Truth Magazine

By Lewis Willis

In a preceding article, I sought to establish that Christians are partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). However, they do not share in the natural attributes of God (omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience). They participate in the moral excellence of their God. Their conduct is consistent with the principles of conduct inherent in God. The changed life, which is Christianity, promotes a brilliance in character that is discernible in the elect. Therefore, inasmuch as we are expected to emulate the divine nature, we must understand the demands under which this places us. This is “Practical Christianity;” Christianity at work.

Divine Nature: Love

One of the unquestionable aspects of God’s nature is the consistent manifestation of love. Understand, this does not negate the reality of divine wrath. However, God metes out wrath only after man has patently refused the blessings of His love. To God, the world, particularly mankind, has been a heartbreak. The disobedience, rebellion and lack of response to His will have brought Him continual grief. It is man’s transgression that lays up in store for him the wrath of God (Rom. 1:18). If man would only respond to His love, his destiny would be different.

When one speaks of any admirable trait, he must trace it to its source or beginning. Be it truth, justice, grace or love, it has a source. And, the author and source of love is God! Its very first expression came from Him. The apostle John wrote, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8). The fall of man from the divine favor left him in a hopeless circumstance. And, it would have remained so had God not loved the man whom He had created, and made provision for his redemption in Christ. The first dim glimpse of that redemption is seen in that hour when man was driven from the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15). The motive for that redemption is said to be love (Jn. 3:16). It must be affirmed that the expression of love seen in sending Christ was not reciprocal. It was not because man loved God that Christ came. God, the source or fountain from whence springs the attribute of love, demonstrated love unto undeserving and ungrateful men (1 Jn. 4:19). If we remain untouched by such a measure of love, we are to be pitied. The poet wrote:

How Thou canst think so well of us,

And be the God Thou art,

As darkness to my Intellect,

But sunshine to my heart.

(The Letters of John, Wm. Barclay, p. 116)

Like so many other virtues, love is not a feeling that can be concealed. It simply must find expression. If a man loves his wife and children, it will be evident. It is neat something that he must spend hours in affirming. If it is there, it will be seen. So also with the love of God. His love expressed itself unto men. His was more than a warm, tender feeling toward us. His love expressed itself in the extreme measure of sending Christ to die for us (Rom. 5:8). It continues to express itself in the care and concern He feels for us (1 Pet. 5:7). And, most importantly, if we have love within our hearts toward God, then that love must express itself in some fashion! To that end, let us strive.

If a person partakes of the divine nature, he, as Clement of Alexandria said, “practices being God” (Ibid., p. 115). He lives a life in the likeness or image of God. As God loves, therefore, so ought men to love. Furthermore, as with God, an attitude of love will find expression.

A Christian’s love has God as its primary object. Whatever manifestations of love he may show, he must love God in order to please the Great Author of Love. And, that love will have to find some avenue of expression. Specifically, he has more than a tender affection for God. His love for God is evident in his implicit obedience to His commandments. John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments . . .” (1 Jn. 5:3). Self-willed conduct in rebellion against the commands of God is the negation of love to Him. No amount of self-justification can succeed in delivering us from obedience to God’s Law. We cannot rationalize our way out of fulfilling the law of the Lord and at the same time affirm that we love God. Love for the Lord and obedience are inseparable, in the same way that faith and works are inseparable (Jas. 2:26).

Additionally, love will be channeled toward our brethren in the Lord. The love of the Christian toward his brethern is not always consistent with natural inclinations. Nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom we feel some special affinity. Peter said, “. . . Love the brotherhood . . .” (1 Pet. 2:17). He did not say love only those that you especially like! We are to let brotherly love continue” (Heb. 13:1). Paul wrote, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love . . . ” (Rom. 12:10). Thus, we love the brethren in the same manner as God loves them. Otherwise, we are not partakers of the divine nature. Ours is a hypocritical love (1 Jn. 4:20).

Finally, love after the order of the divine nature, will express itself toward those outside the brotherhood. Paul said that the love the Christian has toward his neighbor is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:8-10). Jesus, after commanding that we love God with all the heart, soul and mind, identified the “second commandment as, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:37-39). The love that the Christian has is best expressed in his efforts to share with his lost neighbor the blessings of Christianity. If he is unmoved by the lost condition of that neighbor, his love is suspect.

