Truth Magazine

By Harry E. Ozment

Definition

It is true that certain physical blessings of the grace of God are given to the believer and unbeliever alike. Jesus said, “For he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.” (Matt. 5:45) Paul explained in I Tim. 4: 10 that God “is the Savior of all men,” i.e., God sustains all life upon this earth through the bestowal of certain physical blessings (e.g., sunshine, rain, air, etc.). No one denies this. Notice, however, what Paul next says, “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those who believe. ” Paul, in the last clause of v. 10, is speaking of the spiritual blessings of God which contribute to the eternal salvation of manthis grace is given to believers.

Calvinism denies that any “speciar, grace is shown to believers as opposed to unbelievers. The doctrine of “irresistible grace” is a branch off the vine of “predestination.” God’s grace to salvation, according to Calvinism, is given only to the elect-whether the elect desire it or not. The Presbyterian Confession of Faith states: “This effectual call is of God’s free and speciat’grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the .Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.” (Chapter 10) This doctrine, as you can see, provides for a direct and mysterious indwelling of the Spirit. This doctrine, together with its foundation doctrine (predestination), teaches that an “elected” person is saved at the very beginning in the mind of God, and he is saved “in fact” when God arbitrarily sends His Spirit into the heart of that individual.

Errors of the Doctrine

Because the existence of this doctrine depends to a great extent on the existence of “predestination,” errors of the two doctrines could be interchanged. However, as we specifically consider the Calvinistic concept of “irresistible grace,” many errors are glaringly evident, for this doctrine:

(1) Negates the importance of man’s obedience. This doctrine would have people believe that the grace of God to salvation is given to the obedient and disobedient alikeprovided they have been elected. According to Calvinism, God, in His own time, arbitrarily sends the Spirit upon whomsoever He will, while totally disregarding (a) the kind of lives these people live, and (b) the desire (or lack of it) that these people have for His grace. Such a doctrine can only do one thing: consign obedience to the realm of the “non-essential.” And when Calvinism does this, it is in complete contradition. with the Bible. The Bible teaches that man’s obedience is essential to his salvation. Jesus stated: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21)

When the Bible teaches the essentiality of obedience, it does not imply that man’s obedience earns salvation. On the contrary, our active obedience to God’s will indicates that we cannot save ourselves, and thus makes us openly admit that we must submit to Him to be saved. Of course, this would not be the case if we were to try to be saved by obeying our will. We read in Acts 10:34-35: “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” Paul states the case well by contrasting the works of God with the works of man in Eph. 2:8-10 (notice the intensive words emphasis mine, HEO): “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Neither does the Bible imply that man’s obedience displaces God’s grace. The Bible teaches that God’s grace, coupled with man’s obedience, produces the promised blessing. This Bible principle is illustrated several times in Heb. 11: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet (grace), moved with fear, prepared an ark (obedience) to the saving of his house (promised blessing)” (v. 7); “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place (grace), which he should after receive for an inheritance (promised blessing), obeyed (obedience)” (v. 8); “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed (grace), and was delivered of a child when she was past age (promised blessing), because she judged him faithful who had promised (obedience).” (v. 11) This same principle is true today, as is shown by the statement found in Heb. 5:9: “He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” “Eternal salvation” is the promised blessing. Through the grace of God, Jesus shed his blood (“became the author”), which purchased the church and put into effect God’s will. Man’s obedience, though, must be coupled to God’s grace, as is shown in the last clause: “unto all them that obey him.” Hence, if obedience is essential to salvation, “irresistible grace” cannot be possible.

(2) Denies the true nature of grace. Paul explains the nature of grace in Eph. 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of’ God.” Grace is a gift. A gift necessarily involves two ideas: (a) the will of the giver to give; and (b) the consent of the receiver to receive. If either of these conditions is missing, the item given is not a gift. The word “irresistible” means “impossible to successfully resist” (Webster). Therefore, to state that God’s grace is “irresistible” is to say that the “consent of the receiver” is not necessarily involved in the giving of grace. Hence, this would deny that the grace of God is a gift. Such is the sad consequence of believing Calvinistic theory!

