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THE GOSPEL OBSERVER
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"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).
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November 1, 2009
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Contents:
1) The Blood-Bought Church (Bob Buchanon)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
The Blood-Bought Church (Bob Buchanon)
More and more I am amazed at the colossal ignorance of,
and unconcern for, the purpose of Christ's blood shed on the
cross! Liberal-thinking preachers for many years have been
making efforts to eliminate the blood of Christ from man's need
of coming to God and some even look upon the blood as
repulsive. Many work hard trying to separate the church from
salvation saying that the church has nothing to do with
salvation.
God Chose Blood
Since man's first sin in the Garden of Eden, God has
required the shedding of blood for the atonement for sin. God
instructed Cain and Abel concerning the kind of sacrifice He
wanted. It is said of Abel, that by faith he "offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain" (Heb. 11:4). This blood
sacrifice must have been precisely what God wanted since faith
comes by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). The first thing Noah did
after he came out of the ark was offer a burnt-offering (Gen.
8:20). When Israel was delivered out of the slavery of Egypt,
blood was used in their deliverance (Ex. 12:7-13).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says, "The
rite of circumcision is an Old Testament form of blood
ceremony. Apart from the probably sanitary importance of the
act is the deeper meaning in the establishment of a bond of
friendship between the one upon whom the act is performed and
(Jehovah) Himself. In order that Abraham might become `the
friend of God' he was commanded that he should be circumcised
as a token of the covenant between him and God, Genesis
17:10-11" (see "Blood," p. 489). The Patriarchal Age was marked
by sacrifices and rites of blood by those desiring to please
God.
In Abraham's covenant, his own blood had to be shed. Later
an atoning animal was to shed blood, but those who did
appropriate the blood of animals were only ceremonially, and
temporarily clean, because it was not possible for the blood of
bulls and goats to take away sin (Heb. 10:4). In all ages,
however, there must always be a shedding of blood. The covenant
under Moses was dedicated by the blood of animals. Moses took
the blood of calves and goats and sprinkled both the book and
the people, saying, "This is the blood of the testament which
God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood
both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, and
almost all things by the law are purged with blood and without
the shedding of blood is no remission of sins" (Heb. 9:20-22).
Since there is no salvation but by blood, and since the
blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, it naturally
follows that some blood of greater merit must be applied. As
the first covenant was sealed by the blood of animals, the New
Covenant was sealed by more precious blood, the blood of Jesus.
The Individual Is Bought With A Price
Each child of God has been purchased. Paul wrote, "What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirits, which are God's" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
This was accomplished by the blood of Christ (Eph. 1:7),
something of far greater value than silver and gold (1 Pet.
1:18). Each child of God has the same hope, having been
purchased by the blood of Christ.
Unto the saints in Galatia, Paul wrote, "But God forbid
that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world" (Gal. 6:14). Paul would not be found guilty of
minimizing the cross of Christ, and what it had done for him.
He would never equate the cross of the Lord, as some do today,
to some $2 ornament worn as jewelry about the neck. To Paul,
the cross was the symbol of the blood which Christ had shed
thereon, and this gave it the fullest meaning.
It is only when we find what the blood of the cross did
for lost men that we have an appreciation for it. The view of
Paul is far different from those who claim such love for the
blood of Christ, and sing loudly of the "Old Rugged Cross," yet
spurn the very thing which the shed blood of the cross
purchased for us. To fully appreciate the cross of Christ, we
must look much further than the shape of the tree on which
Jesus died.
The Church Purchased By The Blood
Paul's statement in First Corinthians 6:20 shows that
every member of the church has been bought with the price of
the blood of Christ; the church is composed of members; hence,
the church has been purchased with the blood of Christ. He has
given for it His own most precious blood, thus making it His
own by the dearest of all ties. The transcendent sacredness of
the church of Christ is thus made to rest on the dignity of its
Lord and the consequent preciousness of that blood which He
shed for it. We must maintain that, had not this Lord been God,
His blood could have been no purchase for the souls of a lost
world and the promise of redemption in His church would have
been impossible. Since the church has cost heaven its dearest
treasure, we ought to value it very highly indeed!
When Paul met the elders from Ephesus at Miletus, he
discussed many important things. Included in the discussion was
this thought: "Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock,
over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the
church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood"
(Acts 20:28). Paul wanted them to know that the body of Christ
owed much to the blood of the cross! This cannot be emphasized
enough. Jesus Christ gave His blood to purchase the church and
it should be remembered by all that He has never complained of
being defrauded in the deal.
It was by this sacrifice that the church was bought and
sanctified. When Paul wrote back to his friends and brethren at
Ephesus, he said, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Eph. 5:25).
This divine institution was the spiritual body of Christ.
Nothing is like it in the world, and nothing else like it in
the Bible. Now, if Jesus had promised to build a multiplicity
of churches, then we might have the option of choosing one to
our liking. But since He promised to build only one (Matt.
16:18), and added the saved to only that one (Acts 2:41-47),
then no option is extended!
Since Jesus Christ loved that church so dearly that He
gave Himself for it (Eph. 5:23), God "gave him to be the head
over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness
of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23). You just cannot
afford to down-grade any institution so important to the Lord,
that it was purchased with His own blood! To belittle the
church of the Lord is to belittle the very blood of the cross
which bought it. Unto the saved in Christ, Peter said they were
redeemed with "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. 1:19).
