Truth Magazine

By Cecil Willis

As a member of the Lord’s church, there are some things permissible and some things forbidden. In order for one thing to be right and another wrong, there must be some law by which we are to abide. The fact of sin presupposes law, for John says “Sin is a transgression of the law” (1 Jn. 3:4). It is the thesis of this article to attempt to ascertain the divine rule by which the church is to abide.

Negatively

In the outset of the lesson, let us observe what we are not attempting to do. (1) We are not discussing authority in religion, for there are both true and false religions, and simply to discuss authority in religion would necessitate going into all the various books recognized as authoritative in different religions. (2) Neither are we discussing the source of authority in the different dispensations in which man has lived, such as the Patriarchal and the Jewish or Mosaical, for these periods ended with the ushering in of the Christian era. (3) Nor, are we discussing the interpretation of Scripture. There can be no importance in interpretation of Scripture until one learns the authority back of the Scripture to be- interpreted. Authority must precede the giving of Scripture, and no- interpretation can be made until the Scripture is revealed. Furthermore, we may agree as to authority, but differ on interpretation. A religious debate is possible when two men agree as to authority, such as the Bible, but differ in their understanding of the Bible. They can, therefore, undertake together a systematic study of the subject under discussion.

Positively

But positively speaking, we are discussing the authority in the system we know as Christianity. This authority must of necessity be objective. That is, it must reside outside of you or me as individuals. Man is not the authority of Christianity. If the authority were subjective, every man would be an authority within himself, and therefore the authority of Christianity would be contradictory.

Christianity as a system is built around the declarations of Christ, the Master Teacher. In John 3:2, Nicodemus said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him.” In Matt. 28:20, Jesus commands the disciples, after they baptize individuals, to “teach them all things I have commanded you.” Christ’s teachings are the core of Christianity.

Christianity is, in the New Testament, represented as a law. Today we hear people protest one’s speaking of laws of the New Testament. They detest law, for law tends toward a legalism, we are told. But protest, or no protest, we must speak of laws within Christianity. The Bible is too plain for us not to speak of law within the church. Paul says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1, 2). Notice again, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10). Again Paul instructs us, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). On other occasions Paul speaks of the gospel, but let us note but one more instance. “Where then is the glorying? It is excluded. By what manner of law? of works? Nay: but by a law of faith” (Rom. 3:27). So there are laws in Christianity, and for there to be law, there must be the authority of the law-giver. Authority implies the right to command and enforce obedience. So we are discussing the right of Christ to command and enforce obedience.

Kinds of Authority

In order for us to see the kind of law or the authority in Christianity, let us note the different kinds of authority. (1) There is inherent or primary authority. This is the kind of authority that God has. God exists in His own right. His existence is not predicated upon the existence of any prior individual. His authority is ultimate and belongs to Him because He is God. Authority inheres in Him, because He is the source of all authority. (2) Then there is usurped authority. This is the kind of authority the devil has. His authority does not belong to him, but has been taken from another or others. But we are not primarily interested in this kind of authority at the present. (3) There is also delegated authority. This is authority that belongs to one, but is given to another. With authority being inherent in God, with God being the source of authority, for any authority to reach earth, unless God personally spoke with man, His authority had to be delegated to someone.

The Authority of Christ

Christ was the One to whom God delegated His authority. Jesus was a messenger from God commissioned with divine authority. So the words that he spoke constituted divine law. He said, “When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me; he hath not left me alone; for I do always the things pleasing to him” Quo. 8:28, 29). The words spoken by Christ were God-given. Jesus said, “For I spake not from myself; but the Father that sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life eternal; the things therefore which I speak, even as the Father bath said unto me, so I speak” Ono. 12:49, 50). Jesus again asserts his divine commission in Matt. 11:27; “All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth the, Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.” Then perhaps the best known of Jesus’ statements of His authority is this: “All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.” This statement just precedes the great commission and is recorded in Matt. 28:18.

In transferring the authority from God, in whom all authority is resident, to Christ, there was no possibility of error, for Jesus was deity. Jesus was God manifest in human form. In John 14:9 Jesus said, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Phil. 2:5-7 says that he “counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped” or held on to. He was God’s equal. In Heb. 1:3, we read that Christ was made in the “express image of God.” Col. 2:9 says that in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So after deity became incarnate in the form of humanity in Christ Jesus, he taught with the authority of God. So the Bible says: “God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son” (Heb. 1:1, 2). God hath spoken in his Son! The teachings of Christ constitute divine laws.

