[Biblemat] S) ANSWERING FALSE CHARGES

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is a study from my
files.  Use to the glory of God.

ANSWERING FALSE CHARGES

     During the lifetime of Jesus on earth, there were many
accusations made against Him.  The Lord was accused of
associating with sinners (Matt. 9:11), being from the wrong
city (Jno. 1:46), being the servant of Satan (Matt. 12:24), blas-
phemy (Matt. 26:65), of choosing "unlearned and ignorant men" to be His 
apostles (Acts 4:13) and of being a threat to
Caesar and even a threat to God!  Some of the accusations
may seem to be frivolous to us, but they were serious to those who made them.

     Jesus lived a perfect life.  The God of heaven said of Him,
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 17:5).  And 
although He lived in the same kind of world we do,
with all of the pressures and temptations, He did it without
sin: "Tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin"
(Heb. 4:15).  If the Son of God, while living a perfect life, was 
the target of "serious" accusations, how can we escape, as
we live our mistake-filled lives?  False accusations have often
been made against those seeking to serve the Lord.  And it is
no different today.  (Jesus said that the world would hate and
persecute us as it hated and persecuted Him, JWS).

     Why are false accusations made against those who are
serving Christ?  Jesus told the disciples, "If ye were of the
world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not
of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you" (Jno. 15:19).  In fact, He warns us against
becoming "too cozy" with the world:  "Woe unto you, when 
all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did 
their fathers to the false prophets" (Lk. 6:26).  And those who
follow the false prophets are surely the enemies of God.

     The apostle Paul later echoed this caution in Gal. 1:10, "If
I yet pleased men, I would not be the servant of Christ."  Acc-
usations will be made, in every generation, in every land.
Some may have a small measure of truth in them, but they will be made only 
for the purpose of tearing down Christ and His cause.  And such charges are now 
being made against the church of the Lord.

"You Teach People To Violate The Law": -- As a "new sect
among the Jews" (as many Jews supposed), the early church
had to be extremely careful about the customs and laws of
both the Jews and the Gentiles.  Yet, when Paul preached in
Philippi, opposition arose.  And the first charge against the 
church was: "These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble
our city, and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to
receive, or to observe, being Romans" (Acts 16:20,21).  This
charge was false, for the apostle Paul was, himself, a Roman
citizen (Acts 16:37).  There was nothing in the gospel of Christ that would 
cause one to rebel against established law.
Yet, in the next city where Paul's missionary group preached,
the charge is made again: "They that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also" (Acts 17:6).  Because the
"community leaders" could not refute the apostle's teaching,
they leveled false charges to stir up the people against them.

     Some today make a similar charge, that "churches of Christ don't believe 
you have to obey the laws of the land."
Friend, that is just not true.  Jesus taught clearly that we owe
our first loyalty to God, but that should not interfere with our
subjection to civil government: "Render unto Caesar the things that are 
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's
(Matt. 22:21)"  There need be no conflict between the two, un-
less man makes laws that seek to prevent our service to God
in which case, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:
29).  Jesus obeyed the Roman law and taught His disciples
to do so.  That even included paying taxes to a corrupt gover-
nment.

     Christians are to obey the law -- not just the ones we like,
but all of them.  The Scripture says, "Let every soul be in sub-
jection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God
Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordin-
ance of God" (Rom. 13:1,2).  The apostle Peter makes it simp-
le for us: "Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake" (1 Pet. 
2;13).  The child of God, because he is
a Christian, should set the right example for all men by obey-
ing the law.

"You Don't Believe The Old Testament":-- The Jews accused
Christ and His disciples of failing to "keep the traditions of the fathers" 
(Matt. 15:2).  When Paul preached Christ in Ephe-
sus, the Jews charged, "This man persuadeth men to worship
God contrary to the law" (Acts 18:13).  The Roman magistrate
Gallio, refused to hear the case because it dealt only with Jew-
ish law.  But the charge is often made today, "The church of
Christ doesn't beleive the Old Testament."  it was a false char-
ge 2000 years ago, and it is still false today.

     Jesus answered the temptation of the devil by saying, "Man shall not 
live by bread alone, but by every word that pro-
ceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4).  The New Testa-
ment says of the Old Testament writings, "For whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
that through patience and through comfort of the Scriptures
we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4).  Again, "All Scripture is giv-
en by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16).  That includes the Old
Testament Scriptures too!  Those Scriptures are just as true
today as they ever were.  The real question is not, "Do you
believe the Old Testament?" but "Do the commands of the Old Testament apply 
to mankind today?"