The Highest Price
The word, "purchase," as used in Acts 20:28, occurs but in
one other place in the New Testament -- 1 Timothy 3:13: "For
they that have used the office of deacon well, purchase to
themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith." The
word properly means "to gain or get for oneself, purchase"
(W.E. Vine's, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p.
231). This may be done by a price, or by labor.
No verse in the New Testament, or any other statement that
could be imagined, could possibly exceed the power of Acts
20:28 in declaring the eternal importance and necessity of the
Church which Christ established. Here the heretical notion of
salvation by "faith alone" is shattered and countermanded
forever. By any definition, salvation by "faith alone" means
salvation without the church of Jesus Christ; and in such a
view the crucifixion of our Lord is reduced to the status of a
senseless murder. As James Coffman said, "If men are saved, in
any sense by the blood of Jesus, they must be saved through the
church of which that blood is here declared to be the purchase
price" (Commentary On Acts, p. 395).
That the church is, therefore, of peculiar value -- a
value to be estimated by the price paid for it -- is clearly
taught. This fact should make the purity and salvation of the
church an object of special solicitude with the elders. They
should be deeply affected in view of that blood which has been
shed for the church; and they should guard and defend it as
having been bought with the highest price in the universe. The
chief consideration that will make elders faithful and
self-denying is that the church has been bought with a price.
If the Lord Jesus so loved it, if He gave Himself for it, they
should be willing to deny themselves, to watch, and toil, and
pray, that the great object of His death -- the purity and the
salvation of that church -- may be obtained. Too many men like
the title of elder, but do not like the work that is required;
they like to see their name on a piece of stationery or
bulletin, but do not want to put in the hours of labor that is
required.
The Shepherd
Paul's figure of speech to the elders is directly
connected with a reference to the church as a flock; to the
officers as overseers, or shepherds; and to their duty of
feeding the flock. The figure as used by our Lord in John 10
should be compared with the expression in Acts 20:28.
How does a shepherd purchase his sheep with his blood?
Pulpit Commentary noted, "The shepherd may actually give his
life in fighting and killing the wolves. If he kills the wolves
he saves the sheep, though he may himself die of his wounds;
and then he plainly purchases the safety of the flock with his
blood. These figures may be applied to the work of the Lord. He
imperilled his life for our defence. He met our great foe in
conflict. He overcame sin and death, and plucked death's sting
away. He died in the struggle, but he set us free; and so he
has purchased us by his own blood. He has won, by his great act
of self-sacrifice, our love and life for ever" (Vol. 18, p.
168).
Implications
It is easily seen that some count the blood unholy when
they have little regard for the church of the Lord and see it
as just another denomination of no importance in God's scheme
of redemption. Such say by their lack of respect for the church
that the blood was wasted in purchasing the church.
Let it be said, in teaching and in practice, that the
purchased church was not purchased to be a social club, but it
has business second to none -- that of saving souls. The
borders of the kingdom must expand yet at the same time purity
must be maintained within the church for it is Christ's desire
to present it a glorious church without spot or wrinkle.
Questions
1. How long has God required the shedding of blood as the
atonement for sins?
2. How do we know that God instructed Cain and Abel
concerning the kind of sacrifice He wanted?
3. What was the first thing Noah did after he came out of
the ark?
4. Explain why those who offered animals for atonement
were only temporarily clean.
5. If the first covenant was sealed by the blood of
animals, by what was the New Covenant sealed?
6. The cross was a symbol of what, to Paul?
7. Quote several scriptures in which Paul mentions the
purchase of the church by Jesus' blood.
8. What is the chief consideration that will make elders
faithful and self-denying?
9. Discuss how a shepherd could purchase his sheep with
his blood.
-- Via Truth Magazine XXIV: 2, pp. 37-39, January 10, 1980
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News & Notes
From November 2-6, I visited with my mother in a nursing
home in Pennsylvania. As mentioned in our last bulletin, she
has been diagnosed with an untreatable, aggressive cancer that
is in various parts of her body, along with other health
problems. A few days before I arrived, a doctor indicated to
her that she would probably not live beyond the end of November
and could also pass away any time before then. My sister Helen
and her son Tommy were also there. We went to comfort mother,
but she did more to comfort us by just being herself. She
really appeared, sounded, and acted in good shape -- mentally
and physically -- with the exception of being a little tired and
forgetting a few recent things. Her attitude was encouraging
and commendable. She believes she will pass away the end of
this month, but is looking forward to eternity and says she is
ready. She is at peace. Whether she was sitting by her bedside
table enjoying a meal, reading her mail, carefully looking over
her bills and writing checks to pay them with a business-as-usual
attitude, or just in the way she talked with us, mother seemed
like she would be able to keep on going for years to come, rather
than what she was told. But she did begin hospice November 6.
Please continue to remember my mother in your prayers --
especially concerning her relationship with Jesus, that she
will always be kept in His good care. Thank you.
If you would like to send her a card, her address is as
follows:
Marian Edwards
c/o Golden Living Center (West Shore)
770 Poplar Church Road
Room 503, Bed 2
Camp Hill, PA 17011
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CHURCH OF CHRIST
201 Rushing Road (at the Hampton Inn)
Denham Springs, LA 70726
Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
tedwards@onemain.com
http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go
DIRECTIONS:
Take the Denham Springs exit (exit 10) off of I-12.
At the end of the exit ramp, turn north. Go about a
stone's throw to Rushing Road. (You'll see a Starbucks,
Circle K, and two other gas stations; with each on each
corner.) Turn left on Rushing Road, and go less then
0.3 of a mile. Hampton Inn will be on the right. We
assemble in its meeting room, which is very close to the
reception counter.
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