Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

As editor of Truth “‘Magazine, I am delighted to present this special issue on the book of Romans. We have solicited some of the best students of God’s word among us to write a synopsis of the different chapters in the book of Romans in an attempt to give our readers the very best in religious journalism. We think that this special issue on Romans will be one which you will keep for special study in later years in your life. Some of you, no doubt, will want to order bundles of the paper to use in your classes each Lord’s day and on Wednesday night.

The book of Romans has been one area of the Scriptures which has been distorted by those associated with the grace-unity movement. They have sought to find unconditional grace for the believer — grace that is applied to the believer to cover his sins without repentance and prayer being necessary to receive it. They have thought that they have found the Calvinistic doctrine of the imputation of the perfect obedience of Christ to the believer’s account in the book of Romans. A study of this book is, therefore, especially relevant to the problems which are presently facing the Lord’s people.

It is my hope in the preparation of this material that it will be of use to God’s people in combating the errors which are among us. Too, it is desired that this material will serve as a positive presentation of the gospel. The proper understanding of salvation by grace through faith should serve to offset any perversions relative to the biblical study of this point. Hence, we think that this material will be doubly useful.

In the hope that it will be useful to you in the service of God, we commend it unto you. May God be glorified through the teaching that is done through these pages.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 1, p. 2
January 4, 1979

By Johnie Edwards

There is a money problem facing the people of God. Paul said, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10). People misunderstand how they are to obtain their money, how to use it, and sometimes folks get their money and the Lord’s mixed up-thinking whatever they can use their own personal money for, it can also be used by the church in the same way.

(1) The Bible makes a distinction between the money of an individual Christian and the Lord’s money. In reference to the money of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter said, “While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou has not lied unto men, but unto God” (Acts 5:4).

(2) The individual must obtain his money right. Paul said, “Provide things honest in the sight of all men. . .” (Rom. 12:17). “And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing” (1 Thess. 4:11-12). Thus we see that the Christian may engage in any honest occupation.

(3) The individual must use his money right. Proper use of one’s money involves at least four things: (a) A liberal contribution to the Lord (Matt. 3-8-10; Lk. 6:38; 1 Cor. 16:1-2, 2 Cor. 9:6-7); (b) Pay our taxes (Rom. 13:6-7; Matt. 17:24-27); (c) Provide for our own (Eph. 4:28; 1 Tim. 5:8, 16); (d) Maintain good works. Some too often think that when they have given to the Lord for the work of the church, that this should also take care of all good works-not so! Notice: (Gal. 6:10; Tit. 3:1, Luke 10:30-36; James 1:27; 1 Tim. 6:18; Matt. 5:1416; Eph. 4:28; 1 John 3:17). All of the passages have reference to the individual using his possessions for good works among those who are in need and to take care of his own family and those who might become his charge.

(4) The Lord’s money is to be used for the Lord’s work. After I have given my money into the treasury of the Lord, then I have no control of it. It must be used as the Bible directs. The church has been given three works to do: (a) Preaching the gospel (1 Thess. 1:18; 1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 3:10-11; 1 Cor. 9:14, 2 Cor. 11:8; Phil. 4:15-17); (b) Building up the local church (Eph. 4:16); (c) Assisting needy saints (Rom. 15:26; Acts 6:1-7; Acts 11:27-30; 2 Cor. 8:9; 1 Cor. 16:1-3).

After reading all of these passages, there is found no reference to the church buying camp sites, building human organizations through which the church works, contributing to schools, furnishing entertainment, or any social activity. Let’s learn where the individual’s responsibility lies and respond to it and let the church do the work the Lord assigned her.

Truth Magazine XXII: 48, p. 778
December 7, 1978

By Morris W. R. Bailey

In this final article in this series, I propose to make some concluding observations on the nature of truth. The first of these is that

Truth Is Harmonious

By that, we mean that truth is always in harmony with itself. In the nature of things it cannot be otherwise. For truth can no more contradict truth than one fact can contradict another fact. Therefore, that which contradicts truth can only be error. That is obvious in every field of knowledge.

Mathematically speaking, if it is true-which it is-that four plus four make eight; then it is obviously not true that four minus four will make eight. And no amount of rationalizing can make it so. Historically speaking, if it is true-which it is-that Columbus discovered America in the year 1492; then it is obvious that it is not true to say that he discovered America in 1650. And geographically speaking, if it is true that Canada lies to the north of the United States of America; then it is clearly untrue to say that it lies to the south thereof. That same characteristic of truth prevails in the moral and spiritual realm. No two contradictory doctrinal tenets can both be true. And no two contradictory moral ideologies can both be ethically sound.

