In
this world, forgiveness is often very difficult to obtain. Fact is,
many people will never forgive you, no matter what you say or do. For
Christians, however, things are different; if we truly repent of our
sins, we ARE FORGIVEN, period.
This
is by no means a matter of small consequence. Forgiveness of ALL OUR
SINS is something that we can rejoice in- and should. I really like
the way the Apostle Paul discusses his own situation in the book of
Philippians, where he says…
Philippians
3 ( World English
Bible )
1
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To
write the same things to you, to me indeed is not tiresome, but for
you it is safe.
2
Beware of the dogs, beware of
the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.
3
For we are the circumcision,
who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have
no confidence in the flesh;
4
though I myself might have
confidence even in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has
confidence in the flesh, I yet more:
5
circumcised the eighth day, of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews;
concerning the law, a Pharisee;
6
concerning zeal, persecuting
the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found
blameless.
7
However, what things were gain to
me, these have I counted loss for Christ.
8
Yes most certainly, and I count
all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count
them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
9
and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is
through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by
faith;
10
that I may know him, and the power
of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming
conformed to his death;
11
if by any means I may attain
to the resurrection from the dead.
12
Not that I have already
obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, if it is so
that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by
Christ Jesus.
13
Brothers, I don’t regard myself
as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting
the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things
which are before,
14
I
press ontoward the goal for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15
Let us therefore, as many as are
perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will
also reveal that to you.
God’s
forgiveness extends far beyond just someone like Paul; it is for
everyone that has ever existed and truly repented. No matter how
small the matter or how large, Jesus has paid the price for everyone,
period.
Paul
exhorted the Philippian Christians to rejoice and they should have.
The thing is that this admonishment applies to us all. Today, pray
about your own life and if something is wrong ask for forgiveness.
You can count on Jesus to be there for you because he cared enough to
die for you. If you are not a Christian, become one ( Acts 2:14- 41
).
Years ago in Guidepost magazine, Paul Harvey wrote about his baptism:
“The preacher had said there was nothing magic in the
water. Yet as I descended into its depths and rose again, I knew
something life-changing had happened, a cleansing inside out. No longer
did there seem to be two uncertain, contradictory Paul Harveys; just one
immensely happy one. I felt a fulfilling surge of the Holy Spirit and
afterward I cried like a baby. The change this simple act has made in my
life is so immense as to be indescribable.” As the old song says, ‘He
plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.’”
The Bible specifically speaks of such a man who underwent the same
life changing experience. His conversion story is recorded in today’s
Bible reading, Acts 22. He was an unbeliever who became a believer. A
persecutor who became a preacher. An antagonist who became an apostle.
He was Saul of Tarsus who became known as Paul, “a minister of Christ.”
What happened? When? And how?
The events surrounding Saul’s conversion are recorded in three chapters. Acts 9, 22, and 26.
From them we learn that he was bent on persecuting Christians and
doing many “things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” While on
the way to the city of Damascus, Saul saw Jesus in a “heavenly vision.”
Many claim Saul was saved on the Damascus road. Yet, he was told to go
into the city and there he would “be told what to do” (Ax 22:10).
Saul, who had been blinded, prayed and fasted for three days. Then
God sent, Ananias, a devout man” to preach Jesus to one of his fiercest
opponents. At the conclusion of the sermon, the preacher asked and
challenged:
“And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Ax 22:16).
For some reason, baptism is a controversial subject in the religious
world. Yet, every detailed account of conversion in Acts includes
baptism. Pentecost (Ax 2:38-42). The Samaritans (Ax. 8:12-13).The
Ethiopian Treasurer (Ax 8:38). Cornelius (Ax 10:48). The Philippian
Jailer (Ax 16:33). Lydia (Ax 16:15) And the most detailed, Saul of
Tarsus (Ax 22:16).
It’s worth noting, that the often repeated sinner’s prayer is no
where found in the Bible. Sinners were saved after hearing the gospel.
