Truth Magazine

By Cled E. Wallace

The bitterness and malice which is often displayed toward each other by members of the body of Christ when unpleasant situations arise in the church is occasion for tears. Worthy men and women in normal situations act very unworthily under emotional stress. Good men sometimes threaten each other with physical violence or recourse at law, and have been known to make good their threats. They take advantage of each other, watching hungrily for any statement that may be used or warped for personal or factional advantage. Men under the domination of the party spirit, party passion running high, often display evidence of religious insanity. They are beside themselves, and their best friends outside the heat of party passion marvel at their excesses in speech and rancor. Situations can arise in any church which call forth the best efforts of level-headed men, “sober-minded, sound in faith, in love, in patience.” We need more men who are anxious to claim the blessings of the Lord. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.” “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.”

It is most difficult for even good men to tell the truth when they come under the influence of factional passion. It is reason enough why we should all be watchful of the intents and purposes of our own hearts. “But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth . . . For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed.” Every observer of church troubles has noted conflicting reports of what actually happened by men who were considered reliable in matters where their personal feelings were not so deeply stirred. A truthful man can earn a reputation for being a consummate liar in a short time in the middle of a church fuss.

And too often the reputation is deserved. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom . . . But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace.” And it often happens that the individual who is most aberrant in his handling of facts is also most ready to hurl the short ugly word at the opposition. It reminded Paul of the manner in which beasts go at one another. “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” Think of brethren in Christ biting and snarling at one another like hungry wolves or wild dogs! It often happens.

Does It Favor My Side?

The factious spirit plays some ugly tricks on its possessor. It victimizes and deceives him. When he listens to a sermon or reads an article, his eye is single to only one consideration. Does it favor my side? If it does, then he is not critical of the facts involved. The rankest inaccuracies or the most reckless perversions may be passed upon with approval. If it does not, he may react resentfully toward pointed and helpful truth. A factious spirit can rob a man of the good he might receive from reading the Bible. It can change him into a mote-hunting, fault finding hypocrite. Light becomes darkness as soon as it reaches his soul.

Preachers and Petitions

It sometimes happens that a preacher who advocates majority rule will lead off a minority if he can’t get a majority. There is usually a grievance against elders and a circulating of petitions. Sometimes the preacher has an advantage in that he is in a position to do more electioneering among his admirers than the elders can. And when it comes to voting and circulating petitions, it may be that some of the most active ones were in a state of suspended animation before the fuss came up. Children and various irresponsibles can be herded for a vote who are incapable of judging the principles involved. It is easier for them to fancy a preacher than an elder, anyway. Elders are not as good at flattery as preachers are who circulate petitions and advocate majority rule in churches of Christ. The friends of one preacher circulated a petition demanding that the elders “resign” and turn the church over to “the pastor.” Think of a thing like that happening in a church of Christ! In a case like that, of course the elders are responsible for any trouble that arises over their refusal to “resign” and turn the church over to “the pastor.” Circulators of petitions among churches are ordinarily good logicians also! If they cannot arrive at a conclusion along the route of sound reasoning, they can jump at it.

No Doctrinal Difference, But No Fellowship

Our brother mixed a little humor with his philosophy as he watched a preacher lead away a following to another place of worship. In justice to the preacher, be it said, he disclaims the idea of leading away anybody. He didn’t follow, either. Anyway, they went along together. I’m not good at splitting hairs. The ones who went away, including the preacher, could not worship amidst the awful conditions in the old church. Our humorous brother thought it a bit arbitrary for anybody to come along and thus separate the sheep from the goats, when the only difference he could see between the sheep and the goats was that the sheep followed and the goats didn’t. No doctrinal difference now exists between the two groups. And there is no fellowship between them, either. Former friends are now enemies, and those who once thought well of each other now have nothing to do with each other all in the name of Christ. (Reprint from “Sword Swipes” column, Gospel Advocate LXXV [5 Jan. 1933]: 3, title and sub-heads supplied by Ron Halbrook for reprint here.)

We shall focus our attention on impossible things relative to salvation from sin. If any one of these, or all are lacking, salvation is impossible. It is impossible to be saved:

1. Without Christ. Paul wrote that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). He is able to save to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25). Peter said: “Neither is there salvation in none other: For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). However, Jesus saves conditionally, on his terms. He is the author of eternal salvation unto all them who obey him (Heb. 5:8-9).

2. Without the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he preached the gospel unto them by which they are saved (1 Cor. 15:2). This is true for you and me. This is why Jesus said to go preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:16). Those who do not obey the gospel will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

The gospel is described as the gospel of God (Rom. 1:11), of Christ (Rom. 1:16), of grace (Acts 20:24), of peace (Eph. 6:16), of salvation (Eph. 1:13), of truth (Gal. 2:5), and of hope (Col. 1:23). Indeed, it is a glorious gospel (2 Cor. 4:4).

3. Outside of the church. All the saved are in the church. The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:47). The Bible teaches that Jesus is the savior of the body. Paul wrote, “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” (Eph. 5:23). The body is the church (Col. 1:16). There are no saved people outside the Lord’s church, because only the church has been purchased with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28), and only the church is built upon the rock (Matt. 16:18).

4. Without the blood of Christ. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb. 9:22). It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin (Heb. 10:4). It takes the blood of Christ to remove sin. Jesus stated, “For this is the blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28). Paul wrote that in Christ we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14). Of course, to reach the blood, aliens must be baptized into the death of Jesus (Rom. 6:3-4) wherein they receive the benefits of his blood. Then, they are raised to walk in newness of life (v. 4).

