What The Bible Says
“What The Bible Says - Vol. 3 / No. 2”
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What The Bible Says
Vol. III - No. 2 / June 21, 2020
DOES MORAL GOODNESS MAKE ONE A CHRISTIAN?
Many honest and sincere souls mistakenly believe that if a person is morally good, then he is a Christian. No one can be a faithful follower of Christ without being on a high moral plane. However, Christianity is more than merely being moral.
Acts 10 tells about a man named Cornelius, whose living standard, from a moral standpoint, was above reproach. The moral life of this man would put many Christians to shame. He is described (Acts 10) as a “devout man,” “a just man,” and one, “which gave much alms to the people.” In spite of these good traits, he was not a child of God.
Peter came to Cornelius’ house and told him what he needed to do to be in a saved state. Before this, it is clear Cornelius was an unsaved person. In Acts 11, Peter defended himself to the Jewish brethren for having preached to the Gentiles. In doing so, Peter cited what the angel had said to Cornelius, which was, “. . . Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved (vs. 13-14).” Thus, before the arrival of Peter and his preaching, Cornelius, a very moral man, was unsaved.
Further, Cornelius’ prayers and good deeds did not save him, nor was he saved because of hearing an angel. Instead, he was saved by hearing and believing (Acts 15:7), repenting, (Acts 17:30-31), and by being baptized (Acts 10:48, 2:38).
If moral goodness could save someone, undoubtedly Cornelius, a cut above most, would have been saved. Moral virtue alone could not save him, and it cannot save us today. However, we must not get the wrong idea. A Christian must have high morals, but it takes more than merely being morally good to be a Christian and to be saved.
—Mike Johnson
HAVE YOU EVER DONE AN INVESTIGATION?
No, I'm not talking about an investigation into something you had stolen or damage that was done to your personal property. I realize none of us are detectives or private investigators. Yet, there are two areas that I would like to challenge you to investigate.
INVESTIGATE WHAT YOU BELIEVE RELIGIOUSLY
God has given us everything that "pertains unto life and godliness" in His word, the New Testament (2 Peter 1:3). God's word is inspired of Him and we can be "thoroughly furnished...unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16,17). Have you ever investigated what you believe to see whether it is taught in God's words or do you believe what you do simply because it is what the preacher teaches or what your parents have taught you? So much of what is taught in the religious world is believed to be God's word when, in truth, it is nothing more than traditions that originated with man. How can you or I either one know if what we believe is a "hand me down" from man or is it's God's word unless we take the time to investigate? Are we safe to accept something to have originated with God just because it comes from a church, a preacher, or our parents? Is it not possible to be sincere and conscientious yet sincerely and conscientiously wrong? Saul was (Acts 21:3; 26:9)!
God warns us that "many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1) and "there shall be false teachers among you" (2 Peter 2:1). We are even warned that the ministers of Satan will appear as "ministers of righteousness"(2 Corinthians 11:14,15). What if the things we believe and practice in religion is because of what has come about by a false teacher? Is it OK to believe and practice these things as long as we are sincere? Can we excuse ourselves from investigating what we believe with the statement that is so often used: "What I don't know can't hurt me!"? If an unlabeled bottle of poison gets misplaced in the medicine cabinet and we drink it, will it not hurt us if we don't know it's poison? Sure it will!! We ought to not apply such logic in the area of religion, either. How can we know who are the false teachers? It's surely not going to be by their appearance. We've just seen in 2 Corinthians 11:14,15 that Satan's ministers will be "transformed as ministers of righteousness". Even Jesus describes false teachers as wolves in "sheep's clothing" (Matthew 7:15). We won't be able to perform the investigation by means of their appearance or personality. The only way to investigate and know for a certainty is to compare what they teach by the word of God. God’s word is truth (John 17:17) and it will be God’s word that will judge us in the Judgement Day (John 12:48; Romans 2:2).
INVESTIGATE THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
WHICH MEETS AT 4777 U.S. HIGHWAY 431 ALBERTVILLE, AL.
