Aug 31, 2009 | Articles
From the earliest days of the Christian faith there has been trouble, consternation and division over the distinction between the covenants. What parts of the Law of Moses are applicable to Christians today? When did the Law of Moses end and the New Covenant begin? What about that period of time recorded in the Gospels when the covenants seem almost to blur? Some have tried to remove any distinction whatsoever and have felt free to use any passage of scripture in the gospels as a precedent for Christian doctrine and practice, while others have concluded that, “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John should have been tacked on to the end of Malachi and are wholly Old Testament books.”[1]
This controversy has affected all areas of the Christian faith from worship (instrumental music and Sabbath day observance), the plan of salvation (i.e. some claim the thief on the cross ‘proves’ baptism is not necessary), and morality (marriage, divorce, and remarriage) as well as numerous other doctrines. The focus of this brief study will be the treatment of marriage and divorce in the Old Testament and also in the New.
A careful and scriptural consideration is certainly worthy of our time in order that we might be ‘approved workers handling correctly the word of truth’. The Bible clearly states:
1) the Kingdom was not established until the day of Pentecost (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7; Mark 1:15) and,
2) the New Covenant was not ratified until the death of Jesus Christ. (Heb. 9:16-17)
The Preparatory Work of John the Baptist and Jesus
The Bible says in John 1:6:
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
John served as one of the most important prophets of all time. His work was foretold by Isaiah, hundreds of years before his birth:
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth… (Isaiah 40:3-4)
This prophecy foretells of one who would be sent before the Messiah to prepare the way for His coming and the establishment of His kingdom. The allusion is that of a man sent ahead of the King to clear the highway so the King’s journey is more comfortable. God knew that most of the Jews had slipped into a state of forgetfulness; they had crafted by their traditions a new kind of Messiah, very different from the one that the scriptures had promised. The Jews believed in an earthly kingdom and a great military ruler who would establish a Solomonic utopian empire. John was this forerunner sent as a ‘fire and brimstone’ preacher to reform the nation and turn them back to God so that they would be ready to accept the Lord when he came.
Another prophecy concerning John’s work was made by angels just prior to his birth:
And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:16-17)
John preached water baptism and went into the wilderness of Judea baptizing Jews “for the remission of sins.” (Mark 1:4) This is a powerful demonstration of John’s preparatory work, for though he baptized for the remission of sins, Jesus had not yet died, so remission of sins had not actually come. (Heb. 10:4) The baptism of John was with a view to the coming sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
We also find that John came preaching repentance, saying, “the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Mark 1:15) According to John 3:6 the Baptism of John was also “to enter the kingdom,” that is, with the promise that when the kingdom was established, those who had received John’s baptism would be in it. After Jesus was baptized, and His divinity was recognized from Heaven, we find that John was put into prison and Jesus and the disciples took up his work and preaching.
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” His disciples also continued John’s baptism. (Matthew 4:17; John 4:1-2)
Thus, the period of time recorded in the Gospels is unique in that it is a time of change. The Law was coming to an end and the New Testament was about to be established. While this did not fully occur until the death of Jesus Christ (Heb.9:16-22), during three years of ministry. He laid the foundation of His kingdom and introduced laws and principles that the Church would rest on. We will notice some clear and definite examples of this.
The Plan of Salvation
When considering Gospel passages dealing with the forgiveness of sins it is an admittedly difficult task to discern if they:
—had application under the Old Law,
—or were special circumstances during the life of Christ,
—or were forecasts of the kingdom law and were not put into force until after Christ’s death.
However, with the whole of scripture we can find a sure and simple answer. From time to time we read about people in the Gospels who made animal sacrifices in the temple (i.e. Luke 2:22-24). We can be assured that these were Old Testament ordinances and are not enjoined on Christians (Hebrews 9:23-28). Other times in the Gospels we find where men and women where directly forgiven of their sins by Jesus Christ (i.e. the thief on the cross, the paralytic, the demoniac of Gadara, the adulterous woman) and none of these cases were alike. There are several reasons why such cases cannot be repeated, not the least of which is that Jesus is not personally on the earth today.
Regardless of how much anyone wishes it, it is impossible to identically replicate the conversion of the thief on the cross or any of these others remarkable situations. How then can we be saved? It is important to note that Jesus went through the countryside “preaching the gospel of the Kingdom.” (Matthew 4:24 and 9:25 – emphasis added) In the gospels we find record of when men were commanded to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, (John 3:16, 18) to repent of their sins, (Luke 13:3, 5) to confess faith in Christ (Matthew 10:32) and to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. (John 3:5)
Although these principles were taught prior to His death, it is obvious that these teachings would not be put into force until the Kingdom was fully established and the New Covenant was ratified by His death ! While there are examples of men and women being saved without one or more of these steps prior to Christ’s death, after the death of Christ, no one was saved without compliance to the entire system.
