An open letter to the congregation of Israel from your humble servants and priests, Nadab and Abihu.

Brethren:
It is with the utmost humility that we inform you of a change of worship practices. Be assured that we bring about this change only after much prayer and study. We have recently concluded an in-depth study of the Law, and have decided to bring about a change in the type of fire used in worship.
We are aware that there is a standing tradition of using only one source of fire, but we as priests, do not feel obligated to blindly follow tradition. Numerous polls indicate the overwhelming opinion that worshipers do not care where we get the fire. We are in agreement with the majority, as we cannot see how a change in fire will affect anything in the least about our sacrifices.

Besides all this, nowhere in the Law does the Lord forbid the use of what some detractors have referred to as “strange fire.” We feel that the lack of such a restriction was meant to give us freedom. Is there any place in the Law that tells us we cannot do something the Lord has not seen fit to condemn? Where are other fires explicitly condemned?

Also, Israel is the only religious group that limits itself to one kind of fire. We have become a laughingstock, and have been ridiculed openly by many groups. We are in great danger of appearing distinctive. This self-righteous, “only-one-fire” policy has alienated us from everyone else. We believe this change will open up many fellowship opportunities.

Now, to set the minds of some of you at ease, we will continue to offer a traditional service using the old-fashioned fire as well as a progressive service with the new fire. This approach will also make it possible to appeal to a younger audience as we discover more entertaining ways to “light the fire” of our assemblies.

For those who still oppose the use of new fire, we ask you not to be judgmental. We also hope you will not use this change as an excuse to divide our people or stir up trouble. We remind you that this has been well thought out and the majority of priests have signed on with us.
We are all very much looking forward to our first new fire service. God will be watching and we anticipate that His joy over seeing His people take a great step toward throwing off the burden of binding tradition will be an electrifying experience. Our new contemporary worship service will no doubt make it easier for us to really be on fire for the Lord!

See you there… we think this new practice is going to spread like wildfire. Please come and enjoy what we know will be an illuminating experience for all of us.

For freedom’s sake!
Your faithful priests,
Nadab & Abihu

(Please read Leviticus 10:1-3)

— submitted by Jerry Sturgill

How did our Lord view the written oracles of God? How did He use God’s word while He lived among men for a third of a century? Since Jesus is our example (1 Pet. 2:21), we should allow His approach to Scripture to influence our approach.

Jesus recognized the true Old Testament canon. The word canon refers to a measuring rod; those books that are considered canonical are those which “measure up” to the characteristics of inspired writing. Our English Old Testaments today are comprised of 39 books. While several other books were circulated among the Jews, most frequently referred to as today as “the Apocrypha,” Jesus only recognized the material that comprises our 39 books as part of the canon. In Matthew 23:35, He said, in essence, from the beginning to end of the Old Testament, all the blood of the righteous would be required of that generation; thus, he delineated the ends of the Old Testament referring to Abel, the first martyr recorded in Genesis, to Zechariah son of Barachias, the last martyr mentioned in 2 Chronicles (the last book in the Jewish order of the Old Testament).

Jesus viewed the Old Testament as inspired and historically accurate. Instead of considering the first eleven chapters of Genesis as a fable, or reinterpreting the creation account in order to fit billions of years between creation and the coming of man, Jesus spoke of Adam and Eve in Mark 10:6 saying, “from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.” He considered the devil to be real, referring to him as “murderer from the beginning” and a “liar” (Jn. 8:44). The account of the days of Noah in Genesis 6 was a reality that he likened to the time when He would come (Lk. 17:26-27). Abraham (Jn. 8:56), Isaac and Jacob (Mt. 8:11) were historical figures in His mind. The demise of Lot’s wife, while laughed at by some today, was considered a real story with a sobering lesson by our Lord (Luke 17:32); moreover, that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed was an historical fact that Jesus used to show the reality of God’s final judgment (Matthew 10:15). Jesus believed that God really spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Mk. 12:26), that Moses made the bronze serpent and lifted it up for Israel to be cured (Jn. 3:14), and that Moses received God’s commands and wrote the law (Mt. 8:4; Mk. 10:3;Lk. 24:44; Jn. 5:46; et. al.); should we not believe the same?