(3) Destroys the free agency of man. One of the great truths of the Bible is that man is a free moral agent. He has enough intelligence to determine his course of action. God said in Deut. 30:15-18: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in ..that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish.” This was true of Adam and Eve in the very beginning. They were given intelligent minds which were capable of making decisions. Two ways were set before them-the way of right and the way of wrong. God coaxed them to go the way of right and warned them against g . oing the way of wrong-but the final decision was made by Adam and Eve. Therefore, when man decided to go the way of wrong, he was held accountable for it. The same is true today. Jesus said, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, he shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.” (Jn. 15:6-7) The vine is provided by the grace of God. But we, as branches, exercise free determination in choosing whether to abide in this vine’. Calvinism denies this. This theory would have us to believe that the elect must receive the grace of God-they have no choice about the matter. God’s grace is irresistible! God certainly could not hold unsaved individuals accountable if their condition was in no way due to their own free choice. Such a theory!-it denies the most, evident truths of the Bible!

It is sad but true that the grace of God can be resisted -many millions resist His grace every day. God’s power to save our souls is His word (Rom. 1: 16; Jas. 1:21). When men spurn this word for their divisive human creeds, they are most surely resisting the grace of the Almighty!

Truth Magazine, XVIII:32, p. 9-10
June 13, 1974

By Roland Worth, Jr.

God has revealed all that we need in regard to our religion (2 Pet. 1:3). Therefore there is no reason to expect His endorsement when we add things to our religion that He has not authorized. Likewise, it follows that God is antagonized when men omit what He wants done. Yet we see this sin of omission again and again in the collective religious life of the church and of the’ denominations around us. Among brethren, we could list such evils as the refusal to select elders when there are clearly qualified men present and the passing of the responsibility of preaching the gospel to centralized and unauthorized institutions.

Among denominations, the most obvious evil is that of omitting immersion (which they will usually concede is itself a proper act) and substituting sprinkling (which is unauthorized in the scriptures). We could attack this substitution with great vigor but this article is not intended to attack only one evil but to assault the whole concept of substituting our desires for God’s desires. Whenever we substitute our will for the divine will, the end result is not just a substitution but an actual omission of what is right. As an example, take this matter of sprinkling. Those who sprinkle a person do not also immerse the same person. Substitution has resulted in the omission of what God desires!

God strenuously disapproves of handling His will this way, as we will note in the scriptures that follow.

1. The scriptures insist that “all” (not just ‘some’) of God’s law is to be obeyed. Many Old Testament passages point this out. For instance, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 10:12). In Deut. 27:1, Moses commands the people, “Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.” “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do . . . .” (Deut. 12:32). Christ took the same attitude’ toward His teachings, “Teaching them (the disciples) to observe all that I have commanded you…” (Matt. 28:20).

No person can honestly claim that ‘he is doing “all” the commandments of God if he has substituted some practice or scheme of his own for what Jehovah has ordained! He can say that he has kept “part” of God’s law and none would dispute the claim, but he can never rightly claim that he is keeping “all” of it. The difference between “part” and “all” is the difference between doing what God wants us to do and doing what we ourselves would rather do.

2. Not only is doing ALL of God’s will encouraged, doing LESS is specifically prohibited. “. . . . Remember all the commandments of the Lord to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after wantonly” (Num. 15:39). The prohibition of any deviation from what God has ordained applied even to the rulers of Israel (Deut. 17:18-20).

3. To neither take from God’s law nor add to it is an essential pre-requisite of obeying the Divine will. This is made clear in Deut. 4:2, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.@

4. God considers the Omission of. anything He has commanded as “rebellion.” In Ezek. 5:6 we read of ancient Israel, “And she has wickedly rebelled against my ordinances more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries round about her, by rejecting my ordinances and not walking in my statutes.”

5. God was sorry He made Saul king because Saul omitted what was commanded. When we turn to I Sam. 15:11 we find the very plain statement, “I repent that I have made Saul king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. ” Saul had violated, not a prohibition of God’s law, but God’s positive injunction, His instruction to utterly destroy Amalek (v. 3). From this example we find God’s attitude toward those who ignore and decline to obey His commands; it is not just the violation of His prohibitions that gets mankind in trouble with Jehovah!

