What must I do to be saved?

Some may wonder how one could object to a piano in worship to God and yet have hymn books. Neither is specifically mentioned in the New Testament.

Let’s illustrate with Noah and the ark. When God told Noah to build an ark out of “gopher wood” (Gen. 6:14), that did NOT authorize Noah to use pine, fir, or cedar, for these are ANOTHER KIND of wood. To use another kind of wood WITHOUT AUTHORITY would have been presumption. However, that command DID authorize tools to build with, and red, white, or yellow gopher wood (if there be such), even though not specifically mentioned.

Likewise, when God said, “sing” (Eph. 5:19), that did NOT authorize pianos, guitars, and organs, for these are ANOTHER KIND of music. To offer God another kind of music WITHOUT AUTHORITY is presumption. But, the command to sing DID authorize hymn books, a leader, lights, and harmony, though not specifically mentioned.

– by Steve Fontenot

Have you ever been “smacked in the face” by a truth? Ever heard something and knew it was right, but also knew it meant you were wrong? Jesus had a way of seeing into the depths of the human soul and speaking targeted words that touched those depths. For some hearers this resulted in godly sorrow and change; others hardened their hearts and became enraged.

One of Jesus’ really challenging messages appears in Luke 8 (cf. Matthew 12:46– 50; Mark 3:31–35). Jesus effectively turns away his own family with these words, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” A small child can understand this message. Living it is the real challenge. We need to unpack this statement before we can put it into practice. Jesus teaches two fundamental truths for the kingdom of God here.

First, he hints at the nature of the church. We are God’s family. When we become Christians, God adds us to his family. Our physical family is no more important or special than our Christian family. In fact, the spiritual family takes priority over the physical one. Some have heard this message for all of their lives. Do we know what it means to live it?

Is my calendar always clear for family functions? What about church functions? Do I skip the gathering of the saints to spend time with family? Am I more likely to help a member of my physical family than a member of my church family?

Second, the spiritual family comprises those who hear the Word and do it. Simply attending worship services does not mean we belong to God’s family. Reading the Bible daily does no good if it doesn’t change our behavior. We might as well replace Bibles on the coffee table with comic books and verses in frames on the wall with cutesy quotes if we aren’t going to live in obedience to the Word.

When is the last time a reading of God’s Word brought me to my knees in repentance? How has your life changed in the last year because of the truths in Scripture?

Let’s live as the family of God.

Clay Leonard

BUT WHAT ABOUT RAPE?

Many years ago when I was a high school student at Fox High School in Arnold, MO, a man by the name of Dan Quayle spoke to the student body. At that time Mr. Quayle was on the ticket as the hopeful Vice President to be, along side of George Bush Senior. After Mr. Quayle’s speech he entertained questions from the student body. One of those questions concerned his stance on abortion. His answer was cut and dry, something like: “I am against abortion, period.” To this the student responded, “What if your wife was raped and became pregnant?” His response: “Then we would have a baby.”

While such trauma as this would exceed the pain and suffering that many ever experience throughout the span of their life, taking the life of a baby is not the answer, and will likely add even greater trauma to the situation.

I do not know anyone who would minimize the difficulty involved in the situation of a woman becoming pregnant after being raped. Certainly she would be in need of great compassion and fervent prayer. The baby did not, however, do anything wrong. That precious baby can be raised to lead a very different lifestyle than his biological father. Again, though the situation would be nearly unfathomably difficult, what an extraordinary opportunity this might be to turn a great evil into something so beautiful. Paul said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). Perhaps we could liken it somewhat to what Jesus did for us on the cross!

A BETTER OPTION

In the end we know that there are situations where folks are truly not ready or capable of providing what a baby needs. Or, in the rare case of a rape situation (most statistics indicate that rape is the cause of less than 5% of the total number of abortions performed), an individual or couple may truly feel they cannot handle being the parents of this child. In such  a situation there is still a legitimate option that can be a great blessing to someone else. A woman, or a couple, may decide that putting the baby up for adoption is best, not merely for them as parents, but especially for the baby. In this case there will be a family on the receiving end that is so thankful for the selfless decision that allowed this precious child to be born.

