Questions Asked, Biblical Answers Given
There are many in this world who are willing to compromise the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the church He bought with His own blood. We present the Word of God to man in its purest, most honest form. The answers given are consistent, grounded firmly in the Bible, speaking where the Bible speaks and silent where the Bible is silent.
Below are some questions frequently asked concerning the position of the church of Christ. If you would like more information, or have an additional question, please contact us and we will reply (please include a way to contact you, if not by reply in email).
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WHAT IS MEANT BY THE 144,000 OF REVELATION 14?
We begin with verse 1 and see that those under consideration are the ones who have been obedient to the Lord (his Father’s name written in their foreheads). Remember when Jesus was teaching men about prayer, that He instructed us to say, “…our Father (Matthew 6:9). The sinner does not have the right of prayer (John 9:31). Only those in Christ would have the right of prayer (Ephesians 1:3). This number then refers to the ones who were faithful to Christ. Is it an exact number? Let us see if the context of the book of Revelation would bear this out.
In Revelation 7 the 144,000 are described as 12,000 from each tribe of Israel (Revelation 7:5-8). According to this then, only Jews could be saved. No it is not an exact number but rather a representation of all those who would be saved. The 144,000 cited in Revelation 7 are not just Jews from the twelve tribes. It is a symbolic expression that refers to the saved who have responded to the will of Christ. Paul raises the same issue at the close of Romans 2. The real Jew says Paul is the one who is a Jew, inwardly (Romans 2:29). All those who have obeyed the gospel are spiritual Jews (Galatians 3:29).
Jesus taught His followers to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:31). The passage in Luke reveals that God would give the kingdom to the “little flock” (Luke 12:32). The little flock is just another way of referring to those who obey the Son of God. A good rule to go by is that when you come to something that you are unsure about as to its’ meaning, never interpret it to contradict known truth elsewhere in scripture. The 144,000 are the ones who are redeemed by the blood of Christ.
SHOULD WE USE THOSE WHO ARE OUT OF STEP WITH FAITHFUL BRETHREN IN OTHER PLACES?
The Bible clearly speaks about those who “walk disorderly” (II Thessalonians 3:6). If, in a local congregation, a Christian refuses to repent of their sins, then the church would have no alternative but to withdraw its fellowship from that person. The idea being that they would realize what was happening in their life and seek to change it in order to have that fellowship, not only with God but with God’s people. This covers the local setting or work of God’s people.
What about people who are not a part of that congregation in another locality? Paul states that we are to mark those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine of Christ (Romans 16:17). The purpose of such marking was to limit the influence of the individual who was causing trouble. Once this person was so marked, then faithful brethren in other places would know to avoid him. This way the influence is curtailed not only in the local setting but also in other places as well.
On occasions we hear about some brother who has been withdrawn from or is causing problems among faithful brethren. First of all we should not be the conveyors of gossip. If it concerns our local work then we should make every effort to find out if the reports are true. If the reports are true, then we do not use their articles for our bulletins, have them for gospel meetings or use them on a lectureship. These are dangerous times when faithful brethren are attacking faithful brethren. My council would be to let us make sure of the facts and then act accordingly.
DOES THE WORD DOCTRINE IN II JOHN 9 REFER TO THE DOCTRINE ABOUT CHRIST OR THE DOCTRINE THAT CHRIST TAUGHT?
There has been an effort for some time now to find a way for the Lord’s people to have fellowship with the denominational groups around us. Jesus warned us that when the doctrines of men are taught that worship becomes vain (Matthew 15:9). Since the doctrines of men cause worship to be vain, it was necessary to find some way that doctrine could be changed in the minds of the audience. Fellowship is clearly the issue in II John. If the word “doctrine” refers to the teachings about Christ, then the only ones we could not fellowship were those who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh.
