For in it
(the Gospel, my addition)
the righteousness of God
is revealed from
faith to faith;
as it is written,
'The just shall live by faith.'
Romans 1:17; cf. Galatians 3:11, Habakkuk 2:4
Paul is plain in stating that the righteousness of God begins with faith and ends with faith, the tenses of the words for faith in the Greek language makes this fact, and it is by this faith that the just shall live. The question for you is: are you living Authentic Biblical Faith or faith that has been handed down to you from mom or dad, or pastor, or teacher, professors based upon their beliefs, or is it truly Biblical faith, that is, is it based only on Scripture? The purpose of studying Doctrine is that for many Christianity is a way of life, and it is, but it is more, and it is this more that is important for a person's way of life. What is the foundation for a Christian's way of life?
One does not have to be a Christian to recognize facts for
it is a matter of common sense and common honesty. For instance, all corporation
have an incorporation paper and by this paper all objects within the
corporation are set forth. Some objects may have more value, and be more
desirable, than other objects, yet, if the officers use the corporate name and
resources to pursue other objects than what was set forth in the incorporation
papers they are acting in ways outside of the corporation. This is true of
Christianity, for if a person acts outside of what was set forth at the
beginning of Christianity to pursue that which may be considered more desirable
then all they are doing is acting beyond the scope of the incorporation papers,
therefore are outside of the corporation and acting falsely towards it. It may
be said that Christianity did not have a right to legislate for the next
generations but Christianity did have the inalienable right to legislate for
those who would bear the name Christian. No matter the case Christianity can
only be examined if the examination begins at the beginning.
Any
examination of the early Christian it will be found that this movement that
would become called Christianity began a few short days after the death of
Jesus Christ. This was a new beginning inasmuch as there was an important
change in peoples exercise of their life for now they lived for Jesus Christ
and this belief derived by this new beginning spread out over the Gentile world
and this movement from then on carried the name Christianity. Paul regarded
this new movement and gave information that is regarded by serious historians
that what he wrote was the genuine communication from those who were present
with Jesus Christ and were intimate friends with Him. In Paul’s epistles one
can find that Paul made it very clear what the fundamental characteristic of
the movement was. The evidence presented gives clarity that from the inception
of this movement Christianity was not just a way of life as the use of the term
in modern times, rather it was a way of life founded upon a message. This way
of life was not founded on mere feeling, not upon some program of work, but
upon facts. Therefore, it was based on Doctrine. Any examination of Paul’s life
shows that he based his life on this evidence and that he was not indifferent
to Doctrine. Paul gave evidence to the fact of his tolerance, that while he was
in prison in Rome some began to preach Christ but their preaching as nothing
more than a means for gratification for low personal ambition, but Paul was not
disturbed for he said: “What then? Only that in every way, whether in
pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes and will
rejoice” (Philippians 1:18). Yes, the manner in which the Gospel was being
preached was wrong, but Paul was more interested in the content of the message
than in the manner of preaching. But do not think that Paul was given his
approval to those who preached wrongly, no, Paul was not indiscriminate. In
Galatia Paul showed no tolerance; “But even if we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed” (Galatians 1:8). The question that arises from these two accounts
is: why was Paul tolerant in Rome and not in Galatia? The answer is plain and
clear: In Rome the message even though preached wrongly it still had the
correct content, and in Galatia the content of the message was false.
Personalities had nothing to do with Paul’s attitude and the impurity of those
who were preaching the Gospel was not the ground of his opposition. His
opposition was based on the falsity of their teaching for they were
substituting true Gospel for false Gospel. It never occurred to Paul that the
Gospel might be true for one man and not another; pragmatism did not enter into
the reason for Paul’s objection and opposition. Paul was convinced of the
objective truth of the Gospel message, and it was his devotion to that truth
that was the great passion of his life. For Paul, Christianity was more than
just a life, it was also a Doctrine, and logically the Doctrine came first. Christ died--that is history; Christ died for our sins--that is Doctrine and without those two elements, joined in absolute indissoluble union, there is no Christianity.
Where have you placed your devotion? To a way of life, to Doctrines that are not Authentic Biblical Doctrine and are theologies taught by men with a faith that seems correct but in fact is outside of true Biblical Christian Doctrine? Or is your devotion upon God, not just the Son of God: yes we must admit and believe upon the Son of God, and that is Scriptural but so often we think of two physical being, rather than Jesus Christ was God, not an angel as Jehovah Witnesses teach, not some created being, but God. Never forget, Jesus is the Son of God, but He is God.
You are worthy, O Lord,
to receive glory and honor
and power; for you created
all things, and by Your will
they exist and were created.
Revelation 4:11
Live Life--Live it For God
Richard L. Crumb
|
No comments:
Post a Comment