Church Discipline
One of the most glaring proofs that Kingdom law was taught prior to the establishment of the Kingdom is found in Matthew 18:15-17:
Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
Here we find an instruction on Church discipline, written in “Old Testament language”, before the church was even established! Obviously, like the Gospel preaching we just noticed, this was a part of the Lord’s preparatory work, laying the foundation for the kingdom. It is important to notice that the instruction contained in these verses is not repeated by any Apostle in post-crucifixion writings.
The Lord’s Supper
For further proof we might notice the effect it would have on the Lord’s Supper to exclude any and all teachings found only in the Gospels as ‘Old Testament doctrine’. It should be noted that the first observance–the pattern for all subsequent observances–occurred prior to the death of Jesus Christ. However it is clearly born out that this was going to be a ‘kingdom ordinance’ (Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18). Furthermore there are several aspects of the Lord’s Supper that are only mentioned in the Gospels, namely, the use of unleavened bread (Matthew 26:17) and the identification of what kind of drink element should be put in the cup. (Matthew 26:29) This is of exceptional importance to our study because if one discounts EVERYTHING mentioned only in the Gospels than he will wind up with a cup and nothing to put in it when he observes the Lord’s Supper!
The Sermon on the Mount
Around the issues we have thus far addressed there is very little controversy. Some claim that water baptism was an Old Testament ordinance and dismiss its necessity today, but very few serious scholars hold this position. However, when it comes to Jesus’ sermon on the mount, there is an overwhelming amount of controversy. Which sections (if any) were statements to the church? Which parts (if any) were statements to the nation of Israel?
Some points we have already noticed are worth bringing up again:
1) The mission of Jesus was preparatory for the coming of the Kingdom,
2) Jesus did, on several occasions, teach laws that only had application to the church and would mean nothing at all to the Old Law system,
3) On several occasions Jesus used what might be termed “Old Law Language” (i.e. Matthew 18) to help His Jewish audience to understand His teaching, even though they were ultimately for the church.
It is quite evident that this same theme is present throughout the Sermon on the Mount. In chapter 5:1-11 Jesus gives the Beatitudes which no one fails to apply to the Church and are obviously in contrast to the structure of the warring, fleshly nation of Israel. In verses 17-20 Jesus explains how He was not going to abolish the Law but rather He was going to bring the “fulfillment” of everything the Law longed for (alluding in his last statement to the ‘new birth’ which is the only way true righteousness could be attained).
In verses 21-26 a phrase begins to be used which is especially important: “You have heard that it was said to those of old…” Here Jesus is making a distinction between the Law of Moses (which he quotes) and His new teaching, which is marked by the statement “but I say unto you…”
In this particular case (verses 21-26) His language seems to be very archaic, using terms like ‘the council’, ‘raca’ and ‘the altar’. However in spite of this, it is almost universally conceded that these statements refers to a distinctly ‘New Testament’ concept! Certainly the same is true of Jesus’ next statements regarding lust and adultery. But now, when we come to verses 31-32 the water seems to become very muddy for many people and suddenly it is “obvious” that Jesus is here teaching Old Testament Law.
The first major problem with this theory is that the Old Testament didn’t teach what Jesus said!
Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.(Matthew 5:31,32)
Jesus gives here only one exception for remarriage after divorce, and that exception is adultery. But the Law of Moses gave several exceptions for divorce and remarriage:
When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled. (Deut. 24:1-4)
Here we find that ‘uncleanness’ (a term which had a wide variety of meanings) and ‘detesting’ were scriptural causes to put away a wife under the Old Law, and she was allowed to remarry (except to her first husband) if she had a spouse in between the divorce and the reconciliation. Furthermore we find that if a wife was found in adultery the husband was not to divorce her but to stone her to death! (Lev. 20:10) What Jesus taught in Matthew 5:31-32 was not the same thing that the Law taught, in fact it was nothing like it! Those who wish to exclude Jesus’ teachings on divorce from the New Testament are grossly inconsistent in that they will accept his statements before and after verses 31 and 32, even though they sound more ‘old testament’ than verse 31 and 32! There is no just cause to exclude the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ from the New Testament law. It was a great demonstration of Christ’s preaching of transition from one testament to another.
Matthew 19:9
Matthew 19:9 teaches virtually the same thing as Matthew 5:32, but we will give it close attention as well because it serves to further prove our case. In Matthew 19:1-9 the Bible says:
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.
In this remarkable discourse we find Jesus laying out the changing of God’s Law on marriage, divorce and re-marriage throughout the three dispensations of sacred history. This is especially interesting because most moral principles have remained constant and unchanging from creation. Divorce and re-marriage are unique in that God had divinely changed what is moral and immoral regarding this matter three times! But the last time was in the New Testament, His final revelation, so we should not look for it to change again!
