One In Jesus

1. God is a God of exceptions — at least when it comes to insisting on the covenant-means of obtaining forgiveness. In the Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian dispensations, we see God making repeated exceptions from the stated pattern of how grace is to be obtained.

God further evidences his willingness to make exceptions in that he has allowed some of his faithful followers to escape even the curse of death. More precisely, God is not a rulebook — he’s a person, and as such, God’s words cannot be understood without first understanding his personality. I mean, how many times has any of us thought, “You would not have misunderstood me if you really knew me”? Continue reading →

How do we deal with the fact that Paul wrote—

(1 Cor. 1:17) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

For all the many scriptures that support the traditional position of the Churches of Christ, there is no explaining this passage in light of what we’ve traditionally taught. How can the greatest evangelist in history say — by inspiration — that Jesus did not send him to baptize?

Don’t we send our missionaries out to baptize? Don’t we expect reports from them as to numbers of baptisms? Can you imagine a Church of Christ missionary saying that he wasn’t sent to baptize? Continue reading →

God’s Right to Make Exceptions

Job teaches us that we have no business judging God, especially for his extraordinary generosity. I wish space allowed a thorough study of Job.

Chapters 33-42 particularly make the point. Beginning in chapter 33, Elihu charges Job with arrogance in being angry with God— Continue reading →

In the last two posts, we considered the history God’s dealings with his people, and we learned that God has never refused his salvation to someone who approached him with faith and penitence — even when that person failed to comply with the covenant-means of forgiveness then in effect.

Moreover, we’ve seen cases, such as the Apostles and Cornelius, where God himself took the initiative to break his own rules. The bothers some quite a lot, because we see God as the Great Rulebook in the Sky. But God is a person, with free will, and God does not have to follow his own rules.

Next we’ll consider some additional arguments. Continue reading →