CHURCH OF CHRIST

Is Premillennialism Biblical?

     Everything the Bible teaches about the Second Coming of Christ can be found in John 14.1-4. While to some that may sound like an exaggeration, the fact is all of the major elements of the Second Coming of Christ are found in that very text, in those four short verses. To others who have labored under the burden of Premillennialism it may sound a bit simplistic but when it comes to God revealing His will to mankind just remember- God is dealing with very simple beings. I’ll go so far as to say that there is no scripture in the Bible that contradicts the teachings found in John 14.1-4 and if some believe or teach otherwise- then they have misinterpreted those other scriptures.
     There are many false theories being pursued by those in the religious world concerning the Return of Christ. Each and every one of these theologians has his or her personal reasons for believing what they teach concerning the Second Coming of Christ. I assure you as students of the Bible that Christ’s return is to God both personal & reasonable and that only His word on the subject of His Return is all that should matter to us.

“¹ Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. ³ If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And you know the way where I am going.” John 14.1-4[NASB]

Do Terrorists Go To Heaven?

     This question has come up numerous times since 9/11 and is actually at least three questions in one. What people also want to know is: "Do only Christians go to heaven?" and "Is sincere belief in something, anything good enough?"
Those who teach that salvation comes to people who do not know Christ but are sincere in their beliefs- are wrong. This teaching is contrary to Christ and His church. The Apostle Paul teaches us in 2 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." There was a time before Christ that God dealt with people in a different way, but that has changed since Christ and the Cross. Acts 17:30 - "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent." Read the verses before and after this verse and you will see that Paul is talking to people who are sincere in a faith have believed something or someone other than Christ. Paul says they are lost!
False teachers say "Sincere Belief" is enough for salvation and the: Who, How, Why or What we believe is not important, only that we believe. This comes from those who DO NOT KNOW CHRIST OR HIS WORD! James' teaching about faith and belief knows of no such thing as faith being of "unconscious" (a term used by many) belief. James 2:19, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." Sincere belief does not make one right with God as a matter of fact depending on what one believes or how one expresses that belief the believer may be a demon!
Terrorists may believe, sincerely believe, in "a god," but they don't believe in the same One God found in the Bible. They believe in a god made in their own image even the demons in hell believe the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob exists and know the difference between "a god" and The God. What is important for all of us to understand is that it matters WHAT, HOW, WHY and in WHOM we believe. To go to Heaven, we must understand what it means to believe, we must believe in the one and only true God, and as we read in Matthew 17:5, WE MUST BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST. So, "Do Terrorists Go To Heaven?” The general religious opinions seem to be, “We don’t want to answer but if we have to then we say let them go to Heaven.”
But like all religious questions only one ‘opinion’ counts. And that is God’s opinion as found in His word. The Bible teaches that some terrorist do go to Heaven. I can think of at least two terrorists who went to Heaven.
In Luke 23:39-43, we are given an account of the other two men crucified with our Lord and Savior. These two men are called criminals but the word in Greek is basically “evil doers”. Since Jesus was on that cross because the Pharisees had convinced Pilot that He was a revolutionary, a terrorist {John 19:12}, it isn’t much of a stretch to see those other two ‘malefactors’ as terrorists also. The first ‘terrorist’ rejects Jesus and the second ‘terrorist’ confesses Jesus as the Messiah and repents of his evil deeds. Jesus promises this second ‘evil doer’ a place in paradise that very day.
In Acts 26.9-11 the apostle Paul is recounting his days as a religious zealot, his days as a terrorist. Notice in verse 11 that Paul was so intent on murdering in the name of God that he went so far as to import his terrorism to other countries. But we know what happened in Paul’s life and where he spends eternity because of his belief and conversion to Christ. Paul became a peaceful minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we can readily assume went on to be with the Lord at his death.Two accounts of two separate people- one who lived under the Old Covenant and one who lived under the New Covenant. Both are in heaven because of their faith in Christ Jesus. So, do Terrorists today go to heaven? They do if they believe in Jesus Christ, repent of their terrorism and are immersed into Christ! -Acts 2:38

Are The Ten Commandments For Us Today?

The Ten Commandments or Mosaic Law rank somewhere in the top 5 of: “Religion’s Most Misunderstood Topics”. In our spiritual life this misunderstanding manifests itself in two ways. First, there are vast numbers of individuals who know very little about the Bible or religion but they believe they are going to heaven because they {quote} 'Don't hurt people and obey the 10 Commandments' {unquote}. As proof of how deep this misunderstanding is, I have only to remind us of the very recent events of a federal judge who almost found himself on the wrong side of the federal government over a monument honoring the Ten Commandments and the legion of followers ready to lay down their lives for that same monument.

The Ten Commandments/Law were never given by God as a means of salvation or the forgiveness of sins. Micah 6:6-8 tells us that very thing. Exodus 20 & 32 show that the commandments written in stone were for Israel and Israel alone. This reading will also show that it took Israel less than 40 days to break the covenant the Commandments represented. It took Israel almost 1400 years, a divided kingdom and 70 years of exile in Babylon to get to the point where the Ten Commandments were foremost in their lives. And when we read in the New Testament about the Israel of Jesus’ time, we see a people who live by the Ten Commandments more than any people ever did before them. But we also see a people who still need the Messiah to bring salvation and healing to the nation and to the world. Did following the Law of Moses ever make Israel right with God? No, and it won’t make us right with God now. If the Ten Commandments/Mosaic Covenant could bring salvation then there would have been no need for God the Son, Jesus the Christ, to come to this world. There would have been no need for a new covenant Hebrews 9:11-15.

