Truth Magazine

By Wayne S. Walker

One of the great heroes of God’s word in the Old Testament was Noah. This example of faith lived during a very difficult time, when the people of the world were so wicked that the thoughts of their hearts were only evil continually and that God determined to destroy the earth with a flood. But Noah was a man who found grace in God’s sight because he was just, perfect in his generations, and one that walked with God. Therefore, God determined to save Noah and his family and commanded him, “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch” (Gen. 6:14). There are several interesting lessons that we can learn and applications that we can make from a study of Noah’s ark.

I. Noah had a pattern to follow. He was told to make an ark. The wood was to be gopherwood. The proportions were to be three-hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. There were to be a window for the ark a cubit from the top and a door to the ark in the side. It is interesting to note that the dimensions in the Bible are common for any worthy sea-going vessel, unlike those mentioned in many of the ancient heathen flood stories. Also, based upon an eighteen-inch cubit, the total capacity of the ark would have been 3,500,000 cubic feet, plenty of room for all the animals and supplies that Noah needed to take.

Now, what would have happened if Noah had added a few cubits to come out with a length of 305 cubits? What if he had decided that he really did not need a window in the ark? What if he substituted oak or pine for the gopherwood that God had specified? It is not our desire to engage in a lot of fruitless speculation, but consider the following points. When Nadab and Abihu substituted their own fire for the fire that God had commanded, they were both consumed immediately with fire from heaven (Lev. 10:1-2). When Uzzah disobeyed the instructions of the Lord and touched the ark, he was struck dead on the spot (2 Sam. 6:1-7). Simply put, God has never allowed any deviation from his expressed will, so there is no reason to believe that Noah could have been saved by ignoring or rejecting what God said.

Moses also had a pattern given by God for building the tabernacle. “. . For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mount” (Exod. 25:9, cf. Heb. 8:5). In a similar vein, the New Testament reveals God’s pattern for mankind today. We can be made free from sin only by obeying from the heart the form or pattern of doctrine to which we have been delivered (Rom. 6:17-18). Then after we are thus saved, the Lord has a “pattern of sound words” which he wants us to hold fast (2 Tim. 1:13). This-idea which we are hearing with increasing frequency, that we do not have nor do we need a “pattern” with regards to the church today, is plainly not taught in God’s word.

II. Salvation was found only in the ark. Let me ask you a question. How many people were saved outside the ark? Look at Genesis 7:13-16. “And all flesh died that moved on the earth . . . both men and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.” Reread the last sentence and notice the word “only” and the phrase “in the ark.” Again, “only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.” Very clearly, no one outside the ark was saved.

The apostle Peter tells us that Noah’s salvation is like ours. “. . . When once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism. . . ” (1 Pet. 3:20-21). Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives were all saved from the evil and ungodliness in the world. How were these eight souls saved? By water. Where were they saved? In the ark. As Noah and his family were saved from the unrighteous world by the waters of the flood, Peter says that we are saved from sin by baptism.

Baptism puts one into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). The body of Christ is his church (Eph. 1:22-23). Thus, when one is baptized into the body or church of Christ, he is said to be baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27). The church is God’s ark of safety today for salvation is found in it. All spiritual blessings are found in Christ and therefore in his church (Eph. 1:3). This includes salvation. “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and he is the Savior of the body” (Eph. 5:23). The only people of whom Christ is ever said to be the Savior are those in his body or church. Those who teach that the church is unimportant, that one can be saved and go to heaven yet not be a member of the church, do not find that doctrine in the Scriptures.

III. There was only one door to the ark. God told Noah to put it there in Genesis 6:16. Its purpose is quite evident. “On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark. . . .So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in” (Gen. 7:13-16). There had to be a way by which Noah, his family, and all the animals that God had commanded to be taken could enter into the ark and be shut in by God for their protection. Once the door was shut, there was no other way in.

Similarly, as the church is God’s ark for us, there is only one door into it. In a different context, but making the same basic point, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. . . . I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (Jn. 10:7-9). This truth is reinforced by many other passages of Scripture. Christ also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6). In Matthew 7:13-14, the Lord described two basic ways. One is broad, with a wide gate and room for many different routes. But it leads to destruction. The other is narrow or confined, with a gate that is strait or difficult. And only that way will lead to eternal life.

