Example
EXAMPLE
A copy or pattern. In a moral sense, is either taken for a type, instance, or precedent for our admonition, that we may be cautioned against the faults or crimes which others have committed, by the bad consequences which have ensued from them; or example is taken for a pattern for our imitation, or a model for us to copy after. That good examples have a peculiar power above naked precepts to dispose us to the practice of virtue and holiness, may appear by considering, “
1. That they most clearly express to us the nature of our duties in their subjects and sensible effects. General precepts form abstract ideas of virtue; but in examples, virtues are most visible in all their circumstances.
2. Precepts instruct us in what things are our duty, but examples assure us that they are possible.
3. Examples, by secret and lively incentive, urge us to imitation. We are touched in another manner by the visible practice of good men, which reproaches our defects, and obliges us to the same zeal, which laws, though wise and good, will not effect.” The life of Jesus Christ forms the most beautiful example the Christian can imitate. Unlike all others, it was absolutely perfect and uniform, and every way accommodated to our present state. In him we behold all light without a shade, all beauty without a spot, all the purity of the law, and the excellency of the Gospel. Here we see piety without superstition, and morality without ostentation; humility without meanness, and fortitude without temerity; patience without apathy, and compassion without weakness; zeal without rashness, and beneficience without prodigality. The obligation we are under to imitate this example arises from duty, relationship, engagement, interest, and gratitude.
See article JESUS CHRIST. Those who set bad examples should consider,
1. That they are the ministers of the devil’s designs to destroy souls.
2. That they are acting in direct opposition to Christ, who came to save, and not to destroy.
3. That they are adding to the miseries and calamities which are already in the world.
4. That the effects of their example may be incalculable on society to the end of time, and perhaps in eternity; for who can tell what may be the consequence of one sin, on a family, a nation, or posterity?
5. They are acting contrary to the divine command and thus exposing themselves to final ruin. Massillon’s Ser. vol. 2: ser. 9 Eng. Trans. Clarke’s Looking Glass, ch. 48. Tillotson’s Ser. ser. 189, 190. Barrow’s Works, vol. 3: ser. 2 and 3. Mason’s Ser. vol. 2: ser. 17.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Example
(, Jud 1:7), especially CHRIST’S (, 1Pe 2:21) for the imitation of his followers (, Joh 13:15; elsewhere in other relations, Heb 4:11; Heb 8:5; Heb 9:23; Jam 5:10; 2Pe 2:6), and subordinately pastors for their flack (, Php 3:17; 2Th 3:9; 1Ti 4:12; 1Pe 5:3, etc.). See Flatt, Das Beispiel Jesu (in the Magaz. fur chr. Doymat. 1:179 sq.); Keil, De Exemplo Christi (Lips. 1792; Opusc. 1:100- 135); Oeder, De Christi imitatione (in his Obss. sacr. 1:33-56); Schmid, De perverso Christi imitatione (Lips. 1710);, Stober, De exemplorum imitatione (Argent. 1771-6); Wolf, De exemplis caute adhibendis (Lips. 1785-6); Kempis, Imitaio of Christ (often published).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Example (2)
“a copy or pattern, in a moral sense, is either taken for a type, instance, or precedent for our admonition, that we may be cautioned against the faults or crimes which others have committed, by the bad consequences which have ensued from them; or example is taken for a pattern for our imitation, or a nmodel for us to copy after. That good examples have a peculiar power above naked precepts to dispose us to the practice of virtue and holiness may appear by considering, 1. That they most clearly express to us the nature of our duties in their subjects and sensible effects. General precepts form abstract ideas of virtue, but in examples, virtues are most visible in all their circumstances. 2. Precepts instruct us in what things are our duty, but examples assure us that they are possible. 3. Examples, by secret and lively incentive, urge us to imitation. We are touched in another manner by the visible practice of good men, which reproaches our defects, and obliges us to the same zeal which laws, though wise and good, will not effect. The life of Jesus Christ forms the most beautiful example the Christian can imitate. Unlike all others, it was absolutely perfect asmd uniform, and every way accommodated to our present state. In him we behold all light without a shade,” all beauty without a spot, all the purity of the law and the excellency of the Gospel. Here we see piety without superstition, and moraliter without ostentation; hunaility without mean and fortitude without temerity; patience without apathy, and compassion without weakness; zeal without rashness, and beneficence without prodigality. The obligation we are under to imitate this example arises from ditty, relationship, engagement, interest, and gratitude. SEE JESUS CHRIST. Those who set bad examples should consider,
1. That they are the ministers of the devil’s designs to destroy souls.
2. That they are acting in direct opposition to Christ, he who came to save and not to destroy.
3. That they are adding to the misery and calamities which are already in the world.
4. That the effects of their example may be incalculable on society to the end of time, and perhaps in eternity; for who can tell what may be the consequence of one sin on a family, a nation, or posterity?