In verse 4-6 He speaks of that which was:
1) ‘from the beginning’ (that is the Law during the Patriarchal Age leading up to the Old Testament’s inauguration on Mount Sinai) that is, that marriage was for life, no exceptions, but this was changed by…
2) Moses, who, ‘because of hard hearts’ gave the Law to Israel that they should give a bill of divorcement and put a woman away. Finally we see…
3) Jesus, who gives us an all new, and final, teaching on the subject when He says:
Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.
It amounts to nothing to argue that this teaching occurs nowhere else in the gospels or the writings of the Apostles, for the same could be said about a number of other issues we have already noticed, and the truth of the matter is that just one scripture is authoritative!
Closing Thoughts
It would be pure hubris to discount the difficulty that some gospel scriptures present as to their classification as Old Testament or New Testament. God’s servant must be diligent, comparing scripture with scripture to determine the truth. The only way to accomplish that task is by avoiding unnecessary and dangerous extremes (i.e. excluding everything or including everything.) One undisputed statement of Jesus is His great promise, “ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” What a grand assurance that honest hearts can find the truth!
[1] A regular argument several “old-school” No-Exception Preachers.
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Aug 19, 2009 | Articles
There was a time in the history of the church when pornography was not too much of a problem to have to deal with. Sure, it existed, but the access was very limited. At one time, you would have to go to a convenience store or an adult bookstore in order to find a pornographic magazine. Not many Christians would take the risk of being caught with that kind of merchandise in their possession. Also, since most Christian men and women did not spend their time in such places, the temptation wasn’t as severe. Along with that, there were more restrictions as to what was allowed to be shown on television. God’s people, generally speaking, were once opposed to movies because of the filth found in them. Movies began to be rated and Christians wouldn’t run the risk of exposing themselves in public by seeing an R-rated movie that obviously contained things of a sexual nature (although that is not the case today).
In today’s X-rated society, things are quite different. What is viewed as offensive is not the same as it used to be. People have a different view of what is now considered appropriate. The envelope has been pushed as to what can be shown on television. The new technology of cable and satellite TV has also piped in more programs containing sexual images into the privacy of every home. And what has brought more problems to the morality of our country is the internet. Anyone can see absolutely any kind of perversion imaginable with one click while remaining totally anonymous. No one asks. No one tells. And with this new instant, private access to pornography being right there in everyone’s home, an old temptation has come back with a disturbing amount of success in the destruction of relationships and the church.
So, what’s the problem?
Maybe you are reading this and think, so what’s the big deal? It’s just pictures. It’s just movies. What harm can they do? God created all those bodies and sex, what’s wrong with admiring their beauty? Those people got paid to make pornography, I get a thrill, it’s a win-win situation, right? Why is my wife so upset with me? It’s not like I’m having an affair! Just look at the way society is now! How can it be my fault being surrounded by temptation? Nobody’s perfect!
Do any of these questions sound familiar? If so, you are about to find out how destructive the secret sin of pornography can be and how it is a real and relevant problem for everyone.
The numbers (but these are growing so rapidly they can hardly be calculated):
1. There are 1.3 million porn websites.
2. The number of pornographic web pages have increased 20 times the amount there were 5 years ago.
3. The total porn industry is at an estimated $4 billion to $10 billion (that’s quite a range, but again – it’s hard to quantify).
4. Sex is the number one search topic on the internet.
5. 60% of all websites are sexual in nature.
6. More than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the internet each week.
7. Approximately 20 new children appear on porn sites every month-many are kidnapped or sold into sex. There is a growing demand of babies and toddlers but the typical age of children is between 6 and 12.
8. Of the teens online, 70% have come across porn accidentally over the Web.
9. 9 out of 10 children and teens between the ages of 8 and 16 have viewed pornography on the Web, usually while doing homework or using a search engine.
10. 90% of teens and young adults have gone online and half of them go online once a day or more. 3 out of 4 young people have access at home and 1 in 3 have access from their own bedroom totally unsupervised.
11. 50% of parents do not use an internet filter.
12. 57 million Americans have internet access.
13. 25 million Americans visit sex sites between 1 to 10 hours a week. Another 4.7 million visit these sites 11 or more hours a week.
14. 70% keep their habit a secret.
Women and porn
1. 1 out of 6 women, including Christians, struggles with pornography addiction. They mostly are involved more with chat rooms while men are involved with images and videos online.
2. 80% of women take their addiction offline through affairs, multiple sex partners, or casual sex.
In a poll taken at a marriage and family seminar, 63% of the men admitted to struggling with porn in the previous year.
