Question:

If leaven speaks of immorality, does defilement mean ceremonial or practical uncleanness?

Answer:

Leaven is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 5 (moral evil) and Galatians 5:9 (doctrinal evil).  A little leaven—one act of sin—spreads and affects the entire assembly.  The entire Corinthian assembly was leavened by having fellowship with the man in 1 Corinthians 5.  By ignoring the man’s sin, they were approving of his actions.  The sin doesn’t have to be ours personally, but it leavens us all.  We are affected by the sins of others, even if we don’t realize it.  This applies only to Christians living in sin.  When someone is put out (disciplined), God can work with that person.  The intent is to eventually restore the person.

Question:

Matthew 18 speaks of the assembly’s authority to judge a person.  What aspects of a person should the assembly judge?

Answer:

The assembly should judge if the person is saved, has any moral evil (living in sin) or doctrinal evil (wrong teaching). Fellowship is based on knowledge, and therefore the assembly must know the person before it receives him into the fellowship of the assembly such as the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. The assembly must be confident from his life that he is (1) saved—has fellowship with the blood of Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:16, that he (2) knows that he is saved—“know whom I have believed,” 2 Timothy 1:12, is (3) living a godly life—1 Corinthians 5:1-7, has (4) no false teaching—Galatians 5:9, is (5) not associated with what is wrong—2 Corinthians 6:14-18, and that (6) he believes that the Lord desires him to show forth the truth of the one body of all believers by being part of the assembly testimony—1 Corinthians 10:17,18).

Question:

Is God’s love unconditional?

Answer:

Yes! God loves sinners before they’re saved (John 3:16, Romans 5:8), but only those who accept Christ as Savior will receive the benefit of His love.  People who are living in sin and then say, “You need to love me unconditionally, like God does,” are not taking responsibility for their sin.

Question:

On what basis do we receive someone into fellowship?  Is there a Scriptural basis against occasional fellowship?

Answer:

We looked at Matthew 18:15-20.  The Lord wants His people to be gathered physically together, but He also wants it done according to the order He gives in His Word. To maintain holiness in the gathering of His people the Lord gives in these verses the local assembly—the “two or three” who are gathered unto His name—the responsibility to judge those who wish to come into fellowship.  This is the same instruction given to the assembly at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5:12,13:  “For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth.” We are to be inclusive—include everyone that Scripture doesn’t exclude.  We’re trying to go back to the way it was in the beginning of the church, and the foundation for that is God’s Word.  2 Timothy 2:15-22 tells us to separate from the wrong and be “with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”  In Acts 2:42-47, they continued steadfastly—coming together regularly.  There was no occasional fellowship then!  Fellowship is full time and permanent, not part time or occasional.  We gather to the Lord, not a man—other churches are allowing a man to take the place of God.

[The answer to the second part of the question: “Is there a Scriptural basis against occasional fellowship?” is yes. There are Scriptures against occasional fellowship, which I take to mean when a person desires to partake of the Lord’s Supper with a fellowship that is not associated with his own, on occasion, such as when on vacation, etc. and then go back to his other church fellowship when at home. But the assembly is to know a person: “Lay hands quickly on no man, nor partake in others’ sins. Keep thyself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22, JND translation). The reason is: “Be not deceived: evil communications [associations] corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33). “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6).—Ed.]

Denominations today expect you to tolerate everyone and other denominations (interfaith movement), saying we should all be together, leave our own beliefs at the door and accept all practices and beliefs.  This is wrong!  We need to stand for what we believe and be willing to say what’s right and what’s wrong.

Question:
How does humility translate into action?

Answer:

It makes us more like Christ, we pray more, spend more time in the Bible, and have a more consistent life.

We looked at Hebrews 5:12-6: 1. We need to grow from babes in Christ (they can only handle milk) to those that can handle strong meat. Growth comes from using the Bible, not just reading it. Using the Bible means to know it in your heart and act on it. It should not be just head knowledge. It must apply to me.

Question:

Why don’t we allow women ministers or women to speak publicly?

Answer:

1 Corinthians 14:34 and 1 Timothy 3:14,15 apply to this question. It was mentioned that some believe 1 Corinthians 14:34 only applies to the time when Paul wrote the epistle, but this would mean that we can disregard certain verses because we don’t want to follow them. There needs to be order in the assembly, and we need to know how to behave (1 Timothy 3:14,15). It is explained in 1 Timothy 2:11-14 why the man has the public role in the assembly, and the woman is silent: he was formed first, and the woman was deceived. In contrast, 1 Corinthians 14:27-30 gives situations for a man to be silent: if he speaks another language and there is no interpreter, and if the Spirit has led another brother to speak.

Question:

What does the Lord think about where (what church) we worship? Does it matter to Him?

