John chapter 18 verses 28 through 38 records the arrest and “kangaroo trial” of Jesus by the Jews. The Jews, after making a mockery of righteousness, turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate the governor claiming that Jesus was, “an evildoer”, that is a criminal, and that He was worthy of death which Jesus prophesied (Matt. 20:18-19, 26:2 Mark 10:33; Luke 18:32).
Pilate said, “You take Him and judge Him according to your law” but the Jews pressed saying, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death” (John 18:31). Sad how “deeply seeded agendas” blind hearts to truth. That’s what happened to Jesus. Pilate rightly proclaimed, “I find no fault in Him at all” (John 18:38b), but still the chief priests and scribes motivated the Jews to choose a known criminal over the Son of God: And they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” (John 19:6).
Most will refuse to hear truth, this point so powerfully revealed as we read on: Pilate asked, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37-38). Pilate learns that Jesus is King of the Jews, that Jesus came into the world to “bear witness to the truth” (v.37), then even Pilate asked, “what is truth” (v.38)?
Christians today like then, soon realize that truth is something the majority will not heed. Most will not be able to accept even the clearest words as truth. Just like there was no room in the inn for Jesus (Luke 2:7), most today have their hearts so filled with teachings of Calvin, Russel, Knox, Wesley, Smyth and thousands of others that there is no room in their heart for Jesus or truth. Today the majority overwhelmingly and willingly listen to people who tickle their ears (2 Tim. 4:3-4). For most, it is much easier to follow a charismatic leader, than to read and study their own Bible.
Recently I approached two men in a restaurant who had a Bible next to them on their table. Seeing an open door, I asked their view on salvation. Faster than you can snap you fingers, they took me down the road of Calvinism: Chosen before the foundation of the world, faith only, and once saved always saved. I asked, “Do you believe in Jesus and what He taught?” When they said yes, I opened their own Bible and had them read a few verses. This is the course Truth and Error took:
First Truth: 2 Thess. 2:9-12 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” First Error: They agreed with me that one must be able to “receive the love of the truth” to be saved but were quick to point out the only truth you must believe is that Jesus died to free us from our sins, and nothing else.
Second Truth: John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” Second Error: To this one said, “Of course God’s word is truth, but it only guides the saved, it has nothing to do with salvation.”
Third Truth: John 12:48 “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” Third Error: After this one of the two began to get angry, saying the saved won’t be judged by His words, only the lost. I agreed saying, “The unsaved are those who don’t believe His words.”
Fourth Truth: I asked them to read Mark 16:15-16, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Then I asked, “According to Jesus who are the saved? Fourth Error: First he said, “Those who believe.” I pointed out the “and” in the sentence, and with fire he said, “You cannot believe that anything you do can save you, we are saved by faith only and nothing else!” My answer was, “But I do believe Jesus’ words; He said the saved are those who “believe and are baptized”. Reading Romans 10:9 I asked, “Do you have to confess with our mouth before salvation and believe in our heart before salvation?” One answered, “Yes, but people who will believe were already saved because God chose them out of the world before they were born”, Error!
Fifth Truth: James 2:24 “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” and then 1 Peter 3:20 “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism…”. Fifth Error: One of the two walked away saying, “You can quote all the scripture you want, that doesn’t change a thing, works have nothing to do with salvation, and Peter is referring to Holy Spirit baptism not water.” To that I asked the remaining young man, “Don’t we have to obey to have the gift of the Holy Spirit?” His answer was no. I had him read Acts 5:32 “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Asked did not those whom God gave the Holy Spirit to first have to obey? His answer was no. Error.
The young man asked me, “You’re a member of the Church of Christ, aren’t they just a few in comparison? So, how can so many be wrong?” I said, “Yes, we are of the few, the few who will believe and enter in through the narrow difficult gate that leads to everlasting life, as opposed to the many that will enter in through the wide gate that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14). Please remember my friend, it was the many who shouted, ‘crucify Him, crucify Him” and it was the few who eventually followed Him after His resurrection.”
Sadly, he held to the “way” he was traveling and fought against the “Way” of the Lord’s words. The young man stood up and said to me, “Let me give you some advice. You are on shaky ground and will hurt people if you teach these things.” My words to him were, “My friend, you are no shaky ground because your teaching is from the words of Calvin and the like, and not from the Lord”.
Why might you ask did I write these things? I hope that you’ll come away with six certain things. One: For certain, our Job is to sow the seed (1Cor. 3:6), and seed was sown, but if someone’s heart has no place for God’s word, you must understand it’s not your fault when they don’t hear (Luke 8:4-15). Two: For certain, like Jesus, Christians are to “…bear witness to the truth…” and understand that, “…Everyone who is of the truth hears…” (John 18:37-38). Three: For certain, the Lord’s church will always be in the minority, and that’s ok, because Jesus isn’t coming back for the majority, He’s coming back for His own, that is His church. Four: For certain, when Pilate asked, “what is truth?” (John 18:38) we who love the truth know what truth is. Truth is God’s word (John 17:17), the only way for anyone to come to faith (Rom. 10:17). Truth is the gospel of our salvation (Eph. 1:13), we’re begotten by it (James 1:18). Speak it, they’ll claim we’re mad, but we’re not (Acts 26:25). The entirety of God’s word is truth (Psa. 119:160) and it is the “power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16; John 8:31-36). Five: For certain, I walked away from this without bruises or broken bones and with a portion of peace knowing that I have honored God by speaking His word to others (1 Pet. 4:11, Phil. 4:7). So, never be afraid to speak to anyone about Jesus and the truth. Finally, Six: For certain, people are still being baptized into the Lord’s church daily, yes daily! So, you might just preach to that one today.
We all must make the decision on our own, will we believe and obey the word of God to the saving of our souls, or will we follow others, the majority, to losing of our souls?
I would love to study these things with you and answer any questions you may have concerning the word of the Lord, His church and your relationship with Him.
In Love
David Scarpino