Question:
My friend at school asked why God allows swearing and drugs to exist in the world. I told her that it was the devil. She then asked, “If God is so powerful, why does He let the devil do these things?

Answer:
Before we try to determine why God allows evil to exist in the world, let me make a comment about the sins that humans commit and the part that the devil plays in this. We often hear people say, “The devil made me do it,” but the Bible is very clear that men are responsible for every sin they commit. The day is coming when God shall “render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6). We read in Revelation 20:13, “…and they were judged every man according to their works.” The people, referred to in this verse are all those who died unsaved and who stand before the Great White Throne. They will have their lives evaluated to determine the degree of punishment which they will receive in the Lake of Fire. Now, if the devil were solely responsible for the sins of mankind, God would be unfair in holding men responsible. Thus, we must ask ourselves, “What part does the devil play in all this?”

Ever since the first sin of mankind (in the Garden of Eden), the devil has played the role of the “tempter.” That is, he has been actively seeking to entice men and women (and boys and girls) to, rebel against God’s will for them. And although his influence is great (see John 8:44; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 5:19 JND version), he can only make suggestions to the human heart to sin (as he did with Eve in the garden). In other words, HE CAN’T MAKE US SIN. When people swear, or use drugs, (as you mentioned in your question), the devil may be an outside agent alluring people to do this, but they are responsible for responding to the temptation to do evil. I might just mention that there are some cases where people have given themselves over totally to the influence of the devil and the result has been demon-possession (Judas Iscariot furnishes us with a good example of this—see John 13:2, 27). But those people will still not be able to say on the day of judgment: “The devil made me do this,” because had they not put themselves into Satan’s hand, he could not have done anything.
Now to the main question, “Why does God allow evil to exist in the world?” This is a good question, and one that men have been asking since the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. We see over and over again in the Bible that God is “omnipotent” (which means “all-powerful”), so why doesn’t He stamp out all of the evil men in the world and crush the power of Satan? Let us be assured of this; God able to do this, and one day He will put an end to all of the wickedness that prevails in the world. We saw earlier, from Revelation 20:13, that God is going to judge the evil works of kind, and we then read, “Whosoever was not found in the book of life was cast into the Lake of Fire” (vs. 15). And earlier in that same chapter we see Satan doomed to the same eternal judgment (vs. 10). So then, God will eventually make a total end of sin, by confining all sinners to the Lake of Fire. This assures us that God not indifferent to evil. His holy nature HATES sin and thus we read in Psalm 7:11, “…God is angry with the wicked every day.” Just think, EVERY DAY, for nearly 6,000 years, God has been angry with the wicked. So why doesn’t He end it now?
I believe the answer to this lies, in part, to God’s many plans which He purposed before time even began. All of these plans revolve around His Son (see Ephesians 3:11). He has planned for His Son to have an earthly kingdom which would involve an earthly people [Israel] as the center of His kingdom. He has planned for His Son to have a heavenly people (the Church) which will share, as His eternal bride, in His glories all eternity. (God’s wondrous plan is shown in a chart: “A Chart on the COURSE OF TIME FROM ETERNITY TO ETERNITY.) To accomplish all of these purposes, there is so much time needed to bring them about. God has His calendar of events and everything is running according to His perfect schedule. Until all God’s plans are completed, He is allowing man (and the devil) to pursue their evil course. But let us remember that He HATES their sin, and it is only His grace which bears with them. While men and fallen angels rebel, God is bringing men and women to repentance, saving their souls for all eternity. Second Peter 3:9 is especially illuminating regarding this, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise [the promise of judgment—vs. 7], as some count slackness; but is LONGSUFFERING TO US-WARD, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH, BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE.”So we see that God’s allowance of evil is not due to any lack of power on His part to subdue the wicked, and it is not due to any indifference in God’s heart, but that it is due to His all-wise plans which are being worked out in the process of time, and these plans include the eternal salvation of precious, immortal souls. And let us remember that, even though men and angels are allowed to sin, they are still limited in what they can do, and their judgment day is coming. The day is coming (like in the days of Noah) when God’s longsuffering will end and sinners will experience God’s wrath against their sin (see Acts 17:31). Until that day, the battle between good and evil rages on, with Satan seeking to keep the souls of men in spiritual darkness, and with God seeking to bring the light of the gospel into men’s hearts so that they may be delivered from Satan’s influence, and from the evil of their own hearts.