Christ not only believed in the inspiration of the law, but the other portions of the Old Testament as well. Jesus used David’s actions recorded in 1 Samuel 21 as inspired proof in His argument with the Pharisees over the Sabbath (Mt. 12:4). On another occasion, He quoted David’s words from Psalm 110, saying “David himself said by the Holy Ghost” (Mk. 12:36); thus, Jesus believed David was inspired. Jesus often referred to the prophets as part of God’s inspired word (Mt. 5:17; 7:12; 11:13; 22:40). He recognized God’s prophets of the Old Testament were persecuted because they spoke the truth (Mt. 5:12; 23:34) while the false prophets were lauded (Lk. 6:26). Jesus even considered the preaching of Jonah and his sojourn in the belly of a great fish to be just as historically accurate as His own death and resurrection; He even placed it aside the historical account of the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon (Mt. 12:39-42). While legendary materials can be used as illustrations, it is hard to interpret Jesus’ use of Jonah as anything other than the use of historical material to make His point.
On and on we could go. Suffice it to say that those portions of the Old Testament that have been questioned or dismissed by some today as mythical or composed by uninspired men, Jesus considers historical and inspired. Jesus is the truth (Jn. 14:6), and we should side with Him.

–Mark Day

By: Batsell Barrett Baxter

What Is The Distinctive Plea Of The Church Of Christ?
It is primarily a plea for religious unity based upon the Bible. In a divided religious world it is believed that the Bible is the only possible common denominator upon which most, if not all, of the God-fearing people of the land can unite. This is an appeal to go back to the Bible. It is a plea to speak where the Bible speaks and to remain silent where the Bible is silent in all matters that pertain to religion. It further emphasizes that in everything religious there must be a “Thus saith the Lord” for all that is done. The objective is religious unity of all believers in Christ. The basis is the New Testament. The method is the restoration of New Testament Christianity.

What Does The Church Of Christ Believe About The Bible?
The original autographs of the sixty six books which make up the Bible are considered to have been divinely inspired, by which it is meant that they are infallible and authoritative. Reference to the scriptures is made in settling every religious question. A pronouncement from the scripture is considered the final word. The basic textbook of the church and the basis for all preaching is the Bible.

How Does One Become A Member Of The Church Of Christ?
In the salvation of man’s soul there are 2 necessary parts: God’s part and man’s part. God’s part is the big part, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The love which God felt for man led him to send Christ into the world to redeem man. The life and teaching of Jesus, the sacrifice on the cross, and the proclaiming of the gospel to men constitute God’s part in salvation.

Though God’s part is the big part, man’s part is also necessary if man is to reach heaven. Man must comply with the conditions of pardon which the Lord has announced. Man’s part can clearly set forth in the following steps:

Hear the Gospel. “How shall they call on him whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14).

Believe. “And without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Repent Of Past Sins. “The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent” (Acts 17:30).

Confess Jesus as Lord. “Behold here is water; What doth hinder me to be baptized ? And Philip said, if thou believeth with all thy heart thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:36-37).

Be Baptized For The Remission Of Sins. “And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Live A Christian Life. “Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

(Adapted) –submitted by Jerry Sturgill

Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” To “rightly divide” the word, in essence, means to correctly handle it. How we handle God’s word has tremendous effect upon our eternal destinies. Will we be like those who twist the scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16)? Will we remove or neglect parts of His revelation to us, and risk the removal of our names from the book of life (Revelation 22:19)? Or will we possess good and honest hearts that receive the word and bring forth fruit for eternal life (Luke 8:15)?

One of the rudimentary principles involved in “rightly dividing” God’s word is recognizing where it is divided – that is, to understand the difference between the Old Testament and the New. I suppose all of our Bibles have uninspired title pages that indicate this two-fold division; however, this distinction is not merely a categorization of man. On the contrary, it is stated in so many God-inspired words. In Matthew 26:28, Christ said, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Hebrews 9:15 refers to our Lord Jesus Christ as “the mediator of the new testament.” If there is a “new testament,” then, by implication there must be an old testament; the new covenant made the first covenant old (Hebrews 8:13). Hebrews 10:9 says of God’s New Testament, “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” The Old Testament contains prophecies of its replacement. Jeremiah 31:31-34 is one of the clearest indications of this, a passage that the writer of Hebrews quotes in chapter 8 and verse 8 to prove his point about the new and better covenant of Christ now in force.

When did this replacing of the Old Testament take place? Well, it did not take place gradually, bit by bit. Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). Thus, Christ would fulfill all things first then the law would pass. Christ would have to die before His last will and testament would take effect. Hebrews 9:16-17 declares, “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.”

After His resurrection, Christ explained the fulfillment of the Old Testament to His disciples as recorded in Luke 24:44-47:
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

It is the New Testament, the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), that we are amenable to today. While the Old Testament is profitable for our learning and encouragement (Romans 15:4), it is not the law by which God will judge those living today (Colossians 2:14-16). The “everlasting gospel” will be the standard by which we are judged (Revelation 14:6).

-Mark Day