The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at New Georgia

Tim Johnson, editor

June 15, 2008

 
In This Issue:
Give Your Father What He Wants
by Steve Klein

Is Baptism Essential to Salvation?
by Randy Cavender

 

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Give Your Father What He Wants

  Years ago my wife Sandi and I kept a number of foster children.  One of them, a teenage girl named Tanya, had a job at McDonald's and was supposed to be saving money for her future.  My birthday was coming up and she asked me what I wanted.  I told her in all seriousness that I really didn't need anything and that I'd be most pleased if she would just continue to save her money; I instructed her not to spend money on my birthday.  Instead of doing as I requested, she went out and spent a good bit of money on gardening tools that she thought I needed.  While I appreciated her desire to give to others, I must confess that I wasn't all that pleased with her gift.  Here's why:

  • She failed to follow my instructions - instructions that were for her good.

  • She thought she knew more about what I needed than I did.

  • The garden tools were cheaply made and not useful for any real work.

  When we give, who should we try to please, ourselves or the one to whom we are giving?   If our gift is motivated by love, we'll want it to please the recipient, not ourselves.

  In His Word, our heavenly Father tells us what He wants.  Our giving to Him should be guided by these principles:

  1. Our Father doesn't NEED anything from us.  In Acts 17:24-25 the apostle Paul said that, "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.  Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."

  2. Our Father desires our RESPECT and OBEDIENCE.  

    • Respect is shown by giving our best. The priests of Malachi's day dishonored God by offering Him less than their best.  They offered animals that were lame or sick.  In Malachi 1:6 the Lord says, "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts to you priests who despise My name."

    • Respect is shown by doing what we've been told - being in subjection.  "We have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?" (Hebrews 12:9).  Subjection involves doing what someone else tells us to do even when we might feel like doing something else.  It is expressed in the words "not my will, but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42).

    • Respect is shown with praise and thanksgiving.  "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name&ldots;for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:15-16).

  3. Our Father desires that we do right, be merciful and walk humbly with Him.  Knowing that God doesn't really need anything from us, and that He deserves respect and obedience, the prophet Micah wondered what exactly He should give the Lord.  He asks, "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" (Micah 6:6-7).   The next verse contains the inspired answer to Micah's question: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

      What are you giving God?  Is it what you want to give, or what He wants you to give?  Does it really show respect for Him or for you?  This Father's Day and every day, let us give our heavenly Father what He desires and deserves.

 --Steve Klein

Is Baptism Essential to Salvation?

  "Do you really believe that one must be baptized in order to be saved?" This question has been asked and answered many times. So many times folks will read Mark ~6:16 where Jesus said, "Lie who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." All the emotional appeals that one might think of will not change what the Bible teaches concerning baptism. I believe that a closer look at baptism is needed in order to understand why it saves.

  Baptism saves because God requires it. Many have the concept that baptism is a com-mandment of men. To believe that baptism is a man made rite is to misunderstand what the Bible teaches.

  Baptism saves because it is the means by which we enter Christ. Can one be saved outside of Christ? Paul taught the Galatians, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Gal 3:27). Furthermore, we must realize that "In Him (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7). To believe that one does not have to be baptized is to believe that one does not have to be in Christ!

  Yes, one must be baptized in order to be saved. It is required of all who will believe and trust in the Lord. Have you been baptized for the remission of your sins?

.--Randy Cavender

Via Pathfinder, Volume 26, Number 4, October 15, 1992