Question:
What is a good outline to read and study the Bible for devotions—especially for young Christians?

Answer:
Pray, morning, noon, and night, like Daniel did (Daniel 6:10), then get into the habit of daily reading. “Have thou an outline of sound words which thou hast heard of me [Paul]” (2 Timothy 1:13, J. N. Darby translation). We can never improve on studying the Bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and thus we keep in context what God is saying. But we can also use a concordance and do a character study on Abraham, David, etc; or a word study on justification, forgiveness, etc. It is valuable to make an outline ourselves. Start with John’s gospel, and get the Lord’s life before our hearts. Or start with Romans, which has foundation truths of salvation. Get “sound words” (read Paul’s writings.

Use an accurate translation of the Bible. We want to know what God says—not what man says, which is what paraphrases and some translations do. The Lord has used the older King James Version for many years to reveal His truth to souls, and the few mistakes in it from the original manuscripts do not change the basic truths of Scripture. The New King James Version takes out the thee’s and thou’s and other old English words. However, it doesn’t clean up the few mistakes found in the older King James Version, as the J. N. Darby translation and the translation in F. W. Grant’s Numerical Bible do.
Another valuable help in studying the Bible is in the use of the gifts that Christ has given to the church (Ephesians 4:11). He has given to some the gift of the teacher to explain the Word. Some have this gift today, and we still have the gifts of others, who are now with the Lord, through their writings. Men such as J. N. Darby, F. W. Grant, H. A. Ironside, C. H. Mackintosh, and others, even though they are dead, they still speak (Hebrews 11:4). But we must be careful with anything that comes to us from a human instrument, to “prove all things [by the Word], hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). We should be like the Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily” to see if what Paul said to them was true (Acts 17:11).
Make the Word personal, and this requires meditation: “eating” the words (Jeremiah 15:16).

Question:
Is there any Scripture that shows how I can improve my Christian life?

Answer:

(1.)  The Word is essential to our growth process. “As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). Look also at 2 Timothy 2:15 and Joshua 1:8.

 

(2.)   Fellowship with believers helps (Hebrews 10:23, 24). Thomas was absent, so he missed out–he doubted all week long (John 20:24-29). If we miss, we’ll miss being encouraged by the Lord’s presence and through the Word.

 

(3.)   John 10:27—follow the Lord. Matthew 11:29—learn of Me. Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet…we need to be occupied with Him and His light will shine through us (2 Corinthians 3:18). “We beheld His glory” (John 1:14). When we do this, we’re changed! And we aren’t conscious of it. Moses didn’t realize his face shone when he came down from the mount (Exodus 34:29).       

 

(4.)  God doesn’t do all the talking. We need to talk to Him too! The order is: He talks to us first through His Word, and then we talk to Him through prayer. (Revelation 3:20). Prayer is like the breath of the Christian.

 

(5.)  “Continue thou…” (2 Timothy 3:14). Go on–don’t just do it in spurts. The purpose of every Scripture is to make us “fully fitted to every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 JND).

Question:
What if a person doesn’t go to another church but wants to break bread with us?

Answer:
They would have to know, believe, and desire to have part with what we stand for in order to have fellowship or “communion” with us.