Believing it. Repenting of their sins. Confessing Christ. And being
baptized “for the remission of sins” (Ax. 2:38).
The expression in today’s text, “wash away your sins” relates
specifically to the blood of Christ. In Revelation 1:5, John writes that
Jesus “washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Sins are not cleansed
by the water. But by the blood. However, it is in the act of baptism
that God applies the blood of Jesus to wash away our sins.
Jesus’ shed blood on the cross is essential to our salvation. Consider what the Bible says about its power.
(1) The blood of Jesus justifies.
“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Rom. 5:9).
The word “justify” means to “make righteous.” While all have sinned,
those justified can appear before God as though they had not sinned.
Why? Because they’ve been justified by the blood when their sins are
washed away in baptism.
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph 1:7).
The word “redeem” referred to purchasing the freedom of a slave.
People in the first century were familiar with the buying and selling of
slaves. They were bought with silver and gold. But slaves of sin are
released from Satan’s bondage by Jesus’ blood when they’re baptized.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Christ…that He might reconcile them both to God in
one body through the cross…”(Eph 2:13,16).
To “reconcile” means to “change one’s condition. W. E. Vine says, it
is used to describe the bringing together of two parties who are
estranged from one another. Sinful people who are separated, alienated
and estranged from God can be reconciled by the blood of Jesus when
they’re immersed in water.
Justified. Redeemed. Reconciled. Cleansed. That’s what Jesus’ blood does when we’re baptized.
An old hymn asks, “What can take away my sin?” The repeated answer? “Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Why are you waiting? Arise. Be baptized. And wash away your sins.
The crowds murmured while the critics lurked in the shadows.
Complaints, compliments, and confusion over the Man from Galilee spread
among the Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles like political opinions
circulate today on social media during election time.
“Some said, ‘He is good’; others said, ‘No, on the contrary, He deceives the people’” (John 7:12).
In
response to Jesus’ question, “Why do you seek to kill Me?” The people
answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”
(7:19-20). Yet others said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill?”
(7:25).
“[S]ome of them from Jerusalem said… ‘Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?’” (7:26).
The
officers (whom the Pharisees and chief priests sent to arrest Jesus)
came back empty-handed, saying, “No man ever spoke like this Man.” Yet,
the Pharisees arrogantly responded, “Are you also deceived? Have any of
the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does
not know the law is accursed” (7:46-48). “Search and see that no prophet
arises out of Galilee” (7:52, NASB).
“Some of the people
therefore, after they heard these words [of Jesus], were saying, ‘This
truly is the Prophet.’ Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ.’ But
others were saying, ‘Surely the Christ is not coming from Galilee, is
He? Has the Scripture not said that the Christ comes from the
descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’
So a dissension occurred in the crowd because of Him” (7:40-43, NASB).
The hard-hearted, egocentric Pharisees and chief priests did not know
the Old Testament as well as they professed. They chided the common
people for their ignorance of the Law (7:48) and then contemptibly
challenged Nicodemus to “[s]earch and see that no prophet arises out of
Galilee” (7:52, NASB). Yet, the prophet Jonah was from Gath Hepher of
Zebulon (2 Kings 14:25; Joshua 19:10-13), which is in Galilee.
Furthermore, in the desperate, dark days of Assyrian dominance in
Galilee in the late eighth century B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 15:29), the prophet
Isaiah foretold of the everlasting Prince of Peace coming as a “great
light” in “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali…in Galilee of
the Gentiles” (Isaiah 9:1-7). Who was this “great light”? Jesus of
Nazareth, Who “came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the
regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by Isaiah the prophet” (Matthew 4:13-14). Indeed, in one sense, the greatest Prophet of them all, the Messiah, came “out of Galilee.”1
Bethlehem of Judea—“The City of David”
In another real sense, the “commoners”2 were right, too. “Scripture said…that
the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem,
where David was” (John 7:42). David may have dwelt in Israel’s capital
city of Jerusalem once he became king and conquered the Jebusite city (2
Samuel 5:6-7), but it seems most any Jew knew that David’s heritage was
in Bethlehem.
