What Does the Bible Say About Why Am I A Member of the Church of Christ #19?

We begin this episode by continuing our discussion of whether a Christian can fall from grace and be lost. We discuss Galatians 5 chapter 1 through 4 where Paul tells the Christians to stand fast. We talk about the implication that a Christian may not stand fast. We move on to notice that Peter warns Christians not to get entangled in the pollutions of the world. This is a clear indication that it is possibility of doing so. We take some time to look at a few of the passages that are used by those who erroneously claim that Christians cannot fall from grace. We move on to discuss the eternal life that a Christian possesses and what this entails. Of course, this includes a discussion of the judgment that all will be subject to by the Lord. We talk about the sins Christians commit and what the Bible says the Christian is to do about it. Jesus tells several parables that are important for us to know that illustrate God's love of His people. We look at these. We close out this episode by talking about sin, its effect upon the Christian, where it comes from and how a Christian can protect from it. Take about 30-minutes to listen in on our discussion. Have your Bible handy so you can verify what we are saying. There is a transcript of this Buzzsprout episode provided for your convenience.

Transcript

Fred Gosnell: 0:00

This is a presentation of the Woodland church of Christ, meeting at 3370 Broad Street in Sumter, South Carolina. We meet for worship on Sunday at ten thirty am and five thirty pm. We meet for bible study at nine thirty am on Sunday and seven pm on Wednesday. If you have questions or comments on this lesson, you may email them to Fred Gosnell at fgosnell@ftc-i.net or to Arnie Granke at agranke44071@twc.com.

Arnie: 0:31

Good afternoon. This is Arnie Granke and Fred Gosnell with the church of Christ at Woodland. This is what does the Bible say, and we're just the two of us today, because Eric is is not well and and Glenn is busy as well. So we'll just be Fred and and Arnie, and then hopefully, here soon, we'll have everybody back, back together with us again. And Fred, I think you had a few thoughts that you wanted to express from Galatians chapter five.

Fred Gosnell: 1:13

Yes. And we been talking about the fact that it's possible for for a Christian to fall from grace. Course, that's consta, that's a contrary to what a lot of denominations, a lot of religious people teach and believe. So Paul wrote to the Galatians, Galatians five, one through four, and here's what he said. He said, Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made you made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Indeed, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ. If you attempt to be justified by the law, you have fallen from grace. For we, through the Spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ, Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith, working through love. So Paul starts this out by saying that we are to stand fast in the liberty of which Christ has made us free. Of course, he's referring to the situation of a Christian, since that is who the letter is to. By saying, stand fast, there is the implication that there is something that may blow us over or knock us off of our stand. So he identifies what that stand is as being a Christian. He says that this person can become entangled in the yoke of bondage again, and that is to become a debtor to the law of Moses, which identifies that the person had been there before they obeyed the gospel and were baptized. So Paul is speaking both to Gentiles and Jews who had become Christians. He uses this, the practice of circumcision, to explain the concept he is presenting. The Jews were required, of course, to circumcise babies on the eighth day after birth, and that placed them in the covenant relationship with God. Many of the Jews who had become Christians after the gospel of Christ, who was preached wanted to continue the practice of circumcision as a requirement for salvation. So Paul tells them that circumcision in the gospel of Christ is not required. He says that even if a person is circumcised after becoming Christian, it profits them nothing. He even mentions that if a person is circumcised, believing it to be a requirement, is indebted to do the whole law, the law of Moses, which, of course, no longer exists. So this should cause us to think about some other things that were practiced under the Law of Moses and but and are not in the law or the age of Christ. For instance, tithing or instruments of music and in worship, elaborate clothing for priests, burning incense or lighting candles, considering the church of building holy, needing a priest to go through to speak to God, sacrificing animals or the use of holy water. So many people who call themselves Christians still hold on to some or all of these practices that were only in effect during the law of Moses. So we need to only do the things that we find in the New Testament, in our service to God, our worship and our daily living. To summarize this, it was possible for Christians to become entangled again in the yoke of bondage, the things not associated with the gospel or to fall from grace, and Christians need to take a stand against falling prey to those ideas.