First Corinthians 10:16, 17 gives us the doctrine regarding what the emblems stand for in the Lord’s Supper. Notice that the cup is mentioned first instead of the bread, as when the Lord instituted His supper (Luke 22:19, 20). The reason for this is because a person who takes these emblems must first have fellowship with the blood of Christ (in other words, he must be saved). If he is saved, then he can have fellowship with the bread, which speaks of the “one body” (v. 17) of Christ, which is composed of all who are saved. “The Lord added to the church daily such as should be [or, were being] saved” (Acts 2:47). So when we are gathered together as an assembly, we are to represent the “one body,” which is not just the brethren, but the whole body of believers.
Second Timothy 2:19-22 gives instruction for the “last days” we live in (2 Timothy 3:1), which is right before the Lord comes to take His church home to glory. Different teachings have come into the professing church, and we are told that we must be separate from both vessels to honor (saved) and dishonor (unsaved) who have “iniquity,” which is anything unscriptural, if we are going to be a vessel fit “for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
We must know people in order to know if they are walking orderly or have false teaching. Fellowship or “communion” (1 Corinthians 10:17), is based on knowledge. The verse: “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other man’s sins: keep thyself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22), has to do with the fellowship with believers, the body of Christ.
“Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28), is not a message to those who are desiring to remember the Lord with the assembly for the first time, but it was written to believers already breaking bread (see who this epistle was written to: 1 Corinthians 1:2). Those who break bread in the assembly should examine, or judge themselves in the light of His presence before they eat of the Lord’s supper. They should examine: (1) The company they keep; (2) the habits they have; (3) their affections; (4) thoughts; and (5) motives.
We are told in 1 Corinthians 5:12 that the assembly is to judge those who are “within” the assembly, and this would include those who desire to come in to the assembly. It wouldn’t be orderly to bring them in, and then judge them and have to put them out! Three things that would keep someone out are: (1) doctrinal evil (Galatians 5:9); (2) moral evil (1 Corinthians 5:7, 13); and (3) evil associations (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The whole assembly must judge–not just one person, or a group of brothers. The “ye” in 1 Corinthians 5:4 and 12 is the local assembly, for the apostle is writing to “the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Sisters are a vital part of the assembly and they should have say in reception, and when other discipline in the assembly is needed. The Lord gives further instruction in Matthew 18:17, 18 on assembly discipline.

Question:
Could a saved person from another church come and break bread with us?

Answer:
If they did, we’d be associating with whatever that church believes. First Corinthians 15:33 says that association with evil corrupts.

Question:
Is there anywhere in the Bible that it says for a woman not to have short hair?

Answer:
In 1 Corinthians 11:15 we are told that “if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her,” but the question could be asked: “How long is long?” We need to be exercised individually about this. The more we try to please the Lord, the more we’ll know what He wants. We want to show Christ, not ourselves, like the world and some religions do.

Question:
Who should we direct our prayers to, God or Jesus?

Answer:
In Acts 7:59, Stephen prayed to Jesus. Every believer has fellowship with both the Father and the Son, (which includes speaking to them in prayer—1 John 1:3). God has raised Jesus from the dead and given Him a Name which is above every other name. His full title is the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:36, Philippians 2:9-11), and so we can now pray to either God the Father or God the Son.

Question:
Is being unmarried a more God-ordained state than being married?

Answer:
Yes, 1 Corinthians 7:35 states a benefit of being single: “That ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” But God has – not ordained all to be unmarried (Matthew 19:11, 12). Many other Scriptures bring in God’s order of how to serve the Lord with a family. In fact, God said: “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). The husband and wife are a picture of Christ and His bride, the church (Ephesians 5:31, 32). It is most important for a person contemplating marriage to obey the Lord’s instruction regarding marriage, for other than accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, choosing a life partner is the most important decision we have to make in this life.

The Scriptures give us at least two basic guidelines for marriage:
(1) 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” Along with this the Lord asks through the prophet Amos: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” The answer of course is, “No, a thousand times no,” as all those who have disobeyed God regarding marriage sadly proclaim.
(2) “To be married…only in the Lord” which means to own His Lordship; both man and woman desiring to please the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:39). So a person who is saved is instructed to marry only a Christian, and also to marry “in” the Lord. Thus there will only be one Boss, which is Christ!

Question:
Why does Paul exhort all men to be unmarried like he was?

