Truth Magazine

By Steve Wolfgang

Footnote Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987), pp. 56-60.

Allan Bloom, currently a professor at the University of Chicago, has had a distinguished academic career, teaching also at Yale, the universities of Paris, Tel Aviv, and Toronto. During the 1960s he was a professor at Cornell, resigning in protest over the capitulation of that school’s administration to campus radicals.

His Closing of the American Mind became an unexpected bestseller, indeed, something of a cultural phenomenon, during 1987. While we do not endorse everything in the book, several passages are well worth reflecting upon.

“The other element of fundamental primary learning that has disappeared is religion. As the respect for the Sacred – the latest fad – has soared, real religion and knowledge of the Bible have diminished to the vanishing point. . .

“The cause of this decay of the family’s traditional role as the transmitter of tradition is the same as that of the decay of the humanities: nobody believes that the old books do, or even could, contain the truth…. In the United States, practically speaking, the Bible was the only common culture, one that united simple and sophisticated, rich and poor, young and old, and – as the very model for a vision of the order of the whole of things, as well as the key to the rest of Western art, the greatest works of which were in one way or another responsive to the Bible – provided access to the seriousness of books. With its gradual and inevitable disappearance, the very idea of such a total book and the possibility and necessity of world-explanation is disappearing. And fathers and mothers have lost the idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their child is for them to be wise – as priests, prophets or philosophers are wise. Specialized competence and success are all that they can imagine.

“My grandparents were ignorant people by our standards, and my grandfather held only lowly jobs. But their home was spiritually rich because all the things done in it, not only what was specifically ritual, found their origin in the Bible’s commandments, and their explanation in the Bible’s stories and the commentaries on them, and had their imaginative counterparts in the deeds of the myriad of exemplary heroes. My grandparents found reasons for the existence of their family and the fulfillment of their duties in serious writings, and they interpreted their special sufferings with respect to a great and ennobling past. Their simple faith and practices linked them to great scholars and thinkers who dealt with the same material, not from outside or from an alien perspective, but believing as they did, while simply going deeper and providing guidance. There was a respect for real learning, because it had a felt connection with their lives. This is what a community and a history mean, a common experience inviting high and low into a single body of belief.

“I do not believe that my generation, my cousins who have been educated in the American way, all of whom are M.D.s or Ph.D.s, have any comparable learning. When they talk about heaven and earth, the relations between men and women, parents and children, the human condition, I hear nothing but cliches, superficialities, the material of satire. I am not saying anything so trite as that life is fuller when people have myths to live by. I mean rather that a life based on the Book is closer to the truth, that it provides the material for deeper research in and access to the real nature of things. Without the great revelations, epics and philosophies as part of our natural vision, there is nothing to see out there, and eventually little left inside. The Bible is not the only means to furnish a mind, but without a book of similar gravity, read with the gravity of the potential believer, it will remain unfurnished.”

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 6, p. 178
March 17, 1988

By Johnny Stringer

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God (1 Jn. 3:9).

In teaching on 1 John 3:9, brethren usually stress that the expression “doth not commit sin” denotes habitual action. John is not saying that the one who is born of God never commits a single act of sin. That idea would contradict other clear passages (1 John 1:8-2:1; Acts 8:13-24). The point is that the one who is born of God does not continue in sin as a way of life. When he sins, he repents of it and seeks God’s forgiveness (Acts 8:22).

The reason the one who is born of God does not and cannot habitually sin is clearly stated: “for his seed remaineth in him.” The seed of the new birth is the word of God (1 Pet. 1:23; Lk. 8: 11). The word of God, working as seed within the heart, will not permit one to persist in sin, but will influence him to be faithful (1 Jn. 2:14,24; Psa. 119:11).

Brethren often make these points in discussing this passage. This is good, but one question is often not adequately answered because a key point is overlooked. The question is, does this mean that if one becomes a Christian, he will never go into a life of habitual sin? The verse says that the one who is born of God does not continue in sin because the seed remains in him and prevents him from doing so. We know that sometimes one who becomes a Christian does later go into a life of habitual sin (1 Cor. 5:1; 2 Pet. 2:20-23), but John seems to be teaching otherwise. Does John mean to teach that if anyone was ever born again, he will not go into a life of sin because the seed remains in him and will prevent it?

The solution to this problem is found in a point that is often overlooked: the tense of the verb “is born.” The verb tense which John uses proves that he is not talking about everyone who was ever born again. He is not saying that anyone who was ever born again does not live in sin. The KJV says, “Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin.” It does not say, “Whosoever was ever born of God doth not commit sin.”

The KJVs translation of this verb is good. The Greek verb which is rendered “is born” is in the perfect tense. Concerning the prefect tense, Marshall says, “The Greek perfect can generally be taken as represented by an English present: a past action continuing in its effect down to the present, in contrast to an action wholly in the past” (The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, p. vii). Machen staes, “The Greek perfect tense denotes the present state resultant upon a past action” (New Testament Greek for Beginners, p. 187). Machen goes on to say that the perfect tense is never used unless the past action had a permanent result.

John’s use of the perfect tense, therefore, shows that he is talking not about everyone who was ever born again, but only about the one in whom the relationship begun at the new birth continues – the one in whom the seed continues to work. This is the one who does not habitually sin.

Concerning 1 John 3:9, Vincent says, “The perfect participle indicates a condition remaining from the first: he who hath been begotten and remains God’s child.” The famous B.F. Wescott comments, “The perfect . . . marks not only the single act . . . but the continuous presence of its efficacy. ‘He that hath been born and still remains a child of God.”‘ John is not talking about everyone who was ever born again. Completely out of his view is the one who was born again, but later rebelled against God; such a person is not one who “is born of God.” John is talking only about the one who continues to let the seed work in him. This is the one who does not habitually sin.

The Contextual Point

The point John is making in the context is that those who sin are not of God, but of the devil (v. 8). In verse 10 John divides men into two groups: children of God and children of the devil. He teaches that those who do evil are children of the devil, not children of God. Obviously, he is using the term children with reference to character. Those who partake of God’s character are his children, and those who partake of the devil’s character are his children. For this usage of the term children see Matthew 5:44-48-, John 8:39-44. All who obey the gospel do not continue to be God’s children in this sense; when they go into sin they are children of the devil (1 John 3:8,10).

In verse 9, John simply says that the one who continues the relationship begun at the new birth – that is, continues to be a child of God through the continued working of the seed – does not persist in sin, for the seed will not let him. Those who live in sin, therefore, no longer sustain the relationship that was begun at the new birth. Inasmuch as they have ceased to derive their character from God through the working of his seed, they have ceased to be his children.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 6, p. 174
March 17, 1988

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