____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER ____________________________________________________ "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ July 6, 2008 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) Grace is Not License (Leslie Diestelkamp) 2) Changing the Mission of the Church (Steve Klein) ____________________________________________________ -1- Grace Is Not License by Leslie Diestelkamp Paul was a great advocate of salvation by grace and almost all of his writing is saturated with expressions of gratitude for and confidence in God's grace. Yet Paul was moved by the Holy Spirit to write a warning to all of us to remember that grace does not give license to sinfulness. He said, "that as sin reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord"; and then he added, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" (Rom. 5:21-6:2). If we have come into Christ through an obedient faith we are freed from past sins and given a precious relationship to God, in Christ, but we are then obligated to continue in righteousness. And we must not assume that because we are in Christ, God will "look the other way" when we sin. There is nothing in the New Testament to suggest that God will overlook any transgression or that He will decline to charge a person with guilt just because that person is a child of God. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life for three purposes: (1) To "do the will" of the Father (Jn. 4:34); (2) To set a perfect example for us to follow (1 Cor. 11:1); (3) To provide the only adequate sacrifice for the sins of others (Heb. 4:15; 7:26). But the perfect life of Jesus (which he lived on earth) is not imputed to us -- that is, that is not attributed to us or counted for our account. Two verses of scripture need consideration here: 1. In Romans 4:8, Paul wrote, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Paul was not saying that God would overlook some sins in certain people, but he was teaching that some people's sins are forgiven and, therefore, will not be held against them (see Rom. 4:7). And, in context, these verses were all teaching that righteousness today is not in keeping the old law but in and through faith in Christ, and that this righteousness is possible for both Jew and Gentile. Either (Jew or Gentile) if he sins is counted a sinner and if he is forgiven he is counted righteous. 2. In Romans 5:10, Paul wrote, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Paul is not saying that the sinless life of Jesus will save the Christian today, but he is saying that the Christian is saved today because Jesus is alive -- He is now at God's throne, interceding for us. Because we have a living Savior, we can have security as we "walk in the light" (1 Jn. 1:7) and as we "walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1). God's grace is an expression of His love for sinful man, but God's very nature is incompatible with sin itself. Therefore, God cannot be reconciled to a sinner, but a sinner can be reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus which was and is a sufficient price, paid in full, to enable God to justify the ungodly when they turn from ungodliness in faith. Saved By Grace Every Bible believer must acknowledge that we are saved, if saved at all, by God's grace. However, there is much confusion as to the process by which we become beneficiaries of that saving grace. Actually God's grace comes to us in a three-fold manner. Perhaps we could simplify by saying that salvation for the alien sinner is accomplished only as a result of three separate, yet related circumstances, as follows: 1. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn. 3:16). Indeed, God has "set forth" Jesus Christ to be "a propitiation through faith in his blood . . . for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Rom. 6:25). That is salvation (provided) by grace. 2. "Or despiseth thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance" (Rom. 2:4). A true believer will be moved by the love of God, his supreme sacrifice and the love of Christ, and will respond with sincere submission in repentance and baptism ("They that gladly received the Word were baptized..." -- Acts 2:41). This is salvation (motivated) by grace. 3. But when the sinner had obeyed the gospel, he had earned nothing at all. God is not obligated to him even yet. However, under this circumstance and at this point God does pardon the sinner's guilt. "...ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" (Rom. 6:17,18). This is salvation (received) by grace. Conditional Salvation Thus we see that everything which man cannot accomplish by merit, and that is necessary to our salvation, God has fully supplied by His generous grace. And He has made it sufficient for "whosoever will" (Rev. 22:17). He is "no respecter of persons" (Rom. 2:11). Yet this abundance of grace does not save all because: (1) Some never know of this grace. "How shall they call on him of whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" (Rom. 10:14). (2) Some who hear will not believe and (3) some who believe will not obey. Peter said, "Save yourselves..." (Acts 2:40). Jesus said, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Mt. 7:21). Again Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mk. 16:16). As far as God's part in our salvation is concerned, it is altogether, totally, of grace! But as far as man's part is concerned, salvation is altogether, totally conditional. Salvation for the sinner is obtained by grace and by an obedient faith, and that is not at all contradictory! And the next essay in this series will be regarding "Continuous (Constant) Grace." -- Via Truth Magazine XXIV: 15, pp. 250-251, April 10, 1980 ____________________________________________________ -2- Changing the Mission of the Church by Steve Klein Charles Paul Conn tells of living in Atlanta several years ago. He'd noticed a listing in the Yellow Pages for a restaurant called Church of God Grill. Out of curiosity he dialed the number. Conn recalls the phone conversation as follows: "A man answered with a cheery, 'Hello! Church of God Grill!' I asked how his restaurant had been given such an unusual name, and he told me: 'Well, we had a little mission down here, and we started selling chicken dinners after church on Sunday to help pay the bills. Well, people liked the chicken, and we did such a good business, that eventually we cut back on the church service. After a while we just closed down the church altogether and kept on serving the chicken dinners. We kept the name we started with, and that's Church of God Grill.'" While this may be an extreme example, the Church of God Grill is not much different from what a lot of other churches have done in drifting away from God's purpose for the church. Examples could be multiplied of churches that are mainly in the business of providing day care, or health care, or shelter for the homeless, or recreation for their members, or civic service for their community. Apparently, many (if not most) think that it is the mission of the church to meet every real and perceived human need and desire -- that somehow Christ died so we can have a basketball team, potluck dinners and a Christian singles dating service. If we just took the Scriptures and tried to determine what the purpose and mission of the church is, what conclusion would we reach? Notice what the church did or was to do in the following passages: * The church supported the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15 speaks of "the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." * The church spread the gospel. To the church at Thessalonica Paul wrote, "For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything" (1 Thessalonians 1:8). * The church supported preachers to preach the gospel. The apostle Paul commended the Philippian church in Philippians 4:15-16: "Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities." Elsewhere he said that he took "wages" from churches to minister the gospel (2 Corinthians 11:8). * The church edified itself (built itself up) through worship and teaching. Ephesians 4:15-16 informs us that when members speak the "truth in love" and do their part in the work, it "causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." When it comes to the worship assembly, Paul commands in 1 Corinthians 14:26, "Let all things be done for edification." Notice that he didn't mention anything being done for entertainment! * The church helped truly needy saints. Clearly the New Testament church was not the worldwide relief organization that modern men have made their churches out to be. The church helped some of its own needy (cf. Romans 15:26), but it was not charged with the mission of helping even all of them. In 1 Timothy 5:16, the Scripture says, "If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows." Can we not see that the church has a mission that is spiritual? Her purpose has been determined by the One who built her and gave His life for her! Making money by selling chicken dinners may be a fine endeavor for an individual to take on, but it is NOT the mission of the church! May the path of the church here at New Georgia ever be guided by the question, "Is this what God wants us to do?" -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, June 8, 2008 ____________________________________________________ MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST 1022 Myrtle Street Denham Springs, LA 70726 (225) 664-8208 Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM Wednesday: 7:00 PM evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520 e-mail: tedwards@onemain.com web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go ____________________________________________________