BUT THERE IS NO FATHER IN THE PICTURE

It is certainly tragic that in many instances there is no man in the picture who can be counted on for help with a newborn baby, monetarily and otherwise, but this does not change the morality of abortion. A woman giving birth may mean that she will be a single parent. I personally have a difficult time imagining how challenging this would be. I do know, from the example of many, that it can be done and God will bless the woman who seeks to do the right thing.

From a different perspective, let God’s people seek to make it easier for such ladies to make the right decision. Let us seek to be available for those who face very difficult challenges in life.

WHAT ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL?

It is way beyond the scope of this article to evaluate all of the forms of birth control that are available today. We should note, however, that there are forms of birth control that are designed to cause the aborting of a fertilized egg. Suffice it to say, Christians will want to carefully investigate the use of birth control in regards to this matter. Preventing life from occurring is one thing. Aborting life after it begins is something quite different.

CONCLUSION

Morally speaking, this is not a difficult issue to sort out. Emotionally, however, it can be very challenging. Having a baby is certainly life changing, but nothing can compare with the preciousness of that life that God has made possible. Choose, teach and support the value of life. 

Daren Schroeder

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, He made the statement that He is greater than the temple (12:6). The chief priests and elders are indignant that they cannot stop neither Jesus nor the crowds’ positive response to Him. In this text, they challenge His authority: “By what authority do you do these things?” They refer, perhaps, to driving out the money changers, perhaps to the teachings He has been giving, perhaps to healing the lame in the temple complex (21:14), perhaps all of these and more. “And who gave to you this authority?”

The chief priests’ and elders’ question: 21:23:

When I was a child, in my teenage years, I would sometimes be bossy, especially to my younger brother. My mom would often ask me the question: “Who died and left you in charge?”  The question of authority – who has the right to tell us what to do? Who has the right to regulate our behavior? Who has the right to regulate worship? Who has the right to make rules for the church of Christ? Those are all legitimate questions. It is a legitimate question that the chief priests and elders ask Jesus on this question.

Jesus’ question in reply – 21:24-25:

1. First, John’s message was practically no different than the message of the OT prophets like Isaiah and Zephaniah: repentance. Give your heart to God and submit your lives to the teachings of His law.
2. Secondly, John’s message was a little different than the prophets in that John was preaching – in contrast to them – that the Messiah had come. That is what the Jews acknowledge about John in John 10:41: “Everything John said about this man [Christ] was true.”

The chief priests’ and elders’ deliberations – 21:25-26:

If they answered “from heaven,” they knew Jesus would challenge them to obey John’s preaching (see 3:8-10), including John’s message about Jesus (see John 1:29). They could not afford, theologically, to give that answer! But, if they answered as their heart led them, “from men,” they feared the common Jew who held John as a prophet. The answer was simple but prejudice dictated that they respond, “We do not know.” That is a perfectly cowardly response.

Jesus’ implementation of Proverbs 26:4 – 21:27:

Jesus, then, refused to play their game and refused to answer their question. The answer, truly, was in front of their very eyes.

APPLICATION:

The chief priests and scribes were correct in asking about authority. There is nothing wrong with questioning one’s authority. We must obey Jesus’ authority in order to be saved (Heb. 5:8-9). Their problem was that they did not want to accept the answer.

Also, some questions do not need to be answered (Prov. 26:4), if the questioner is prejudiced and intends to use the answer maliciously. Consider these texts: 1 Timothy 6:4; 2 Timothy 2:23; Titus 3:9; Mt. 7:6).

We also ought to be careful and be humble toward the word of God and accept whatever the Scriptures teach us and not try to twist passages if they clearly teach something we have not believed before (see 2 Peter 3:14-16).

