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disciples indeed; and ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make
you free" (John 8:30-32).
They answered Him sarcastically
and hostilely. They were Abraham's
descendants and were already free,
they said.
"I know that ye are Abraham's
seed," responded Jesus,
"but ye seek
to kili me,
because my word [His
gospel message] hath no place in
you."
They believed on the messenger–
but they
rejected His message- they
didn't believe what He said!
Jesus continued, "But now ye seek
to kili me, a man that hath told you
the trutb [His gospel mei>sage],
which I have heard of God."
Later, Jesus said, "And because I
tell you the truth,
ye believe me
not .
...
why do ye not believe me?"
(Verses 45-46.)
Before the end of the first century
that message was suppressed and an–
other false "gospel" substituted (Gal.
1:6-7-A.D. 58). Christ's message
was not proclaimed to the world
again until now-in the latter half of
the twentietb century!
But God saw to it that His word–
His message to mankind-was in–
spired and put into Hís
written
Word. But even today, the relígíons
that have appropriated Christ's name
preach about the PERSONof Chríst–
but they do not proclaím Hís MES–
SAGE-His
true
gospel.
And in many basic doctrines they
teach the very opposíte of what Jesus
and the first apostles taught. They
condemn the customs Jesus observed,
and observe customs Jesus and the
Bible condemn.
Today, a professing adherent of
"Christianity" wíll say, in surpríse,
"Why, you surely don ' t take tbe Bi–
ble
literally,
do you?"
Humans have wrítten books by the
millíons. People read and take
them
líterally. They take tbem to mean
what they say-and say what they
mean. But the Bible? They can't
seem to
believe
it can mean what it
plainly says.
For example, the Bíble says, "The
wages of sin is DEATH" (Rom. 6:23).
But professíng Chrístians will say,
44
" But death doesn't
mean
death- it
means everlasting Jife in hell fire!"
God in His Word SAYS "death" - but
they don ' t believe what God
says.
Thís same verse says, also, " But
the gift of God is eternallife tbrough
Jesus Christ our Lord." Do they be–
lieve eternallife is a gift of God? No,
they believe we are " immortal souls"
who already
have
eterna! life. But
God says in His Word, "Tbe soul
that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek.
18:4). God says that-but professing
Christians don't belíeve what He
says! He says the same words agaín
in Ezekiel 18:20.
God said the same thing to Adam
and Eve: " ... in the day that thou
eatest thereof [of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evi l]
thou
shalt surely die"
(Gen. 2: 17). And in
verse seven God says He "formed
man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man [made of the dust of
the ground] became a living soul."
God told this "soul " he would "surely
die" if he disobeyed by taking tbe
forbidden fruit.
It was Satan who said, " Ye shall
NOT surely die." Today those who
profess Christ believe what Satan
s~id.
But tbey do not believe what
God said!
And what about modern science
and higher education? Like our first
parents they reject revelation (what
God says) as the basic source of
knowledge. Do they believe there was
a fiood in Noah's day? God says
there was, but they do not believe
what He says! What about higher
education? God says the waters of
the Red Sea parted and the Israelites
walked across on the dry fioor of the
sea. In His Word, God says the walls
of water returned, covering and
drowning Pharaoh and his army. But
can you find that in tbe ancient his–
tory texts? They don ' t
believe what
God
said!
God shows us the way to world
peace- peace between indivíduals,
between groups, between nations.
But men do not belíeve
what God
says,
and so we have no peace.
God shows us the way to peace,
happiness, prosperíty in abundance
and eterna! life as Hís gíft. But men,
except for the
very
few, don't belíeve
what God says! lnstead, humanity
suffers on!
o
RW
CONVER–
lYou can•t
win the prize
unlessyou
start the race)
The apostle Paul likened the
Christian lite to a race which
must be run for the "prize"
of eterna! life. A person does
not even begin his "race,"
however, until he has under–
gone a
genuine
conversion.
The New Testament concept
of conversion involves much
more than a mere intellectual
or ritualistic acceptance of a
set of beliefs. True con–
version can be defined in
two parts. The first involves a
definite event which occurs
when God fulfills His promise
to place the Holy Spirit
within a person after certain
conditions are met. The sec–
ond part is a process which
continues through the Chris–
tian's life. lf you'd like to
know more about the Bible's
teaching on conversion,
request the free booklet
Just
What Do You Mean-CON–
VERSION?
Write to
The Plain
Truth.
(See addresses on in–
side front cover.)
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1979