The Ohio Bible Fellowship Visitor

Continued from the Previous Issue

The New Testament Preacher is to Maintain a Blameless Character, which includes the Primary Qualification of Freedom from Covetousness (1 Tim 6:6–11; 1 Pet 5:1–3; 2 Pet 2:2–3, 14–17; Jude 11, 16).
One of the most important qualifications for the preacher of the gospel is a blameless testimony concerning money. American churches should realize that receiving foreign support, especially in the Two-Thirds World, often results in a covetous desire for money and power. These wrong desires lead to number of problems in the national church:

Continue reading ‘Stewardship In Foreign Missions, part 2′

The doctrine of imputed righteousness and unrighteousness is awe-inspiring. Scripture teaches that God has credited all of my sin to Christ and punished Him as though He were a sinner, while also crediting all of Christ’s righteousness to me and rewarding me as though I were holy (2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:24). God put my sin on Christ, then judged and forsook Him so that He might not do the same to me? Astounding. And God treats me as though I were as blameless as His Son? Glorious.

Scripture sometimes pictures this amazing transfer as an exchange of garments (Isa 61:10; Zech 3:1–5; Phil 3:9; Rev 4:4; 7:9–14; 19:7–8). My meditations on these great truths have resulted in a new hymn highlighting the doctrine of imputation. It can be sung to Eventide, the tune usually associated with the hymn “Abide with Me.”

His Robes for Mine
His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!
Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ’neath God’s rage.
Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified!
In Christ I live, for in my place He died.

His robes for mine: my God, how can it be?
Jesus is crushed, and thus the Father’s pleased?
Christ drank the dregs of God’s just wrath on sin:
God is appeased; propitiation, won!

His robes for mine, how terrible the cost:
Jesus forsaken; God estranged from God!
He, as though I, was banished—left alone!
I, as though He, am cherished—welcomed home!

His robes for mine: such anguish none can know:
Christ, God’s beloved, judged as though His foe!
Smitten by God, and spit upon by men?
Free my salvation, yet not free to Him!

His robes for mine, what cause have I for dread?
God’s daunting Law Christ mastered in my stead.
Faultless I stand, with righteous works not mine,
Saved by my Lord’s vicarious death—and life!

His robes for mine, the suffering is done:
Sin’s dreadful wage was paid by God’s Just Son.
Bought by such love, my life is not my own:
My praise—my all—shall be for Christ alone!

July 2007

Should Foreigners Support National Leaders?
Much of contemporary evangelicalism embraces the practice of supporting national pastors and evangelists on the foreign mission field. One mission director claims, “More than 140 organizations are now built on the premise of gathering and sending money, not people . . . One of the largest money-gathering agencies reports that it now supports 3,300 full-time workers in over 50 countries.” A popular Christian magazine advertises for donors to help support national pastors on foreign fields, reporting that “thousands of native missionaries in poorer countries take the gospel to un-reached people groups in remote areas that are extremely difficult for American missionaries to go . . . Your church can send 10 missionaries for $500 a month. That’s a mission budget that will amaze your missions committee and it’s good stewardship too.”

Are these examples really a good stewardship of missions money? There is increasing momentum in our fundamental churches towards financial partnerships with national pastors and evangelists. Fundamentalists need to think through this issue biblically, especially with regard to the doctrine of the local church. Care must be taken to avoid unbiblical pragmatism.

Continue reading ‘Stewardship In Foreign Missions, part 1′

Gathering with the Lord’s church to remember Christ and His work is a vital part of Christian worship and an edifying exercise for both the corporate body and the individual Christian. Yet, Scripture protects this blessed rite in 1 Corinthians 11:27, where we are warned not to partake “unworthily.” That’s important—so important that people can suffer illness or even death for doing it. But what does it mean?

Let’s consider what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that you must be “worthy” to participate based on your performance as a Christian. You’re not ready to partake because you’ve “been good.”

First, regardless of what you may think, you’ve never been good. The fact that you think you have just demonstrates that your standard of “good” is far different than God’s.

Second, Paul isn’t saying that your spiritual performance determines your worthiness. That would be legalism in the truest sense—the idea that your obedience makes you more or less acceptable to God.

