May 1988 - Editorial

As we continue this month our traverse "Across the Bible Centuries" and review themes which have had a central place in Needed Truth for a hundred years, we reach a crucial point in respect of issues relating to the house of God. To many fellow Christians this is not a subject which figures largely in their spiritual thinking. There tends, for some, to be a rather general identification of the house of God with "the church"; and any challenge to this view appears of little relevance to everyday Christian experience. While this may be understandable in the absence of widespread interest or teaching on the subject, we trust that readers of Needed Truth will this month pick up important threads in the tapestry of spiritual history which relate vitally to God's house and its meaning and function.

We are introduced to the first mention of the term "house of God" in Jacob's experience. We review a cardinal doctrine of discipleship, namely believers' baptism which applies with great importance to a people serving God in His house. And we examine the scriptural basis of such a testimony.

The truths of God's house so foreshadowed reach sharper focus in later numbers of the magazine this year; and all in the context of the development of sovereign divine purpose for the preservation and progressive uncovering of biblical truth (see FOCUS). We encourage readers to examine, or re-examine, how these truths do impinge in many very important ways on the believer's life and service for so exalted a Master, the Son over God's house (Heb. 3:6).

unknown | May 1988
Editorial