Germ Ze, 5 aa TO KNOW CHRIST One ofthe most diabolical errors shared by the average non- (hristians the notion that merely being a “good” person is sul- ficient for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. In spite of a ‘good deal of preaching on the subject, this error not only per- ‘Sits, but seems to enlarge itself as time passes. Wellintention- ed purveyors of halfruths tell us that everything will be all right if we will only “live by the golden rule.” Those who are de- linquent in their churchly duties often retort, “Why should I go ‘to church? Tlivea good life.” About a dear departed (non-Chris- tian) soul someone is sure to say, “His was alife of service to his family and fellow man, and he has gone to his heavenly re- ward.” Those who feel the need to justify the existence of a church life sometimes say, “If going to church does no more thanhelp you be a good person, the experience is worth it.” Such popular statements and others like them serve to un- derscore the fact that the concept of “'goodness” as an avenue to God's acceptance has a tenuous grip on the human mind. In view ofthe fact that the concept is totally wrong, the reluctance cof people to relinquish the idea leads me to wonder if the propa- gation of the error has been, and is, one of Satan's more effec- tive ruses. ‘To counteract this error, we must remember that in and of itself, human goodness is of absolutely no consequence to Satan, Itmatters not to him that a person is religious, consecrated, to- tally devoted to his church, or given to great acts of charity. AS Jong as the individual's goodness and charity do not point the way to Christ —aslong as the person adheres to the WRONG re- ligious views (be they ever so strict), the WRONG God (or, as is, ‘mare often the case, a cheap imitation of the real One), and the WRONG church — Satan is content. Let me say it clearly, so that there is no mistaking my intent — GOODNESS SAVES NO ONE! ‘Now I do not want to give the impression that goodness is of ‘minor significance inthe lif of the Christian. Far from it. Serip- ture clearly places high priority on the level of morality lived by the believer (Eph. 2:10). However, as far as eternal life is con- Oh, What Love! “,. Lhave loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jeremiah 31:3) Pico Rivera — We rejoiced to witness the baptism of Bob Nens dov December 27,1970. Elder brothers present were Bob's fath- er, Steve Nenadov, and John Swinford. Many visitors were with ustor the weekend, including those from Canada, San Diego and Phoenix. It was indeed a blessed day, for we partook of the Lord's Supper also. ‘Tremont — Marilyn May, a friend who has been attending our church for the past few years, has confessed peace with our Lord and Savior and now desires baptism. FAITH VERSUS GOODNESS a OG) QY Cae eC Ly ‘cerned, the role of goodness must be placed in proper perspec- tive. GOODNESS IS THE RESULT OF HAVING BEEN SAVED, NOT THE REASON FOR IT. Properly understood, the Cristian does not lead a good life in order to be saved; rather, he leads a good life BECAUSE he has been saved. Good works are the natural result of having been saved, and anyone who lives his ife at alow level of morality cannot justly claim to be a Christian. 2 Salvation is available only through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). The very best that man can do, morally, is not enough to earn him a place in the kingdom of heaven. To believe that itis possible to live a life so exemplary as to be worthy of the eternal presence of God, is to underestimate the require- ‘ments of God, in terms of moral perfection, and to grossly over estimate the ability of man to meet those requirements. Were it possible to live a life of service to humanity many times greater than that of the most selfless man (Jesus being the only excep- tion), it would not begin to pay the price of admission to heaven. By virtue of man’s fallen nature, itis beyond the capability of the species to live a life morally worthy of God's grace. The ‘moral nature of man has been relegated to life plane which is separated from the nature of God by a gulf so great that it can- ‘ot be spanned by man himself ( Rom. 8:10-18) ‘That gulf HAS been spanned by Jesus Christ, however, and He has erected the only bridge available by which we may ap- proach God. The toll for crossing the bridge is not goodness, however, but FAITH, Since man, by himself, can never attain the degree of righteousness necessary to salvation, the only ac- ceptable method of entering into a saving relationship with God isto BORROW the righteousness of Jesus. God has determined to loan him that righteousness, if he wants it, and the transac- tion takes place the moment the unbeliever is abe to place his faith in the personal application of the finished work of Jesus Christ. Until then, the gate of heaven remains sealed, and no amount of “goodness” will prevail against it ‘Ted Mann The Importance of Baptism “Except a man be born of water and ofthe