Category Archives: opinion

Which?

Some times in life we are required to make choices. Some of these choices can have very serious and lasting consequences. Which person should I marry? Which house or which car will I buy? Should I have surgery or not? Should I speak out or should I remain silent. These are real options that sometimes require a hard choice to be made between two or more alternatives. But some times the choices presented to us are false. Sometimes we are told we must choose between two or more possibilities and the necessity of a choice is only apparent.

For example, sometimes we are told we must choose between hating and loving. We understand that the first and greatest commandment in the law of Moses was to love God and the second greatest was to love neighbor as self (Matt. 22:35-40). We understand that Jesus commanded us to love one another (John 15:17). But we also understand that God, our Heavenly Father, hates iniquity (Heb. 1:9). Are we any better than our Heavenly Father? Are we more righteous than He? The Lord specifically commended the churches of Ephesus and Pergamus because they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which, the Lord said, He also hated (Rev. 2:6,15). We should hate what the Lord hates and love what He loves! The choice between hate and love often is only a false choice.

Another example of this is the false choice between building and defending. I have heard certain segments of our brotherhood derisively call those who are committed to defending the faith “brotherhood watchdogs.” Those who use this language are usually never willing to stand up against anyone except those who stand up against doctrinal and moral error. But once again, this is a false choice. Just as the Jew of old in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem wrought with one of his hands and with the other hand held a weapon (Neh. 4:17,18), so, too, we must both build and defend the Lord’s church. In fact, in the Christian dispensation, because Truth is so intimately connected with the salvation in the Lord’s church, we cannot but help do one when we faithfully do the other. The choice between building and defending is a false one.

Another false choice often presented as the only options is between God’s love and God’s justice. Some emphasize God’s love so much that it sounds as if God never has judged anyone or never will be judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25). Truly, God is love (I John 4:8). Indeed, no greater love has been shown than when God sent His Only Begotten Son into the world to be offered as a ransom for all (John 3:16; I Tim. 2:6). But, nevertheless, God is going to judge man for his sins because God is just (Zeph. 3:5; Zech. 9:9). To be true to God we must teach all His word says about Him. The choice between God’s love and God’s justice is a false one.

Another choice the religious world likes to force us to make is the one between grace and works. Most in the religious world will say we are saved by grace and nothing else. Still others in the religious world will say that we can merit our salvation by being good enough or doing enough to earn our salvation. Again, the choice is a false one. We are saved by God’s grace (Eph. 2:8) just as surely as we are saved by works of obedience (II Thess. 1:8). God’s grace is extended to all men but it teaches us that we must do something in response (Tit. 2:11,12). The choice between grace and works is a false one.

Finally, some want to force a choice between faith and baptism. Some will emphasize the necessity of faith to the extent they say we are saved by faith alone. In fact, the New Testament teaches we are not saved by faith only (James 2:4). The Bible clearly teaches that baptism is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). The Bible clearly teaches that he that believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:15,16). The right way of teaching this issue is to present the whole counsel of God and not just what we want to teach (Acts 20:27). The truth is, there is no choice between faith and baptism because it is not “faith or baptism” but “faith and baptism.”

In life, there are many serious choices we must make. Some are matters of life and death and eternity. Let us not add to these real and serious choices false and manufactured ones.

Eric L. Padgett

In the House of the Lord

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1).

Psalm 122 is one of the fifteen Songs of Degrees (Psalms 120-134). These songs were probably composed to be sung by the children of Israel as they went up to observe those yearly festivals commanded by God in the law (Deut. 16:16). This particular Psalm was written by David, who wrote at least four of the fifteen (122, 124, 131 and 133). In this Psalm, David describes the blessings found in the House of the Lord. In the Christian dispensation, the House of the Lord is the church of the Lord, the pillar and ground of the truth (I Tim. 3:15).

One of the blessings to be found in the House of the Lord is unity (122:2,3). Jerusalem, the place where God chose to place His name (I Kings 11:36), was “compacted together.” Barnes wrote of this verse: “The walls are all joined together; and the houses are all united to one another so as to make a compact place…from the necessity of the case, when it became the capital of the nation, it was densely crowded.” Furthermore, the last of the Songs of Degrees states the matter plainly: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

In the Lord’s church there is unity (Eph. 4:3). This unity is based, not upon any man’s opinions or feelings, but it is based upon the Lord’s word (John 17:17-21). We are not now still seeking unity, as some claim, for this unity of the faith was obtained and Jesus’ prayer answered, when the revelation of the New Covenant was completed (Eph. 4:8-15). We must endeavor to “keep it” (v. 3), however. Even now the Lord’s church is “fitly joined together and compacted” (Eph. 4:16).

In the Lord’s House was also the Testimony of Israel. It is for this reason that the people of God went up to Jerusalem, “unto the Testimony of Israel” (122:4). The “Testimony of Israel” was the body of commands given unto Israel by God (Ex. 31:18) which was to be placed in the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:16), the ark of the testimony (Ex. 25:21,22). It was above the Testimony of Israel, above the mercy seat, where God communed with man (Ex 26:34; Ex. 25:22).

Today, in the Lord’s church, we have the testimony of Christ (I Cor. 1:1-6). It is also called the testimony of God (I Cor. 2:1). This testimony involves the teaching regarding “Christ crucified” (I Cor. 2:2), which teaching Paul also calls the “gospel,” in I Cor. 15:1-4. It is the Lord’s church which is to take the gospel into all the world (Matt. 28:18-20). It is to the Lord and His testimony that all men should come to find rest (Matt. 11:28-31). And it is by the church the manifold wisdom of God is made known, “according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:10-11). Let all nations now flow unto it with joy (Is. 2:1-4; Psalm 122:1)!