6. Circumcision was a positive command, yet to decline to circumcise was a violation of God’s law. Gen. 17:14 tells us of the penalty that would befall those who did not follow the circumcision ordinance, “Any uncircumcised male … shall be cut, off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” Yes, to refuse to do what God has said to be done is a violation of the Divine will just as much as the violation of a direct prohibition imposed by God. Omission is regarded as nothing short of sin.

7. In His parables, Christ viewed omissions as a just cause for receiving severe punishment. In Luke we read, “And that servant who knew his master’s will, but did not make ready, or act according. to His will, shall receive a severe beating, But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a, light beating., Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required: and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more” (12:47-48).

8. Any time we omit what we know to be right we have sinned. “Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17).

9. Christ condemned the Pharisees for the omissions in their religion. Christ’s condemnation was blunt and to the point; “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Matt. 23:23-24). The King James Version makes this point even stronger by using the word “omitted” where the Revised Standard Version (quoted above) uses the word “neglected.” In either case the point is the same.

10. God ‘s reaction to Israel’s refusal to enter Palestine reveals His attitude toward those who omit what He has demanded be done. The command to enter Canaan was not a prohibition; it was what we would call a positive commandment (like Christ commanding believer baptism in Mk. 16:16). Yet what did God think of their refusal to carry out the command? Did He look upon it with condolence because it did not violate a prohibition of His will? (After all, there was no scripture that forbade them to refuse to enter the promised land! Just like there is no scripture that forbids us to baptize infants!! In both cases, all we have are positive commands- In one case to enter Canaan; in the other to baptize believers.)

Let us hear the judgment of God (Deut. 1) on the refusal of the Israelites to do that which was commanded:

1. It was rebellion against God (v. 26);

2. It was non-belief (v. 32);

3. It caused God to be angry and to punish the people (vs. 34-37);

 

4. The people admitted that their refusal to obey was sin (v. 41). In Deut. 9:23 this refusal to obey God is again mentioned and is described as rebellion and disbelief.

 

We might also point out that in trying to “make up” for their sin, they fell into yet more sin (vs. 41-46)! Today we find the same problem. Many congregations that did not fulfill their congregational responsibility to preach the gospel fell into just as great an evil when they turned to “sponsoring churches” in their guilt-ridden reaction to their own past apathy. The earthly proverb still rings true, “Two wrongs do not make a right!”

Conclusion

Substitution for what God has ordained may have an appeal to us for we are its inventors; the problem is that God does not s4are our judgment. We have omitted from our religion what He placed in it. So what else can we expect from Him but condemnation?

Truth Magazine, XVIII:32, p. 7-8
June 13, 1974

By Jeffery Kingry

“There shall be false teachers among you . . . and many shall follow their pernicious ways: by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not” (2 Pet. 2: 1-3).

It is a fact many would like to ignore or “pooh-pooh” away, but Peter assured us that there are those among us who think of their brethren as baggage to be moved about and manipulated at will. Though the intent may not be verbalized, or even realized, when we talk of “saving the brotherhood,” “reaching the brotherhood,” “moving the brotherhood” we unintentionally give substance to Peter’s warnings. Not that teaching truth, or intending to influence large masses of brethren is evil in itself, but often the intent is. We have a tendency as individuals to look at the black or the white, and not notice that we might be gray. Jesus sharply rebuked men at times not for sitting at meat, greeting friends in the market, wearing phylacteries, making public prayer, or building sepulchures, but for the spirit that accompanied such actions (Matt. 23). A right action accompanied with a wrong motive is just as damning as a wrong action (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

Too often we look at one “greedy for gain” as a black figure, easily recognized, but hardly realizable. After all, how many brethren do you know who are caricatures of Dicken’s Scrooge? We see the “false teacher” as a black quantity, and fail to realize that one can be a passive false teacher by failing to teach the truth that is needed, or by giving encouragement to that which is not approved of God (Eph. 5:11; 2 Jno. 11).

“Covetousness,” “greed for gain,” “evil ambitions” are all proper definitions of the Greek word pleonexia, translated by Barclay as meaning literally “The desire to possess more.” This word, translated “covetousness” in the KJV, gives us the cause for false teaching. Covetousness is not just a strong burning desire for material wealth, but any driving influence to possess something that a Christian has no right to. Jesus said, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: But whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be great among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom /or many” (Matt. 20:25-28). Ungodly ambition for honor, prestige, and power among brethren is repugnant to the law of Christ. We are all one in Him, partakers of his flesh, his blood, his bones. No part of his body has precedence over another. Indeed, those parts that are humblest, and have the most common function are given the greatest honor by the rest of the body. So it should be among the saints: ‘For I have given you an example. that ye should do as I have done unto you. Verily. verily I say unto you. The servant is not greater than his Lord. neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him” (Jno. 13:15, 16).