Second, religion’s misunderstanding of the Law of Moses [Ten Commandments] has led to a distorted view of Israel and her place in the history of humankind. Israel was chosen and separated by God for the express purpose of bringing forth and pointing to the Messiah, the Christ. The Law, the Covenant with Israel, was never intended to be for all people for all time. God told Israel this very thing in Jeremiah 31:31-34. When we mistakenly keep the Law of Moses/Ten Commandments in any form as a means to righteousness it is a rejection of Jesus Christ and His atoning work. Paul teaches this in the New Testament book of Galatians.

The desire to “bring Israel back” has caused the vast majority of those who long to be right with God to miss the very means of salvation that God planned for us all from the beginning of time- Colossians 1:15-20. Salvation is not found in the Mosaic Covenant, the Ten Commandments or the nation of Israel. Salvation is only in and through Jesus Christ- 1 Timothy 2:3-6. If salvation were through the Law of Moses or the Ten Commandments or any part of them then there would be no need for Jesus Christ. If we need Israel, as some teach, to “reemerge” in order to have salvation then Christ, God the Son, failed in His mission and died in vain. If we have Christ why do we need anything or anyone else for salvation? The answer is a resounding, “WE DON’T NEED ANYTHING OR ANYONE ELSE”.

So, what does the graphic at the beginning of this article show us? It shows us that the Law, the Ten Commandments, was only in effect for about 1,400 years of our history. It shows that there were thousands of years and multiplied millions of souls before there was a “Ten Commandments”. It shows that 'father Abraham' the father of all Israel lived some 600 years before the Law and was neither under the Law or subject to the Law/Ten Commandments and yet was declared righteous in the eyes of God. The Bible tells us of this time in 1 Peter 1:10-12. Peter tells us that those who lived before the Cross of Christ looked forward to the day of Christ and the forgiveness by faith of all sins before the Cross. The graphic also shows us that for some 2,000 years we have lived under the covenant of Christ.

Jesus told the world the time had now come when the Law would no longer be in effect.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” {emphasis added}. Matthew 5:17-18
When did Jesus fulfill and accomplish the Law? When He brought completion to the Law. John 19:30, Jesus declares just seconds before His death- “It is finished.” What was finished? The very thing that Jesus declared He came to do- fulfill the Law, bring salvation to all people and bring about His kingdom. The Hebrews writer lays this out plainly in Hebrews 8:1-13. Where is salvation found today? It is found only in Christ Jesus our Lord. Want to know more about salvation in Christ? Click Here

I Have Jesus, So Why Do I Need Church?

I have heard this statement made many times during my ministry. It is said for a couple of reasons. In one way, I understand why people want Jesus but not CHURCH. Wanting Jesus but not wanting what many in the denominational world call CHURCH, something that has nothing to do with Christ and His church, isn't wrong.
Wanting Jesus but not wanting an earthly organization that has its own structure and hierarchy separate and apart from the bilblical model isn't wrong. The church of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with synods, associations, assemblies, councils, boards, ruling committees, or annual meetings which are setup to determine what is right or wrong in our religious life. Jesus established what is right and wrong (righteous or unrighteous) for His church while He was with us, even before He established His church. It is important to understand this because it sets the standard for His church some 2000 years later.
After His resurrection but before Jesus left this earth, He instructed His disciples to go out to all nations, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." -Matthew 28:20. Jesus had established the teaching for His church before He ascended into Heaven or He could not have instructed His disciples as we just read in Matthew. So what?
So, this means the "rules" governing Jesus' church are set in the Bible, in the New Testament specifically. No earthly institution, no matter what reason or authority they claim, has the right to change the nature, structure, form, or function of the church of Jesus Christ.
Aren't you tired of "things" that were wrong when you were a child not being wrong today? Aren't you confused by worldly religious organizations that change their minds year after year? How can that be possible if they are the church of Christ? Did God change His mind? Was Jesus wrong? God forbid that we ever bring people to these kinds of conclusions about Christ and His church because of our false ways! Let God be right, forever, and every man a liar. I, also, want Jesus but not THIS kind of CHURCH.
I assure you that you can have Jesus AND be the church that He established. Now, we will talk about having Jesus and His church.
"I have Jesus but I don't need Church." When some people say this what they mean is, "I want to go to heaven, I just don't want to be bothered with religion now." This is not possible. This is lay-away religion. We want all of the blessings from God now but we want to delay any commitment until later.
Jesus came to this world to seek and save the lost. He came to this world to give the lost a better life 'here and now'. The better life is a life "in Christ" but that better life in Christ has everything to do with His church.
Matthew 16:18, part of the passage that contains Peter's great confession of Christ, tells us this very thing about Christ and the church. Christ came to build His church and since Christ is God then I guarantee you that He "built" His church.
Can you have Jesus and not the church? No. Look in the book of Acts, the second chapter, and you will find the beginning of that very church which Jesus founded. Look specifically in the book of Acts at verses 41 & 47 of chapter 2 and you will see that when we are saved (become a Christian) we are "added" to the church, immediately.
A Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, has no other option than to be in the church Jesus established. To be a Christian is to be the church of Christ. "I have Jesus but I don't need Church", sounds good but we find in the word of God that there is no real good behind such thoughts or motives.