____________________________________________________ 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 19, 1994 ____________________________________________________ O Come, All Ye Unfaithful by Tom Edwards In question to the above title, someone might ask, ``Come where?'' The answer: Come back to Jesus. Come back to the church. Come mournfully, penitently, and seek restoration in your relationship with God. Though the alien sinner (the lost soul who has never obeyed the gospel) must come to Christ, this article emphasizes the need for the backslidden Christian to return to the Lord. Why? Because if he doesn't he will be lost for all eternity and miss out on the blessings of heaven. Although many people today believe in the erroneous and prevalent doctrine of ``once saved always saved,'' the New Testament teaches to the contrary: a Christian can lose salvation if he no longer remains faithful to the Lord. Corresponding to this thought, let us give our attention to what James writes in James 5:19,20: My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins. Let us make some helpful observations from the above passage: 1) To whom is James writing? To his ``brethren.'' 2) Who would be doing the straying? James says ``any among you''; and since he is writing to the brethren, this pertains to fellow Christians who would be transgressing God's truth. 3) What would they be straying from? They would stray from ``the truth,'" which again indicates that those drifting are children of God because only Christians are in ``the truth''; and, therefore, they are the only ones who can wander from it. 4) Where does their straying lead them? James shows that it leads to ``death.'' 5) What kind of ``death'' does this mean? According to the text, James is not speaking about ``physical death,'' for even after obeying the gospel the most righteous believer will still eventually die physically. We need to note, however, that the passage, rather than speaking about his ``body'' being saved from death, shows instead that it will be his ``soul'' that will be saved from death; and because a soul cannot die physically--but only spiritually--then it is obvious that this is not talking about being saved from physical death; but, rather, it speaks of a salvation from a ``spiritual death.'' Spiritual death is what happens to the Christian who goes back into sin; and by so doing, he loses his relationship with God; and if he is not restored before he passes away from this life, he will miss out on heaven all together. Consider also Peter's warning about this in 2 Peter 2:20-22: For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, ``A dog returns to its own vomit,'' and, ``A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." Again, lest anyone misunderstand this passage to be talking about non-Christians, let it be pointed out that Peter is speaking about those who ``have escaped the defilements of the world'' through the gospel. Who would these people be? Christians! Only children of God have escaped sin by the power of the Gospel (Rom. 1:16). The expression ``they are again entangled'' also implies of those people who--for at least a while--had been set free from the web of sin, but later became ensnared in it once again. And also this is indicated by the proverbs used in the passage: a dog vomits up its sickness, but then returns to it; a sow is made clean, but then later becomes covered with mire once again. Only those who obey the gospel can be healed of their sickness of sin; only those who obey the gospel can be cleansed from the mire of their transgression. Peter shows that it is worse for the Christian to go back into sin than for the lost sinner who has never obeyed the gospel, by declaring that ``the last state has become worse for them than the first''; and, furthermore, he shows that it would be better for one to have never known the gospel than having known it, to turn away from it. Since we realize that the final sentence meted out to the sinner in the Great Judgment Day will be the doom of hell for all eternity, and since it will be worse for the Christian who stands before God in that day as one who turned his back on Him, how can we say that the backslidden Christian could receive anything better than hell? But how could it really be ``worse'' for the backslidden Christian than for the alien sinner who has never obeyed the gospel? Perhaps because the Christian had been on a road to everlasting life. He knew better, and for a while, heaven was almost within his grasp; he had been cleansed of his every sin; he had the spiritual blessings that were in Christ; he was afforded with the avenue of prayer; he had the hope of everlasting life; he was in communion with God; he was a friend of God; but then he threw it all away by going back into a life of sin. He had so much more than the non-Christian, but then he lost it all. Compare it to this: which would be worse for you? to lose $5 or to lose $50,000? What the backslidden Christian loses is of far greater value than $50,000, $500,000, $5,000,000, or any other monetary amount. He loses something much greater than anything the non-Christian has ever had. Is it any wonder that the Hebrew writer declares, ``For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised...But my righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in Him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but to those who have faith to the preserving of the soul'' (Heb. 10:36-39). Let us give heed to the exhortation in Revelation 2:10: ''...Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.'' If you have been unfaithful in your service to God, won't you come back to Him this day? He longs for you to do so. Remember His prophets in days of old--how they often implored God's backslidden people to return unto the Lord. As God said through Ezekiel, ``Say to them, `As I live!' declares the Lord, `I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?''' (Ezek. 33:11) O come, all ye unfaithful, mournfully and with penitence; and turn back to Jesus Christ the Savior this very day!!! ___________________________________________ Parental Influence by Allen C. Isbell Today, a member asked me to call a lady who lives across town. The lady's granddaughter swallowed gasoline, and lay desperately ill in another state. In reconstructing how the three year old girl got the gasoline, the father remembered that he had siphoned some out of the car for the lawn mower. She watched how he did it, and it was thought that later she imitated his act. As I left, I thought about parental influence and consequences. Little eyes are watching and little ears are hearing what we do and say as parents. Risks that we take before them may prove fatal to them. We would not endanger them in any way, yet, we do it through carelessness. Tragically, mothers, and fathers are careless in their religious life, but the children who follow them are the ones who suffer most for it. If you knew your child would follow your example, how would you be acting? ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________