“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” (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).
——————–
Contents
1) “The Gospel Which Was Preached Of Me” (H.E. Phillips)
2) One with the Father and the Son (Bryan Gibson)
——————–
-1-
“The Gospel Which Was Preached Of Me”
H.E. Phillips
No man in New Testament times received more attacks and criticism for his preaching than did the apostle Paul. Again and again he was called upon to defend his apostleship and the gospel which he preached. The book of Galatians is largely devoted to the proof of his apostleship and the divine origin of the gospel which he preached in contrast to the false doctrines which were carrying them away from the Lord. The ideas of what constitutes proof of sound doctrine today may vary, but the one way to prove what is sound doctrine was used by the apostle in Galatians 1:11,12: “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Of course, we do not today receive the gospel directly from Jesus Christ; but we do receive what was delivered directly to the apostles. What we read in the New Testament is the word of Christ just as Paul and the other apostles received it. But usually when one comes to prove a proposition or establish a practice he uses other arguments besides the fact that it is written in the New Testament. Those who do such are occupying the grounds of the false teachers against whom Paul wrote in the Galatian epistle. A certain doctrine is taught; and to make the hearer believe it, the teacher or preacher resorts to the following claims:
1. ‘My years of experience.’ Paul could not say much for his years of experience in the gospel as compared to the other apostles. He speaks of himself as “of one born out of due time.” Now one of the first arguments made is that of preaching so many years. That is supposed to make the hearer accept what he says. This is no proof because a man may preach error for fifty years and never get it right.
2. ‘My education.’ Paul mentioned his education in the righteousness of the law at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), but he counted all this for nothing in preaching the gospel delivered to him by Christ (Phil. 3:7-9). One does not know God by the wisdom of this world (1 Cor. 1:20-21). The number of degrees a man has does not prove his preaching to be true.
3. ‘I stand with great men of the past.’ Paul stood with one of the greatest teachers of his day — Gamaliel — but he did not offer that as proof of the truth he preached. Often great men of the past were wrong in what they taught. The thing to do is to prove that these men stood upon the only foundation of truth — the New Testament, then we have only proved that we have the truth because it is taught in the word of God. Just the fact that we stand with great men of the past does not give credence to what we teach; it is the fact that it comes from the New Testament.
4. ‘The majority agree with my stand.’ Not one time do we read of Paul, or any other apostle, using this argument to prove either apostleship or truth of the gospel which they preached. History abounds with proof that the majority are always opposed to the gospel of Christ. It is true that many people are more persuaded by the stand of the majority and the elite than they are by what is taught in the gospel of Jesus Christ, but this does not prove their doctrine to be true. Just the fact that one stands with the minority does not prove him right. It must be proved by what is taught in the word of God. Neither the majority nor the minority proves a man to be teaching the true gospel.
5. ‘I have never changed.’ This is supposed to guarantee that the position held without change is the true one. This is certainly not the proof Paul used to establish his apostleship and his gospel. He freely admitted his change and told why. His proof was not in the consistency of his own belief and practice through his years, but rather that he had learned and received the truth that did not come from man, nor by man, but from the Lord himself. He says that in his former course he “thought” he was right, but learned of his error and changed. The mere fact that one has never changed his teachings does not prove his doctrine to be true. The only proof of sound doctrine is what is taught in the New Testament. Let that be our only appeal.
— Via Viewpoint from the Valley Grove church of Christ, August 7, 2022
——————–
-2-
One with the Father and the Son
Bryan Gibson
Jesus, in describing His relationship with the Father, used these phrases: “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30); “the Father is in Me, and I in Him” (John 10:38); “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me…the Father who dwells in Me” (John 14:10). But here’s what’s amazing—Jesus wants us to be one in them (the Father and the Son): “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in you; that they also may be one in Us…” (John 17:20-21).
So how is this possible—that we can be one in the Father and the Son (them in us and us in them)? If we can identify the different ways Jesus is one with the Father, then we can understand how we can be one in them. Here are three different ways in which Jesus and the Father are one, and how each relates to our unity with them.
Jesus and the Father are one in DOCTRINE. Jesus affirmed over and over again that what He taught came from His Father, that His words were the Father’s words (John 7:14-18; 8:26-29, 40; 12:47-50; 14:24; 17:8, 14). That being the case, for us to be one in them, we must teach only what Jesus taught. And that’s exactly what these passages plainly state: “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9). “Therefore, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father” (1 John 2:24). There’s no getting around it—what we teach must be ONE with what Jesus taught.
Jesus and the Father are one in LOVE. Jesus spoke often of His Father’s love (John 3:35; 5:20; 10:17; 14:21, 23; 16:27; 17:24), the same love Jesus showed to others (“as the Father loved Me, I also have loved you”—John 15:10). This divine love is exemplified in a number of ways, including His willingness to lay down His life for us (John 3:16; 10:11, 15, 17-18). And it’s this divine love that Jesus wants to see in us: “And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which you loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). We can’t be “in them” and “them in us” unless we demonstrate this same love to others (“love one another, as I loved you”—John 15:12; see also John 13:34-35; Ephesians 5:25; 1 John 3:13-18; 4:7-16).
Jesus and the Father are one in WILL. Not only was what Jesus taught in harmony with the Father’s will, but also what He did (“for I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me”—John 6:38; see also 4:34; 5:30; 8:29; 14:31; 15:10). In fact, this was the very way Jesus expressed His love for the Father—“I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do”—John 14:31). And so, to be one with the Father and the Son, and to properly express our love, we must do as Jesus did—obey the Father’s will, or make His will our will (“he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him”—1 John 3:24; see also John 14:15, 21, 23-24; 1 John 2:3-6). Unlike Jesus, we don’t obey the will of God perfectly, and so in order to maintain this fellowship, we must humbly repent, confess our wrongs, and seek forgiveness from God (1 John 1:7, 9).
How is it, then, that we can be one in the Father and the Son? How can they be in us and us in them? How do we maintain this fellowship? By making His doctrine our doctrine, His love our love, and His will our will.
— Via Plain Words from God’s Word, May 29, 2024
——————–
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 Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins. For every accountable person has sinned (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10), which causes one to be spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23). Therefore, repentance of sin is necessary (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30). For whether the sin seems great or small, there will still be the same penalty for either (Matt. 12:36-37; 2 Cor. 5:10) — and even for a lie (Rev. 21:8).
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; 1 Pet. 3:21). This is the final step that puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27). For from that baptism, one is then raised as a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), having all sins forgiven and beginning a new life as a Christian (Rom. 6:3-4). For the one being baptized does so “through faith in the working of God” (Col. 2:12). In other words, believing that God will keep His word and forgive after one submits to these necessary steps. And now as a Christian, we then need to…
6) Continue in the faith by living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Matt. 24:13; Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
——————–
Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday: 9 a.m. Bible Classes and 10 a.m. Worship Service. Congregational Song Service: 5 p.m. for every first Sunday of the month.
Wednesday: 7 p.m. Bible Classes
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
https://thomastedwards.com/go/all.htm (This is a link to the older version of the Gospel Observer website, but with bulletins going back to March 4, 1990.)