe 1:5–11

See also Mt 7:16–20

Obedience to Jesus Christ and his teachings

Matthew 7:24–25 The Message

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

See also Jn 14:15; Jn 14:23; Jn 15:10; Col 3:16

A believer has died to sin and is alive to God

Romans 6:11–14 The Message

From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did. That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.

See also Ro 6:2; Ro 6:19; Ga 5:16; Ga 5:24–25; Eph 4:22–24; Col 3:1; Col 3:5; Col 3:9–10; 1 Th 5:5–8