Gary :
You are listening to a special presentation of Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Now our final segment:
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES
We return once again to 2000 with Dave and Tom.
Tom:
For the past few weeks, in our ongoing study of the gospel of salvation, we’ve been studying Romans 5 verses 6-21 which we’ve noted the Apostle Paul presents as an advocate before the highest court in the land and of course the logic is compelling. I’ll quickly review verses 6-16 and we’ll pick up with verse 16: 6) “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9) Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11) And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 12) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13) (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14) Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15) But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” Dave picking up now with verse 16: “And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.” In other words, through Adam’s sin, mankind came under condemnation but through Christ’s sacrificial death came justification. Now we have going back and forth between those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ, this is an interesting parallel here.
Dave:
Well, I think it’s also saying that it was just one sin, in fact a very simple sin, seemingly that brought death and judgment upon all mankind. Just don’t eat of this tree. We’ve talked about it before. I think it was the easiest command God could give. There must have been thousands of trees, maybe millions I don’t know, in this huge garden, the Garden of Eden. I don’t believe there was anything special about that fruit. In other words, physical fruit isn’t going to make you wise. There may have been other trees just like it, with the same fruit all around it, but God said don’t eat of THAT tree. That’s the easiest command He could give Adam and Eve and they failed. So the problem was not that this was some magical fruit. The problem was that they had disobeyed God. But it was only one command, a simple command. I mean you wouldn’t think that would be so serious. Well, okay God, so I did eat that fruit that you told me not to. I ate of that tree that you told me not to. That was rebellion against God and that’s why James says he who offends in one point (talking about the Ten Commandments) is guilty of all. Because to break any one of the Ten Commandments is just as serious as to break any other commandment. It’s simply like thumbing your nose at God. It’s a rebellion against God.
Tom:
Dave, as a former Catholic we had venial sins and mortal sins, but sin is sin.
Dave:
Right, but it’s saying here there was only one sin. But now there are many offences verse 16 says and yet those have been overcome through Christ. You look at this world—the evil in this world is beyond our comprehension and we don’t even know the wickedness of man and what goes on in some cities and houses and secret places and the plans and the heart of man is so wicked and yet all of that, I think this is what this verse is saying—all of that is overcome by the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross who paid the full penalty for every sin.
Tom:
Right, verse 17 amplifies what you are saying: “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; (and death did reign—destroyed the whole universe—nothing like what God had originally designed or—He said it was very good at the end.)
Dave:
Adam and Eve were separated from God, the spirit of God departed from their spirit and their bodies began to die and that was all that they could pass on to their children.
Tom:
“…much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Listen, most people would say wait a minute, what did he just say? What God offers here is not just eternal life with Him, but the gift of righteousness! We’ll have Christ’s righteousness for eternity and all the blessings that flow from that. That’s staggering!
Dave:
It is Tom and it’s the only righteousness that will stand before God. It’s not my own righteousness. If I could become righteous in myself and you know as a Catholic, that’s the teaching. It’s not imputed righteousness, in other words credited to my account that a Catholic strives for, when there’s no striving for that. It’s a gift. But its infused righteousness.
Tom:
We have to, we had to become righteous and expiation of sins was not only what Christ did, it’s what we had to do through suffering here and in purgatory.
Dave:
That’s what purgatory is all about—to purge you, to make you righteous. So you would be able to boast before God, you know. Well, I suffered to get myself here too. So I get part of the credit because I became righteous in and of myself through being purged by those things that I suffered. That is absolutely contrary to the Bible and it undermines the gospel.
Tom:
Dave, it’s not a gift.
Dave:
That’s right. The gift of righteousness it says. Wow, we have been given the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, credited to our account.
Tom
And it’s no small cost…we might think it’s a gift…at no small cost to God. He sent His Son to pay the full penalty for it which is again, staggering.
Dave:
Which we don’t understand.
Tom:
No, but we’re incredibly thankful for.
Dave:
Amen that’s why we would love Him and serve Him out of gratitude. I sometimes say that you know, Jehovah Witnesses—we were just in Europe and we were going on a train from Czech Republic to Slovakia and you know the Lord is gracious and who does He bring to me but two young Mormon missionaries. And…
Tom:
Mormon or JW?
Dave:
No, Mormon missionaries, but it’s similar I’m saying, I often say to Jehovah’s Witnesses or to Mormon—Jehovah’s Witnesses, they are knocking on doors to try to earn their salvation. They even have to pass a test after Armageddon. But I’ve knocked on more doors than, I think, most Jehovah’s Witnesses, probably thousands of them. Back in those days when the Lord gave me time for that sort of thing. But I do it out of love and gratitude to the one who gave me eternal life. That’s a higher motive than doing it to earn eternal life. And so it’s because of this gift, that’s what wins our hearts. And now we love Him, because He first loved us, not because we managed to work this love up within ourselves. We will be in His presence forever because He has credited to us the perfect righteousness of God and is only possible because Christ paid the full penalty for our sins. Tom, that’s something to get excited about. That causes you to really be happy, to rejoice and to anticipate being in the presence of this wonderful God and Savior who loves us so much. It’s going to take eternity for Him to pour out His infinite love upon us.
