Truth Magazine

By Keith Sharp

Righteousness “. . is the character or quality of being right or just. . . “1 It “. . . consists in perfect conformity with God’s holy law, that is, with his will.”2 Thus, one is righteous who is “right according to the law,” either because he has never violated the law or because his transgressions have been pardoned. Thus, one cannot understand “righteousness” without understanding the terms, nature and purpose of God’s law.

No one has ever been or ever shall be righteous in terms of perfect obedience to divine law (Rom. 3:920;23; 1 Jn. 1:8-10), save Jesus Christ (Jn. 8:46; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:21-22). Yet God requires that we “hunger and thirst after righteousness” and promises we “shall be filled” if we so do (Matt. 5:6). In fact, the Lord demands that we be righteous to be saved (Matt. 5:20; 25:46; Acts 10:35). How, then, can we be righteous before God?

Under the law of Moses, except Christ had come, none could be righteous. This was because none kept the law perfectly, and the law demanded perfection of obedience to be righteous (Rom. 10:5; Gal. 4:10-11, 2122). This was the weakness of the Old Law; it made no provisions, ultimately, for the weakness of men (Heb. 8:7-10).

But Christ came as “the end (goal, purpose – K.S.) of the law for righteousness to, every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4; cf. 8:3-4; 10:6-10). In the Gospel is revealed “the righteousness of God” (Rom. 1:16-17), i.e., God’s plan for us to be righteous (cf. Rom. 10:1-4). This is a righteousness of merciful pardon, forgiveness of sins by grace, rather than of perfect obedience (Rom. 3:21-28; Heb. 8:6-13).

The Sermon on the Mount is the formal proclamation by King Jesus of the nature of the righteousness of the kingdom of Heaven. The Lord’s teaching on this earth was an announcement of the imminent coming of the divine kingdom and the nature of its rule (Mk. 1:14-15). The message of Christ in Galilee, of which the Sermon on the Mount is the core, consisted of “preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23). This magnificent address, recorded in Matthew chapters 5-7, consists of a perfectly arranged series of “Pentecost pointers,” principles governing the approaching kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof.

The importance of this marvelous discourse is graphically portrayed by Matthew’s introduction (5:1-2) and conclusion (7:28-29). Jesus left the multitudes to address His disciples, and “when he was set” (“when he had sat down”-ASV), He began to teach. A Jewish teacher might informally instruct his disciples while walking or standing, but, when he wished to deliver a formal lecture containing the essence of his teaching, he sat. Matthew records, “he opened his mouth, and taught them. . . .” This is not just a lengthy way of saying, “He spoke.” This is the method in the Greek tongue of introducing a grave, highly important speech in which one reveals those things that are closest to his heart. In his concluding remarks, Matthew reports that the authority with which Jesus taught amazed the people. Thus, in this sermon the Master formally announced to His disciples the very essence of His teaching; the Kings of Kings regally proclaimed the nature of the Heavenly kingdom.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus discussed the righteous character of citizens of God’s kingdom (5:312), the relationship of these righteous subjects to the unrighteous people of the world (5:13-16), the righteousness of the kingdom as contrasted with that of the law of Moses and of the scribes and Pharisees, an overview (5:17-20, the righteousness of the kingdom as contrasted with that of the law of Moses (5:21-48), the righteousness of the kingdom as contrasted with human plans of righteousness, i.e., that of the scribes and Pharisees and of the Gentiles (6:1-7:6), and how to obtain the righteousness of the kingdom of Heaven (7:727).

The theme of the Great Discourse is announced in Matthew 5:20: “. . . except your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” To understand this statement is to comprehend the relationship of Christ to law and to understand our means of being righteous in the sight of God. It is, in truth, the key to comprehending the righteousness of the kingdom of Christ.

