Few projects, I would venture to say, have excited me more than this little electronic magazine, which now begins its third year of publication. When we were in the planning stages, back in the summer and fall of 1993, our vision and imagination did not see the downloads, multiple sites, e-mail responses and reception weΓÇÖve enjoyed.
This seems to be a suitable place to say some things about our readers. Who are they? After two years and thousands of downloads, we are in a position to have some impressions about our audience.
Expository Files is read by people ...
... who recognize that Jesus Christ is the perfect model of human excellence and is worthy of our trust and obedience. Regardless of the varied institutions and traditions commonly regarded as ΓÇ£Christian,ΓÇ¥ Christianity - in its essence - is the allegiance of the heart and the devotion of the life to a person, Jesus Christ. It means I come face to face with my own sin, bring my life to Him and submit to His authority in every way. If you believe in Christ, and you approach the New Testament with a hearty willingness to learn, to receive and adopt what it teaches, you will find the articles in EF to be helpful to that end. EF is found in the computers of folks ...
... who believe that the confused and divided state of things in the current religious scene can be solved only by going back to the Bible. There is a simple inquiry that reflects the singular interests of the believer: What does the Bible say? (Rom. 3:3). There is no value in repeating what men have done out of loyalty to tradition. LetΓÇÖs find out what GodΓÇÖs written will is, and build our lives on that foundation. This magazine is read by people ...
... who realize that the truth of God isnΓÇÖt popular, and may even produce division. ΓÇ£Where the gospel, correctly presented, produces divisions, as it always will, the divisions are right. We are not responsible for the legitimate effects of the truth,ΓÇ¥ (Moses Lard, Commentary on Romans, p.#463). And, EF is of interest to people ...
... who refuse to manipulate, mis-use or twist the presentation of Scripture in an effort to ΓÇ£makeΓÇ¥ it conform to anything, any group or anybody. If your approach is inductive (letting the Scriptures determine what you believe, what you will teach and what you will practice), we believe the articles offered through this medium will provoke thought and help you in your study. And if you should ever discover in any of our articles - an effort to strain and force different texts into a simulated support of error, communicate to the writer and send us a copy.
Jon and I do not, for a moment, flatter ourselves that our conclusions will be accepted by all, or even by many. Nor do we boast of any perfection in our ability to study, edit or preach. We only hope our efforts will help call attention to the truth of God. We want to contribute something which we hope will tend to lead the thoughts of earnest and objective minds in the direction of Him!