Let us continually submit ourselves to the authority of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.

Paul Holland

Mary’s song is almost entirely quotations from the Old Testament. “The song of Mary marks the transition from Old Testament to New Testament praise” (Pulpit Commentary, 17).

MARY HAS THE PROPER PRIORITIES (1:46-47):

One purpose of worship is exalting God – Acts 10:46. When people repent, they magnify the name of God (Acts 19:17). We can even magnify God through our lives – Philip. 1:20.

“God my Savior” – most passages in the NT depict Jesus as the Savior but some, like this one, show God as Savior since the Godhead worked together to bring about our salvation. But while the idea of “God my Savior” is personal, Mary has in mind the salvation of her whole people.

REASONS FOR HER EXALTATION OF GOD (1.48-49):

Verse 48 begins with the conjunction “for”, signaling the reasons for Mary’s praise. One reason is found in verse 48 – “He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;” for which she explains: “for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.”

How was Mary blessed?

1. Her pregnancy was unique.
2. Her pregnancy filled her heart with joy.
3. Her pregnancy gave her a tremendous responsibility.
4. Her pregnancy would give her an honorable immortality.
5. Her pregnancy will elevate her beyond her current state.

Another reason Mary exalts God is found in verse 49: “for the Mighty One has done great things for me.”

THE MERCY OF GOD AVAILABLE FOR ALL THE HUMBLE (1:50-53):

With God’s mighty arm, He has done several things about which Mary sings:

1. Verse 51 – He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
2. Verse 52 – He has brought down rulers from their thrones.
3. Verse 52 – He has exalted those who were humble.
4. Verse 53 – He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed.

THE FOUNDATION OF MARY’S CONFIDENCE (1.54-55):

Throughout these words of Mary, we see the source of her confidence: the power of God (vs 49, 51), His divine holiness (ver. 49, 51-52), His divine mercy (ver. 50), His divine faithfulness (ver. 53-55) and we see all these fulfilled, brought to earth, in the coming of the Son of the Most High, the Son of God – Jesus Christ.

Embrace God’s plan for your life.

Paul Holland

For the last few years, it has become vogue to refer to the current state of incivility as “the age of rage.” The British newspaper, The Guardian, featured an article in 2019 by Oliver Burkeman, entitled, “The age of rage: are we really living in angrier times?” Janie Watkins wrote the book, “The Age of Rage”: This is a mad, mad world, in 2005. While it’s written in the context of America, it points back to examples like Nebuchadnezzar, Ahab, and other Bible characters, alongside modern dictators and megalomaniacs. At least one source, Science Focus, wisely observes, “The Age Of Rage: Why Social Media Makes Us So Angry…And What You Can Do About It” (3/20). Writers in Australia, Ireland, and other countries are all observing the same disturbing trend of people who disagree being willing to amplify their indignation with intimidation and violence. Outrage has simply become rage.

Any number of current events in the last few years would serve to prove that we’ve gone that far in our society. Civilization depends on civility. More than that, Christianity, as Jesus and His disciples teach it in the New Testament, requires us to “be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves” as He sends us out “as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Mat. 10:16). You see, it doesn’t matter how the world acts. God expects us to assuage the rage.

The Bible identifies what qualifies as rage. The main word translated “rage” in modern translations is thumos, and it is found eighteen times in the New Testament. The NASB renders it “rage” (Luke 4:28; Acts 19:28), “indignation” (Rom. 2:8), “angry tempers” (2 Cor. 12:20), “outbursts of anger” (Gal. 5:20), “wrath” (Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; Heb. 11:27; etc.), and “passion” (Rev. 14:8; 18:3). This word means the “intense expression of the inner self; a state of intense displeasure” (BDAG 461). Louw-Nida says, “an intense, passionate desire of an overwhelming and possibly destructive character” (290). Kittel explains that the verb from which this noun comes originally conveyed “violent movement” and “to boil up” and “smoke” and the noun came to mean what is moved–desire, impulse, disposition, thought, and anger (TDNTA 339). Picture a person’s temperament as a potentially seething volcano. Rather than controlling it, the person allows what’s inside to freely boil over. That is rage!

