Norms and Standards for the Body of Christ

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.  Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:1-6

Our God is a God of Love. He is a God of Grace. He is also a God of Judgment (consuming fire). We who belong to Him have been declared righteous, based on the atonement of Jesus Christ (The Firstborn) Who received in Himself the judgment for our sins and the sins of the whole human race. Because we do belong to God, however, He as standards for us as members of the Royal Family of God. Even human fathers who are sensible and responsible have standards for their children to learn and practice. The children are taught those standards through a system of discipline which inculcates the family’s code of honor. The children are thusly “trained up” and unless they are especially rebellious, they will maintain those standards through their own adulthood, passing them on to their own children. This is not an accident. It is the plan of God. Fathers pass on their values to the next generations. If the values are godly, it makes for peaceful and prosperous families. If the values are bad or questionable, it makes for chaotic lives and relationships, and negative volition toward God.

“Brotherly love” is our expression of familial love, or phileo, for our fellow believers. The Church is the family of God. We and our Christian brethren belong to the Father for all eternity, and we have a common purpose while we remain on earth. We represent the Sovereign One of the universe, Who has created everything and provided salvation for all mankind. We have a mission to communicate His gospel message to the world. We must support one another in this work, with generous giving, doctrinal teaching, prayer and material help where needed.

“Strangers” in verse 2 is reference to those who are outside our circle of family and close friends. We Christians are to always be hospitable to those we encounter in daily life. Angels—aggelos. It means messengers. Some people have met or been visited by actual angelic beings who were in human form, sent to bring a certain message from God to the one being visited. Abraham was one, on more than one occasion. Lot and his family were escorted out of Sodom by angels. Joseph, Gideon, Balaam and others were visited when God’s people needed special intervention. Mary and Joseph, of course, experienced angelic beings who brought specific instructions at times. It was an angel, remember, who released Peter from prison while the Church prayed for him in Acts chapter 12. In the messages to the Churches in Revelation, the messenger is referred to as an angel of the Church. It is likely that person is the pastor of each Church, since he would be God’s messenger to that congregation.

We do like to contemplate though, don’t we, that some of the strangers we interact with in our lives may actually be angels from God, sent to do for us or give us wisdom. I like to believe that, and we are not told otherwise. If that is the case, we may never know (“unawares”). We can only speculate about it. Whether we ever see or speak with them, we know the elect angels do take interest in our lives and are assigned protective duty regarding us in our ministry (Hebrews 1:14).

Whatever our ministry is, we must keep in our prayers those who are imprisoned for their faith, knowing it could at any time be us and our own families or our Church brethren. It’s hard to think of the horrors Christians have suffered and are suffering in the world. It’s even harder to realize that they are being so abused and we are living in comparative comfort, sometimes complaining about being persecuted because the worldlings don’t want to hear our witness. I speak this to my own shame, while thanking God that I have not had first-hand experience with anything like those horrors our brethren are enduring. We inhabit the same Body of Christ as they who are being so mistreated. 

Verse 4 states that marriage is an honorable institution, ordained by God. The marriage bed is undefiled because it is the physical representation of our spiritual union with our Lord Jesus Christ. Much more than a physical convenience, marriage is a spiritual entity which must be protected from all threats. Our marriage grows as we advance in the Christian life. It deserves our careful nurture, even when we are in personal circumstances we don’t really understand. Like so many other aspects of life, we come to appreciate the meaning of marriage as we grow old together. So, in order to ever comprehend its meaning, we MUST grow old together. One man, one woman, bonded for life. Sexual immorality and adultery are sinful and harmful to the marriage. God judges such wrongs, and we must keep ourselves faithful to our spouse to avoid serious damage to the union.

Money-grubbing ambition is not a good priority in life for believers. We learn contentment as we come to know God’s grace provision for us. Unless one is ridiculously wealthy, there really never is “enough” money. If one is very wealthy, he must build his career around keeping and increasing his wealth. It is a constant distraction. We must be responsible to provide for our households, but constantly seeking riches is not a healthy lifestyle for God’s people. He will not leave us to starve. He is always with us.

What can man do to us?