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.
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ
63-0717 §35
And what a surprise it must have been to this theologian to say, "I am Jesus": the very one that he was so against. What a turn around! Oh, it must have been something terrific for this man (that all of his ambitions that he had) to find out all at once he had been persecuting! His ambitions had drove him farther away from the main thing that he meant to do, and what a great shock it must have been to this apostle, when He said, "I am Jesus"---the very one that he was persecuting. "Why persecutest thou me?" Another...
The unfailing realities of the living God
60-0626 §34
When Satan met Him, Satan tried to detour Him. He got the road map, Satan did, out, and said, "You see, here it says this here." He said, "But it's also written..." Oh, there's lots of bypasses, this, that, or the other, "Oh, as long as I do this." That's not it. You--you've got to find God in a personal relationship and experience. If you claim you have it, and still live for the world, then there's something wrong. The devil has detoured you on the wrong Scripture. If we follow the road map, if it says "turn on h...
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ
63-0717 §47
Then he said, "Thou spirit, come out of her." See, he knowed to wait on the Lord. There is where so many people today bring a reproach upon the Word. They go out with an ambition. How many revivals have been left flat because of a thing like that? Because the evangelist don't wait to see what the Lord's got to say. Some of them said, "Come over here." and they go right now, because the association says "Go." And the Holy Spirit would say something different---yet the ambition of the man to become the state presbyte...
Come, follow Me
63-0601 §43
And the trinity of God ... the trinity of the attributes of God as being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, was represented in that one man, Jesus Christ. So there He was the Word. And He was the transmitter that said, "He that heareth my words, and believeth on him that sent me, has eternal life," see. "Verily I say unto you, he that heareth my words, and believeth on him that sent me, hath eternal life." Now that word's went out from a transmitter. He said one day, "Verily I say unto you, if you say to this mountain,...
God's Provided Way
59-0415A §43
Now, you take, many times, people who climb some other way will have that disgraceful name. Say, "That's a bunch of holy-rollers." Did you know that's what the apostles was called? Do you know, John the Baptist was declared a wild man? Did you know Jesus Christ was declared by the Sanhedrin Council an insane man? "Now we know you're mad." Mad means "insanity." You know all the apostles was declared insane? But I like what Paul said, "In the way that's called heresy, so worship I the God of our fathers." Oh, because...