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How Hard Can That Be?
The gospel of Jesus Christ is to be preached to every person (Mark 16:15-16). For that reason it must be simple enough for all to understand. The idea that the scheme of redemption is mystified, difficult to understand is not so. The word of God is simple enough to "know" (John 8:32, it is simple enough to "understand" (Ephesians 3:1-3), it is simple enough to "sanctify" (John 17:17), it is simple enough to "effectually work" in those that believe (I Thessalonians 2:13). The Bible is replete with assurances that the message of God can be not only accurately contemplated, but acted upon as well (Acts 2:36-38). For instance:
What the Bible says about faith can be understood. In the first place, there is no Scripture in all the inspired record which affirms salvation at the point of faith . Secondly, there is not even the slightest hint faith comes in some mysterious "better-felt-than-told" way. Paul says faith comes by hearing the word of God" (Romans 10:17). In fact, one could not obey Him in the absence of the information found in His word. Any person who will affirm that his faith came in some different way is mistaken and in need of biblical instruction. Bible belief comes by way of the taught word, and in no other way (John 20:30-31).
What the Bible says about baptism can be understood. The Scriptures say that baptism is for believers (Mark 16:15-16), a statement, which in the very nature of the case, eliminates babies as fit subjects for it. The Bible says that baptism is a burial (Romans 6:3-4), and that means that sprinkling is not baptism. The Bible says that baptism is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38 ; Acts 22:16), and if that does not means it is necessary to salvation, then what does it mean? Now, these are not statements that merely set forth "Church of Christ doctrine," nor do they simply represent the views of the present writer. These are statements taken from the book of God, the Bible, and can be read and understood by any persons who is truly interested in ascertaining what the Bible teaches on the subject of baptism.
What the Bible says about the church can be understood. In Matthew 16:18, the Lord said, "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." In Acts 2:47, we are told,"and the Lord added to the church daily such as were being saved." Conclusion? In the first passage, Jesus affirmed that He would build His church. In the Acts passage, people were added to the church. The conclusion is inescapable: He built His church. And when He was finished, to whom does it belong? And when He had finished it, was it divided into 250-or more–denominations, each one different from the other? If He promised it and He built it, whose is it? What name should it wear? Should it wear a name fashioned after its method of doing things, or one concocted because of its peculiar form of government; or one devised to depict some aspect of its teaching? The church of Christ is His. He promised it, He built it. It belongs to Him. It should wear His name.
In Ephesians 4:4 we are told that there is only one body, or one church (compare Ephesians 1:22-23). If we used that kind of language today, could we understand it, do you think? Is there more than one Paris, France, more than one Rome, Italy? The Bible says plainly that there is "one" church, "one" body, His church, His body. How many can you get out of "one"?
What the Bible says about falling from grace can be understood. Most of today’s denominational world subscribes to the Calvinistic doctrine that once a man has been saved, he cannot so sin as to be lost again. In other words, he can’t fall from grace. The word of God states emphatically that the grace of God can be received in vain (II Corinthians 6:1; it can be turned to lasciviousness (Jude 4); that it can be frustrated, made void (Galatians 2:21); and that one can fall from it (Galatians 5:4). So who will you believe, what someone tells you or what the Bible says?
The Bible is admittedly difficult in some places. However, one who is a Marine Biologist never stared out with the most technically difficult thing in that field of learning. You learn. You progress. Even so, the Bible must be contemplated, learned through an honest effort to know what it says. We are fitted for the use of information with which to make our God-given choices. Only as we study (II Timothy 2:15-16) His word can we know how to make ourselves "approved of God."