As we have already indicated, this way includes baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Mk. 16:15-16; Acts 2:38). Since the only way to the Father is by Christ, we must find the way by which we come into contact with Christ. Paul wrote, “. . . As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. . . . Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death” (Rom. 6:3-4). The only way my Bible says that I can get into Christ, and thus come unto the Father, is by baptism. Many folks have the concept that we are all going to heaven, just traveling different ways. But the book of God does not say that there are many different ways, that it does not make any difference what one believes as long as he is honest and sincere. There is only one way.

Conclusion

God commanded Noah to build an ark. How did Noah respond? “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him so he did” (Gen. 6:22). The result of this obedience is revealed for us in Hebrews 11:7. “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Noah was not saved by “faith only” as some claim we can be saved. He was saved by a faith that prompted him to do everything exactly as God had told him to do.

As we conclude our study of Noah’s ark, we need to remember that Noah had to build the ark after a pattern and that God has commanded us to make all things in the church according to his pattern. We must also realize that as salvation in Noah’s day was available only in the ark, so salvation today is offered to mankind only in the church. And let us understand that the only door into God’s ark for us, the church, is through Jesus Christ by being baptized unto Him. These are simple, basic lessons. But they are recorded for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope (Rom. 15:4).

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 6, pp. 172-173
March 17, 1988

By Tom M. Roberts

A Dallas editor continues to bemoan that churches of Christ do not teach on the subject of grace. In a recent letter to this editor, one of his readers stated that they had to “listen to Ed Roger’s sermons on T.V. (1st Baptist) or to Jack Rothenflue who preaches for the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ to hear grace preached” (Persuader, “Shame of Shame!”, p. 2). To which the editor agreed that it was ture, adding, “Shame, Shame.”

One hardly knows where to begin to answer such a transparently false charge, but I suppose the best place is with a plain denial. I have heard grace preached all my life. If grace is so scarce among us, why arc people still obeying the gospel? If grace is unheard of in the churches of Christ, why are members still in the fellowship of God? Why, indeed, do we take the Lord’s supper, sing (yes, even “Amazing Grace”), pray, trust, believe that heaven-is attainable or 100 other things that are possible only by the mercy of God? A more spurious charge one would have difficulty finding than that grace is not taught from the pulpits in the churches of the Lord. It is difficult to contain my anger at such a statement. Not only is this editor pretending to know the sermon material that has been preached around the world each Sunday for an entire generation among Christians, but he also claims that one would have to turn to the Baptists or to the Christian Church to hear grace preached at all! Lord in Heaven, help us!

When has any Baptist, in keeping with Baptist doctrine, had any knowledge of the “true grace of God” (1 Pet. 5:12)? Has this editor become so enamored with false doctrine that he supposes “salvation by faith alone” to be a true exposition of God’s grace? Perhaps it is “once saved, always saved” that teaches about grace more than the gospel sermons among us. Yet again, does a Christian Church preacher qualify to tell us about grace? Wherein? Is it when he splits the body of Christ over instruments of music that he is most eloquent about grace? Or perhaps it is when he takes the Lord’s supper on Christmas Eve in the middle of the week that he is closer to grace than brethren who eat the supper on the Lord’s day? Could this Christian Church preacher lecture us on grace because he stands for “unity in diversity” with every sectarian of every stripe, regardless of how the word of God is trampled under foot and despised? Tell us again, brother editor, just when a Baptist or Christian Church preacher is qualified to preach on the grace of God! Is it when they receive into their fellowship one who has never been baptized for remission of sins? Is it when they deride gospel preachers (and the truth) for believing more “in the creek than Christ”? Is it when they accuse us of believing in water salvation? Or that Christ is now on his throne in his kingdom? Maybe they understand about grace when they say that the church was started by John rather than Jesus. Or is it something else? Point out to me, brother editor, what I can’t seem to see. Tell me when, where, how and why a Baptist can tell gospel preachers about grace. And when you have done that, tell me why you still claim to be a member of the church of Christ and not a Baptist or a member of the Christian Church. Shame, indeed, that a man grown old with the Bible (as has this Dallas editor), should, at this late date renounce the truth and lecture brethren about sectarians knowing more about grace than we. I pray that he may repent before God calls him to judgment.

Why Teach Such A Thing?