5. They are acting contrary to the divine command, and thus exposing themselves to final ruin” (Tillotson, Sermons, ser. 189, 190; Barrow, Works, volume 3, ser. 2 and 3; Flavel, Works, 1:29, 30; Dwight, Theology, ser. 54; Christ our Example, by Caroline Fry).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Example
of Christ (1 Pet. 2:21; John 13:15); of pastors to their flocks (Phil. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:9; 1 Tim. 4:12; 1 Pet. 5:3); of the Jews as a warning (Heb. 4:11); of the prophets as suffering affliction (James 5:10).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Example
EXAMPLE
A. Linquistic usage.The word example (or ensample) occurs 15 times in the AV and 17 times in the RV of the NT. In the two versions it stands 7 times (1Co 10:6, Php 3:17, 1Th 1:7, 2Th 3:9, 1Ti 4:12, Tit 2:7 RV, 1Pe 5:3) for , once (1Ti 1:18 RV) for , once (1Co 10:11) in adverbial phrase for , 5 times (Joh 13:15, Heb 4:11; Heb 8:5, Jam 5:10, 2Pe 2:6) for , once (Act 20:35) as partial rendering of , once (Jud 1:7) for , once (Mat 1:19) as partial rendering of , and once (1Pe 2:21) for . For our present purpose Mat 1:19 falls quite out of account. (Jud 1:7) is a specimen, an (illustrative) exhibitin this instance set forth as a warning, though of itself this simple form hardly suggests either imitation or shunning, as does. The other passages all more or less illustrate the topic in hand. Besides these, there are, of course, many other passages which, though not employing the term example, are no less relevant and significant than these.
, whether tr. example or pattern, type, has generally an important bearing upon our topic. Primarily the mark, impression of a stroke or blow (Joh 20:25 print), hence figure, image (Act 7:43), is generally pattern, type, example. Sometimes the example is by way of warning, as 1Co 10:6; 1Co 10:11. Generally, however, it is an example to be imitated. A corresponding sense is to be ascribed to (1Ti 1:16, 2Ti 1:13). [In the latter passage Hofmanns and Cremers interpretation Abbild seems hardly warranted. Timothy is to hold fast the type of doctrine which he had received from Paul, and this type is not regarded as Timothys copy of Pauls, but as something which had now become common to both]. is a concrete illustration or exhibition, designed for imitation or for warninggenerally the former. In one instance in the NT is used for after-representation (Ger. Abbild). is a writing-copy (model), to be imitated by the pupil. Hence an example set before one for close imitation. This is perhaps the most vivid of the NT terms indicative of Christs exampleship. The term itself implies the strictest imitation; though both the context and the general teaching of the NT will save us from the error of conceiving Christs example as something formal and external.
Among the other terms which give expression to the idea of Christian example, the most prominent are and (AV follow and follower, RV imitate and imitator). The verb occurs 4 times in the NT (2Th 3:7; 2Th 3:9, Heb 13:7, 3Jn 1:11), in one of these instances in connexion with . The noun occurs 6 times (1Co 4:16; 1Co 11:1, Eph 5:1, 1Th 1:6; 1Th 2:14, Heb 6:12at 1Pe 3:13 the reading is to be rejected), in every instance signifying imitator in the ethico-religious sense. In Eph 5:1 we find , in Heb 6:12 it is the exemplary saints who are to be imitated, in 1Co 4:16 St. Paul exhorts to the imitation of himself, rather than to turn away from him, inasmuch as he was their father in the faith. In 1Co 11:1 he bids his readers imitate him as he imitates Christ. In 1Th 1:6 it is imitators of us and of the Lord, while in 1Th 2:14 it is the churches of God in Judaea, of whom the Thessalonians had become imitators.
Jesus in gathering His disciples about Him generally bade men follow Him (; in one instance, Mat 4:19, ). Primarily the expression means no more than to accompany as a disciple, and yet manifestly it became, in our Lords use of it, one of the most characteristic and intensely significant expressions of the idea of discipleship in all its deepest import. So where Christ bids the rich young ruler sell all that he has and come, follow me, or in the words on taking up the cross and following, and elsewhere (see esp. Mat 19:21; Mat 10:36; Mat 16:24, Joh 12:26; Joh 21:22). The verb is not found in the Epistles, except at 1Co 10:4.