Spirit, he cannot center into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) When a soul receives the peace of God within his heart, he is assured that God has aecepted him as His child. His promise to ‘serve God faithfully for the rest of his ie is sealed withthe bap- tism of water. Baptism was not only commanded, but exempli- fied by Christ. Its an outward act of burying the sins and the “old man," and arising a new creature in Christ— free from sin, ‘Sins that are not dead eannot be buried; therefore, baptism is of ‘no effect if a person has not repented and received peace from. God before being baptizedJESUS, THE ONLY ONE ‘Text: Acts, chapter 0 (Saul's conversion) ‘A very intelligent man asked the question ofthe Lord, “Who art thou, Lord?” He was an educate man, one who thought he was serving his God completely. On the journey to Damascus, when he was blinded by the great light, when he heard the voice saying unto him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me,” he ‘answered, “Who art thou, Lord?” The Lord answered his ques- tion, and Saul, trembling, said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” He wanted to surrender his life to God and do what God ‘would have him do. He was now engaging in a wonderful goal in life — he was ealled by the great God to preach to the people. ‘Wanting to please God, wanting to serve God, God provided for Saul a great revelation on the way to Damascus. He gave Saul the grace to truly find the Father, and to know that that which he'd been doing was wrong. Dear friends, whats your answer to God when He talks with you? Can you answer that you know Him? Do you have the answer for Him that He is your Saviour? Can you tell Him that you have Him in your heart and that you. ‘make experiences with Him daily? ‘Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came on earth and showed us the way to God. Because men didn't know the way to God years and years ago, Christ came that they would find the way to their Father. Itisthe same today as it was in times of old. Men do not ‘know the way to God. Men need to be shown the way to their Father. ‘In our lives each day, the winds and waves on the sea are very heavy. We are alone on the storm-tossed sea. We must have ‘a hope. We must trust that salvation is near. Life is senseless without Christ directing our way. We must know God to have a ‘purpose in living. We do know of Him, but we must know Him in an intimate way. We must experience Him in our lives. Jesus Christ speaks to each of you... you can accept His invitation to ‘be one of His children if you but ask yourself the question, “Who art thou, Lord?” ‘Wemust speak to Him. We must not be still. We must not be quiet. We must ask the question, “Who art thou, Lord?” then we'll have the wonderful possibility of meeting Him. It's the ‘most exciting experience we can make in our lives today. You can make this wonderful experience — go to Him today! “Je- ‘sus,” we must say, “I want to meet You. I want to know You.” ‘We must realize that He is the same Jesus Christ forever .. .Je- ‘sus Christ, yesterday, today and forever the same. He wants to ‘meet you! But there is one condition which you must meet — you ‘must become a Christian. You must say, “Behold, I am here, Lord.” When you are ready, your goal should be to surrender your life to Him. He will then reveal Himself to you. You will find a need for repentance. You will find the need to ‘turn around,” you will turn to goin the direction of His goal, and He will show you that you have erred and like Saul must realize a ‘need to repent then serve Him. You must let go of your own ‘alsin life and seek to walkin His ways towards His goals! ‘We can surrender our lives to Him. We can experience Jesus hrist as our God. God can reveal His love tous through His Son, Jesus Christ. He loves us. He wants us to come to Him as our Father. Through Christ, we have access to God. He wants to re- veal tous His wonderful protection. Let's consider this wonder- ful protection, this wonderful faith of ours. It means we know that God loves us. Now we realize how great God really is. He is so great that we can speak of Him as our Father. He has planned for us an eternal home and eternal life if we surrender to Him. He loves you, dear friends! You can become His child; He can become your Father! You can talk with Him; He will an- ‘swer your questions. Its @ wonderful goal for your life. Can you say that your Father is living? Can you say that you know you age? are not alone? Can you say that you talk with Him each day? It, {is wonderful to have Him to goto with your cares and know that He will provide for your every need. He will if you say, “Behold, Tam here, Lord.” Having Jesus Christ and God means that you are rich. You are blessed. You are happy. Set your goals in Jesus Christ and experience Him as your Saviour. Come to Him. He expects all, ‘who labor and are heavy laden to come to Him and He will give them rest. All that the Father giveth to Him shall come to Him, All