Articles for 01/28/2003: PEOPLE by Barry M. Grider IF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IN WORSHIP IS WRONG, WHERE DOES THE BIBLE SPECIFICALLY CONDEMN IT? by Don Blackwell GOD'S COMMANDS ARE KNOWABLE AND DOABLE (Deuteronomy 30:11-14) by Darrell Conley REWARDS OF VICTORIOUS LIVING by Irene C. Taylor PEOPLE Barry M. Grider Life would not be interesting without people. It is true that man, because of sin's entrance into the world, has created much chaos and confusion. Yet we are thankful for the many individuals within the human race who are noble in thought, kind in deed, and diligent in pursuit of right. While noted terrorists and tyrannical oppressors, such as Osama bin Laden and Sadaam Hussein, occupy the headlines, many others across the globe, on a daily basis, are trying to make our world a better place. We are grateful for such people and each one of us should pray that we are of that number. An astounding figure - six billion people - live on this earth today. It is estimated that by 2050 the population will have exploded to above ten billion. What is so interesting about all of the billions of people who have lived, are living, or ever will live? Each individual is unique from the other. This is true not only in looks but in personality. Have you ever been seated on a bench in a shopping mall or in an amusement park and just observed people? Fascinating! Many of you perhaps do not know that I am an accomplished poet. Just kidding (Please see page four and you will find some excellent poetry)! However, when I was in the second grade in a school located in a small northeast Alabama community, our class composed a number of poems which were entered into a statewide contest. This writer's poem won second honorable mention among his age category in the entire state and, likewise, received a special award for this accomplishment. I know that you would like to read the poem. Here it goes,   People, people going here, People, people going there, People, people outside and in, Where are they going; Where have they been? You must admit the poem is not bad for a second grader. What inspired me to write these words, I do not know. It does seem appropriate that a child who one day would become a gospel preacher would compose a poem about people. Preaching is a people business. If a man does not love people, he cannot be an effective evangelist. Quite simply God created people above all of His creation.   And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 1:27;2:7).

God made people different from the rest of His creation. He desires the association of man and no one in the human race is outside of the realm of God's love. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The gospel is for all because all of humanity came from God. Paul, speaking to the Athenians, said, [God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation" (Acts 17:26). Therefore, how dare we despise our fellow man, regardless of how hateful a particular individual may be. James wrote, "Therefore bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God" (Jms. 3:9). The dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. was entirely biblical when he expressed, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." It is still sad today that some will frown upon good and godly marriages between those of different racial backgrounds, yet be completely tolerable of two people of the same race living together in adultery.

Dear friends, if God loved the people of the world, let us do the same. In fact, I today would write my little poem with this variation:
 

This is one of the most common questions asked by those who are trying to defend the use of instruments in worship. They will argue, "The Bible doesn't say not to..." And they demand, "If using instruments in worship is wrong, you show me where the Bible specifically condemns it." First, we need to understand that not everything that is wrong is specifically condemned in the Scriptures. Counting beads as a part of worship is not specifically condemned in the Scriptures, but it is wrong. Adding additional elements or different elements to the Lord's Supper is not specifically condemned in the scriptures, but it is wrong. Can you imagine the size our Bibles would have to be if every conceivable wrong activity had to be enumerated? One can easily see the foolishness which would be involved in such an arrangement. Imagine applying this same type of reasoning to other areas of life. What if you entered into a fast food restaurant to order a hamburger and had to specifically mention everything on the menu that you did not want. Anyone can see that such is not reasonable in the secular realm, but some want to reason this way with regard to the scriptures.

Secondly, when an individual makes a statement like the one asked in the question above, he shows a lack of understanding for how God authorizes. Colossians 3:17 instructs us, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. . ." To do something "in the name of the Lord" is to do it by his authority. A police officer might shout to a criminal, "Stop in the name of the law?" He means "Stop, and I am commanding you that by the authority of the law." Likewise to do something "in the name of Christ" is to do it by his authority. In light of this principle, I must have authority from the Lord for all that I do in religion. That being the case, the burden of proof laid upon each individual is to be able to show that the activities he is engaging in are authorized by God. If there is no scripture authorizing a particular activity, then it is wrong whether or not there is a verse specifically condemning it.

A great text of the Bible illustrating this very point is Hebrews 7:14. This passage speaks about the priesthood under the law of Moses. The point the Hebrews writer is making is that it would be wrong for Christ to be a priest under the law of Moses. We ask, "Why?" Was it because there was a verse specifically condemning it? No, that's not the reason. There was no such verse. Observe the reason given in the text. Paul writes, "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood (emp. added)."

Dear reader, please appreciate with me that Christ being a priest under the old law was not specifically condemned, but still it was not permitted. The reason was there was no authority for it. God's silence on this issue constituted a lack of authority, not a free reign for men to do as they chose. In like manner the use of instrumental music is not specifically condemned, but it is wrong for the same reason. There is no authority for it! To borrow on the logic and reasoning of the Hebrews writer, we might paraphrase, "of the piano, God spake nothing, thus forbidding it."

"For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off" (v. 11). Moses makes plain that the commands he has given them are neither too hard to do nor too hard to understand. The same is true for the gospel. Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 30:11-14 in describing the gospel: "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is the word of faith, which we preach" (Rom. 8:8). The silly notion that no one can know for sure what God's will is, is a modern idea. It is certainly not biblical. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments" (1 John 2:3). Such skeptics should be required to read and mark the claims to knowledge that John makes in his first epistle.

There seem also to be among us some who think that the commands of God are so difficult to know and to do that we live in a constant state of sin. Yet John says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3). There are some who consider the commandments of God so grievous that they deny that we are under any law at all. But if we are not under any law, then we could never sin, since sin is the transgression of the law (Rom. 5:13). And if we cannot sin, then there is no need for the grace of God. The very fact that we are under grace implies that we are under some law, or we would have no need of grace.