Christ is represented as the imagewhich Christians are to resemble (Rom 8:29, 1Co 15:49, 2Co 3:18, Col 3:10). But those passages also which represent Christ as the image of God must be taken no less into account; for Christs claim to an unconditional personal authority is expressly based upon the fact that He is the imagethe apprehensible representationof the invisible God (Joh 1:18; Joh 14:6 ff., 2Co 4:4, Col 1:15, Heb 1:3in the last passage the word is ). In this connexion mention must be made also of the expressions children of God, of your Father, of the Highest (Mat 5:9; Mat 5:45, Luk 6:35; Luk 20:36). Also in the Epistles the filial relation is made to imply the following of the example of God in Christ (e.g. Eph 5:1; Eph 5:8; 1Pe 1:14, 1Jn 5:21).
Besides the terms already considered, which give more or less formal expression to the Christian idea of exampleship, there are many more, whichsome of them in the most elementary and untechnical termsno less definitely express the same thought. The very idea of discipleship in our Lords teaching involved the idea of the personal exampleship of the Master (see esp. Mat 10:24-25, Luk 14:26-27; Luk 14:33, Joh 13:35; Joh 15:8). The same thought is expressed in Eph 4:20 Ye have not so learned Christ. In Heb 6:20 Jesus is called our Forerunner. His temptations are typical (Heb 2:9-18; Heb 4:15), and He is our example in the enduring of temptation (Heb 3:1 ff; Heb 12:3 ff.). True believers have the mind of Christ (1Co 2:16, Php 2:5, cf. Rom 8:6; Rom 8:27; Rom 12:2). Christ is the life, and as such is the light of men (Joh 1:4; Joh 1:9; Joh 1:14; Joh 1:18, cf. Joh 3:19; Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5; Joh 12:35-36; Joh 12:46, 1Jn 1:1-3). He is Himself the way, etc. (Joh 14:6). Believers are to put on Christ (Rom 13:14, Gal 3:27, Eph 4:24, Col 3:10). The Christians walk is to be according to Christ (see esp. Joh 12:35, 1Jn 1:7; 1Jn 2:6, Eph 5:2; Eph 5:8, Col 2:6). Finally,for an exhaustive study of the linguistic usage is not intended,many of the most characteristic expressions of the thought of exampleship in Christianity are effected without the use of any peculiar terms. The word as, or something else equally simple and direct, often hest serves the purpose (e.g. Mat 5:48; 1Pe 1:15, Eph 4:32; Eph 5:2, 1Jn 3:2; 1Jn 4:7-21).
B. The Doctrine
i. The example of Christ.1. In the teaching of Jesus no truth is more essential than that God the Father Himself is the original and absolute example for all personal life. The Law is holy, for it is the expression of the will of God. But the letter apart from Gods immediate personal will is dead. As Jesus expounds the Law, the disciples learn to look through the particular commandment to the personal will of the living God. It is not enough to keep the commandment in the most scrupulous fashion, as if it were something standing apart and complete in itself (Mat 5:20). We have to do directly with God Himself. His will and personal nature are our sole and absolute standard (Mat 5:44-48). In answer to the young ruler who asked what good thing he should do in order to have eternal life, Jesus refuses to be regarded as one who might propose some novel goodsome good other than that which is already known from God. Apart from God there is no good (Mat 19:16-17). To love God is the first commandment; and the coming of His kingdom and the doing of His will should be mans first concern (Mat 22:38; Mat 6:10; Mat 6:33).
