Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

I am happy to announce in this issue of Guardian of Truth that Tom Roberts is being added to our staff of writers. In my judgment, he will contribute to overall work of the Guardian of Truth. He is an excellent writer who militantly opposes every device of Satan to destroy the people of God.

I do not have a close personal contact with brother Roberts because we have never lived in proximity to each other to make that possible. I have grown to love and appreciate him for his work through the printed page. There has not been a gospel preacher to my knowledge who has done more to fight the grace-unity movement in the Dallas, Texas area. While working with the West Side Church in Fort Worth, Texas, brother Roberts edited the Gospel Guide. The primary thrust of that journal in recent years has been to oppose the neo-Calvinism being taught by some proponents of the grace-unity movement in that area. Through this bulletin, I became exposed to brother Roberts’ material.

Later, I was privileged to examine some of brother Roberts’ material rather carefully while working to prepare the lectures which were presented in that area but later published by the Guardian of Truth Foundation under the title Neo-Calvinism in the Church of Christ. Brother Roberts was one of the primary movers in getting this material published. It remains the most extensive work printed on the grace-unity movement.

A product of northeast Texas, Tom Roberts began preaching the gospel near Gladewater, Texas. Born in 1935 in Gregg County, he attended public schools first in Kilgore and finished the final six grades in Gladewater. While still in his senior year, he began preaching for a small congregation in the rocky community near Gladewater. One of the earliest conversions during this time was Pauline Kelley who later was joined with him in matrimony in June, 1953. Three children have been born to them; one son, Tommy, was killed in an accident during the fall of 1981. One son and one daughter remain.

Preachers who made a lasting impression on him during his formative years were Foy Wallace, Sr., Paul and Tom Wallace, Foy L. Smith and Robert Turner. After one school year at Florida College (1954-55), brother Roberts began full-time preaching with the church at Sour Lake, Texas. Following this, he worked in North Carolina for a number of years, both in New Bern and Newport, helping also to establish a new congregation in Morehead City.

In 1961, Tom moved from North Carolina to labor with the brethren at Whitesboro, Texas. While there he became acquainted with some brethren in a small liberal church in Sherman, a larger town just east of Whitesboro in north central Texas. After a period of study, he encouraged them to take a stand against liberalism. This they did to the last member, which enabled them to take a stand for the truth and keep their building without the controversy that often marks such an event. This congregation continues faithfully serving God today with Robert Farish working with them as evangelist.

Following the work at Whitesboro and Sherman (1961-67), he moved to Crockett, Texas, then back to North Carolina where he preached for a second time at Newport. In the fall of 1972, he and his family moved to Fort Worth at the invitation of the West Side church where he has preached for the last ten years. In 1982, a number of brethren who had been driving a long distance to worship at West Side peacefully formed a new congregation in south Fort Worth identified as the Woodmont Church of Christ. They began to meet in May of 1982 and asked brother Roberts later to begin working with them. He did so in September of that same year and continues with them currently. They are meeting in the Danciger Jewish Community Center, 6801 Old Grandbury Road, have purchased property at Alta Mesa and Landview streets in south Fort Worth, and plan to build shortly.

Meeting work for brother Roberts includes efforts in Texas, New Mexico, California, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. While in college, he preached occasionally in Florida. In 1974, he became an associate editor of The Bible Standard and remained with it until it discontinued publication. Recently, he coauthored and edited material for Neo-Calvinism in the church of Christ, a study of issues centering on the graceunity controversy among brethren. In addition to bulletin work during most of the places where he lived, he also has preached the gospel over local radio stations, including one currently at Weatherford, Texas. During the years, he has contributed written articles to other religious journals such as the Gospel Guardian and Vanguard. He has expressed gratitude at being invited to be a staff writer for Guardian of Truth due to its policy of open discussion of issues, its militant stand for the truth and for the quality of writing supplied by those already associated with the paper.

Our readers will be blessed to have the opportunity to study the word of God under the direction of brother Roberts in the articles which he will be contributing to the Guardian of Truth. I know that you will look forward to reading each of them.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 3, pp. 65, 86
February 3, 1983

By C. G. “Cony” Caldwell

The New Testament is clear on the point that God dwells in some men. For example read the following:

No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us: hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hash sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him (1 John 4:12-16)

Another obvious message of these few verses is that we dwell in God. Three times in the same passage which says that God dwells in us, John says that we dwell in God. The question we are, of course, going to be concerned about first is this: “Is the indwelling equivalent to personal, direct possession of the other person?” A point to remember is that the same thing is said of our dwelling in God that is said of God dwelling in us. I believe John explains what he means by this terminology:

As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal. These things have I written unto you concerning them that would lead you astray. And as for you, the anointing which ye receive of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him (I John 2:24-27).

