Do not believe everything you read

A couple of weeks ago, I taught a lesson about the life of Saul of Tarsus (later as Paul the apostle). The study pointed out how Saul left Judaism and began preaching the gospel of Christ (Acts 26:1-11). During Paul’s missionary journeys, people were being converted to Christ and local churches were established (Acts 15:36).

Pretend that you once practiced Judaism with Saul. How would you react if you heard that he started teaching the things he previously spoke against (Acts 9:1-2)? Unless you were willing to leave Judaism yourself, you would not have much good to say about him anymore. You would likely do what you could to discredit him. After all, you would not tell people, “Saul found the truth and left us.”

In the sermon, I asked the audience to imagine what people (especially Jews) would say about Saul online if the Internet existed in the first century. People would call him a false teacher. There would be all kinds of false accusations flying around. People would claim that Paul taught things not lawful (Acts 16:21), that he attempted to profane the temple (Acts 24:6) and that he spoke against the law and Caesar (Acts 25:8).

All these accusations against Paul are not true. Too many people are quick to believe lies though, especially concerning religious matters. If all these things were circulated over the Internet, Paul would find himself saying something modern Christians often have to say – do not believe everything you read!

When you search for “the beginning of the church of Christ” online, you will read over and over that Alexander Campbell started the church. Alexander Campbell left the Baptist church and his father, Thomas Campbell, left the Presbyterian church. Obviously, both denominations will be critical of these men, so we must be mindful of what we read. Like Saul leaving the Jews to teach the gospel of Christ, no Baptist or Presbyterian will say, “Those Campbells left because they found the truth.”

When Paul left Judaism, he did not start his own church. The same is true of the Campbell’s – they were not seeking to start their own church. I am not suggesting that nobody has ever left a denomination with the intent to start their own. That has absolutely happened in the past and continues to happen today. Just like Paul though, people can leave a false group and begin following the Lord without any manmade creeds or teachings. This is what the Campbells sought.

When teachers preach the truth, people can be converted to Christ (Acts 9:19-20; 18:1-8). When this happens, local churches can be established. But whose churches are these? They must be the church that Christ built with His own blood, the church that the Lord’s people belong to (Matt. 16:18; Acts 20:28; Acts 2:47). Anything else is a denomination. A church only belongs to Christ if it teaches the doctrine of Christ and recognizes Him as its head (II John 9; Col. 1:18).

Over the last few hundred years, some people who attended faithful churches of Christ were called Campbellites. This label is wrong because Christians do not follow Campbell, only Christ. Sadly, this is not a new problem. Consider the example found in 1 Corinthians. Some converts called themselves after Paul (verse 12). Whether a person called themselves a “Paul-ite” or was labeled a “Paul-ite” by others, Paul clearly taught that this was wrong (verse 13). Everyone Paul converted in the first century was converted to Christ, just as Campbell’s converts were in the 1800s or modern converts are today.

With so much false information floating around online, Christians must encourage people to open their Bibles and verify claims they hear. Confusion can be cleared up! Let’s compare what we have discussed with the origins of other denominations.

In the year 1536 AD, John Calvin began the Presbyterian church. In 1607, John Smythe started the Baptist church. Did these men get back to the gospel and encourage people to simply be Christians in the Lord’s church like we read about in the New Testament? If this was their intent, something went wrong.

Were there Presbyterians before 1536 AD? Were there any Baptists prior to 1607 AD? Most importantly, where do you read of those groups in the Bible? Both denominations were started by men, meaning they are man-made religions. They taught some Biblical truth, but they also mixed in many of their own doctrines. Recall how Paul consciously avoided creating his own sect. He did this because Christ had already established His church. This why Paul called them churches of Christ (Rom. 16:16).

Could a church of Christ become a man-made church? Of course! The group’s name might be scriptural, but they could still teach man-made doctrines. Consider the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). Joseph Smith started that group in 1830 AD. The Lord’s church was started in approximately 33 AD. Any group claiming origins after that year has a fundamental problem.

When you read the New Testament, you will find letters written to churches of our Lord. Some of these letters describe improper things the churches were doing and needed to repent of (Rev. 2-3). This shows that just having a scriptural name is not enough – your religious group must recognize that Christ has ALL the authority and that all of His doctrine must be followed (II John 9).  If your group does not have a scriptural name though, something is wrong from the start – think about it!

Chuck

What grace is not

If you teach someone that 2+2=4, you should not have to also teach everything that 2+2 does not equal (2+2≠5, 2+2≠3, etc.). If someone was raised to believe that 2+2=5 though, you would have to teach both what 2+2 does equal (4) and also what it does not equal (5).

This is a common challenge when trying to teach what God’s word actually says. You might think that whenever someone teaches what the Bible says, they would not have to also teach what the Bible does not say. Sadly though, many people think the Bible teaches certain things that it does not. In this article, we will teach what grace is. But we also have to point out what grace is not. Why? Many religious teachers spread confusion by making claims about grace that are NOT Biblical.

The Biblical meaning of grace

The simple definition of grace is “a gift”. Paul stated that we are saved by grace through faith and not of works (Eph. 2:8-9). This shows that we can never earn our salvation – it is a gift from God and thus something that we do not deserve. If we did deserve it, it would not be a gift thus would not be considered grace. Specifically, God’s gift to us was the sending of Jesus Christ and providing a plan of salvation that leads to heaven (Eph. 2:1-7). 

Despite the Bible’s clear teaching, religious teachers have muddied the waters. Here are some things that grace is NOT:

Grace is not a license to sin

The brethren at Rome were told God’s grace was great due to the amount of sinfulness in the world (Rom. 5:20). Paul did not want them to get the wrong idea though, so he posed a question: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1). In essence, Paul asks if the brethren should sin more to make God’s gift even more necessary. He strongly answered his own question: “Certainly not!” (verse 2). The point of Christ dying on the cross and giving His life as a gift for us was so that we would no long live under sin (Rom. 6:2). Willfully turning to sin is a rejection of this gift. Therefore, grace is not a license to sin!

Grace is not God overlooking sin

For some reason, people want to believe that “the grace of God” means He sees Christ’s blood when we sin rather than seeing us commit the actual error.  This makes no sense. Mankind was in sin, so the Father sent His Son (Rom. 5:8) to help us find forgiveness (Eph. 1:7). Does this mean God will overlook sins after someone becomes a Christian? In the Bible, Christians who sinned were told that God saw their wrongdoing (I Cor. 5:2; I Cor. 1:11; Rev. 2:4, 14; 3:1, 15-16). They were never told these sins were overlooked.

Grace is not obtained without conditions

Many religious people today are confused about grace because they believe it is unconditional. They say that if there are conditions on grace, it would no longer be a gift. What about the conditions Jesus gave: “Unless you believe I am He you will die in your sins” (John 8:24)? Also consider this condition about repentance: “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish,” (Luke 13:3). And this condition about baptism: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). To not abide in the doctrine of Christ is to miss heaven (II John 9). Keep in mind what we read earlier – we are saved by grace through faith. This faith must be active, not dead (James 2:26). Grace is the Lord’s part, and faith is our part. Our faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17).

                                                                                         Chuck