But Jesus does more than point to God as the absolute standard for personal life. He comes to make God known. It is not enough to know that God is the standard, so long as Gods nature is unknown. So Jesus was sent as the perfect revelation of the Father (Joh 14:9-10). Not that God was hitherto unknown: what the Jews worshipped they knew (Joh 4:22). Jesus came to complete the revelation of God. He gives a perfect interpretation of the mind and will of God, and in His own Person perfectly exemplifies that mind and will. He is conscious of perfect accord with the will of the Father (Mat 12:50; Mat 5:10-11, Joh 5:19; Joh 4:34; Joh 6:38; Joh 8:29; Joh 14:31). His words and acts He has learned from the Father, even from the Fathers example (Joh 8:38; Joh 5:17; Joh 5:19). This principle determines His whole treatment of the Mosaic Law. The inevitable limitations of mere statutes He overcomes by an appeal to the Divine example and order (as in the case of the law of the Sabbath and the law of marriage, Joh 5:17, Mat 19:4-9, in the latter case appealing also to Scripture as well as to fact). And because He knows God as the Son knows the Fatherimmediately and perfectly (Joh 7:29; Joh 8:55; Joh 10:15, Mat 11:27), and because He perfectly fulfils the will of God, Jesus demands an unconditional following, which shall consist, not in copying the outward form, but in the most inward appropriation of the ruling principle of His life (Mat 7:21-27; Mat 28:20; Mat 10:32-39; Mat 11:28-29; Mat 20:24-28; Mat 16:24-25; Mat 20:22; Mat 26:39; Mat 8:19-22; Mat 19:21, Joh 15:8-10; Joh 8:12; Joh 12:35-36; Joh 12:44-50; Joh 13:12-17; Joh 15:4-7; Joh 17:21-23; Joh 21:22). He does not set Himself forth as a substitute for the Father, but as the One who knows God and teaches us to know Him. He is the Light of Life, the Way, the Truth, the Life, the visible manifestation of God (Joh 8:12; Joh 14:6; Joh 14:9). Christs claim to absolute authority (which expressly included the judgment of the world, e.g. Joh 5:22) is based not upon His prophetic office alone, but upon that unity of word and deed which constituted the perfect revelation of the will of God. Jesus own Person was not left out of His gospel (cf. Harnacks statement, Wesen des Christentums, p. 91: Nicht der Sohn, sondern allein der Vater gehrt in das Evangelium, wie es Jesus verkndigt hat, hinein). Not, indeed, as one doctrine among many, nor as an addition to the doctrine of the Father, did Jesus present the truth concerning Himself. But He claimed to be the perfect and unique embodiment and exemplification of the Fathers will. Yet He is more than mere example. He does not merely show the way; He is the Way. At the same time He is the Truth and the Life. He gives not only the perfect example but also life-power. In this sense, therefore, Jesus, even according to His own teaching, is more than an element in the gospel: He is the very essence of the gospel.
2. Christs demand of an unconditional personal following is reproduced in the Apostolic preaching. But after Christs passion, resurrection, and exaltation, the thought of His exampleship is expanded and heightened. The Christ who died for the sin of the world is the perfect revelation of Gods holy love (e.g. 1Jn 4:9-10), while His exaltation, coupled with the gift of His Spirit, affords assurance that the coveted likeness to Christ and the promised sharing of His glory shall be realized (e.g. Rom 8:2-3; Rom 8:26-39). The thought of Christ as our example is so variously and abundantly applied by the NT writers, that it will suffice here to notice particularly only the more characteristic passages. The concreteness of the revelation in a personal life is most frequently and most strikingly set forth by St. John (Joh 1:4; Joh 1:14; Joh 1:18, 1Jn 1:3; 1Jn 4:2-3). Jesus is the perfect example of the life of faith, even its Author and Perfecter (Heb 12:2). He was tempted like as we are (Joh 2:9-18; Joh 4:15), and is the perfect pattern of patient endurance of all temptation, even unto death (Joh 3:1 ff., Joh 12:3 ff., 1Pe 1:11; 1Pe 2:21-23; 1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 4:1; cf. Gethsemane and Calvary in the Gospels). He is our example of mercy and forgiveness (Eph 4:32, Col 3:13, 2Co 2:10); in self-denial and humble service (Php 2:5 ff., 2Co 8:9, Rom 15:2-3; Rom 15:7); in meekness, gentleness, and forbearance (2Co 10:1, Col 3:13, Eph 4:2; 1Pe 2:23); in the love that suffers, labours, and dies for others (1Jn 3:16, 2Co 4:10; 2Co 5:14-15, Eph 5:2; Eph 5:25, Gal 6:2, Php 2:5 ff.); in holiness and purity (Eph 4:20 ff., 1Pe 1:15, 1Jn 3:1 ff; 1Jn 4:17). And then, more broadly, believers are exhorted to put on Christ, or the new man, renewed after Christs image (Rom 13:14, Eph 4:13-15; Eph 4:24, Col 3:10-11, Gal 3:27); and to walk in, or according to, Christ (Eph 5:8, Col 2:6, 1Jn 1:7; 1Jn 2:6). The highest destiny of believers is to be made like Christ (Rom 8:29, 1Jn 3:2). In this connexion the significance of those passages in which Christ is called the image of God (Col 1:15, Heb 1:3, cf. Joh 1:14) should not be overlooked; for God has given us this perfect revelation in a Person just in order that we might find in Him our true example and archetype.
In addition to these and all other specific expressions of the thought of Christs exampleship, there stands the great fact that the whole picture which the Evangelists drew of Jesus was made under the powerful influence of the twofold conviction that He was the image of the Father, so that by Him we know the Christ-like God, and that He was the Ideal Mannot an ideal creation of human fancy, but the Ideal-Real come from God Himself.