This Bethlehem was not the Bethlehem of Zebulon (Joshua 19:15; in
Galilee), but the Bethlehem of Judah, also known as Ephrath or
Ephrathah.3
People of Bethlehem were known as “Ephrahthites” (Ruth 1:1-2; 1 Samuel
17:12). David’s great grandfather, Boaz, “came from Bethlehem” (Ruth
2:4; 4:11). David’s father, Jesse, was an “Ephrathite of Bethlehem
Judah” (1 Samuel 17:12,15; 16:1,4). Prior to his 33-year reign in
Jerusalem, which became known as “the city of David” (2 Samuel 5:7-9), David himself referred to Bethlehem as “his city” (1 Samuel 20:6). In this sense, even Luke referred to Bethlehem of Judah as “the city of David” (Luke 2:4).
Why did Joseph and Mary travel all the way from Nazareth in Galilee
to Bethlehem of Judea? To be registered in the Roman census (Luke
2:1-2). But why Bethlehem? Because “all went to be registered, everyone
to his own city” (Luke 2:3), and Joseph “was of the house and lineage of David,” and Bethlehem was “the city of David” (Luke 2:4,11,15).
The Star of Bethlehem
In about 1,400 B.C. God used a non-Jewish, Mesopotamian soothsayer
named Balaam to prophesy to the Moabites about, among other things, how
“a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter
shall rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17). Some 400 years later, this
prophecy had an “immediate” application in Israel’s great King David.
But 1,400 years later, Balaam’s prophecy would have its remote
application and ultimate fulfillment in “the Root and the Offspring of
David, the Bright and Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16;
cf. Isaiah 11:1,10; Revelation 5:5). [And He has the greatest of all
scepters—having “all authority…in heaven and on Earth” (Matthew 28:18).]
Amazingly, one of the first signs of the coming of the long-awaited
Messiah was the appearance of “His star” (Matthew 2:2,9), which “wise
men [or “magi,” NASB] from the East” followed all the way to Judea
(Matthew 2:1).4
The wise men stopped in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is He who has been
born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have
come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2). But Herod, the ruthless king of
Judea, knew nothing about these things and inquired of “all the chief
priests and scribes…where the Christ was to be born”
(Matthew 2:4). What these men knew was the same thing the crowd knew
30-plus years later in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7):
The Messiah was to be born “[i]n Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it is written by the prophet, ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land
of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you
shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel” (Matthew 2:5-6).
The Dark days of Micah
What “Scripture” is this that says “the Christ comes from the town of Bethlehem,
where David was” (John 7:42)? Who was this prophet who wrote that “a
Ruler” will come from “Bethlehem, in the land of Judah” (Matthew 2:5-6)?
His name was Micah and he was from the country town of Moresheth
(about 20-25 miles southwest of Jerusalem). Micah himself refers to the
town as “Moresheth Gath” (1:14), likely implying that for a time, it
“had fallen under the power of the neighboring Philistines of Gath.”5
Micah lived during the same period as other eighth-century prophets,
including Amos (1:1) and Hosea (1:1), who prophesied to the Northern
Kingdom, and Isaiah (1:1), who prophesied along with Micah in the
Southern Kingdom. It was “in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,
kings of Judah” that Micah received “the word of the Lord” (Micah 1:1).
These three kings reigned a combined 56 years (from about 742-687 B.C.).
“Jotham…reigned sixteen years…and did what was right in the sight of
the Lord” (2 Chronicles 27:1-2). Hezekiah, though not perfect, was also a
great king, one of the greatest in Judah’s long history, serving for 29
years (2 Kings 18:1-20:21; 2 Chronicles 29:1-32:33). Sandwiched between
these two rulers was the cowardly, repulsive King Ahaz, one of the
worst, most wicked kings in Judah’s history, reigning for 16 dark years.
