PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST TO A LOST AND DYING WORLD
Edited and Published by Jack Critchfield
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Volume 6 Issue 2 |
February, 2002 |
You Know You Have Eternal Life
Jack Critchfield
A Christian should be certain of their eternal future. But far too many Christians are never sure of their relationship with God and live in doubt of their eternal destiny. Yet, just as the Scriptures reveal to a person when he is lost, the same Scriptures reveal to him when he is saved. It is not a matter of guess-work, nor wishful thinking. The Lord intends that we be sure. Near the conclusion of his letter of instructions to Christians, the apostle John wrote, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13). The apostle John says that we can KNOW that we have eternal life, no maybes, no doubts. Let us see how we may know we have eternal life.
If You Walk in the Light - 1 John 1
Having fellowship with God is based on our "walking in the light." The inspired writer John wrote, "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:5-7).
To "walk in the light" means that you no longer live in sin. The Lord clearly states that if you "walk in darkness" (that is, in sin), you are not in fellowship with God. To walk in the light means you have turned your back on sin to live for Christ; "…having died to sins, might live for righteousness…" (1 Pet. 2:24). It also means that the blood of Christ cleanses you. Even though you strive always to do right, you may still sin (1 John 1:8). But if you are walking in the light, the sins you commit do not separate us from God, for the blood of Jesus cleanses us from those sins (1 Jn. 1:9; Rom. 8:1). It is only through the blood of Christ that you remain in fellowship with God.
If You Keep His Commandments - 1 John 2
The Scriptures clearly teach that you are saved "by faith" (Eph. 2:8; etc.), but this must be obedient faith. Paul called it, "Faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6), and James said, "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). John tells us that "by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments" (1 John 2:3). Later in the same letter he states, "whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight" (1 John 3:22). When He was on the earth, Jesus constantly emphasized the necessity of doing the will of God. "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). In fact, the Lord makes no promise of any spiritual blessing to one who does not obey Him! "He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Heb. 5:9).
You must have the proper priorities in our lives, if you are to "have eternal life." You cannot live for this world, with all its sensuality, greed and arrogance, and still claim to have eternal life, but must "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God" (Rom. 12:1). John tells us that one is not to "love the world or the things in the world" (1 John 2:15). Instead of following the world, you must "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…" (Matt. 6:33). Our entire lives must be channeled into the task of obeying the Lord, if you would have eternal life.
If You Are Children of God - 1 John 3
Only God’s children are promised eternal life (1 John 3:1,10). God loves His children, and He wants them to be with Him forever. But who are His children? Again, there is a positive way to determine that.
You do not become children of God because you say so, but because we meet the conditions God gives. "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:26-27). If one is a child of God, it is because he has, through faith, been "baptized into Christ." Jesus stated it this way in the great commission, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved…" (Mark 16:16). The Holy Spirit has given us the word of God (John 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:11-13; 1 Thess. 2:13), and the inspired apostle, in that word, writes: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). Thus, when one has been led to be baptized into Christ, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:16).
If You Love God and Brethren - 1 John 4
John makes it clear that love and eternal life are connected when he says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:7-8). When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He replied, "You shall love the Lord your God…And…You shall love your neighbor…" (Mark 12:30-31). Our doing the will of God must be based on love (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). If we are motivated by love for God, we will do what the Lord wants — we will live for Him.
But you can not claim to love God and not love one another, also. John writes, "If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" (1 John 4:20). Also Jesus said, "…love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35). John sums up the importance of love when he wrote, "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death" (1 John 3:14).
If You Are "In Christ" - 1 John 5
We have noted some conditions that must meet if you would have eternal life. But "where" is it? John answers clearly; "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11). Eternal life is "in Christ," and nowhere else! The apostle Paul writes at length about the blessings that are "in Christ." In Eph. 1:3-7, he uses that expression, or its equivalent, six times. He states that "every spiritual blessing" is "in Christ" (v. 3), and so are redemption and forgiveness (v. 7). In 2 Tim. 2:10, he writes, "salvation is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." All of these passages tell us that there is no spiritual blessing outside of Christ, no salvation outside of Christ and no forgiveness outside of Christ.
Do you have eternal life? "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:13). You should know. If you are walking in the light, constantly striving to live for God, you have eternal life. If you keep His commandments, if you are a child of God, if you love God and His children and if you are in Christ, then you have eternal life.
