THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH Dub McClish If the church as God planned it is to exist in any age, there are certain principles to which men must be committed. As surely as any of these principles are abandoned, so surely will the New Testament church cease to exist. Consider these necessary principles. A commitment to the absolute authority of Christ. His authority is emphasized each time the New Testament calls Him “Lord”. His miracles were for the purpose of establishing His divine authority and identity (John 20:30,31). This commitment includes the recognition that the church belongs to Him, and He alone has the right to determine every feature of it. Until all men who claim to follow Him alone to be the head of the church, religious confusion must reign. A commitment to the New Testament as the final authority in religion. Christ expresses His authority through the New Testament alone. No alleged latter-day revelations (e.g. The Book f Mormon), not prophets, (e.g. Joseph Smith) can be accepted by people who are serious about the New Testament church. This principle also relates to the Old Testament. It is inspired history and is necessary for our understanding of God and His plan of redemption through His Son. However, the Law of Moses was no more given to govern men since the cross than was the law of Christ (the Gospel) given to govern men before the cross (Col. 2:14). A commitment to the plan of salvation. The only plan of salvation in the world is the one made possible by the cross and revealed in he New Testament. It is a plan of grace and faith, but not grace only. It requires man’s response of repentance of his sins, confession that Jesus is God’s Son, baptism in water for remission of sins, and living a faithful Christian life. Baptism either is , or is not necessary for salvation—it cannot be both. The New Testament says it is necessary (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:3 8; 22:16; Ram. 6:3,4; I Pet. 3:21). A commitment to the identity of the New Testament church. Jesus built the church to His own wise plan. He prescribed its terms of entrance, its designations, its worship, its work, and how it is to be organized and financed. If the identity of the church is unimportant, why is anything about it important? A commitment to proclaiming the Gospel as the foremost task of the church. Jesus had one great work and purpose—to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Such is likewise the compelling cause of His church (I Tim. 3:15). —selected from Bulletin, 4-20-03, Enck, OK FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE TEXT Our Bible contains 810,697 words. This is about for times as many as are found in a book of average length. Although so long a book and dealing with the greatest theme that can engage the mind of humanity, its vocabulary is singularly limited. Only 6,000 words different words are used; which is very small compared to the 20,000 words employed by Shakespeare in writing his plays. Not only is the vocabulary limited, but the average word in the Bible contains but five letters. Many of these short words in the Bible are worthy of earnest study. Such as these short five- letter words: grace, peace, faith, saved, serve, glory, and Jesus --Oxford University Press, via The Cross Reference, 5-1 1-03,Frederick,OK
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 09:49:00 +0000