Among other things, he “sacrificed to the gods of Damascus,” “burned
his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations
whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel,” “shut up the
doors of the house of the Lord,” and overall, “encouraged moral decline
in Judah” (28:23,3,24,20).
Sadly, whether during the reigns of wicked or righteous kings, the
people of Judah, like their northern counterparts (Micah 1:5-13), mostly
“still…acted corruptly” (2 Chronicles 27:2). Repugnantly sinful
behavior was especially characteristic of those in positions of
authority. But the mighty prophet Micah did not hold back. He was given
“[t]he Word of the Lord” (Micah 1:1), and as a good steward of the
Divine revelation, he let the “high and mighty” have it.
I am full of power by the Spirit
of the Lord, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his
transgression and to Israel his sin. Now hear this, you heads of the
house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and
pervert all equity, who build up Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with
iniquity. Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and
her prophets divine for money (Micah 3:8-11).
“[H]er rich men are full of violence” (6:12). Speaking
hyperbolically, Micah professed, “The faithful man has perished from the
earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for
blood; every man hunts his brother with a net. That they may
successfully do evil with both hands—the prince asks for gifts, the
judge seeks a bribe, and the great man utters his evil desire; so they
scheme together” (7:2-3). In short, they “hate good and love evil”
(3:2).
Tragically, Jerusalem was a repugnant center of spiritual disease (as
was Samaria in the North). The courageous prophet Micah boldly
confronted all manner of abusive leaders and prophesied of their
eventual demise. “For behold, the Lord is coming…. The mountains will
melt under Him…. I will make Samaria a heap of ruins” (Micah 1:3,4,6).
And “Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of
ruins” (3:12). Indeed, the brutal Assyrians conquered Samaria in 722
B.C. And though Jerusalem was spared for a time following the fearless
prophesying of Micah and Isaiah and the righteous reforms of King
Hezekiah (cf. Jeremiah 26:18), the capital city of the Jews would fall
calamitously at the hands of the Babylonians in 587 B.C., approximately
100 years after Micah pronounced the Lord’s judgments.
Hope…And Honing In on the Hero
But not all is lost. There is Hope from Heaven. A Hero is on the
horizon. Yes, God and His faithful prophets have condemned sin from the
beginning,6 but the story never
ended there. Even as Adam and Eve were lurking in the midst of
sinfully-minded blame games (Genesis 3:11-13), God boldly announced to
the devil His gracious plans to save humanity through “the Seed” of
woman, Who would deal a crushing blow to the head of Satan (Genesis
3:15). “Since the world began,” God “spoke by the mouth of his holy
prophets” about the Hope, the “horn of salvation,” Who would save His
people from sin and its fatal consequences (Luke 1:67-70).
Remarkably, the Bible writers did not speak in mere broad
generalities about the coming Christ. Throughout the Old Testament, God
announced that the Deliverer of humankind (and the sinful mess that
humanity made) would be a male descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Judah, Jesse, and David.7
Notice the spectacular specificity of the prophets! The Messiah, Who
would bless “all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3), would come
from Abraham (not his brothers Nahor or Haran). The Savior would come
from Isaac (not Ishmael, and not Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian,
Ishback, or Shuah, the other sons of Abraham—Genesis 25:2). He would
come from Jacob (not Esau, the father of the Edomites). He would come
from Judah (and not one of the other 11 sons of Jacob, not even Levi,
the father of the Levitical priesthood). The ultimate “anointed One”
(i.e., Christ) would come from the anointed King David (and not the
other sevens sons of Jesse—1 Samuel 16:1-13; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Jeremiah
23:5-6). And from where did the greatest king in Israel’s history hail?
Not Hebron, Jerusalem, or Jericho. Not Dan, Bethel, or Beersheba. And
not Bethlehem of Zebulon (Joshua 19:15). Not anywhere in all of
Palestine except from “the little among the thousands of Judah” (Micah
5:2)—the town of Bethlehem of Ephrathah.