If one accepts the fact that Jesus came in the flesh, then we should be able to fellowship them, no matter what else they believe. The scriptures however, do not support such a conclusion. Jesus taught that those who continued in His Word would be set free by the truth (John 8:31,32). That in the day of judgment men would be judged by the words of Jesus (John 12:48). Those who heard the sayings of Jesus and refuse to obey Him were regarded as foolish men (Matthew 7:26,27). An individual who refused to do what Christ commanded could not claim that Jesus was ruling over his heart (Luke 6:46).
In light of these and other scriptures John was saying in II John 9, that whoever continues to go beyond what Christ taught has no right to God. John simply says, “…hath not God”. In his earlier work John placed fellowship with God on the basis of an individual walking in the light of truth (I John 1:7). In fact if one claimed fellowship with God and walked in darkness, then he is lying (I John 1:6). The doctrine then of II John 9 is all that Jesus taught and revealed to us through the written Word.
WHAT DO WE DO WHEN DIVORCE TAKES PLACE?
Briefly we may ask, what are the causes that brought two people to this crisis in life? It may be the death of love, the entrance of a third party or just simply two people growing farther and farther apart. This question centers more on the responsibility of those on the outside looking in. As parents, we would be in possession of more knowledge about how things were inside the marriage than others. Granting this the case, we should always look to the right. If our child is wrong, then we should not side with them or if they are right, don’t side against them.
At times there may be hope for reconciliation. Because of that, those of us on the outside should be careful to weigh our words lest we become part of the problem instead of the solution. Those who are in troubled situations need to find encouragement to reconcile and save the relationship and the marriage. Whatever advice we can give should be tempered by these words, “…considering thyself, lest thou also should be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).
When reconciliation is not possible, then it is time for those of us on the outside to lift up continual and sincere prayers for both people and for the pain they are in. Choices made following a divorce can result in the loss of a soul for all eternity. We should pray for those enduring the pain to make right choices so that their relationship to God will never be lost. Let us be wise enough to not distance ourselves from them in their pain but rather provide a source of comfort as being an avenue used by God to strengthen their hearts (Ephesians 2:10).
IN COLOSSIANS 3:1,2 THE BIBLE SAYS THAT WE ARE TO SEEK THOSE THINGS ABOVE NOT ON THINGS OF THE EARTH. DOES THAT MEAN TO SET OUR MINDS ON HEAVEN, WHICH IS MORE? WHAT DOES INORDINATE AFFECTION AND EVIL CONCUPISCENCE MEAN?
he “things” of verse one and two both are things that are “above”. It is another way of saying that our minds need to be on spiritual things, that is things related to what we find in the scriptures given us by God. Our minds are to dwell on things that we need to think about (Philippians 4:8). The things in the Philippian passage are things that can only be known through a search of the Scriptures. The righteous person is the one who meditates on the law of God (Psalm 1:2). Paul in showing the contrast between the law of Moses and the law of Christ states that to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6).
The idea in these verses is not one of thinking spiritual thoughts every waking minute of one’s life. Rather, it is the reality of seeking guidance from God for life through the Scriptures that God has provided. If faith is proper as to the saving of the soul, it causes one to diligently seek God (Hebrews 11:6). This kind of seeking is through a regular and thorough search of what God has revealed (Acts 17:11; II Timothy 2:15).
The words “inordinate affection” relate to the idea of passion. Since the word inordinate is used with it, the idea is one of lust that is consuming the individual. Again the word concupiscence is a longing for something. Placing the word evil in front of it then means a longing especially for those things which are forbidden (by God’s Word).
ARE THERE LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE?
We begin from this foundation. All Scripture is given by God (II Timothy 3:16). Whatever would be necessary for our salvation has been provided by God through His revealed will (Matthew 7:21). My salvation depends on doing the will of the Father. It was God’s work to reveal the truth and get it to us in written form (Ephesians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 13:8-10). Once the Scriptures were finished there would be no more revelation coming from God. This, then, would destroy the future works of men such as the book of Mormon. If there is more revelation coming from God then the Bible is incomplete and we are in a state of not knowing God’s will in totality.