5. Without human activity. Some say there is nothing an alien sinner must do, or can do, to save himself, that God does it all for him. But the Jews on Pentecost said, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Peter then told them what to do. He said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” In verse 40 Peter told them “save yourselves from this untoward generation.” Though man cannot provide salvation, he must appropriate it. He is to believe (John 8:24), repent (Luke 13:3), confess (Acts 8:37), and be baptized (Mark 16:16).

If it weren’t for the story of David and Bathsheba, most of us would probably have never heard of Uriah. And while we know the account of the sinful actions engaged in by David and Bathsheba quite well, just how well do we know Uriah? Let us notice some things about him from 2 Samuel 11.

First of all, he was a Hittite (11:3). Yet he served under David in the armies of Israel — who were usually the enemies of the Hittites. Thus we know that he was an honest man who knew God was with the nation of Israel. No doubt he had heard the stories of God’s deliverance and blessings. Knowing this, he made himself a part of the nation as well, marrying the beautiful young lady Bathsheba. He knew his own gods were unable to match the one true God of Israel (Isa. 44:9-17). Not many idol worshipers were as honest with such facts as was Uriah.

Secondly, we read that he was loyal. David had him brought back home in the hopes he could send him to Bathsheba’s house and everyone would assume that her pregnancy resulted from his visit home. However Uriah declined to enjoy the luxuries of home while the rest of the nation was engaged in battle and sleeping in the open fields (11:11). Even when David caused him to become drunk, he had enough conviction and presence of mind that he would not betray the soldiers of Israel in such a fashion (11:13).

He was also a courageous man. David knew that he would be in the forefront of the battle, and not holding back so others would take the risks instead of himself. Uriah was committed to the defense of Israel, and he was ready to fight for her causes. He would press the battle aggressively, and both Joab and David knew they could count on his courage. Like Daniel (Dan. 6) with his prayers, Uriah knew his place in the battle, and you could count on him being there.

We further learn he was a trusting man. David gave him a letter to deliver to Joab which also contained Uriah’s own death warrant. At no time did he attempt to open the letter to peek or snoop and see what David might have written to Joab. (After all, he could just as easily have told Joab that David has sent the message with him verbally.) But David knew he could count on such trust and honesty, and thus David was perfectly willing to use Uriah himself to deliver his own death warrant. (Have you ever considered what might have happened had Uriah actually opened and read that letter?)

In return for such loyalty and service, David repaid him by taking his wife and then ordering his death in battle. Is it any wonder God was displeased with David — especially in view of the fact David seemed to feel he had actually gotten away with it? Uriah stands out as an excellent example of the fact that even though one seeks to do what is right, that doesn’t mean others will not take advantage of or plot against us, or that harm will not befall us just because we are faithful Christians.

And although Bathsheba went on to become the wife of King David, God did not intend for us to forget what they did. They paid a severe penalty in the loss of the child and the public knowledge of David’s sin. Nor did he intend for us to forget the good name of Uriah. Men might have tried to bury any mention of Uriah from their records because of what was done to him by such a popular king as King David. But God exposed the full account! And when the names of the top thirty-seven men are listed who had served King David well (2 Sam. 23:8f), guess whose name appears in 23:39! Yes, the name of Uriah, the Hittite! Though he was mistreated in this life, we can have confidence that God saw that he was well rewarded in the life hereafter in much the same way as was Lazarus (Luke 16)! And may we take courage from his account.

Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). We need to be like the Bereans who“searched the scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11). The Scriptures were written by holy men (2 Pet. 1:21) through the inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16). These writings are compiled and now called the Bible. The Scriptures tell us about . . .

1. God. The Scriptures tell us that there is only one God. “But to us there is but one God . . .” (1 Cor. 8:6). The one God is composed of three personalities. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). The record of Matthew 3:13-17 shows that these three are separate persons: The Father in Heaven, the Son on earth, and the Holy Spirit like a dove. Paul said in 1 Timothy 3:15 that the one true God is “the living God.”

2. The World. The Scriptures tell us, “God that made the world and all things therein . . .” (Acts 17:24). Also, the Psalmist said, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Ps.19:1). Above all, God also created man in his own image (Gen. 1:26-27). In John 3:16, the record says, “For God so loved the world . . .” And in 1 John 1:9-10, John said, “that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him . . . and to be the propitiation for our sins.”

3. Christ And His Church. The Scriptures tell us, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son . . .” (Gal. 4:4). Peter declared that the Son of God is the Christ (Matt.16:16). The Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matt. 17:5). Jesus claimed, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18). “. . . there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). In Matthew 16:18  Jesus promised to build his church. The word “church” came from the Greek word ekklesia, “to call out.” The church then in New Testament Scriptures means “a called out body of people,” men and women (Acts 8:1-4) who believed and were baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:37-38, 41, 47). They were called “Christians” (Acts 11:26), the children of God (Rom. 8:16-17), and the family of God (1 Tim. 3:15). The church is the body (Col. 1:18) and Christ is the savior of the body (Eph. 5:23). The church is the kingdom (Col. 1: 13) and Christ will deliver the kingdom up to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24). Are you a member of the Lord’s church, or the Lord’s kingdom? If not, why not?