Notice the connection between the language of the two passages. God abides in us and we abide in Him (1 John 4). That which is heard abides in us and we abide in the Father and in the Son (1 John 2). John speaks of our being anointed or taught and of the relationship of that to our abiding in Him.

The New Testament is also clear in informing us that Christ dwells in some men:

l am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit. Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and 1 in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they ae burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples. Even as the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you: abide ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love (John 15:1-10).

Strikingly, this passage which says that Christ dwells in us, also repeatedly affirms that WE dwell in Christ. The question again becomes, “Is the indwelling personal, direct possession?” Obviously, to me at least, Jesus is speaking of the intimate relationship or communion between the divine being and obedient, loving Christians. That relationship is based upon the communication between them. The divine beings love men and have communicated the heavenly desire for fellowship with men and the responsibilities attendant thereto. Christians on the other hand have listened to, responded to, and been influenced by the divine beings to share spiritual character and life. The relationship is so strong and close that each is said to dwell in the other!

The most controverted aspect of the indwelling topic is the involvement of the Holy Spirit. He also dwells in us but notice also that we dwell in Him:

But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of Cod dwelleth in you. But if any man bath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you (Rom. 8:9-I1; cf. I Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20).

Paul explains that he is not discussing personal possession but has in mind a spiritual relationship between the personages of Deity and those who will be saved:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus …. who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit . . . . So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Rom. 8:1, 4, 5, 12, 13, 14).

Having the Holy Spirit in us, and our being in the Holy Spirit, is to have such an intimate relationship that we are led by Him and influenced by what He says. Having the Holy Spirit in us is not something mystical, mysterious, or spiritualistic in the sense that we cannot relate to the terminology or understand it. It is not possession of the body or personal residence in a literal sense.

Persons “dwelling in” other persons is not an uncommon expression. We speak of: (a) parents living in their children, or of our being able to see a parent in his child; (b) lovers having each other in their hearts; (c) teachers abiding in their students; and, (d) national leaders possessing the hearts of their people. Do such expressions demand personal possession?

But now to the real point of this article. What is it practically to have the divine Beings in us? Many fine articles have argued the “how” of indwelling. I want to discuss what the practical import of it is in the life of the Christian!

I. When others dwell in you, you love them with a virtually unbounded love. Isn’t that true of parent and child, husband and wife, etc. A mother will give her life for her child whom she holds dear in her heart. Listen to what Jesus said about that:

If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me (John 14:23-24).

II. When others dwell in you, you think about them “all the time.” You can hardly talk to young lovers about anything other than the object of their love because that is all they think about. Parents think about those children who are in their hearts “all the time.” Now that should be true of Christians who have God in their hearts. Just here let us put two obviously parallel Scriptures together:

And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with you heart to the Lord; . . . Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Eph. 5:18-19; Col. 3:16-17).

If all that I do is done in the name of the Lord and with thanksgiving, I must be thinking about Christ when I make all my decisions for living. If Christ dwells in me, I will think about Him. If I do not, that is evidence that He does not dwell in me!

III. When others dwell in you, you develop the same attitudes about things that they have. It is amazing how much husband and wife come to think alike when they have a good marriage. It is important that Christians marry Christians for this very reason. We become so much a part of one another that our thinking is influenced by the other in almost every facet of life. Paul taught that we should come to have the same attitudes that God has and that such is evidence of Divine indwelling:

Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid. Or know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The twain, saith he, shall become one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glory God therefore in your body (I Cor. 6: 15-20).

We will come to think about right living, about sin, about things of the world, about spiritual things, etc., like God does if we are truly a temple of the Holy Spirit. If our relationship is good and we are influenced by the teaching of the Spirit, we will dwell in Him and He in us.

IV. When others dwell in you, you develop the same attitudes toward people that they have. Whether right or wrong, if my wife likes someone I tend to like them and if she is hesitant about being comfortable around them, I am also hesitant. With regard to spiritual things, John put it this way:

No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, Cod abideth in us, and his love is perfected to us: hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father bath sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him and he in God. And we know and have believed the love which God bath in us. Cod is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him (I John 4:12-16).

V. When others dwell in you, you readily respond when they ask you to do something. Wives who really love their husbands and have them in their hearts do not feel compelled to “submit.” They gladly seek to please their husbands by responding to their wishes. And husbands do the same! Listen again to John on spiritual matters:

And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that with, 1 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 bath the lave of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: he that with he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked (I John 2:3-6).

