The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
August 22, 2004
In
This Issue:
God,
Be Merciful to Me, a Sinner!
by
Joe R. Price
Christians
Only: A Personal Commitment
by
Dan Petty
God, Be Merciful to Me, a Sinner!
The words of the publican who humbled himself before God as he recognized his sin resounds in the hearts of every likeminded sinner who has approached the throne of grace seeking divine mercy (Lk. 18:9-14). He was a man who needed mercy. But, so did the Pharisee of Jesus' parable. What, then, set them apart? The publican knew that he needed God's mercy; the Pharisee could only see his righteousness (?) in contrast to others. They were sinners; he was righteous. He was blinded to his personal sin and his own need for mercy, and his self-righteousness kept him from being merciful toward others. When we are unimpressed with our own need for mercy we have very little of it to give to others.
Mercy is the outward manifestation of pity or compassion. It assumes need on the part of the one who receives it as well as the resources adequate to meet that need on the part of him who shows it.
God has shown compassion toward sinful man. We need His mercy, for as sinners we stand condemned before Him (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). And God, who is rich in mercy, has abundantly supplied salvation to sinners in His Son, Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:5-7). God's great love and richness of mercy brings us to humble gratitude, reverence and faith in Him for His grace by which he brings us back to life out of our spiritual death! Only when one compre-hends the weight of his own sins will he begin to obey God in faith to receive His merciful salvation (Eph. 2:8-9).
Are you aware of your sins before God? Or, are you only concerned about somebody else's sins being greater and more monumental than yours? Beware of self-righteousness: It keeps one from obtaining the mercy of God (Lk. 18:9, 14).
Christ not only calls upon us to recognize our personal need for God's mercy, He also calls upon us to show mercy to others (Matt. 5:7). It ought to be apparent by now that being merciful grows out of one's humble gratitude for having received mercy. We will not show mercy unless we are humble enough to truly admit that we need mercy, too. It is vitally important to remember that unless we show mercy to others we will not receive mercy from God (Matt. 5:7; 18:21-35).
For instance, being merciful prompts us to work patiently with the sinner to help him overcome his sin (Gal. 6:1-2; 2 Tim. 2:24-26). We must not be quick to condemn and cast aside the sinner. Instead, we must have sufficient humility before God and compassion for sinners in order to try to restore those overtaken in sin (Matt. 9:36-38). God has dealt mercifully with us. We must deal mercifully with each other. Humble, compassionate and merciful Christians undertake the task of teaching the lost, of urging him to repent and obey the gospel, and of fully forgiving him when he repents (Lk. 17:3-4). No other kind of Christian will succeed in saving souls. And, no other kind of heart will be worthy to receive mercy from God
by Joe R. Price
Christians Only: A Personal Commitment
The quest for pure, unadulterated Christianity is a worthy challenge. Many brave souls have risked rejection, ostracism -- even death -- to question established forms for the sake of truth. The desire for a purer form of Christianity has led some to pay a heavy price.
The leaders of the Restoration Movement who rejected denominationalism and preached the unity of all believers based on "the Bible and the Bible alone" were first prepared personally to face the challenge. Undenominational Christianity did not come without a price tag.
Nor does it come cheaply in any age. True discipleship has always been costly. The most important quality for would-be disciples is not intelligence, education, or social prestige. Neither is it a unique spiritual insight or moral stamina. Above all, it calls for a personal commitment to Christ that supercedes all else.
To get to the heart of the matter, Jesus emphasizes the unqualified, uncompromising love for Him that is necessary for discipleship by telling us to "hate" mother, father, family -- even our own lives (Luke 14:26-27). It is a matter of comparison, of course, but the degree of personal loyalty that Christ requires cannot be misunderstood. Certainly this loyalty also excludes all other pretenders: all "different gospels" or those who would preach them are divinely anathematized (Galatians 1:6-9). Christ is the cornerstone of the church (Ephesians 1:20), and is jealous of its purity. Personal preparation to plead undenominational Christianity means arming oneself with Truth (Ephesians 6:14).
It also means removing all hindrances to the task. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will not allow any human relationships to stand in the way (Luke 14:26-27). Even family ties must come second. Religiously speaking, Jesus Christ shares our loyalty with no one. Family relations are dear to us, and praised in God's Book, but our soul's salvation -- and that of our loved ones -- is the pearl of great price.
We must also remove the hindrances of creedal beliefs or religious traditions which we may have inherited. The teachings of men are vanity in worship (Matthew 15:9). In Colossians, where the issue was false teaching, Paul admonished, "Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize..." (2:18-23). Don't be robbed of your greatest legacy, your soul's salvation, by something that someone has concocted.
Indeed, do not allow men to stand in the way in any form or fashion. To adhere to any man -- whether apostle or apostate -- is to be, in Paul's words, "carnal" (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). The same promotes divisions among Christians (1 Corinthians 1:10-14). Be realistic enough to know that there will always be the problem that "men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:28-30).
Perhaps the greatest hindrance to overcome is self. And the threat is most unexpected, which is the genius of the devil. "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). Confident assurance in our relationship with the Lord is one thing; closing our eyes to the possibility that we might be wrong is another. A false pride that "we" have all the truth could end up being our downfall. The day we decide we have all the questions answered, and in our satisfaction, are no longer capable of genuine study of where we stand in the light of the gospel, is the day that we are ready to be defeated in the quest for pure Christianity. "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!" (2 Corinthians 13:5).
By Dan Petty