The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
October 1, 2006
In
This Issue:
How
to Misuse Scripture
by
Steve Klein
Obedience
of Faith
by
Robert H. Farish
How to Misuse Scripture
I recall a conversation I had many years ago with a man who believed "once saved always saved." In support of this doctrine, he quoted Romans 11:29, "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." From this passage, he tried to make the point that anytime God gives something, He will not change His mind and take it back; God is not what used to be called an "Indian giver." So, the man said, if God gives a person salvation, He won't take it back. Thus, "once saved, always saved."
Now, I'm a firm believer that "God's word is truth" and that with it we can prove what is true (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). But do I believe that this man's use of Scripture proved his point? No! Why not? Because instead of using the Scripture he misused it!
Why would I charge the man in question with misusing or twisting this Scripture? What is wrong with the way he used this Scripture? If we can understand the answer to that, we might be able to see how other Scriptures are misused by false teachers, and avoid doing the same thing ourselves. The man in question misused Romans 11:29, and we misuse Scripture too, when we. ..
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Take it out of context. In the context of Romans 11, Paul is establishing the fact that although the Israelites had been "cut off" by God because of their disobedience, they still had an opportunity to be saved. He compares the Israelites to an olive tree whose natural branches had been cut off so that the branches of a wild tree (the Gentiles) could be grafted in (11:17-21). But he warns the Gentiles that they could still be cut off too. He says, "For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either" (11:21). Notice that God "may not spare" these Gentile Christians! I ask you, does that sound like "once saved, always saved" is being taught in this context? What's being taught is exactly the opposite of "once saved, always saved"! The Gentile Christians could lose their souls if they did not remain faithful. God may cut them off!
Paul goes on to say that God is able to graft the natural branches (the Israelites) back in again. (11:23-24). Through their obedience, and by God's mercy, even the Israelites could be saved. Why? Because God promised them a "Deliverer" and a covenant through which He would "take away their sins" (11:26-27). That's when Paul says that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (11:29). In the context, Paul is talking about the gifts of a Deliverer (Jesus) and the calling of the New Covenant, neither of which God will take back.
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Fail to define words correctly. The word translated "repentance" in the King James Version in Romans 11:29 is translated "irrevocable" in some other translations (NKJV, NIV). None of these translations really does the word justice. In the original language, it is not the word that means "to change one's mind" (also translated "repent") that we find in places like Acts 2:38. Rather, it is a word meaning "regret" or "to be sorry for" used in passages like Matthew 27:3 where the Bible says that Judas Iscariot "repented" ("was remorseful" NKJV) when he saw that he was condemned. The meaning then in Romans 11:29 is that "God is not sorry for his gifts to and calling of the Jews" (A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 4, p. 399). If a person would take the time to check the meaning of this word as it's used in Romans 11:29, he would never use this passage to teach that God does not change His mind, because that's not what the word means here.
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Fail to consider other Scriptures. Most of the time, to misuse a given Scripture, one must turn a blind eye to many other Scriptures. Psalm 119:160 declares that "The entirety of Your word is truth." We must take the "entirety" of God's word if we want the truth.
There are so many passages of Scripture that, taken in context, plainly teach that the saved can be lost. For example, Galatians 5:4 states that the Galatian Christians who attempted to be justified by the Law of Moses had "fallen from grace." Hebrews 10:26-27 says of Christians that, "if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries." And, Hebrews 6:4-6 says that "those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit" can "fall away."
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Use it only to prove that YOU are right. The Scripture needs to be used to discover what's right, not to prove that a human opinion is right. The Pharisees sometimes used Scripture in their discussions with Jesus. For instance, in Matthew 19:7, they refer to what Moses said about divorce to try to justify their own doctrine and practice in the matter. If that is our approach, we will wind up misusing Scripture every time.
Misusing Scripture is a serious matter. The apostle Peter observed that people who are "untaught and unstable people" will "twist" the Scriptures "to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:16). Let's do all in our power to correctly handle the word of truth (cf. 2 Timothy 2:15).
--Steve Klein
The phrase, "Obedience of Faith," occurs several times in the New testament. The person who is concerned about his spiritual welfare will exert himself to learn what obedience of faith is. What is involved? The effectiveness of the preaching of the gospel in Jerusalem is seen in the statement, "The number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7). The language demands that we recognize that there is something in the faith to be obeyed.
To what were these priests obedient when they "were obedient to the faith?" The word "gospel" (Gal. 1:11), is used interchangeably with the word "faith" (Gal. 1:23). Paul said that he preached the gospel, but that which he preached is also described as the faith. To preach the gospel is to preach the faith - hence, to obey the faith is to obey the gospel. All who "obey not the gospel" will be "destroyed from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power" (2 Thess. 1:7-9).
Those at Rome who were "justified by faith", (Romans 5:1), had been "servants of sin" before they "became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye (they) were delivered" (Romans 6:17). Following their obedience from the heart they were "free from sin" and "servants of righteousness." Paul discussed their obedience from the heart in the first part of chapter 6. He wrote, "We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:2-4). The order of progress is: (1) Servants of sin, (2) baptized into Christ, (3) Free from sin but servants of righteousness. It is necessary for one to continue in obedience after he has been baptized into Christ. He must continue serving righteousness.
-- Robert H. Farish
In The Bible Standard, via The Instructor, Vol. 22,
No. 10, Oct. 1985