With intensifying rhetoric from those in the world who threaten harm in expressing their rage, what does God call you and me to do? First, at the basic level, we are not to sin in our anger (Eph. 4:26). Second, never take your own revenge (Rom. 12:19). Third, replace quarrelsomeness with kindness, patience (even when wronged), and gentleness (2 Tim. 2:24-25). Fourth, malign no one, but be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men (Titus 3:2).

Warning: This is not how the world thinks nor what the world will do, in many cases. But in the age of rage, we have a higher law. Simply put, it is, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). It’s not a matter of what that may or may not do for our personal causes, but what will it do to advance the cause of Christ. It’s why He has us in this age, to help the world see His way. Those who follow it will experience eternal joy, the antithesis and antidote to this age of rage!

Neal Pollard

Mother’s Day is the day our culture does what the Bible teaches we ought to do every day – honor our mothers (Exodus 20:12 * Ephesians 6:1-2). I hope Mother’s Day is a good day on your calendar and in your heart. It is not good for everyone. This little article has a two-fold aim: #1, encourage women who have children to live so that their child / children have no difficulty honoring them. And #2, to remind children, young and old, to esteem and honor your mother as God’s Word directs.

Let’s be real – whether raising one child or 10 of them, motherhood, done correctly, is a “round-the-clock” job! Roseanne Barr once said, “If it’s five o’clock and the children are still alive, I’ve done my job.” Funny – but very, very false.

The idea that motherhood is a “9 to 5” job was shot dead three thousand years ago by the wise man Solomon. In describing ideal womanhood and motherhood in Proverbs 31 (carefully notice I said “ideal,” not perfect) he said, “… She willingly works with her hands rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household … She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms … her lamp does not go out by night … She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness” (verses 13, 15, 17, 18, 27).

Read the entire passage and you learn she was a woman of incredible stature and influence and strength, working both inside her home as well as outside. She traded for profit in real-estate (vs 16), and was involved in producing and marketing fine clothing (vs 24)! But clearly her home – her husband, children, and household – were the central focus of her life. Her husband trusted her fidelity in matters related to marriage and money (vs 11).

Like most mothers, this woman played multiple roles. She clearly was a “working woman!” In 1980 Dolly Parton wrote and sang a song titled “9 to 5” for a comedy film by the same name. The movie saluted “working women” – that is, women who worked outside the home. Nothing new about women working outside the home.

My own mother was a “working woman” in the 1960’s. She worked hard in a garment factory eight hours each weekday. When “quitting time” came she “clocked out” and went home where her second shift began! Four kids aged 2 to10 saw to it she always had plenty of work inside her home. She was one of countless millions of women /  mothers over the years who have done and continue to do similar things. Motherhood is many things, but a “9 to 5 ” job it is not!

Think about it. Mothers are “bears.” They bear the load of pregnancy for nine months. They bear hours of labor. At last, they bear the child and give birth. But the “bearing” has only begun. After the baby is born, a mother bears the child in her heart for 60 or sometimes 70 years. The umbilical cord is severed soon after birth, but the cord of love that binds a healthy mother’s heart to her children is never cut. As somebody said, “Mother’s hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.” It goes without saying that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was present at His birth in a manger in Bethlehem. But a gripping verse of Scripture in John19:25 tells us that as Jesus died, “there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother.”

From His first breath to His last one, Mary loved and stood by Jesus. It was love that held Jesus on the cross, and it was love that held Him in Mary’s heart. Love brought Mary to the cross. That’s how far a mother’s love will go. God give the church and our world more mothers like Mary.

