Forgiven Love

A person never reaches the point where he is too gone from God's love. While God is more than willing to forgive the sinner, obviously his forgiveness cannot materialize until the erring one believes and repents. To secure the pardon so freely offered, the rebel must lay down his arms and cease his resistance. For the greatest story of forgiving love read Luke 15:18 to 32. On the way to Jerusalem for his last time, Jesus told a number of parables. Inasmuch as opposition was increasing in intensity, some of these were aimed at the Pharisees. Jesus told three stories in succession all of them emphasizing the same point. The three parables of lost things in Luke 15 are classic. They formed an effective apologetic attitude to the scribes and Pharisees, but at the same time they provided a winning appeal of love to publicans and sinners. The parables also speak of a much larger audience. They speak to all people of all generations concerning the love of God and his redemptive purpose in behalf of all humanity. The first parable was about a "shepherd who went out to find one lost sheep." The second was about "a woman who searched until she found one lost coin." The third was about " a wandering son who returned to his fathers house." In each case we see deep concern for the lost and spontaneous rejoicing when the lost is found. In this Christ showed how phony is a holier than thou religion that we even see today in places. We must forget to be absorbed in outward correctness and leave it to God as we grow in manifesting an unforgiving Spirit toward the erring. The Pharisees mind, warped by hypocritical, censorious self-righteousness cannot quite understand Jesus' mission. The Bible puts it very clear, read Luke 19:10. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Instead of contempt for the sinful, here is love that reaches out to redeem them. Jesus stands with open arms, like the father of the prodigal son, to welcome the penitent. He gives new vitality to the ancient invitation. Read Isaiah 55:7. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." One of the most serious charges against the organized Christians in the western world is that we have become a complacent group in middle class institutions intented on enjoying our trip to heaven, but unconcerned about the less fortunate and the ones who are on their way to Hell. The truth in some churches it is spoken in fear. And it is sad to say but if a down and out appearing person came to a worship service, smelling of alcohol, or a sinful smell of some type. He would create embarrassment. A lot of churches are waiting for the unsaved to come in and some so called Christians get upset when they get there. Forgiving love is something we all had better reach to grow in. We need compassion for neighbors who desperately need Christ. We better well remember that Jesus came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance. We who know him, better make our bodies open for Christ to use in showing forgiving love. Being a Christian will become a joyful adventure if we follow God's will.

Authority of the New Testament

THE AUTHORITY of the New Testament is the authority of Christ. Christ is the supreme authority of every Christian. He must be, by definition. Christ himself is the living Word of God, the supreme revelation of God. John was not just using a figure of speech, but stating the deepest truth about Christ in John 1. John called him the Word and said that he was God and that he was with God in the beginning. All things were made by him and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus came as the Word of God in living flesh to help us to know what we had to know in order to please God and to live for him.

It is the Holy Spirit who conveys to a person’s heart the truth of the revelation of God in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit conveys revelation to the mind and the heart of the person and witnesses to its divine authority. When Peter, for example, declared that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Jesus said that he had not learned this of himself, but that it had been revealed to him (Matthew 16:13–18).

In the long talk that Jesus had with his disciples just before his crucifixion, as recorded in John 14, 15, and 16, Jesus said much about the work of the Holy Spirit in revealing truth to them and leading them into all truth. Notice such passages as John 14:26: "But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." Notice also John 15:26: "But when the counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also are witnesses because you have been with me from the beginning." Thus it is the Holy Spirit who bears witness to the revelation to Christ and to his authority. It is also the Holy Spirit who bears witness to the authority of what Jesus taught and of what was written about him.

The New Testament is the inspired document of revelation and is thus the revelation of Jesus Christ to us. This, we are clearly told, was written under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit who inspired the authors to write it also works in our hearts to help us to understand that it is the Word of God and that it does have authority for us, we can know the way in which the Holy Spirit brings the authority of the Scripture home to us who read it.

We need to note also the way in which the New Testament is the supreme witness to Jesus Christ. It comes from the time of Christ. The New Testament was written by people who knew what they were talking about. They were closer to Christ than anyone else in all of history. In the second and third centuries the church was much impressed by the fact that these books were written by people who had known Jesus and who had been with him. They were impressed by this authority. These people were the best witnesses in all history to the facts about Jesus Christ and his life and teachings. They are, therefore, the final authority we have of the work and ministry of Jesus Christ. This means that the books of the New Testament have an authority that nothing else can ever have for Christian people.

There is another reason this is important. Students of the history of Christian theology have often been astonished at the speed with which false doctrines came into the church after the death of the last disciples of Christ. By the beginning of the second century, astonishing heresies were coming into the church and being taught as the real teachings of Jesus. People soon became confused as to what was true. Had it not been for the written records of the early Christians, those who had known Christ personally, the church would have been gone forever.