The Principle Applied

Since the Bible is God’s word (compare Acts 17:3; 1 Thess. 2:13) and since God’s word is truth (John 17:17), whatever may be said of the nature of truth may also be said of the character of the Bible. Whatever, then, is one’s attitude toward the truth in the spiritual realm, will be his or her attitude toward the Bible.

It thus follows that the principle of the harmony of truth is an important factor that must be recognized when studying the Bible. We must approach the Bible with the attitude that it is in harmony with itself and not just a mixture of conflicting dogmas. Yet it is all too common to hear people express their concept of the Bible, saying. “You can prove anything by the Bible.” This is a false and degrading conception of the Bible and one that borders on blasphemy, for it reflects on the integrity of God, its author.

Another attitude toward the Bible is couched in the oft heard statement that, “We don’t understand the Bible alike.” This is usually suggested as the reason for the conflicting doctrines that make up the babel of confusion that is so evident in the religious world of today. To this concept of the Bible I must also make strong objection, since it differs but little from the one noted previously. For where one reflects upon the integrity of God, the other reflects upon His ability to give us a revelation-that is free from ambiguity. From where I sit, it appears that one attitude is as God dishonoring as the other. The fact is that the things that cause the division so evident in the world today, are not what the Bible teaches, but things that the Bible does not teach. That fact is a subject within itself which we have neither time nor space to explore in this article but can only mention in passing. For the present we merely point out that one cannot prove just anything by the Bible if it is fairly treated. The Bible, if understood at all, will be understood alike by all, for the Bible does not contradict itself, nor does it teach conflicting and contradictory doctrines. A few examples are in order at this point.

1. The Bible does not teach that it is all-sufficient (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) and at the same time authorize human creeds. The two concepts are not compatible. If a human creed is necessary, the Bible is not sufficient. But if the Bible is sufficient, the human creed is unnecessary.

2. The Bible does not teach one person that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and then teach some one else that he was nothing more than a perfect man. The two concepts are irreconcilable. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God (Matt. 26:63, 64; John 19:7). If He is not the Son of God, He therefore made a false claim and one who makes a false claim cannot be even a good man, much less a perfect man.

3. The Bible does not teach one person that salvation is by faith alone, and then teach another person that salvation is by faith plus works of obedience that demonstrate faith and by which faith is made perfect (Jas. 2:21, 22). The two positions are incompatible. For if salvation is by faith alone, then everything but faith is excluded. But if salvation is by a working faith (Gal. 5:6), then it is not by faith alone.

4. The Bible does not teach one person that faith plus baptism results in salvation, (Mark 16:16) and then teach some one else that faith minus baptism results in salvation. The two positions contradict each another. One is the antithesis of the other.

5. The Bible does not teach one group of people the necessity of unity of believers (John 17:20-23; 1 Cor. 1:10-13) and then teach others that the divided state of the denominational world is acceptable to God. The two positions are irreconcilable.

6. Since the Bible teaches that the Christian can fall from grace and be finally and eternally lost (1 Cor. 9:27; Gal. 5:4; Heb. 4:1), it therefore does not teach the doctrine of eternal security, or impossibility of apostasy, that is fervently taught by some religious bodies. Again, one position is the antithesis of the other.

Efforts on the part of men to array one passage of scripture against another are unbecoming to anyone professing respect for God’s word. Any effort to make it appear that the Bible teaches all of the conflicting and contradictory doctrines found in the religious world is a reflection on the truthfulness of God. We say with the apostle Paul, “For what if some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of none effect the faithfulness of God? God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar. . .” (Rom. 3:3, 4). No, the Bible does not teach doctrines that conflict and contradict. Scripture may complement scripture. One scripture may explain another scripture. But make no mistake; never does scripture contradict scripture.

Truth Is Immutable

Our final point concerning truth is that it is immutable. That is to say, that it is unchangeable. It does not vary from age to age. It is not subject to revision, nor can it be repealed by man to satisfy his whims. In the natural realm, the laws by which the earth is controlled are based on truth which God established in the beginning of time. Thus, throughout the millenniums that the earth has stood, the vegetable kingdom has perpetuated itself by producing its own seed, which in turn, produces after its kind (Gen. 1:11, 12). The solar day has been composed of evening and morning, light and darkness (Gen. 1:5). The heavenly bodies continue to rule the day and the night and the control of seasons (Gen. 1:24, 25).