Micah’s Messianic Prophecy
Micah chapter 5 begins with a doom-and-gloom statement seemingly
about the siege that Sennacherib’s ruthless Assyrian army would lay
against Jerusalem and King Hezekiah.8
Hezekiah (the most powerful “judge of Israel”) would be openly insulted
by Sennacherib’s spokesman, the Rabshakeh, who would come to the door
of Jerusalem, shouting taunting words of mockery in the Hebrew language
for all to hear.9 In the words of Micah, Assyria would “strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek” (Micah 5:1).
Though the household of David in Hezekiah’s day would face humiliation,10 “the true Israel will come forth triumphant.”11 How? Because “the One to be Ruler in Israel…shall come forth” (Micah 5:2). The One long-awaited descendant of Abraham and David was coming (Matthew 1:1). And though His presence on Earth would still lie in the future, the Messiah, Micah testified, already had a past!His goings forth are “from of old;” “from long ago” (NASB).12 How long? Micah said, “From the days of eternity” (5:2, NASB).13 But that must mean that the Messiah is…God. Indeed, as Isaiah, Micah’s fellow 8th-century
prophet in Judah, said, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is
given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will
be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
According to Micah and Isaiah, God Himself would step out of the
splendors of heaven to be the Prince of Peace, the Ruler in Israel.14
And where would He first make His appearance? Centuries before the
Messiah’s birth, the prophet Micah gave us one more piece of the puzzle.
Micah (and only Micah) precisely revealed the place from which the Messiah would come forth: the little town of Bethlehem in the region of Judea.
The scribes and chief priests in King Herod’s day (Matthew 2:4-6)
knew of the Messianic nature of Micah 5:2. The elitist Pharisees, as
well as the “commoners,” knew it some 32 years later (in John 7). And
yet, though the Messiah stood in their midst, most missed, ignored, or
refused to accept the amazing, fulfilled fact that Jesus was born just
five miles down the road in Bethlehem of Judea—just as Micah, the proven
inspired prophet (cf. Jeremiah 28:9), promised He would 700 years
earlier.
Endnotes
1 Jesus grew up in Galilee and remained in this region during much of His ministry.
2 The “crowd” whom the Pharisees claimed did “not know the law” (John 7:49).
3
Which is “the name either of Bethlehem itself or of a district in which
Bethlehem was situated” [Ernest Masterman (1996), “Ephrath; Ephrathah,”
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Electronic
Database: Biblesoft)]. Moses wrote that after Jacob’s wife Rachel died,
she was “buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)”—Genesis
35:19; cf. 48:7.
4
From where did these men receive such knowledge? How did they know that
one particular “star in the East” indicated the Messiah’s entrance into
the world? No one can know for sure, but it seems they had Divine
direction, perhaps similar to what they later received in Matthew 2:12.
9
“[T]he Rabshakeh said… ‘What confidence is this in which you trust? You
speak of having plans of power for war; but they are mere words. And in
whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? Now Look! You are
trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt…. [G]ive a pledge to my
master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if
you are able on your part to put riders on them!… Have I now come up
without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me,
“Go up against this land, and destroy it!”… Has my master sent me to
your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit
on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?… Do not
listen to Hezekiah’” (2 Kings 18:19-31).
10 As well as Babylonian captivity roughly 100 years later.
11 Homer Hailey (1993) A Commentary on the Minor Prophets (Religious Supply), p. 208.
12 The Hebrew term qedem literally means “ancient time, aforetime” [Francis Brown, S.R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs (1906), The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon,
studylight.org/lexicons/eng/hebrew/06924.html]. It is used of God in
Deuteronomy 33:27 and Habakkuk 1:12 where the term is translated
“everlasting” or “eternal.”
13 This Hebrew word (olam)
often refers to “for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore” (Brown, et al.,
https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/eng/hebrew/05769.html). Often it is
used in reference to the eternality of God, including in Micah 4:7
where the prophet referenced the Lord’s eternal reign.
“Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40)
Peter described his generation as perverse. The basic meaning of
the Greek word [σκολιός] is crooked, not straight. Figuratively it
refers to something different from what it ought to be. It describes
behavior that is depraved, degenerate and immoral.
Is our generation depraved, degenerate and immoral, different
from what it ought to be? “We know that ... the whole world lies
under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). Peter’s appeal is
certainly still applicable: “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Are we part of this crooked generation?
We were born into it and we share responsibility for it. None of
us is what we ought to be, “for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“Your iniquities have separated you from your God” (Isaiah
59:2).
How can we be saved from this crooked generation?
Salvation is possible by the grace of God through Jesus Christ:
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Through Jesus our sins can be forgiven. When Peter’s hearers
asked, “What shall we do?” he replied: “Repent, and let every one of
you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins”
(Acts 2:38).
We must repent to be saved.
To repent is to be sorry for our sins, turn away from a life of sin,
and put God first in our lives by doing His will from day to day.
Jesus came to call sinners to repentance (Mathew 9:13). He said
that everyone must repent or perish (Luke 13:3). He said that
“Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to
all nations” (Luke 24:47).
We must be baptized to be saved.
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
Peter said, “Every one of you” must be baptized. Jesus gave His
followers the assignment: “Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be
saved” (Mark 16:15, 16).
Christian baptism is a burial. We are buried with Christ in
baptism (Colossians 2:12). The Greek word for baptism means
immersion. Many people think they have been baptized, when they
were never “buried with Christ.” Their so-called baptism was not an
immersion.
Christian baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. Many people’s
baptism is not valid because - although they were immersed - they
were not baptized for the forgiveness of sins.
Forgiveness comes through the sacrificial death of Jesus, who
“loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation
1:5). Our sins are washed away at baptism (Acts 22:16).
Through baptism we are united with the death of Christ: “Or do
you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him
through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life” (Romans 6:3, 4). We are saved at baptism because it
is a participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
Spiritual rebirth occurs at baptism. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5).
To believers who had been buried with Christ in baptism
(Colossians 2:12) Paul wrote: “God has delivered us from the power
of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins” (Colossians 1:13, 14).
Thus, God saves us from this crooked generation by grace when
we are born again by being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of sins.
During the summer of 1961, after graduating from university, I
participated in two evangelistic campaigns in western Canada. We
worked one month at Salmon Arm, British Columbia and one month
at Edmonton, Alberta. One Saturday at Salmon Arm, brother and
sister Armstrong invited our group to spend the day at their
summerhouse on Shuswap Lake.1
They told us about their conversion to Christ. They lived in
California where brother Armstrong sold insurance. He was a member
of the Million Dollar Round Table, a professional association of people
who sell at least a million dollars’ worth of insurance each year.
Since they had been active members of a Baptist church for
many years, brother Armstrong was greatly annoyed when members
of the church of Christ suggested that he was not yet a Christian
because in the Baptist church he had not been baptized for the
remission of sins.2
To prove them wrong, brother Armstrong decided that when
they went to their cabin in Canada for a holiday the next summer, he
would make a thorough study of what the Bible says about salvation.
He studied at a table in front of a big window with a view of the lake
and the mountains.
Sister Armstrong said she remembered the day, after they had
been studying for two weeks, when brother Armstrong suddenly
sprang up from the table and started pacing back and forth.
His Bible was open to Acts 2:38. “Then Peter said to them,
‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit.’”
He picked up his Bible, read the verse again, laid it down, and
started pacing some more. Then he exclaimed: “That is exactly what
it says! Be baptized for the remission of sins!”
He had known that verse from memory for years, but had never
really noticed what it said.
The next day they drove 700 kilometers to the nearest church of
Christ they knew about, so they could be baptized into the body of
Christ. There were congregations much closer, but they did not know
about them.
Christians shine as lights in this crooked generation.
