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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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June 2, 2013
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Contents:
1) Traditions (Tom Edwards)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
Traditions
by Tom Edwards
Acceptable Traditions
Not all traditions are wrong in themselves. For instance, in
some congregations it is traditional to have the Lord's Supper
before the sermon, while others might do that afterwards. The
number of songs led during a worship service is also often
traditional -- along with when the public prayers will be
made. Congregations I have attended, for about the last 35
years, have usually observed (from week to week) the same format for
the worship service, such as three songs and a prayer (or two songs
in some groups), then a song to help prepare one's mind for the
Lord's Supper, then the communion, followed by the collection (which
is often announced as being "separate and apart from the Lord's
Supper"), followed by the sermon, then the invitation song,
and lastly the closing prayer. Since God has not specified
certain times for these observances, except for the Lord's Supper
and collection to be only on Sunday (cf. Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-3),
each congregation has the right to select their own order of worship
for observing these acts.
When an Acceptable Tradition Becomes Wrong
If, however, a man would try to bind one certain order for the acts
of worship, as if it would be the only Scriptural format for how
they can be carried out, then it would be wrong. For that
would be a violation of binding where God has not bound, and thus
wrongfully adding to God's word, which we are prohibited from doing
(cf. Rev. 22:18; Deut. 4:2; Gal. 1:6-9).
Traditions That Have Nullified God's Word
In the New Testament, Jesus shows of some Jewish traditions that had
made void the Scriptures. For these precepts were not from
heaven, but simply man-made concepts that were believed by many to
be essential for maintaining a right relationship with God, such as
the distance (which the Lord had not specified) that a man could
walk on a Sabbath Day without violating it. So violations of
these Jewish traditions were regarded by many as a violation against
God Himself; but since these doctrines were not of divine origin,
trying to bind them on others would be a violation in itself.
Consider, for instance, the following: "Then some Pharisees and
scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 'Why do Your disciples
transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash
their hands when they eat bread.' And He answered and said to
them, 'And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God
for the sake of your tradition? For God said, "HONOR YOUR
FATHER AND MOTHER," and, "HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER,
LET HIM BE PUT TO DEATH." But you say, "Whoever shall say to
his father or mother, 'Anything of mine you might have been helped
by has been given to God,' he is not to honor his father or his
mother." And thus you invalidated the word of God for the sake
of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy
of you, saying, "THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR
HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN"'" (Matt. 15:1-9).
This is another case of individuals finding fault with the Lord's
disciples, but based merely on human tradition, rather than God's
divine word. For though, sanitarily speaking, it is good to
wash one's hands before eating, the Lord never instructed that it
would be a spiritual defilement to not do so. It, therefore,
was not a violation of the Lord's disciples, as they had been
wrongfully accused; and, ironically, the accusers were the very ones
who had actually been guilty of transgressing the commandments of
God "for the sake of their tradition." For through their
doctrine, they had even set aside God's law to "honor your father
and mother"; and, as a result, had "invalidated the word of God" (v.
6). Therefore, their worship to God was in vain and not
acceptable to Him. For they were "teaching as doctrines the
precepts of men" (v. 9).
Be Sure the Way of Salvation is the One Handed Down by God --
Instead of Just Man!
In the religious world today, many false doctrines continue to be
handed down that have been around for so long that people have
regarded them as gospel truth -- but these teachings are far from
that. For instance, the "sinner's prayer" has been taught,
preached, and practiced for many years by numerous people and often
seen in denominational tracts as how one is to become a
Christian. But nowhere in the New Testament do we find a
person becoming a child of God in that way. It is true that
Peter, in quoting Joel's prophesy, states that "...everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21); but he
never said this was done by praying. Rather, he shows it is
accomplished by believing in Jesus (v. 36), repenting of sins, and
being baptized (v. 38). Corresponding to that is Ananias'
instruction to Paul to "...Arise, and be baptized, and wash away
your sins, calling on His name" (Acts 22:16). By submitting to
the gospel plan of salvation -- which includes hearing God's word
(Rom. 10:17), believing in Jesus (Jn. 8:24), repenting (Luke 13:5),
confessing one's faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38), and
being baptized (Mk. 16:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27) -- one is
calling on the Lord. This can also be seen in 1 Peter 3:21,
where Peter declares "...baptism now saves you -- not the removal of
dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good
conscience...." Notice that it is not merely by getting clean
in the water that baptism saves; but, rather, through baptism one is
making "an appeal to God for a good conscience."
Praying for one's sins to be forgiven, during the Gospel Age, is
mentioned in the New Testament with only regard to the Christian who
has sinned. For example, Simon was told to "repent of this
wickedness of yours, and to pray to the Lord that if possible, the
intention of your heart may be forgiven you" (Acts 8:22). Why
is it just one sin that Simon is to pray to be forgiven of?
