____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ June 12, 1994 ____________________________________________________ God's Way of Salvation: Mystically Inexplicable or Well-Defined? by Tom Edwards To many people today, God's way of salvation has been referred to as some type of ``better felt than told experience.'' ``How were you saved?'' one might ask; and the answer being: ``I don't really know, but I just know that I am.'' Or, ''...I just know that I am because of that `warm' feeling that came over me.'' Some have testified and based their salvation on having seen ``Jesus'' at the foot of their bed one night. ``How do you know it was Jesus?'' someone might inquire. ``Well, it looked just like Him'' is the often reply; but how anyone living today would know what Jesus looks like is beyond me. Still others might even refer to their own personal ``religious experiences'' as ``proof'' toward their having become a Christian--and many of these ``experiences'' being highly various from person to person. But is one's salvation based on merely receiving ``warm feelings''? by ``seeing Jesus''? or by having some type of other ``religious experience''? As we think about this above paragraph, let us not forget about the apostle Paul, who had literally ``seen Jesus'' before his conversion (Acts 9:1-9); yet, he still wasn't saved until he obeyed the gospel--part of which he did not even know, until he was told three days later, while in Damascus, to ''...Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name'' (Acts 22:16). No it was not Paul's seeing Jesus that saved him. It was his obedience to the gospel that did. Also, Cornelius had actually seen a vision of a holy angel from God standing before him in his home and telling him to send to Joppa for one named Peter who would tell him words whereby he and all his household could be saved (Acts 10:1-6; 11:13-15). The point being: it was not in the religious experience of seeing a divine angel that saved Cornelius; it was not because of the sensations he must have felt as this angel stood before him and spoke to him; but it was by the gospel that Cornelius and his household were saved after they heard it and responded to it. Paul describes the gospel in Romans 1:16 as being the ``power of God unto salvation.'' The Lord's plan for saving man is clearly defined on the sacred pages of the New Testament; and, therefore, it is not some mystical experience that cannot be explained. Rather, it is laid out for us in clear-cut instructions. Paul speaks of those who ``became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which [they] were committed'' (Rom. 6:17). That ``form of teaching'' was none other but God's truth, which can set one free from the bondage of sin (Jn. 8:31,32). Jesus shows the way in which men come to God in John 6:44,45. It reads, ``No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.'' Many people today completely overlook verse 45, while using only verse 44 to make it sound as if men are drawn to Christ by some miraculous or mysterious power that God bestows on only whom He arbitrarily chooses. However, verse 45, explicitly shows that men are drawn to Christ, not by some inexplicable experience, but by hearing, by learning, and (we can infer) by obeying the gospel. 1 Peter 1:23 states: ``for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.'' There is great security for the one who will keep the word of the Lord. Jesus shows of this in John 10:27,28, in which He states: ``My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.'' Let us not make the mistake of some by overlooking the conditions in this passage: the one to whom Jesus promises eternal life is the one who not only hears His word, but also follows (Matt. 7:21; Luke 6:46). We can only follow by obeying. Without this obedience our faith becomes useless (James 2:14-26). Have you been drawn to Jesus through His glorious gospel? We need to each beware; there are many false teachers in the world today who are not even teaching God's full plan of salvation, and there is no other gospel that has the power to save your soul than the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16; Gal. 1:6-9; 2 John 9). Let us accept it--and it alone--as our only creed when it comes to how an individual can become a Christian and how to continue living as one. May we help you learn more of this through one of our free Bible courses? If so, write today to let us know. We'll have lesson one in the mail for you promptly. ___________________________________________ THE PASSING OF THE BLUSH by Joe R. Barnett Jeremiah had the goods on Israel. They deserved doomsday because: 1) they were ``greedy for unjust gain''; 2) they had stuffed cotton in their ears, refusing to hear God; 3) they glossed over the nation's real condition, ``saying, `peace, peace,' when there is no peace''; and 4) when they sinned they ``were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush'' (Jeremiah 6:10-15). Hey! that sounds like a page out of the last quarter of the twentieth century. Sin is having a heyday. We can hold hands with it without the slightest blush. When just one curse word was used in the movie, ``Gone With The Wind,'' people gasped--the nation's face turned red. Some were up in arms. But that's gone with the wind--mild stuff now--bland as a brand new coloring book. Most ``family movies'' now are generously salted with profanity. Gutter language spews into the family room via TV, books, magazines. Even the educational value of the daily newspaper is more than offset by the filth of the movie advertisement page. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned guys and gals who could blush? We've really arrived--nothing is dirty enough to make us blush. A real mark of intellectual sophistication, wouldn't you say? Ezra was embarrassed by the people's sins. He fell to his knees saying, ``I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to thee, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens'' (Ezra 9:6). The iniquities of our age are stacked higher than that, Ezra. But not high enough to make us blush. ___________________________________________ THE INTOXICATED CAT by John Clark A letter in the newspaper was written by an unhappy woman who complained that her husband thought it funny to make her cat drunk by pouring gin in its milk. The distressed woman complained that the pet cat would dance like mad, stagger around in circles, and finally fall in a heap in the corner and go to sleep. Besides, the cat was losing all her hair as a result of the diet, and what did a cat look like without any hair? Immediately letters poured in to the newspaper from aroused readers all over the country, denouncing the husband and suggesting a few varying degrees of punishment for a man who would be so cruel to animals. Perhaps I have a warped sense of humor; but the reaction of the readers struck me as ironically funny. Give an animal liquor and you are considered cruel. Give a man liquor and you are considered sophisticated. Let an animal reel, act foolishly, fall in a drunken stupor and immediately it is an occasion for readers from coast to coast to howl in protest. Let a man do the same thing, and we simply ignore it. We should not give liquor to a dog or a cat. It is inhumane. Yet we give it to our sons and daughters, business associates and friends. With all the advertising media at our command, we continually urge them to drink it. It's not funny for a cat or a dog, but it is fit for children! How crazy can we get? ___________________________________________ "Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise" (Proverbs 20:1). ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________