Accordingly, let us resolve to show our love for God by keeping His commandments. Let us demonstrate our love for the brethren by being as kind and helpful to them as we possibly can, doing them as little harm as possible. And, let us make our love for those who are lost mainfest by our continuing efforts to lead them to the Lamb of God that taketh away sin. Then, we will know that regarding love, we are partakers of the divine nature.

Divine Nature: Forgiveness

Man is a sinner (Rom. 3:23). He is chargeable with guilt for he has transgressed the law (1 Jn. 3:4). The consequence of these violations is death (Rom. 6:23). The essence of his hope is that God will forgive him these sins. If he must take the guilt with him to the Judgment, he can anticipate nothing short of eternal damnation. He will be utterly incapable of explaining away his sin; he will be unable to persuade God that he has not sinned (Matt. 7:22). Being thus separated from the goodnesses of God because of his iniquity (Isa. 59:12), his is in a hopeless and tragic state. He should clothe himself in sack cloth and take a seat in ashes, bemoaning his plight before his Maker.

When men sin, they are guilty before God. They do not appeal to civil entities for remission. Since it is the Lord’s will which has been violated, it is the Lord who must forgive the transgression. No man, not even Catholicism’s priesthood, can act in God’s behalf in this. However, have you ever stopped to consider the pitiable condition of man if he appeals to Heaven’s Throne for forgiveness, but finds there is none? The supreme expression of God’s mercy is His willingness to forgive us when we do not deserve such. During the days when the law of Moses was in effect, God had the prophet Jeremiah say that the days would come when He would offer complete forgiveness to men for the sins they commit. He said, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:34). Forgiveness is an indisputable trait of our God. Let us be thankful! This is the essence of our hope for a happy eternity.

The forgiveness of God is not ours by natural processes. Simply because we are sinful men, with a forgiving God, does not guarantee forgiveness. God forgives men but that forgiveness is predicated upon man’s obedience to God’s law of forgiveness (Acts 2:38; 22:16): All of this has been said to establish this facet of God’s divine nature. Additionally, since Christians are to partake of the divine nature, it naturally follows that Christians are to be forgiving after the likeness of God.

No one can successfully dispute the necessity of this exercise by men. Paul wrote, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). Human forgiveness (man to man) is to be strictly analogous to divine forgiveness. When men obey the law of the Lord, He forgives without reservation! Men who partake of His nature will forgive in the same manner and to the same degree. If the forgiveness we grant is less than that, it might be variously identified, but it cannot be described as reflective of the divine nature! Furthermore, it is to our personal benefit to forgive as God forgives. This is the specific application I seek to make.

Men have a unique capacity to expect the impossible. In the instance herein under consideration, we sometimes seem to expect everything to be fine with us while we patently refuse to do as we should. Such expectation is futility! Remission of our sins is in direct proportion to our willingness to remit sins of others. Often the sins we commit are against God and men. No man, against whom another has sinned, can refuse to forgive him when asked. He is expecting the impossible if he expects God’s forgiveness when he refuses to forgive others. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said they should pray, “. . . And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). He further said, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven” (Lk. 6:37). Inasmuch as we are inclined to disregard the law of the Lord, it can be safely asserted that some of us will arrive at the Judgment Bar on high expecting the mercies of God, but those mercies will be withheld simply because we failed to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Essential to partaking of the divine nature is forgetting those sins which have been forgiven. Upon forgiving sin, God said, “their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 8:12). If God forgives a trespass, it is forgotten! Too frequently, with men, this is not so. Someone will occasionally do something that is wrong, and another will say, “It is not surprising to me. He has been doing the same thing for 15 years!” It is not that a record of the old sins has been kept. It is simply the inclination of men not to forget it. We need to learn to act like God and forget the matter once it has been repented of and forgiven. If we could ever develop our faculties to forget in the same way as we have them developed to remember, we would be imminently better off. Something is fundamentally wrong when we can remember a sin committed by a brother 10 years ago, but we forget the loaf of bread we went to the store to buy! It is time that we examine our conduct in this regard.

Though it sounds like arrogancy gone to seed, it is nonetheless scriptural and required that we conduct ourselves like the God we serve. In regard to forgiving sin, the same responsibility obtains,. as in the case of His grace and His love. “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:13). “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive . . .” (Psa. 86:5). Are we ready to forgive as He forgives? Or, are we partakers of the divine nature?

