| August 30, 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 18
|
Luke tells us that Christ’s disciples “were called Christians first at Antioch” nearly 2,000 years ago. The apostle Peter makes known to us that it is by wearing that name that we are to glorify God, 1 Pet. 4:16. Since the days of the inspired writers, many Bible scholars have recognized the importance of wearing this God-given name rather than wearing names of human origin in religion.
Martin Luther, whose efforts at religious reform resulted in the Lutheran Church, said, “I pray you to leave my name alone, and call not yourselves ‘Lutherans’ but ‘Christians.’ Who is Luther? My doctrine is not mine. I have not been crucified for anyone. St. Paul would not permit that any should call themselves of Paul, nor of Peter, but of Christ. How, then, does it befit me, a miserable bag of dust and ashes, to give my name to the children of Christ? Cease, my dear friends, to cling to party names and distinctions; away with them all; let us call ourselves only ‘Christians’ after Him from Whom our doctrine comes.” (Stork: Life of Martin Luther, page 289).
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church is quoted: “Would to God that all party names and unscriptural phrases and forms which have divided the Christian world were forgotten; and that we might all agree to sit down together as humble loving disciples at the feet of a common Master to hear His word, imbibe His Spirit, and transcribe His life into our own.” (Wesley’s Notes on the New Testament, page 7).
Charles H. Spurgeon, one of the most powerful Baptist preachers who ever lived, was of like sentiments: “I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be a Baptist living. I hope they will soon be gone. I hope the ‘Baptist’ name will soon perish, but let Christ’s last forever.” (Spurgeon’s Memorial Library, Vol. 1, page 168).
Such quotations show that great students of God’s word in numerous times and places have recognized the value of calling ourselves after Christ who war crucified for us, and in whose name we have been baptized.
--CRJ
1. Capital punishment for the crime of murder was instituted by God roughly 1,000 years before the giving of the written Law of Moses on Mt. Sinai, Gen. 9:6.
2. The death penalty was continued under that law and extended to include other sins as well. Ex. 21:12-17; 22:18-20, etc.
3. Normally, human agents were required to carry out the death penalty, but God was its author. From the flood till the time of Moses, capital punishment was carried out by near kinsmen of the victim, Gen. 9:5. Under Moses’ law, near kinsmen continued to be the avengers of blood in most cases. In New Testament times, the rulers of civil governments were charged with the responsibility of carrying out the law, using the sword when needed, Rom. 13:4.
4. Justice demands the death penalty for certain violent crimes, as was recognized even by the robber crucified with Jesus, Luke 23:39-41.
5. Consistently applied, the death penalty would serve as a deterrent to premeditated murder, Deut. 19:20-21. Psychologists and politicians have long denied that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder, but as Kurt Anderson observed in Time Magazine a few years ago, “Death’s deterrent power has never really been given a chance in the U.S.” He noted that even in times when it was used most extensively “hardly one in 50 murderers was put to death, a scant 2%.” He further observed that even if there were 100 executions a week, “a killer’s chances of getting caught, convicted, and executed would for him still be comfortably low: 250 to one.”
One thing is certain: The death penalty would put a stop to repeat offenders. Only when the American people insist that their rulers do their God-given duty in this matter, will capital punishment be the deterrent to murder that God has always intended it to be. Man’s solutions are not working. The time has come to humble ourselves before the Almighty and do what He told us to do about this serious problem.
--CRJ
Several years ago a newspaper article appeared which told the story of a Mrs. Craig, 81 years old, who had not missed a worship service in 1,040 Sundays -- a perfect record for 20 years. This prompted some questions:
--author unknown
In Matt. 5:17-19, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.”
For centuries, many of the Jews had longed to be rid of certain aspects of God’s law. See Amos 8:4-6. Some of it, by tradition, they had set aside, Matt. 15:3. Perhaps their longings for the Messiah were partly in hopes that He would destroy the law. If so, they were sadly mistaken.
Jesus did not come to destroy the Law of Moses. Rather, He came to fulfill it. He fulfilled the law by keeping its commands perfectly, Heb. 4:15. He fulfilled the many Old Testament prophecies that spoke directly of Him, such as Isa. 7:14 which foretold His virgin birth, Micah 5:2, which told that He would be born in Bethlehem, and numerous other prophecies. He further fulfilled the law by fulfilling its many types, becoming the New Testament antitype. All the animal sacrifices of the Law of Moses looked forward to Jesus, the Lamb of God, John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7. By His sacrificial death, Jesus fulfilled each of them. The law of the firstfruits offered to God according to Lev. 23:10-11 was fulfilled in Christ’s resurrection from the dead. The exact day the Jews were offering the firstfruits of the harvest, Jesus came forth from the grave to “become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20-23).
Jesus did no violence to the Law of Moses. He did not destroy it. Instead, He fulfilled it, brought it to its intended, orderly conclusion. It was meant to end in Christ, Gal. 3:19, 24; Rom. 10:4. It has been abolished as law and replaced by the new covenant promised in Jer. 31:31-34, but it still serves God’s purposes in revealing God’s nature, showing His faithfulness, exemplifying His moral standards, showing His goodness and severity, etc. We can learn much from the Old Testament law, and even more from Jesus who completely fulfilled it and left the New Testament in its place.
--CRJ