Why would a man who has preached the truth for many years as has this editor make such a statement? Giving him the benefit of the doubt as to honesty, one must conclude that he has fallen into doctrinal error. From what he has written in the past (and continues to write), he believes that grace is unconditional. In addition to the article just reviewed, he also included another article in the same bulletin entitled, “Percentage Religion.” A poorer grasp of God’s grace would be difficult to locate than either of these articles. One part of this latter article states: “This idea of God’s grace playing only a percentage role in salvation is unscriptural and spiritually deadly! . . . . It is the demand of legalism, not of grace. God and sinners are not in a partnership when it comes to the salvation of our souls! It is all of grace (God) or it is nothing as one views the source of a sinner’s salvation. Why will we never learn that salvation is a gift, a free gift? Why have we allowed men to instill the nonsense within us that says that we, at least to a degree, have earned, merited or worked for this ‘free gift’? It is to our shame that such ever developed.” Charles Hodge, another preacher, is then quoted as saying, “Man refuses to admit that all are on charity (grace) . . . God did not pay 50 cents with man equally paying 50 cents. This is hard for man’s pride to swallow! It is not even 90 cents from God and 10 cents from man. Jesus paid it all! 100 cents on the dollar! This is grace” (Charles Hodge, Amazing Grace, p. 4).

Thank God none of us are teaching this error. Where does one begin to refute such misunderstandings of truth?

No, We Don’t Preach Baptist Doctrine

These quotations explain why we are charged with never preaching grace. Since these quotations are in full agreement with, and in actuality are, Baptist doctrine, I must plead guilty to never preaching these doctrines except to expose them. Salvation wholly of grace is Baptist doctrine and can be found in the manuals of faith, but not in the Bible. Many years ago, our editor friend used to preach the same truth he now spurns. Quotations can be produced to prove this But now that he has abandoned truth, he attempts to lay guilt on us by claiming that we don’t preach the grace of God. On the contrary, we are still preaching what he used to preach, the “true grace of God” while he has turned to sectarian error. Be sure that you note the difference: it is his definition of grace that we don’t preach. We still preach the Bible definition, just like he used to do. Again, I ask, if Baptists are preaching grace and we are not, why remain in the church of Christ? Do you not find it strikingly odd, my friend, to find that your teaching would be acceptable to any Baptist church in the world? In fact, you could preach it at the largest Baptist church in the world right there in Dallas, Texas, and Pastor Criswell would praise you for it. Do you really expect all of us to change our preaching of truth and begin preaching Baptist doctrine? In truth, we don’t teach salvation wholly of grace, but we do teach the true grace. There is a distinct difference, even as you used to know.

Grace Is Conditional

Is salvation wholly of grace? Are there conditions to God’s grace? Is salvation 50 percent God’s part and 50 percent man’s part? 75/25? 90/10? 99/1? And are there folks in the church really teaching that? How sad that ignorance would create such confusion from the simple plan of redemption.

The Bible formula is: “for by grace have ye been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). Grace is God’s part; faith is man’s part. Both grace and faith play a part in salvation, as the text affirms. The grace of God is of non-effect without man’s faith, else would the whole world be saved. Both grace and faith are generic in that they include all that brings about our salvation. Grace includes all that God has done and is doing to save us: Christ, blood, church, remission, atonement, revelation, etc. Faith includes all that man must do in response to God’s grace: repentance, confession, baptism, godly a living, etc. What is the “percentage” that is God’s and what “percentage” that is man’s? Why brother, it is not 50/50 or even 99/1. It is 100/1,00! Do you get that? Let me explain. Only God can extend his grace (100 percent); only man can respond in faith (100 percent). Man cannot act on God’s behalf; God will not act on man’s responsibility. Grace, which is God’s part, is 100 percent God’s part. Man could not send Christ, shed the blood, establish the church, grant remission of sins, provide the truth, etc. On the other hand, God will not do what man must do: believe, repent, confess, be baptized, live godly lives or, in other words do that which peculiarly is man’s part 100 percent. Therefore salvation is not wholly of grace. Hodge is wrong when he describes his view of “percentage religion.” Our editor in question is wrong when he chides us for not believing or preaching grace. The Baptist is wrong, also. None of them really understands the grace of God. Yes, so far as source is concerned, salvation is from God. But God has also put salvation on a conditional basis and man must do something to meet these conditions. In some places, this “something man must do” is called “works” (John 6:28; 8:39-43; Jas. 2:17-26; etc.). These are not the works of merit or of boasting (which are condemned, Rom. 4:2ff, etc.), but conditional works to show our faith as a response to God’s expressed grace. It is this grace that I have heard preached all my life, which is preached today in the churches of the Lord, but has never been preached in Baptist Churches. Every time Acts 2:38 is preached, the grace of God is being preached. Will anyone deny that? Every time the Great Commission is preached, the grace of God is being preached? Will our editor deny that? Every time a precious soul is baptized into Christ, the grace of God has been extended. Every time a Christian prays and has his sins forgiven, God’s grace is active. The apostles preached it twenty centuries ago; we preach it today. May it be so until Jesus comes again.