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Maurice Barnett
The "cross" is used literally in scripture to refer to the actual wooden beams on which Jesus was killed. But, it is also used as a symbolical figure of speech of the sacrifice of Jesus that involves more than just the literal crucifixion. It is used figuratively in various passages, such as I Corinthians 1:18-23, to stand for the entire gospel, all that was necessary for our salvation; when they "preached the cross" they did not just talk about the literal wooden beams. This is made clear by I Corinthians 15:16-17, which says, "For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised: and if Christ hath not been raised your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." If Jesus had just died only, there could have been no salvation. Just His death was not enough to accomplish reconciliation with God. This is why the heart of gospel preaching is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We must also add the thought that He had to ascend to heaven to complete the offering for sin; He had to be raised from the dead in order to do that.
The death of the goat and the sprinkling of his blood by the High Priest on the day of Atonement, Leviticus 16, was but a shadow pointing to this role that Jesus would play in our reconciliation with God. Two essential acts were performed at that point on the day of Atonement. First, the animal was slain by taking its blood, its "life." This goat was designated "for Jehovah," as an "offering for sin." Second, the High Priest took the blood of that animal into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle there for atonement. Both acts were essential to making that atonement!
This shadow of what was to come is clearly indicated in Hebrews 9. That chapter begins with describing these two acts and then says in verse 9, "which is a figure for the time present.'' In verse 22 it emphasizes, "apart from shedding of blood there is no remission." Jesus was, first, the sacrifice slain: He shed His blood on the literal cross, gave His life. Following His resurrection, He ascended into heaven, and, acting as High Priest, offered His own blood before God in the heavenly Holy of Holies to complete the offering for sin. Hebrews 9:23-26, speaking of the necessity of blood shed, "It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens (earthly Holy of Holies, MB) should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place year by year with blood not his own; else must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." This is why just the death of Jesus on the literal cross was not sufficient to bring remission of sins. For us to focus all attention and emphasis involved in redemption at the time of the death of Jesus is to ignore the scheme of redemption, nullify the gospel, violating scripture. But, where does the scapegoat enter the picture? It is usually used to support the substitution theory that Jesus took our place on the cross, and that it refers to Jesus literally "bearing" our sins while on the literal cross. None of this is true.
As the first goat is designated "for Jehovah," the second goat is designated "for Azazel." There has been some controversy over the meaning of Azazel. It's most likely meaning is in keeping with what was done with the scapegoat, it means "removal." That is, it symbolized the removal of the sins of the people. Indeed, the word "scapegoat" comes from the old English "escapegoat," that is, the goat "escaped" into the wilderness. Let's look at some facts concerning the scapegoat to help us put it in its proper place.
First, Jesus is never likened to the scapegoat! He is connected only to the first goat, the one for Jehovah, the one whose blood was shed and then sprinkled in the Most Holy Place, as we have already seen.
Second, the scapegoat appears in the scenario only after the offering for atonement in the Holy of Holies, Leviticus 16:20, that furnishes the shadow of what Jesus did. If one should say that the scapegoat was also chosen to "make atonement" as was the other goat, keep in mind that when the poor offered fine flour for a sin-offering it was also referred to as "atonement," Leviticus 5:11-13; no blood was shed. The fact that the English word "atonement" was used does not establish that the scapegoat's place was in the death of Jesus on the cross. The scapegoat was not slain, none of its blood was shed; it could not have portrayed any of what Jesus did on the literal cross. Remember that only by blood that is shed and offered can there be remission of sins.
Third, if the scapegoat enters the picture at all in the New Testament order, it would have to be after Jesus ascended into heaven and completed His offering for sin. If the scapegoat has any counterpart in what Jesus did for redemption, it could only have come after He sat down at the right hand of God, "when he had made purification for sins," (Hebrews 1:3). It could only be a symbol of the "removal" of sins just as it was on the day of Atonement.
The Gospel Anchor, January 1999
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"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, not do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."
Luke 6:43-45
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Destroyed For Lack Of Knowledge
Joe R. Price
God had a controversy against His people Israel in the days of the prophet Hosea (Hosea 4:1). She had played the harlot with the nations around her, abandoning the love of a gracious, loving God for the momentary trifles of her impotent "lovers" (Hos. 2:4-13). Yet still God was merciful, wooing her back and giving her hope through the Messiah (Hos. 2:14-23).
