Six Short Rules for Young Christians by Brownlow North 1. Never neglect daily private prayer; and when you pray, remember that God is present, and that He hears your prayers. [Heb. 11:6] 2. Never neglect daily private Bible-reading and, when you read, remember that God is speaking to you and that you are to believe and act upon what He says. I believe all backsliding begins with the neglect of these two rules. [John 5:39] 3. Never let a day pass without trying to do something for Jesus. Every night reflect on what Jesus has done for you, and then ask yourself, what am I doing for Him? [Matthew 5:13-16] 4. If you are in doubt as to a thing being right or wrong, go to your room, and kneel down and ask God’s blessing upon it. [Col. 3:17] If you cannot do this, it is wrong. [Rom. 14:23] 5. Never take your Christianity from Christians, or argue that because such and such people do so and so, that therefore you may. [2 Cor. 10:12] You are to ask yourself, how would Christ act in my place? Strive to follow Him. [John 10:27] 6. Never believe what you feel, if it contradicts God’s Word. Ask yourself, can what I feel be true if God’s Word is true? If both cannot be true, believe God, and make your own heart the liar. [Rom. 3:4, 1 John 5:10-11]

Each Wednesday for the next several weeks, we’re going to work our way through the list of Six Short Rules for Young Christians by Brownlow North. I’ve included the entire list here (as we’ll do every week) and we’ll get started with a closer look at the first rule next Wednesday. But before we do that, I wanted to make a few statements by way of introduction:

1. These are rules for Christians only. You can attempt to do these things apart from the power of God’s Spirit, but they will be a burden to you, not a joy. Self-powered efforts can have the appearance of success for a time, but they fade quickly. If you have not come to trust Christ personally for the forgiveness of your sins, these rules are not what you need.

2. These are not rules for how to become a Christian. Scripture is clear that salvation is “by grace…through faith” [Eph 2:8-10] in Christ alone and that “by works of the law no one will be justified.” [Gal 2:16] You can do every one of the things on this list and you will be no better off in terms of right standing before God than when you began. God has mercifully provided a way to be saved, but this is not it.

3. These are not rules for how to remain a Christian. In the same way that we are not saved by keeping certain rules, neither do we remain saved by keeping them—as if our eternal salvation were dependent solely on our own efforts. Calling these things ‘rules’ implies their importance, but does not mean they are a strict formula for perseverance.

So, if these aren’t rules for how to become or how to remain a Christian, what good are they?

4. These are some of the God-appointed means by which He sanctifies us. Sanctification is the ongoing process, from the moment of conversion to life’s end, by which God transforms His children into the image of Christ. God does this is various ways in each believer’s life, but there are some ways that He commonly uses to facilitate our growth, including things like prayer and Scripture. As such, we must be dedicated to these things and cooperate with the Spirit’s life-changing power within us as we each “work out your own salvation.” [Phil. 2:12]

5. These rules remind us that God has saved His people for good works. We were once slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to God [see Rom 6:20-23]. And while God is a kind, loving, faithful Master, He is still our Master. We were created to glorify God, and we are converted so that we might glorify Him as well. It is not without reason that the Word reminds us that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” [Eph 2:10] and that Jesus died to “purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.” [Titus 2:14] The Scripture consistently reminds us that there are many things God would have us do now that we have been purchased by His blood.

6. Following these rules properly will accomplish much in our lives. Have you ever heard a Christian wish they had prayed less or studied the Scripture less often? And yet we can struggle with consistency in these areas, the result being that we are malnourished in growth and clouded in judgment. Disciplining ourselves to follow these daily rules (not for the sake of checking them off at the end of day, but for the sake of knowing Christ more) will find us better equipped to glorify God, testify to His greatness, and love others the way He loves us.

So, hopefully I’ve made it clear that this list of rules isn’t something we do in order to make ourselves right before God (that is humanly impossible) and that this list of rules isn’t something we do in order to merit God’s continued grace and mercy (still humanly impossible).

And yet, those who are in Christ are not their own—we belong to Him. He has redeemed us, but that isn’t the end of the story. He is molding and shaping us into the image of Christ, and He does so by use of certain means, including the things on this list, which we will discuss in more detail in the weeks to come.