The Reward of Faith

By Bob Myhan

Methuselah, who lived 969 years, is known as the oldest man in the Bible (Gen. 5:27). Yet he died be­fore his father did. How could this be?

The answer is fairly simple, although it defies the human experience and challenges the Christian’s faith. Very little information is given about Methuselah’s father, whose name was Enoch. He is mentioned by name seven times in Genesis, chapter five, but al­most all the information is genealogical. He is never again referred to in the Old Testa­ment, and in the New Testament he is only mentioned three times. So we are given very few details about him. But what little is revealed speaks volumes. “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). We are told three things about Enoch in this passage. (1) He “walked with God,” (2) “he was not” and (3) “God took him.” Obviously, Enoch did not literally and physically walk with God, be­cause “God is Spirit” (John 4:24) and does not have a literal, physical flesh, bone and blood body (Matt. 16:19; Luke 24:39). Enoch walked with God figuratively and spiritually.

But what did Moses mean by “he was not, for God took him”? Of those mentioned in Genesis five, Enoch is the only one of whom it is not said, “and he died.” Instead, it is said, “and he was not, for God took him.” It is therefore evident that the reason it can be said that the world’s oldest man died be­fore his father is that his father never died. Rather, he was taken bodily from the earth, as a reward for having walked with God. The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us this in clearer language:

“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’: for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (11:5).

We are told here, not only that he was taken away, but also why he was taken away. He was taken away because he pleased God. But how did he please God? He pleased God by his faith (11:6).

Thus, Enoch walked with God figuratively and spiritually, in that he walked [lived his life] by faith because he believed that God is, and that God is a rewarder of those who seek to please Him. Of course, God has not promised to reward our faith by taking us bodily from the earth so as not to see death. But He has promised us a crown of life (James 1:12; Rev. 2:10). &

What Is Truth?

By J. Mike Johnson

This is the question that Pilate asked in John 18:38. He may have asked it with scorn rather than a thirst for knowledge. Nevertheless, it is still the su­preme question.

Jesus said, in His prayer to God, “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). God chose cer­tain men to reveal his will. Today we have it in the form of the Bible (John 16:7, 13; Eph. 3:3-4). The Scriptures “thoroughly” (KJV) or completely furnish us “unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Truth is important with respect to MOR­ALS. The popular philosophy of today is that “nothing is really right or wrong.” Man today says, “A thing is right or wrong only in the way that it pertains to a particular circum­stance.” One movie star was asked what one thing he wanted to teach his son. The star replied, “Do whatever makes you happy so long as it does not hurt someone else.” This might sound like a good philosophy and in some cases may be. However, it is possible that something might please us, hurt no one else and yet BE CONTRARY TO THE BIBLE. Many are afraid to say what is right and wrong morally according to the Scriptures, being caught up with the moral philosophy of our times instead of truth from God’s Word.

In DOCTRINAL matters it does not usually make one very popular to standup and say that this doctrine is right or that doctrine is wrong. The current religious philosophy is that it does not matter what one believes as long as one is sincere. Sincerity, not truth, is made the test for doctrine. The spirit of compromise and fickleness prevails. Some try to be so broadminded that they will stand for nothing. The Bible teaches that we are to CONTEND EARNESTLY for the faith (Jude 3), that the WAY of SALVATION is TRUTH and can MAKE US FREE (John 8:32), and that we are to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11). &

How to Be Born Again

By Bob Myhan

Inasmuch as one cannot see or enter the kingdom of God without having been born again (John 3:1-7), it is a basic re­spon­sibility of every citizen of God’s king­dom (not just preachers) to tell the lost, “You must be born again.” But the lost must also be told “how” one is “born again.”

First, Peter equates having “purified your souls in obeying the truth” with being “born again…through the word of God” (1 Peter 1:22, 23). When praying to the Father, Jesus said, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Thus, to purify one’s soul in obeying the truth is to be “born again through the word of God.” One who has not purified his soul in obeying the truth has not experienced the new birth, is not in God’s kingdom, but is an alien sinner.

Second, Paul explains that “the washing of regen­eration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (the new birth) is the means of our being “saved” (Titus 3:4, 5). Thus, being saved is having our souls purified in obeying the truth, or being born again through the word of God. So, one must obey the truth in order to be born again, and when he is born again he is saved, and he becomes a citizen in the kingdom of God.

One might be saved from many things, but Jesus came to “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21. One is saved from his sins in that he is saved from falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), AND he is saved from having to receive the wages of sin, which is death (Rom. 6:23). In or­der to be saved from our sins, therefore, we must have our sins remitted (or forgiven).

Shortly before He left the earth, Jesus told His apostles, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:23). He had already said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what­ever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18). Therefore, what­ever the apostles bound on earth, as to the re­mission of sins, has been bound in heaven.

Thus, we have purified our souls in obey­ing the truth, have been born again, and have entered the kingdom of God, if, and only if, we have done whatever the apostles bound on earth, as to the remission of sins.

The apostles taught unbelieving aliens that they had to believe in Jesus in order to be saved, or born again (Acts 16:29-31). They taught believing aliens to “repent, and …be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). This is the same as telling them what to do to be born again, for one is not born again until his sins are remitted. Believing, penitent aliens who desired to be baptized were en­couraged to confess their faith (Acts 8:36-38).

Saul of Tarsus was a penitent believer for three days, spending all his time in prayer, but was told, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). To wash away your sins is to have them remitted (Matt. 26:28; Rev. 1:5).

In view of Acts 2:38 and Acts 22:16, the blood of Christ remits (or washes away) the alien’s sins when, fol­lowing belief, repen­tance and confession, he is baptized for the remission of sins.

One is a “new creature” “in Christ.” Thus, one must be “born again” to get into Christ. But baptism in water for the remis­sion of sins puts one into Christ (Rom. 6:3-5; Gal. 3:26, 27). Thus, when a penitent be­liever in Jesus Christ is bap­tized for the re­mission of sins he is “born again,” and be­comes a “new creature,” a citizen in the kingdom of God. &