At the heart of God's charge (legal complaint, Hos. 4:1) against Israel was that truth, mercy and a knowledge of Him had vanished from the land (Hos. 4:1). Without the guidance and restraint of God's law, Israel lived according to the flesh and bore its fruit of violent selfishness (Hos. 4:2-3).
Punishment was coming upon Israel for her sins, and the stated reason was "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hos. 4:6). God had "written for him (Ephraim, God's people, JRP) the great things of My law, But they were considered a strange thing." (Hos. 8:12; cf. 12:10) I am afraid for us, brethren. A similar lack of knowledge of God and His word is apparent among God's people today. Can sin and destruction be far behind?
Our young people need grounding in the word of God (Eccl. 12:1; Deut. 6:4-9). There are many well taught youth in the kingdom. But there are also many young people who, although they have grown up with Christian parents, have not been taught a knowledge of God and His word. Maybe we assume they will just "pick it up" in two Bible classes and a couple of sermons a week. They won't. Not without the reinforcement of teaching and training at home. We must teach our children God's word. By doing so we help protect them against the eternal destruction which inevitably comes from a lack of knowledge.
Brethren are confused (and being confused) about what God's word teaches about the duration of the days of creation. The credibility and reliability of the Bible is being called into serious question more and more by those who should know better. Many do not know how to establish and apply Bible authority to the work and worship of the local church, or to their individual lives (Col. 3:17). Will we answer these challenges with God's word of truth? Are we able to use the "sword of the Spirit" to "stand against the wiles of the devil?" (Eph. 6:17, 11) Or, are we "unskilled in the word of righteousness?" (Heb. 5:13) Brethren, we must get serious about learning and living the word of God -- our souls are at stake! Unbelief resides where a knowledge of God's word is absent (Rom. 10:17). But be assured, unbelief does not live in a vacuum. A lack of faith will fill one's "house" (heart and life) with something, usually with a knowledge of and love for the world. The world will pass away and its lusts along with it. To escape this destruction we must know and do the will of God (1 Jno. 2:15-17).
Like Israel of old, we are being destroyed for lack of knowledge. The destruction we face lasts forever! (Matt. 10:28; 2 Thess. 1:8-9)
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"The sleep of the laboring man is sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep."
Ecclesiastes 5:12
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Glen Young
Thankfulness is one of those neglected Bible subjects. I don't mean that we are unaware of thankfulness being in the Bible. We just don't give it the kind of thought we should. Being thankful is important to the Christian life.
The Old Testament hero, King David, understood the importance of being thankful toward God. "Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; For he is good; For his lovingkindness (endureth) for ever." (Psalms 118:1) This statement is found several times in the Psalms, thus indicating the prominent place David gave to giving thanks to God for His lovingkindness.
Ingratitude is a plague upon society. When men leave off the gentle virtue of being thankful, they degenerate into selfish children who think that they should receive anything and everything they desire. Like a two year old, they see something and say, "I want it, right now!" If they do not get 'it,' they become sullen and bemoan their miserable life. However, if they do get 'it,' they revel in their new gift without ever being grateful to the giver.
As Christians, we must not be as those who are unthankful. "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. ... And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, (do) all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:15 & 17.
Not only should we learn the lesson of being thankful, but we should learn the lesson of being thankful for the correct things. Again, like spoiled children, we become overwhelmed with disappointment simply because we fail to get what we want.
Too many religious people think of God as the genie in the bottle. They expect to be granted the fulfillment of their every wish. They should learn a lesson from Job. "Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? renounce God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." Job 2:9-10. Are we thankful when evil comes our way? James says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds," James 1:2 (NIV). To be filled with resentment, anger and remorse because life is not the way you think it ought to be, identifies you as a thankless person.
So what, if we do not have the fine house we want. Jesus didn't even have a house (Luke 9:58). So what, if we never stand before the multitudes and hear their adoring adulation. Jesus was despised and rejected of men (Isaiah 53:3) and then crucified like a common criminal though He was innocent (Luke 23:4).
When you pillow your head tonight, will you be thankful for the day which God has given you? Even if it was a day filled with many kinds of trials? Be thankful Pilgrim, be thankful for the proper things, for godliness with contentment is gain (1 Timothy 6:6).
The Road Creek church of Christ Bulletin,
11/29/98
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"Behold, bless the Lord, All you servants of the Lord, Who by night stand in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And Bless the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth Bless you from Zion."
Psalm 134
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Jack Critchfield, Editor & Publisher
403 Coit Way, Salinas, Ca. 93907
(831) 772-9557
jcritch@a1above.net
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