FOOTNOTES

1. W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, III (Old Tapan, New Jersey, 1940), 298.

2. William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1973), p. 273.

Truth Magazine, XX:17, p. 7-8
April 22,1976

By Thomas Icard

At the time the book of Hebrews was written the church was being persecuted. Christianity was not the most popular religion of the day. The Jewish Sanhedrin was one of the great persecutions of the Lord’s church beginning with the arrest of Peter and John in Acts 4 and continuing still at the time of the writing of the letter. It is believed by most Bible scholars that the letter was written about 68 or 70 A.D. by either Paul or Apollos. This included the murder of Stephen by the Sanhedrin in Acts 7 and scattering of the disciples from Jerusalem as recorded in Acts 8:1-4. All through the book of Acts (which is the history book off the early church), as the apostles taught the truth from city to city, they were constantly harassed by the Jewish leaders.

When the Roman government finally made a distinction between Judaism and Christianity, they also began a persecution against the church of Christ beginning with the killing of James the brother of John with the sword and the arrest of Peter in Acts 12. This persecution began in 44 A.D. and used the Christians as scapegoats. They were fastened to crosses and burned as torches and others were torn to pieces by wild animals. The spectators watched as a matter of sport. This made the Christians political criminals in the eyes of the Roman government and her citizens. Paul was arrested and imprisoned the second time because of this deception about Christians.

Because of these persecutions many of the First Century Christians were turning away from the Christian faith. In fulfillment of the prophecy Jesus made in Matthew 10:35-36 some Christians turned over their own families along with other Christians to the Roman government to save their own lives. “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” again He prophesied, “They shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9).

Many of the Hebrew Christians were turning back to Judaism and the law of Moses. Although there was a problem with some that wanted to incorporate the law of Moses into the law of Christ (Judaizers), it seems that the book of Hebrews was written primarily to those that were going all the way back to Judaism and totally abandoning Christian teaching. Of course the Judaizers would eventually do this as they followed the pattern of introducing various items of the old law into the new. Paul gives warning of this in Galatians 5:1-4. The Hebrew writer is trying to persuade the Hebrew Christians to keep their faith in Christ and the truth of His fulfillment of the law of Moses. Paul wrote to the Christians of Galatia, “But now after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God; how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:9). This would be the case with the Hebrew Christians as well as those of Galatia. Their total abandonment would put them back in bondage even though there might be a temporary security from the persecutions that faithful Christians were suffering at the time. There seemed to be a little physical safety in Judaism at this time. Nero was spreading terror through the Christians in the Roman Empire by attacking their homes and making them martyrs by these terrible and cruel deaths. These Hebrew Christians could have given some seemingly valid arguments for their forsaking the assemblies and the Christian faith. No matter how valid these arguments sounded though, they were not valid in the sight of God. There is one thing for sure about this persecution. It was weeding out the insincere and the ones that did not deny the Lord were very strong. When someone encouraged them to attend the assemblies there was a very good possibility that the meeting house may be surrounded by Roman soldiers and everyone arrested and killed. This possibility did not help the incentive to attend the meetings, but the strong, sincere, and faithful Christians attended anyway.

The Hebrew writer pleads with these Christians to remember “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward” (Hebrews 10:31-35).

Those today that are forsaking the assemblies and the truth they once so joyfully obeyed are not even to be compared to these Hebrew brethren of the First Century. Their homes, children nor their lives are not in any danger. They will not be arrested, terrorized or killed as the First Century Hebrews were because of their standing in the faith of Christ. If the Hebrew arguments did not have any validity in 68 A.D., then our excuses today could not have any. The Hebrew writer pleaded, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering: for he is faithful that promised; And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:23-26).

Truth Magazine, XX:17, p. 6-7
April 22, 1976

By Cecil Willis

A revelation is an “unveiling,” or “unfolding,” and divine revelation is God’s unveiling or unfolding of the truth regarding Himself in some manner and degree to the intelligence and heart of man. Only as He does thus unveil Himself does He become known to man. If such a God does exist, then it is reasonable to expect Him to reveal Himself to man. One would look for provision to be made for the preservation of the knowledge of the revelation in some permanent and authoritative form. This revelation preserved in a permanent and authoritative form is exactly what we have in the Bible.