Because of the immutability of truth in the natural realm. man knows that when he conforms his manner of life to that truth as revealed in nature’s laws, the desired results are assured. By compliance with mathematical truth, the civil engineer is able to build a bridge that he knows is safe for traffic and the architect is able to design a building that is livable. By compliance with the truth that governs the vegetable kingdom, the farmer is assured that when he sows wheat, it is wheat, and not oats that he will reap.

God’s truth is likewise immutable in the spiritual realm. It is not subject to repeal by man. Nor carp it be tampered with, substituted, nor wrested without disastrous results. In the Galatian letter, Paul warned of the danger of preaching a substitute gospel. “But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema” (Gal. 1:8). Peter wrote of some who wrested the writings of Paul, “as they do also the other scriptures to their destruction” (2 Peter 3:16).

Because of the immutability of God’s truth in the spiritual realm it provides the solution for all the problems of a divided religious world. In one of the best known of His parables, Jesus spoke of the word of God as seed (Luke 8:11). Just as seed in the natural realm always produces after its kind, so also the seed of the kingdom, the word of God, when faithfully preached, and when it finds lodging in honest and good hearts, will produce the same results in every age. So what it produced in New Testament times, it will produce in this year of 1978.

In New Testament times, that seed, or truth, produced Christians. Do I hear some one ask, “What kind of Christians?” There were no kinds. They were just Christians (Acts 11:26; 1 Peter 4:16). When people obeyed the gospel in New Testament times they were added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47). Does some one ask, “What church?” There was but one church to be added to the church built by Jesus Christ and purchased with His blood (Matt. 16:18; Acts 20:28). In that one church all believers were thus united in one body (Rom. 12:4, 5). That happy state is possible today, if and when men will seek to know the truth (John 8:32). Believe the truth (2 Thess. 2:13). Obey the truth (1 Peter 1:22).

Truth Magazine XXII: 49, pp. 791-792
December 14, 1978

By Dennis C. Abernathy

Almost every one we talk with about the salvation of their soul will agree that Christ is essential to our salvation. Especially, is this so with anyone who believes the Bible. But when we ask the question: “Is the church essential to our salvation?” or “Is it necessary to be a member of the church to please Almighty God, or to do what He expects of you?”, we begin to get various answers. The reason for this is because so many have an improper understanding of what the Bible says about the church! They feel they can be saved separate and apart from the church, that it is non-essential (it is a good organization, and perhaps you would be better off if you were a member, but it is not necessary) to our pleasing God. What about you my friend or brother? Do you believe that Christ is necessary to your salvation, but that the church plays no vital part in your soul’s destiny? In other words, do you believe (as so many do) that membership in the church is of no eternal value? In this article we wish to affirm (in as simple a way as we know how) that both Christ and the church are essential to our salvation. Follow in your Bibles, and let us see!

1. Christ and the Church -A Very Close Relationship: If we can just come to realize and appreciate the very close relationship between Christ and the church, then I am convinced that we would never be guilty of thinking, much less saying, “I can be saved without ever being a member of the church.”

Take your Bible right now and read Ephesians 5:22-33. One thing we learn from these very beautiful passages is that the church is referred to as the “bride of Christ.” This certainly depicts the close affinity between the Lord and the church! Really, what I am saying is this: to belong to Christ is to belong to the church. Paul also stated in the same reading that Christ would “sanctify, cleanse, and present the church to Himself.” The record also states that Christ “gave Himself for the church.” I now ask this simple, but pertinent, question: “Did our Lord suffer the’ agony of death to bring into existence a non-essential institution?” Did the only begotten Son of God offer himself on a Roman cross (think of the suffering, shame, ridicule, etc.) in order to present something that we can either take or leave, accept or reject? Did he?

My Christian friend, and brother, before you are too hasty to cry out in righteous indignation against the poor soul who thinks little of the church, why not make an examination of self! Does your action (attending all the services, giving of your money, time, encouragement) depict this “take it or leave it” attitude? Is the church essential to you in “word only”? Let us strengthen and undergird our teaching by living consistently with it.

In Acts 20:28, we read: “Take heed unto yourselves and all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of the Lord which He hath purchased with His own blood.” Here we have the apostle Paul sending for the Ephesian elders to come and meet him in Miletus and he speaks fervently to them. Among the things he said was that the church was bought or purchased with Christ’s blood. Did Christ shed His blood in vain? The church must be very important. It must be worth every bit of Christ’s blood. Do you believe the Lord overpaid? Certainly not! The purchase price equals the value of the thing purchased (church), which shows that the church is just as important to our salvation as is Christ’s precious blood. Who can deny that the church is essential? If the blood of Christ is essential, then the church is essential.

