Truth Magazine

By Earl Robertson

The religion of Jesus Christ rests upon the affirmation that He is the divine Son of God. This affirmation is either fact or fiction. Both positions are constantly taught by religious folk. Both positions can not be right; both can not be true. So, one position is essentially a lie.

Judaism says Jesus is an illegitimate son of a cheap peasant woman and canny, therefore, be the divine Son of God. Recently established religions, – being materialistic in doctrine, tell us that Jesus is a “created angel.” If this doctrine is true the Bible doctrine affirming the deity of Christ, the character of which was demonstrated in the creation of all things, is not true. It is a question of integrity: which is true (1) the Bible or (2) the creeds of men? We believe the Bible!

Everything depends on the right answer to Jesus’ question, “Whose son is he?” (Matt. 22:42). If He is the Son of God He is God-deity, divine (John 10:36, 37; 5:18); if He is not who He claimed to be, He is a fraud. Friends, we have no other alternative for response to Jesus’ question: either, we are for Him, as the Son of mod, or we are against Him. There is no middle ground.

Jesus bore witness of Himself (John 8:18) saying,, “I am the Son of God” (John 10:36). The apostles often said the same of Him (Mk. 16:15, 16; Mt. 14:33; Acts 9:20; 2 Cor. 1:19; 1 John 4:14, 15; 2 John 3). God the Father said He was the Son of God (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; 1 Pet. 1:16-18; Psa. 2:7; Acts 13:33). A friend confessed the same (John 11:27). Even the non-followers said, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54; Mk. 15:39; 5:7; Lk. 4:41).

The miraculous works of Jesus attest His divinity. “The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me” (John 10:25). A mere man can not do the super-natural; Jesus did the super-natural-miracles; therefore, Jesus is super-human. He is divine; He is God. Nicodemus said, “No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2). Nicodemus did not then know that He to whom he was speaking was “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). The Word was made flesh and dwelt among men (John 1:1-14).

Truth Magazine XXII: 11, p. 181
March 16, 1978

By Mike Willis

One of the important aspects of the gospel which we all take for granted is the fact that the gospel is for all men, regardless of their nationality, economic condition or sex. Yet, Christians did not always understand that the gospel was given to all men without respect to their nationality. The early Christians thought that Christianity was a part of Judaism and that the only way that one could become a Christian was to accept Judaism in being circumcised.

The implications of the Great Commission should have been sufficient to demonstrate that the gospel was for all men. Jesus had said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:18). In Mark’s account, He is recorded to have said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (16:15). Nevertheless, the apostles were Jews; they looked at the Great Commission through Jewish colored glasses. Consequently, they understood that the gospel was to be taken to the Jews of all the world but had no understanding that the gospel was for all men until the miracles associated with the conversion of Cornelius showed them otherwise. At that point, Peter was able to say, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:34, 35).

Though Peter and the six Jewish brethren who traveled with him were convinced that Gentiles could obey the gospel, not all Christians felt the same way. Indeed, trouble occurred in Antioch when certain Jewish brethren tried to compel the Gentiles converted in that city to be circumcised in order to be saved. The apostles convened in Jerusalem under the direction of the Holy Spirit. At that meeting, an official decision was made that Gentiles did not have to obey the Mosaical law of circumcision in order to be saved. God revealed that the gospel was to be taken to all men under the same conditions.

This decision which was made through revelation from God broke the umbilical cord of Christianity from Judaism. Prior to that, many tended to look upon Christianity as another sect of Judaism. After that, Christianity went into all of the world upon its own terms. Salvation was offered to Jew and Gentile upon the same terms-acceptance of Jesus Christ. Today, we accept the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ is intended for all men of all times. It is universal in its scope.

Limiting the Gospel

Despite the fact that a hard battle has already been fought to show that the gospel is for all men, some have not yet accepted the universality of the gospel. The Calvinists, for example, want to limit the benefits of Christ’s shed blood to the “elect”. According to Calvinism, God has predestined who will be saved and who will be lost; the former are known as the “elect” and the latter as the “reprobate.” The atonement of Jesus Christ was limited in scope to only those who are a part of the “elect.” Read the wording of the Westminster Confession of Faith:

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.

These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or decreased.

