Truth Magazine

By John W. Hedge

Unbalanced preaching and teaching of God’s holy word, the gospel of Christ, is, in the ears of those full informed therein, comparable to the unbalanced tires on one’s automobile. Such preaching and teaching consists of “wresting the scriptures” (2 Pet. 3:15-16), of “perverting the gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:6-8), and of failing to “handle aright the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Unbalanced preaching reduces the Bible to a book of glaring contradictions and unworthy of acceptation by anyone.

In the beginning of the Lord’s church on earth there was no unbalanced preaching. Those who engaged in the noble work of preaching the only gospel designed to save the lost were inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:26; Matt. 10:19-20; Gal. 3:1-2). It was through the agency of those inspired preachers and writers of the gospel of Christ that the New Testament in its entirety has been given to all 4. mankind and for all time (Jude 3-4). Taking this as our sole “rule book” we find the following obligations made binding on all who would preach or teach God’s word in a way which would please Him.

First, they must “speak as the (written) oracles of God” (1 Pet. 4:11). Second, they must “speak the things which become sound doctrine” (Mt. 2:1). Third, they must “rightly divide (or handle aright) the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). By following these simple rules, there can be no unbalanced preaching and teaching of the gospel of Christ. All the unbalanced preaching, all the different “winds of doctrine,” as heard today have resulted from the different preachers who have ignored God’s simple rules governing them in their work. The unity, peace, and great progress attained by the early Christians is to be attributed to the fact that they “continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine” which was well balanced (Acts 2:42). Although there were twelve different apostles, each one being guided by the same Holy Spirit taught or preached the same things. This spells out clearly the unity of their preaching and resulted in the unity of all who believed it, and a continuation of such unity on the part of all who continued in it. Repeated warnings were given that some would “depart from the faith” by “giving heed to the doctrines of demons” and by following their own “pernicious ways” (1 Tim. 4:1-3). These predictions began to be fulfilled even in the days of the apostle Paul and have been on the increase through the centuries, and with more yet to come (2 Tim. 3:13).

Since the days of Martin Luther and John Calvin, the doctrine that “salvation is solely by faith” and “wholly by the grace of God” has been taught. Great emphasis has been placed upon the idea that man cannot save himself, which is true in the sense that he cannot devise and use a plan of his own making but untrue when it is applied to man in accepting God’s plan and abiding in it. Even some preachers who claim to “speak as the (written) oracles of God” have been heard to catch up the old refrain, “Man cannot save himself,” one “cannot be saved by good works” without any qualifications whatsoever. It is leaving such remarks in mid-air that constitutes unsound preaching. Perhaps when these remarks are made without due qualification by some of our careless preachers, it would be good for one to be present who believes that man can do nothing by which to save himself to shout aloud a hearty “amen.” Maybe this would cause the careless preachers not to leave such remarks in mid-air.

One of “our preachers” informs by letter that he now is emphasizing God’s grace more than emphasizing man’s works. This spells out clearly unsound preaching. I wonder if he would take time off to preach a series of sermons based on James 2, along with Philippians 2:11-12 and Revelation 22:12. Well balanced preaching requires that one not only preach “salvation by grace” but by doing “the works of God,” that is, the “works” which He has authorized us to do in His will. In all of our teaching and preaching we need to use “sound speech that cannot be condemned.” “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Prov. 25:11).

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 10, p. 303
May 17, 1984

By Bill McMilleon

In opening this article I suppose it would be advantageous to define what I mean by the term “personality.” Webster defines the word thusly, “the quality or state of being a person.” That definition will suffice for our study with the single proviso that we are studying a divine “personality.”

The purpose of this article is to show that the God the Christian deals with is not some abstract impersonal force but a God which has all the characteristics that constitute a personality. Some may consider this article as ridiculously unnecessary. After all, what Christian would deny the fact that God is personal (i.e. has an individual personality)? Ostensibly no Christian would assert such, but I believe that in a practical sense many do.