By: Dan Gulley, Smithville TN

In James chapter three, verses five and following, James gives us a reminder about that small, but important part of our anatomy, the tongue. James mentions it in connection with our teaching. However, there are many ways in which we can use, or misuse, our tongues today, as everyone already knows by their own experiences in life. There are many common ways that we may misuse our tongues, and James notes several ways in which he describes the tongue.

He compares it to our putting a small bit in a horses’ mouth by which we turn a horse around. He says that the same is true when we put a small rudder on a large ship to turn it around. Now, note the similarities when the tongue is used. The tongue can be like that fire that can destroy. The tongue can defile the whole body. The tongue can have great power. It is being described as “being set on fire by Hell.” James continues to say that every animal in the world can be tamed by man. However, that small tongue, by which we utter words from our mouths, simply cannot be tamed. That is why we have to do our best to keep it under control.

We can do far more damage with it if we are careless in what we say to others and if we use it improperly around others. According to James, we can utter both blessing and cursing with it. That being true, then, we ought to think twice before we use it in order to keep ourselves out of trouble with family, fellow Christians, friends, anyone with whom we talk, and God, Himself! It is just too easy to sin with the tongue! And, that is why we must use due diligence in keeping our tongues under our control.

Think about it and use caution in using your tongue! Food for thought: Everyone knows that in wood-work that you always “measure twice and cut once.” Would that not be a good practice in our speech? That is, to think twice and speak once?

Think about it!

Kevin Williams

SIMPLE REASONING ABOUT A BARBARIC PRACTICE: ABORTION (Part 2)

Today we continue our discussion about abortion…

WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN?

This question is crucial to evaluating the morality of abortion. If life has not begun when abortion is performed, who could argue against it?

The truth is, however, that even the scientific community (which is sometimes not so scientific) generally accepts that when the DNA of a mother and father comes together, a new individual or life is “born” (or conceived). This certainly adds another dimension to the previous argument about a woman’s body. If it were indeed so that a woman had total authority as to what she did with her own body, it still could be argued that there was something inside her that had it’s own identity; something that was dependent upon her, but also very distinct from her.

Psalms 139:13-15 says, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You. When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”

Note, of course, that personhood is attributed to the unborn. The Scripture frequently gives names to those yet born (see Gen. 17:19; Jer. 1:5; Lk. 1:13; Mt. 1:21). The unborn have a distinct identity and personhood of their own.

To seek to identify any other point (aside from conception) as the point at which life begins, is thoroughly subjective and lacking in scientific principle.

BUT WE AREN’T READY TO HAVE A BABY

One can hardly doubt the frequent reality of this statement. Of course, the problem is not the baby. The problem is that the couple engaged in activity that naturally resulted in the situation they find themselves in. We should always be willing to accept the consequences of the actions we take. If one jumps from an airplane, it will work out much better if he has thoughtfully prepared for his landing! The sexual relationship between man and woman is a serious matter. It should be engaged in according to God’s plan (Heb. 13:4) and also with sobriety and planning.

It is true that a person, or a couple, may lack the maturity or financial resources that should exist to be a parent. In some cases an individual or couple desires to pursue further education or a career, and they see the coming of a baby as an impediment to their goals. Again, that should have been considered beforehand, but at this point, it’s too late. What should they do?

While these and other circumstances might bring difficulties, difficulties can be overcome. Such difficulties, when coupled with great effort and prayer, can lead to spiritual growth (see James 1:2-5). Often through hard work a couple is able to better their financial circumstances. There are also educational opportunities that oftentimes may still be pursued. But it is important to note that one’s ambitions and goals may also need to be changed or adjusted. And, after all, what could be more significant than raising a precious child, and raising him or her to know the Lord!

Many have help in different forms available to them, though care should be used in placing too much burden on others. Though it may be difficult, it is vital that a person in this situation bears their own burden as much as possible (see Gal. 6:7). When we do the right thing, and seek to bear our own load, God will be our help and He will provide!

Our study of this theme will continue next week.

Daren Schroeder