Jesus in the Epistles

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Because of God's Grace to you, walk like him

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Imitators of Christ

John 13:13-17 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 13:13–17).

36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Paul’s uses can be divided into three groups: (1) To call attention to a comparison even when no conscious mimicking is in mind. The Thessalonians shared suffering at the hands of their compatriots comparable to that experienced by the earliest Judean Christians (1 Thess. 2:14). First Thessalonians 1:6 perhaps belongs here. (2) To follow an example (Phil. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:7, 9 where Paul’s example of self-support is in view). Obedience may also be in mind as references to tradition (2 Thess. 3:6) and command (3:10) demonstrate. (3) An equivalent to “be obedient.” Paul exhorted the Corinthians to follow him not primarily by following his personal example but by following his “ways in Christ” which he taught “everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:16–17). The Corinthians were to follow Paul’s example by heeding his counsel to do all for the glory of God without causing offense (1 Cor. 11:1; cp. 10:23–33). In Eph. 5:1 the command to be imitators is again linked with the previous series of commands, especially that of forgiveness (4:25–32). The image of children obedient to parents is common where the thought of imitation as obedience is primary (1 Cor. 4:14–16; Eph. 5:1).

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