This is a big deal. There are currently more outlets for hardcore pornography in this country than there are McDonald’s restaurants. And the target is boys between the ages of 12 and 17. They are also the largest consumers of pornography. Why do you think that is?
Like a drug
When someone speaks of porn addiction, it doesn’t sound like it makes sense. If you ingest alcohol or use drugs, it makes more sense that someone can become addicted since an actual chemical is being released into the body. Porn is just a bunch of images, right? While there may not be an outward chemical ingestion, there are some chemicals at work that make people become addicted in the same way drugs and alcohol do.
We all experience internal chemicals at work in our bodies in different ways. Our stomach secretes gastric juices when we smell some homemade bread in the oven. If we are about to give a speech or do some kind of athletics, we feel the rush of adrenalin. In the same way, there are chemicals released when pornography is used that give us a sense of relief, excitement, pleasure or exhilaration, maybe feelings of maleness or wholeness, power, thrill, and a number of other things. What happens is that we begin to associate these feelings with the pornography and the flesh begins to take control over the spirit. At some point, even the thought of finding porn gives us a rush of exhilaration and a must-do feeling similar to what someone addicted to cocaine would feel. Most of the time, it doesn’t take too much viewing of porn for an addiction to develop. Especially if the viewer is around the age of the beginning of puberty (around 12 years old). Many who are not being treated for sex addiction say that they were first exposed at around this age. Jimmy Swaggert, after being caught with a prostitute, admitted to involving himself with porn at an early age.
The addict
This addiction, just as it is similar to how someone gets addicted to drugs, also escalates as someone who uses marijuana will sometimes move to a stronger drug in order to get a better high. Some of the symptoms of a sex addict are:
a. Acting out sexually and the inability to stop the use of porn despite serious consequences and repeated attempts of control.
b. Neglect or sacrifice of important social, family, occupational, or recreational activities.
c. Risk taking.
d. Living a double life.
e. Decrease in one’s spiritual or religious life.
The addict can move through 4 phases of their addiction, each one stronger than the next:
1. First is simply getting addicted.
2. Second is called escalation. With the passage of time, the addicted person requires rougher, more explicit, more deviant sexual material to get their “highs”.
3. Third is desensitization. Material that was once considered shocking, taboo-breaking, illegal, and repulsive, will be seen as commonplace. No matter what is being shown, the addict can legitimize it with an “everybody does it” kind of mentality.
4. Fourth is acting out sexually. This not only includes having affairs or multiple partners, but also includes voyeurism, exhibitionism, meeting another person (sometimes children) for sex from chat rooms, and even rape. At this point, the person feels that there is no way to change no matter how negative and severe the consequences are.
The innocent victims of porn
Not only does porn cause destruction to the addict and those who get involved in the acting out of the addiction, but the spouses and families of the addict also pay a severe price.
Wives pay a price. At workshops designed to help the victims, over and over again the same feelings are shared. Pain, trauma, disappointment, loneliness, confusion, fear, low self-esteem, and panic. They are withdrawn, hurt, sad, desperate, and defeated. All that from a husband looking a pictures on the internet? Yes, and more. Put yourself in the shoes of the spouse.
An addict is one of the most selfish people on earth. The only thing that matters is how to feed the addiction and it takes precedence even over a marriage. The wife or husband of an addict is no longer the focus of the attention. You have traded a living, breathing, loving person for a stranger on a video or computer screen. It’s not that the spouse of an addict is expecting perfection from them, but the needs of a marriage which are trust, love, protection, and even adoration, are now gone. How can the intimacy of a true marriage exist if the spouse is put on the back burner? Many wives ask, “What did I do?” “Am I not good enough?” Her self-esteem will disappear and she will find herself pleading for forgiveness for the sins of the sex addict. How sad it is for the victim of a sex addict to take all the responsibility for the destruction of a marriage caused by internet porn and sexual addiction.
What do we do?
As you see, this is a serious problem for all involved in the secret sin of pornography. It’s often been said there is a reason it’s called the Web. It traps you and doesn’t let you go. You get so wrapped up that you can’t escape. So, what if you are caught up in this web? What are some practical things that can be done?
For the parent:
1. Spend time with your child while they work on the internet. Ask them questions about what they do online. Figure out how the instant messaging works. Know what e-mails they get and from whom. Check history files often. Get the computer out of their rooms and into a place of high traffic in your home like a living room or den.
2. Instruct your children about the dangers of the internet. Make sure that they never give out personal information or pictures without your consent. Teach them to tell you whenever something appears on the screen that makes them feel uncomfortable.
3. Use an internet filter. You can go to www.afa.net and click on the AFA Filter button. It is inexpensive, there are no password overrides, and it is continually updated. Also, use spam filters for e-mails which you can also get from AFA online. Roughly 40% of spam is pornographic. Know what your child is getting in their e-mails and who it’s coming from.