Anyone can clearly see that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be of no benefit to those who are a part of the reprobate. Consequently, Calvinists limit the gospel to the elect.

The Bible does not teach that the gospel has been limited to a certain group selected by God arbitrarily. Rather, the Scriptures record that Jesus’ atoning death was for all men. That God did not predestine anyone to Hell is evident from the fact that “God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:6). He does not wish that anyone should perish (2 Pet. 3:9), much less predestine that they perish! Furthermore, the gospel which God revealed brings salvation to “all men” (Tit. 2:14). It does not bring salvation to a limited group of people predestined for salvation by God; it brings salvation to all men on the basis that “the one who wishes” may “take of the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17). Those who are saved are saved, not because God predestined that they would be saved, but because they decided to take of the water of life. The blood of Jesus was shed for the sins of the whole world (1 .Jn. 2:2) and is available to those who wish to avail themselves of the benefits of his blood.

Sometimes we act as if the gospel was intended for a limited group of people without spelling it out so clearly as the Calvinists have done. I remember, during the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, hearing a faithful Christian in the congregation where I attended make the comment that when the black man came into our building that he would be going out of it. No doubt, attitudes such as this portray our inability to transcend our culture. That we have had such inability to overcome our culture is probably more than a little manifest in the small number of Black Christians in America in comparison to the number of Whites. Have we really accepted the fact that the gospel is for all races when we have done so little to evangelize the black?

To further show that our attitudes portray partiality, consider what disposition we have when a movie star is converted versus our attitude toward the conversion of the man on the street. We have a tendency to elevate the professional ball player, actor, senator, governor, Ph.D., etc. who might be a Christian far above that of the average man. Have we forgotten what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 1:26-31? His message was that the gospel was more highly receptive among the common men. He said,

For consider your call, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God.

John’s disciples were told that the poor have the gospel preached to them as one of the signs that Jesus was, indeed, the Christ (Mt. 11:5). Yet, we forget this and tend to rejoice more in the conversion of the rich, mighty, noble,.etc. If and when we begin to cater to the rich and mighty, we will be headed down a road that will ultimately destroy us. The lesson of James 2 regarding respect of persons is just as applicable in this Twentieth Century as it was in the First.

Conclusion

We must recognize that the gospel is aimed at the common man. Consequently, we need to aim our sermons and evangelistic efforts in that direction. Let us plan our new building locations with this in mind. Instead of looking for a location which is necessarily in the upper middle class section of town, let us look for locations which might be more conducive to reaching the common man. Let us be careful not to cater to the rich and mighty; rather, let us show our greatest respect to the man who has matured in faith before God.

Truth Magazine XXII: 11, pp. 179-180
March 16, 1978

By Steve Wolfgang

Judging from the rash of recent articles on the subject, it seems to have become fashionable for some of us who preach to ask questions such as, “Are we converted to Christ or to the Church of Christ?” Recently I have heard this question expressed in several different ways; if the truth were known, I would have to own up to asking and preaching about the same sort of question.

There is nothing inherently wrong with asking this or most other questions. If our intention is simply to indicate that our ultimate loyalty is not to any group of human beings, even those who as Christians compose a local congregation of God’s people, but rather to God and His dear Son; or, if we are merely trying to teach that (as one younger preacher said in an article I saw recently) “to overemphasize the church and under emphasize Jesus is to make a very gross blunder,” then I would concur wholeheartedly. In fact, I suspect it would be difficult to find a gospel preacher who would disavow such a statement or such sentiments.

However, we need to recognize an equally gross blunder into which we may fall: overemphasizing a hazy, mystical “Jesus” at the expense of under-emphasizing or failing to teach the clear truth of God’s word regarding His church. In this regard we need to beware lest we become guilty of “spiritual decapitation,” that is, separating the Body from the Head to which it is connected. If we truly “love the Lord,” we will also manifest our love for His church, which He loved so much that He died for it (Eph. 5:25), because the church which is Christ’s is, in the words of Eph. 1:22, “His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all” (NASB).