We, as brethren, need to cease looking upon God’s people as a mass – a brotherhood – to manipulate, motivate, and make merchandise of. Look upon them as a people to provoke unto love and good works – to esteem highly for the Kingdom’s sake – to reprove, rebuke, and exhort – yes; but as children of God, Priests and Kings, and brethren of Jesus in the family of God. To use the church as a private audience for our own carnal needs is wrong. To use the church as a captive and ready source of income for our private schemes is abhorrent. One has but to look in the mailbox daily at the constant stream of appeals by the “brotherhood” institutions to see that some only view God’s people as a mass to use. What have we ever gotten from such that we did not pay for – and pay dearly – in broken churches. homes, and friendships?

The scriptures tell us the method by which those petty and selfish men would take advantage of brethren: “With feigned words.” The elect are enticed away from the simplicity which is in Christ by very skillfully prepared arguments. We have nothing to fear from a lie that announces itself to be a fraud. It is the beast hidden beneath the calm, wooly exterior of a lamb that is a threat. The deceiver cunningly disguises the lie to look like truth. The motivation is gain, the method is deception by skillful argumentation.

In contending for the faith we must guard that we do not permit charisma or skill to substitute for the sword of the Spirit. A debater once told me that he was able to argue for error and make it believable. There are those that do that very thing, the only difference being that they believe their lies to be truth. Paul made it a point in converting the Corinthians not to use “excellency of speech or of wisdom” (2:1). His action was motivated by the desire “that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (2:5). Therefore he preached “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (2:3). His methods drove away the Jew who wanted a sign from heaven, and offended the Greek who wanted worldly wisdom, but “unto them who are called, whether Jew or Greek, (it was) the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:22-24).

Peter further tells us what the effect would be of such false teaching: “and many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” When men are encouraged to do evil by the silence of their fellows, eventually they no longer feel any guilt or reason to hide their shame. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl. 8:11). We see the result of no-teaching, in the dress of our women – provoking lust in their movements and deeds – some having given themselves over to all uncleanness. We see no-teaching, in a church divided and corrupted by the rebellious rejection of the eternal purpose of God. We see brethren clinging to matters of no consequence while neglecting the important issues of life. The effect of false teaching is that it encourages men to be lost; it cares nothing for the judgment of men or of God, but is totally self centered.

Such teaching, and its fruits, not only destroy those who do such, but drags down what is good into its own level of ineffectuality. The false teachers of today ‘do not see they are despised by the world. They do not transform the people;. they are transformed by the people. They do not raise the moral level of the world; they descend to society’s own level and congratulate themselves that they have scored a victory because the world is smilingly accepting their surrender! When the world sees squabbles, selfishness, worldliness, and indifference to truth among brethren, it says, “If this is Christianity, I don’t want it!” In a conversation with an Islamic elder in Washington D.C. this writer was told, “What do we gain from embracing your Christianity? I see your young women come into .our mosque, defiling it by their lewd dress. Your men stub their cigarettes out in our courtyards, and tell their filthy jokes by our doors. If I become a Christian, do I go up, or do I go down?”

The ultimate end of false teaching is destruction: “Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” The law has already been given: “That prophet . . . shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God . . . to thrust you out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in” (Deut. 13:5). God’s will has not changed except that; “vengeance belongeth to me, I will recompense saith the Lord.” No man leads others towards damnation who will escape damnation himself.

Yes, brethren, there are false teachers, and they are among us. By charisma and skillful oratory they manipulate .people to gain their own ends. The result of their teaching is an ineffectual and sin hardened church. Their sure damnation awaits the final judgment of God where none shall escape. “Therefore watch, and remember that . . . I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31).

