Questions and Answers
In writing to the Christians living in Colosse, a city in western Turkey, Paul addressed the unique revelation that they, as converted Christians, had received the Holy Spirit—that is, that Jesus Christ was living within them through the Holy Spirit–and this fact was their assurance of the hope for eternal life. In verses 24 and 25 of Colossians 1, Paul speaks of the Church of God by calling it the “body” of Christ. He also addresses the fact that he, Paul, had become a minister of the word of God. In this context, he continues addressing these faithful brethren: “…the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works IN me mightily” (Colossians 1:26-29). Even as Paul reminds these Gentile converts of the fact that Christ was in them,… The Bible teaches both. Unfortunately, many modern English translations–including the New King James Bible–have clouded the meaning by falsely rendering certain Scriptural passages. It is of course true that we must have faith in Christ–including in His name, identity, role and function, His message, and His Sacrifice (Acts 3:16; 20:21; 24:24; John 3:14-15; 5:24; 11:24; 12:46). Before we receive the Holy Spirit, which God only gives us after repentance, belief, proper adult baptism and the laying on of hands through God’s true ministers–our faith IN Christ is the ONLY kind of faith we can have. But even this is not a “dead” faith, but a “living” faith–it is that kind of faith which manifests itself through works of OBEDIENCE (James 2:14, 17, 22, 26; Romans 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:7). John 3:36 reads, correctly translated: “He who believes IN the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not OBEY the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (compare Revised Standard Version, “RSV”). In fact, without living, obedient faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ, we cannot even receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32). Once we receive God’s Holy Spirit, and with it a “measure… Even though our Western societies reckon days from midnight to midnight, and some even define a day as the period from morning to night, this is a purely human invention. The Bible is very clear that days are to be counted from sunset to sunset. For instance, the Sabbath, the last day of the week, is to be counted from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Set forth are excerpts from our booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days“: “God has revealed in His Word exactly when the Sabbath starts and when it ends. God reckons each day, including the Sabbath, beginning at sunset and continuing through until the following sunset. Today, we would say that the Seventh-Day Sabbath starts Friday evening, when the sun sets, and lasts until Saturday evening, at sunset. “We know from the Jewish people when to keep the Sabbath. It is the Jews to whom God committed His revelations or His ‘oracles,’ as Paul clearly explains in Romans 3:1–2. These ‘oracles of God’ included the Old Testament Scriptures, as well as the knowledge of the week and of the Sacred Calendar. The Jews preserved the knowledge of which day the seventh day of the week is. Without an understanding… It is important to understand that true Christians are called out of this present evil world–its governments, administrations, laws and philosophies–in order to be different. They are set aside for the holy purpose of living a righteous life in this world, and preparing for the soon-coming Kingdom of God, which will be established on this earth when Jesus Christ returns. True Christians are to live under the law of God and His government, to which they must have their first allegiance. As a consequence, they do not vote in governmental elections or seek governmental offices, nor do they participate in jury duty. They are not fighting in the wars of this world, even if their country orders them to enlist, and they may be labeled as unpatriotic or “cowards,” when they refuse to fight. And, they do not hold a position or a job which would require them to take human life. Even though God allows man to establish their own form of governments and enact their own rules of conduct–including those which are in direct opposition to His commands–this does not mean that He desires His true children–His very sons and daughters–to participate in activities which violate His perfect and… Although this might be surprising to some at first sight, the answer is clearly, “Yes.” Here is why: In John 1:1, we read that the “Word” (“Logos” in Greek, meaning Speaker or Spokesman) was with God (the Father), and that the Word was also God. That is, both God (the Father) and the Word were members of the Godhead–they were both God Beings. Verse 3 tells us that “all things were made” through the Word, and verse 14 explains that “the Word BECAME flesh and dwelt among us”–as the “only begotten of the Father.” So, clearly, the “WORD” was none other than the second Member of the Godhead, Who became a human being. Hebrews 1:1-2 reveals that God spoke in these last days by His Son, “through whom also He made the worlds.” Colossians 1:13-16 explains, too, that God created “all things” through “the Son of His love.” The Son then is clearly identical with the Word, as God made everything through the “Son” and through the “Word.” Notice, however, that Ephesians 3:9 explains that “God… created all things through Jesus Christ.” This shows that the Word is not only identical with the Son of God, but also with Jesus Christ;… The answer may very well be YES! In fact, no matter how many times you may have been ceremonially baptized, the crucial question is whether or not you followed all that the Bible requires in order to have a valid baptism. It is true that many church organizations that nominally claim to be based on Biblical Christianity also include baptism in one form or another. Several groups baptize newborn babies by pouring or sprinkling water on their foreheads—this is associated with rites of christening, which also includes naming a child. This practice emerged following the first century A.D. and was institutionalized by the Roman Catholic Church—a practice continuing to this time. According to the Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible (Lockyer, 1986 Edition), “Those who believe in baptismal regeneration (Catholics especially) argue that baptism of infants is necessary. In traditional Roman Catholic teaching, unbaptized infants who die cannot enter heaven in this state, but are instead consigned to a state of limbo. If this fate is to be avoided, they must be baptized in order to remove the guilt of their sins and receive new life.” Even though the pope recently stated that the concept of “limbo” was a human invention and not… The Bible uses the word “elder” in many different connections. In each case, the context will show, however, how the word is to be understood. “The Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,” by W.E.Vine, gives a fairly accurate description of the meaning of the word “elder,” with the exception of several related or unrelated blatant mistakes, as will be pointed out by us through annotations in brackets: Vine’s commentary states the following: “A. Adjectives “1. PRESBUTEROS…, an adjective, the comparative degree of ‘presbus,’ an old man, an elder, is used “(a) of age, whether of the elder of two persons, Luke 15:25, or more, John 8:9, ‘the eldest’; “or of a person advanced in life, a senior, Acts 2:17; “in [Hebrews] 11:2, the ‘elders’ are the forefathers in Israel [including spiritual teachers]; so in [Matthew] 15:2; Mark 7:3,5; “the feminine of the adjective is used of elder women in the churches, 1 [Timothy] 5:2, not in respect of position but in seniority of age; “(b) of rank or positions of responsibility, “(1) among Gentiles, as in… [Genesis] 50:7; [Numbers] 22:7; “(2) in the… nation [of Israel; Vine says here, “Jewish nation,” which is too restrictive, as the nation of Israel consisted of more than just Jews; “Jews”… In the vast majority of Biblical passages, the terms “all” or “every” are all-inclusive and don’t allow for exceptions, but this is not always the case. The fact that Bible commentaries and interpreters have IGNORED this vital truth, has misled them to reach doctrinally incorrect conclusions. It is also very critical to read passages in context, and in consideration of other passages which might shed more light on a given subject. Failing to do so might lead to wrong concepts. For example, we read in Daniel 7:27 that “ALL dominions shall serve and obey” Christ, when He establishes the Kingdom of God here on earth. This might give the impression that there won’t be any who will disobey and who will have to be dealt with, accordingly. However, this conclusion would be incorrect, as we read in Isaiah 60:12: “For the nation and kingdom which shall not serve you shall perish, And those nations shall be utterly ruined.” Compare, too, Zechariah 14:16-19, regarding nations who will at first refuse to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. We see, then, that even though we read that “ALL dominions” will serve and obey Christ, some will NOT do so, at first. In fact, some will… Even though the Bible nowhere states explicitly that the ancient house of Israel kept Sunday, it is very clear from the implicit record that they did. It is also clear that God punished them severely for this practice. We know that they abandoned the weekly Sabbath–the seventh day of the week (from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset). This was one reason why they went into slavery. We also know that they were guilty of idolatry, e.g., Baal worship. And historical records prove that Baal–the sun god–was worshipped on his day, Sunday, the first day of the week. In fact, Baal, the pagan sun god, was worshipped under many different names throughout man’s history. For instance, we find the following comments in “Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia,” under “Baalbek,” a town in Eastern Lebanon: “The name, which means ‘City of Baal,’ is derived from the early association of the town with the worship of Baal, a local sun deity whom the ancient Greeks identified with their sun god, Helios; the Greeks and Romans called the town Heliopolis, ‘City of the Sun.'” Pagans worshiped the sun on Sunday (Sun’s day). It was a heathen festival in honor of the sun god. Webster’s Unabridged… Even though God COULD know everything, He has decided NOT to know–generally speaking–how we will act under pressure. God’s purpose is to create in us holy righteous character, which requires free moral agency and the opportunity to chose right from wrong. God tests us to see HOW we will act–that is, He tests us to get to know us better in the process of our overcoming the wrong way and accepting and living the right way. Since God knows even the secrets of our hearts (Psalm 44:21) and our thoughts (Psalm 94:11), He knows what kind of trials He can bring upon us, so that we CAN pass them, and which would not be too difficult for us to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). [Please read pages 58-69 in our free booklet– “Teach Us To Pray!” –for a further explanation of why God tests us, and why we are to pray not to be led into temptation or very difficult trials.] For instance, we read in Deuteronomy 8:2: “And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you to KNOW what was…Exactly what does the Bible mean when it states that Christ is IN us, as, for instance, in Colossians 1:27?
Does the Bible say that "the faith OF Christ" lives in a Christian? I can only find references in the Bible that we must have "faith IN Christ."
Can you prove from Scripture that according to God's reckoning, days start and end with sunset?
Should true Christians engage in mercy killing or euthanasia?
Was the name of the "Word" (in John 1:1) Jesus Christ before He became a human being?
Since I was baptized when I was young and because I was later baptized as an adult, is there any Biblical reason for me to be BAPTIZED AGAIN?
What is the meaning of the Biblical term, "elder"?
I have heard it said that the Biblical terms "all" or "every" [such as, "every person" or "every thing"] do not necessarily have to mean, "without any exception." Is this correct?
I have heard it taught that the ancient house of Israel engaged in Sunday worship. Is this correct, as I cannot find this stated anywhere in the Bible?
Why does God say that He wants to get to know His people? Doesn't God know everything?
