Imitation of Christ
As Gentiles, we are called to ‘imitate apostle Paul, apostle of the Gentiles to imitate Christ’:
“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1, KJV)
How?
Yes, “in words” we are called to SPEAK the SAME Thing – as apostle Paul:
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all SPEAK the SAME thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” – apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 1:10, KJV)
No mandate is given in Scripture to follow anyone else. As long as we choose ‘not’ to “speak the same as apostle Paul”, the verse above clearly implies that there would be “divisions”.
The “earliest” Gentile “churches of God” which “obeyed” apostle Paul’s mandate & writings in the New Testament were “recognized” and had “no other custom/practice” & were “Authored” by “God in Peace”, and not in “confusion” against “what is written through apostle Paul as Commands of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37 – 38, 1 Corinthians 14:33, 1 Corinthians 11:16) and thus it is best we do likewise too instead of remaining otherwise.
Conclusion
If we follow the Gospel as divinely inspired to apostle Paul (Romans 2:16, Romans 16:25, Galatians 1:10 – 12) it is “Good”, and “Good luck” otherwise as the danger of having “believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:2) or ‘missing the prize’ (1 Corinthians 9:24) due to NOT ‘competing according to the Rules’ (2 Timothy 2:5) remains real.
Yes, “believing in Christ” is the “Work of God” (John 6:29).
Here’s an interesting thought:
To follow Christ allegorically, we would be allegorically correct and to follow Christ literally, we may be literally correct. Best may be to do both for both meanings exist in Scripture.