Truth Magazine, XVIII:32, p. 6-7
June 13, 1974

By Cecil Willis

We want to discuss the most remarkable book the world has ever known. One of the claims which the Bible makes for Itself -is that It can’ never be destroyed. The abundance of copies of the Scriptures now available is abundant proof that It has made good Its claim. In many passages the indestructibility of the Scriptures is pronounced. In 1 Pet. 1:24, 25 we read: “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 forever.” It will never cease to be. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matt. 24:35). When the heavens shall have passed away with a great noise, the elements melted with fervent heat, the earth and the works therein burned up, the Bible, the word of the Lord, will yet remain. Isaiah said, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.” (Isa. 40:8). The Scriptures teach that the word of the Lord must remain until time is no more, and even through the judgment, for by the word of God we shall be judged. Jesus said “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jno. 12:48). Once more as John tells of the judgment scene, he says, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:12). The Scriptures teach that from the time that the word of the Lord was put in written form, until the judgment, they shall never be destroyed.

An Indestructible Kingdom

The Bible again asserts this same truth in a slightly different manner. It asserts that the kingdom of God shall never be destroyed. As the prophet Daniel predicted the building of the Messiah’s kingdom, he said it would endure forever. “And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Dan. 2:44). After Daniel had said the kingdom to be built could never be destroyed, Paul said that the kingdom which was built will endure forever. “And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:27-29). But what are the implications of these -statements that the kingdom can never be destroyed? Simply that the word of God can never be destroyed. As Jesus gave a parable concerning the kingdom of- God, explaining it He said, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11). So long as the kingdom remains, the seed of the kingdom which is the word of God, must remain. But the kingdom will last forever, so the word of God must last forever. If It lasts forever, It is indestructible. So long as the Bible remains, the kingdom has not been destroyed. It may be suppressed for a while, it may not be apparent, but as long- as God’s word remains, the kingdom has not been destroyed. As soon as the seed of the kingdom is sown, men and women can become Christians, and Christians make up the kingdom. One cannot cause wheat to cease to exist merely by pulling up all the wheat plants he can find. If he leaves just one seed of wheat, in which is the germ of life, he has not destroyed wheat. This single seed can be planted, a plant will come forth, bear its fruit, and wheat remains. So it is with the word of God. One can fight the church, kill its members, but God has said that His word cannot be destroyed. And until one can figure out how to destroy the word of God, which he can never do, the kingdom cannot be destroyed. Because as the seed of the kingdom, the word of God, is sown into the hearts of men and women, it will bear fruit; they will become Christians and the kingdom will remain. It cannot be destroyed!

The Ancient Book

The Bible is a very ancient book. Its antiquity is a wonder. It is a marvel that the Bible has remained until the present time. I am quite sure It would not have, had it not been that God had purposed that It should never be destroyed. Relatively few books survive the decade in which they are printed. Very, very few survive for a century. Their make-up is such that the elements tend to destroy them. Age and water rot them, insects eat them, careless handling destroys them, ink lades, covers pull loose. But the Book of God remains.

The last book of the New Testament, Revelation, was written about 1880 years ago. Portions of the Bible, of course, are much older. The first five books of the Old Testament, were written by Moses about 1500 B.C., making them nearly 3500 years old. The Book of Job is written even earlier, probably at least 2000 B.C. The Bible probably is the oldest antique you have, even though you be a collector of ancient and very rare objects. Go to your library, choose out your oldest volume, and compare its age with that of the Bible. God has seen to it that His Word has not perished from the earth, because He has willed that It should abide forever.

The antiquity of the Bible would be a marvel had men throughout the ages cherished It; and have taken the very best of care to preserve It. But such has not always been the case. The enemies of Christianity have realized that the kingdom of God could not exist without the seed of the kingdom. Therefore they have concentrated their efforts against Christianity in the direction of destroying the Scriptures.