that cometh to Him, he will in no wise cast out. In no wise ‘cast out! Such an exciting experience. He loves you! He was ‘crucified for your sins. So, come to Him. Ask, “Who aft thou, Lord?” Paul became a leader in Jesus Christ because he came ‘o Him in full surrender. He preached the Gospel tothe heathen, He traveled many miles, over 2,000 miles, and went to many countries, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was impris- ‘ned and while there he wrote the letter to the Philippians. He “wrote a gospel of endurance — and while he was imprisoned! ‘We must have a close relationship with Christ. We must be able to hear His voice. This close relationship with Him is ob- tained through prayer. We must say, ‘I am here, Lord.” This is a direct communication with Him. We must take time for Him ach day. We must maintain a close connection so we may hear the voice of Jesus speaking to us. We must pray to Him day by dy and then we will hear Him speak to us and direct our ways. We must go to God for our strength each day, and when we hear His voice, we must be ready to go and do what He wants of us. ‘We must not have reservations in serving Him. He gives to us an, order and we must obey! When He speaks to our hearts, we must be obedient. We can't excuse ourselves from doing ‘His will. When He says GO, we must GO! We must die daly to our short- ‘comings. Our lives must be converted and surrendered again to Him each day anew. We must do His will and communicate with ‘Him. We must be able to say to the Lord, “Behold, I am here.” He wants to meet us and use us as instruments for Him. He Wants us to be submissive to Him. With Jesus Christ as our Sa- viour, this is possible! Do you have Jesus Christ as your goal in life? Can you say that He is your hope? Can you say that Jesus, the Saviour, is ‘THE ONLY ONE in your life? Elder Bro. Albert Maerki (Switzerland) A year of self-surrender will bring larger blessings than four- ‘score years of selfishness. DOING HIS BUSINESS Often a Christian seeking to help someone outside of Christ to be converted is given this type of response: “It is none of your business what I believe!” This is true in a sense, itis not our ‘business —itis God's business! ll people are God's business to, the smallest detail oftheir lives. If then, witnessing to others is God's business, we ought to do it under His direction, and use His methods! ‘To begin with, a person must be completely submissive to His will. He must be the porduct of the message to be given . . ‘an example of what the Lord can do in a person's life. Then the (Christian must receive orders... orders from the Lord. In order to receive orders, a person must be in direct communication ‘with God and allow the Holy Spirit to have free course in his life. ‘Without the activity ofthe Holy Spirit, enthusiasm, zeal and am- bition are fruitless, for they are not substitutes for His Spirit within us! Witnessing is spiritual work, and it takes the energy of God ‘to make it lasting and eternal. Are you relying upon Him for ‘your strength each day anew to be a useful tool in His service? CHRISTIAN FRIENDSHIP MESSENGER& FACTS... About the Revised Standard Version Bible ‘Two claims made by sponsors ofthe Revised Standard Ver- sion Bible need to be challenged. The first is that the “New” Bible is “MORE UNDERSTANDABLE” than the King James; the second is that the Revised Standard Version “CONTAINS NO CHANGES IN DOCTRINAL OR FUNDAMENTAL CON- CEPT.” Let us compare the two texts and see whether these laims are true. First, let us examine them to see if the “Understandability” thas been improved. John 1:3 says, ‘All things were made by Him.” New Version says, “All things were made through Him.” Again in verse 10, “The world was made by Him.” New Version says, “The world was made through Him.” If the world was actually made by God, how could it be stated more plainly than to say, “The world was made by Him.” Matthew 12:42 eads: “The queen of the South... came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon is here.” New Ver- sion rendersit, “The queen ofthe South ... came... . to hear the ‘wisdom of Solomon and behold, something greater than Solo- ‘monis here.” What is this something? Isitaman? And does it refer to Christ? Is the “Understandability” improved in this change? Matthew 16:26 reads: “What shall a man give in ex- ‘change for his soul.” New Version says: “What shall a man give in exchange for hs life.” Now which did Christ mean when He spoke these words, “life” or “soul.” John 3:7 says: “Ye ‘ust be born again.” New Version reads: “You must be born anew.” “Anew” means to be made over. Do we need to be made over, or is a new creation needed? ‘Now let us look into this other claim that “THIS NEW VER- SION CONTAINS NO CHANGES IN DOCTRINAL OR FUNDA- MENTAL CONCEPT.” In the King James Version, the word “begotten” is used four times in the first three chapters of the Book of John in connec- tion withthe birth of Christ, and conveys the thought that Christ ‘was NOT of