Author: Osborne, Harry

The teaching of Jesus continually directs our attention to a single question by which we evaluate any teaching: Is the doctrine of divine origin or human invention? To the leaders of the Jews who had rejected the baptism of John, Jesus asked, “The baptism of John, whence was it — from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25). Baptism following repentance had been taught by John as a commandment, not a suggestion. When a teaching is lawfully advanced as a matter of mandatory faith and practice, it must be of divine origin. If we teach human tradition or even personal conscience as mandatory or impose such as tests of fellowship, we incur the condemnation of God (1 Timothy 4:1-3).

Let us determine to live our lives as the one who returned in thanksgiving to glorify God for the blessings received. By so doing, we can provide an example of thankfulness which can teach those around us and ultimately our nation just as that Samaritan did so long ago. Our lives should manifest a thankful spirit, not only at Thanksgiving, but every day we live by the grace of God.

One must hear the gospel, believe it, repent of his sins, be baptized and continue to do all things commanded by Christ through His apostles. The one who meets those conditions is blessed by God to be a disciple of Christ, saved and remitted of sins. Very simply, those are the conditions and blessings laid down by Christ in His will.

Our society has witnessed unquestionable ungodliness on display in every realm from places of political power to family relationships — from corporate settings to religious circles. Yet, we have chosen a tolerant acquiescence over a bold stand for right. It seems the voters in this country are ready to sacrifice a stand for honor as long as peace and prosperity prevail. Such is to be expected as characteristic of the world (1 John 2:15-17). However, it is very distressing to see many among God’s people doing the same thing in principle.

Self-justification is a dangerous approach to dealing with our sins. Instead of trying to rationalize away our guilt, we ought to admit it and seek God’s forgiveness. Instead of trying to excuse ourselves before others and maintain our pride, we ought to humble ourselves and admit our wrong. Confession is good for the soul both now and eternally.

Do trips to the doctor exasperate you as much as they do me? It seems like there is something wrong when you pay a guy fifty dollars to tell you that you are too fat! Even though it is the truth, it seems to me that I should not have to pay fifty dollars to hear a doctor tell me what I could have told him by looking in the mirror.

During my last doctor visit, the nurse was somewhat more kind in breaking the news. Her way of expressing it made me consider the problem from another angle. She looked very surprised when she had to adjust the balance weights upward and then said, “You hide your weight well.” I had never heard that before, nor do I believe she looked very closely or she would have discovered where I was hiding it. But it did make me think about something. Let us suppose that one could “hide the weight” from others, would it change the weight total? Would it change the effects of the added weight? No, the effects remain the same whether hidden or obvious. There is no relief from the effects of the physical burden by hiding the problem. Whether the nurse, the doctor or the patient think the burden is hidden, it still exists and the effects remain.

Anyone who shares my problem of being overweight can understand how you can bear a burden everyday, but fail to think about it in that light until forced to do so. The extra weight has its effect upon one every day, but we just fail to think about it until we look in a mirror, step on scales or face reality due to some other factor. Whether conscious of the problem or not, the need for relief from the ill effects remains.

There is a parallel to be drawn between a burden often present on the spiritual man. Just like the physical body can be quietly burdened by a load, so can our soul. The effects of a burdened soul, however, are far worse than the increased risk and fatigue associated with a physical burden of added weight. The burden associated with the spiritual man may have eternal consequences.

The Bible teaches us that our sins are heavy burdens upon our soul. David spoke of such saying, “For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Psalm 38:4). Other passages refer to sin in the same way. Sin is a burden too heavy for any person to lift from the soul.

But the burden of sin is not always apparent to the sinner or those surrounding the sinner. Sometimes the sinner is deceived by sin (Hebrews 3:13). Some sins are kept secret (Psalm 19:12; 90:8). Some people conceal their sins from others (Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 29:15). Does that change the effect of the sins? No, the wages of sin is still death (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

However, the Word of God also makes plain the means by which we can find rest from the heavy burden of sin. When we look to Jesus, we find the needed help in taking our sins away. Notice His promise of help:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Paul told the Christians to whom he wrote that they were dead spiritually as a result of their sins, but were made alive by the grace of Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10). Salvation is not earned by man. Regardless of what one does, he does not merit forgiveness. Man is not strong enough to lift the load of sin himself, but Christ can and will.

The fact that Christ promises to lift our burden of sin by His grace does not free us from meeting the conditions He commands. Grace may well be extended conditionally.

If a speaker offered a $1000 to each person in the audience who got out of his seat, walked to the front, and took the money from the speaker’s hand, would the recipients have earned the $1000 by meeting those conditions? Obviously not, it was still a gift! That gift was conditional, but it was no less a gift.

So it is with Christ and the gift of salvation. He says, “Come to Me” and “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me.” Those are conditions for us to meet in order for Jesus to lift our burden of sin, but His cleansing is still by grace. In order for us to understand what is entailed in those conditions, we must see what else the Bible says about the subject.

Immediately before He ascended to heaven, Jesus spoke of the conditions upon which He would save us. At that time, He laid down in plain terms how we “come,” “learn,” and take His “yoke” upon us in obedience. Christ says it this way:

“And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16).

When we come and learn of Christ through the Gospel and take His yoke in obeying that Gospel, we meet the conditions of Christ and we receive the gift of salvation from our sins. We do not merit salvation by meeting those conditions any more than the people earned $1000 by meeting the speaker’s conditions. It is still a gift of grace!