Conclusion

For too many years we have heard or read of our responsibilities before God, only to cast them aside with a “Yes, but . . . .” reply. Ultimately, if we want to go to heaven, we must stop evading these duties and put forth necessary efforts to comply with God’s will. In these two articles, we have only discussed three of the attributes of God’s nature which we are to practically imitate. Every part of His moral character is exemplary, and we should be working to partake in it. Someone might say, “Well, brother, I’ve known that for years.” Bless your heart, that is great! However, many may not know it. Furthermore, if we all know these things, how can we account for the persistent violations of these principles in the churches across the world?”. It is time that we both know and do these things!

Truth Magazine XXI: 35, pp. 550-551
September 8, 1977

By Jeffery Kingry

The following letter was received about a month after my article on Capital Punishment came out in Truth. I think it is self-explanatory and needs no further comment:

“I read what you had to say about Capital Punishment in the March issue of Truth Magazine, and I have never heard anything put forth any better. I am in complete agreement with you in this matter.”

“I’m serving a ten-year sentence here in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, and I have seen first hand many things that I would have never imagined. I am thankful that they have these places. At least people are a little, rather, a lot safer with these people locked up. But many, or most of the prisoners here are planning their next crime for when they get out. Some plan murder, some robbery, etc., but most have criminal plans. They even brag about what they have done, from kidnaping and raping a 13 year old boy, to breaking an old lady’s arm during a bank robbery. Many say that ‘Whatever you want to do is alright if you can do it.’ They are not sick, they also admit that the way they think is wrong, but that doesn’t change the way they think, nor does it change the results of their thinking this way.

Murderers with a double life sentence can come into prison and really be a “Big Shot.” He will get in with the most powerful gang and rape other men, and kill, and get by with it. And then he is a bigger big shot. After all, what does he have to lose? And many of these same people admit that they do not mind being in prison at all, and some even admit that they like it.

Is capital punishment in order? Yes sir!

May God bless you in the work of our Lord and Savior.

A brother in Christ.

This letter should not only give us food for thought about our penal system, but also some thought about opportunities we might have if there is a prison near you. Jesus died for criminals too. This brother could use some godly encouragement and good reading matter if you have a mind to write him:

George Fulmer Box PMB-98936-131 Atlanta, Georgia 30315

Truth Magazine XXI: 35, p. 549
September 8, 1977

By Mike Willis

Those of our readers who have been with Truth Magazine since its beginning know somewhat about its history. However, since not all of our readers are acquainted with the history of the paper, I would like to relate some of that to you. Truth Magazine began some twenty years ago as a format in which the issues which were dividing the church could be discussed. From its beginning, Truth Magazine was a controversial paper designed for the member of the Lord’s church who wanted to see both sides of the issues of institutionalism and the sponsoring church discussed:

The paper was very useful to brethren in the North and served the Lord well in teaching brethren the sinfulness of the sponsoring church concept of organization and the sinfulness of church support of human institutions. To the brethren responsible for the founding of Truth Magazine, many among us owe a debt of gratitude for their bold stared for the truth of God’s word.

More recently, the writers of Truth Magazine have been forced to take a public stand against Satan on another front. Brethren were becoming infected with a concept of unity which was nothing less than compromise with Satan. Indeed, one of the major papers published among us had one on its staff who was totally sympathetic with this position, Consequently, Truth Magazine again assaulted the strongholds of Satan by exposing the false doctrines and false men who were propagating this error. Those who have been readers of this paper are well aware of the stand which those of us who are associated with the paper have taken in opposition to these false doctrines.

As a matter of fact, the must justifiable criticism which I have heard anyone make of Truth Magazine was that it became obsessed with the issue of exposing the falseness of the “unity-in-diversity” concept of fellowship. There is no doubt in my mind that there is some truth in this criticism; 1 see it more clearly now than when we were in the midst of the battle. Nevertheless, there was never any doubt in anybody’s mind about on which side of the fray we stood or to whom our allegiance was given. We have always tried to give first allegiance to Jesus Christ and His word and stand, regardless of how popular or unpopular that stand has made us.