For the spouse of a porn addict:
1. Don’t blame yourself. This is an addictive and spiritual problem not caused by you.
2. Accusing or calling him ‘sick’ or ‘perverted’ will only drive the addict away from you.
3. Don’t keep silent. This is a secret sin done in darkness and can only be overcome by bringing it to light.
4. Don’t stop praying or loving your spouse. Pray God will give him a repentant heart.
5. Don’t embarrass him in public or threaten to leave. You may eventually demand he leave if the physical or emotional safety of your children or yourself is involved, but in this kind of a problem, you can fight for your marriage.
6. Get close to God as you will need His wisdom and guidance.
7. Be honest with your spouse about how you feel.
8. Let your spouse vent if he needs to. There are many things going on inside such as guilt, shame, frustration, and anger.
9. Set boundaries. Be willing to work with him, but he will have to decide to end his addiction. Those who want out, will get out!
For the addict:
Finally, there are some things that the addict must do to overcome this sin. Chances are if you are caught up in pornography, you are ready to be done with it but you may have given up hope. But with God, there is always hope. Here are some steps that will help:
1. Destroy all sources of porn. Throw out videos, magazines, book, or any other pornographic material.
2. Delete all e-mail messages that contain pornographic images or links to web pages. If you have favorites saved in your computer browser, delete them. If possible, change your e-mail address completely. Have your spouse or some other accountability partner change your password to your old address to make sure you don’t go back.
3. Delete any videos or pictures you may have downloaded to your hard drive. Get the internet filter or, if you need to, get rid of internet access altogether. If you need to use the internet, you can always go to the library or utilize access at work. Remember without the filter, you need to be supervised anytime you are online.
4. Avoid any sexually driven movies, music, television programs, magazines, or books. If something comes on television that causes you to feel that feeling of lust, turn it off or change the channel.
5. Don’t be deluded into thinking you can beat this addiction alone. Porn is a strong drug and you will need help. Find an accountability partner. This can be a spouse, a church leader (elder or evangelist), or anyone with integrity that you trust. This person will be available to pray for you, ask questions such as: “What sites have you visited today?” “Did you feel tempted today?”. He/she will challenge you, pray with you regularly, and look beyond the hurt, anger, and frustration. Having an accountability partner is not easy. Most men assume they can handle it, but porn addiction is too powerful to handle alone.
6. And finally, repentance. You may say, “I have repented for this same thing over and over again for the last 20 years. It’s not working!” Repentance is NOT recurring sorrow that you experience over and over again, but it’s a change of heart. Regretting your addiction is not enough. True repentance means saying: “God, I am tired of this problem and I am tired of living a lie to my family and friends and not living a life that is pleasing to You! I promise to do whatever it takes even if it means getting out of my safe zone to make a change.”
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 2 Cor 7:10 NKJV
God will grant a repentant heart if we ask Him. II Timothy says that God will grant a repentant heart so that we may know the truth, come to our senses and escape the snare of the devil having been taken by him to do his will. It’s time to make a change and if you are an addict or the spouse, friend, or parent of someone who is caught in the web of pornography, it can begin right now.
Pornography is a sin which separates the Christian from God and Christ. It must be removed from the obedient servant’s life.
—Author unknown
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Jul 30, 2009 | Articles
The clarity of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 14:34-36 has convinced many people that women must not speak in the church (assembly), but some of these same people are not convinced that women are forbidden to speak publicly. What about it? May women teach in a public capacity, so long as it is not a church service or a service called by the church? If so, may women teach on the radio, on television, or a street corner somewhere before hundreds of people? I maintain that when a woman teaches publicly, she violates the Scriptures by usurping the authority God gave to men. The apostle Paul wrote:
“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (I Timothy 2:11,12).
Women are not allowed to teach publicly. The word “teach” is from the Greek word “didasko,” defined by Thayer “to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, deliver didactic discourses.” Women are not allowed to usurp authority over the man. Women are to be in silence. So says the apostle Paul. Those who want to limit 1st Timothy 2:11-12 to church services have no scripture to keep women from teaching on the air or the street corner.
Some want 1 Timothy 2:12 to mean, “I suffer not a woman to teach over the man,” and they, accordingly, allow women to teach publicly in classrooms, but do not allow her to “teach over the man,” whatever that means. But that is not what Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:12! The apostle says,
“But I suffer not (permit not, ASV), a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
The word, “nor” is from “oude” in the original Greek and Thayer describes it as a negative disjunctive conjunction and states that it “places side by side things that are equal and mutually exclude each other” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 461). Everett Ferguson, professor emeritus of Bible at Abilene Christian University, admitted in the September, 2001 issue of The Christian Chronicle:
“Where the full construction with alia (‘but’) occurs, both of the first two items are negated and the following positive statement carries the weight of the meaning. An example is Galatians 1:1-apostleship came neither ‘from man’ nor ‘through man’ but through Christ and God. According to this parallel, the command in 1 Timothy 2:12 is for women not to be in positions of teaching or domination of a man but to be quiet learners” (p. 32).
