When Paul arrived at Athens, he was moved by the pervasive idolatry in the city (Acts 17:16). He began to dispute with philosophers and idolaters that filled Athens and was even brought by them to the Areopagus in order to hear this “new doctrine” he was teaching (Acts 17:18-19). Now how was Paul going to present the gospel to these Athenians? Would he quote the Old Testament and appeal to Jesus’ fulfillment of the prophecies as he did in Antioch of Pisidia in Acts 13:16-41? No. These Athenians had little if any knowledge of the Old Testament, and did not have the proper concept of the true God. Thus we find Paul establishing some more basic truths in his sermon in Acts 17.
 

Paul first combated the prevailing belief of pantheism among his audience. Pantheism is the belief that the world is deity. Paul shows how God is the creator of the world and all things therein, but is also distinct from the world (Acts 17:24). Next, Paul countered the assumption that deity is limited to a certain locale and has human-like needs. God does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 17:24). As Solomon recognized when the temple was built, nothing in this world can contain God because He is everywhere (1 Kings 8:27). God also does not need anything from mankind to continue to prosper, but instead is the sustainer of all things (Acts 17:25). God is self-existent and can live independently of all other beings; we, on the other hand, are completely dependent on Him.
 
After establishing some truths about God, Paul teaches the Athenians some truths about man. Contrary to the beliefs of many throughout history, the different ethnic groups that exist in the world do not have varying values. They did not come into being from different sources, but are all of one blood (Acts 17:26). Thus, the message of salvation is for all nations who inhabit the earth.
 
As a balance to the truth that God is distinct from the world, Paul goes on to point out that God desires men to seek Him. Contrary to many of the philosophers in Athens who believed in an impersonal God, Paul taught the truth that God, while being transcendent of the world, also desired personal involvement with His creatures. Thus, he declared the reason for our lives on this earth is that we should seek the Lord, who is distinct from the world, but not so distant that He cannot be reached (Acts 17:27). Paul even used the words of Cleanthes, a Stoic, who acknowledged that man is the offspring of God, to hammer home the acknowledged truth of God’s operating within the universe (Acts 17:28).
 
In conclusion, Paul shows that the above truths make idolatry wrong (Acts 17:29). Thus, he pleads with the Athenians to give up these practices, which are offensive to the true God, and turn to Him (Acts 17:30). It is only at the end of establishing these truths that Paul mentions the resurrection of Christ, which is fundamental to the gospel message (Acts 17:31).
 
In twenty-first century America, we cannot assume that those outside of Christ have biblical notions of God. Like the Athenians, many Americans may have never heard the most basic concepts of Christianity, and to them these truths may be considered “new doctrine” (Acts 17:19). As laborers for the harvest (Luke 10:2), we should be prepared to meet people where they are like Paul did with the Athenians. Are you ready to talk to people about moral absolutes, the exclusivity of truth, the nature of God, the concept of holiness, the definition of sin, the certainty of an afterlife, and many other issues that we often assume people understand? Let’s make sure people understand these concepts when we evangelize.
 
–Mark Day

Ephesians 1:3 declares that all spiritual blessings are found in Christ. To be in the proper location in regard to Christ is of supreme importance. What the religious world needs to continue to hear from us is the truth of how to get into Christ. There are many people that may engage in religious activities, but have never been baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27). Because they are not in Christ, they are not in His body of saved people, the church (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18). They are outside of all the spiritual blessings that are found in the location of Christ; therefore, if they do not change their location, they will be lost, even if they have done many religiously oriented activities (Matthew 7:21-23).

Tantamount to the importance of location in regard to Christ is one’s character in regard to Christ. Unfortunately, we have all met people who have been baptized into Christ, in the proper location, but who have not developed the proper Christ-like disposition. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). This gives both location – “Abide in me,” and disposition – “I in you.” Perhaps we have a problem with our concept of the church in that we only think of it in terms of location. We tend to think of it only in terms of a static realm in which we are placed. Though it is true that when we are baptized into Christ, we are translated into the realm of the kingdom of light, the church (Colossians 1:13), we should get more out of the concept of “in Christ” than merely location. The church as the body of Christ embodies His love (Ephesians 4:15-16). That requires more than the right location; it requires the right motivation.

