Category: Subject Index

Because he views “carnal warfare” as sinful and puts it in Romans 14, Bob Owen believes other sinful matters can fit there as well. He does not put all sin there, but this is arbitrary.

Remember that every appeal to Christians to give of their financial means was accompanied with the work for which the money would be used. All giving in the New Testament was done for a work. None was ever given to accumulate and hold a large fund! May we all learn the lesson and do likewise!

The demise of respect for the gift of sex has been met with an equal loss of respect for the gift of life. The unborn who are unwanted because they were conceived at a time deemed inconvenient to his parents can be destroyed in the womb almost as easily as a wart can be removed.

As long as one draws near to God, he is “saved forever,” but if one ceases to believe, departs from God and is “defiled,” a punishment worse than death awaits him!

Silence does not give consent. Silence prohibits! We can’t know what God’s will for us is, unless God reveals that to us (cf. 1 Cor. 2:9-13). To assume that God would be pleased is to presume to know God’s mind beyond revelation. This no one can do, and it is an indication of great arrogance to claim such an ability.

Sadly to say, we have far too many of brethren who are in the complacency and apathy stages. They are becoming more and more dependent upon their “teachers” and “leaders”, many of whom are most adept at deception, and they are well on the road to the bondage of embracing false teaching and sinful practices. Passivism can and will lead those being deceived into the judgment of God unprepared to give account for their souls!

Until we learn to speak where the bible speaks and remain silent where it is silent, we will continue to see methods of denying those in error the correction that may save their souls. All the while, we will be surrounded by gospel/doctrine distinctionists crying, “Peace, peace” in the midst of undeniable conflict.

Let us preach the word with courage and forthrightness. Then let us preach it again and again. We must not draw back in fear when dangers threaten the faith of God’s people and the integrity of the word of God. Modernism is not going away anytime soon – it will continue to deceive men along with post-modernism, paganism, atheism, liberalism, and other philosophies of human wisdom. Satan will never rest – this is a war to the end. Yet, victory is assured the faithful if they faint not (Galatians 6:9)!

When we bind where God has not, we are not truly respecting the authority of the word. No one objects to anyone practicing what their personal conviction demands. It is another matter to bind that on others as a matter of faith.

If you ever get to the point where you are looking for a specific prohibition against something you want to do, it probably does not exist. Be content to seek out only what the Lord has revealed. We have enough to do in His service without dreaming up some new idea.

Expediency is a necessary part of our work in the Lord. It must be lawful and beneficial. When it violates either of these, it is sinful. We must exercise great care in justifying our actions based on expediency lest, in our zeal, we dishonor God while trying to honor Him.

By establishing beliefs and practices through explicit command, approved example and necessary inference, we can clearly show that God approves of our practices and therefore promote unity.

All authority resides in Christ. We cannot change that (Galatians 1:6-9), add to that (Revelation 22:18-19) or in any way alter what He has said. It is simply up to us to submit to that authority and be content. May God bless us all to that end.

It can rightly be said that every apostasy which has taken place since the establishment of the church had its genesis either in a misunderstanding of, or rejection of, the principles of divine authority.

If it is that you are constrained by conscience to continue to use these archaisms, fine. “Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves” (Romans 14:22). However, “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:4). Therefore, “…Let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way” (Romans 14:13).

Dear reader, we encourage you, also, to stand. Be unyielding to error. Have conviction about the word of God and what it teaches. Don’t give in to compromise and weak preaching. Stand!

There is deliverance available, not by submitting to the dominion of the flesh, but by submitting to the Lordship of Jesus as an obedient servant of righteousness who has found newness of life in Christ.

When men want to bind what God has not bound or loose what God has not loosed, there is sin involved. Call it liberal or call it conservative, the Bible calls it sin. If it is not right it is wrong, and if it is wrong it is sin, and if it is sin, it separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2), and if we die separated from God, a Devil’s eternal hell will be our home.

Let us pause to appreciate the conviction, however misplaced, possessed by these people and their efforts to live consistently with their beliefs. Their mistaken and/or false beliefs and the lengths to which they went to live consistently with them stand as both an example and warning to us today.

Expediency involves the right of choice which exists within the realm of generic authority. It is not liberty to do as you will!