Answer:
The way 1 Corinthians 7:7, 8 could be written is: “I would that all men would be only for the Lord.” Can I be all for the Lord and still be married? Yes, we can be all for Him wherever we are. God calls each of us to different lines of service for Him, and whether married or unmarried, we should be all for the Lord.

Question:
Explain 1 Corinthians 11:16, “We have no such custom.”

Answer:
1 Corinthians 11:16 says: “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”

Neither man or woman is to be contentious, which means striving, arguing (which isn’t the custom in the assembly). We are to take God’s Word and act on it—not argue about it. You are not to get argumentative (contentious) about the issue of sisters wearing a head covering. (The “custom” is in relation to being contentious, not in relation to wearing a head covering.) We’re each responsible to the Lord. (We’re not under law, but under grace.) God gives us His order, and we do it because He says so, (not because we have to do it, but because we want to please Him.)

Question:
Why do women wear head coverings?

Answer:
First Corinthians 11:5,6 says that if she doesn’t wear one “when praying or prophesying,” she dishonors her head (which is the man, v.3). God gave man the place of leadership and gave woman a different role, though it is not inferior to man. Another reason women are to wear a covering on their heads is “because of the angels,” who are always observing. “Principalities and powers” (speaking of angels) are witnessing God’s order in the assembly (Ephesians 3:10).

Question:
In 1 Corinthians 14:35, women are told to ask their questions of their husbands at home. Should a woman be allowed to write articles or books?

Answer:
Writing is not speaking publicly in an assembly meeting. Women can be used mightily in this line, and they have been over the years.

Question:
Is there a difference between Sunday school and other meetings?

Answer:
Yes, there is a difference between the Sunday school and other meetings. First Corinthians 14:34 tells us that women are to keep silent “in the churches” or ASSEMBLY MEETINGS. This whole chapter is speaking about when “the whole church be come together into one place (verse 23).

The whole epistle of First Timothy was written so that we may know how to act when are gathered as an assembly of believers to represent the “one body” of Christ, which is composed of every believer. As the apostle Paul says: “I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14, 15).
The Lord tells us in Matthew 18:20 what constitutes an assembly meeting. “Where two or three are gathered in [or, unto] My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Christ is the Center and Object of the gathering of His people who “are gathered” by the Spirit of God through the Word. “Unto,” means in honor of. “My name” means all that the Lord’s name stands for. When we are gathered as we are instructed by the Word, we have an assembly. All that is needed are two, and if there are two who are gathered by the Spirit by the Word unto Christ, there will be three, for the Lord promises that He is there.
We are instructed to have different ASSEMBLY MEETINGS when gathered as His assembly. So we try to gather according to what the Lord tells us in His Word, or, “upon His Word,” or according to or ON the principles of the Word, as the picture on the next page illustrates.

1. First Corinthians 11:20-34 tells us about “when ye [the assembly] come together…to eat the Lord’s Supper.” This is an assembly meeting to remember the Lord in His death. Remembering the Lord causes us to give Him worship and praise for Who He is and for what He has done on the cross. This is a most important meeting of the assembly.

2. In Matthew 18:19 we are instructed to have an assembly prayer meeting, because it is linked with the next verse where the Lord speaks of the assembly.

3. In Matthew 18:17, 18 we have instruction for an assembly meeting for discipline. First Corinthians 5:4, 5 also speaks of the assembly meeting for discipline. Reception to fellowship is part of this. (The whole assembly is to judge those who are “within,” and this would include those who want to come in, and be part of the assembly testimony for Christ as well—v. 12.)

4. First Corinthians 14:23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31 instructs us to have an assembly meeting for the Lord to give ministry from the Word for the time for the needs of the people. “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge” (v. 29). We sometimes call this an open meeting, because the Lord may use any of the brothers to bring the Word from the Lord for the time. “For ye may all prophesy,” but only two or three (v. 29) at this meeting.