Because all his others had previously been blotted out when he
believed and was baptized (vv. 12,13). But now Simon had
transgressed by wrongfully offering money to the apostles to buy the
gift that they had to impart the Holy Spirit to others (vv.
18-21).
When John writes, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:9), the apostle was not writing to the
world in general. Rather, he was writing to Christians:
"Beloved, now we are children of God..." (1 Jn. 3:2).
When Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone
hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will
dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20), He was not addressing
everyone in the world. Rather, this was said specifically to
the church at Laodicea that had become lukewarm (indifferent to
spiritual things); and Jesus is, therefore, urging them to
repent. So He is declaring this to Christians who needed to
turn from sin and pray for God's forgiveness.
We can also point out that Paul and Cornelius had both prayed before
they were saved, but they weren't forgiven nor did they become
Christians by those prayers. For they had to do what everyone
else in the Gospel Age is also required, as mentioned above in God's
plan of salvation.
Especially in the case of Paul, he had been fasting and praying for
3 days after having met the Lord on the road to Damascus. Paul
now knew that he had sinned against God in consenting to the death
of innocent Christians; and, therefore, viewed himself as the chief
or foremost of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). So would he not have
been praying for forgiveness? Yet, it wasn't by those prayers
that he was forgiven. Rather, it required baptism (along with
the other necessary steps) for Paul to receive the remission of sins
(Acts 22:16).
Traditions That Have Been Handed Down by God
Though we probably normally think of traditions as being strictly
man-made, that is not always the case. For the term literally
means, "a handing down" (W.E. Vine). So not only would that
pertain to human teachings that have been passed on from generation
to generation, but also to God's word that has been handed down to
us. As Paul makes clear, the message he delivered is that
which he had "received from the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:23). And
elsewhere he refers to the gospel in that sense of being a
"tradition" (from God) that is to be observed. For instance:
"Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold
firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you" (1 Cor.
11:2). "It was for this He called you through our gospel, that
you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then,
brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were
taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us" (2 Thess.
2:14,15). "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads
an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received
from us" (2 Thess. 3:6).
If all we know is that which has been handed down by men then we are
not reaching high enough. For the Bible is that which has been
handed down from God in Heaven (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20,21;
Acts 1:16; 4:25); and without it, even the wisest among us would
never come to truly know God (cf. 1 Cor. 1:20,21).
Man often finds ancient artifacts an interesting connection to the
past to have better insight into the world of that day. But
how much greater it is to look to the book that links us with God
and will lead to the world to come in heaven above! How
thankful we should be for this wondrous message that God has handed
down to us! May we, therefore, ever look to it and live by
it! For it has been handed down, so that we (by our compliance
to it) can be taken up!
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-2-
News & Notes
Let those of us who are Christians be remembering the following
people in prayer:
The surgery for Janice Webb (Anthony's mother) went
well. Due to the tumor being malignant, the thyroid was
removed; and she is now healing.
On June 21, Penny Foley (Jackson Moon's great aunt) will be
having surgery to remove a tumor in her leg.
Virginia Fontenot continues to have a difficult time
in being treated for stage 4 cancer. Though she is no longer
having to take pain medication every day, she usually does not feel
very well each day -- especially right after receiving the
chemo.
Jean Calloway, who suffered a cardiac arrest on May 8, is
still in the hospital, undergoing therapy and has been making some
improvement. She is to return home June 10, will continue with
dialysis three times a week, and will also be receiving long-term
care and Home Health.
Cindy Crews will be having additional surgery, due to breast
cancer.
Linda Blevins found out recently that her kidneys were
working only 75% back in January, but now they are working at only
50%. She has been diagnosed with bilateral renal artery
stenosis and has hydronephrosis, along with a kidney stone.
She will be having some more tests.
Ashley Robertson Walters was recently hospitalized for a
kidney stone, but is now back home -- though at last report, the
stone was still with her.
Becky Robertson recently had to have a shot for tendinitus in
her left hand and will need to wear a brace for a few weeks.
Pam MacDonald is still healing from her recent back surgery
that required adding 16 pieces of metal to her spinal column.
All went well.
Bill Barfield (Virginia's brother) is now being weened off a
ventilator, though they will keep the CPAP on him for continuous
airway pressure. He has been in a few different hospitals
continuously since March 2012.
* Let us also be remembering the following
in prayer: Tom
Smitherman (Lee's father) who has been diagnosed with an
aggressive prostate cancer; Cheryl Crews who has
some chronic ailments; and Shirley Young who suffers from
fibromyalgia.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom.
10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John
3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts
8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins
(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet.
3:21).
6) Continue in the faith; for, if not, salvation can
be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Park Forest
CHURCH OF CHRIST
9923 Sunny Cline Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 6 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)