Truth Magazine

By Irvin Himmel

All who obey the gospel are blessed by the grace of God. It is the grace of God that brings salvation (Tit. 2:11). We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8, 9). To re-pent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins is to respond to the grace of God.

Paul and the other apostles were ambassadors or good-will messengers to show people how to be reconciled to God. Their entreaty was, “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1). Paul and his fellow-workers were cooperating with God by declaring the word of his grace, the word of reconciliation. Paul pleaded with others “that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.”

There are several ways in which reception of the grace of God may be in vain or to no useful purpose.

1. By turning to a different gospel. After being called into the grace of Christ, the Galatians were quickly re-moving to “another gospel,” a perversion of the gospel of Christ (Gal. 1:6, 7). Paul’s assessment of their situation was this: “I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain” (Gal. 4:11).

2. By failure to bear fruit. A fruit tree is expected to produce fruit. “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Matt. 7:19). The Christian who fails to be fruitful is barren. Jesus said, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8). Read Galatians 5:22, 23 to learn more about the fruit of the Spirit.

3. By permitting God’s word to be choked. In the par-able of the sower and the soils, the seed falling among thorns illustrates one who hears God’s word, but “the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mk. 4:18,19).

4. By turning back to worldly pollutions. Some who have escaped the pollutions of the world are again en-tangled therein and overcome. Peter compares such per-sons to a sow that was washed and returns to wallowing in the mire (2 Pet. 2:20-22). One’s receiving God’s grace is indeed in vain if he goes back to his old vile way of life.

5. By losing faith. The Israelites were delivered from Egypt by the grace of God. Most of them perished in the wilderness. Why could they not enter the promised land? Because of unbelief (Heb. 3:19). In this there is a lesson for Christians. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12).

6. By beginning in the Spirit and ending in the flesh. Paul asked the Galatians, “Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3). The apostle was determined to keep his body in subjection, not allowing the flesh to become the master, lest he be rejected (1 Cor. 9:27).

Many people who have received the grace of God have nullified the effect of that grace in such ways as these listed above. Now is the day of salvation! Now is the time to give earnest heed to our calling and our election (2 Pet. 1:5-10).

Guardian of Truth XL: 2 p. 13
January 18, 1996

By John White

(Reproduced from Good News published by Timberland Dr. Church of Christ)

As I reread the account of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness, I was impressed again with how fiercely God responded to grumbling. Paul too, warns Christians to learn a lesson from the wrath that fell on Israelites who grumbled: “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:10). Why such strong condemnation?

Grumbling denies God’s ability to provide. Pressed against the shore of the Red Sea with the Egyptians closing in, many Israelites grumbled against Moses. Forgetting what they had witnessed of God’s power against Pharaoh, they lost their courage and lashed out at the most convenient target.

Grumbling may be an attempt to intimidate. In Exodus 16, the Israelites grumbled, pressing Moses to return them to Egypt rather than proceed into the wilderness.

Grumblers debilitate God’s leaders. In Number 11, the Israelites pushed Moses to the point that he wanted God to take his life. Many church members view grumbling as normal church behavior. There is a need to point out the harm grumbling may inflict upon individuals and upon the church.

Complaining replaces prayer. Prayer, not grumbling, is the way God intends to change things.

Grumblers earn a bad reputation. In a church that values community, agitators will find themselves ostracized.

Grumbling seduces people away from Jesus’ model for handling conflict. An issue that could be put to rest quickly through one-on-one conversation (as Jesus taught in Matt. 18:15-17) can be kept alive indefinitely by grumblers.

Grumbling weakens a congregation’s confidence in its leaders. While grumbling too often comes naturally to us, it is unhealthy to believe negative, unfounded reports about others  to presume guilt rather than innocence. Healthy churches, like emotionally healthy individuals, will assume the best rather than the worst.

Guardian of Truth XL: 2 p. 9
January 18, 1996

By Robert F Turner

Freedom … The word is almost sacred to the American people, and over the world today it stirs great hope and aspirations. Our Declaration of Independence calls it an “inalienable” right and a truth “self evident.” What is the source of this freedom, and what does it mean to us?

Free agency, the right to choose, is a gift from God. He elevated man above the beasts of the field: making man in his image (Gen. 1:26), sharing with man the power of choice. Man need not be slave to instinct or norm. He may rise above self, pursue ideals, seek truth, and embrace it.

But with power there is responsibility. The ability to choose the right exposes us to the danger of choosing the wrong. The same justice that re-wards the righteous, must also condemn the wicked. Freedom, then, cannot be free. Even in the moral realm it imposes obligations, and there are none more bound than those who foolishly demand unbridled liberty and become slaves of their own folly.

In free government a man can vote as he chooses, but he may not vote correctly. He may, by neglect or party politics, fail the responsibilities of this truth and encourage corruption.

In business, free enterprise allows a man to invest as he sees fit. But this is no guarantee of profit. He may invest unwisely, and “loose his shirt,”  the price paid for untrammeled opportunity.

A study of freedom in every facet of life will emphasize the obligations of those who enjoy it. Conversely, man’s history shows that freedom is lost when its obligations are ignored.