 
To be in Christ means to live in Him day by day. We must be partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). We must have the mind of Christ in us, exhibiting humility and service as He did (Philippians 2:5-8). We ought to trust fully in the operation of God when we are baptized that God fully puts off the sins of our flesh (Colossians 2:11-12). But we cannot have the concept that our duty is done at this point. If we are to please God, we cannot live today on the spiritual capital of yesterday. As Paul did, we must “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). We are in Christ, but we must endeavor to make sure we put Christ in us by putting His word into practice in our lives and letting it mold our hearts (Colossians 3:16).

–Mark Day

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Q.

What did the apostle Paul mean by the statement, “But to the rest I, not the Lord, say…” (1 Corinthians 7:12)? Does this phrase indicate that what Paul subsequently wrote was uninspired?

A.

Considering how many times Paul claimed to write and preach by inspiration of God, it is irresponsible to conclude that he was denying inspiration when addressing marriages between Christians and non-Christians (1 Corinthians 7:12-16). Earlier in this letter, Paul noted that while in Corinth, his preaching was “not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (2:4-5). Paul contrasted human wisdom with the wisdom and power of God, and declared that he had the latter. Later, in this same epistle, Paul wrote: “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (14:37, emp. added; cf. 7:40). Paul also claimed inspiration in his other epistles (Galatians 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:8,15). Even Peter alluded to Paul’s writings as being a part of Scripture, and thus inspired (2 Peter 3:15-16).

When Paul wrote that he (rather than the Lord) was addressing a particular marriage relationship, he did not mean that he was speaking without authority from God. He simply meant that he was making application of marital truths that the Lord did not specifically expound upon while on Earth. Jesus most certainly was the Master Teacher (cf. Matthew 7:28-29; John 7:46), but He obviously did not specifically address every subject under the Sun. Thankfully, through His inspired apostles and prophets, more specific truths and applications eventually were revealed. Christians have every reason to believe that such truths originated with “the Spirit of truth,” Who guided Paul and the rest of the Bible writers “into all truth” (John 16:13).

Originally published by Apologetics Press.

The church that the Lord Jesus Christ built in the 1^st century is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, Isaiah 2:2-3, and was the eternal plan of God from the beginning, Ephesians 3:10. The church is one of three divine institutions revealed in Scripture: marriage, government, and the church. The church that Jesus built is not to be corrupted by outside influences. It is the responsibility of New Testament Christians to maintain the purity of the church.

We do this by maintaining the purity of the Word of God. To do this, children of God must learn, grow, and teach God’s Word. Whether the New Testament church is pure or not is based upon its faithfulness to the Word of God. If I do not know God’s Word how could I know what is or is not required? Therefore I must be a diligent student and “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”, 2 Peter 3:18. As I learn and grow spiritually I am to teach others the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5:12-14 teaches “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” All Christians are babes in Christ at the beginning of their Christians walk. It is not a sin to be a babe in Christ, however it is condemned to remain one. One must mature spiritually to defend against those who would corrupt the Gospel and thereby corrupt the church.

We must maintain the purity of the Gospel plan of salvation. The Gospel is God’s power to save, Romans 1:16. To corrupt the Gospel is to ruin its saving power. A perverted Gospel has no power to save and is not God’s power. Clearly the Bible teaches that one (1) Must Believe – John 8:24; (2) Repent of Sin – Luke 13:3; (3) Confess The Name of Jesus Christ – Matthew 10:32; (4) Be Baptized For The Remission of Sins – Mark 16:16; and (5) Be faithful Unto Death – Revelation 2:10. To add to or take from God’s scheme of redemption is to destroy its saving power.