In the assembly meetings the Spirit of God leads whomsoever He will to give out a hymn, pray, or speak (1 Corinthians 14:15). These meetings do not depend on special gifts, for the Spirit of God empowers all the Lord’s people to worship, pray, discern His mind, and speak for Him. But gifts are needed for those meetings that we are not instructed in the Word to have as an assembly. The other meetings may be “activities of the assembly,” like the Sunday school and Bible study where the teacher’s gift is so helpful, and the Gospel Meeting where the Lord uses the gift of the evangelist to refresh the saints and bring salvation to precious souls.

Question:
Does 1 Timothy 2:12 mean a woman should not teach a Sunday school class?

 

Answer:
1 Timothy 2:12 says: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” This instruction was to be carried out when God’s people are gathered unto Christ’ Name as an assembly.

1 Timothy 2:12 talks about usurping authority over a “man” and only children (no men) are in a Sunday school class taught by a woman. Titus 2:4 shows us that older women are responsible to teach younger women. But she shouldn’t teach a boy publicly in a Sunday school class when he becomes a man.
“Does this apply to women teaching ungodly men how to be saved?” To “usurp authority over the man,” would be to take the position as head of the man by speaking to a group of men publicly, whether saved or not. But she can teach men privately, as Priscilla instructed Apollos with her husband Aquila in the privacy of their home, for “they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly” (Acts 18:26).

Question:
Romans 11:20-25 seems to be saying that while we are “grafted in” to the root of the olive tree, (saved) by grace, we could be cut off if we do not “continue in His goodness” (verse 22) and abide in unbelief (verses 20 and 23).

However, Paul may not be talking about salvation in this passage, but I’m not sure what he is talking about. So if you could help me, it would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
Romans 11:20-25:  

20  Well said. Because of unbelief they (Israel] were broken off, and you [Gentiles] stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.

21  For if God did not spare the natural branches [Israel], He may not spare you [Gentiles] either.

22  Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

23  And they [Israel] also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

24  For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25  For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
This portion is talking about Jews [Israel] and Gentiles being grafted into a tree and being cut off of a tree. Throughout scripture the Lord worked with, and blessed nations as well as individuals. The Jewish nation was God’s chosen nation marked out for blessing. That does not mean that every Jew who ever lived was saved and is in heaven. Even in the Old Testament, each person was saved by faith just like we are today (Romans 2:28, 29; 4:1-3).
Romans 11:25 shows that this chapter is speaking about the Jewish nation and all the other races of Gentiles: The Jews were given the gospel message first, and even though some received it, most of them did not (John 1:11). Paul was then commissioned to spread the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 18:4-6; Romans 11:13). That is when the Gentiles were grafted into the tree as a race, and concentration was placed on spreading the gospel to them.
Verses 23 and 24 show: that the Jewish people can still be saved today—even though the gospel is mainly preached to Gentiles! It has been that way ever since Paul was preaching and it will stay that way until “the fullness of the Gentiles [will] be come in,” which I believe will end at the rapture of the church, which could happen at any moment!
Then, the Jews as a nation will realize that they crucified their Messiah, who is Jesus. At that time “every eye shall see Him” (Revelation 1:7). “And one shall say unto Him, ‘What are these wounds in Thine hands?’ Then He shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends. . . . and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced,’ and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son” (Zechariah 13:6, 10). Then the Lord will bless Israel again throughout the 1,000 year reign of Christ over the whole earth.
So, I believe Romans 11 is speaking about nations of people, rather than individuals. Regarding the salvation of individuals: many verses show plainly that once a person completes the transaction with God–trusting Christ and His work of bearing God’s wrath for our sins on the cross of Calvary–at that moment they have passed from death unto life, and God does a mighty work in that person which can never be erased. They become a new creation of God (2 Corinthians 5:17), their old man is crucified (Romans 6:6), they have eternal life as a present possession (John 3:16), they are indwelt and sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), and they are “in Christ” instead of “in their sins.” None of those things can be undone or retracted by God. That is certainly something to praise Him for!