3. It has already been briefly noted that Christ Himself as well as His disciples bore witness that He was to His own much more than mere example. The relation of His followers to Jesus is something more than that of those who are striving to copy a model. Christ is example in a deeper sense. He is not only type, but also archetype (e.g. 1Co 15:20 ff., 1Co 15:45-49, Rom 8:29, Heb 2:11-12; Heb 2:17). An example for personal life must in any case be something better than a mould for the multiplication of its own form. Personality is interested in inward traits and principles, which are to be independently developed in the greatest variety of forms. But Jesus relation to us lies even deeper than this. He is the archetype, the original, of our personal life. Now an original is not passively there to be copied; it sustains some sort of active causal relation to the copy. So Christ is our example in this more vital sense: He is at once example and original (admirably expressed in Ger. Vorbild and Urbild). As our original, Christ not only (as in the case of mere examples in personal life) mysteriously impresses us, but also imparts life and power through His Spirit (Joh 1:16-17; Joh 5:24-26, Rom 8:2, Gal 2:20, Col 3:3-4, 1Jn 5:11 ff., and many more passages). He who, having fulfilled the Law, is henceforth Himself the Law (Rom 10:4, Gal 3:24, 1Co 9:21), has engaged to work likeness unto Himself in all who believe. So we may say with Augustine: Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt. If Christ is to us mere example, without renewing power, we are, after all, under law, and not under grace. But the Word became not only flesh, but also spirit (Khler, Wissenseh. d. ehr. Lehre3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , p. 510. See Joh 20:21-22; Joh 6:63; Joh 7:39, 2Co 3:17-18). Yet the inward operation of the Spirit in producing likeness to Christ has constant and express reference to the historic Christ (Joh 16:14, 1Jn 4:2-3).
4. The actual validity of the picture of Christ as example implies the genuine humanness of the life and the adequate fulness and clearness of the picture. Furthermore, the example must be capable of universal application. As to the humanness of the life of Jesus, it is sufficient in this connexion to point out that the Biblical witness is without a trace of questioning as to its reality. Even the highest confessions of Jesus as the Son of God are never at the expense of the patent fact that He is truly man. As to the pictures of Christ in the Gospels, while these are not biographies, as that term is commonly understood, they do give a wonderfully luminous and vivid portrait of the personal life of our Lord. Using the historical material for the sake of its content of truth, they show us Jesus the Witness, in word and deed, of the holy love of God, and as the Bearer of love and truth and life to the world. Affirming love to God and man as the supreme law, He Himself fulfilled that law, gladly laying down His life that He might glorify the Father and bring salvation to the world. And this life of unimagined self-sacrifice He led to the end, in spite of manifold and tremendous temptations, without once deviating from the path appointed by the Father. And with it all there was no ascetical denial of the values that are primarily temporal: nor did He lose either joy or repose of soul through His sufferings and conflicts. A marvellous openness in word and deed was ever characteristic of Him who came a Light into the world. Besides all this, here is a life that manifestly reached its goal. The course of that life had been one continual renunciation of proffered worldly advantage and success; nevertheless its end was a unique triumph. For the real end was not Calvary, but the exaltation to the right hand of God. However hidden this end may be from the unbelieving world, Christian faith sees in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ the one supreme proof that righteousness cannot fail. This is the conviction of righteousness, because Jesus has gone to the Father (Joh 16:10). Without such a revelation of the appointed end of faith and righteousness the example would be incomplete, and Christian ethics could not maintain its ideal.
This picture of Jesus is capable of universal application. It is true the vocation of Jesus was unique. And yet the principles which controlled that lifeperfect trust in the Father, and perfect love to God and manare manifestly applicable under all possible circumstances. Such love as Christs is the fulfilling of the Law. In one respect only is there a seeming limitationfor it is only seemingto the universality of Christs example: He is without the struggle with inward sinHe can be no model for the transformation of a sinful life. Inasmuch, however, as the processes of renewal are not our affairwe need only to be joined to our Lord in faith and to follow Himthis is no lack. Although a Jew of the first century, Jesus is the Son of Man, in everything essential to personality free from the limitations of His own time and people. He is not less the kinsman of all peoples; He is the contemporary of every age.
5. We have further to consider the practical relation of the disciple to the example of Christ. We are commanded to follow, to imitate, to put on Christ, to follow in his steps. But how are we to conceive the problem of discipleship? For, while the Church has never failed to hear the call of Jesus, Follow me! the conception of discipleship has sometimes been much distorted. In the Middle Ages the dominant thought was asceticism. The ascetic imitation of Christ, of which St. Francis is the most noteworthy example, selects certain traits in His life, and by undue emphasis upon these, together with a neglect of others, produces a distorted image. Then there have been enthusiasts who thought to be able to follow Christ in sharing His redemptorial workexaggerating and perverting such passages as Php 3:10, Gal 6:2, 1Jn 3:16. Again, rationalism has made of Christ simply a model of virtues to be copied. These three are perhaps the most important types of perversion of the NT idea of Christs exampleship; but the three appear in various modifications and combinations. The only safeguard against such errors seems to lie in a consistent emphasis upon the integrity of the Biblical picture of Christ.
