What Does It Mean When Paul Says, "follow Me as I Follow Christ," and How Does That Relate to Following Jesus Directly?
1) Direct Answer
Paul’s words mean: imitate a true, Word‑led life only as it mirrors Jesus Christ. We follow no man as an absolute. Christ is the Head. When a servant of God stays with the Word and the Spirit of Christ, following that example is following Jesus. If he departs from the Word, we do not follow.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). The condition is clear—only as he follows Christ.
- Paul says, “Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). So the life to imitate is Christ’s life expressed through a yielded vessel.
- “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Philippians 3:17). The pattern is a Word‑walk, not personality.
- Christ is the Head of the church (Ephesians 5:23). We never trade the Head for a man.
- God set ministers for perfecting the saints (Ephesians 4:11‑13). True ministry points us to Christ, not to themselves.
- We “ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). If any voice clashes with Scripture, we stay with God’s Word.
- “Though we, or an angel… preach any other gospel… let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). No message outranks the Bible.
- “My sheep hear my voice… and they follow me” (John 10:27). We follow Jesus directly by recognizing His Voice in His Word.
- “Try the spirits” (1 John 4:1) and “prove all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Everything is tested by Scripture.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- One Head, one Lord—Jesus Christ. He speaks by His Word and Spirit. He also uses servants as signposts. You follow the signpost only because it points to the destination. If it points off the road, you don’t follow the sign—you stay with the road.
- The Spirit and the Word agree. If a minister magnifies the Word and leads you into obedience to Christ, you’re following Jesus through that example. If he adds to or takes from the Word, you stop right there and hold to the Bible.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice: it’s not following a man; it’s following Christ in the man—as long as it is Christ. Stay with the Word. Christ remains the absolute, and every true servant merely points to Him.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
God's Provided Way
59-0415A §56
The people make fun, and they call them a bunch of idiots. Paul said, "In the way that's called heresy..." That's crazy. See, heresy is some ... heresy, "crazy, idiotic." Well, we are called that because the supernatural is so much different from the carnal things of this world, till it makes people think they're crazy. They said... Why, Paul said to Agrippa, said, "I'm not mad." Mad means "crazy." "I'm not crazy, you think I am. But in the way that's called heresy, I worship the God of our fathers." That's the way...
Christ is the mystery of God revealed
63-0728 §82
And the other night... If you didn't get the tape that I preached here one night on "A Prisoner of Jesus Christ"---Paul A Prisoner... See? When God gets you to be His prisoner, then you can't do nothing but what the Spirit says do. Paul, with all of his great intellects---he was taught by Gamaliel to be a great priest or rabbi someday. And He had high ambitions. He was intellectually a great man---great authority, great man in the nation. But, he had to sacrifice every bit of it (see?) to become part of the Word, t...
Present stage of my ministry
62-0908 §51
Now, how that man must have felt, a man with so many millionaire friends, and one coat. A man that had power to smite a man blind, and let a man run him out of town. Never done a thing about it, got up and went out. Prayed for the sick and had left his friend sick. And Demas left him. All the rest of them left him. All of them left him. Paul said, "All men left me." Every one of them left him. I say this. When a man stands true to the Word, not just in one meeting, but in every meeting, when a man stands true to th...
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ
63-0717 §69
And then Paul sitting there and seeing the Word and seeing that that was Jesus. Then he raised up his hands and become harnessed to Him! The love of God harnessed him to the Word. He's going to bear my name before the Gentiles. There he went. Moses, I am the God of your fathers, I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac and of Jacob. I remember, I promised them, and the time of the promise is near. And I see the afflictions of my people! I remember my promise! And I have come down to harness you. You know what the Word says. I...
Forsaking all
62-0123 §34
Jesus said, or the Scripture says, "He that loves the world or the things of the world, the love of God is not even in him." That's right. It takes forsaking all. There ... when you were willing to forsake all and follow Him, then "If ye abide in me and my word in you, you can ask what you will, and it will be done for you." But you cannot, knowing that those things are wrong. You know they're wrong. The Bible's against them---card playing, cigarette smoking, drinking, wearing immoral clothes; and then claiming to...