The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
July 29, 2007
In
This Issue:
A
Time to Mourn
by
Steve Klein
Repentance:
A Foundation Doctrine
by
Dwight McGee
A Time to Mourn
Long ago, Solomon said that there is "a time to mourn" (Ecclesiastes 3:4). In our human experience, at one point or another, we all come to that time. Most often it is a time when loved ones have been lost, and we gather with the living in "the house of mourning." These times are important. They compel us to reflect on our own mortality and prepare ourselves to meet our Maker (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4).
And so it is that losing loved ones to death is perhaps the chief reason people mourn. Death appears to generate far more genuine mourning than any other single thing. But I am not sure that it should. Not because death isn't worth mourning, but because there is something far sadder and more painful that occurs much more frequently. That thing is sin.
The Bible doesn't leave us to guess which is really more painful, death or sin. In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul wrote of the reality of death, but also of the certainty of life after death. "The sting of death," he says, "is sin." (1 Corinthians 15:56). Sin is actually what makes death painful.
The Bible commends and commands mourning our sins - experiencing true godly sorrow for breaking God's laws and offending our fellowmen (2 Corinthians 7:10). The reason that such mourning is good is that it "produces repentance leading to salvation." Only when people have been adequately grieved by their sins will they turn from them. And only in turning from their sins will they find the comfort of forgiveness. This truth may clarify for us the meaning of the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:4 when He said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
Proper mourning for our sins is much more than experiencing a vague feeling of sadness or a momentary pang of guilt. David described it this way in Psalm 38:6: "I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long." David's mourning for sins was intense and prolonged. Cleansing from sins requires the sinner to "Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom" (James 4:8-9).
But God's children are not to mourn their own sins only, but also the sins of others - especially other children of God. It was their failure to do this that exposed the shallowness of the Corinthians' spirituality. Paul chastised them: "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles; that a man has his father's wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you" (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). The Corinthians' attitude toward the sins of one of their own was entirely the opposite of what it should have been. And I wonder if the Corinthians' attitude does not fairly represent the attitude of many of God's people today? How many of us could say with Paul, "I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced" (2 Corinthians 12:21)? How many of us are that concerned about sin?
-- Steve Klein
You Can't Be Saved Without It!
Have you heard of any offers of salvation without repentance lately? Have you been told that you can curse, lie, live within an unlawful second or third marriage, wear your miniskirt, party at the bar, and watch the same on the video while waiting on your eternal home with our righteous God in heaven? Have you been told that you can live in this kind of sin as long as you have "accepted Jesus" at some point in your past? Nothing could be further from the truth! One of the cold, hard facts of the gospel is that there is no salvation for the man who will not repent of sins. It is time that we looked again at this foundation doctrine of Christianity.
In encouraging Christians to grow, the Hebrew writer said, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God" (Heb.6:1). Along with faith, repentance (the change of mind leading to changes in action) is a basic building block of salvation. Jesus preached, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mark 2:17). "I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). The apostles preached, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). The command for men to repent is a universal command, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained" (Acts 17:30-31a). Repentance is necessary in pleasing God.
When Christians fall, they must repent or be lost in hell. After becoming a Christian, Simon fell into sin so that he was told, "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity" (Acts 8:20-23).
The saving gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel that demands man turn from sin and evil. Without a change of life, there is no salvation to any man. Do not be fooled by false claims to the contrary. Listen to the scriptures, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting, and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Gal 6:7-9).
-- Dwight McGee
Via Great Plainness of Speech, Volume II, Number
12, January 1996
Published by Riverbend church of Christ, Florence, AL