Among evangelical theologians the term imitation of Christ is very commonly objected to as implying merely a formal copying of the Lords example. The word, of course, can be so understood; but so also may the word following. In any event it must be insisted upon that the words imitate and imitator in the NT ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ) have no such unevangelical meaning.
The believers practical attitude to the example of Christ may be profitably studied in the light of a few characteristic passages: (a) Answering to the frequent declaration of the absoluteness of Christs authority (e.g. Mat 23:8; Mat 23:10, Eph 1:22, Php 2:9-11), there are many passages which emphasize the obligation of exclusive loyalty to Him (e.g., 2Co 10:5; 2Co 11:3, Col 3:17, Eph 4:5). (b) We are to have the mind of Christ, and to set the mind on the things above, where Christ is (Col 3:1 ff., Rom 12:2, Eph 4:23). (c) We shall be transformed into the image of Christ by beholding Him, though the energy that produces the result comes from the Lord the Spirit (2Co 3:18see also Drummond, The Changed Life). (d) Complementing the thought of meditation as a means to Christ-likeness, there are various passages which set forth the more strenuous elements in the following of Christ (e.g. Php 3:10-16). (e) Several passages bid us put on Christ or the new man (Rom 13:14, Eph 4:24, Col 3:10 ff.). This relates to the formation of a Christian character. (f) Jesus left us an example, that we should follow in his steps (1Pe 2:21). Just as the mind of Christ means inward renewal, and putting on Christ means character-building, so to walk in his steps may fairly serve as a motto for the exercise of Christian love in all social relations. (g) The example of Christ in His personal consummation is the believers most glorious hope (Rom 8:29, 1Jn 3:2-3, cf. Eph 3:19). And the hope set within us is guaranteed by the earnest of the Spirit. We already have a measure of Christ-likenesswe are now sons of God, and His power is working in us to finish the work begun (Rom 8:23, 1Jn 3:1-2; 1Jn 4:17, Eph 3:14-20, Col 3:10, Php 1:6).
But all these various aspects of our relation to our Example presuppose the vital fellowship of a personal faith. No imitation of Christ is according to the gospel if it is anything else than an essential aspect of the life of faith. With all its rare beauty and power, the Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis (?) is hardly conceived in the plane of the perfect law of liberty. And yet, over against the widespread questioning of the universal applicability of Christs example, as well as the ethical shallowness and indefiniteness of a religion of mere feeling, too much stress cannot be laid upon the vocation of the Christian to take up the cross daily and follow the Lord. This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments (1Jn 5:3). The full gospel principle of the freedom of the Spirit being presupposed, the question, What would Jesus do? (see Sheldon, In His Steps), is not unwarranted. But to walk in the Spirit implies that we are not seeking merit or virtue for our own satisfaction, but are seeking to glorify God. To do all in the name of the Lord Jesusno more comprehensive or profound expression of the fundamental law of Christian living could be conceived; and just this, after all, is what is meant by following Christ. Our task is not in the narrower sense to copy Him, but to receive His Spirit, to understand His mind, to let Him be formed within us. So we shall also walk in Him.
ii. The example of the followers of Christ.One is your Teacherone is your Master, even the Christ (Mat 23:8; Mat 23:10). Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (1Co 3:11). This relation of our Lord to us is unique and exclusive. He is our life. We have been renewed after His image. But just because this is sojust because He does beget in His followers a likeness to Himselfthose who bear His image are fitted to be examples; only, of course, their exampleship is relative and mediate. He who said concerning Himself, I am the light of the world (Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5), said also to His disciples, Ye are the salt of the earth, ye are the light of the world (Mat 5:13-16). But they are this just because they are His followers, and in virtue of what they have from Him. In various ways our Lord recognizes the value of good example; for instance, where He warns against the bad example of the scribes and Pharisees (Mat 23:1-3). He prays for His disciples: As thou didst send me into the world even so sent I them into the world (Joh 17:18). They were to be His witnesses; they were to do nothing in their own name. And yet, in order that they might be true witnesses, they must be sanctified in the truth. Their ministry for Christ must be, like Christs own ministry, an intensely personal one. And when the Lord gives to His disciples that example of humble service in washing their feet (Joh 13:5 ff.), and elsewhere (Joh 17:21, Joh 13:35) shows that they shall preach Him through a life of love as well as by word, it cannot be doubted that He places a very high value on the example of His followers.
