By Steve Hale through Mt Juliet church of Christ

INTRODUCTION

Sometimes, unfortunate misunderstandings prevent great good from being done. One of these is the mispreception that members of churches of Christ believe others must keep their rules to go to heaven.

This tract is written with the writer's fervent hope it will help open doors of opportunity to study about Jesus together. Isaiah said: "Come, now let us reason together, saith the Lord..." (Isaiah 1:18).

Therefore, let us reason about the true source of authority. Let's examine "Does The Church of Christ Believe It Is The Only One Going To Heaven?"

Does the Church Of Christ Believe...

It does not matter what the churches of Christ believe. Whatever these churches believe had better be what the Lord Jesus commands! Peter said: "if any man speaketh, speaking as it were the oracles of God..." (I Peter 4:11).

The church must be subject to Christ and His authority. Paul said: "And he is the head of the body, the church...that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Col 1:18).

There must never be church rules or creeds! One must never be required to satisfy the member of a local church. While some religious groups vote members in, the Bible teaches: "And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved" (Acts 2:47). If the Lord does the adding, no man must ever dare to do the subtracting (III John 9, 10)!

Therefore, whatever churches of Christ believe must be handed down to them by King Jesus in His word (Jn 16:13, 14). We must never render our opinions as if we are God! We must present the Bible as the message of God (Deut. 4:2; 2 Peter 1:21).

Again, the statement: "does the church of Christ believe," indicates the wrong people are being asked! Jesus will judge us all by His word (John 12:48). Jesus, not an elder, preacher, or member, "...is the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

"It Is The Only One Going To Heaven?"

Who is going to heaven? Must one keep a church's rules to be saved? Must one join a particular denomination to enjoy salvation? Is one denomination better than another?

Perhaps some of the difficulty with these questions is a misunderstanding of terms. The word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia which means "those called out." Remember Acts 2:47: "...And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved."

In other words, those that responded to the gospel message (Acts 2:38, 41) were "called out" of the world and into Christ. They became a part of the church because the church is that body of saved believers.

When one is baptized into Christ, he becomes part of His bride (Ephesians 5:22-33, body (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 4:4), or church (Matthew 16:18). Paul said: "For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body..." (I Corinthians 12:13).

Our Lord never wanted the religious division so prevalent in the world today. He prayed that we might be one (John 17:17, 20-21). It grieves our Lord to see rules of men divide us. Why can't we simply forget the rules of men, open our Bibles, and obey the Lord? When we do, He will add us to His church, not a denomination (Acts 2:47).

There are various scriptural names for this church. "Churches of Christ (Romans 16:16), "Church of God" (I Corinthians 1:1), "pillar and ground of the truth" (I Timothy 3:15), "my church" (Matthew 16:18), "one body" (Ephesians 4:4), "the bride" (Revelation 22:7), and on and on we could go. These are all descriptive names for the same church built by Jesus (Matthew 16:18; I Corinthians 3:11).

Also, this body of believers will obey the Lord without compromising His will (Galatians 1:6-9). People who obey Jesus (Hebrews 5:8, 9) and become His by being called out of the world into the "called out ones" are saved (Galatians 3:26-27).

What Do You Believe?

Long ago, Solomon warned:

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12).

It may sound good, feel good, look good, but is it what Jesus said?

The apostle John gave this acid test: "And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (I John 2:3, 4).

How do you know Jesus? Has some man guided you with creeds, tradition, or extra-biblical "revelations?" Come to know Him the way King Jesus through the apostle John commanded. Let's open our Bibles, and hear right from Jesus ourselves (John 16:13, 14). Let's "reason together."

Conclusion

It does not matter what churches of Christ believe nor any of their members. All that matters is the will of our blessed Lord.

Jesus and His word are always right. In the very words of God Himself at the Mount of Transfiguration:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matthew 17:5).

BY T. Pierce Brown

The prince of scholarly commentators, J. W. McGarvey, says concerning Matthew 5:48,

"It is, of course, impossible for man to attain to this perfection; yet anything short of it is short of what we ought to be."

Although McGarvey may have forgotten more about the Bible that some of us will ever know, I am forced to take issue with him, and all others who have made similar comments about this passage. The implications of such a conclusion are wrong and dangerous for several reasons.

First, that conclusion disregards the basic meaning of the word "perfect" and the context in which it is commanded. Second, that conclusion teaches that although God commands something, we have the right to conclude that it is too hard, yea, impossible, for us to do and thus, not only have the right to break one of God's commandment, but must do so. This sort of conclusion is the soil from which cynicism, skepticism and frustration grows. If we have the right to say about God's commandments, "They are too hard," surely it takes no Solomon to see a variety of attitudes and responses that automatically follow. "God is unfair" -- impugning the wisdom and righteousness of God. "I can determine which of God's commands I need to obey" -- which makes a god of ourselves and is the basis of most modernistic and denominational foolishness.

Third, that conclusion teaches that although God has commanded us to do something we cannot do, we must forever feel inferior because we cannot do what we ought to do. It is one thing to feel guilty of a sin of which we can repent and quite another to have a guilt complex because of a supposed sin that results from a broken commandment that we cannot keep! An awareness of guilt, leading to repentance and a changed life is a part of God's plan and is proper and healthy. A guilt complex is improper, unhealthy and destructive. If you do not think so, try to repent of disobeying the command, "Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect!"