But before we pass, we as Christians should go and read Hebrews 10:26-29. Let us beware lest we count the blood of the covenant (Christ’s blood) an unholy thing, by committing wilful acts of sin. But not only do we learn that Christ shed His blood to purchase the church, we also learn that his blood was “for the remission of sins.” “For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28). Is this unmistakable relationship between salvation from sin, the blood of Christ, and the church becoming clearer and clearer? In Acts chapter two, we read of those who received “remission of sins” by repenting and being baptized (Acts 2:38). What does that have to do with the church you ask? Read verses 41 and 47. The saved were added to the church! Those Jews on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 benefitted by the blood of Christ, by being in what the blood bought or purchased, that is, the church! What have we said? Notice: Christ shed His blood for the remission of sins (Matt. 26:28; Eph. 1:7), but He also shed His blood to purchase or buy the church (Acts 20:28) We benefit from His blood by being in the church or the purchased possession!

This very close relationship between Christ and the church is further seen in Acts $:l-5. This, of course, is talking of Saul of Tarsus, who was a leader of the Pharisees, and who, the record says, “made havoc of the church.” He was one of the leaders in the persecution of the church. You may be asking just what this has to do with the point we are making? Just this! In Acts 9:4, Jesus asked Saul, “Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou me?” To persecute the church is to persecute Christ! Why? Because Christ and the church are one (Eph. 5:32).

Turn in your Bible now and read Colossians 1:18,24. From these words we learn that the church is the spiritual body of Christ over which He rules as head. Therefore, to try to be saved by Christ but apart from the church is to separate the head from the body! The very fact that the Bible teaches us that Christ is the head of the church, which is His body, proves conclusively that the church is essential. Who can imagine or visualize the perfect Son of God as the head of a non-essential organism?

We now go to Ephesians 2:13-16. Read it before you go on with me. These verses talk about reconciliation. To reconcile means to bring us back in harmony with God. Man has sinned (Rom. 3:23), estranged himself from God (Isa. 59:1-2), but he can be brought back on friendly terms with God. But this reconciliation is only to be had in the body, the church, by the blood of Christ. May I illustrate (See chart below):

Where	What	How
Verse 13: In Christ	Made nigh	By the blood of Christ
Verse 16: In one body	Reconciled	By the cross
Is the Church Essential?

Last of all we come to Ephesians 5:23, which says, “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body.” Now, dear reader, if you think the church is non-essential, you shall have to get another Savior, for Christ is the Savior of the body, the church, over which He rules as head!

I think just here, it would be good to point out something that is very simple, yet unique, that being this: one enters into Christ and the church the same way and at the same time. Rom. 6:3-4 and Galatians 3:26-27 show us that baptism is the step that puts one into Christ. Take time to read them! But woe and behold in 1 Corinthians 12:13 we read that it is baptism which puts one into the church. Can you recall ever reading of any other way to enter “into Christ” or “into one body” (or church)? It would seem that the aforementioned passages would be enough to show the reasonable person the importance of being a member of the church, but let me go one step more.

2. The Close Relationship And Love Between Brethren: The church is spoken of as God’s family (1 Tim. 3:15). Therefore, to be in the church is to be a part of God’s family. That. means God is our Father and His family or household is composed or made up of his children.

To be a member of the church means we enjoy the “love of brethren” (Rom. 12:10; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 Pet. 2:17). I, for one, believe these warm associations and friendships are reasons for becoming a member of the church. The care we have, the joy we share, the esteem in which we hold one another is truly a marvelous thing. The song we so often sing expresses what I am trying to say:

“Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love

The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne we pour our ardent prayers;

Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares.

We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear;

And often for each other flows, the sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part it gives us inward pain;

But we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.”

Are you a member of the church? Christ gave Himself for the church, shed His blood to purchase it, rules over it as head, will save the church one day, and has given you the opportunity to be reconciled therein. We, of course, are speaking of Christ’s church, not just any church, not some denominational body that is not even mentioned in the Word of God, but the church Jesus built and that you can read of in the Bible. Why not obey the Lord now and become a member of the church, the body of the redeemed?

Truth Magazine XXII: 49, pp. 794-795
December 14, 1978