Since God chose to reveal Himself to man, there must have been chosen some means of accomplishing this revelation. Thus God chose two means by which He would reveal Himself: (1) Natural Revelation; (2) Special Revelation. By “natural revelation” one simply means the knowledge of God that can be attained from a ‘study of nature itself. There are some things that you and I can learn about God without the Bible. David said, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1,2). Paul said, “For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity” (Rom. 1:20). But this is the summation of one’s knowledge of God that may be gained through the revelation of nature. One cannot learn of His will through nature. This must come by “special revelation.” One cannot learn how to become a Christian by looking at the heavens, although they do declare the glory of God. One could never learn the true nature of the church and of the necessity of being in it by looking at a tree or anything else in the natural realm. There is a limitation of the scope of natural revelation. Beyond this limit there must be some other type of revelation given. Natural revelation cannot satisfy the innermost craving that we have not only to know about God, but to get into living, personal relations of friendship and worship of Him. Something further must be given if mankind is to attain such a knowledge of God as to be able to render pure, spiritual, and intelligent worship to Him. Thus in order for God to make known fully His will to man, He chose to supplement natural revelation with a special supernatural revelation, namely the Bible.

The Bible is here! It has made claims to be the Word of God, and thus it is our purpose to investigate these claims. The Bible affirms its own ‘inspiration. “For I make known to you brethren, as touching the gospel which was preached by me, that it is not after man. For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11,12). “. . . and that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17). “For no prophecy ever came by the will of man; but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). While the Bible affirms its own inspiration, one could not accept the Bible’s affirmation of its inspiration unless first of all there are reasons given forcing him to accept the Bible as an inspired book. It would be useless to try to prove to an atheist or an infidel that the Bible is inspired by quoting the Bible to him, for he does not believe the Bible. Thus one must try objectively to view the Bible and examine the evidences of its inspiration.

If you or I should have a piece of property and should make the assertion that there was oil on it, there would be but one way of knowing for sure. That would be to drill down into the earth there. We certainly would not go off somewhere else to do the drilling to determine if there was oil on our property. Now then, the Bible makes a claim, its inspiration, and the only sure way for us to know if it is right in making this claim is to drill into it and make testings.

Evidence: Content

The greatest single testimonial of the inspiration of the Bible is the Bible itself, not its own affirmation of its inspiration, but its content. When we view the Bible from the aspect of judging as to its inspiration, no greater argument can be made than the Bible itself makes. With all of the railing efforts of criticism-which chooses to call itself Higher Criticism – “there is one thing that it can never expunge from the Bible, and that is what we commonly speak of as the gospel-its continuous, coherent, self-attesting discovery to man of the mind of God regarding man himself, his sin, the guilt and ruin into which sin has plunged him, and over against that the method of a divine salvation, the outcome of a purpose of eternal love, wrought out in ages of progressive revelation, and culminating in the mission, life, death, atoning work, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ” (Orr, Revelation and Inspiration, p. 18). This wonderful message of the Bible will ever remain in it, and it alone is adequate to prove that the Bible is the Word of God. This message did not just accidentally happen. Somebody had to be the author of it. This author had to be either God or man, divine or human. With such a message as this gospel in our Bible, we then are as sure as we are of our own existence, that it was not man who put it there. It is too high for him; he could not attain to it. If man could not put it there, then only God remains and thus it was God who did it. The content of the Bible is its greatest single proof for its inspiration.