We must also maintain the purity of worship that God has commanded. Many today will have events they call worship which are more like a rock concert or a theatre production. There will be handclapping, hyper-emotionalism, instrumental music, ad infinitum ad nauseam. The problems come when those in the Lord’s church wish to be like “the nation around them” and begin to include such unauthorized acts into their worship assembly. Faithful children of God will maintain the purity and simplicity of worship authorized in the New Testament: Acapella Singing – Ephesians 5:19, Praying – 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Lord’s Supper – Acts 20:7, Preaching – Acts 20:7, and Giving – 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.

And finally we must maintain the purity of the New Testament church by staying in the fight. It is incredibly sad when one hears that a Christian or even a congregation gives in and the purity of the local congregation is corrupted by denominationalism, worldliness, etc. If we are to maintain the purity of the church for which our Lord Jesus Christ died and gave His precious blood we must stay in the fight. 2 Timothy 2:4 teaches, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” The Christian soldier must let nothing interfere in his duty to the “Captain of our salvation”, Hebrews 2:10. This battle is to the death. The purity of the New Testament church is too important.

-Jerry Sturgill

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” – Proverbs 4:23

In today’s world, people are very concerned about what they eat. We worry about carcinogens, GMOs, preservatives, synthetic trans fats, artificial sweeteners, MSG, gluten and other ingredients to which we could be allergic. The list goes on and on. Just as what you eat can have a tremendous effect on your quality of life, what you are ingesting spiritually is a huge factor in your eternal wellbeing. What is more important than what goes into our stomachs is what comes out of our souls. Jesus said to Peter, “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man” (Mt. 15:17-20).

The devil has done a good job of sprinkling spiritual toxins into the components that make up our current culture. Just as Israel was to get the leaven out of their houses in Exodus 12:15, we must get corruption out of our lives. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 commands, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Just before this, Paul asked, “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Cor. 5:6; cf. Gal. 5:9). Even a little bit of a spiritual toxin is too much. Christians are sometimes naïve to the spiritual dangers they are exposed to on a daily basis. A little bit of lust, greed, pride, jealousy, or anger all have the potential to grow. The devil throws fiery darts of all of these trying to get any of them to catch and grow out of control (Eph. 6:16). As Christians who have escaped the harmful pollutants of the world, we must be on guard that we do not turn back to them (2 Pet. 2:20). We must keep our pure diet of God’s word (1 Pet. 2:2).

While any diet is not convenient, it is worth it. Jesus tells us to get serious about sin, guarding our hearts, even when it is not convenient. In Matthew 5:20-26, our Lord shows that murder is the outgrowth of anger. Jesus said anger in the heart for the wrong cause is sin. Jesus grew angry (Mk. 3:5), but it was for a just cause and he did not allow it to cause Him to sin (Eph. 4:26). Just because the Bible condemns murder it does not sanction the anger in the heart that leads to violent acts. In Matthew 5:27-30, the Lord addressed the issue of adultery. Jesus said lust in the heart is sin (Mt. 5:28). Man is made to be visually attracted to his wife (Prov. 5:15-23), and fulfilling that attraction is pure (Heb. 13:4), but lusting after another woman is sin (Job 31:1; Prov. 6:25). Just because the Bible condemns the outward act of fornication (1 Thess. 4:3), it does not sanction a man to lust in his heart (Mt. 5:28). A man must pluck out his eye and cut off his hand, not in physical mutilation, but in drastic spiritual measures, so that his soul is not lost (Mt. 5:29-30). Some members of the church will argue that the Bible condemns getting drunk (Gal. 5:21), but allows moderate social drinking. While much more could be said to refute this teaching, let the present line of argument suffice. Just because the Bible condemns drunkenness (Eph. 5:18), it does not sanction the first drink that would lead to drunkenness (Prov. 23:31). Sin starts small but grows. When the devil is on our doorstep, let’s keep the door closed rather than opening it just a crack.

Are you keeping your heart pure, or are there little ingredients that are poisoning it?

-Mark Day