     Some pick a command or example from the Old Testament
and say, "You don't believe that!"  And they are often correct.
But who believes that all of the commands in the Old Testa-
ment Scriptures apply to us today?  Shall we build an ark of
gopherwood, as Noah was told to do (Gen. 6)?  Shall we offer
our firstborn son as a burnt-offering, as Abraham was told to
do (Gen. 22)?  Shall we keep the Sabbath, with its laws of no
work, no fire, no travel more than 3/4 of a mile, and the death
penalty for all violators (Exo. 31:14-17)?  Now, I don't know
anyone who contends that all of these are for us today.  Then
which ones are?

     God tells us clearly: "For the priesthood being changed,
there is made of necessity a change also of the law...Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new coven-
ant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah...
And for this cause He is the Mediator of a new covenant, that
a death having taken place for the redemption of the trans-
gressions that were under the first covenant, they that have
been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritan-
ce" (Heb. 7:12; 8:8; 9:15).  And again, "He taketh away the 
first, that He might establish the second.  By the which will we are 
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:9,10).  It is plainly stated that the
first (old) testament was taken away in order that the second
(new) could be established.

     The apostle Paul wrote of the Old Testament, and gave a
reason for the death of Christ on the cross: "You, I say, did
He make alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our
trespasses; having blotted out the bond written in ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us: and He hath
taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross" (Col. 2:13,14).
When Christ died on the cross, the Old Testament, as a gover-
ning law, died with Him.  We live and serve God under the New Testament, the 
"perfect law of liberty" (Jas. 1:25).

     For those who would go back to the Old Law for rules or
authority, we would simply point out what the Scripture says:
"Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the
law; ye are fallen away from grace" (Gal. 5:4).

"You Won't Fellowship Other Churches": -- This is not a new
charge at all.  When Peter and John preached the gospel, they were thought to 
be "far too narrow" when they said of
Jesus, "And in none other is there salvation: for neither is
there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must 
be saved" (Acts 4:12).  For preaching
this, they were told by the Jewish council "not to speak at all
nor teach in the name of Jesus" (Acts 4:18).  The idea that this "is the only 
way" would not be tolerated by other relig-
ious leaders!  When Paul preached, "There is neither Jew nor
Greek ...Ye are all one in Christ" (Gal. 3:28), the Jews were
offended.

     The Gentiles reacted in a similar way to the Jews.  When
Paul came to Athens, "His spirit was provoked within him, as
he beheld the city full of idols" (Acts 17:16).  And he preached
"Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are very re-
ligious" (vs. 22).  But then he showed that their religion was
wrong!  And most of them didn't much like it (Acts 17:16,22,
31,32).  But Paul was more concerned with truth than with 
"getting along" with his religious neighbors!

     Many question today, "Why don't churches of Christ join
with other denominations in various works and worship?"  The answer is 
two-fold.  First, the church of Christ is NOT a
denomination!  It was built by Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:18), not
by men.  It is His body (Eph. 5:23-33), and Christ is the Head
and Savior of it (Eph. 5:23).  Christ prayed that there would
never be any denominations (Jno. 17:20,21).  Through Paul,
the Lord Jesus tells us: "That ye all speak the same thing and
that there are to be no divisions among you; but that ye be 
perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgme-
nt...Is Christ divided?" (1 Cor. 1:10-13).

     The Bible tells us, "Contend earnestly for the faith which
was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jd. 3).  We are not
given a choice about that, and there are some who will not 
like it.  But Jesus never gave His approval to any denominat-
ion -- so how can His followers do so?

     The early Christians were confronted with the problem of
dealing "with other faiths," such as Judaism and idolatry.  What were they 
told?  "Be not unequally yoked with unbeliev-
ers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or
what communion hath light with darkness?  And what con-
cord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer
with an unbeliever?  And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for 
we are a temple of the living God; even as
God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be
their God, and they shall be My people.  Wherefore Come ye
out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord"
(2 Cor. 6:14-17).  Notice that five questions are asked in that
passage, and each one contrasts the "one faith" (Eph. 4:5)
with a "different faith."  And the admonition was (and is):
"Come out."

     Christ did not conform to the pattern of what other religio-
us leaders wanted, so that they made all kinds of accusations
against Him to try to discredit Him and destroy His influence.
The apostles Peter, Paul and other apostles all preached Christ as the only 
Savior.  People were not offered a choice.
The apostles showed that salvation was possible only in Christ  and by doing 
His Will.  False and prejudicial  charges
were made against them.  And today, when folk seek to do His Will, in His 
church, wearing His name, and striving to follow only His teaching, the same and 
similar charges are made against them.

     You may choose a different course for your life, but I can-
not.  Regardless of the charges noted above, against Christ
and against the church of Christ, my choice is made: "Choose you this day 
whom ye will serve...but as for me and
my house, we will serve Jehovah" (Jos. 24:15).  I must serve
the Lord Jesus Christ, in His church, and thus bring glory to
God (Eph. 3:21).  I can do nothing else.   ------- Clem Thurman
in Gospel Minutes, Vol. 56, No. 9, Mar. 2, 2007.   </HTML>
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