To demonstrate what I am referring to let me give a example. A lady once confided in me that when she thought of Jesus she associated Him with all the love, mercy and tenderness of a personal loving Savior. In contrast, she identified God (i.e. the Father) with judgment, severity and a certain aloofness. In short, she felt that she could really know Jesus but there was a certain abstractness when it came to understanding the Father. This kind of thinking makes a dichotomy between Jesus and God that does not exist.

In John 14:8 Philip requested of Jesus, “Lord show us the Father. ” Evidently even Philip had a mistaken concept concerning the Father and the Son. Jesus’ answer silences for all time those who would divorce the personalities and intentions of God and Jesus. Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father, how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (Jn. 14:9). In Hebrews 1:3, speaking of Christ, the inspired writer says, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person . . . . ” Certainly we can see from this verse that whatever personal characteristics we attribute to one we must attribute to the other.

The attitude that associates Jesus with only those personality traits of mercy, love and tenderness and attributes to God such traits as severity, judgment and aloofness must be relinquished. A false view of God will hinder our having the proper relationship with Him. The truth is that Jesus is identified in the scriptures as one who is severe when confronting sin (see Jn. 2:13-16; Matt. 26:15; Matt. 18:6,7). All judgment has been given to the Son (Jn. 5:22). God’s stated purpose for doing this is that “all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (v. 23).

Further, it is the love of God (i.e. the Father) that gave Jesus for the redemption of the world (Jn. 3:16). His personal interest in our every problem is explicitly and undeniably declared in such passages as Philippians 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:6, 7. It is He that supplies our needs (Phil. 4:19). God is the one who will confirm, establish and perfect us (1 Pet. 5:10). Indeed, the Scriptures declare that He gives us “all things” relative to our spiritual welfare (Rom. 8:32).

What I have said in this article is not intended to detract from the truth that God does all of these things through Christ (Eph. 1:3). The very fact that it is through Christ reveals to us, in the best possible way, that Christ and the Father are “one” (Jn. 10:30).

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 10, p. 302
May 17, 1984

By Michael L. Dubose

Paul said, “And now abildeth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). We understand that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6) and we emphasize its importance in His plan. We remember the occasion of the lawyer asking Jesus which is the greatest commandment. Jesus answered that we are to love God above all else and that we are to love our neighbor as ourself. He said that the whole law hangs on these two commandments (cf. Mk. 12:28-31). Thus, we continually teach about love as the central force in our obedience to God. However, we don’t deal with hope quite as often. As a result, many Christians fail to take advantage of the great power of hope.

On two other occasions Paul mentions the three together. In 1 Thessalonians 1:3, he wrote, “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again in 5:8 Paul said, “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.” It is significant to note that Paul said our helmet, the thing which protects our most vital part, the head, is the hope of salvation. Hope provides us with great protection against the temptations and snares of the devil. It is our “patience of hope” that motivates us to continue working in the Lord’s vineyard.

We can understand the great motivating power of hope by considering everyday occurrences. In fact, life, without hope, would be impossible to bear. We have all seen or heard of someone injured in an accident which results in paralysis to the limbs of the body. Over the days and weeks after the injury, the individual works, moving the paralyzed muscles with great difficulty and often in great pain. But the hope of one day walking again motivates the person to continue, to endure the hours of therapy and the suffering.

It is no wonder that Paul repeatedly connected hope with faith and love. As Christians, hope is necessary to our spiritual well being. It is hope that motivates us to endure in spite of temptation, persecution, and indifference. It is our hope of heaven that helps us to patiently labor despite all of life’s setbacks. The Hebrew writer said, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. . . ” (Heb. 6:19). Our hope is Christ. He is the anchor that holds us secure in life’s troubled waters.

We need to understand that there is a vast difference between hope and wishful thinking. Hope is desire plus expectation. Often we desire something but have no real expectation of receiving it; that is not hope. It is wishful thinking. Sometimes we fully expect to receive something, but have no desire to receive it. That is hardly hope. But, when we truly desire something and have a reasonable expectation of receiving it, then we joyously hope for it.

