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··why ca ll ye me. Lord. Lord. and
do
nor
the things which I sayT
asked Jesus (Luke 6:46). Jesus knew
people would "beli eve on him."
adore his person. and yc t
perrert or
i~nore
his mcssage...Take heed that
no man dcceive you. For
many
[not
justa tew] shall come in my name.
say ing. 1 am Christ; and sha ll de–
ce ive many" (Matt.
24:4,
5).
Continua ll y. God·s Word shows
that there is a huge. unbridgeable
ga p betwecn those 1rho
profess rhe
name
..
Christi an' ' and those who are
willing
10
live
a Christian lifc.
ls Today 's Christianity Really
Christian?
The disciples were first called
·'Chri s ti ans" at Anti oc h (Acts
ll :26). Th c word ·'Christian." a
ap–
plied to these men a nd women ,
mean! something
shocking~v
dijfer–
enr
than it mcans to the millions
today. lf you could know how ut–
terl y, completely, a nd absolutcly
different they really were. it would
boggle your mi nd!
They kep t customs a lmos! uni vcr–
sa lly
abhorred
by so-called ·'Chris–
ti ans" today! Their entire life-style
was diffcrcnt. They kept God's lrue
sabbath - the seventh day of the
week - proved both by many scrip–
tu res in the book of Acts and
throughoul Paul's wrilings, and a t–
tested to by profane history. (Write
fo r our two free booklets on the
Christian sabba th.)
They observed God's true holy
days. the
annua/
sabba ths. They
dedicated their lives to
doing rhe
11-ork
o f preaching the go pel of the
kingdom of God as a wi tness to the
dying civilization of thcir time.
H
istory proves there was
a rora/
change
in what "Chri stian" meant at
Antioch and what it came to be
ca lled by the third century. l t took
bloodba ths to change ome of it -
to
force
people.
as
the yea rs wen t by.
to aba ndon the customs Ch rist had
taugb t and the early apos tles had
kept and taught others to keep.
Jesus had . a id to the re ligionists
of his day: "Th us have ye made the
comma ndment of God of none ef–
fec t by your tradition .... T his
people drawe th ni gh unto me witb
their mouth, and honouretb me wi th
their lips; but their bean is far from
me.
Bw
in vain do rhey II'Orship me.
30
teachin g for doctrines th e com–
mandments of men· · (Ma tt. 15:6. 8-
9) .
Did you grasp whal Jesus sa id? 11
is possible to prostrate yourself be–
fore God in worship and ye t do it a ll
in vai n!
Turning Grace lnto License
Even before the close of the New
Tes tament writ ings, Judc had to
write: " . ..
lt
was needful for me to
write unto you. and
e~hon
you that
ye should earncstly contend for the
fa ilh which was once dclivered unto
the sa ints. For 1here a re certain men
crept in unawa res ... ungodly men.
lurning the grace of our God into
/asciviousness
[license or permission
lo do evi l]. and
deny ing
1hc only
Lo rd God , and ou r Lord J esus
Cbrisl" (J ude
3. 4).
From the very days ofChrist un til
now. 1he movemenl to turn grace
( fo rgi ve ness. unmerit ed pa rd on,
merey upon repentance) in lo lascivi–
ousness has continued. Today. mil–
lion of professing Christians seem
10 reject God's law. Thousands of
th eir minisler fai l to 1each obedi–
ence to even Christ's clearest com–
ma nds! Many say there is
norhing
yo u musr do,
th erefore ca ll ing Christ
a liar when he said: "... lf thou wil t
enter in to lile.
keep rhe command–
ments ''( Mal t.
19: 17) .
God's Word makes il clear that to
be a Christian you must repenl of
hav ing broken God's law. All have
sinned (Rom.
3:23),
and the wages
of sin i death (Rom. 6:23). Christ
paid the pena lty by shedding his
life's blood
in our place.
But accep–
tance of his shed blood does not
mean license or permission 10 live
an
unrigl!leous
life. "Unto you first
God. hav in g raised up hi s Son
Jcsus, senl him lo bless you.
in rurn–
ing
mva_r
eve1y one ofyou .from
his
iniquities'' (Acts
3:26).
lniquity means lawlessncss. Sin is
1he breaking of God's law
(l
John
3: 4).
and wc mus1stop transgressing
th a l law (in all of its points, as
Chris l magnified il and made it
much more binding in 1he "Sermon
on the Mount''). The apostle Peter
sa id on 1he day of Pcn1ecos1:
"Re–
penr, and be bapti::ed
every one of
yo u in 1hc namc of Jesus Christ for
the remis ion of sins. and ye shall
receire rhe g((r of rhe Holy Spirit"
(Acts 2:38).
The Best Bi blical Definition
.ll
is the spirit of God tha t makes the
difference. And you ei ther have it or
you don'l! lt's lhattangible.
11 is
only
by rcceiving the holy
spirit 1ha1 you
become
a tr uc Chris–
tia n. "For
by one Spirit
are
\.VC
all
ba ptized into one body. whether we
be Jews or Genti les. whc thcr we be
bond or free: and have been all
made to drink into one Spi rit"
(1
Cor.
12: 13).
Probabl y the best and mosL con–
cise biblical defl ni tion of a Christian
is found in Romans: '' But ye are not
in 1he fle h. but in the Spirit.
ifso
be
1ha1 1he Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now ifany man have nor rhe Spirir o.f
Chrisl, he is none ofhis"(Rom.
8:9).
It
is the holy spirit tha t is the
missing ingredient. o real, lasting,
permanent piriLUal frui t may be
borne withou l it. With it your whole
life
can be changed!
Withou t it.
you' re nol a ll 1hcre.
You wcre born to be bcgouen
wilh God's spirit. Tha l may sou nd a
lil tle s1 range to some of ou r new
P/ain Trurh
subscribers. But it's
true! You are spiritually incomplete
un less and until you have fo llowed
Pc ter's advice in Acts
2:38.
The holy spi rit changes you r
whole perspect ive. It changes your
ou1look. your poi nt of view, your
opinions. your very thought pro–
cesses, your reasoning. Jt changes
your attitude. il lifts your spirit, ir
enlivens. it energizes, and it vivifies.
l t is lh e most precious, priceless.
bountiful blessing a loving Fa1her
co uld eve r give you - a parl of his
ve ry own li fe. l t truly makes you a
real Christian!
O
RECOMMENDED READING
The fundamentals of Chnslianity
requrre an rn-depth explanalron.
The
Plam Truth
edrtors further recom–
mend, as addrtronal readrng, a book–
let wntten by Garner Ted Armstrong
The tille is
What
/s
a Real Chnsttan?
Thrs free publrcatron goes thoroughly
into such subJects as the Sermon on
the Mounl. what real repentance rs.
and water baptrsm. lf you are al all
rnlerested in Chnstranrty, you cannol
afford lo be wrthout thrs booklet.
In addrtron. these brblrcal subjects
are all regularly covered. as a matter
of course .
rn
The Good News
maga–
zme. Your free subscrrptron only
awarts your letter
The
PLAIN TRUTH June 1976