There are two or three things that need to be understood in dealing with this and other passages that speak of perfection. First, the word "perfect" does not mean that one cannot, has not, or will not sin. The basic meaning of perfect -- telios -- is "full grown, mature, brought to its proper end."

Second, although grammatically speaking, there can not be degrees of perfection, there are different measures of perfection (for want of a better term). This is what I mean: Suppose one has a circle with a radius of one inch. We do not need to say, "a perfect circle," for by definition every circle is perfect -- a closed plain curve every point of which is equidistant from a point in the center. A circle with a two-inch radius is not more perfect, but simply has a different measure. Being bigger does not make it more perfect.

When the Bible says, "Husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church" (Ephesians 5:25), it does not mean, "Love them as much as Christ loved the church." That would be an impossible command to keep! But when a husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church, that is perfect obedience to the command. A circle with an infinite radius (whatever that is) is no more perfect than a circle with a one inch radius. And what we call the infinite love of God for our enemies is no more perfect than the kind of love we can have for our enemies -- which is what God commands. He did not say, "Love your enemy as much as God loves you."

Third, it is possible, according to the Bible use of the term, to be "perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect." It is not possible to be as good as God is, or as loving as God is. But He did not command that. He did not say, "Be as perfect as God is," as if there were degrees of perfection. He said, "Be perfect." Noah was (Genesis 6:9). Some of the Corinthians were (1 Cor. 2:6). Paul and some of the Philippians were (Philippians. 3:15).

Now to the verses under consideration. When a man loves his enemies and does as God says do toward them (Matthew 5:44), he is perfect, as God is perfect. He does not love them as much as God loves them, nor is he required to. This love (agape) is not an emotional response, but is a choice of will. When one is willing to sacrifice what he is and has for the welfare and happiness of his enemies, and so demonstrates that love, he has done what God requires, and regardless of what McGarvey or anyone else says about it, does not need to go through life feeling inferior or guilty because he cannot do what God commanded him to do.

The "bottom line is: We can do what God tells us to do in every situation. We can, in this one, love our enemies as God does, and when we have done that, we have attained the perfection God requires of us in these verses.

By Ben Bailey through the Gospel of Christ

“Men ought to pray always, and never lose heart” (Lk. 18:1). In this passage, Jesus teach­es us about the power of prayer in our Christian lives. Ask yourself today, “How often do we really use prayer?” Do we see prayer as a powerful tool that is able to help us through this life? Do we use the power of prayer in the everyday struggles that we face? We talk about prayer. And I believe that we really do understand what the Bible says about prayer. But do we really use prayer as God wants us to? If we are going to make it through this life and go to Heaven, and if we are going to defeat the devil and all the fiery darts that he throws at us, we must realize the power of persistent prayer. And we must take advantage of every opportunity serve God, using prayer as a tool to help us do that. Christians must realize exactly how important prayer is in their lives. The text of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 teaches us to “pray without ceasing.” That text does not mean that everything in our life is a prayer. But it does mean that there should never be a time in our lives when we cannot come to the throne of God and ask Him for help. I think of Matthew 14:23. In this context, Jesus had gone away from the multitudes, and had gone up to the mountain by Himself to pray. Jesus realized the importance of prayer in His personal ministry. He realized the pow­er of prayer, for it says in Matthew 26:53 that He could pray and that God would send an­gels to help Him in His time of need. We need to realize how important prayer is in helping us overcome the difficulties that we face in life. Notice what James said about prayer. In James 5:16, we have these words recorded:

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

The idea of “effective and fervent” carries with it the idea of continual pe­titioning of the throne of God. That type of prayer, James teaches us, overcomes much in this life. But to really understand the power of prayer, we need to know about some of the prerequisites of prayer. We need to know how to pray. We need to understand what the Bible says about prayer, and that there are conditions that we must meet in order to pray properly. The Bible does teach us that there are certain prerequisites to prayer. There are some things that we need to understand ahead of time if we are going to pray as God wants us to.

For example, not every person can simply stand up to pray and say whatever he wants to say. A person needs to be taught how to pray according to the Scriptures. In Luke 11:1, the disciples of Jesus came to Him with this request: “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples to pray.” Oh, how we today need the same attitude that Jesus’ disciples had. We need to want to learn how to pray according to the Scriptures. We need to learn to pray biblically! We must not pray selfishly, but instead we need to pray as God would have us to pray.

This article is part of a transcript from The Gospel Of Christ. To read the rest of the text please visit this link.

by Bud Lambert

Without question, the American family is in trouble. With each new generation, there is more uncertainty about how to establish and maintain a healthy, functional, intact family. Because more and more children are growing up in divorced families, children don't have the positive role models that are needed to learn how to build strong, secure, intact, loving homes. Healthy models are needed.

The church is to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth ( Matthew 5:13-16). God has given us, the church, the responsibility to model healthy living to the world. But to accomplish this we must strive to be pure and sanctified from the world:

John 17:15-17: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18: Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

James 1:27: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 4:4: Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

1 John 2:15: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

The only hope for the survival of the family is for the church to remain pure and distinct from the world. Are we doing this?