Truth Magazine

By Wayne S. Walker

Nearly all the denominations, especially the Baptists and the Pentecostals, have what are called “Christian colleges, ” as do also the Christian Churches and even some “churches of Christ.” Practically every faithful congregation of God’s people have received numerous requests from colleges run by members of the church and often identified as “Christian colleges” soliciting support in some form or another. In fact, every now and then someone will ask me whether certain schools operated by brethren are really “Christian colleges” or not.

The basic idea behind the “Christian college” concept is a school where “Christian young people” can be educated in both academic and religious subjects while associated with other “Christian young people” in a moral, or “Christian,” environment, as it is sometimes stated. Many of the denominational schools require a “profession of faith” before a student can be enrolled, and they usually receive support from a certain denomination or a group of churches, being considered the educational centers for the supporting churches and the place where their preachers may go to train. The situation with many colleges among us is not that much different as sectarian ideas have a tendency to rub off on unwary saints. However, nowhere does the scripture speak of a “Christian college,” either in fact or in principle. Any college that does exist has no scriptural right whatsoever to do certain things which many so-called “Christian colleges” do.

No college has the right to call itself or be called “Christian” to begin with. This word is found just three times in the Bible (Acts 11:26, 26:28; 1 Pet. 1: 16) and is used only of people, never things – including colleges. The only entity that may properly be referred to as “Christian” is a believing, penitent, confessing, baptized follower of Christ. Also, the word is found only as a noun, not an adjective. Some people talk about a “Christian man” or a “Christian woman.” While this may not be necessarily wrong, why not just speak of men and women who are Christians and say, “He (or she) is a Christian,” thus speaking as the oracles of God (1 Pet. 4: 11) and avoiding any occasion for misunderstanding. But even allowing for that, it is absurd, not to mention unscriptural, to refer to “Christian” printing presses, literature, bookstores, markets, nations, and especially colleges. Christ did not die for them and they have no business wearing His name. There is no way a college can be thought of as being “Christian” in a true Biblical sense.

Nor does any college have the authority to receive funds from any church, at least according to the word of God, especially from a church that claims to be “of Christ.”

The use of the Lord’s money in the church treasury is clearly outlined in the Scriptures – saving the lost through preaching the gospel (Rom. 1:15-16; Phil. 4:15-17), edifying the saints by teaching and worship (1 Cor. 14:26), and relieving the needs of indigent Christians in certain situations (Acts 4:34-37; 11:27-30). The mission of the church is spiritual, not physical or temporal (Lk. 19:10, Rom. 14:17). The purpose of a college, on the other hand, is to provide a general education in such disciplines as mathematics, language, science, psychology, etc., and to make available the proper social, recreational, and entertainment facilities as are needed, regardless of how much “Bible” may be included or how “Christian” the atmosphere may be. Churches have no business underwriting such secular education. In addition, churches of Christ simply have no Bible authority to supply financial aid to any human-founded institution in the first place. And although they denied it for years, it is now known that some churches have been secretly supporting many of the “brotherhood colleges” all the while.

Neither should the colleges try to usurp the work God has given the church nor exercise any influence upon it. Paul wrote that “the church of the living God (is) the pillar and the ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), not some manmade institution. When a college acts in such a way as to replace or supplant the work of the local congregation, it has overstepped its bounds whether it receives church money or not. It should then cease to exist lest it pervert God’s plan further and corrupt the Lord’s church more than it already has. Colleges have a way of becoming rallying points around which brethren will draw lines and form parties. They can exert an influence and wield power, in contradiction to the spirit of Matthew 20:25-28, of which we must be careful. And history reveals that most departures from the faith have begun in connection with church related schools.

There is nothing wrong with a group of brethren owning and operating an institution of higher learning to provide a general education for all interested young people in a moral environment, so long as that college refuses to accept church support and to usurp the work of the blood bought body of Christ. This writer has benefitted greatly from such a situation. However, let the local church, designed by God to be the support of the truth, and individual Christians also fulfil this obligation to ground young people in the Scriptures and train men to preach the word. Neither is there anything wrong with the college providing periods of instruction in the Bible and related topics as part of an eclectic ..curriculum; and even preachers may wish to obtain their schooling there. But this does not make the school a “Christian college,” for in reality, there can be no such thing.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 20, p. 625
October 20, 1983

By John Smith

Four times in Ephesians 5 Paul compels husbands to love their wives. In Ephesians 5:25 the God of heaven inspired Paul to write, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for her.” We, who are husbands, have a sacred duty to love our wives to the extent that we would sacrifice our lives for their benefit. In v. 28 Paul further qualifies a husband’s love for his wife by saying that “husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies.” Just as we cleanse, protect, and pamper our bodies, so also we ought to do for our wives. That same verse connects loving oneself and loving one’s wife. When I fail to love my wife as my own body, I fail to love myself. Paul concludes with this same thought in v. 33, “Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself.”

