What The Bible Says
“What The Bible Says - Vol. 5 / No. 15”
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What The Bible Says
Vol. V - No. 15 / January 1, 2023
ARE THERE SAVED PEOPLE IN ALL CHURCHES?
We must not be satisfied to allow emotions to answer this question. Neither let us be content to allow personal opinions or what we might have heard others say in regards to this question. Would it not be the best to allow God, through His word, answer this question for us and thus put it to rest forever?
God only recognizes ONE church. "And (God) hath put all things under his (Christ) feet, and gave him (Christ) to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his (Christ) body, the fullness of him (Christ) that filleth all in all." (Ephesians 1:22,23). "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;" (Ephesians 4:4). To that one church, the Lord adds those that are saved. "...And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47).
Those who were being saved in Acts 2 were those who heard and believed the things Peter had preached (verse 22,29,40). They were willing to "gladly" receive the word (verse 41). They were willing to acknowledge that Jesus was the Christ whereas before they were not willing to confess that Jesus was who He said He was (verse 23, 36). Being convinced, they said, ''Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (verse 37). Peter told them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,…". "Then they that gladly ·received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (verse 41). The same thing these three thousand did in Acts 2 is the same thing we repeatedly read throughout the book of Acts. God has the same plan to save everybody; not one plan for you and a different plan for me. If we would be saved from our sins and added to the church by the Lord we, too, will have to hear the word, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized for this is what God speaks and tells us through His word.
There are only saved people in one church: the church in which the Lord has added them and the one church of which He is the Head. Man-made churches, wearing man-made names, teaching and practicing doctrines that have originated from man is not the church of which Christ is the head nor the ones to which the Lord is adding the saved. To become members of man-made churches, one does something different from what those in Acts 2 did. Churches today teach salvation at the point of faith: faith only. Others teach to pray the "sinner's prayer" and thus pray your sins away. Other churches teach baptism has nothing to do with saving. By this it ought to be evident that many "church members" are not even saved to start with because they have not done what the Scriptures teach in order to have their sins forgiven. —E.R. Hall, Jr.
THE MEANING OF OBEDIENCE
Those who question the values of Old Testament study should consider the fact that no place in the word of God defines obedience with greater precision and clarity than the book of Deuteronomy. Special attention should be focused upon three passages:
“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you” (Deut. 4:2).
“Ye shall observe to do therefore as Jehovah your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” (Deut. 5:32).
“What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deut. 12:32).
There are only saved people in one church: the church in which the Lord has added them and the one church of which He is the Head. Man-made churches, wearing man-made names, teaching and practicing doctrines that have originated from man is not the church of which Christ is the head nor the ones to which the Lord isWhat is suggested is that obedience requires doing exactly what God commands without modification. Israel was warned against adding to or diminishing from God's commandment, and in the first of the three verses the purpose of such strict adherence to the divine command is assigned — "that (i.e., in order that) ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God." This is simply saying that the only way to keep the commandments of God is to do exactly as God says, without addition or subtraction.
What is suggested is that obedience requires doing exactly what God commands without modification. Israel was warned against adding to or diminishing from God's commandment, and in the first of the three verses the purpose of such strict adherence to the divine command is assigned — "that (i.e., in order that) ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God." This is simply saying that the only way to keep the commandments of God is to do exactly as God says, without addition or subtraction.
When one adds to or diminishes from the divine commandment, and then fulfills the modified version, he has not kept the commandment of God at all; he has done as he pleases. That is a lesson worth remembering. The commandments of God that are in force today are not the same commandments which God gave in an earlier age. But the meaning of obedience does not change, no matter what commandments God gives. —L.A. Mott, Jr.
IS A GOOD PERSON A SAVED PERSON?
"There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, and gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the seaside: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." (Acts 10:1-6).
By every definition of the word "good", Cornelius was a good man. He was devout (religious), he feared God with all his house, he gave alms, and he prayed always. Because of these characteristics, most folks would consider Cornelius to be saved. Many people associate goodness with being the same as being saved. It is true that if we are saved we are to be a good person, but it is not true that simply because a person is good he is saved.
Cornelius was a good man but he was not saved. In Acts 11:13-14 Peter re-accounts what Cornelius said to him: "And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, 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." As good of a man as Cornelius was, he still had to send for Peter to come and speak to him the things God required him to do (Acts 10:33-43). Though Cornelius was a good man, he was still commanded to be baptized (verse 48) like Peter commanded them in Acts 2:38 to be baptized for the remission of sins. Though Cornelius was most definitely a good person, he was lost!
There are folks today who are very religious (devout) and would give you the "shirts off their back". Yet, they need to hear ‘words whereby they shall be saved’. They are good people but lost! The gospel must be obeyed regardless of how good we are. The ones on whom the Lord will take vengeance will be those "that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:8). It matters not how good of a husband or wife we are, how good of a father or mother we are, how good we are to pay our debts, to visit the sick, or to help the needy. If we do not obey the gospel, we are not saved.
To obey the gospel, we must have FAITH (Hebrews 11:6) but faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Then we must REPENT (Acts 2:38). After repentance, we must CONFESS Christ to be the Son of God (Acts 8:37; Roman 10:10). Then we must be BAPTIZED for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21). We must then be taught so that we can "observe all things" that God has commanded (Matthew 28 :20). Let us be good AND saved rather than good BUT lost! —E.R. Hall, Jr.
"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