Answer:

The Lord tells us in His Word how to gather, so it does matter to Him. We need to go where they are following the principles outlined in Scripture.

Question:
Is it wrong for women to teach other women?

Answer:

No, as long as no men are present (this would be usurping authority over the man), women can teach other women and children. This is God’s order—it’s not rules we created. Some assemblies have times for women to study together and discuss the Scriptures, but we should value the opportunity to hear the ministry of older brothers, as well.

Question:

Is it unfair for women to be silent?

Answer:

The women aren’t deprived of hearing the teaching given by the brothers. The public male role is not – to glorify the man. The glory should be God’s. Women have many things they can do for the Lord, and many of them are better done by a woman than by a man. If we get out of our place, it’s dishonoring to the Lord. Titus 2 gives a list of things for all ages of men and women to do. Challenge to young men: ask your father what he is supposed to be teaching you about being a proper husband and father. Challenge to young women: ask your mother what she is supposed to be teaching you about being a proper wife and mother. The young people need to learn from the older ones!

Question:

Can you still commit hypocrisy as a Christian?

Answer:

Yes. A hypocrite lives a lie. As Christians, it is possible for us to say one thing, but do another. Our behavior can turn others off to God. It says in 1 John 3:9, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” This means our new nature cannot sin, but it is still possible for someone to sin who is saved. If this happens we need to confess the sin (1 John 1:9) to the Lord and to anyone we have wronged.

Question:

Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be ye angry, and sin not.” Is there a time to be angry? If so, when?

Answer:

We know from John 2:13-16 that Jesus was angry at the moneychangers and people selling animals in the temple. Christians should be angry at sin.

Question:

John 10:28 says that once you are saved, no one can take you out of the Father’s hand. Is salvation all that matters?

Answer:

The Bible tells us the way to serve and follow the Lord after we are saved. We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 that the entire Bible gives us directions on how to live our lives after we’re saved so we can be complete in Him and please God. God doesn’t save people just so they can go to heaven—He saves us to become more like Him. James tells us that faith without works is dead.

Question:

In Luke 22:42, Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but Thine be done.” Was Jesus’ will the same as His Father’s? What does this teach us about the Trinity?

Answer:

Naturally speaking, a man does not want to die. Jesus came to do His Father’s will. He was the perfect man, and so in a sense gave up His natural desire to live. As God, He knew all things, but as man, He gave up access to infinite knowledge. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Jesus’ human reactions are our example so we can be more like Christ. As to the Trinity, Luke 22:42 shows 2 parts of the Trinity at the same time. “Saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.” There is a new teaching that God is only one person who was the Father first, became the Son at the incarnation, and then became the Spirit after Christ goes to heaven. This is wrong. There are many verses where more than one part of the Trinity was present at the same time. (Isaiah 48:16; Matthew 28:19; John 15:26; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:13 & 18; 1 Peter 1:2)

Question:

How can you keep from getting angry when someone is angry at you?

Answer:

Some suggestions are: walk away, give a soft answer (Proverbs 15:1), don’t answer (1 Peter 2:23), ask the person to either speak respectfully or walk away. When speaking with a brother/sister who seems angry or agitated, it may help to begin by sharing an example of how that person has helped or encouraged you in the past. Each of us can be used to diffuse a situation. We need to be gentle as we do this.

Question:

Why do women need to wear head coverings?

Answer:

1 Corinthians 11:3 gives God’s order of headship. Verse 4 says the man is to be uncovered. He dishonors his Head (Christ) if his head is covered when praying or prophesying. Verse 5 says the woman is to cover her head because she dishonors her head (man) if she is uncovered. Some say that the woman’s hair is her covering. This is wrong because if the woman’s hair is her covering, the man (who needs to be uncovered) could not have hair on his head. Verses 6,7 say that man is the image and glory of God and represents God. By covering her head, the woman is reminding man that Christ is to get the glory, not man.

Question:

67.1— How can we give 100% of our energy to our relationship with our Lord and Savior while building relationships with nonbelievers, colleagues, friends, family……..  Does not development of our earthly relationships take away some portion of our energy and therefore require something <100% to the Lord?

Answer:

67.1— The 100% question is a good one.  It reminds me of what someone told Jenni and me when our first child was born.  They said, “It will take 100% of your time to take care of one child, 100% of your time to take care of two children, 100% of your time to take care of three children, etc.”  They were right because that sure is what it seems like.  It’s not quite the same but it seems like our relationship with the Lord is similar.  He wants to have 100% of our energy, devotion, and love no matter how many other relationships and responsibilities we have. Luke 10:27, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”  As we work we should work “Heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” Colossians 3:23. The relationships that we have with other people should all honor the Lord in such a way that by having those relationships we are actually serving the Lord through having them.  By living life this way we don’t compartmentalize our lives into God’s time, work time, friend’s time, family time, fun time, etc.  Instead, all of our time is for the Lord and He directs and uses us at our work and with family and friends. 