Christ Delegates Authority

In the providence of God, it had been willed that Christ should die on the cross, be resurrected, and finally ascend to heaven. So provision had to be made for the perpetuation of the teaching he had declared to the sons of men. The apostles were chosen, trained, and were therefore prepared to become ambassadors of Christ, earthen vessels of the truth. Speaking of the apostles, Christ said, “Now they know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee: for the words which thou gavest me I have given unto them, and they received them.” In the same chapter, Jesus further says, “I have given them thy word” (Jn. 17:7, 8, 14).

Christ had been made in the “express image of God,” and thus infallibly delivered the message given to him by God. But these apostles were mere men. So provision was made to safeguard the revelation which was to be given to them. This safeguard given to them was the Holy Spirit, who was to insure that the message was received, declared, and recorded without error. As Jesus promised to ascend to the Father, he promised to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles. He said, “These things have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with you. But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have spoken unto you” (Jn. 14:26). What was the work of the Holy Spirit? He was to remind the apostles of the words spoken by Jesus. In almost a parallel passage, we find this reading; “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto ?you the things that are to come” (Jno. 16:13). The Holy Spirit was to guide the apostles into all truth and bring to their remembrance the words of Christ. So the words spoken by the apostles were true, for they were the words spoken by God.

When the apostles spoke, they spoke with the authority of God. They were ambassadors of Christ, who was the Son of God. Numerous New Testament passages assert the authority back of their words. Paul says, “Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things (thoughts, K.J.V.) with spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:13). In another place, the same writer asserts: “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 Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11, 12). (Also read 2 Pet. 1:20, 21; 3:2; Luke 10:16; Rev. 1:1-3.) But the authority of God is resident in the words spoken through the inspired apostles, and infallibly recorded in the Bible. This is the law, the divine law, of the church. There has never been any further delegation of authority in revealing divine truth.

Preachers all over the land are claiming inspiration. They claim divine aid in their preaching, even saying that God chooses their subjects, and their very words. But, God hath spoken unto us in his Son, recorded by the apostles and other inspired men. There is divine authority in no other. This fact indicates that no council, no synod, no assembly, no conclave of man has the right to legislate for the church. The only law of the church of Christ is the word of Christ as revealed in the Bible. We have no creed-book but the Bible. We are bound by no man-written discipline, manual, or confession. The Bible and the Bible alone is the creed-book of the body of Christ. We propose to speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent. Let us call Bible things by Bible names, and do Bible things in Bible ways. If we will but accept the Bible, and only the Bible as our rule of faith and morals, religious division will soon be abolished. It takes the preaching of something other than the Bible to make one anything more or less than a Christian. Denominationalism will die when the Bible alone is preached. It takes the creeds of men to make people what members of some religious bodies claim to be. The Bible will not do it. The only divine law for the divine church is that received, revealed and recorded by the Holy Spirit inspired apostles.

Truth Magazine XIX: 8, pp. 115-117
January 2, 1975

By Steve Roe

According to the United States Navy there are three religions that cover all matters pertaining to God: Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish. If a person was not Catholic, Jewish, or heathen, he was referred to as Protestant and subsequently followed the Protestant rules set down in the Chaplain’s Manual. All religious matters aboard ship must be cleared with the Chaplain’s Office, such as use of the ship’s chapel, times for meetings, religious activities, baptisms, etc., before they become legal.

As the brethren of the Saratoga carried on the work of the Church by teaching others, it became necessary to baptize. On the last cruise, a canvas baptistry was made in the Philippines and this cruise, a collapsible iron frame was built. The things that we lacked, only the ship could supply: water, a place to set up, and permission to carry on religious activity. This introduction sets the scene for the congregation’s first major problem aboard the Saratoga-the Chaplain’s Department denied us the right to baptize! That is not all; they took away the right to partake of the Lord’s Supper!

According to Chaplain Witt, the Head Chaplain, the Chaplain’s Manual and the Naval Civil Liberties Act (both of which he never showed me) state that none will be allowed io baptize or to administer the Lord’s Supper without proper proof of “lay-leadership” or “ordination.” A what? A letter stating that one or more of us have been properly schooled or trained and qualified to carry on the work of our particular “denomination.”