Usurping Authority
What does it mean to “usurp authority”? Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament defines it “to act of oneself” (p. 17). Vine’s Expository Dictionary states: “Later it came to denote one who acts on his own authority; hence, to exercise authority, dominion” (p. 90). Some might argue that husbands, elders, young boys or other women granted them the authority, but since it puts the woman in an authority role, a role God has reserved for men, it usurps authority from God’s viewpoint. A reading of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 should convince us that God placed leadership and authority in the hands of men. All of the apostles Jesus chose were men, and later all of those chosen to be evangelists and teachers were men. All of the elders and deacons were men. There are no examples of women teaching or praying in public. God clearly placed men rather than women in leadership roles.
What Is Public Teaching?
Many churches feel that it is private teaching when women do their teaching in classrooms. However, when the church calls a group together, that group constitutes a “called” church assembly; therefore, Bible classes are “called” assemblies of the church. They then advertise these classes and invite the public. Everyone in each age group is invited to attend. This is clearly public teaching.
The apostle Paul told the Ephesians that he had taught them “publicly, and from house to house” (Acts 20:20). Since Bible class teaching is not “house to house” teaching, it must be public teaching. Publicly means “in public places, in view of all,” according to Thayer (p. 132). If Bible class teaching were truly private, women would be allowed to teach men, as Priscilla did in Acts 18:26, but that is strictly forbidden by Bible class advocates. We ask, “Why?” Private Teaching
There are others who feel that so long as the church does not arrange biblical instruction and only one particular age or mental group has been invited, it is private teaching. Suppose a woman takes it upon herself to rent a room and invite only women of a certain age to hear her biblical lectures-would that be private?
Look at the example of Joseph and Mary when Joseph erroneously thought Mary guilty of immorality. Matthew records:
‘Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily” (Matthew 1:19).
Would it have been a private affair if Joseph had invited all the women Mary’s age to attend the putting away? And look at the case of Herod and the wise men. Matthew records:
‘Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared” (Matthew 2:7).
Question: Would it have been private if Herod had called all the men in their age bracket? Question: How many women could be invited to such “private teaching? If eighty could be invited, could eight hundred be invited? If eight hundred could be invited, could eight thousand be invited? And if it is truly private teaching, could a man sit in on it? To answer these questions is to see the folly of calling such “private” teaching.
Women Are To Teach
I am aware of the passage in Titus 2:3 in which aged women are instructed to be “teachers of good things.” I am aware also that the phrase in the original text contains a form of the word “didasko.” However, in verses 4 and 5, we see the nature of the “good things” that the aged women are to teach. The apostle says:
“That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
The word “teach” in verse 4 is rendered in the Revised Version “to train.” Both Vincent and Robertson say that the word means “to discipline.” This type of teaching cannot be done in thirty minutes a week. It is the kind of teaching done by word, example, and influence from day to day. This command to teach is not fulfilled by a lecture in a classroom, but even if it were, it is something that is demanded of all aged women in a congregation and not just one aged woman.
Charles John Ellicott, in The Layman’s Handy Commentary, brings out the sense of the phrase, “teachers of good things,” when he comments:
“This does not mean that these aged women should occupy the place of public instructresses, but that they should, by here and there speaking a kind warning word, and, better still, by the golden silence of a useful honoured life, teach their younger sisters lessons of truth and faith and love” (Titus, p. 19).
About the kind of teaching anticipated, he says,
“Such a reformation, not only in the discipline of the church, but also in the individual life and conversation, as St. Paul desired to see in Crete, would never be brought about by a sermon, or even by many sermons, however eloquent and earnest, from Titus. It would be a matter requiring long time and patience, and would, as observed above, rather follow as the result of patient individual effort and holy example” (p. 20).
Also, in Ellicott’s Commentaries, Critical and Grammatical, he quotes the venerable Beza as saying on “teachers of good things”: “Not by public teaching, but as the context implies by its specifications, in domestic privacy” (p. 200).
Women may teach anyone privately, informally, or in an individual capacity. Where women are allowed to teach, they may teach other women (Titus 2:3,4), children (2 Timothy 1 -5; 3-15), or men (Acts 18:26), but where they are not allowed to teach, and that is publicly, they may teach no one. I have love and admiration for women who zealously serve God without stepping out of their God-given roles. May God bless them and may the church have more of them.