Arnie: 4:31

Fred, another passage I think that that fits with this concept is Second Peter, chapter two and verses 20 through 22 will will be of value to us, where Peter says, For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit, and a sow having washed to her wallering in the mire. And this is very good passage, I think, to demonstrate the concept that we're presenting. Escaping the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Jesus, Christ is turning away from sin and obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ, in other words, becoming a Christian. Peter said that some of them became caught up in these those sinful practices again, so that their condition after turning back would be worse than the condition they were in before they obeyed the gospel. He said it would have been better for them not to have come to know the way of righteousness than to have learned it and obeyed it. He uses a very vivid example to further explain. Most of us have have seen the example that he's that he's used, a dog being turned back to his vomit, and that he had expelled and eating it, disgusting This is how we should look at all the sins we're involved in prior to becoming a Christian, sickening. It is to God anyway, and I think as as Christians, we recognize that at at the time that we that we obey the gospel, that what we were, what we were doing and just was not right. A Christian can fall from gay, grace and go back into their old days, at which time lost in sin again. So now we're in a position, I think, to look at a few of the texts, those who profess that a Christian cannot fall from grace used to their to prove their belief. What's the first? First one that will work for that, Fred?

Fred Gosnell: 7:36

Well, Arnie, I've got John five verse, verse 24 and there John says, Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word, of course, this is Jesus speaking and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death into life. So in order to understand this completely, we must understand that Jesus is speaking of a current situation. That situation or condition that the one Christ is speaking to is that he is in a is in a saved condition or sanctified condition at that time. So provided that the person remains in that condition, he or she will indeed pass from death to life, dead in sin to alive in Christ, for instance. So we have already shown that a person's eternal condition depends upon their spiritual condition at the point when Christ com comes again. So that is the point in time at which we will answer for what we have done, good or bad. So another way to look at this is that Christ was referring to a future situation. Eternal life is granted to Christians who live faithful unto death. That's what John said in Revelation, chapter two, verse 10, and the eternal life begins after judgment. So we often speak of eternal life as if, as if it were a present thing, eternal life and eternal damnation both begin after judgment. So to help understand this, we'll look at Matthew 26, 28 and Arnie, I think you've got that one.

Arnie: 9:14

Well, I do. And Matthew 26, 28 says, For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed, for many, for the remission of of sins. And of course, you recognize Jesus as the speaker in in that case. This was when Jesus was instituting the Lord's Supper, in fact. He spoke as if his blood had already been shed, but his blood would not be shed until later, a later time when he applied the principle to the present. People who obey Christ's command and submit to baptism have their sins forgiven. They are in a. righteous, saved, state at that time. At that point in time, they can claim that they have eternal life, although that eternal life may not actually start until they have gone through the judgment, provided that person continues to live faithfully and does not become separated from God. They can claim that they have eternal life. Thinking Fred, about First John, chapter two, beginning in in verse three and down to verse 16. Now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoso, whoever keeps His word truly the love, love of God is perfected in him. In this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him, ought himself also to walk just as He walked. And verses 17 and 19, I think, also fit this as well. But whoso does, Whoever does this world's goods? Let me try that again. Whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in Him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this, we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. And that's the end of of what the what we'll read there from the Bible in verse 19. To be in Christ is to be the recipient of eternal life. We know that we are in Christ by how we live. If we keep His commands, we are in Him, and we will be recipients of eternal life. At any given point in time, we should be able to say whether we have or will inherit eternal life based on whether we are keeping His commandments. There should be no question about our own condition,we are living a life in keeping with Christ and God's commands. But we know that we are in a saved condition, and we will be recipients of eternal life. We cannot be in an eternal life condition if our present life, in our present life. Although we can know that eternal life will be ours, we will have to go through judgment to have that announcement made.