A Different Paper

However, must of us who are associated with the paper are convinced that we have already done about all that we can to expose the unity-in-diversity concept of unity which is presently being circulated among the brethren. We have called attention to the false doctrine and the false men who are circulating such pernicious evil. Brethren are awake to its dangers and are holding special studies to inform brethren of the evil. Having exposed that error, we feel that we can move on to other grounds at the present.

Let no one misunderstand me. We shall continue to publish materials from time to time which expose the issues and men who are propagating this new heresy. The unity-in-diversity group is not dead. It is still making some in-roads which we will have to fight and to announce to brethren: However, we have no intention of allowing Truth Magazine to become a one-issue paper.

I would like to present to our readers some of my aspirations and aims for Truth Magazine. By letting you know more of my intentions, you will be better qualified to decide to help us or not to help us whether it be in the promotion of the paper by getting subscriptions for us or through your contribution of articles on various subjects. So, here are some of the things which I would like to accomplish through the pages of this paper.

1. I would like to edit a paper which is useful to every Christian. Through the recent years, Truth Magazine has tended to circulate largely – among the preaching brethren. Its articles have been too scholarly for the average Christian and longer than most Christians will read. Though our pages will contain materials of this sort from time to time, I would like to see the average issue- become more useful to the man who sits in the pew. Hence, I want to edit a paper which is well balanced, i.e., it contains articles on a variety of subjects pertinent to the every day living of the Christian life.

1. I would like to edit a paper which comes to grips with the problems which Christians are having to face. For too long, we have been bogged down with one or two issues to the neglect of other matters which are equally important. Churches : are having to face problems other than the sponsoring church concept of church organization and church support of human institutions or the unity-in-diversity apostasy. We need some material which deals with some of these problems.

Elders, deacons, and other saints would like to read some material on why churches are dying on the vine because of not growing. They would like to see material designed to help them to reach the lost of their community. Brethren would like to have some help in overcoming the temptations which the world is throwing at them and their children. Frankly, I want to publish a paper which comes face-to-face with these problems and presents the answers which God’s word has for us.

3. Must of all, I want to edit a paper which is true to God’s word. The paper which is useful to every Christian is one which is totally loyal to the word of God. A paper which comes to grips with the problems which we are having to face in our homes and in congregations across this nation is only useful if the answers which are given to these problems are biblically sound. Hence, I want to edit a paper which is true to God’s word.

I Need Your Help

In order to accomplish these worthy goals, I need your help. First of all, I want to appeal to our writers to ask them to send material on a variety of subjects. I remember one occasion in which we were preparing a special issue of Truth Magazine for the Pekin, Indiana church to pass out at a county fair. They wanted the issue to deal with first principles inasmuch as the greater portion of the people attending the fair would not be Christians. As I helped work on that special issue of the paper, I found that we did not have enough material on first principles to put out one issue of the paper, although we had manuscripts coming out of our ears. I had to go home and write an article on the church in order to complete that issue of the paper.

Therefore, I am asking those who contribute articles to Truth Magazine for publication to send me material on a variety of subjects. I need material on such things as the action, purpose and subject of baptism, the oneness of the church, the organization, names, worship, etc. of the church, things which pertain to the Christian virtues, how to be a better husband, wife, or child, etc. If you have been thinking of sending an article for publication in Truth Magazine, give some though to writing on some subject other than unity-indiversity, institutionalism, or the sponsoring church. God’s word speaks on subjects other than these.

Secondly, I want to appeal to our readers to help us increase the circulation of Truth Magazine. With this change in view for the paper, I think that you will find Truth. Magazine more recommendable to your friends. Hence, I would like to request that each one of you recommend the paper to your friends who are Christians. The teaching of God’s word through the printed page will edify young Christians and solidify older ones.

Too, Truth Magazine is one of the best bargains in religious literature. Priced at $7.50 per year, Truth Magazine brings sixteen pages of religious literature into a home fifty times a year. Now you compare that price with those who are charging $9.50 for coming into your homes twenty-six times a year or a price comparable to our own but which comes into the home only twelve times a year. By comparing, you will see that you are getting a much larger quantity of teaching for the subscription price of Truth Magazine than through any other paper published among us. Then, I will guarantee you that. the quality of material will be excellent and well-balanced. So, again let me request your help in building the subscription list to Truth Magazine.

As I begin the venture as editor of this paper, I request your prayers and help to make this paper a useful tool in the propagation of God’s word. As it has been in the past, Truth Magazine can once again meet spiritual needs of brethren as we teach the word of God via the printed page.