Question:

67.2—How do we clear up that some are chosen for heaven and reason that others are “not chosen”? I do not know if I can fully answer this question which we had in the class on election. Would appreciate any help with it, thank you. 

Answer:

67.2—There are two parallel truths found in Scripture: (1) God’s sovereignty in choosing His people, and (2) Man’s responsibility to receive His Son as his personal Saviour by faith. I don’t believe that our finite minds can bring them together, nor are we told that we should try to do so. God wants us to realize regarding each of His marvelous truths that: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). The only reason we understand His things at all is because He reveals them by the Spirit of God to those who have faith in His Word. “As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

First of all, let us realize that, as the Creator, God has the right to have “mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth” (Romans 9:18). Also, it isn’t our place as His creatures to attempt to prove the justice of God in electing some and not others, nor should we try to vindicate our Master. He will speak for Himself, and He does so: “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans 9:20,21). 

God’s election of His people is (1) an absolute fact: “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation,” not for sanctification, but “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). The Spirit of God set me apart and convicted me of my sins, presented the Word to me of the good news of God’s love that Christ suffered for my sins, and gave me faith to believe the truth. Some will say that “God elected them because of His foreknowledge of their faith.” But not so, for God is the one who gives faith, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8), and “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). We had no faith “before the foundation of the world” when He chose us. God’s election of His people is (2) a personal election of individuals, “For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Romans 9:15). And (3) it is eternal: “According as He hath chosen us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).

Why did God chose me? I don’t know why, because there was nothing but enmity in my heart toward God before I was saved. I was an enemy of God by nature and practice but “when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10). The only reason God gives for choosing His earthly people Israel was because He loved them: “The LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). The Lord tells us another reason: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit” (John 15:16), and God “hath chosen us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4). That God loved me, wants me to bear fruit for Him, and be holy and without blame before Him in love are reasons enough for us to rejoice that we are “elect of God” (Colossians 3:12). We can say with the apostle: “We are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13,14).

God states many times in the Scriptures that He has chosen His people, and the very fact that He repeatedly states this truth shows in itself that He wants to bless His people by their knowing that He has chosen them. He chose the nation of Israel to be His earthly people in Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:6-8; Mark 13:20,22,27; Luke 18:7, and we learn that He chose individual believers to be His heavenly people with heavenly blessings in Romans 8:33; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14; 1 Peter 1:2; 2:9; etc. A few of the blessings the truth of election gives the Christian are: First it takes away all trust in the flesh or reliance on anything but God for it teaches us that we owe everything to God. I know of nothing more humbling than the truth of election, for without God choosing us we would be forever “lost” in every sense of the word. Secondly, this blessed truth gives us holy boldness. Realizing that I am chosen of God and precious; though the world may throw me out, I fear not. A sense in my soul that God loved me enough to choose me in Christ, empowers me to be holy and without blame before Him in His love. “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15).

Now, regarding the truth of man’s responsibility—it is important to realize that the Scriptures never tell us that God chose anyone to be lost. The very opposite is true for God is: “Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God has also made provision so that all men can be saved. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [satisfying sacrifice] for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Christ made propitiation—satisfied a holy God about the sins of everyone who believe—on the cross of Calvary. Christ now “is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). His sacrifice was sufficient for all the world to be saved and He is available for all, but His work is only effectual to those who believe in Him.

We always do well if we accept without question what God tells us in His Word, for we can be sure that He has blessing accompanying each truth He lets us know about, and the truths of God choosing His people and man’s responsibility to believe are no exception to this. These precious truths are both found in one verse—Jesus said in John 6:37: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” The truth of God choosing is expressed in the fact that everyone that the Father has given Christ will come to Him, and the truth of man’s responsibility is presented by stating that each person who comes to Christ by faith is saved. Salvation is dependent on both these truths, and the Lord joins them together by telling us that everyone God chooses will come to Him and will be saved. 

What does election say to the unbeliever? If you are an unbeliever, it has much blessing for you, as well. It says: Take courage, take hope, for God has elected many! That God has chosen His people is a joyful and hopeful thing for you. What if it were true that none could be saved or none could have eternal life? Wouldn’t that be hopeless? But, praise God, there are many who are elected—more than man can number. Therefore, take heart, if you are still in your sins. May not you be one of the elect as well as another? You have nothing to lose by coming to God with all your sins and receiving Christ as your own personal Saviour and Lord. God does not love your sin but He dearly loves you, dear friend, and Christ assures you: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).