Fred Gosnell: 13:12

So let's look at two passages that support being judged according to our deeds or works. Now the first one is Romans, two, six through 11. And Paul writes, to the Romans, he says, Who will render to each one according to his deeds, speaking of the Lord, He's going to render them each one according to his deeds, eternal life to those who by patient continuance, notice continuance, in doing good, seek for glory, honor and immortality. But to those who are self seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek. But glory, honor and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God. The next verse is in second Corinthians, Five, Verse 10, and Paul tells the brethren in in Corinth, he says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according that which he has done, whether it's good or bad. So these both let us know that the judgment and eternal life, either eternal life in heaven or destruction and torment in Gehenna or hell, are in the future after the day of judgment. So of course, that was maybe kind of a long way to go about proving that when Jesus said, He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life, but it His return, referring to a future time, that we who do His will have eternal life. We know we have it. We remain faithful, and that's what we will continue to be in with the Lord. But it's something that we must understand. Hebrews 9, 27, 9, 27 says, As it is appointed, to men, for men once to die, but after this the judgment. So all of us will die one time, and after that the judgment will occur. There will be some people who are still alive when Jesus returns, and both those who are alive and those who are dead is explained in First Thessalonians 4, 13, through 17. I think you've got that one Arnie.

Arnie: 15:28

I do indeed, First Thessalonians four verses, 13 through 17. Paul is, of course, the the writer to the Thessalonians. And he says, But I do not want you to be brethren, to be ignorant brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this, we say to you, by the Word of the Lord, that we, who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord will by no means proceed precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we, who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. In in this passage, we learn that those who are dead in Christ, in other words, we're talking about deceased Christians who live faithfully. These will rise to meet the Lord in the air first, then those who are faithful, living Christians will rise to meet him in the air. All of these will always be with the Lord, which is eternal life. Eternal life is a future state after the Second Coming of Christ. Yet those of us who are Christians and are living faith and are living faithfully, we can actually say with confidence that we have eternal life, but that eternal life has not actually begun, yet. Our eternal life will be determined at the judgment and our soul, and I'm rubbing my eye here, and our soul's future will be determined then. As mentioned earlier, we can know that judgment will be by the life we've, what that judgment will be by the life that we've lived and how we've loved both God and our brethren, whether we have kept the commandments of the Lord and lived as Jesus taught us to live.

Fred Gosnell: 18:16

Well, there's another passage that some use to try to prove that a Christian cannot fall from grace or salvation, and that's in Romans 8, 35, to 39 and Paul writes there, he says, Who shall separate us from love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, as it is written, For your sake, we are all killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ, Jesus, our Lord. So yes, God loves us, and he continues to love us regardless of what of what we do, even if we sin against Him, He still loves us and wants us to come to repentance. Romans five, eight says that. He says, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So yes, it's talking about God loving us before we obey the gospel. But that principle still applies. God still loves us. Second, Peter three, nine, Peter says there that, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that should all should come to repentance. So in this passage, Peter is speaking to Christians, letting them know that God wants everyone to come to repentance. Now, since he's speaking to Christians here, it's evident that some of them were in need of repentance. They had fallen from grace. They were living in sin. Revelation two, four says, Nevertheless, I have this against you that you have left your first love. And of course, there John was speaking to the brethren in the church at Ephesus. So Christ, through John is speaking to Christians in the church again in Ephesus, and he mentions that some of the them, Christians, have left to their first love. They left God. So it's impossible for any power, such as angels or principalities, powers or things prison or things to come to separate us from God's love. But and God always loves us, even when we have been or are living in sin. So you remember the parables taught by Jesus of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son. All these parables are in Luke 15 in the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd left the 99 sheep who were not lost and sought out the one that was lost. The shepherd loved all the sheep, even the one that was lost, and he went after it and found it to bring it back to the fold. Then the parable of the lost coin. The woman had 10 silver coins and lost one. She swept the house thoroughly until she found the lost coin. So the analogy given is that the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents. So of course, you must realize that the coin represented the lost sinner who had been in the midst of all the rest before it was lost, just like a Christian who is in active part of the church but falls into sin and leaves the fold, the church, living in sin. Then we have the parable of the lost son. Of course, the son, while he was with his father and his family, decided that he would leave his family. He got his inheritance from his father, went and lived riotously as a prodigal, wasting the money on harlots, and ended up living in a pig pen with the pigs. So he came to his senses. He went back home and asked forgiveness of his father. So listen to the final verse of this parable in Luke 15, verse 32 so the father says, It was right that we should make merry and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. So this is the exact situation of a Christian who has left his first love, God, Christ, and gone to live in sin. Then realizes he or she is living against the laws and love of God. He or she must return and ask forgiveness, just as the prodigal son did. The prodigal son's father never quit loving him, but admitting admitted that the son was lost. We, too, after becoming Christians, can and do leave God and live in sin. God still loves us, but we have to come back to him to repent and ask for forgiveness. There will always be people, messages, reminders for the ones who have gone back into the world to try to bring them back. But it is the person who has gone astray that must make the decision to go back and remain. We've mentioned John 1415, a number of times. Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments. God doesn't force anyone to come to him or force anyone to remain. We can choose to leave anytime we want to. So we must, on our own volition, come to God and remain with God. Luke 11, nine and 10 says, So I say to you, ask, and it shall be given, be given. You seek, and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. These words are Jesus, of Jesus are applicable both to the alien sinner and the child of God, the Christian. Even after we have become Christians, there are times we must seek and knock just like the one who has never obeyed the gospel. The epistles are full of reminders warnings to Christians about sinning and losing salvation. There are lists of sins and lists of fruits of the Spirit, so that Christians can know what is good, what is evil. Even after we become Christians, we must continue to try to walk like Jesus walked, sinless. So we're going to look at first John one five through 10, and Arnie is going to take that.