In 1 Peter 3:7, Peter says, “You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman, and grant her honor as a fellow-heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” God in this passage ascribes to man the responsibility of caring for and honoring his wife. The wife, by God’s design, is elevated to a position in which she is worthy of esteem. She is to be treated with special kindness and delicacy as one would treat a prized fragile piece of glass-ware. Many though seem to view their wives as garbage cans doomed to abuse and mistreatment. We as husbands need to have the care and gentleness of a glassmaker not the rough-shod manner of a garbage man.

Our wives are prized companions, confidantes, and friends. We need to communicate with them, share with them, laugh with them, and cry with them. The story is told of a man who solemnly repeated his vow to love, honor and cherish his wife. He pledged to do so in sickness and in health; in good times and in bad; etc. A few months later he isolated himself behind the evening newspaper and TV. He was no longer the friend, companion, and confidante that he once had been. Having taken it as long as she could, the wife resorted to her last trick – nagging! The husband exploded, sharply rebuking her for her rebellion. It is said that he didn’t see her for about a week – and then only out of one eye! Let us as husbands realize the precious gift given us by God and treat her as such (Prov. 19:14).

Paul in Romans 12:18 says, “If possible so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Husbands, like it or not, our wives are a part of “all men” as it is used here in reference to the human race. A young man where I preach said of his girl friend, “It might be o.k. for Greg and Judy to argue and fight, but it is not o.k. for Bro. Potts and Sister Kyle.” This fellow, young in years and young as a Christian (4 months old!) made a very mature and insightful statement concerning his relationship with this young lady. Those of us whose wives are Christians need to realize that we are also brothers and sisters in Christ and ought to conduct ourselves accordingly.

Consider for a moment what effect it would have on troubled marriages if husbands would learn to love their wives as Christ loved the church. How easily might some of those problems be solved if the husband loved his wife as himself? How much more pleasant would many marriages be if the husband loved and cared for his wife as he did for himself? How many fights, arguments, and misunderstandings could be avoided if the husband honored his wife and treated his wife as a fragile vessel? What would happen to the divorce rate in this country if husbands fulfilled their God-given responsibilities to their wives?

But some might say, “I just can’t love my wife as Christ loved the church.” Then remember the words of Christ in Mark 12:31 when He repeated a commandment given by Moses, “You shall love your neighbors as yourself.” Husbands, we have no closer neighbor than our wives. For the one who still cannot bring himself to love his wife as himself, there is one last option. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus commands us to love our enemies. There you have it fellows. There is no way out. Anyway we view our wives the command remains, “Husbands love your wives.”

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 20, p. 624
October 20, 1983

By Earl E. Robertson

Salvation has to do with saving one from his own sins, not the sins of others (Ezek. 18:4, 20). Contrary to the old creeds which teach that all are born into this world with sin (inherited depravity), the Bible teaches babies are safe. Usually the Calvinistic theologian will offer Psalms 51:5 as proof that babies are born sinners. The passage reads, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” So, this passage is supposed to affirm that since parents are sinners their children are also sinners through inheritance! They tell us this means the children are born totally depraved in sin which they got from their parents! The Philadelphia Confession Of Faith says in “Article 10” of babies thus born unelected: “Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet, not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither will nor can truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved.” This is then the alleged nature of newborn babies. David is not describing either his mother’s or his own moral condition; he is speaking of the condition of the world into which he was born. Acts 2:8 has identical language. Luke records the expressed feelings of the Jews at their hearing the apostles speak various languages, saying, “And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” They were not “born in a tongue”; they were born in a world wherein a certain tongue (language) was spoken. David was born in a world where sin reigned.

By taking the position of inherited depravity, the logical step to follow is the unconditional election. The creeds further say, “This effectual call is of God’s free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, nor from any power or agency in the creature co-working with his special grace; the creature being wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and trespasses, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call . . . . ” No one denies the sinner is dead in sin (Eph. 2:1), but we do deny the sin is from anyone but the sinner himself. The creed says “grace alone” but the Bible says “grace through faith” (Eph. 2:8). The creed says the sinner is “wholly passive” in being saved, but Jesus says the one who enters the kingdom of heaven is “he that doeth the will of my Father” (Matt. 7:21). “Doeth” requires action; action is the opposite of passive! Salvation is actively received!

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 20, p. 623
October 20, 1983

By William C. Sexton

If the phrase “a prophet of God” is spoken, the Bible student would likely think of Elijah. He was a powerful prophet in the Old Testament; when Jesus was transfigured before certain of the apostles (Mt. 17:1-5). He appeared with Elijah to represent the prophets Jesus referred to his acts (Lk. 4:24-26); James mentioned him as evidence of the powerful effect of a righteous man’s prayer (Jas. 5:16-18); Paul pointed to him as one being mistaken about his lonely state because many faithful peoples were serving God (Rom. 11:2-5).

Elijah was a great prophet, who achieved much, giving evidence that he was serving God and that God is powerful (1 Kings 18:21-46). He spoke out against evil, opposed the prophets of Baal, as a spokesman for God. Yet, Elijah was a human, with the weaknesses which characterize mankind. He was, like most of us are at some time, tempted to drop out and give up (1 Kings 19:1-21).