Sometimes it is hard to understand how people become so involved with the doctrines of men that they forget about the Word of the God that they claim to serve. It is impossible for me to understand the reason for letters and diplomas of ordination. I cannot see how a letter of this nature makes me a better Christian than my brother and better equipped to baptize (unless there is a weight lifting course along with it). The truth of the matter is this: the Bible just does not teach anything that resembles the necessity of being ordained by a better or higher mortal being, but rather “ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:9). Were these “ordained ministers” of this passage? They are the newborn babes of verse 2. Peter was talking to Christians. Christians in general are the royal priesthood!

The Bible speaks of several ordinations. Christ was ordained by God (Acts 10:42). Paul was ordained by Christ (1 Tim. 2:7; Acts 9:15). The law was ordained by angels (Gal. 3:19). God ordained a mystery or hidden wisdom (1 Cor. 2:7). Paul told Titus to ordain elders in every city (Tit. 1:5). The word “ordain” means to choose for a particular use. It holds no sanctity among the celestial realm, as some wish to believe. Christ came to save the world Ono. 3:17). Paul was chosen to take the Gospel to gentiles, kings, and Jews (Acts 9:15). The elders are ordained to be overseers of the Church.

As in many other things, the denominational world has sliced up the Word of God and pasted it back together in the manner that best suits them. Mankind evidently has enough knowledge to reject the plan of God and replace it with “a much better idea.”

No, the Christian does not need a letter of ordination to administer the Lord’s Supper. He does not need a degree in theology to baptize a person into Jesus Christ. The apostles were commanded to “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19, 20).

As the chain of events took place, Brother Harold Dowdy of the South Jacksonville (Fla.) Church wrote a letter of “ordination” for the brethren aboard the Saratoga, explaining our beliefs on the subject and stating that as Christians, we were qualified to carry on the work of the Church. It was accepted.

Editorial Postscript

The preceding article by 23 year old Steve Roe indicates that Christians, who really desire to do so, can worship, study, grow, and even convert others, under very unique and sometimes adverse circumstances. All the members of the Saratoga church are young in Christ, as well as young in years. Brother Roe has been a Christian longer than any of the other members, and he was converted only four years ago. All of the other members have been Christians for a year or less.

In an accompanying letter, Brother Roe reported: “Several of us intend to become gospel preachers. We seem to mature a bit faster while at sea than we do ashore, because of the great amount of time on our hands to study. We feel equipped to defend the truth against instrumental music, institutionalism, and the Ketcherside movement, to name a few. Just recently we challenged the Pentecostal group aboard to debate on the Holy Spirit. They refused because they said it would split the Pentecostal Church.”

We joyfully commend the zeal and enthusiasm of these young brethren, and trust that they will continue with their desire to preach the gospel and in their preparation to do so.-Cecil Willis

Truth Magazine XIX, 8: p. 114
January 2, 1975

By Jimmy Tuten, Jr.

Isaiah 1:2-3 records God’s message to the people of Judah. The context then displays lamentation of Isaiah over the people’s wickedness and impenitence. As a nation they had been called to holiness, but had sunk in sin and wickedness. They were literally laden with guilt and iniquity. Isaiah says, “oh, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters” (1:4). Again, “from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it” (1:6). From the top to the bottom the nation was diseased. As a whole they were like a festering sore.

The conditions in our nation at the present time are very much like that of Isaiah’s day. We are a nation beset with many scandals. Corruption is everywhere both on a national and local level. Many lives have already been affected and many more are threatened. Before we breathe a sigh of relief over Nixon’s leaving office or act gleeful over his ouster, we had better be introspective of our own lives. Morality is no respecter of persons. Sin is sin no matter where it is found and how insignificant it may appear. Are we as individuals dishonest? Do we lie, cheat, or rob others? Watergate is a symptom of a national illness. We had better wake up. Unless we as individuals and as a nation turn to God, and unless we maintain the right standard of morality, we will see more Watergates. The solution of our national problems is not the ouster of a president, but a complete change of ways on our part as individuals. The best policy yet is to “provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. 12:17).