Freedom in religion is widely ac-claimed, but it is as widely misunderstood. The constitution guarantees religious freedom, but cannot make whatever one chooses to believe acceptable with God. At best, man can only endorse the freedom God originally granted  a right inherent in the nature of man. Legislative, judicial, and executive authority in divine matters must be left to God.

The need to serve God according to his law is not diminished by free will. That need is, in fact, intensified. We are the more accountable before God for the way we exercise our free agency.

In the very early times the “priest-hood” of all believers (1 Pet. 2:5, 9) was dominated by a rising clergy system. Each one’s obligation to “prove all things” (1 Thess. 5:21) gave way to party loyalties and the word of the clergy. Soon the scriptural standard (Acts 17:11) was replaced by the usurped “authority of the church,” and history repeated itself. When the obligations of true liberty are slighted, liberty itself is lost.

Individual liberty was not wrested from the church. It was lost by default. “Churchanity” dulls individual will and stifles initiative. In religion, as in business and government, the socialized slave is tranquilized by his lot and loses his taste for the rigorous life of true freedom.

Dear Reader, how much of your own religion have you proven by God’s word? Perhaps you were baptized (?) by sprinkling, but have you ever read New Testament authority for that? You may be a member of some denomination, but does the word of God authorize its name, doctrine, and practice? Do you accept a thing as right or wrong simply because the preacher so declares it? Do such questions irritate you? We hope not! They are asked to help you see how easily one may forfeit individual freedoms in favor of unproven traditions. Truth has nothing to fear from honest investigation, but freedom can be lost without it.

Fundamentally, religion is a choice of masters: God or self. Liberty under God is not the same as becoming your own God. Recognition of the Supreme Being should make us aware that man can no longer direct his own steps (Jer. 10:23). Jesus warned, “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). Joshua said, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve . . .”, then he added that a decision for God imposed obligations (Josh. 24:15, 19-23).

Most pitiful of all are the willfully blind. Thinking they serve God, these allow the winds of the day to make their decisions. They stumble in the darkness of self-service, yet know not they are blind (Rev. 3:17). Freedom is not for the fearful, the crowd pleaser, or the lover of ease in Zion. It must be grasped with resoluteness, and retained with sacrifice  eyes wide open.

Freedom under God involves individual responsibility toward God: to know his will (John 17:17), and be freed from sin (John 8:32-36). Truth severs the shackles of sectarianism and gives assurance that we walk in his light. But we are warned that if we fail to properly exercise our freedom  in religion, as in government and business  we shall be bound by sin and finally perish.

Guardian of Truth XL: 2 p. 1
January 18, 1996

By Johnie Edwards

While reading an article in the December 1995 issue of Look Magazine, the article quoted HaKeem Olajuwon as saying that he considers the game of basketball, “an act of worship.” Olajuwon is a Muslim with Allah as his god. Evidently there are a lot of people who think every-thing they do is worship from changing the baby to playing golf. Let’s notice some things the Bible teaches about worship and then we can see whether or not every-thing we do is worship.

God Is The Object of Worship

The Bible teaches, that when we worship, God is to be the object of that worship. Jesus told Satan when he tried to get Jesus to worship him, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:10). We cannot worship Satan but worship is to be directed to God. Men cannot be the object of our worship. As Peter entered the house of Cornelius, “Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshiped him” (Acts 10:25). Now, notice what Peter did and said, “But Peter took him up, saying, `Stand up: I myself also am a man’ (Acts 10:26). Peter would not allow Cornelius to worship him. Men are not to be worshiped.

Well, what about worshiping angels? John’s encounter with this angel worship will give us the right answer. “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things” (Rev. 22:8). John, what did the angel say to you? “Then saith he unto me, `See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God’ (Rev. 22:9). How could one be directing the praise and adoration of his heart unto God while bouncing a basketball? Doesn’t make sense does it?

Worship Must Be In Spirit and In Truth

The conversation of Jesus with the woman at the well indicates that worship is to be in spirit and in truth. Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John. 4:24). Worship demands some purpose on the part of the one worshiping God. How could exercising be worship, when I am thinking about loosing weight or getting in shape and not directing such to God. God is not nearly as interested in my bodily exercise as he is with my godliness. Didn’t Paul say, “For bodily exercise profiteth little. . .” (1 Tim. 4:8)?

To worship God in spirit, one must keep his mind on what he is doing toward God. It would be hard to do this while changing the baby! Worship is to be in truth. This means according to God Word. “Thy word is truth” (John. 17:17). Do you think it is worship when one is exercising?

Worship Is Spiritual

Since worship is to be “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), worship is of a spiritual nature, not physical. Playing basketball, exercising, washing dishes, doing the laundry, changing the baby, fishing and the like are of a physical nature and have nothing to do with worshiping God. Did you ever read in the Word of God where any of these things were ever connected with the worship of God? I never did. We can read what the early Christians did when they worshiped God. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). It is here recorded that the Lord’s people engaged in teaching, giving, the Lord’s supper, and prayer. They ate the Lord’s supper and gave of their means on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2) along with the other acts of worship. It is also said that they engaged in “singing and making melody” in their hearts to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). It is with purpose of heart that one engages in these acts of worship. I do not just accidentally worship God. Some think if one happens to listen to someone singing on the radio, that he is worshiping God. Not so. The Bible nowhere teaches that everything one does is worship.

Guardian of Truth XL: 2 p. 5
January 18, 1996