And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17
THE
SPIRIT’S
SWORD
Volume 15, Number
24
08/05/2012
Published
by
Mt. Baker
church of Christ
Location:
1860 Mt. Baker HWY
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 30821
Bellingham, WA 98228
(360) 752-2692
Sunday:
Bible Classes..........9:30 AM
Worship..10:30AM; 6:00PM
Wednesday:
Bible Classes.........7:00 PM
All sing last Wednesday
Web sites:
Mt. Baker church
Bible Answers
Editor......Joe R. Price
Elders
Morris Bass
Rick Holt
Deacons
Aaron Bass
Rich Brooks
Mike Finn
Dan Head
In this issue:
Why We Need a Plan of Salvation
John Isaac
Edwards
Men teach many conflicting ideas about salvation, but God’s plan for saving man is simple and clearly revealed in the New Testament. Why do we need a plan of salvation? Because...
Man Is a Sinner. Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sins are not inherited, but are committed as we transgress God’s law. John said, “...sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). The word “sin” comes from an ancient Greek term. When an archer missed his target with his arrow, he was said to have sinned. Sin means to miss the mark. Because we have missed the mark, we need a plan of salvation.
Sin Leads to Death. There is a high price to be paid for sin. “For the wages of sin is death...” (Romans 6:23). “...sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). The death here is spiritual – eternal separation from God in hell. To avoid this death, our sins must be forgiven by God. Thus, we need a plan of salvation.
Goodness Alone Does Not Save. Goodness alone did not save Cornelius. A reading of Acts 10 will show that Cornelius was a good moral man. He was “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway” (v. 2). Most would think that a fellow like Cornelius is saved already and has no need of a plan of salvation. We know that Cornelius was not a saved man for he had to hear “words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved” (Acts 11:14).
Man Must Do What the Lord Commands.
Jesus said, “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” (Matthew 7:21). Jesus is the “author
of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:9). Man, being
a free moral agent, has the right to choose to obey the Lord and be saved,
or to reject what the Lord says and be “...punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power”
(2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Man is lost in sin and cannot save himself by
himself. Jeremiah declared, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in
himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah
10:23). Therefore, God has made salvation available to all men. “For the
grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11).
-The Terre Haute Speaker, Feb. 12, 2012
Top
Remarriage and Repentance
From time to
time we receive Bible questions through our
Bible Answers
website. Here is one we answered this week (with a few additional comments
scattered throughout).
Q: I have a
question that I need to have answered. I read your article concerning
divorce and remarriage. You said that in order to repent, a person must get
out of the marriage in which adultery is being committed. I understand if
it’s just one divorce and remarriage but what if it’s been several? Here’s
the situation: A certain woman is in her 5th marriage and happily
so. Her 4th marriage ended with the death of her husband. The
first 3 ended in divorce. The second ex-husband is still living. I don't
know if the 1st and 3rd ones are or not. In order for
the woman and, of course, her present husband to not be living in adultery,
would all of her ex-husbands have to dead or just the first one?
I am very
serious in wanting an answer to this question. I hope you’ll have time to
answer it for me. Thank you.
A: To be brief, marriage is for life (Matt. 19:4-6). Jesus gave only one
cause for one party in a marriage to possibly remarry: “And I say unto you,
Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry
another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her when she is put away
committeth adultery” (Matt. 19:9, ASV).
Any subsequent marriage results in adultery unless one puts away his/her
mate because of the mate’s fornication. (Fornication is a general term for
sexual immorality.) For the person in your question to have the right to
remarry she would have had to put away each husband for the cause of
fornication. To put away one’s mate for any other reason forfeits
remarriage. To do so one actually contributes to the mate’s sin of adultery
in a subsequent remarriage (see Matt. 5:32).
Romans 7:2-3 illustrates the lifelong nature of marriage and notes the
adultery that occurs in remarriage (the exception clause of Matt. 19:9 is
not mentioned here): “For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to
her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released
from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she
marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband
dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she
has married another man” (NKJV). Were it not for the exception stated in
Matthew 19:9 (“except for fornication”), all remarriage before the death of
a mate would be adulterous (see Lk. 16:18 and Mk. 10:11-12 which do not
state the exception). As it is, when one puts away a mate for that cause the
one innocent of fornication may remarry.
The options of the person who sunders a marriage in violation of Matthew
19:6 are clearly stated in 1 Corinthians 7:11: “let her remain unmarried or
be reconciled to her husband”. To repent of the adultery of an unscriptural
remarriage means one must cease the relationship (Matt. 19:9; Acts 26:20;
Rev. 9:20-21). Repentance without its fruit of righteousness (ceasing sin)
is empty and non-existent (Lk. 3:8-14; cf. Acts 19:17-20).
Matthew 19:10-12 is a helpful summary that exhorts all of us to have ears to
hear the Lord on this serious subject by humbly accepting His stated will on
the matter.
You can find the complete outline of this sermon
plus PowerPoint and MP3 Audio files at
BIBLE ANSWERS
Joe R. Price
(Psalm 25)
Scripture Reading: Psalms 25:1-7
1. David pleads in earnest prayer for God’s forgiveness, deliverance and
protection.
2. 25:4-5: David wants the Lord to be his Instructor, his Mentor.
3. David would exercise the patience of faith and wait on the Lord (25:3,
21).