Third, the fact that you’re unworthy is the whole point! That’s why Christ came and offered His body to be broken and His blood to be spilled.

If Scripture isn’t dealing with the worthiness of the Christian, what is it doing? Well, the word “unworthily” is an adverb, not an adjective. That means that “unworthily” is describing the partaking (“eat” and “drink”), not the participants. It’s not saying that we must be worthy in ourselves, but that our manner of partaking must be worthy, and it tells us what that means.

• To promote or allow a factious spirit is partaking in an unworthy manner (vv. 18–20, 33).
• To partake selfishly and thoughtlessly is partaking in an unworthy manner (vv. 21–22, 33–34).
• To have a self-satisfied, flippant attitude is partaking in an unworthy manner (vv. 28, 31).
• To treat the Lord’s Table like a common thing is partaking in an unworthy manner (v. 29b).

What a privilege it is to fellowship with Christ’s church, worshiping Christ’s person, remembering Christ’s work, and awaiting Christ’s return! This is a precious time: take pains to approach it as Scripture requires. Your spirit and decorum as you consider Christ’s person and work should be appropriate for the solemn occasion. Be reverent, humble and thoughtful as you gaze on Christ through this ordinance.

Make no mistake: Scripture commands you to examine yourself (v. 28). But you’re not worthy, and you never will be. Approach your Lord on the basis of Christ’s merit, not your own. Partake in remembrance of Him, not yourself.

June 2007

For over a century Christians have wrangled over the issue of ecclesiastical separation, debating whether it is biblical, helpful, or even needed. We frequently hear “Why can’t we just get along? After all, we’re all really on the same team, right?” Questions like these have a ring of spirituality and can influence pastors, Christians, churches, and Christian organizations. Is ecclesiastical separation biblical? If so, why do so many reject it?

Continue reading ‘Ecclesiastical Separation’

I’m no law guru, but we all know that the punishment for murder is much more severe when the act is premeditated, or decided on beforehand. The law makes a distinction between a person who, caught up in the passion of the moment, commits a crime and one who plans every detail months in advance (cf. Num 35:10–24).

I believe that the Bible commands that our purity be premeditated. We all know it is important to be pure, and we never know when we might be caught in that one situation, that one moment of temptation where we might suffer a crushing defeat in this regard. However, even before that moment arrives, Scripture commands us to plan carefully and deliberately to be pure. Consider the words of 1 Peter 1:13–16:

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

Notice the first command: “gird up the loins of your mind.” We are familiar with idea of the Ancient Near Easterner girding up the loins. He would tuck the long folds of his robe up under his belt in order to be ready for action. Here we are told to prepare our minds for action and get serious about living as obedient children of God. Life is short and Jesus Christ is coming back soon! Be prepared to be pure.

What is so important about purity? Notice the second part of Peter’s command: the mark of a believer is purity. Holiness should characterize every area of our lives. An obedient Christian life is a pure life. We are not to live like unsaved people do (and like we once did!) in lustful impurity. Rather, we are to live in holiness, just as the God who saved us is completely pure from sin.

Peter commands us to prepare our minds now so that we live holy lives. Focus on the idea of preparing to be pure. Don’t wait until you are in the middle of temptation to decide that you will be pure and holy. Decide now! Avoid places where temptation is likely. Stay away from people who you know are not interested in pleasing God or being pure. Practice premeditated purity.

April/May 2007

A charge often leveled at separatists is that they are divisive. They split groups, leave churches, separate from organizations, and go off and form their own “splinter groups.” Aren’t Christians supposed to love one another? Shouldn’t they all be united? Didn’t Jesus pray that all those who believed in him would be as one?

Continue reading ‘Are Separatists Divisive?’

We typically think of the Pharisees as legalists. They are criticized for requiring strict adherence to fine details of obscure laws. They are dismissed as the “prudes” of their day. In fact, the term “Pharisee” has become a favorite smear people use to criticize anyone with a standard stricter than their own. However, a look at the biblical evidence indicates that describing the Pharisees as legalists is only half right.

There is no question that the Pharisees were legalists in that they promoted a works-based religion. However, though they were strict about some laws (particularly those of their own invention), they repeatedly “laid aside” and “rejected” the commands of God (Mark 7:8–9).