Tom:
Dave, what really grieves me in this—those who do these kinds of things, whether they be Mormon works or Jehovah Witnesses out working, knocking on doors, putting in all these hours—on the one hand, yes there’s a sincerity there, but the thing that grieves me is that they don’t understand that it’s a rejection of this gift—it’s a rejection of what Christ has accomplished. So it’s grievous in that sense.
Dave:
Yes, and it grieves us because they have a false hope. The writer of the Hebrews says “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation…” and they are really neglecting the salvation that God has given them as a free gift and they are trying to earn it as you said. You offer to pay anything, you’ve rejected the gift. It’s heartbreaking and Tom it is so difficult to help these dear people understand this, because as the Bible says the god of this world has blinded their minds and he has people trying to earn their salvation and that is an affront, an insult to God.
Tom:
Yes, and please for our listeners out there, don’t take our word for this. What we are trying to do is go through God’s Word to point to the Scriptures. You read them for yourself, let the Holy Spirit bring conviction here first and then understanding of these things and you’ll know. God will reveal these things to you.
Gary :
We hope you have enjoyed this special edition of Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. For nearly 2000 years, the church of Christ has provided comfort and counsel to believers experiencing mental, emotional and behavioral problems by using the teachings of the Scriptures and the power of the Holy Spirit until psychology and psychotherapy arrived on the scene. Contemporary Christianity has embraced this science so called. In the last 50 years, multitudes of pastors have added clinical counseling degrees to their theological credentials. Psychological theories have been preached so often from so many pulpits that they are accepted without question by increasing numbers of Christians as biblical doctrine. The Christian church in the United States has become a major referral service for clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. Is there something wrong with this picture? Join host T.A. McMahon in this new ground breaking documentary from The Berean Call: “Psychology and the Church, Critical Questions, Crucial Answers.” Also contributing to this latest TBC production are Dr. Martin Bobgan and Deidre Bobgan from Psychoheresy Awareness Ministries, Dr. Tana Dinien, author of Manufacturing Victims and Dave Hunt, author of Judgment Day . Executive director of The Berean Call and co-author of The Seduction of Christianity , Tom McMahon:
For years, believers, both pastors, and those in the pews have been intimidated by the pseudo-science of psychological counseling and the result has been they have backed away from their God-given mandate to minister to one another. My hope and prayer is that this video will expose the myths of psychology and encourage the church to return to God’s way of counseling through His Word, by His Holy Spirit and with the help of fellow believers in Him.
Gary :
This powerful new DVD is now available from The Berean Call. “Psychology and the Church, Critical Questions, Crucial Answers”—information on how to order in just a moment. And now to tell you more about our ministry, here’s TBC Executive Director Tom McMahon:
The name, The Berean Call is taken from the Book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 10 and 11, where we find the apostle Paul entering the synagogue in the Greek city of Berea after he had just come from Thessalonica. To these Bereans he preached that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah sent from God. They were commended for being noble, or fair-minded not only for their willingness to hear what Paul had to say about the matter, but more specifically because they searched the scriptures daily to find out whether or not what the apostle was saying was found in God’s Word. That’s what we hope to encourage through this ministry. Our mission is to alert believers in Christ to unbiblical teachings and practices impacting the church. Our prayer is that we can be used of God to stimulate Christians to look to the Bible alone as their rule of faith, authority and practice in living lives pleasing to our Lord and Savior.
Gary :
In addition to this radio program we publish a monthly newsletter which we make available free of charge. We also produce and distribute a wide variety of teaching materials, including books in print, e-book and audio book formats, CD’s, DVD’s and other items to encourage the serious study of God’s Word. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast write to us at POB 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708, call our toll free order number 800-937-6638, that’s 800-937-6638, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org . If you would like a copy of today’s broadcast on compact disk ask for Program #1609, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. Get a pen or pencil ready; we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment. Next week, An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith , and “Is There Such a Thing as Eternity?” In Religion in the News, “Desmond Tutu’s New Image of God,” we’ll take a look at that story and address the question: Do Children Go to Heaven When They Die? We hope you can tune in. If you have questions or comments about this program we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Daily Radio Ministry is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers and your financial support. I’m Gary Carmichael, and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call, I would like to thank you for joining us and invite you to tune in again next week. Until then, if you desire to know God’s truth, search the scriptures daily. For more information about The Berean Call contact us at POB 7019, Bend , Oregon 97708 , call our toll free order number 1-800-937-6638, that’s 1-800-937-6638, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org .
