Don't Let This Happen To You
(Editor's note: Copies of this article may be obtained free and postpaid by writing to: Park Hill Church of Christ, 1900 Jenny Lind Avenue, Fort Smith, Arkansas.)
In 2 Corinthians 11:3 the apostle Paul expresses fear of a danger that is now a very manifest reality. "But I fear, lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ."
The minds of many people have been corrupted from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ, and they think God's will to man is so complicated and difficult that only a few of the most learned scholars can understand it, if indeed anyone can. Satan has corrupted the minds of thousands just as he beguiled and corrupted the mind of Eve, by telling her what God had not said. This could happen to you.
Eve understood so well the command that God gave her that she was able to repeat the commandment to Satan and also to state the penalty for disobedience. But "the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness" by causing her to believe what God had not said. He told her she would not die if she ate the fruit, but her eyes would be opened and she would be as God, knowing good and evil. After hearing and believing that which God had not said, she became confused, beguiled, and deceived. Her mind was corrupted from the simplicity of God's word.
People are not confused and divided religiously over what God says, but over what he does not say.
God's message to man is not a difficult, complicated, mystical book beyond the comprehension of responsible human beings; the confusion and misunderstanding of man's duty to God is caused by theories and opinions, about which the Bible says nothing but to condemn them.
I
God gave the gospel for every responsible creature on earth to obey. Jesus said to the apostles: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation." (Mark 18:15) It is unreasonable to suppose that God in his wisdom and goodness would give the gospel for all and then state it in a form so confusing that any responsible person could not understand it.
Every perverter of the gospel stands condemned in the sight of God; for an inspired writer has said: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye have received, let him be anathema." (Gal. 1:8-9) Consistency with God's goodness requires that he reveal the truth so plainly that every teacher can state it to others in the same degree of simplicity in which it was first written. The heavenly Father would not place a man under anathema for perverting a complicated message so confusing in its construction as to be beyond the power of the human mind to understand.
Eternal punishment is the penalty for failing to obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:7-9) Are we to conclude that the merciful God would make man's duty difficult to understand, and then condemn the disobedient who could not understand what the will of the Lord is?
The scriptures declare that the way of salvation is plain, simple, and easily understood. Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." (Matt. 7:7); "If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching" (John 7:17); "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." (Matt. 5:6) Of course, these promises are not to those who permit Satan to corrupt their minds by telling them strange things which God has not said.
II.
On the day of Pentecost one sermon was preached to thousands who had never heard the gospel before. They understood what was preached and asked what to do. Peter told them in one sentence. There is not the slightest indication that a single one failed to understand just what should be done for the remission of sins. No explanation or "interpretation" of Peter's answer to their question can be made any plainer than the answer itself. The attempts of men to provide a way around Peter's answer are the only difficult and confusing things in any way connected with it.
Just one sermon by Philip was all the Ethiopian eunuch needed in order to understand the plan of salvation. So emphatically and clearly did Philip preach the gospel that the eunuch ordered the chariot to stop, did exactly what Philip taught him to do, and then went on his way rejoicing in the knowledge of the fact that he had understood and complied with the terms of pardon.
The Lord appeared to Saul of Tarsus and told him to go to Damascus and there it would be told him what he "must do." When Ananias came and told him what to do, Saul understood every word and did it. It is strange how anyone could fail to understand just what Ananias told Saul to do to wash away his sins.
In less than one hour the heathen jailor learned the conditions of salvation and obeyed them It would not take the people longer than that today, if their minds had never been corrupted from the simplicity of apostolic teaching.
Faith, repentance, and baptism upon a confession of faith in Christ are the conditions of forgiveness as preached by the apostles from the day of Pentecost to the close of the New Testament period. Nothing pertaining to these terms is complicated even in the least.
The command to believe in Christ is stated clearly. "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16:31) And Jesus said: "But he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." (Mark 16:16) But how is faith obtained? That question is very plainly answered in Rom. 10:17. "So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Again: "These are written that ye may believe." (John 20:31) The question, What must one believe? is answered in Acts 8:37. "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Upon the eunuch's confession that he believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Philip baptized him without requiring any faith in a set of theories or a list of articles. Paul said, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom. 10:19) To believe that Jesus is Lord and Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that God has raised him from the dead, is to believe what the Scriptures teach that one must believe to be saved, and there is nothing difficult or mysterious about that. Of course, confusion is sure to rise if somebody teaches that we are saved by faith only, when James (2:24) says we are not; or if some one tries to prove that faith is obtained in some way other than the way the Bible says it is obtained; or if some one sets forth a human creed to be believed instead of the Christ.
The Lord has named repentance as a condition of pardon. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5) "Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out." (Acts 3:19) Anyone who can understand plain English can understand that repentance is a command of God. But what is repentance? That, too, is answered clearly. It is written that the men of Nineveh "repented at the preaching of Jonah." (Matt. 12:41) Jonah 3:10 tells just what, they did that the Lord calls repentance: "And God saw their works that they turned from their evil ways." Practically everyone knows that turning from evil is repentance. If you should see a person practicing his old sins immediately after he had been baptized, you would say, "That fellow never repented." That would indicate that you know what repentance requires.
