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.
Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us
53-0907A §97
...on of God unfolding Himself a loving Father, coming right down from the heavens unfolding Himself, coming down to live among human beings here on earth. There you are. God was in His Son, and now I've unfolded to you also, God is in His people. Do you believe that? Then when God that same God, that lived back yonder in the days when Moses seen the pillar of fire, was that right? How many believes that was the Angel of the Covenant, say, "Amen." Well the Angel of the Covenant was Jesus Christ. Moses esteemed the ric...
Taking sides with Jesus
62-0601 §21
But now, until that time, until He comes, we want to live each day like He might come the next minute, because it might be the end of your life at that minute. You don't know when you're going. This may be some of our last breath; we have it in us now, so you want to live like it is. But now, to carry on further, we've got to put footprints here on the sands of time that others can see. If Paul hadn't went on the way he did, then John wouldn't have knowed how to follow. If John hadn't have went on, Polycarp wouldn'...
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ
63-0717 §81
...make him a prisoner to Him---forsake his own. He had to forsake everything that he knowed, forget all of his training and everything in order to know the will of God and to follow God. He can't follow anything that man's got to do and God, the same time. It's too contrary, one to another. You can't be going east and west at the same time; you can't be going right and left at the same time; you can't be doing right and wrong at the same time; you can't be following man and God at the same time. No sir, you're either...
Come, follow Me
63-0601 §32
Now, let's follow him a little bit. What happens when he turns away? He didn't listen to that voice of Christ; he went with his friends. Which, you kids, you're all fine kids and you're bound to have friends. But watch what kind of friend you have. If that friend's following Christ, go with that friend. Follow Christ too. But if it don't, don't do it. Let's look at him. We find out, he perhaps kept his friends. He become a great ruler. He was a ruler then. Later we find him so prosperous until he had to build extra...
As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee
60-0911M §21
We find also that Joshua, knowing this commission, knowing that it laid in his hands, that God had called him for a duty that he must not fail, he walked softly before God. And when he called the people together and told them that God had commissioned him, watch the request of the people. They said, "We will follow you as we did Moses if we can see the same thing that followed Moses following you. Only be strong and courageous." That ought to be the requirement of every born-again person today. If we are requested...