{"id":40692,"date":"2021-12-16T09:36:49","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T15:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=40692"},"modified":"2021-12-16T09:37:46","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T15:37:46","slug":"those-strange-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/those-strange-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Those “Strange People”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Robert F. Turner<\/p>\n

Years ago I shared a seat on the train with a “missionary” returning from work in Alaska. He told me he met some “strange people” up there who thought they could work out their own salvation.<\/p>\n

I said, “With fear and trembling<\/em>; Philippians 2:12.”<\/p>\n

“No, No!” he said. “I mean they thought they could save themselves.”<\/p>\n

And I said, “From this untoward generation<\/em>; Acts 2:40.”<\/p>\n

This was just too much for the old gentleman; and he sighed, and said he guessed I must be one of those folk. Well, I never did discover whether I was or was not; but I did try to make my point that there was nothing wrong in a faith that could be “spelled out” by the word of God.<\/p>\n

It is common to hear preachers boldly assert that “the gospel of Christ must be believed — it cannot be obeyed!!!” I just recall that Paul said the Lord was coming “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ<\/em>” (II Thessalonians 1:8). When I hear someone say, “A child of God cannot fall from grace” I remember that Paul told the Galatians who sought justification by the law, “ye are fallen from grace<\/em>” (Galatians 5:4). Reminds me of the fellow in the jail cell who shouts at the jailer, “You can’t do this to me!”<\/p>\n

I know that sinners cannot “save themselves” apart from the Lord; but there must be some way in which this admonition properly applies, or it would not be in God’s word. The facts of the gospel can only be believed, but there must be commands of the gospel, which must be obeyed, or this responsibility would not be placed upon us. It is foolish to contend that Christians cannot fall from grace when Paul says some had done so. By the same token, there must be some sense in which we are saved by faith — for in various ways the Bible says this is so. (Romans 5:1) But it doesn’t say “faith only<\/strong>” — and so we have no right to say so. If there were not some sense in which baptism washes away sins, the Bible would not tell us that it does. (Acts 22:16) Ignoring God’s word won’t change it.<\/p>\n

How wonderful it would be if we all had enough confidence in the word of God to accept it just as God gave it; neither “explaining away” the statements we do not like, nor acting as though they didn’t exist. The New Testament relates salvation to 18 or 20 different things<\/a>. We are saved by grace, faith, works, baptism, hope, -and so, on and on. There is no “only<\/strong>” attached to any of these things. It would seem that common “horse” sense would tell us that they are all <\/b>necessary ingredients — fitting perfectly into the divine pattern, each in its place. No “doctrine” that denies any of these matters, or places emphasis upon one to the hurt of another, could possibly be God’s truth.<\/p>\n

Folk who respect the word of God just “face-up” to its statements and accept them. If this makes “strange people” — then so be it.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Robert F. Turner Years ago I shared a seat on the train with a “missionary” returning from work in Alaska. He told me he met some “strange people” up there who thought they could work out their own salvation. I said, “With fear and trembling; Philippians 2:12.” “No, No!” he said. “I mean they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[642,54],"class_list":["post-40692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-christianity","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24925,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-my-mother-have-such-a-strange-dream\/","url_meta":{"origin":40692,"position":0},"title":"Why did my mother have such a strange dream?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I hear you're from a church. Can you tell me any reason why my mom dreamed last night that she was somewhere in a mountain and all of a sudden she heard a voice saying look up in the sky and she looked up and saw a crack in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67871,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/taking-the-gifts-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":40692,"position":1},"title":"Taking the Gifts of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert F. Turner \"And Jehovah said unto Joshua, See I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor\" (Joshua 6:2). According to some theories of Gift and Grace, this promise says, ``(1) you already have the city and can't lose it;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/leprosy\/","url_meta":{"origin":40692,"position":2},"title":"Leprosy!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Paul Williams The repulsive disease of leprosy has a strange fascination. God's law for Israel described its symptoms in detail and gave minute instructions to the priest for its diagnosis. This law also said, \"As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/YW030393V_Leprosy-skin-discolouration-on-an-Indian-mans-arm-300x212.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":53851,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-passover-lamb-and-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":40692,"position":3},"title":"The Passover Lamb and Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The story of the first Passover is familiar to most of us. In Exodus 12, Moses instructs the Israelites to take an unblemished male lamb, slaughter it, eat it as part of a ritual meal, and apply its blood to the doorposts and lintels of their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/lamb-300x210.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":60980,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-the-lord-opens-the-door-you-have-to-seize-the-opportunity\/","url_meta":{"origin":40692,"position":4},"title":"\u201cWhen the Lord Opens the Door You Have to Seize the Opportunity…\u201d","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Lovelace For some reason. perhaps because it is beneficial to be reminded how apostasy works, or better yet because apostasy does indeed \"work\" and presents itself in order to perpetuate its working of error, I keep meeting those who say they really do not see anything wrong with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24582,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-aaron-make-the-golden-calf\/","url_meta":{"origin":40692,"position":5},"title":"Why did Aaron make the golden calf?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Aaron make the golden calf right after God had spoken the ten commandments to the Israelites? Answer: When confronted by Moses regarding his sin, Aaron blamed the people into pressuring him. \"You know the people, that they are set on evil\" (Exodus 32:22). 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