The NT writers generally, especially St. Paul and St. Peter, lay great stress upon the salutary effect of Christian example (1Pe 2:11 ff; 1Pe 3:1-2; 1Pe 3:15-16, Php 2:15, 1Th 1:7-8, 1Co 7:16, 1Ti 6:1), with special emphasis upon the example of those who are in authority in the Church (1Ti 4:12, Tit 2:7-8, Heb 13:7; 1Pe 5:3). On the other hand, the danger of an example not positively evil but only doubtful is clearly set forth (e.g. 1Co 8:7 ff., Rom 14:13 ff.). St. Paul shows the peculiarity of repeated reference to his own example. Reckoning the passage Act 20:35 as an authentic report, and including all the Epistles that bear his name, there are not fewer than eight passages (Act 20:35, 1Co 4:16; 1Co 7:7-8; 1Co 11:1, Php 3:17; Php 4:9, 2Th 3:7-10, 2Ti 1:13) which distinctly commend to the Churches his own example, and a ninth (1Ti 1:16) in which the element of specific commendation is lacking. This fact is all the more striking because St. Paul is pre-eminent in the energy with which he repudiates all human merit. Christ is all in all. It is St. Paul, moreover, who declares: We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake (2Co 4:5). There is, however, no real incongruity here. An examination of the passages in question will show that St. Paul nowise assumes authority in his own person. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ (1Co 11:1). This is thoroughly characteristic. It is but another way of affirming that his sole purpose is to lead them to purest, simplest devotion to Christ. What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him (1Co 3:5). St. Paul does not refuse to be judged as a minister of Christ and steward of the mysteries of God (1Co 4:1). He is but a servant and a witness. And if there is anything exemplary in him, it is only the faithfulness and sincerity of his own discipleship and service. By the grace of God I am what I am (1Co 15:10). Glorying is excluded. And neither St. Paul nor any other NT writer ever makes the virtuous life of believers a principal proof of the doctrine; it is, however, powerfully confirmatory. The Apostolic doctrine thus outlined is of such simplicity, that its universal acceptance in the Church is hindered only by the same carnal mind that caused many even in St. Pauls day to walk according to man (1Co 3:3).
Literature.The leading recent treatises on Christian ethics, especially Martensen, Frank, Smyth, Kahler (Wissenschaft der christlichen Lehre3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , 3 Teil, 1905), Herrmann3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , 1904, and Haring, 1902; Luthardt, Gesch. der christl. Ethik, 1888, 1893 (English translation of vol. i. 1889); Bosse, Prolegomena zu einer Gesch. des Begriffs Nachfolge Christi, 1895; Kahler, Der sogenannte historische Jesus,2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] etc., 1896, and Dogmatische Zeitfragen, 1898 (2 Heft, pp. 75155); Herrmann, Der Verkehr des Christen mit Gott4 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , 1903 (English translation of an earlier ed.); J. Weiss, Die Nachfolge Christi, etc., 1894; Schlatter, Der Glaube im NT3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] ; Lutgert, Die Liebe im NT, 1905; Feine, Jesus Christus und Paulus, 1902; Scholz, Das personliche Verhaltnis zu Christus und die religiose Unterweisung in ZThK [Note: ThK Zeitschrift f. Theologie u. Kirche.] , 1893; Ullmann, The Sinlessness of Jesus; Fairbairn, Philosophy of the Chr. Religion, 1902, and The Place of Christ in Modern Theology, 1893; Laidlaw, art. Image in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , vol. ii.; J. R. Seeley, Ecce Homo, 1865; Hughes, The Manliness of Christ, 1879; Stalker, Imago Christi, 1889; Drummond, Natural Law in the Spiritual World, and The Changed Life; Sheldon, In His Steps, 1897: F. G. Peabody, Jesus Christ and the Christian Character, 1905; Thomas Kempis (?), The Imitation of Christ.
J. R. van Pelt.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Example
eg-zamp’l (, tupos, a pattern, , hupodeigma, copy representation , hupogrammos, a writing-copy, example): A typical, representative, or illustrative case; a pattern or model for imitation (hupodeigma, Joh 13:15; Heb 8:5 the King James Version; Jam 5:10; hupogrammos, 1Pe 2:21; tupos, 1Ti 4:12 the King James Version) or warning (, degma, a sample, exhibition, Jud 1:7; compare 2Pe 2:6; hupodeigma, Heb 4:11; tupos, 1Co 10:6, 1Co 10:11 ).