VI. When others dwell in you, you want to be what they want you to be so that they will love you and respect you. One of the greatest incentives to me to be the right kind of person is my godly wife who is in my heart and my two children who are Christians and are also in my heart. If God is in my heart, I will want to be what He wants me to be so that I will not disappoint Him. I don’t want my wife to see me drunk, cheating others, engaging in immorality or public immodesty, and certainly I should not want God to see me that way. If I don’t care how God sees me, He does not dwell in my heart:

And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him (I John 2:28-29).

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 3, pp. 65, 87
February 3, 1983

By Jimmy Tuten

Some time ago, there was a faithful dog which was a constant companion of a small child. One day both dog and child disappeared. A diligent search by parents, friends, and neighbors proved to be fruitless. The child could not be found.

After several hours the dog returned home, but was covered with blood. Naturally, the father jumped to the conclusion that the dog had become vicious and killed the child. The dog must be destroyed, so he got his gun and killed the dog.

A little later, the child was found in the woods unharmed. Nearby was the body of a panther that the dog had killed in his struggle to protect the child.

So often we are guilty of conclusion jumping. We take action, or at least express our opinion before considering all the facts. The result is usually unpleasant and at times irreparable damage is done.

Solomon showed the foolishness of jumping to conclusions when he said, “He that answereth (Heb. returneth a word) a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame to him” (Prov. 18:13). Not only do we have this problem with “Matters,” but in dealing with people as well. On this Jesus said, “Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth” (Emphasis mine, J.T.)?

A man who will not hear all the facts before drawing conclusions has a Klinker in his thinker; it is almost impossible to squeeze the truth into his mind. The most difficult thing to open is a closed mind. Too, have you ever noticed how extremely difficult it is for a person to keep his mind open and his mouth shut at the same time? How wonderful an open mind is when it is matched with a closed mouth. But that’s another subject. My point is this, don’t waste a human mind by refusing to fulfil its hunger for education with facts, all the facts. When you give people a piece of your mind, then, and only then do they know the kind of mind you have.

So, be careful about what you think, say, and do. You might be guilty of shooting a dog that ought to be praised.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 2, p. 56
January 20, 1983

By Julian R. Snell

On the night of December 6-7 and 9-10, Harry Lewis, Christian, met Gerald Smith, Baptist, in debate at Lexington, KY. The proposition, “A child of God can so sin as to be lost in hell,” was discussed, with Lewis in the affirmative the first two nights and Smith in the negative. The last two nights Smith took the affirmative with the proposition being changed by, “cannot,” to reflect the Baptist position. Attendance ranged from 300-400 for the sessions.

Harry Lewis, preacher for the Liberty Road church in Lexington has a daily call-in radio program. Gerald Smith, who preaches for the Northside Baptist Church in Lexington, apparently prompted by what he heard on the program, called in and challenged brother Lewis for the discussion. During the course of the debate, it became apparent that Smith had been a regular unidentified caller on Lewis’ program as questions and answers there given made up a prominent part of Smith’s argumentation. Much out of the ordinary for present day Baptists was the aggressive spirit of Mr. Smith and his associates in challenging for other debates. Propositions were signed during the discussion for a debate on “essentiality of baptism” and arrangements are in the making to debate “origin and name of the church.”

The first two nights of the debate were held at the Northside Baptist Church where brother Lewis affirmed. The latter two in a school auditorium provided by the Liberty Road congregation, where Smith affirmed. This produced an interesting development giving real insight into at least this group of Baptists’ attitude toward other churches, the Lord’s church in particular. Preliminaries to the debate included a song and prayer, intermission also included a song. The Baptists declined to participate in this and when someone questioned and chided the failure the moderator for Mr. Smith gave a revealing explanation. His words, as nearly as I remember, were, “We did not contract to worship with you people and refuse to do so. We will not sing with a group of infidels who have denied and refused the grace of God.”

While our purpose here is to simply report the debate we would pay compliment to the splendid job brother Lewis did in presenting truth and punctuating error. He was well prepared with telling affirmative arguments, beautifully presented by charts. His anticipation of Smith’s arguments was reflected in the charts prepared in advance which proved devastating. Mr. Smith found it necessary to stay in the negative even through a greater part of the last two nights when he was supposed to be affirming. Actually, he presented no affirmative argument until his last speech the final night. This within itself shows his difficulties. At one point during the discussion when clarification of statements was necessary, Mr. Smith was asked, “Do you believe the Christian can sin?” He answered, “Yes,” and in so doing he sacrificed his proposition. This really tells the story of the debate.

While this was the first debate for both men, even though each is an experienced preacher, it was fairly representative. Mr. Smith has been 17 years at the Northside Baptist Church. Harry Lewis, in his first year at Liberty Road, though many years a faithful preacher, conducted himself in an admirable way and his efforts are appreciated by all who were present. He is deserving of the commendation of brethren everywhere who love the truth.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 2, p. 55
January 20, 1983