May the grace of God be with you all.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 6, pp. 170-171
March 17, 1988

By Bill H. Reeves

While preaching in El Salvador I found the following New Year’s resolution attached to the door of Mercedes Hernandez, daughter of Joaquin Hernandez who preaches in Central America. The paper was written by his daughter for her benefit alone, a few minutes after greeting the New Year. She went to her room, wrote her thoughts on the paper and fixed it to the door. She did not know anyone else would see it. I was impressed by it and asked her to let me have a copy of it to share with others. Her example may inspire the rest of us to greater zeal in the Lord’s kingdom.

January 1, 1988. 12:15 a.m. This year I desire, if the Lord wills:

1. To study in order to learn.

2. To persist in useful things.

3. To forget things which are not pleasant.

4. To smile more and be more pleasant among those about me.

5. To be punctual and constant.

6. To be better toward Said and Yasser (her two little brothers, BHR).

7. To do all things whole-heartedly and with love toward the Lord.

What I have written I propose in my heart, asking the Lord that I might fulfill it.

I desire, oh Lord, that you permit me to accomplish it in accordance with your divine will, and when I feel weakness in me I ask you to accompany me.

But above all I supplicate thee to be with me and accompany me always, Lord of heaven and earth.

Permit me to read the Holy Bible and to pray every day.

Pray: many times daily.

Read: one or more hours daily.

Blessed be thou Lord Jesus. Be with my brothers. In your great love. Amen.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 6, p. 171
March 17, 1988

By Larry Houchen

Top of the news reports and newspaper front page news recently have been the immorality of Jimmy Swaggart. Mr. Swaggart bases his multi-million dollar ministries in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is associated with the Assemblies of God organization the same group affiliation as that of Jim and Tammy Bakker. Sin is sin in the sight of God, but the fact is that some sins and one’s influential position have deeper and more lingering consequences. A preacher is not above immorality or any other kinds of sins, but he is expected, as any other Christian, to conduct himself in a godly manner. The apostle Paul said to Timothy, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe” (1 Tim. 4:12). These are some lessons which we should learn from this and similar incidents.

Someone once said, “There is no honor among thieves.” About one year ago, the Jim Bakker-PTL scandal came to public awareness. Jimmy Swaggart was one of several who “blew the whistle” on Bakker. In the midst of the scandal, Swaggart portrayed himself as a “knight in shining armor” destined to cleanup the whole unfortunate situation. Jimmy Swaggart was seen by the public as being genuine and a dedicated servant of God. Mr. Swaggart was also instrumental in exposing a Mr. Gorman (also an Assemblies of God preacher) for immoral misconduct an act which would lead to Swaggart’s own demise. Mr. Gorman subsequently “turned the tables” on this would-be champion of morality and photographed Swaggart entering a motel room with a prostitute. Jesus, on the occasion of the scribes and Pharisees bringing a woman who had been caught in adultery, said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Jimmy Swaggart obviously should have concentrated on preaching the gospel of Christ rather than on “throwing stones.”

Jimmy Swaggart sinned. Can he obtain forgiveness from God? Surely he can, just as any alien sinner can do (cf. Acts 2:38). Is he truly penitent? Only God can know his heart, however, the Bible does teach, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:1516a). If Mr. Swaggart reacts as Jim Bakker did in attempting to keep his PTL Ministry, we will see him preaching again in a relatively short time if he has anything at all to do with it. An injured conscience, not to mention common sense, would dictate allowing a reasonable amount of time to pass before ever attempting to preach again. If the Lord’s cause is foremost in Mr. Swaggart’s mind, he will forego both ego and a huge salary to retreat to the background for a reasonable length of time. We will just have to wait and see if Mr. Swaggart is truly thinking of the Lord’s cause or his multimillion dollar organization. Either way, the answer will eventually most likely be quite clear.

Both the Bakker and Swaggart incidents should impress us with the fact that our faith must rest in God and not in man. The Hebrew writer wrote, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay said every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:1-2a). Our earthly heroes have “feet of clay,” sooner or later they will disappoint us, but “Jesus is the same yesterday, and today, yes, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

Christians take no pleasure in finding out that someone has sinned. It is, however, still true, “for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Lk. 18:14).

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 7, pp. 193, 215
April 7, 1988