The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
May 31, 2009
In
This Issue:
"You
Shall not Bring . . . the Price of a Dog"
by
Steve Klein
The
Message of Salvation
by
Jeff DeVaney
"You
Shall Not Bring...the Price of a Dog"
A Lesson on Holy Worship
Deuteronomy 23:18 contains an interesting commandment given to the Israelites. Moses said, "You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God." The principle is simple. The Lord did not want the profane things of the world offered to Him, as if such unholy things would honor Him. This principle extends far beyond the specific instructions of Deuteronomy 23. God is not honored by the worship of the worldly.
In Isaiah 66:4, the Lord describes those who "did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight." Because they would not heed Him, one of them who would sacrifice a lamb was regarded "as if he breaks a dog's neck" (Isaiah 66:3).
Similarly, Malachi writes of those who defiled the altar of the Lord by not offering their best. They would bring animals to sacrifice that were blind, lame, sick or stolen. The Lord declared that He deserved "a pure offering, for My name shall be great among the nations" (Malachi 1:11). But the people profaned God's altar by considering it "a weariness" and not offering the best that they had (Malachi 1:12-13).
What if God viewed our worship and service today as if we were offering a dog? Could this happen? Yes it could! If we are living unholy lives or are careless, cavalier and inconsistent in our worship, we are not honoring our heavenly Father. If we consider worship a tiresome chore that has been forced upon us, we are profaning it.
Among the most important things that God demands from His worshipers are personal holiness and sincerity. To come into God's presence, we must have "clean hands and a pure heart." The Psalmist asks, "Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?" And he answers, "He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalm 24:3-4).
Friends and brethren, when the world is in the hearts of those of us who claim to be children of God, our worship becomes an empty gesture. Let us each determine to "Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness" (Psalm 29:2)
-- Steve Klein
When we consider the cross of Christ, we need to see the message of salvation found there. Jesus died on the cruel cross of Calvary so that we might receive the salvation of our souls! So when we hear the preaching of the cross, then we are really hearing the message of the salvation that was made possible by Jesus! In I Corinthians 1:18, Paul wrote, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." This message involves our salvation.
The reason that Jesus willingly died on the cross was to save mankind. He shed His blood so that we could receive the remission of our sins. He became the Sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews 9:26 says, ". . . He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." The point of the cross was to offer man salvation and this is what Jesus did when He died there. In Hebrews 5:8-9 we can read, "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him"! Jesus Christ became the author and offerer of salvation by His death! He even stated that the reason He came to this world was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)! So the message of the cross is indeed the message of our salvation!
God has chosen the message of the cross as the means by which to save man. Man can receive salvation only by hearing the preaching of the cross! Paul said in I Corinthians 1:21, "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." It is the message of the cross that saves man! Paul called this message the gospel of your salvation in Ephesians 1:13 because it is the gospel that saves. In Romans 1:16, Paul says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to SALVATION for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." The preaching of the cross is that which we need to hear and learn in order to be saved!
The message of our salvation is that Jesus suffered, bled, and died on the cross of Calvary. He did this so that we might receive the salvation of our souls. Therefore the Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 2:3 that we are not to neglect this great salvation which first began to be spoken by our Lord! Yes, we need to heed the message of the cross!
-- Jeff DeVaney