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is
God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do
all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become
blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of
a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights
in the world, holding fast the word of life” (Philippians 2:12-16).
To work out our salvation does not mean that we earn our
salvation but that we are to elaborate or flesh out our salvation, to
develop it to its intended fullness. This is not easy “in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation.” We need God’s help! He works in
us when we hold fast the word of life. At baptism we receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Paul describes this unfolding process: “For this reason we also,
since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask
that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord,
fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in
the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His
glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving
thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light” (Colossians 1:9-12).
Our calling is “to shine as lights in the world,” to “become
blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of
a crooked and perverse generation.”
The gospel of Christ calls everyone “to be saved from this
crooked generation.” “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God.” Forgiveness of sins is available through faith in Christ. We must
repent and dedicate our lives to God. When we are born again
spiritually by obeying God’s command to be baptized for the
forgiveness of sins, He transfers us out of the darkness of this
crooked generation into the kingdom of His Son, into the church of
Christ.
With God’s help, we then work out our salvation with fear and
trembling to become blameless children of God in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation. Amen.
1 Shuswap is an H-shaped mountain lake in British Columbia with a shoreline of 1000 km. 2 Evangelical churches do not baptize for the remission of sins as commanded in Acts 2:38. They
practice believer’s baptism by immersion, but only as a symbol of having been saved already, not
as a requirement for salvation. They believe salvation is by faith only although James 2:24
teaches otherwise. 3 Luke 8:8.
Published in The Old Paths Archive
http://www.oldpaths.com
There is to be EARTHLY ORGANIZATION within each local
church
Ideally, each church has elders (also known as bishops,
pastors) and deacons - Php 1:1 (described more fully
later in this lesson)
But churches may exist temporarily until such men can
be appointed - cf. Ac 14:21-23
Local churches meet regularly; and Christians have
responsibilities in connection with their brethren in
the local church
RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
WE SHOULD "JOIN OURSELVES" TO A LOCAL CHURCH...
Only Christ "adds" one to the church UNIVERSAL; but one can
and should "join" themselves to a LOCAL church - Ac 9:26-28
This enables you to benefit by the association of other
Christians, and provides you an opportunity to be of service
to them - cf. He 3:12-14; 10:24-25
There are some responsibilities Christ has given you that you
cannot fulfill on your own; for example, the Lord's Supper
- Ac 20:7
So you need to find and join a local faithful congregation of
the Lord (a careful study of the New Testament can help you to
identify such today; perhaps a subject for future study?)
WE SHOULD COOPERATE WITH THE "LEADERS"...
In a fully developed local church, there will be "ELDERS" to
oversee the people of God
The terms "elder, pastor, bishop, shepherd, overseer" are
often used interchangeably, referring to the same position
- Ac 20:17,28; Tit 1:5-7; 1Pe 5:1-2
To obey and be submissive when they lead scripturally
- He 13:17; 1Pe 5:2-3
Think of them as your "spiritual advisors", as "shepherds";
they are mature, experienced Christian men who are charged
by God to "watch out for your souls"!
In a fully developed local church, there will also be
"DEACONS" to serve the people of God
These are "servants" who assist the elders in the work of
the church
Christians are not perfect, but we should strive to be an
example of what Christians ought to be!
CONCLUSION
More could be said on this subject, but this should suffice to make
the point that with the blessings of fellowship within the body of
Christ come various responsibilities
God did not intend for us to be "islands unto ourselves", but
joined together in Christ where we can encourage one another in an
atmosphere of righteousness, joy, and peace - Ro 14:17-19
SOME QUESTIONS TO STIMULATE YOUR THINKING...
Have you let a local church know that you wish to be identified as
an accepted, working member of their group?
Do you know the elders, deacons and other members of the church
where you attend?
Do you have a sense of what function you provide in the body of
Christ, and are you fulfilling it?
If every member of the church were as faithful and active as you in
your service to the Lord, what kind of of church would it be?
