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WOW!
TGOC WEBSITE
PASSES THE 3,000,000
PAGE-HIT MARK!
We hope you will pardon our pleasure "peeking through," but we simply could not send out this newsletter without sharing an important milestone with you. First, however, let us offer up a couple of "historical tidbits" to help you understand what this milestone means. On Friday, June 22, TGOC's Website broke the 1,000,000 page-hit mark. Then on Thursday, September 13, we surpassed the 2,000,000 page-hit mark. As 2007 began, we had been "hoping" to hit that 2,000,000 goal. Once we did, we then set our sights on reaching two different goals: (1) 3,000,000 page hits; and (2) 3,254,162 page-hits.
We are pleased to announce that on Wednesday, November 28, TGOC's Website broke the 3,000,000 page-hit mark!
But you're probably wondering: "Why set a goal of 3,254,162 page-hits?" Here's the explanation. In 2006 we had 1,627,081 page-hits. So, once we passed the 2,000,000 mark on September 13 of this year, we then began dreaming of actually hitting 3,254,162, which would mean that we had successfully doubled the number of page-hits we had in 2006. Now it appears that our dream may very well come true.
Needless to say, we are absolutely thrilled to have reached the important milestone of seeing our Website hit 3,000,000 page-hits(since that means we are doing more to reach our stated goal of "taking the whole Gospel to the whole world"). We will be anxiously awaiting December 31 to see if we do actually succeed in doubling our 2006 numbers.
In the meantime, now that we have surpassed the 3,000,000 mark, it presents us with a brand-new challenge. "The bar," as the old saying suggests, "has now been raised." In 2008, we want to surpass the 4,500,000 page-hit mark.
Thank you for helping us reach our 2007 goal. Now, about that 2008 goal....
NEW BIBLE QUIZZES ON
PROPHETS, PROPHECY, AND MIRACLES
NOW AVAILABLE
In the October 30th edition of this newsletter, we announced the availability of an entirely new division to the Bible Quizzes portion of our Website: Prophets, Prophecy, and Miracles. Initially, we posted three quizzes (in "easy," "moderate," and "difficult" versions) of those quizzes. Today, we are pleased to announce that we have now added three more such quizzes to our Website ( www.thegospelofchrist.com/quiz ). We invite you to further test your Bible knowledge by taking all three of these new quizzes.
LESSONS THIRTEEN AND FOURTEEN
IN THE
MOTIVATIONAL SERIES
NOW ONLINE
In the April 4, April 17, May 1, May 15, November 13, and November 27 editions of our newsletter, we announced the availability of the first twelve lessons in our Motivational Series. In this newsletter, we are announcing the availability of lessons thirteen and fourteen in that series ("The One Faith" and "The High Cost of a Free Gift"). In future newsletters, we will be announcing lessons fifteen and sixteen.
In his lesson, "The One Faith," James Gravelle begins by quoting Paul's well-known statement in Ephesians 4:4-6, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." James then asks the following questions: " What is the biblical meaning of faith? Does faith imply doubt or uncertainly? Does it mean the acceptance of a position in the absence of evidence? Does it rule out knowing?"
The answers to those questions form the basis for the remainder of the lesson. James uses Hebrews 11:1 ("Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen") to launch into his discussion of the meaning of "biblical faith," and as he does, he is quick to point out that Bible-based faith is not based on doubt or uncertainty. Faith is not a "blind leap into the dark," as it is so often defined today. The word "faith," as used in God's Word, does not mean the absence of evidence. In fact, biblical faith requires evidence. The truth is that there can be no faith where there is no evidence. God expects us to be concerned about evidence, as is evident from statements such as those found in John 20:30-31 where John wrote, "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” As Paul pointed out in Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Where there is no word from God, there can be no faith.
