The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at New Georgia

Tim Johnson, editor

July 22, 2007

 
In This Issue:
The Moral Man
by Gardner S. Hall

Sinners Can Change
by George Hutto

 

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The Moral Man

    I knew a man once who attended services with his family, but he was not a Christian.  I held a meeting near his home and he attended all the services.  I decided to ask him why he had not been baptized into Christ.  He replied that he had always lived a good life, was thoughtful of his family and had tried to help the needy, and that he could hardly think that such a man could be lost.  There may be others who think as he did.

  All men must be moral to go to heaven.  Faith, baptism, worship attendance, prayer and the Lord's Supper will not save the immoral man or woman (Revelation 21:9; Galatians 5:19-21).  But morality itself can never take a man to heaven.  Consider the following observations concerning the moral man who has not obeyed the gospel.

  1. He is a sinner.  No responsible person can be so righteous as to be free of sin (Romans 3:9, 22-23).

  2. He needs to be saved.  Cornelius was a good man, but he needed salvation (Acts 10:1-6; 11:14).

  3. He is trying to be saved by works.  That is, if he has the attitude described by my opening illustration.  Paul teaches that one cannot be saved by his own meritorious works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Philippians 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:9, 10).

  4. He is the enemy of Christ.  Jesus said, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." (Matthew 12:30).

  5. He is a bad example.  This may seem to be a strange statement, but the moral man's children and other young people know they should not follow the example of the drunkard, the thief, the adulterer or the murderer.  But they admire that moral man.  He can advise them and they consider him wise.  Yet, his example falls short of leading them to be Christians.  His example will not lead them to heaven.

  6. He ignores the only way to heaven.  One can go to heaven only through Christ. (John 14:6; Galatians 3:27).

  7. He does not want the influence of Christ removed from the earth, yet he is not on the Lord's side.  If I could destroy every shred of evidence that Jesus ever lived -- all the art, all the books, all the songs, all the Lord's servants, all the refining influence, the church - he would not want me to do so.  But he still refuses to become one of the Lord's true servants.

  When Moses came down from the mount and saw the golden calf, he challenged the people with the question, "Who is on the Lord's side?" (Exodus 32:26).  The same challenge faces the moral man who has not obeyed the gospel.  Jesus is calling the moral man and all of us to come to His side to fight the good fight of faith.

 -- Gardner S. Hall
adapted from Outline Studies 

 Sinners Can Change

  There are times to recognize that characters are bad and should be left alone. Jesus said concerning false teachers, "Leave them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind" (Matt. 15:14). Jeremiah said of Judah, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil" (Jer. 13:23). Although some have given in to evil, the premise of the gospel is that sinners will change -- they have it within them to serve God.

  "...Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Lk. 24:46, 47). Repentance is a change of behavior brought on by a change of heart, and the gospel is designed to bring these changes about.

  The city of Nineveh is a great example of repentance. "The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here" (Lk. 11:32).

  When Peter realized that he had sinned by denying the Lord, he "went out and wept bitterly" (Lk. 22:62). He never was guilty of that atrocity again. Afterward, he was arrested, publicly humiliated, and threatened, but he and his fellow apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus (Acts 5:41).

  When the Jews on Pentecost were shown their sin, and that the blood of the Christ was on their hands, "they were pricked in the heart," and asked what they could do to make things right. The instruction from the Holy Spirit was to "Repent and be baptized..." They were told to change.

  When Jesus healed the infirmed man, He said, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (Jno. 5:14). To the woman taken in adultery, He said, "Go and sin no more" (Jno. 8:11).

  "Conversion" is a word used by Jesus and the apostles to explain what happens to sinners when they are exposed to the gospel of love, grace, and opportunity. It is said that Jesus atoned for our sins, something we cannot do. However, He expects us to change our hearts and our behavior -- something that we can do.

  So, the next time you are exposed to the idea that people will sin, that boys will be boys, that folks will be fornicators and adulterers, or that teens are going to drink or smoke dope; remember that they DON'T HAVE TO SIN. The church is not an agency for social Band-Aids, and the Bible is not intended to nurse the wounds of sinners. The goal is to change the hearts of sinners, bringing about a change of behavior so that men and women will be acceptable to God (Isa. 59:1,2; Lk. 13:3,5).

-- George Hutto
In Tidings, Vol. 22, No. 2, Feb. 2007