natural generation. Thishas been the historic beliet ofthe church all down through the years. On this word ‘‘begot- ten” hangs the whole doctrine of the incarnation and Deity of Crist. If Christ was not begotten of God, if He was of natural «generation, then the doctrine ofthe Deity of Christ has no foun- dation. "The New Version deletes the word begotten in every place it occurs, thus destroying the fundamental doctrine of the of Christ. In John 3:16 is found these words: “God ... gave His only Begotten Son.” New Version says: “God . . . gave His only ‘Son,” But did God have (according to the Scriptures) just one ‘son? Inthe very first chapter ofthe Book of John we read: “But ‘as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become ‘the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”” Now al- ready, His disciples had received Him and thus had become the “sons of God.” Thus, if God had more than one son, Christ could not have been His ONLY son. It could be true, though, and is true that He gave His only BEGOTTEN Son, for He was the only Son that was begotten of God. Therefore, to leave out the word be- gotten not only makes the statement untrue, but destroys the ‘doctrine of the Deity of Christ which is the basic doctrine of nristianty. In Col. 1:14 the phrase, ‘through His Blood” is deleted. In ‘Mark, the 15th chapter, the entire 28th verse is left out. In Matthew 16:18the words, “Gates of hell” are changed to “‘pow- ‘ers of death.” Also in the same chapter, verse 26, the word, “life,” has been substituted for “soul.” In John 3:26 the word, “obey,"" has been substituted for “believe.” in the New Testament there are more than 30 miracles re- corded. Fifteen of these found in the books of John and Acts are February, 1971 ascribed directly 10 Christ. In the New Version, Christ is never credited with having performed a miracle. The record of what He did is there, but never are they called miracles. They are, ‘with one exception, rendered “signs.” This exception is found in ‘Acts 2:22 and reads: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man of God ap- proved among you by MIRACLES AND WONDERS AND SIGNS.” The New Version makes it read this way: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with MIGHTY WORKS AND WONDERS AND SIGNS.” Note that in this case the word “miracles” was not rendered “signs” as in all other instances, possibly to avoid redundancy. ‘In Luke 2:33, King James Version says: “And Joseph and His mother (that is, Jesus’ mother) marvelled, ete.” In the RSV itreads: “And His FATHER and His mother marvelled, ete.” In verse 43 they have changed the words, “And Joseph and ‘His mother” to “His parents.” This is a fundamental change in that it makes Jesus to be the son of Joseph and NOT the Son of God, as the Bible teaches. in the King James Bible, Matthew 27:54 reads: “Truly this ‘was THE SON OF GOD.” New Version reads: “Truly this was 2 ‘son of God.” We have already pointed out that God had more than one son, so the new Bible makes Jesus just like all other ‘men who have become sons of God by faith. Another example of this is found in Hebrews 1:1, 2 where we are told that: "God hhath in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” New Version ‘changes “His Son” to “a Son.” The writers of the New Version did not recognize Christ asthe Son of God. Further proof of this is found in the change made in Isaiah 7:14 Inthe King James Version we read: “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” The new Bible changes this to read: “Bchold a YOUNG WOMAN shall conceive and bear a son.” ‘The Lord meant this to be a SIGN that the one thus born would be the Messiah, but for a son to be born of a YOUNG WOMAN, would signify nothing, for only young women bear children; old ‘women donot bear children at all. So the statement as rendered in the new Bible is without sense or meaning, ‘These are only afew of scores of places where changes have bbeen made which destroy the doctrine of the Deity of Christ and ‘other fundamental doctrines of historic Christianity. NOTE THE CHANGES BELOW Al in parenthesis are changed or entirely omitted in the R.S.V. Genesis 12:3, (In thee shall all families ofthe earth be blessed) is changed to “By you all the families will bless themselves.” Isaiah 7:14, (virgin) is changed to “young woman.” Zechatiah 1:6, wounds (in thy hands) is changed to “on your Matthew 18:11, this verse is deleted (Son of man is come to save.) 25:13, also deleted ( wherein the son of man cometh. ) Mark 1:31, (immediately) the fever left; 2:17, call the sinners (to repentance) is deleted; 6:16, John . .. is risen (from the dead) is deleted; 9:44, verse deleted (Where their worm dieth ‘not, and the fire isnot quenched.); 18:14, entire verse deleted; 14:68, (and the cock crew) is deleted; "15:28, verse deleted; 20, 11 verses deleted regarding the resurrection testimony. Luke 2:38, (Joseph) is changed to “father”; 2:43, (Joseph and His mother) is changed to “parents”; 24:3, “found not the continued om page 11 pore 3