First Century Christianity

Topic(s): Salvation

Is it possible for people living today to simply be New Testament Christians? Can we be first century Christians in the twenty-first century? So much is said today about “change”—and much change is evident. Computers, communications, and candidates are constantly changing. Must the Gospel be changed to fit a changing world or is the message of Christ’s sacrifice still sufficient for today (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)?

MAN HAS NOT CHANGED. In what is thought to be the oldest book in the Bible (Job), Job’s friend said that man “drinketh iniquity like water...” (Job 15:16). That could have been a description of people today. Man now struggles with the same greed, lust, and bitterness as those of previous generations. Human nature today is as it was yesterday. Man has always been given the choice of good or evil (Deuteronomy 11:26), and has always—to some degree—chosen evil (Romans 3:23).

MAN’S PROBLEM HAS NOT CHANGED. In Noah’s days people were wicked: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). In our day sin is still our problem. Man is sinful—un-God-like. “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). There is not even one among accountable people who has not sinned (Romans 3:10, 23). Our problem is a common problem—SIN.

MAN’S HOPE HAS NOT CHANGED. Jesus is our only hope. Paul spoke of “...Christ...the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). Without this death man would be without hope. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). Man’s hope is in the fact that Jesus suffered sin’s penalty in man’s place.
Man is the same; sin is the same; man’s hope is the same. First century Christianity is possible today. Through a return to the New Testament teaching in loving obedience to the Gospel we can be Christians only (Acts 2:36-47; Romans 6:1-6). God requires: learning of Christ (Romans 10:17), belief in Christ (John 3:16), repentance of sin (Acts 2:38), confession of faith (Romans 10:9, 10), and baptism (Mark 16:16). Have you obeyed the Gospel? If not, now is the time!

adapted from Charles Box, Greenville, AL

Things About the Church of Christ that Surprise People: Part 5

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST HAS NO “CREED BOOK.”

Topic(s): Church, Worship

Often someone says, “You mean you follow only the Bible!,” or “The church of Christ does not have a creed book for its members!?” Why is this surprising? Because most religious people have been under the influence of prayer books, creed books, manuals, disciplines, and articles of faith since youth. However, the Bible states that the Scriptures supply all we need spiritually (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3). Jesus said His Word will judge us in the last day, not man’s (John 12:48). “Come and see” (John 1:39).