4. Learning from Christ brings forgiveness, deliverance and protection if we
live by faith, Jno. 6:44-45; Matt. 11:28-29; Heb. 11:33-34.
I. IF WHAT WE LEARN IS TO HELP US LIVE BY FAITH, THEN…
A. We Must
Acknowledge Our Sins, Psa. 25:6-8, 11 (16), 18; Psa. 69:5; 32:5; 34:18.
B. We
Must be Humble, Psa. 25:9; Matt. 11:25; Lk. 15:18-19 (18:13); 1 Cor. 8:1.
C. We
Must be Obedient to God’s Will, Psa. 25:10; Matt. 7:21.
D. We
Must be Reverent before God, Psa. 25:12-14; Acts 10:34-35 (Heb. 13:5-6).
E. We
Must always Trust in God, Psa. 25:2-3, 15, 20-21; Heb. 6:11-12; 11:36.
II. O LORD, TEACH ME TO WAIT ON YOU.
A. To have
Courage and Patient Endurance when Opposed for the Sake of Truth, Psa.
25:1-3; Matt. 5:11-12.
B. Trust that the Way of the Gospel is Right and that Truth and Christians
will be Vindicated, 25:19-20; Psa. 37:1-11; 1 Pet. 4:16 (13); 2 Ths. 1:4-7;
Gal. 6:7-8.
Conclusion
1. Show me Your ways: Jesus did, 1 Pet. 2:21.
2. Teach me Your paths: Jesus does, Matt. 28:18-20 (7:13-14).
3. Lead me in Your truth: Jesus does, Jno. 10:14, 27-29.
4. David’s prayer was answered.
5. Live by faith and God will answer you.
You can find the complete outline of this sermon plus PowerPoint and MP3 Audio files at BIBLE ANSWERS
Necessary Inferences: Judging what is Right Bible Authority (10)
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:54-57
1. How to establish and apply Bible authority has always been attacked,
Matt. 15:3, 7-9.
2. Jesus expects us to judge what is right by drawing correct inferences
from the evidence that exists (what His word says), Lk. 12:54-57.
I. BIBLE RULES GOVERNING NECESSARY INFERENCES.
A.
Necessary inference (NI) is a matter of judging “righteous judgment” based
on revealed truth, Jno. 7:24; Matt. 22:31-32; Jno. 21:20-23; Acts 26:9,
23:1.
B. NI
will harmonize with all that is revealed and previously known to be true, 2
Pet. 3:4-9; 3:16.
C. NI
is the only conclusion that can be inferred from what is said or done; Gen.
1:1; Gen. 12:10 and 13:1; Matt. 3:16.
D. NI
is a conclusion or judgment that is inferred from what is known, Lk.
12:54-57; Jno. 3:2; 9:30-33.
E. NI
is a decisive way of establishing Bible authority, Acts 15:12 (20:7; Matt.
19:9).
II. CONFUSING NECESSARY INFERENCES WITH PERSONAL OPINIONS.
A. Some
Necessary Inferences that Bind Truth upon Us, Acts 15:12; Rom. 1:20; Jno.
20:30-31; Matt. 22:31-32; Exo. 20:11; Acts 20:7; Matt. 19:9.
B.
Personal Scruples of Conscience must not be Bound on Others, Rom. 14:1.
Conclusion
1. NI
establishes divine authority.
2. Accomplished by carefully holding to word of Christ without speculations…
1 Tim. 6:3-4
(Current events in the light of Scripture)
"The Voice" is Not a Translation
Thomas Nelson has published “The Voice” as a new translation of the Bible. It is far, far from that. It offers us a Bible that is written like a screenplay and “reads like a novel”. Here is a sample:
“Adam (pointing at the woman): It was she! The woman You gave me as a companion put the fruit in my hands, and I ate it.
“God (to the woman): What have you done?
“Eve: It was the serpent! He tricked me, and I ate.”
Later, Eve bears her first son, Cain.
“Eve (excited): Look, I have created a new human, a male child, with the help of the Eternal.”
(“New Bible translation has screenplay format”, AP by Travis Loller, Yahoo!News)
The reporter goes on to say “The Voice” “not only reformats the Bible but also inserts words and phrases into the text to clarify the action or smooth transitions. These words are generally in italics so the reader can tell what the additions are. At other points, the order of verses is changed to make the story read better” (Ibid).
Man does not have the right to change God’s word to “make the story read better” (Rev. 22:18-19). (It reads just fine, thank you!) As “The Voice” reformats the Bible it is no longer God’s word at all. “The Voice” becomes nothing more than the words and imaginations of men.
Failing to respect the Bible as the verbally inspired word of God leads to corrupting the biblical text in the name of accessibility (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Sam. 23:2).
To those who invented “The Voice”, the end justifies the means. “Getting readers to feel engaged in the story is exactly what the creators of “The Voice” had in mind, Couch said. We had an 82-year-old woman who told us that she had never understood the Bible before” (Ibid). She still hasn’t understood the Bible; she has understood somebody’s alternation of the Bible.
We are charged with changing ourselves into God’s will; not with changing
God’s word (Jas. 1:21-25).
Created by Chuck Sibbing, last updated. 08/06/2012
The Spirit's Sword is a free,
weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA
Send all questions, comments and subscriptions to the editor at:
ssword@bibleanswer.com