Truth Magazine XVIII: 7, p. 109
December 19, 1974

By By Warren Bell

There is no such thing as love at first sight. Real love is not built upon mere sight. We may see one’s talents and appearance, and these we may admire, but true love is a .tender and strong attachment to the inward person. We love personality and personality must be learned, admired and respected before there can be love. We must mark the difference between love and lust.

We are living in a day of unbridled lust. The theater, the television, many magazines and others have formed a vile alliance to break down restraints of modesty and the Bible’s standards of courtship and marriage. Because of dull, impersonal preaching, and careless, unspiritual parents, much of this influence has colored the conduct of “Christian” young people. Consequently, on front room sofas, in parked automobiles, in after-church walks, young people fondle one another’s bodies, pervert their God-given desires and often take the next and natural step, fornication. They seem to think that such urges aroused to the breaking point, are signs of true love. That is not so! My young brother, a hundred different women could arouse the same desires within you. Love is based upon who she is; lust is based upon what she is! Christian courtship is based upon Christian standards and petting among unmarried persons is not Christian!

1. Petting breaks down the will and destroys self-control. It stirs a desire that petting itself cannot satisfy. Petting is not an end in itself but is preparatory. Normally the body prepares itself for its various functions. When a hungry person smells food, it starts saliva flowing in his mouth and gastric juices in his stomach. Fear causes certain glands to secrete extracts which prepare the body for violent action. So petting stimulates the body and prepares it for mating. This is the purpose of petting in God’s plan. It will always fulfill its purpose, but outside of marriage it leads to sin.

“There can come a moment between a man and a woman when control and judgment are impossible, and self-respect can be eternally damaged. A woman’s first protection against this betrayal is to appreciate that the speedup of her emotions is not only possible but natural and normal. Her best defense is to have no confidence at all in her ability to say nay at the appropriate moment. The belief that any woman can cooly halt lovemaking at some point before she is wholly committed is a tiger trap devised by romantics . . . not enough mothers warn their daughters that kissing is intended by nature to be an appetizer, not an entire meal,” says Marion Hilliard, M.D., Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women’s College Hospital, Toronto.

Whenever a Christian is in a situation where he cannot trust himself to act according to reason and Christian standards, he is in the wrong place!

2. Petting stimulates `inordinate affections.” “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection.” (Col. 3:5). Inordinate means not in order, out of place, not kept within bounds. God put petting in the bounds of marriage. He said that a woman’s body belongs to her husband. (1 Cor. 7:4). If you are not her husband, then you keep your hands off of her! Hundreds of couples will carry to their graves the tarnished memories of courtships that went beyond their proper bounds and broke over the limits of Christian and decent restraint. Let one’s desires be aroused to the breaking point and often his will power will break down, and his passions will out-pull every religious and moral restraint and will not stop until gratified in fornication. The best Christian in the world, if he is not strong enough to keep from petting, may not be strong enough to keep from fornication.

3. Petting is lasciviousness. The works of the flesh will keep people out of heaven. “Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, that they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Lasciviousness is “wanton acts or manners, as filthy words, indecent bodily movements, unchaste handling of males and females.” This describes petting! How many of you fathers have given your boys counsel of this kind? How many of you mothers have been outspoken on these matters to your girls? Why haven’t you? Why do parents think that their children are different? Why do parents close their mouths because of a false modesty and let their own children burn their fingers, stain their consciences, and break their hearts because of little or no teaching on these matters? Your children are going to learn the facts of their bodies and emotions. It is God’s plan that they learn it from you over the open pages of God’s book. If they do not learn from you, they will learn from other children and often with a lot of gutter-gossip, obscene suggestions, lewd stories and distorted facts.

4. Petting prevents thinking that is pure and honorable. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Phil. 4:8). In petting there is always the urge to go farther. It causes sin in the heart. It will do this to any normal person. Young people who cannot sit apart and talk about things near to their hearts and be happy in one another’s presence probably do not have true love. They are only attracted sexually and physically to one another.

Courtship can be all that God wants it to be or it can be an unpleasant memory. Will you consecrate yours to God’s honor and to your purity? When two are in love, each will want the best that God has for the other.

Warren Bell, Nov. 12, 1965. The Examiner, Leitchfield, Kentucky.

Truth Magazine XVIII: 7, pp. 108-109
December 19, 1974