Ensample (tupos, 2 Macc 6:28, 31; Phi 3:17; 1Th 1:7; 2Th 3:9; 1Ti 4:12; 1Pe 5:3) and example have the same meaning, but the former is always suggestive of goodness.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Example
Bad
– Admonitions against
Lev 18:2-3; Lev 20:23; Deu 18:9; 2Ch 30:7; Pro 22:24-25; Isa 8:11; Jer 16:12; Jer 17:1-2; Eze 20:18; Hos 4:9; Hos 4:15; Hos 5:5; Zec 1:4; Mat 23:1-3; 1Co 8:9-13; 1Co 10:6; Eph 4:17; 3Jn 1:11 Influence
Good
– General references
Neh 5:8-19; Psa 101:2; 1Th 1:6-8; 1Ti 4:12; Tit 2:7-8; Heb 13:7; Jas 5:10-11; 1Pe 2:11-25; 1Pe 3:5-6; 1Pe 5:3 Influence
God, our example
Lev 11:44; Lev 19:2; Mat 5:48; Luk 6:36; Eph 6:9
Christ, our example
Mar 10:43-45; Mat 20:28; Luk 22:27; Joh 13:13-17; Joh 13:34; Rom 15:2-7; 2Co 8:9; 2Co 10:1; Eph 5:1-2; Phi 2:5-8; Col 3:13; Heb 12:2-3; 1Pe 2:21; 1Pe 3:17-18; 1Pe 4:1; 1Jn 2:6; 1Jn 3:16; Rev 3:21
Paul, our example
– General references
Act 20:35; 1Co 4:16; 1Co 7:7-8; 1Co 11:1; Phi 3:17; Phi 4:9; 2Th 3:7-10; 1Ti 1:16; 2Ti 1:13 Influence
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
EXAMPLE
(1) Christ’s Example to be followed
Mat 11:29; Mat 16:24; Joh 13:15; Rom 15:5; 2Co 10:1; Phi 2:5
Col 3:13; Heb 3:1; Heb 12:2; 1Pe 2:21
(2) Evil Example to be shunned
Lev 20:23; Deu 18:9; Pro 22:24; Pro 22:25; Eze 20:18; Heb 4:11; Heb 12:15
2Pe 3:17
–SEE Evil Associations, ASSOCIATION
& ASSOCIATION
Sinful Imitation, WORLDLINESS
(3) Good Example, General References to
Joh 13:15; 2Th 3:9; 1Ti 4:12; Tit 2:7; Heb 11:4; Jam 5:10
1Pe 2:21
–SEE Good Influence, GOOD
(4) Paul’s Example
Act 20:35; 1Co 4:16; 1Co 7:7; 1Co 11:1; Phi 3:17; Phi 4:9; 2Th 3:7; 2Ti 1:13
(5) Parental. SEE HOME
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Example
primarily “a thing shown, a specimen” (akin to deiknumi, “to show”), denotes an “example” given as a warning, Jud 1:7. Note: The corresponding word in 2Pe 2:6 is No. 2.
see ENSAMPLE, No. 3.
see ENSAMPLE, No. 1.
lit., “an under-writing” (from hupographo, “to write under, to trace letters” for copying by scholars); hence, “a writing-copy, an example,” 1Pe 2:21, said of what Christ left for believers, by His sufferings (not expiatory, but exemplary), that they might “follow His steps.”
“to make a show of, to expose” (akin to A, No. 1), is translated “to make a public example,” in Mat 1:19 (some mss. have the strengthened form paradeigmatizo here; “put … to an open shame,” Heb 6:6); in Col 2:15, “made a show of.”
primarily, “to show secretly” (hupo, “under,” deiknumi, “to show”), “to show by tracing out” (akin to A, No. 2); hence, “to teach, to show by example,” Act 20:35, RV, “I gave you an example,” for AV, “I showed you.” Elsewhere, “to warn,” Mat 3:7; Luk 3:7; Luk 12:5, RV, for AV, “forewarn;” “to show,” Luk 6:47; Act 9:16. See FOREWARN, SHOW, WARN.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Example
Jam 5:10 (c) Bible characters are examples of certain truths and the patterns of certain attributes which James asks us to consider.
Here are a few:
Abel, the model speaker.
Enoch, the model walker.
Noah, the model worker.
Job, the model of patience.
Moses, model of faithfulness.
Joseph, the model of piety.
David, the model of praise.
Jonathan, the model friend.
Abraham, the model of faith.
Samuel, the model of godliness.
Elijah, the model reformer.
Elisha, the model helper.
Ebedmelech, model of kindness.
Nehemiah, model man of business.
Daniel, the model of decision.
John the Baptist, the model of devotion.
Paul, the model of earnestness.
Peter, model of impulsiveness.
JESUS, model of every virtue.