While it is true that, at times, faith is contrasted with sight (as it is in 2 Corinthians 5:7—"For we walk by faith, not by sight"), it also is true that there can be faith where there is sight. Jesus Himself said, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed" (Jn. 20:29). The fact that faith can exist where there is no sight (that is to say, where there is no empirical evidence) simply teaches us that faith is not always based on empirical evidence. But that does not mean that faith is based on no evidence! For example, faith does not mean the absence of knowledge, as is clear from John 4:42. There, many of the people of Samaria who believed on the Lord said to the Samaritan woman whom Jesus had met at the well, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." "Believing" ("having faith") and "knowing" are used synonymously in that context, proving that "believing" and "knowing" are not contradictory concepts, but are, in fact, completely compatible with one another. This is why John recorded Peter's confession, "We have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Jn. 6:69).
As James goes on to point out through his use of characters (like Abel, Abraham, Noah, Moses, and many others) from "the Hall of Fame of Faith" in the New Testament (Hebrews 11), the people who are mentioned there were people who had good, solid evidence standing behind their actions. They never could be accused of "taking a blind leap into the dark." Rather, they "had faith"—which means that they acted on knowledge that had come from God. Sometimes, that knowledge came directly from God to an individual (or group of individuals). At other times, the knowledge from God came to people through the reliable testimony of others as they relayed knowledge that had come to them from God. In the end, however, people who "had faith" were acting on knowledge gleaned from evidence. And that, of course, is what "the one faith" is all about.
In his lesson on "The High Cost of a Free Gift," James begins by presenting a seeming paradox as he says, "Perhaps you have heard it said that 'the best things in life are free.' This is especially true when you consider that the best thing in this life is a gift. As Romans 6:23 tells us, that gift is the very special gift that God gives to all—eternal life. It is truly a gift from God. Even though eternal life is a gift, a high cost was paid for it so that God could offer that gift. And, a high cost must be paid to receive it. You may ask, 'A high cost for a free gift?!' How can this be?"
The answer to this supposed paradox provides James with the meat for his lesson on God's free gift of eternal life—and the cost of that gift for God, for Christ, and for those who would accept it. As James correctly points out, salvation is never earned. In fact, it is a gift given by God to those who are completely undeserving (as the apostle Paul made quite clear when he wrote, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). Giving this "free gift," however, cost God greatly, as John 3:16 (perhaps the best-known and most-beloved verse in the entire Bible) points out: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." But giving the free gift of eternal life also cost Christ, as Paul discussed in Philippians 2:8 when he observed that Christ "humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8).
Oddly enough, however, the acceptance of this free gift is also very costly (here we are again—back at the idea of the paradox). Accepting this gift costs each individual such things as denial of self and an intentional renouncing of much that we as humans hold dear. We must give up much in order to achieve much (eternal life). Paul, who gladly paid that price, expressed this concept vividly in passages such as Galatians 2:20 where he wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Paul elaborated on this point when he wrote in Philippians 3:7-8, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ."
Some people seem to forget that Christ is not just their Savior, but also their Lord, as Luke explained in Luke 2:11—"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." In order to achieve (not earn!) eternal life, we must accept Christ as Savior (which means, of course, obeying the Gospel plan of salvation by keeping Christ's commands in that regard—John 14:15,21; 15:10). But we also must accept Christ as Lord—which means that we willingly accept Him as Master of our lives (with no exceptions!).
Thus, as James ends his lesson, he rightly remarks, "The gift of salvation is costly. It cost God more than Heaven can declare. It cost Jesus the agony and shame of the cross. Even today it costs everyone who truly receives it the price of total submission of self to the rightful claim of Jesus on the lives and souls of all who would be His for time and eternity." And that is how a "free gift" can cost so much!
Both of these lessons are now available on our Website, where you will find them in video, audio, and written transcript formats. We invite you to examine them for yourself, and to share them with others.
A NOTE TO OUR READERS
ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER'S
HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
Normally, we send out our bi-weekly newsletter on Tuesday of every other week. However, if we were to stick to that schedule during December, the next newsletter would be arriving in your e-mail in-box on December 25. To avoid that, we have decided to delay that newsletter by two days. We will be sending it out on Thursday, December 27th.
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