– Johnny Elmore
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Jul 24, 2009 | Articles
Calvinism says: Because of being born in sin, all of us are spiritually dead, so dead we are unable to even have faith (Total Depravity). Therefore, in order for us to be saved, God alone had to save us. We know that everyone doesn’t “get saved,” so, God had to choose those to whom He would give grace (Unconditional Election). Jesus couldn’t have died for everyone or everyone would be saved. So, because some are lost, we know Jesus didn’t die for everyone (Limited Atonement). If you’re one of the ones God picked, you can’t change it (Irresistible Grace). And since God picked you to be saved and you can’t do anything about it, there is no sin that you could ever commit that would cause you to lose your salvation (Perseverance of the Saints).
However, as we have shown, the Bible says: We all are born spiritually alive to God and innocent to sin. But there comes a point of accountability, a time when we are responsible for understanding and doing the will of God. There comes a time when we lust, commit sin (Romans 3:23), and, therefore, lose our fellowship with a holy God (spiritual death). As sinners we then need to hear (Acts 15:7), believe (Mark 1:15; 16:16), and obey the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8). [This includes repentance (Acts 17:30), and confessing Christ (Matthew 10:32).] When we obey the gospel, we are “redeemed” (1 Peter 1:18-19) and placed “into Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). Once “in Christ,” we are responsible to grow in “knowledge” (2 Peter 3:18), all the while keeping our body and mind obedient to what we have learned (1 Corinthians 9:27). We are aware that we can lose our salvation through careless sin (2 John 1:8; Matthew 12:36-37; Hebrews 10:26-29). If we sin, as a child of God we have the privilege of penitently calling upon our Father for forgiveness (1 John 2:1-2; 1:9; Hebrews 4:15-16). If we abandon our Father, we must find repentance, come back to our Father in prayer and confess our unfaithfulness; like the penitent prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). If our sin has caused a breach in our fellowship with our brethren, we must let them know of our change of heart (James 5:16).
We are not born “Totally Depraved” but have a free will, an ability to choose right from wrong, that we will give an account for in the judgment; the election is not an “Unconditional Election” but conditioned upon our abiding in the body of Christ; the atonement of Christ is not a “Limited Atonement” but is offered to all; we can insult the Spirit of grace, therefore, it cannot be an “Irresistible Grace”; and we can lose our salvation through sin, therefore, the concept of “once saved, always saved” or “Perseverance of the Saints” is not Biblical. The reasoning of Calvinism is not of God.
The Scriptures teach that salvation is of grace:
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11). The Scriptures also say, speaking of Jesus, “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:9).
We can correctly conclude that: Jesus, through grace, offers salvation to all, but only those who choose to obey Him will receive God’s grace and eternal salvation.
Will you obey Him?
– Glen Osburn
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Jul 24, 2009 | Articles
P – Perseverance of the Saints:
Defined:
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1648):
Chapter XVII, I. They, whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved (Palmer, p. 130; Steele & Thomas, p. 56).
This doctrine is also known as; “Once saved, always saved…Perseverance of God…Preservation of the saints…(and)…Eternal security” (Palmer, pp. 68-69).
Here’s an excerpt from a Calvinist tract presenting some unavoidable inferences:
We take the position that a Christian’s sins do not damn his soul! The way a Christian lives, what he says, his character, his conduct, or his attitude toward other people have nothing whatever to do with the salvation of his soul…All the prayers a man may pray, all the Bibles he may read, all the churches he may belong to, all the services he may attend, all the sermons he may practice, all the debts he may pay, all the ordinances he may observe, all the laws he may keep, all the benevolent acts he may perform will not make his soul one whit safer; AND ALL THE SINS HE MAY COMMIT FROM IDOLATRY TO MURDER WILL NOT MAKE HIS SOUL IN ANY MORE DANGER…THE WAY A MAN LIVES HAS NOTHING WHATEVER TO DO WITH THE SALVATION OF HIS SOUL” [A Discussion Which Involves a Subject Pertinent to All Men, Rev. Sam Morris, pp. 1-2: (Calvinism, Samuel G. Dawson, p. 13)].
Scriptural Considerations:
Let’s recap one more time. Calvinism says: Because of being born in sin, all of us are spiritually dead, so dead we are unable to even have faith (Total Depravity). Therefore, in order for us to be saved, God alone had to save us. We know that everyone doesn’t “get saved,” so, God had to choose those to whom He would give grace (Unconditional Election). Jesus couldn’t have died for everyone or everyone would be saved. So, because some are lost, we know Jesus didn’t die for everyone (Limited Atonement). If you’re one of the ones God picked, you can’t change it (Irresistible Grace). And since God picked you to be saved and you can’t do anything about it, there is no sin that you could ever commit that would cause you to lose your salvation (Perseverance of the Saints).
