1) Come to the knowledge of Truth & awaken spiritually
2) Follow Jesus's footsteps
3) Support & help the fellow 'body' of Christ
4) Use our gifts to God's will (1Corinth 12)
5) Help others come to the knowledge of the Truth
What is Truth? You can find truth through your own direct experiences or through faith and investigation in the word of God. I think that you must have faith until you obtain direct experience of the Truth, obviously
Here's some verses on the Truth:
Ephesians 6 ~ pay attention to verse 17
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
1 John 2:4-6 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1John 7:16-19 Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law.
1 John 4:3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
I like this verse
2 Thess 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
I think the purpose is self realization (without evil we would not know good) then 2 change/grow/learn, make the conscious free will decisions to do good/God's will. We must renew out mind/psyche, most people think 'going thru the motions' is enough but our spiritual relationship with God is in fact a very personal and intimate experience - it's awesome!
Luke 17:20-21 ~ Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied " The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say 'Here it is' or 'There it is' because the kingdom of God is within you.
The world is obviously filled w/ opposites, good-evil, love-hate...etc. We must observe our psyche and make the conscious decision to detach ourselves from the negative emotions we feel....it's soooo hard but it gets easier every time. If you really observe yourself you will see what I'm talking about. Remember, what is in someone's heart will clearly show through their actions and words
Also, always check with what you are 'taught' when it comes to spiritual matters, check it against what God says because that is the closest thing we have to the Truth - and pray for strength & wisdom in understanding/seeing the truth in the midst of mass lies. I'm actually in the process of looking for a good hebrew language class ~ I want to read the holy texts in their original languages, aramaic, hebrew, and greek - so if anyone knows of any good online or offline classes please let me know!
These are of course my views and I am working on bettering myself ~ so please don't take offense if you don't agree. I am brand new to this forum and I just wanted to introduce myself and share
~Kristin