This “tension” between Christ (the Head) and the church (His body) which has recently been emphasized by some writers and preachers “among us” is not solely the concern of gospel preachers; even some denominational writers have comprehended the point. While in the course of corresponding with a fellow younger preacher about this subject, I happened across a comment from the pen of a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary here in Louisville. Of course, whether a Baptist theologian says something is so or not so matters not in the slightest as far as I am concerned, but given the reverence for denominational “scholarship” on the part of many of those who denigrate Christ’s church while professing love for the Head, I found the following comment to be quite interesting. It comes from the Fall, 1974 issue (Volume LXXI, No.4) of the Review and Expositor, published here in Louisville (but in fact actually printed by the same firm in Berne, Indiana which prints Truth Magazine). According to Dr. Frank Stagg, who is James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, the type of thinking described above “exaggerates the distinction between ecclesiology and Christology, for just as for Paul to be ‘ in Christ’ is to be in his church, the body of Christ. . . , so for Luke to persecute Christians is to persecute Christ. . .so inseparable are his people from Christ. Neither Luke nor any other New Testament writer knows a Christology which does not look to the formation of a people, whether termed church’ or otherwise” (p. 453).

Again, while any man’s say-so does not make a certain thing spiritually right or wrong, it is an interesting and, indeed, pathetic state of affairs when a denominational theologian can see and express a point which some professed gospel preachers either claim not to see or even totally reject.

Let us work together to commit our own lives and those of the many in spiritual desolation to Christ. Let us continue the difficult struggle to keep our thinking -and actions truly undenominational and to guard ourselves from becoming simply another sect. But let us remember that the Head to whom we must be loyal above every human loyalty is yet attached to His body, and that the spiritual body and its proper functions cannot be neglected, de-emphasized, or ignored if we are to be faithful in preaching the whole counsel of God (cf. Acts 20:26-32). As with the case of “love and marriage” in the old song, “you can’t have one without the other.” If we truly love Christ let us cherish His church, as does Christ Himself (Eph. 5:29).

Truth Magazine XXII: 11, p. 178
March 16, 1978

By Bruce James

The Old Testament prophets wrote of the Messiah in many forms: by directly referring to His person and glory; by figurative connotations to His character and works. The metaphor was used a great deal in communicating the Christ to Israel. Isaiah referred to the Messiah as a Rock, a Foundation, and Precious Stone; Zechariah alluded to Him as a Fountain opened; and Malachi as the Sun of Righteousness (Isa. 8:14; 32:2; 28:16; Zech.13:1; Mal. 4:2).

But, to me, one of the more interesting metaphorical allusions to Jesus is found in Ezekiel 34:29: “I will raise up for them a plant of renown . . . .” The same figure is used by Isaiah (11:1) and Jeremiah (23:5). At first, I thought the Messiah should be alluded to as a towering cedar or a mighty oak, instead of a plant or “a root out of dry ground.” But when you read the accounts of the life of Christ in consideration of His lowly appearance (His parents, birthplace, appearance, occupation, a servant of servants, friend of fishermen) and in consideration of His hidden character (Phil. 2:6, 7), you begin to understand why He is referred to as a plant.

On the other hand, Ezekiel said this plant would be one of renown. The term “renown” means fame, celebrity and distinction. Truly, this Plant is renown. Some plants yield no fruit but this Plant yields in abundance the most precious kind. Jesus is full of grace and truth (John 1:17). Many plants are medicinal. This is so of Jesus in the greatest degree-a balm for the sin-sick family of man. This Plant would also be “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” It is represented as “a refuge from the storm, and a shadow from the heat” (Isa. 25:4; 32:2). The obedient believer sits under this Plant with great comfort and delight.

When the prophet said, “I will raise up for them a plant” he was undoubtedly referring to the Savior’s exaltation. This prophecy was fulfilled in many ways: in Jesus’ incarnation (Lk. 1:67; 2:29); at His baptism- “This is my beloved son”; when He was raised up on the cross (John 12:32); by His resurrection from the dead; and by His exaltation to His Father’s throne and glory (Eph. 1:2223). But, more than anything else, Jesus is exalted through the teaching of the cross and the praises of the redeemed forever and ever.

What does this Plant mean to us? Do we admire It? Have we received Its healing virtues? The church must exalt this Plant. In all things may He have the preeminence that the lost may obtain life and salvation.

Truth Magazine XXII: 10, p. 173
March 9, 1978