Evidence: Unity

A second argument for the inspiration of the Bible is its unity. It might be that one cannot possibly conceive of how an argument for the inspiration of the Bible can be drawn from its unity, but if we will but reflect for a few minutes concerning some of the conditions back of this argument, we will be able to see vividly the point. The Bible is not the product of one man, written at a single sitting, but it is the united effort of many men written over a long period of time. No less than forty great men had a part in the writing of the Bible. The reason we cannot know definitely is that we do not know exactly how many men had a part in the writing of the books of Kings and Chronicles. These men did not all sit down together and allocate a certain portion of the before-planned story to each man. Most of these men never saw each other. Many of these possibly never even saw the writings of the other. Job is the oldest book in the Bible in all probability. It seems to have been written approximately during the days of Abraham or almost two thousand years before Christ’s advent into the world. From the time that the book of Job was written until the last book of the New Testament, Revelation written about 95 A.D., was written a period of time of two thousand years elapsed. This book was written in at least three different languages at the time of its original production. There are at least half a hundred subjects discussed in this book, and yet there is perfect unity on every page.

Such a unity is the Bible that it is often necessary to have at least a working understanding of an entire book in order to get the meaning of just one isolated verse in another book. For example, some verses in the book of Hebrews would be completely non-intelligible were it not for the book of Leviticus. Or again, “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). Were it not for the twelfth chapter of Exodus this passage would have but little if any meaning to us. These books are all knit into one composite whole. There is perfect unity!

“Naturally, in light of these facts, prominence is given to the idea of “Organic unity’ in the Biblical religion as a mark of its origin in revelation. . . Apart from all theories about the Bible, the earnest student cannot but be struck by observing in how marked a degree it is a structural unity-has a beginning, a middle and an end” (Orr, Op. Cit. p. 16). “A like organic unity, combined with progressive development, it might be shown, reveals itself in doctrine” (Orr, Op. Cit. p. 17).

The Old and New Testaments cannot be separated logically, in spite of the fact that between the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, and the first of the New Testament, Matthew, there are five silent centuries. The first New Testament writer just begins where the Old Testament writer had ceased and continues the great theme of the redemption of mankind, which was in Jesus Christ.

Again we say that the unity of the Bible is an astonishing thing, and which shows us that under the circumstances, man could not have been its author. Oft times man will contradict himself several times in the matter of a few short pages, and the man does not live who does not contradict himself somewhere throughout his life. And yet the Bible remains a unity, so man could not be its author, and if not man, then only God remains. How could forty men, writing on at least fifty subjects, in at least three languages, and covering almost two thousand years, achieve a unity that is supernatural? We have the answer in the last word, supernatural. Only by God’s supervision over the minds of men through out the years in the giving of a special supernatural revelation could the unity which is supernatural have been achieved.

Evidence: Indestructibility

The third and final argument supporting the Christian’s faith in the Bible as being the Word of God is its indestructibility. It cannot be destroyed. Our Lord said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). Peter reiterated the same’ great truth as he said, “For, all flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth: But the word of the Lord abideth for ever” (1 Pet. 1:24,25).

It is not often that books long survive because of their very structure. They are made of very perishable material, but the Lord said that even though heaven and earth should pass away, His Word would still endure. Certainly then, He must have been speaking of something more than just the paper and ink that preserved the message. He was speaking of the message itself.

Not everyone throughout the annals of human history have had the warm view that you and I have toward the Bible. Man has not always sought to preserve the Bible. At one time during the Roman Empire’s reign, the Emperor, Domitian declared that all Bibles were to be destroyed, and that not only were the Bibles to be destroyed, but should there be one who should fail to destroy his copy of God’s Word, then he should therefore forfeit his own life. After this decree had been in effect for quite some time, Domitian proudly boasted that he had completely abolished the Word of God from the face of the earth. Many, many copies of the Bible had been burned, but not all. Constantine, the next ruler, after purporting to have been converted to Christianity, offered a substantial reward for anyone presenting him with a copy of the Bible. Note now, that this was in the same land in which Domitian had said he had completely destroyed the Word of God. In twenty-four hours there were brought fifty copies of the Bible to Constantine. This is but one example of its indestructibility. There are many others that could be cited. Not only have there been men who have given themselves in trying to abolish the Bible, but there also have been organizations, some professing to be religious, which have waged relentless wars against this wonderful Word. As the men, so must the organizations also, fall before the conquering powers of the Word of our Lord, for His Word “abideth forever.”