Arnie: 24:14

I've got it. This is, well, first First John five. First John 1, 5, 5, to 10 says this. This is the message which we've heard from him. And declare to you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship, one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we walk, , If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. Remember the context John being guided by the Holy Spirit, was speaking to Christians, those who have obeyed the gospel, have tasted of the heavenly gift, have been enlightened, have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, as we read in Hebrews six, three and four, the first thing John says in this passage is that God is light. He is all good. There's no darkness, no evil in Him. If we do not walk in the light, in other words, walk free from sin, then we cannot have fellowship with him because we do not practice the truth. The condition is given for walking in fellowship with God is that we walk in the light, just as Jesus. If we do that, Jesus blood continues to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, because he is faithful to what he has promised. For us to be continually cleansed of unrighteousness, there has to be some unrighteousness or sin in our lives. We cannot say to God, I don't see it because we do sin, it would be a lie for us, even as Christians, to say we have no sin. So the remedy is that we confess our sin to God, and He will cleanse us and keep on cleansing us as we confess our sin.

Fred Gosnell: 27:03

Well, of course, a Christian, that's a person who has obeyed the gospel and is saved, can and does sin, and that's what John says. I don't know that we have that passage here, but in First John chapter, chapter one, John says there in verse eight, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is is not in us. So when we as Christians, sin, we are separated from God, just like anyone else who sins. And of course, Isaiah says that sin separates us from God. We talked about that passage before. So when we sin, we have to take care of that by confessing it to God, who is just to forgive us. And of course, that's what John says, First John, chapter one, verse verse nine, says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So as we do that, we continue to have fellowship with God and continue to be an active, be active as a child of God. So this is the process God has given us. It's false doctrine to say that a Christian cannot sin or that that the sin a Christian commits is automatically, automatically forgiven. And of course, that's what John says, you have to confess it. You know the last thing he says in verse 10 of First John one, he says, If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. So we have to admit that fact that we do sin. So the Christian has a great advantage, because he or she has come to learn that what sin is and understand that sin hurts God. In Romans, 7, 14, through 25 Paul talks about sin is its hold on us. He admits that sin seems at times to have a hold on him, even though he does not want it to do, to do the sin. Yes, Satan is powerful. Ephesians 6, 12 says, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. We are fighting against great powers that are trying to take us out of God's fold and doing everything they can to cause us to leave the fold and live in sin. So therefore, in Ephesians, we learn that we need to put on the whole armor of God, and Arnie is going to point that out to us.

Arnie: 29:35

Well, Ephesians, chapter six and verse 13 is the passage that Fred has in mind here, Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand, therefore, having girded your voice, your waist with truth, having put on the. Breastplate of Righteousness, having shod your feet with preparation of the gospel of peace Above all, taking the shield of faith, which with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end, with all perseverance and supplication for the saints. Well, Fred, we can comment about this next week, because we're out of time for for today. We thank you for listening to us there, and we hope the thoughts that we've expressed will be useful to you, and we look forward to being with you again, Lord willing. Have a good day.