Think on These Things
November 1999
There are three ways that we obtain
authority and direction from the bible: Command, Example and Necessary
Inference. This month’s issue
will consider the second of these, approved apostolic example, and we will
consider the subject of Necessary Inference next month.
There is no direct statement in the bible that prescribes these three
methods, so we must be careful to establish that, in making this claim, we are
not going beyond (as in 2 John 9) . Let’s
take it one step at a time. As we
discussed last month, God’s
direct commands that are recorded in the New Testament are binding on us today.
The writings of Paul (and by extension, the other New Testament writers
as well) were to be viewed as the commandments of God (1 Cor 14:37): “If
anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things
which I write to you are the Lord's commandment.”
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The goal of this page is to promote morality and justice in our society (Prov. 14:23).
Thank YOU Alabama! We want to thank everyone who worked against State-sponsored
gambling in Alabama. The backlash
against the religious establishment was expected and immediate. The reasoning on the part of those who really do not
understand the issue is: “If the ‘religious right’ can prevail on this
issue, then why can’t they keep us from doing whatever it is that they think
is immoral?” Even Neil Bortz, the
Libertarian talk show host, fell into this trap.
After about a half-hour tirade on the reasons that everyone should have
the right to gamble, he was finally confronted by a sensible call-in listener,
who stated that there was a big difference between the freedom to gamble and a
government-sponsored lottery. Even
Neil recognized that this was counter to his concepts of freedom and government
non-interference. When the
government gets behind and promotes something, there is an inference in many
people’s minds that it must be right. God
has given certain authority to governments (Romans 13:1f).
But when God’s law contradicts man’s law, “we must obey God rather
than men” (Acts 5:29). Citizens have the right and the obligation to vote their
consciences as to what their government should and should not promote.
We appreciate your exercising this right and keeping this state out of
the gambling business.
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Last month we gave the example of
Job’s wife: “Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast your
integrity? Curse God and die!’” (Job 2:9).
Obviously, this is not an example for us to follow today.
This is why we qualify the word by talking of “approved apostolic
examples.” This limits
consideration to only practices approved by the apostles.
Whenever we get into a discussion of
such examples it seems that some want to cast derision on the whole process by
saying things like: “We do a lot of things without example.
What about song books and church buildings?
And we don’t follow all the examples.
What about meeting in upper rooms?”
Those who make such remarks show little
regard for moving the discussion ahead and answering the question posed in our
title, or for that matter, the questions they are raising themselves.
However, these are
legitimate questions that can and
should be answered. But first, we
must ask: what are you promoting? Are
you saying that we should ignore all examples?
If so, you are in direct contradiction to the scriptural evidence
presented on our first page.
We might do some things without
example, but we should never do anything in religion without authority.
Examples are just one of the three ways for establishing authority.
Many details mentioned in the New Testament are incidental and not
intended to be made into doctrine. In
such cases there are usually counterexamples which demonstrate that the detail
is not there for binding.
All apostolic examples apply to us
today. However, some apply only in
principle (e.g., Acts 3:1; 4:32),
while others contain important details (Acts 20:7).
It is up to each one of us to study our bibles and to rightly divide
God’s word in this regard (2 Tim. 2:15).
The vast majority of issues are easy to resolve, and on these we can and
should stand firm. On those which
provide a greater challenge, we should continue to study and apply ourselves to
doing our best to resolve them in a way that will not offend anyone’s
conscience needlessly.
While some might attack this as a
subjective process, we respond that nothing is more subjective than disregarding
the biblical examples altogether. They
are essential to a knowledge of God.
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“If
it was good enough for Momma, it’s good enough for me.”
but
Jesus said (Mt. 10:36) ...
“...a
man's enemies will be the members of his household.”
Clearly Jesus was not anti-family.
However, he realized the great extent to which we are influenced by those
who we love the most. When those
who are closest to us lead us to sin, they become our greatest enemies.
For, we can withstand the temptation from those who are not close to us
emotionally. But it is extremely
difficult to resist being tempted by those we love. Thus, Adam had a very difficult time resisting the temptation
posed by Eve. The devil knew how to
get to him; we should not be ignorant of his devices.
In this day and age it seems more
parents are drawn away by their children than the other way around.
Youth has the power today, both in influence and economically.
Many parents want to re-live their youth through their children.
In this endeavor they often fail to provide the discipline that is
essential to a healthy family. This
discipline must start with the very earliest love of the infant.
When we fail to consistently demonstrate our disapproval for misbehavior,
or fail to praise them when good (which takes time and patience), we fall into
the devil’s hands. The behavior
that we create and reward in our children will either produce the greatest of
blessings (3 Jn. 4) or the greatest of grief (2 Sam. 19:4).
Take time now to teach your children love and respect for God and His
word. You will never regret it.
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