That baptism is commanded by the Lord is granted by all. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Mk. 16:16) "Repent ye, and be baptized." (Acts 2:38) But do you know what baptism is? Now I shall present three short passages of Scripture, then if we do not know that baptism is immersion and not sprinkling, it will be because our minds have been corrupted from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. Here are the passages: "Having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God." (Col. 2:12) 'We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6:4) "They both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him and when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip." (Acts 8:38, 39) Perhaps you have heard that the eunuch reached under the seat of the chariot and said, "See, here is a jug of water, what doth hinder me to be sprinkled." But that is not what the Bible says about the matter. Or maybe you have heard that the eunuch went down to a pool of water and dipped up a cupful, then Philip sprinkled it on him. Nor is that what the Bible says about it. These things that the Bible does not say, are the things that cause the difficulty and misunderstanding. It should be easier to believe the Scriptures on the action of baptism than to believe what the Scriptures do not say. It is impossible to believe that the eunuch was sprinkled and at the same time to believe that baptism is a burial as the Scriptures teach.
The design or purpose of baptism is as clearly stated as plain English can express it. Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Mt 16:161 Peter said, "Repent ye, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38) Saul was told to "arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins." (Acts 22:16) How can the purpose of baptism be made plainer than these Scriptures make it?
III.
Sometimes it is quite difficult for some people to decide which church they should join after becoming Christians. No one should have any trouble over that matter. Let me ask a few questions: Can you find a passage of Scripture that tells you which to join? You cannot. Can you find a passage that tells you to join any? You cannot. Then why join any? After becoming Christians if all would just wait until they could find some scriptural authority for joining some church, they would never join any, for there is no such authority.
If you inquire, Were not those Christians church members in New Testament times? I answer, They certainly were, every one of them; but that does not necessarily imply that they became Christians and then selected the church of their choice. If you are bothered about which church to join, you are bothered about something that never troubled anyone in apostolic days; you are bothered about something the Bible does not teach. So why worry over what the Scriptures do not teach you to do?
Since we have admitted that all New Testament Christians were members of the church, it is well to inquire, How then did they become members? Acts 2:47 says the Lord added them to it. Paul told the Colossian Christians that God had translated them into the kingdom of Christ, which is the church. But whom does God add to the church? The best way to find an answer to this question is to go back to the second chapter of Acts and find just what those people did, whom God added to the church, and then we know if we do the same things, he will add us also to the same institution, for he is no respecter of persons. What did they do? Well, they heard Peter preach the gospel and they believed it and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter told them to repent and be baptized. They did, and the Lord added them to the church. Then the Lord will add everyone to the church who believes the gospel, repents of his sins, and is baptized. If the Lord adds you to the church, he is sure to put you in the right one. God makes church members by the same process that he makes Christians. When you became a Christian you became a member of the only church to which God ever added anybody.
IV.
Perhaps some of you are somewhat perplexed regarding the matter of worship, for there is much confusion and misunderstanding in the religious world as to what should be done in the worship of God. However we have no difficulty at all in determining what the word of God authorizes for worship in the church of the Lord; all the perplexity springs from things about which the Bible is silent.
Let us notice a few things often found in worship, and for which there is no scriptural authority. Burning incense is one of them. Should we burn incense as a part of our worship? Are you undecided and troubled over this matter? There is neither a command nor an example in all the Bible for its use in Christian worship. Then why bother about the incense? Why not just leave it out and have nothing to do with it, like the apostles did?
Some people try to worship God by counting beads. The introduction of bead-counting into the worship here at Park Hill would destroy the peace and unity of the congregation. Then a thing unauthorized by the word of God would be the root of all the trouble, for the New Testament says nothing about counting beads as a part of the worship. Any misunderstanding that may arise over counting beads in the worship cannot be attributed to any intricate statement in the Bible, for the sacred writings are absolutely silent on the subject.
The introduction of instrumental music in Christian worship has affected the peace and unity of many congregations. Many are troubled over the matter and do not seem to know whether it should be a part of the worship or not. But it should not take a person who proposes to be guided by apostolic teaching very long to settle his mind on this point, for the apostles were as silent on the subject as they were on burning incense and counting beads. Then instrumental music in worship cannot be any part of the gospel. Why worry over something that is no part of the gospel? The safe thing to do is to leave it out of the worship, have nothing to do with it, like the apostles did.
When we come to a consideration of the things in Christian worship for which there are apostolic commands and examples, we reach the ground of perfect understanding' and if we leave everything else out, there can be no trouble or difficulty of any kind. It is not necessary to argue at length that prayer, singing spiritual songs, teaching the word, eating the Lord's Supper, and contributing of our means in proportion to our prosperity are all authorized for the worship of God in the church today. All five of these things are so explicitly and distinctly stated by the New Testament as to leave nothing implied or disguised in meaning. I do not know of anyone who would deny that a single one of these is a part of Christian worship as set forth by Christ and his apostles. We can place the finger on the very passage that serves as divine authority for each one of these in Christian worship. So it becomes quite evident that we are neither divided nor confused over the things that the Scriptures authorize; the perplexity is caused by the things for which there is no scriptural endorsement. Burning incense, counting beads, and mechanical music are all on an equal footing as pertains to the worship of God. To introduce any one of them into the worship is to go beyond what is written.
Many people are disturbed, confused, and undecided on the question of a church's contributing money from its treasury to the support of a college, or human benevolent and missionary societies. The question of a church's supplying entertainment and recreation for young people, and operating secular business projects for profit, has disturbed and divided churches. Are you confused and bothered about any of these things? If you are, then you are not troubled over anything that God has said; your confusion is caused by what men or Satan have said, for God says nothing about these things. Then why worry over them? Why not just leave them alone and have nothing to do with such, as you would have nothing to do with other things about which God says nothing?
— 1900 Jenny Lind Ave., Fort Smith, Arkansas