Some today question the conditions of faith and/or baptism set by Jesus as being essential. When one teaches that both conditions are essential to receive salvation, some accuse that one of teaching that we merit salvation by works. Why would they so misrepresent simple, plain, Bible teaching?

If Jesus had said, “He who believes and is baptized will receive $1000,” I doubt that anyone would question either condition as essential to receive the $1000. Why do some reject the conditions when something far more valuable, salvation, is at stake?

Jesus’ offer still continues as it was originally given. He will lift the load of our sins and give us salvation if we will but respond to Him in obedience to His will, meeting His conditions for gracious pardon.

For every soul burdened down with sin, there is rest in Christ. The dreadful toll of sin can be exchanged for the joy of salvation in all who will obey Him. Though some may doubt it, the conditional offer of rest from the burden of our sins constitutes the only way to salvation offered by the grace of God. Failure to realize that our burden of sin is the root problem for our spiritual ills does not change the effect. Whether we, a nurse, our friends, a loved one or anyone else think we hide our burden well, the problem and its effect remain until we receive the gracious gift of forgiveness and rest for the soul found in Christ.

What would you think of a preacher whose sermons offended people and were taken as insulting by the hearers? What if a preacher caused the audience to be filled with anger because of the hard things that he said? What if he went so far as to mock false beliefs? Regardless of his intent, many would denounce such preaching as wrong. Even if he did not intend to insult people, but merely sought to preach the truth boldly, many would condemn him for offending others.

Christians must serve as “lights” in rejecting the use of intoxicants at any level amidst a world of darkened users. We cannot compromise and begin to justify “just a little” drinking. If we do, our potos may easily become komos, our komos may progress further to methe and our methe may eventually end in oinophlugia. However, even if it does not, we are still involved in sin which condemns the soul with our first step in the process. Be not deceived!

If we come as believers in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, we can easily learn His will for us. Believers are told that we must confess our faith in Him (Romans 10:10). We are also told to change our will away from the world and towards Christ in repentance of our sins and then be baptized for remission of our sins (Acts 2:38). Our lives are then to be directed by His will in all things commanded by Christ (Matthew 28:18-20). We never learn of Malchus obeying Christ despite the compassion shown. Will you ignore Christ’s gifts to you or will you obey Him? The healing He offers to you today is far greater than that received by Malchus.

When we contrast the actions of Paul and Peter in Galatians 2:11-14, we see the difference between right and wrong judging. Peter acted through hypocrisy on this occasion and stood condemned. Paul rightly rebuked him for such hypocrisy. Paul could effectively do this because he was not acting with the same hypocrisy as was Peter.

As Jesus walked among men, He knew of the eternal realm and He knew the identity of the rich man and Lazarus. No mere man on time’s side of eternity could testify of the life and destiny of these two, but Jesus could. As the omniscient and pre-existent Word, he knew of their earthly lives and their destiny in the spiritual realm. That knowledge was yet with Him as the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In this story, Jesus warns us that we might live in such a way as to meet Lazarus in that eternal day and never need to know the rich man. One day, we will be joined with one or the other. Which will it be?

An institutional defense mechanism often sets in with a college to justify its practice at all cost. It was done by Lipscomb in the issue over church support of colleges. It was done by Abilene Christian University in the issue over theistic evolution in their midst. It was even done by Florida College when brother Hailey’s error was exposed. At that time, the administration attacked those who exposed brother Hailey’s error while saying precious little to fight it. When our critics fail to rebuke the error to the source and warn all others about it, all will know that their real agenda differs from their stated reason.

The ultimate end of this controversy is that which none of us knows for sure, but the signs do not bode well for the future. Doctrinal change away from truth is occurring at an alarming rate among us. Hostility is evident as those changing their doctrinal views are being called upon to defend the changes. Justification of a human institution seems to have gained the ascendancy in the hearts and minds of some.

This is a chronology of the events leading up to the current issues regarding the interpretation of the creation account as I know them. Since I can only attest to the things I personally know from firsthand experience, I have limited the chronology to actions I can document. For this reason, the chronology centers on my actions in this matter.

Harry Osborne’s response to Colly Caldwell’s letter and statement

The following lines represent an open letter to brethren Hill Roberts, Shane Scott, the Bible faculty and administration of Florida College, with particular reference to…

There is no convoluted, legal jargon in Jesus’ commands to us today. We must simply obey His will as plainly declared in the Gospel. Whether those commands regard the need to love our neighbor, the requirements of godliness in morality, or the plan of salvation, we must look to the clear teaching of Christ and obey it.

While on earth, Jesus claimed to be of the one divine nature the Old Testament revealed. After Jesus declared to the Jews that Abraham looked forward to His coming, the Jews asked how He could act as if He knew Abraham though He was not yet 50 years old. Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). The claim was an unmistakable identification with the I AM (God) of the Old Testament (cf. Exodus 3:14).

Individual Christians who love their fellow saints and who have concern for the cause of Christ will do their best to defend the truth against the onslaught of error in our time as well. When they do so out of such approved motives, their actions are not to be condemned as evidence of autonomy being violated, a feeling of self-importance, self-appointed guardians of orthodoxy, brotherhood watchdogs, a pack of snarling cur or other disparaging terms. When error is taught, it is scripturally authorized for faithful Christians to speak up in defense of the truth at home or away as they have opportunity to do so. Those who speak disparagingly of such actions show a lack of love for their brethren and the cause of Christ.

An Annotated Bibliography for material presented in the Theme Articles: Biblical Evidences VS Unbiblical Compromise