Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
In his sermon that afternoon, Brother Frank declared, "If you are acceptable to God, you're alright." This is the doctrine of Paul to us Gentiles, and it is precious. It sounds so simple, and yet it is the stumbling block for millions of people now, just as it was a stumbling block for many in the apostles' time.
The only way that we know who is acceptable with God and who is not is to wait for God to set His seal, the holy Ghost, on a person. When God baptizes someone with His Spirit, we know without doubt that person has been accepted by God. As He told Peter long ago, "What I have cleansed, call thou not 'common'".
Paul encouraged the Gentiles at Colossae when he told them, "You are complete in him [Christ]." In other words, to be perfectly acceptable to God, they did not have to add any ceremony to their faith in Christ. They did not need a physical circumcision, they did not need to "join a church"; they did not need a water baptism, a temple, a feast or communal meal, or anything else. They were "in Christ", and that made them acceptable to God. They had been baptized by Jesus into his body, and there was nothing else needed in order for them to be acceptable with God. Being in Christ is enough.
It is just as Brother Frank said in that long-ago meeting. "If you are acceptable to God, you're alright." But, oh, how few people really believe that.