Calvinists, speaking of salvation, say:
If you ain’t got it, you can’t get it.
If you get it, you can’t lose it.
If you lose it, you never had it.
To verify that they approve of this little aphorism:
The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints does not maintain that all who profess the Christian faith are certain of heaven. It is saints–those who are set apart by the Spirit–who persevere to the end. It is believers–those who are given true, living faith in Christ–who are secure and safe in Him. Many who profess to believe fall away, but they do not fall from grace for they were never in grace. True believers do fall into temptations, and they do commit grievous sins, but these sins do not cause them to lose their salvation or separate them from Christ (Steele & Thomas, p. 56).
Because of this, when discussing the “possibility of apostasy,” a Calvinist will often try to escape the force of a passage by insisting that the person being discussed was not really a Christian. They say that he might have professed to be, or even thought he was, but in reality had never been redeemed by the blood of Christ. We want to look at some passages which cannot possibly be speaking of anyone but those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, those who are unquestionably Christians:
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame (Hebrews 6:4‑6).
Someone has “fallen away” [“if” (v:6 KJ, NIV) is not in the greek text]. This is someone who has “once been enlightened,” has “tasted of the heavenly gift,” and has “been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,” etc. This cannot possibly be speaking of anyone but a once true Christian. This passage is contending that it is possible for a Christian to fall away to such an extent that they find it impossible to repent. (Contextually it is speaking of ex-Jewish Christians who would leave Christianity altogether, and probably return to the Old Law: Hebrews 2:1-3; 3:12; 4:1, 11; 6:11-12; 10:23, 32-39; 12:3, 12-13.)
As a Christian we are instructed to “repent…and pray,” if we sin (Acts 8:22, note Simon was a true believer: Acts 8:13). “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves (2 Peter 2:1).
These fallen, now false, teachers were “even denying the Master who bought them,” consequently “bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” The phrase “who bought them” is speaking of the redemption of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). These false teachers were going to deny Christ, the very one who had redeemed them. Would this cause them to lose their salvation? Jesus says, “whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32‑33).
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace ? (Hebrews 10:26‑29)
This passage is speaking of one who had been “sanctified” by “the blood of the covenant,” something he now regards as “unclean.” This is someone who “after receiving the knowledge of the truth” has “insulted the Spirit of grace.” This was a true “sanctified” Christian who, without repentance, will suffer a “severer punishment” than death.
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (John 15:5‑6).
This is addressed to those who do “abide in” Christ, a Christian. Jesus warns those who would not continue to “abide in” Him that they would be “cast…into the fire.” Abiding “in” Christ means to continue being in fellowship with Christ through obeying His word (2 John 1:8-9).
Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:2‑4).
Paul is addressing Christians in the churches of Galatia. Paul is warning those who had benefited from the grace of God found in Christ, that if they went back to seek justification in the Old Law (represented by receiving circumcision), they would be “severed from Christ.” They would find that Christ would “be of no benefit” to them for they would have “fallen from grace.” “Certainly no one can be severed from something to which he has not been joined, and one cannot ‘fall out of’ something he has not been in” (Calvinism, Samuel G. Dawson, p. 17).
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more shall these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree ? (Romans 11:17‑24)
The Jews are represented as natural olive branches, and Gentile Christians are represented as wild olive branches. The thing that is said to connect the branches to the tree of fellowship with God is belief. The warning is that the Jews were “broken off” because of “their unbelief” in Christ, and the Gentile Christians would “also be cut off” if they failed to continue in “faith.” Some, “believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:13). “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in anyone of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12 NAS). If, however, the Jews “do not continue in their unbelief,” they “will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again.”
For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died (Romans 14:15). Also, “For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died” (1 Corinthians 8:11).
Both of these passages are warning us to recognize we may inadvertently contribute to a brother’s sin against his own conscience (1 Corinthians 8:7, 10, 12; Romans 14:14, 23). If we are not sensitive to the conscience of young “weak” Christians, we may encourage them to do something against what their conscience says is pleasing to God. When our “weak” brother “doubts” but goes ahead and does what he doubts is right, “he is condemned…because…whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). The believing “brother for whose sake Christ died” did not act “from faith,” he sinned, and is now “hurt,” “ruined,” and “destroy(ed).” This is a sanctified Christian, one “for whom Christ died,” who has been spiritually destroyed through sin. The word “destroy” in Romans 14:23 means “…to lose eternal salvation” [ Thayer’s, p. 64 (Strong’s #622)] The Bible goes on to say to those who are not sensitive of another brother’s conscience, “And thus, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ” (1 Corinthians 8:12).
– Glen Osburn
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