Won’t you then, dear friends, believe in, and obey, this book, the Bible that embodies this Word that will retain its distinction as the Book of Inspiration until the end of time!

Truth Magazine, XX:17, p. 3-4, 6
April 22, 1976

By Larry Ray Hafley

Question:

From Mexico: “Would you please comment on the following argument? If baptism is pouring out’ when the Spirit is the element (Acts 2:4, 17), then, baptism is pouring out” when water is the element.”

Reply:

This argument is fallacious because it rests upon the assumption that “pouring out” is baptism. It assumes what must be proven, i.e., that “pouring out” is baptism. Then, it “proves” that “pouring out” is baptism by that assumption.

The Meaning of Baptism

To baptize is to dip, to immerse, to plunge. Baptism is immersion. The element or substance into which an object is immersed is not inherent in the word “baptize.” One may be immersed, dipped, or baptized in water, fire, ink, or buttermilk. A figurative use of baptism is seen in such expressions as baptism of suffering, that is, overwhelmed, covered over with pain. A sports announcer once said that a quarterback was baptized in the opposing team’s defensive line.

Since baptism is immersion, any figurative use of that word should correspond with the original meaning of “baptize.” In Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6:4, Paul used the term “buried.” It is a figurative expression which harmonizes with the literal meaning of the word “baptize.” “In Romans 6:3, 4 is to be found a simile. Now, Webster says a simile is a ‘figure of speech by which one thing, action, or relation is likened or explicitly compared, often with as or like, to something of different kind or quality.’ The `something of different kind or quality’ in Romans 6:3, 4 is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ; the ‘action likened or explicitly compared’ is the sinner’s death to sin, his burial in baptism, and his resurrection to a new life, and incidently, the comparatives as and like are both used in the passage” (James R. Cope, Why Not To Baptize By Sprinkling, 60, 61). The figurative description of items emanating from the Holy Spirit, that is, being “poured out” from the Spirit, cannot refer to baptism since to “pour out” does not fit the real meaning of baptism. One employs a figurative use of a term based upon the genuine definition of the word. Thus, “burial” illustrates baptism, but “pouring out” does not. One does not determine the true meaning of a word by a figurative expression. Rather, the figures are used because of the definition. Figures of speech should not be used to define. That is what the argument our querist uses attempts to do.

A Quote From Franklin T. Puckett

“The `outpouring’ of the Holy Spirit is a favorite subject in many denominational pulpits. And the teaching that is heard on the subject is-well, the only word I can think of to describe it is the word preposterous. It is contended that the Holy Spirit himself, the third person of the Godhead was that which was `poured out.’ The idea that one could `pour out’ the divine person of the Godhead, just like one would pour water out of a pitcher, is beyond my ability to accept. And this certainly is not what Joel prophesied … (Joel 2:28-32).

“Peter gave a divine commentary on what Joel had said. The word `afterward,’ as Joel wrote it, means `in the last days’ as explained by Peter. Joel wrote, `I will pour out my Spirit,’ and Peter, being filled with that Spirit, explains that as `I will pour out of (or from) my, Spirit.’ It was not the Spirit himself that was poured out; but was something that was ‘of’ or ‘from’ the Spirit. That is what Joel is saying. The preposition puts the emphasis on the point of separation. The thing that was `poured out’ was something that was separated from the Spirit. It was not the Spirit himself, but was that which came from the Spirit” (Franklin T. Puckett, Vanguard Magazine, June 12, 1975, p. 7).

Truth Magazine, XX:17, p. 2
April 22, 1976