Without Christ, we would have no hope of heaven. All men sin and separate themselves from God (Rom. 3:23). All are lost and unworthy of heaven (Rom. 6:23). But God sent His Son to die that through Him we might have the hope of everlasting life. Paul told the Colossians that it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Christ is the anchor of the soul in stormy seas. We desire to live in heaven and because Christ died on the cross we can fully expect to enjoy eternal life, if we keep His commandments (Heb. 5:8,9).

While hope is a powerful weapon in our arsenal for quenching the fiery darts of Satan, we must understand the basis of hope. There is only one hope (Eph. 4:4). Only those who obey the truth have that hope. John wrote, “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3). We purify ourselves, as John explained, by keeping God’s commandments, by doing righteousness. He said, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 Jn. 1:3-5). And again, “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous” (1 Jn. 3:7).

Peter taught, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth . . .” (1 Pet. 1:22). Those who have the one hope of which Paul spoke have obeyed the gospel of Christ and are continuing to do righteousness by continuing in His word. These are the ones who have been made free from sin (Jn. 8:32). Others may hope to live in heaven while rejecting the truth, but they have confused hope with wishful thinking. The desire may be there, but they have no right to expect to live in heaven. By refusing to obey God’s word, the basis of hope is gone.

Paul wrote of those outside of Christ as those “which have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Truly, the most horrifying statement in the Bible is Paul’s description of man without Christ. “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). The hopelessness of those who reject God’s word is mirrored in the account of the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. He rejected God’s pleading while he was alive, his opportunity to obey God had passed and only eternal agony stretched before.

Peter said, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1: 13). The idea here is that the child of God must set his heart firmly on Christ. We must recognize that only by doing His will can we hope to live eternally. This earth is not our permanent home; we are on a journey to heaven. Hope enables us to patiently endure, to overcome temptation that we might one day enjoy the mansions prepared for us in heaven.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 10, p. 301
May 17, 1984

By Richard Montgomery 

“One faith or church is as good as another” and “join the church of your choice” are two well worn phrases among religionists who have less than an accurate concept and understanding of basic New Testament teaching. This kind of thinking stems from the idea that service to God is regulated by human preference and is to some degree optional.

First, the Bible denies that one faith is as good as another through positive affirmations that there is but one faith. In Ephesians 4:5, regarding the unity that characterizes disciples’ relationship with God, Paul said there is but “one faith”. This truth is reinforced in numerous passages that allude to “the faith” (metonomy for the whole system or gospel in which one exercises faith in order to become a Christian). For example, Jude wrote of “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” “The faith” is to be preached and obeyed (Rom. 16:26). This system of doctrine is not to be amended by man (2 John 9, Gal. 1:7-9). Thus, though there are many faiths extant in today’s religious “scenario,” there is only “one faith” wherein God’s power unto salvation resides. Faith is not a matter of human preference.

Similarly, the New Testament, in effect, confutes the human claim that “one church is as good as another.” When a person obeys the gospel of Christ, he enters a reconciled relationship with God in common with all others who have been redeemed. The Hebrew writer describes this as coming “to the general assembly and church of the firstborn (p. 1 – literally, firstborn ones – RM) who are enrolled in heaven . . .” (Hebrews 12:22,23). Paul describes this collectivity under the figure of “one body” (Eph. 4:4) which is the church (Col. 1:18). Affiliation with such is not a matter of preference, rather, God adds those such as should be saved (Acts 2:47). There is only one body or church in the aggregate or universal sense, and it is simply all people who are “in Christ.”

