"A Challenge"
Steven J. Wallace
"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you are disqualified" (2 Cor. 13:5).
The Bible is full of challenges that have been issued by both good and evil men. The apostle Paul challenges his readers to examine whether they are in the faith. Now that the year is half over, have we taken personal inventory regarding our faith? Are we more spiritually in tune with Christ than when this year began? Have we drawn nearer or drifted from Him? Do we study and pray more or less? Has our attendance improved, stayed the same, or declined? Paul wanted those in Corinth to test themselves, not others, and see if they were disqualified or not.
Goliath stood before the armies of Israel and challenged them saying:
"Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants…"
(1 Sam. 17:8-9).
David prepared for the challenge and gained victory over the enemy of Israel in the name of the Lord.
The prophet Elijah challenged the people of Israel to make a choice by crying out:
"'How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.' But the people answered him not a word" (1 Kin. 18:21).
They were motivated to reach a decision. In that spirit, we lay forth a challenge for you in the hopes that you will be motivated to seek the Lord and find Him (Acts 17:27).
A challenge to investigate God.
Please do not misunderstand, this is not a challenge to investigate what men, churches, or some religious leaders may say about God. We challenge you to investigate the God of the Bible with your own eyes. Only here the original picture of God is discovered without any human distortions. Paul penned, "Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God" (Rom. 11:22). If you are young, realize there is no better time to investigate God's goodness and severity than right now. You will begin to make decisions that will affect your life. Learn that God owns and gives you your life! May it not be said against you what was said to the king of Babylon, Belshazzar, "…and the God who [holds] your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified" (Dan. 5:23). Take the challenge from Solomon: "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, 'I have no pleasure in them'" (Eccl. 12:1).
A challenge to investigate the one faith of the New Testament.
Do not accept the various world religions of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, as being of God. Likewise, do not accept the present divided and contradictory denominational world of Christendom as being something that is from God. Such didn't exist in the time of Christ. Approximately 2000 years ago a man named Jesus of Nazareth, was put to death as a criminal, though He had done many wonderful deeds. It actually happened! It was also predetermined by God that Jesus should not only die but also be resurrected (Acts 2:23, 24). God entered into human history and forever changed the way we reference time (BC and AD). Isn't it worth investigating Jesus since He did many miraculous and historic deeds? When He resurrected from the dead, He proved, among other things, that He is most certainly God. One correctly observed, "for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him" (Jn. 3:2). His resurrected person was seen by many witnesses, even by 500 people at one time (1 Cor. 15:6). Followers of Christ at this time were only called Christians. There was "One name…one faith!" No "hyphenated Christians" existed at this time. Will you investigate the "one Lord" and the "one faith" of first-century Christianity (Eph. 4:5)?
A challenge to investigate the church of Christ.
Just as sure as Jesus resurrected from the dead, He established His one true church, saying "I will build My church" (Matt. 16:18). It began in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1ff). It was built by the purchase price of His blood (Acts 20:28). The church's law came from Jerusalem, not New York, Switzerland, or even Mt. Sinai (Is. 2:3; Jer. 31:31-34; Acts 2). We challenge you to find in the Bible where Christianity wears a name that gives honor to a method (i.e., Methodist), an eldership (Presbyterian); a day (Seventh-Day Adventist) a feast (Pentecost), or any other concept, doctrine, or person (Grace Dispensational, Baptist, Free Will, Saint Paul's Catholic, etc.).
The apostle Paul wrote, "Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.' Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Cor. 1:12, 13).
Let's determine to truly glorify the name of Christ. We challenge ourselves to be content with those designations found in the Bible: "church of God" (1 Cor. 1:2); "church of Christ" (Rom. 16:16); "church of the Firstborn" (Heb. 12:23), etc. Will you investigate the church of Christ? The challenge is yours!
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