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The
Gospel Observer
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June 16, 2019
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Contents:
1) We Must Die to Live (Doy Moyer)
2) Possible or Impossible? (Bill Crews)
3) To Whom Were They Speaking? (Carroll R. Sutton)
4) News & Notes
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-1-
We Must Die to Live
Doy Moyer
“I have to die to get better.” Have you felt that way? You feel so
sick that you about wish you would go ahead and die so that you can
feel better? We say that as a bit of a joke (or maybe not). Of
course, at the time that we feel so badly, we do wish for about
anything to happen that would improve our condition. Being sick is
no fun and we will do whatever it takes to feel better. Of course,
as Christians, doing “whatever it takes” still needs to be within
what is moral and right. The world doesn’t always follow that path.
Spiritually, the concept of dying in order to get better is a truth
to which we must conform. In order to get better, in order to be
free from sin, in order to experience forgiveness and true freedom,
we must die. This is an important idea in Scripture. For example,
Paul put it this way:
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your
minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For
you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When
Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him
in glory” (Col 3:1-4).
Paul follows up by saying, “Put to death therefore what is earthly
in you…,” then speaks of some of the sins that characterize the one
who has not yet died to self. We put to death what is worldly, put
off the sins of the flesh, and put on Christ and the new self (vv.
5-15). To be new, the old must go. We must die to live. Paul also
wrote to the Romans:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may
abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do
you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by
baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of
life” (Rom 6:1-4).
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God
in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11).
Again, before receiving forgiveness from God, we were considered to
be dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). That death came as a
result of sin (Rom 6:23). However, we must experience another kind
of death. This death is a death to self and sin in order to be
brought to life by God spiritually. In other words, we must die to
live.
This is another way of speaking about self-denial. Jesus told His
disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save
it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and
loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:23-25)
Self-denial is a way of putting self to death in order to live for
God. If we try to save our lives by refusing self-denial, we will
suffer a death no one ultimately wants. If we will deny self, losing
our lives for His sake, then we will be saved. It’s paradoxical, but
if we can see the kinds of death involved, we can see that the point
is simply this: we cannot put ourselves first over God and others
and expect to receive the blessings God offers. If we want to live,
we must die. If we want to be saved, we must lose our lives for His
sake.
This is what Jesus did for us. He is the ultimate example of one who
emptied (denied) self and died (Phil 2:6-8). Yet, He lives. The
resurrection is what makes eternal life possible now, as Jesus said:
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though
he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me
shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
By God’s grace, we can die so that we will live. This goes beyond
our spiritual death and new life here. This points to an ultimate
life that comes from Christ conquering death through His
resurrection. We die to live now. Then, because death has been
conquered, our physical death is not something to fear because we,
too, shall take part in the resurrection of life (Heb 2:14-15).
We don’t want to die; we want to live. Yet as physical death is
necessary to resurrection, so also is death to self and sin
necessary to the new life in Christ. By God's grace we can
experience both.
In order to get better and live, we must die. Have you?
-- Via the bulletin of the Vestavia church of Christ, March 24, 2019
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-2-
Possible or Impossible?
Bill Crews
Can an accountable person who so desires become just a Christian?
And can a group of such people constitute a congregation (such as
those we read about in the New Testament) that is nondenominational
and that belongs to Christ? The religious world in general says that
it is impossible; we say that it is possible. Christians in the
first century were neither Catholics nor Protestants. All of the
Lord’s churches were non-denominational and neither Catholic nor
Protestant. Our plea is for people to lay aside human names and
designations, human creeds and doctrines, human organizations and
systems and become only Christians, and constitute only churches of
the Lord.
Can any accountable person, as a result of his own sincere desire
and effort, understand the Bible so that he can know what it teaches
and so that he can see clearly what it is that God wants him to
know, to believe, to do and to be? The religious world in general
says that this is impossible; we say that it is both possible and
necessary. We know that God is unlimited in power, wisdom and
knowledge; that He is capable of giving a revelation that can be
understood by men; and that He certainly wants men to understand
this revelation of His will. To maintain that people cannot
understand the Bible, or that they cannot “under-stand it
alike,” is more of a reflection upon God and His Book than it is
upon men.
Editor’s Note [of the Roanridge Reader]: To the degree that we
understand the Bible, we will understand it alike. There are not
different meanings to God’s Word. It is not subject to a variety of
interpretations. Either we understand it, believe it and obey it, or
we do not. Read again Bill Crews’ fine article. It is brief but full
of meaning.
— Via the Roanridge Reader, Volume 34, Issue 22, page
4, June 2, 2019
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To Whom Were They Speaking
Carrol R. Sutton
In Acts 16:31 when Paul and Silas said: “Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house,” they were speaking
to an unbeliever, the jailor at Philippi (Acts 16:12). In Acts 2:38
when Peter said: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, ... “ he was
speaking to believers in Jerusalem” (Acts 2:36-37).
In Acts 22:16 when Ananias said: “And now why tarriest thou? arise,
and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the
Lord,” he was talking to a penitent believer, Saul of Tarsus (Acts
9:4-18; 22:3-16).
In each of the above cases, each person was told what he needed to
know at that particular time. To have the proper concept, we must
accept the sum of God’s Word.
— Via The Elon Challenger, Volume 16, Number 9, May 2019
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-5-
News & Notes
Folks to be keeping in prayer:
The back surgery for Melotine Davis last Thursday went
well. She returned home the same day and is now healing from
it.
Jan Bartlett will be having a lumpectomy June 27, followed
by radiation treatments a few weeks later.
Mary Martin had a stroke a couple weeks ago that she is now
recuperating from.
Others to also be praying for: Shirley Davis, A.J. and Pat
Joyner, Jim Lively, Bud Montero, Rick Cuthbertson, James Medlock,
Deborah Medlock, Mary Vandevander, the family and friends of Tommy
Lindsey and Kayleigh Tanner, Waylon Murray, Michelle Rittenhouse,
John Stoval, Amris Bedford, Danny Hutcheson, Rex & Frankie
Hadley, and Roger Montgomery
WordPress Version of this week's bulletin:
https://thegospelobserver.wordpress.com/2019/06/16/the-gospel-observer-june-16-2019/
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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, living
for the Lord;
for, if not,
salvation can
be lost (Heb.
10:36-39; Rev.
2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday services: 9:00 a.m. (Bible class); 10 a.m.
& 5 p.m. (worship)
Tuesday: 7 p.m. (Ladies’ Bible class)
Wednesday: 7 p.m. (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 614-8593
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
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(Older version of Gospel Observer website without pictures, but
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http://tebeaustreetchurchofchrist.org/
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