The character of this man and the occasion in his life (just after achieving a great victory) make us unprepared for what he does in this respect! Yet, I suspect that here is just one case of the many in the word of God which point each of us to self-examination, to discover our humanness, We sometimes miscalculate reality! If Elijah, a prophet of God could and did so misperceive things, then certainly we ought to recognize that we, too, may do the same and be in need of assistance!

His Character

He manifested his courage and determination in (1) announcing to wicked Ahab that there was going to be neither “dew nor rain” (1 Kings 17: 1) due to the evil behavior of the king, (2) challenging the people to make a choice to decide whether the Jehovah is God or Baal and to follow the real one (1 Kings 18:21ff). He had manifested his kindness and relationship to God in dealing with the widow and her child (1 Kings 17:17-24).

Depression After Having Gained A Decisive Victory

Elijah called the people together and asked for the prophets of Baal to call on their god to manifest himself to show that he was alive, able, and willing to respond to their needs. this allowed all to witness the complete failure of Baal. After the failure of Baal and his prophets, Elijah called on the Lord God and He responded, burning the sacrifice and drying up the water. This was a powerful demonstration of God’s power and Elijah’s relationship to Him. It would seem reasonable to expect all observers and knowledgeable people to recognize the power manifested and submit to it. One would expect Elijah to be elated, walking on cloud nine!

Yet when his work was conveyed to the king’s wicked wife, Jezebel, she promised to continue her opposition and resistence to him (1 Kings 19:2-3). With his experience and recent victory over Baal’s four hundred prophets, we would expect him to face up to the threat, pointing to the fact that God had manifested Himself in such a powerful way that it would be foolish and fatal to oppose Him in the manner she was threatening. However, we are surprised again! He runs for his life!

His Action Of Requesting To Die

It is hard to understand that this character at this time would run away from such a one as Jezebel and sit down under a tree requesting “for himself that he might die. . . ” (19:4). Even with such behavior, the Lord did not let him have his request. He sent an angel who “touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.” He was strengthened and traveled for forty days and nights to Horeb, the mount of God (19:8).

Yet, Elijah was not ready and prepared to face reality. Rather, he went into a cave. The Lord, as He had done before, challenged him as to what he was doing there. The answer was not really a response: “I have been jealous for the Lord of Host: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and 1, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (19:10, 14).

Truly, Elijah had been jealous for the Lord and such was both good and correct. It was sad that the people of Israel had forsaken the covenant, thrown down the altars built to God and slain the prophets. However, the question addressed to Elijah was: “What doeth thou here?” Why are you here and what are you doing here? Now, not yesterday or days gone by, is the period of time in question.

This is a rather common problem or response, I’m afraid, for any or all of us! We become obsessed with a response that is not really pertinent. When asked a question, we repeat that response!

Lessons To Be Learned From Elijah’s Action

I believe that we all can learn some valuable lessons from this account of his behavior on this occasion; perhaps that is the reason that it is recorded and preserved for us.

1. Like Elijah, all of usfail at times to live up to what we should do based on our knowledge and experience. Quite often, the unreasoned behavior occurs shortly after a victory! Man is more vulnerable right after a battle, even one which he has won! He is exhausted, with his guard down!

Many people have dropped out after great achievements! We expect an inexperienced person to become discouraged and give up and/or in; but the man who has been on the firing line and gained many battles of significance, too, can be overcome!

Each of us need to be challenged: “What doeth thou here?” We need to be challenged, repeatedly till we get off that obsession! We need,to have the significance of that challenge to penetrate our conscience!

2. Christians, like Elijah, need to see that there is and will remain temptations, but there is no justification for dropping out, till God calls us home!

We need, therefore, to allow the double challenge to sink in: Just what are we doing where we are? It does not matter how much we have done; rather, it’s what are we doing now? There is never a time when we can stop and rely on the past record – till our time alloted here expires, and God is the judge and determiner of that.

3. Like Elijah, we need to climb a mountain, get a different view!

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord, And behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountain, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice …. And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on the way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou cometh, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: and Jehu the son of Nimshi shall thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-me-holah shall thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him (19:11-12, 15-18).

It is evidence that Elijah has miscalculated: he was not the only one left faithfully serving God! Seven thousand others were alive and serving. We, too, when we get so discouraged, thinking that we are the only one left, need to look again! Somewhere, out of our sight, there are others!

At times we need to climb a mountain and get a view from a different prospective! Hear the Lord say, “Go!” Get back into the stream of activity! Go about doing your job, and see that you can still do something for the Lord’s cause! We can assist others. We can still tell the story of Jesus (Mt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:15-16).

Conclusion

Every person who has served God, will at times feel as Elijah, feel like dropping out! I’m no better than the others who have gone before me, they suffered and died, I might as well die now! But the Lord is the, only one who can decide that accurately. So, let us keep on being faithful as long as we are allowed to live and serve. Let us ask ourselves: are we doing what we can now according to His word and directions?

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 20, pp. 622-623
October 20, 1983