Truth Magazine XXI: 35, pp. 547-549
September 8, 1977

By Irvin Himmel

The Bible says of Jesus, “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him…” (John 19:17,18).

Members of a modern sect called “Jehovah’s Witnesses” contend that Jesus was not nailed to a cross and was not crucified. Their New World Translation reads as follows: “And, bearing the torture stake for himself, he went out to the so-called ‘Skull Place’, which is called ‘Golgotha’ in Hebrew, and there they impaled him…” (John 19:17,18).

Arguing that the Greek word stauroo does not mean to “crucify” but to “impale,” they insist that Jesus was nailed to a single beam or pole, not to a cross. They maintain that stauros means an “upright stake,” not a “cross” formed by the using of two pieces of timber. In the appendix to their translation they discuss this matter and give a picture taken from a sixteenth century Roman Catholic publication which shows Jesus nailed to a straight pole. The Witnesses say the idea of the cross dates back to about 312 A.D. and was borrowed from paganism by Constantine. They speak of the cross as “the symbol falsely used to represent Christianity” and coming from “the erroneous idea that Jesus Christ was put to death on a post with a crossarm” (“Make Sure of All Things, ” p.83).

Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines stauros as “an upright stake, esp. a pointed one . . . a cross . . .” The Analytical Greek Lexicon says it means “a stake: a cross.” Both these lexicons include “to crucify” among their definitions of stauroo.

Gerhard Friedrich’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament defines stauros as it was used in the New Testament world: “an instrument of torture for serious offences . . . In shape we find three basic forms. The cross was a vertical, pointed stake . . . , or it consisted of two intersecting beams of equal length.” Then it defines the word as used in the New Testament: “The cross which the Romans set up to execute Jesus was like any other, consisting of an upright post with a cross-beam” I Vol. 7, pp. 572, 574).

Justin Martyr wrote about the cross of Christ in the second century. He said, “For the one beam is placed upright, from which the highest extremity is raised up into a horn, when the other beam is fitted on to it, and the ends appear on both sides as horns joined on to the one horn” (Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, Chap. XCI, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, p. 244). This was long before the time of Constantine.

If the cross is a pagan symbol, Russell and Rutherford, leaders in the movement known today as “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” must have been strongly tainted with paganism.

In 1886 the first volume of Charles T. Russell’s Millennial Dawn was published. It includes a foldout “Chart of the Ages” on which a cross (shaped like a dagger) marked the death of Christ. The same kind of symbol was used on charts in volume three of the Millennial Dawn in 1891.

J F Rutherford’s Harp of God was published in 1921. On page 114 it gives a picture of Christ paying the ransom on the cross. The full-page illustration depicts Jesus suspended with hands nailed to the crossbeam and an inscription nailed to the center post which extends above the crossbeam. In this same book Rutherford wrote, “Jesus was led away and crucified on Calvary’s hill. And Pilate, more righteous than the clerics, posted over his cross the sign: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’ “(p.135).

According to Rutherford (in 1926), Jesus “was cruelly nailed to the cross” (Deliverance, p. 148). In 1927 he declared in a book called Creation that “Jests was crucified” t p. 160) and “died on the cross” (p. 183). He said in 1928, “The death of Jesus upon the cross or tree removed that curse from the Jews,” referring to Dent. 21:23 (Government, p. 110).

But presto! By 1937 Rutherford was saying “Jesus was not crucified on a cross” (Enemies, p.187). The book in which he makes this dogmatic assertion gives an illustration depicting Jesus suspended on a pole without a crossbeam.

It makes no difference to me whether Jesus died on a single pole, a cross shaped like an X, or a cross shaped like a T, or a cross shaped more like a dagger. It does seem a bit ridiculous, however, for people to assert that the instrument on which He died had to be of a specific form. This kind of dogmatism is no more than the expression of human opinion.

The words used in Greek could apply to a single stake or to a cross. It is enough for me that Jesus died for our sins. Whether one beam was used, or two beams were joined to form a cross, only men who want to speak where the Bible is silent will make bold and unfounded assertions that it could not have been of the traditionally accepted form, or it had to be of thus and such shape. Beware of religious leaders who claim to be wise above that which is written.

Truth Magazine XXI: 35, p. 546
September 8, 1977