Even in New Testament times, we find those who violently sought to overthrow the Cause of Christ. We find many of the disciples dying a martyr’s death because of their faith. Early in the history of Christianity, Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Many martyrs are daily burned, crucified, and beheaded before our eyes.” For many years Christianity was outlawed by the Roman government. From the time of Trajan (reigned 98-117) until Constantine (c. 300), virtually every one of the Roman emperors was opposed to Christianity. It is true that not all of them actively tried to suppress it, but few of them encouraged Christianity in any way. Many of their efforts were directed toward destroying the Bible. Diocletian (284-316) was. the ruler immediately preceding Constantine. Of him, Eusbius, the historian says, “royal edicts were published everywhere, commanding that the churches be leveled to the gound and the Scriptures destroyed by fire.” (Church History, Book VIII, Ch. 1). Diocletian went on to say that if one had a copy of the Scriptures and did not surrender it to be burned, if it were discovered,. he would be killed. Furthermore, if any other should know of one who had a copy of the Scriptures, and did not report it, he also would be killed. During this time many, many copies of the Bible were burned, copies laboriously written in longhand. Of this period the historian, Newman, says “Multitudes…hastened to deny the faith and to surrender their copies of the Scriptures; many more bore the most horrible tortures and ‘refused with their latest breath to surrender the Scriptures or in any way to compromise themselves.” (Newman, Church History, p. 169) After this edict had been in force for two years, Diocletian boasted, “I have completely exterminated the Christian writings from the face of the earth!” (Rimmer, Seven Wonders of the Wonderful Word, p. 15). But had he completely destroyed it?

History tells us that the next ruler, Constantine, professed to have become a Christian. He requested that copies of the Scriptures be made for all the churches. But alas! Diocletian had completely obliterated the word of God. After Constantine offered a substantial reward for a copy of the Scriptures, within 25 hours 50 copies of the Bible were brought to him! The Bible has had many enemies. Even those’ that professed on some occasions to be Its friends under other circumstances turned enemy to It. During the middle ages, for example, the Roman Catholics burned thousands of copies of the Bible. But in spite of it, the Bible lives on.

Voltaire, the noted French infidel. who died in 1778. made his attempt to destroy the Bible. He boldly made the prediction that within one hundred years the Bible and Christianity would have been swept from existence into oblivion. But Voltaire’s efforts and his bold prophecy failed as miserably as did those of his unbelieving predecessors. In fact, within 100 years, the very printing press upon which Voltaire had printed his infidel literature, was being used to print copies of the Bible. And afterward, the very house in which the boasting Voltaire had lived, was literally stacked with Bibles prepared by the Geneva Bible Soceity. Voltaire and all his cohorts had miserably failed.

A few years ago H.L.Hastings in a book entitled Will the Old Book Stand? said: “The Bible is a book which has been refuted, demolished, overthrown, and exploded more times than any other book you ever heard of . . . . They overthrew the Bible a century ago, in Voltaire’s time entirely demolished the whole thing. In less than a hundred years, said Voltaire, it will have been swept from existence, and will have passed into history …But the Word of God ‘liveth and abideth forever'” (p. 5). The failures of these unbelievers, and failures they must inevitably be for they are but mere men fighting against the cause of almighty God, reminds me of a short poem written by William Blake:

“Mock on, mock on, Voltaire Rosseau!

Mock on, mock on, ’tis all in vain;

You blow the dust against the wind,

And; the wind blows it back again.”

Man cannot destroy the Bible. “We might as well put our shoulder to the burning wheel of the sun, and try to stop it on its flaming course, as attempt to stop the circulation of the Bible” (Collett, All About the Bible, p. 63). “Men have died on the gallows for reading it, and have been burned at the stake for owning it. Tortures too fiendish to describe have been visited upon delicate women and tender children for looking on its pages. Yet in spite of the strongest forces that Hell could unleash and in the face of the animosity of tyrants and despots, there are more Bibles in the earth today than there are copies of any other book ever written by the hand of man!” (Rimmer, Op. Cit. p. 15).

Each year literary men throughout the world are expending their most strenuous efforts to produce what men will call a “Best Seller.” But the “best seller” of all times is the Bible. Each year the Bible outsells all other books. Its critics have railed and ranted, and then died to be soon forgotten. But the Word of the Lord has lived on. It will continue to be the world’s best seller. So long as there are men and women who are willing to let the blessed words of the Bible guide their lives, the Bible cannot be destroyed. And even if all shall turn aside from It, God will yet preserve It. For He has said it will last till heaven and earth shall be no more, and that all of us shall meet It in the day of judgment. We must read it with understanding now, obey Its every commandment, live by It, die by It, and we can thereby live forever with God through It’s teachings.

Truth Magazine, XVIII:32, p. 3-5
June 13, 1974