There is, however, an area where human preference could be exercised justifiably, providing scriptural criterion is employed – the local church. Whereas there is only one church in the universal sense, there have been, are, and can be many local churches. Paul wrote to many churches in the Roman province of Galatia (Gal. 1:2); there were several churches in Asia (Rev. 1-3); etc., etc. That a degree of human preference is involved in these situations is evidenced by the fact that people of Christ join themselves together in local churches of Christ (Acts 9:26-28). A local church is different from the universal church in that it is comprised of some of the redeemed as opposed to all the redeemed., A local church has Organization (elders and deacons, Phil. 1:1). It is a situation in which people of Christ have banded together in (1) agreement, (2) pooling of resources and (3) under oversight and supervision to do the things Christ has authorized as the work of the local church. This arrangement is not optional; the Lord wills that a part of our overall service as Christians entails working and worshiping with other Christians (Heb. 10:24,25). However, many times opportunity presents brethren with choices regarding which local church of many to join or place membership.

Things To Consider When Exercising Preference Regarding A Local Church

1. Choose A Church That Is “Of Christ. ” Since the word “church” is used as a collective noun in the New Testament and simply suggests “Christians (people belonging to Christ) together, ” it is readily transparent that one local church is not as good as another.’For example, a local Methodist church is simply composed of “Methodists together.” But the Methodist Discipline does not comport with New Testament teaching regarding man’s obedience unto salvation. Therefore, Methodist are neither “in Christ” nor “of Christ.” They are not Christians in the Bible sense of the word. And a collectivity of Methodists is not a collectivity (church) of (belonging to) Christ. Remember, people compose churches, and one factor that distinguishes churches is people – people either belonging to and faithful to Christ or people who are not. The former is obviously eminently preferable.

2. Choose A Church That Demands Bible Teaching. Paul warned of brethren who would cease to endure sound doctrine and would appropriate teachers who would suit their fancy (2 Tim. 4:3). Conversely, Paul’s inspired prescription for churches in Crete was a hearty, consistent program of sound doctrine (Tit. 1:5,9; 2:1). Why? Because it is the truth that makes us free (John 8:32) and keeps us free (Gal. 3:1; 5:14). Brethren, weak preaching and teaching makes weak Christians and, consequently, weak churches! The true church is the “pillar and ground ,of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), and local churches are to demand Bible teaching and preaching and provide for the propagation of the gospel (Phil. 2:15,16).

3. Choose A Church That Abides In Sound Doctrine. Theory is one thing; practice is another, and is vitally important as well. Some churches are sound in theory, but slothful (yea, dead!) in practice (Rev. 2:1,2; 3:1). Often churches have become infused with the leaven of perverted doctrine, modernism and unauthorized practices (Rev. 2:14,15). Neither of these situations is for the Christian who aspires to remain faithful and in fellowship with God. Remember, in both cases cited from the Revelation, the Lord called upon all to hear and repent, or else! The fact is, there comes a time when the faithful must take a stand for truth and “come out from among them” (2 Cor. 6:17). Fellowship with God is contingent upon “walking in the light as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7). This is true of individual saint relationships with God, and is true in principle of our “together activities” in the local church. Christians “individually’ or Christians “together” who cease to abide in sound doctrine and practice (light), have no fellowship with God! So, in a manner of speaking, “one so-called church of Christ is not as good as another”.

Friends let us be characterized by the kind of wisdom that “cometh from above” (Jas. 3:17) in exercising our “preferences” in religion. We must recognize that some things are not matters of preference. Yet, in those areas where we have latitude, we must be regulated by scriptural principles. How foolish it is to allow our decisions regarding a local church to be ruled by its size, meeting house or location. Instead of being prejudiced against large or small congregations, shouldn’t we be more concerned with reaching as many lost souls and edifying as many saints as we can? Rather than being hung-up on architecture and style of church buildings, shouldn’t we be satisfied with well equipped and well-maintained places in which to study and worship? And, though brethren ought to choose locations in which optimum service might be rendered and even be willing to re-locate if the cause would be advanced, shouldn’t we be willing to drive past a dozen (or more) more conveniently located so-called churches of Christ in order to work and worship with a church composed of brethren who are sound in the faith?

Preference can be a rich faculty if properly motivated and acquitted. It can be devastating if not used wisely.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 10, pp. 297-298
May 17, 1984