They were guilty of spiritual pride and ambition (Matt 23:5–7), thus stealing God’s glory while also neglecting the first and great commandment (Matt 22:37–38). They permitted their hearers to neglect their duties to parents (Mark 7:10–11), thus circumventing the fifth commandment. They arranged the murder of Christ (Matt 21:46; 26:3), thus breaking the sixth commandment. They were guilty of thievery (Matt 23:14, 25), thus circumventing the eighth commandment. They permitted their hearers to break their promises (Matt 23:16–22) and even sought false witnesses against Christ (Matt 26:59), thus circumventing and breaking the ninth commandment. They were guilty of lust, self-indulgence and impurity (Matt 23:25, 27), thus breaking the tenth commandment (and perhaps the seventh).

The Pharisees supplemented their legalism with a sort of license that allowed themselves and their hearers to break God’s law with impunity. They were ostensibly zealous for some aspects of the law, but they neatly explained away “the weightier matters of the law,” such as justice, mercy and faith (Matt 23:23). They were condemned by Christ not only for straining out moral gnats, but for swallowing immoral camels (Matt 23:24). In that sense, they may accurately be described as the spiritual forebears of today’s libertines who gain hearers by inventing loopholes for divine imperatives. But more importantly, they may accurately be described as the spiritual forebears of those who maximize some laws while excusing themselves from others, and we all do that! We would do well to study the Pharisees’ errors with a bit more precision—and a bit more introspection.

March 2007

Contextualizing the gospel is the only way the church can impact our culture. If we want our message to gain a hearing, we must contextualize it—we must communicate it in a way that our hearers can relate to and understand. For example, since postmodernists reject the concepts of authority and truth that previous generations assumed, our approach cannot remain the same. The world has changed, and if we refuse to change with it, the gospel will get left behind.

Or so we are told by the prophets of contextualization.

Continue reading ‘Shall We Contextualize the Gospel?’

As Paul left the city of Athens and traveled west toward Corinth, he headed into a city renowned for its vice and corruption. If ever a city needed the gospel, Corinth was it. Upon arriving, Paul began to preach in the Jewish synagogue, as he normally did (Acts 18:4), and the Jews rejected his message that Jesus was their Messiah, as they normally did (Acts 18:5).

Paul turned from the religious Jews to the pagan Corinthians and began again to preach the gospel (Acts 18:6). God’s power was displayed as He opened the eyes of Crispus, his family, and many others, and they turned in repentance and saving faith to Jesus Christ (Acts 18:8).

It was during this time that God spoke to Paul one night in a vision: “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city” (Acts 18:9–10). The Lord’s words to Paul give three reasons why we too should not be afraid to proclaim God’s Word.

We are assured of God’s presence.
As God was with Paul, so he is with us. There is no place in the universe where we are hidden from God’s presence (Ps 139:7–12). Furthermore, God has promised never to abandon us— he is with us (Heb 13:5–6).

We are assured of God’s protection.
God promised Paul that no one would attack or harm him. Since God is in sovereign control of our lives, nothing happens outside of his perfectly ordained plan (Rom 8:28–29).

We are assured about God’s people.
God told Paul to continue proclaiming the gospel because He had many people in the city of Corinth. We too can be confident as we give the gospel that God has those who will be saved (John 10:16; 6:37). Our responsibility is to faithfully give the message; God is the One who will save souls.

God assured Paul that He was with him, that He would protect him, and that He had people who would be saved in that city. What do these truths do for us?

They inform our method of giving the gospel.
The power of the gospel is not based on gimmickry (2 Cor 2:17), clever presentation (1 Cor 1:17–2:5), or personal winsomeness (1 Thess 2:3–5). Rather, the power of the gospel through simple proclamation is the means God has chosen to save souls and change lives(1 Thess 1:4–5).

They prevent discouragement as we proclaim the gospel.
We are not responsible to produce results; we are responsible to proclaim the message faithfully and accurately. We do not need to become discouraged when people reject the gospel; instead, we can remain confident that the Lord still has people he is drawing to himself.

February 2007