Perhaps most believers of God have at one time or another in their lives asked themselves if the things we hold as the true gospel are actually the truth. Certainly we have every reason to examine the things we have been taught to see if these things are so. Some have set about the task of re-examining these fundamentals and some actually gone past what is written, endeavoring to reconcile Christadelphian teaching with that of the churches around us. As a body of people who believe and teach that if “an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, let him be accursed,” it is not only our privilege but our duty to prayerfully strive to determine the true fundamentals of our faith, so that we may be rooted and grounded in the truth, and that we may teach them to others in the world around us.
It is no doubt obvious that the whole of the hope of the gospel depends upon the inspiration of the Bible. If it is true, then its testimonies can be used for absolute proof of any given subject. If it is true, then many wonderful things are in store, not only for each of us, but for any one in the whole world who will submit to the will of God, by a belief in God’s word, and by baptism into the only name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. If it is true then Christ is presently to return to earth, to raise and judge the dead and reward the faithful with eternal life, and to establish that kingdom prepared for the righteous from the foundation of the world. If it is not true (dare we even think of that), how dark indeed is the future for all who now live upon the earth. As the apostle rightly says, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” If it is not true, then all mankind is among the class spoken of by Isaiah, when he said, “they are dead, they shall not live, they are deceased they shall not rise ; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them and made all their memory to perish.” (Isa. 26-14)
One thing must be apparent to the most casual reader of the Bible and that is the fact that the Old and New Testaments stand or fall together. Each is interwoven into the other, each relates the same things, each declares the same fundamental truths. The Old Testament is replete with promises of Christ, and with prophecies that outline in almost unbelievable detail the character that he was to have and the things that he would do at his first advent. The New Testament writers, and teachers, including the Lord Jesus, unqualifiedly endorsed the writings of “Moses and the prophets,” and quote copiously therefrom. Without exception they used these scripture passages as absolute proof of the doctrines they taught. In many cases they served to confirm happenings that are doubted by the skeptic and the unbeliever.
The evolutionist might claim to believe in Christ, but he cannot do so and at the same time doubt the story of creation as found in the book of Genesis. Christ said “God made them male and female,” thus with a single sentence destroying all hope of reconciling evolution with either the Old or New Testaments.
Many doubt the story of the flood, yet Christ endorsed the story by saying, “As it was in the days of Noah, so also shall it be in the days of the coming of the son of man. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage and knew not till the flood came and swept them all away.”
The story of Jonah and the whale has been the object of scoffers who have tried so hard to discredit the Bible. But here again we cannot doubt the account and, at the same time, believe in Christ.
The Pharisees asked for a sign that he was the Christ, to which he answered, “there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
The outstanding reason why so many do not accept the Old Testament is that its teachings cannot be harmonized with their preconceived ideas of what the Bible teaches. The Old Testament is the “schoolmaster” and the first principles of the oracles of God are prominently taught from Genesis to Malachi.
Subjects such as the mortality of man, the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are so plainly taught that the only way modern religionists can survive is to claim that the Old Testament is a dead letter. Again, the prophecies of the Old Testament deal a death blow to heaven at death for the righteous, for over and over they acclaim that the earth is to be the habitation of the righteous. They proclaim that the future kingdom of the world is to have its capitol at Jerusalem, and harmonize with Christ when he said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”
It is hard to see how anyone could have faith in God until they have studied the Old Testament prophecies. This is the basis on which God asks us to believe in him. He declares in Isaiah 45:5, “I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside me. . .” In this same chapter he says at the 11th verse, “Ask me of things to come concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.” Until we have seen the hundreds of prophecies that have accurately been fulfilled, we cannot actually believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Heb. 11 :6)
The many types of the law of Moses and the offerings that were to be made by Israel, and their anti-typical fulfillment in the life and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ are wonderful indeed. They could not have been devised without a foreknowledge of the nature and character of Jesus himself.
We heartily recommend not only to those who have not believed and obeyed, but to the believers as well, a careful reading and study of the Law of Moses, written by brother R. Roberts. It is faith-building and encouraging, for it convinces us that “the prophecy came not in old time by the will of men, but Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
The only hope of salvation then, lies in a belief of the scriptures and a child-like obedience to the commandments and precepts to be found therein. Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:16) The Bible is the inspired word of the living and Almighty God. To doubt it is to doubt the word of the great Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
Paul tells us that God, who cannot lie, made great and precious promises, and God himself has said that He has magnified His word above all his name.
“It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the things whereto I sent it.” (Isa. 55:11) Christ is the embodiment of that word. God manifest in the flesh. This word, made flesh will accomplish the mission whereunto he has been sent, for we read in Isaiah 42 :1 Behold my servant whom I will uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my spirit upon him ; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Till he have set judgment in the earth ; and the isles shall wait for his law.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One