I ask of you to do this for I fear that much has been said about the Lord’s church by people who are misinformed. Misinformation can cause prejudice and prejudice can turn people off. Maybe you've heard it said about us that, "They think they are the only ones going to Heaven" or "They think they are the only ones right and everybody else is wrong". If you've heard these statements in regards to us, what was your immediate thoughts. Let me guess! You thought, "Well, if they think that way, I don't want to have anything to do with them!"
Let me tell you about us. We believe as Jesus taught. He said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21). Any person that "doeth the will" of the Father will enter into the kingdom of heaven. So, we put great emphasis on doing the Father's will. His will is revealed in the pages of the New Testament and have been revealed so that we can read and understand (Ephesians 3:3-5). Anyone can read and understand! Anyone can do the will of the Father! Our sole desire is to read and understand God's word and to do His will! If that is your desire, you owe it to yourself to come and investigate us regardless of what people may say. What they are saying may be something they are repeating. They may be very sincere but you owe it to yourself to see if we study the Bible, follow it in all we do, and live our lives in accordance to it. We believe that ought to be the same desire that everyone should have. If we can agree on anything, we ought to be able to agree on what God says.
The East Albertville church of Christ conducts a Bible study every Sunday morning at 9:30 and assembles for worship at 10:30 AM and 5 PM. On Wednesday evening at 7 PM the church conducts a period of Bible study. If you were to attend any of these services, you can rest assured you will not be coerced nor asked for money. We just ask you to come, bring your Bibles, and study with us. You would be an honored guest. So why not come and investigate for yourself. Find out for a fact what we believe, teach, and practice. We believe that you might be surprised to find out that we are simply a group of people striving to do the will of the Father. We also have live streaming of these Bible classes and sermons. These can be seen on the church’s website, www.eastalbertville.org, or on the church’s YouTube channel, or on FaceBook.
—E.R. Hall, Jr.
Live Video Streaming Of The Bible Study
SUNDAY 9:30 AM and Wednesday 7:00 PM WWW.EASTALBERTVILLE.COM - click on “Live Feed”
or
Go To East Albertville church of Christ on YOUTUBE/FACEBOOK
Live Video Streaming Of The Bible Sermon
SUNDAY 9:30 AM and 5:00 PM WWW.EASTALBERTVILLE.COM - click on “Live Feed”
or
Go To East Albertville church of Christ on YOUTUBE/FaceBook
HAVE A BIBLE QUESTION YOU’D LIKE ANSWERED?
HERE’S YOUR CHANCE…
BIBLE CROSSFIRE
A CALL-IN RADIO PROGRAM
WBSA
93.5 FM & 1300 AM
also
SIRIUS XM CHANNEL 113
SUNDAY NIGHTS @ 8 PM CT
PREVIOUS SHOWS AVAILABLE AT:
BibleCrossfire.com
IMPROVE YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLE...
FREE ONLINE BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE
http://EastAlbertville.org/course
"What The Bible Says” is e-mailed twice a month. If you know of others who might benefit from the articles contained in this bulletin, we would be glad to have you submit their e-mail addresses and we will include them in the next mailing. If you are receiving this bulletin and do not wish to continue to do so, please e-mail us with your desire to be removed from the mailing list and you will be removed promptly. Continue to the bottom of this page for further instructions as to how you may contact us.
--- E.R. Hall, Jr.
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
For The East Albertville Church Of Christ
meeting at
4777 U.S. Highway 431
Albertville, AL 35950
Sunday
Bible Classes …………..….…………… 9:30 AM
Morning Worship ……..…….….……… 10:30 AM
Evening Worship …………………........ 5:00 PM
Wednesday
Bible Classes …………..………........... 7:00 PM
Radio Program
Sunday
WBSA 93.5 FM/1300 AM ………………………….. 8:30 AM
Monday - Saturday
WBSA 93.5 FM/1300 AM ………………………….. 11:15 AM
Website: www. EastAlbertville.org
