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The nature of the word of God is such that it does not change with the passing of years. As with a grain of wheat or any other seed, the word of God when sown in the responsive soul will produce now what it did when first sown. What sprouts from a seed is determined by the nature of the seed. One will reap exactly what is sown. Whatever the word of God produced in the period of the New Testament it will produce today when men obey it as it was obeyed then. That which is unlike the early doctrine and practice, which are revealed in the word of God, cannot be the fault of the word of God, the seed. All dissimilar belief and work now present in the religious world must be laid to a departure from the scripture, not adherence to it. As with the word of God, humanity has not changed. Men are by nature what they have been since God first formed them. Different kinds of hearts were demonstrated by Jesus in the parable of the sower by the different types of soil into which the seed fell. These different classes of hearts are still present in mankind. The same kind of heart will produce now what Jesus said it would in that parable. Thus we must conclude that since the seed and the soil are still the same, the product likewise will be the same. Our Lord said, "The seed is the word of God" (Lk. 8:11). Peter wrote of the nature of this seed in these words: "Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth . . . But the word of the Lord abideth forever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you" (I Pet. 1:23-25). The seed of the kingdom is the gospel of Christ, the revelation of the New Testament. Hence Paul could say that he begat the Corinthians by the gospel (I Cor. 4:15); James could say that God of His own will begat us by the word of truth (Jas. 1:18). Jesus commissioned His apostles to preach the gospel to every creature (Mk. 16:15, 16) stating that those who believed and were baptized would be saved. Those now that would be saved must do likewise. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13; Acts 2:21). But before one can call he must have believed; belief must be preceded by hearing the gospel; hearing the gospel necessitates preaching; preaching involves a preacher (Rom. 10:13-17). The preacher in this instance is the inspired one; the new Testament is the fruit of their work. It is to these preachers that we must pay heed. The point is this: the seed obeyed when it was first preached brought the salvation from sin. It will produce the same effect now. Being obedient to the gospel imprints a new character in the individual. The former manner of life and the old man are put away and the individual can be renewed in the spirit of the mind and thus puts on the new man, that after God is created in righteousness and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:22-24). Continuing to be led by that same gospel, one grows to maturity through the testing or trial of his faith in suffering (Jas. 1:2-4). Hearing, the gospel is essential to the new birth, the new man being created in you. But hearing is not enough, for one must believe. Having believed, one is still not a new creature, for he must call upon the name of the Lord through obedience to His will. Why? Jesus the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him (Heb. 5:8, 9). One's soul is purified through obedience to the truth (I Pet, 1:22) and is brought forth by the word of truth (Jas. 1:18). Since God has decreed that a new creature be produced in no other way, one must yield to the seed of the kingdom, the word of God. Calling upon the name of the Lord involves one's being baptized, for it is necessary for one to enter Christ (Gal. 3:27). But all those in Christ are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17). Are you a new creature through the seed of the kingdom? Truth Magazine IV:1, p. 1 |