David called on all to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). Peace and prosperity were to be found within her walls, the walls and palaces of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:7,8). “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat” (Psalm 147:12-14). The peace of God was to be found within the walls of Jerusalem.

Today, in the Lord’s house, the church, the peace of God can also be found. “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Eph. 2:14-15). This peace is first and foremost peace with God (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:16) and then with our fellow man (Rom. 12:18), but it is a peace that is rooted and grounded in the gospel of Christ, the gospel of peace (Rom. 10:15; Col. 2:7).

Yes, I also was glad when they said unto me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord,” for that is where unity, the word of God and peace with God can be found! Will you rejoice and come unto the House of the Lord?

Eric L. Padgett

Good Change, Bad Change

Change! Everything nowadays seems to change. I guess this has always been true. The leaves change, seasons change, fashion changes, individual people change, looks change, technology changes, tastes change, moods change, landscapes change, cities change. Even slick politicians promise us “Change!” The list could go on. But change for change’s sake is not a good thing in most instances. All change is not good. There are some things that should not change and that don’t change.

For instance, God does not change. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2). Yes, people may change over time, because they are less than perfect. But God, being perfect, cannot change, lest He be less than perfect. Nor does Jesus Christ change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). It is good that God does not change because this provides stability for us in our lives and world.

God’s word does not change. Heaven and earth will pass away before God’s word ever changes (Matt. 2:35) and even then there is not a chance of it changing because it, too, is perfect. “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psalm 12:6,7). The law of the Lord is perfect and therefore does not change (Psalm 19:7). Truth does not change.

Morality and right and wrong do not change. Some people think that what was moral in the first century is no longer moral, that there is no objective, moral standard of right and wrong. But since God provides the standard through His word of what is right and wrong, and since neither God nor His word changes, then moralty and right and wrong do not change. What was morally wrong two thousand years ago, even six thousand years ago, is still wrong today and will always be wrong. The Psalmist declared, “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth” (Psalm 119:142; cf. Psalm 119:60).

Furthermore, the Lord’s church does not change. The same church that was established by the Lord on the first Pentecost after the Lord’s resurrection (Acts 2; Matt. 16:16-19) is the very same church which will be translated into heaven without spot or blemish (Eph. 5:27). There are many who try to change her, who try to lower her standards, who try to make something of her she was never intended to be, but the Lord’s church remains the same because the gates of hell cannot prevail against her (Matt. 16:19).

All these things do not change. Some men want to change them, some men try to change them, but God’s will resists those feeble attempts. Those who try to change them, however, who try to add to or take away from them, will meet with unwelcomed and unbearable reprisal (Rev. 22:18,19).

What does need to change is the heart of man. The heart of every man needs to be set free from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22). Men want life their own way on their own terms, but the way of man is not in himself (Jer. 10:23). It is man that left God and, thus, needs to be reconciled unto Him, not the other way around (II Cor. 5:19ff). This is good change, when men turn back to God. We need more of this kind of change.

Eric L. Padgett

No Middle Ground

“Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him” (Exodus 32:26).

TemptationofChrist

In the Cause of Christ, there is no middle ground (Luke 11:23; Matt. 6:24).  Christians cannot halt between two opinions and still maintain fidelity to God (I Kings 18:21).  It is either God or the world.

We know that the whole world lies in wickedness (I John 5:19).  The world is a kingdom wherein everything vile and putrid and corrupt finds a home and the powers of darkness reign (Col. 1:13; Eph. 5:10; I John 2:15-17).  The world is a place where lust breeds corruption (II Pet. 1:4) and the cares of this world choke the life out of righteousness (Mark 4:19).  The god of this world seeks to blind the mind of peoples unawares so that they cannot see any light at all (II Cor. 4:4).  That world is full of haters (I John 3:13), deceivers (II John 1:7), and filth (I Cor. 4:13) that stain the garments of the saints (James 1:27).  This present world is evil (Gal. 1:4) and everything that is in it comes to naught (I Cor. 2:6; I John 2:17).

As Christians, however, our lives are to be lights in this world of darkness so that they give light to all (Matt. 5:13-16).  And, while, the kingdom in which we have our conversation is not of this world (John 18:36; Phil. 3:20), knowing we cannot go out of this world physically (I Cor. 5:10; John 17:5), we are to come out of the world and be separated from it spiritually and mentally (II Cor. 6:14-18).  We are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them (Eph. 5:10,11).  We should have no love for this world or the things contained therein (I John 2:15-17) nor should we allow ourselves to be conformed to it (Rom. 12:1,2) but, rather, the world should be crucified to us (Gal. 6:14).

Standing up for what is right cannot be wrong.  So what if the Pharisees were offended by the teaching of Jesus (Matt. 15:12)?  Every plant not planted by the Father will be rooted up (Matt. 5:13).  So what if enemies are made by speaking the truth (Gal. 4:16)?  To be friends with the world is to be the enemy of God (James 4:4).  The solemn charge of Joshua the son of Nun rings loud and clear even to this late day: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (John 24:15).

Will we stand up and be counted?  Will our fingers grasp tightly the golden handle of the sword of the Spirit and draw it from its sheath; will we, unashamed of the Christ and the Cause for which He shed His blood, wield that Blade confidently in the fight for the Truth?  As the world continues its spiraling descent into the everlasting abyss, Christians must be willing to fearlessly lead the way ever upward to heaven by holding aloft in word and deed the glorious and everlasting gospel of Christ.

Eric L. Padgett