This also deals with the idea of men claiming they have seen the Lord and heard from Him. Paul states that the Lord was seen last of all by Him (I Corinthians 15:6). There is, therefore, now no revelation of Jesus the Christ in visible form to any man. It is through the truth that Jesus speaks to the hearts of all men (John 10:3; John 8:32).
There are references in Scriptures to books or letters that have simply disappeared and we do not know what happened to them. Here is what we must understand If such a book was found after all these years, what would it reveal? If it is a book from God it could not contradict any of the Scriptures that now make up our Bibles. Hence, it could not be any “new truth”. There is nothing that will be uncovered by the spade in any land or at any time that will add to or take away from the existing truth given to us by God in 66 Books (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament). Build your faith on what is revealed and d not be concerned about what may be found in the future.
WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15 BY “WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP, BUT WE WILL BE CHANGED”?
This portion deals with the end of time. Peter tells us that the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat (II Peter 3:10). The result will be that the earth and all the works therein will be burned up. What will happen then to those who are alive when Jesus returns? Jesus will come again in judgment upon the earth but He will not come to the earth. The Scriptures teach that we will meet Him in the air (I Thessalonians 4:16, 17).
When this day of judgment comes, it will be horrible to those who are outside of Christ. Paul, then, through Scripture, gives us comfort. He states that we will be changed. How quick is the change? Paul says, “..in the twinkling of an eye” (I Corinthians 15:52). It is in this sense Paul speaks about Christians looking forward to the second coming of the Lord (II Timothy 4:8). Those, then, who are alive at that time will not have to die.
The use of the word “sleep” to describe death is part of Scripture. When Hezekiah died, the Scriptures stated that he “…slept with his fathers” (II Kings 20:21). Manasseh, his son, was very evil and yet when he died it is recorded that “…Manasseh slept with his fathers” (II Kings 21:18). The _expression is just a way of saying that an individual has died. Paul then uses the word “sleep” in that contest of bringing comfort to God’s children. If we are alive when Jesus returns, we will not have to go through the process of death but, rather, we will be changed.
AT WHAT POINT DOES A CHURCH WITHDRAW FELLOWSHIP?
There is no set time for the action by the church to happen. Sometimes the sin itself requires quicker action. For example, Paul told the brethren at Corinth in dealing with the man in adultery, to deal with it the next time they came together (I Corinthians 5:4,5). The case of a man who is engaged in false teaching to the destruction of the faith of others was to be rejected after the second admonition (Titus 3:10). What amount of time was between the two admonitions we are not told. Some were to be marked and avoided after a time of observation about their conduct (Romans 16:17,18). There are some sins that require us being patient as we try to win the sinner back from his evil ways (Jude 22,23).
The purpose of the church to discipline one of its members is to save their soul. If a congregation, through its leadership, ignores the sin in the lives of its members, this is not practicing patience with the sinner. It is an easy way to avoid the responsibility to act. The one who is in rebellion to God should be aware of the efforts of those in the church to get them to correct their lives. It is not, therefore, sitting still on the sidelines hoping the wayward Christian will correct his own life.
Here are the lines of defense. First of all we should discipline ourselves and bring our behavior under the authority of Christ (Colossians 3:17). If that fails then fellow Christians should come and help us get back on the right road (Galatians 6:1). If these efforts fail, then the church as a whole should act to restore the lost one. When all these lines of defense have failed, the church has no other option but to withdraw from the wayward one. Withdrawal of fellowship then is the failure of discipline, not the first act.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF GOING TO YOUR BROTHER IN MATTHEW 18:15?
When people work together in any kind of arrangement there are bound to be situations where people get their feelings hurt, something unkind was said or done. The injury can cause distance between friends to be created. I find the passage in Matthew to be something different. This passage deals where one person transgresses or trespasses against another. Sin has occurred. If one goes back to the Old Testament, seven cities of refuge were set up in the event that someone accidentally killed another (Joshua 20). There is a difference between accidentally hurting someone’s feelings and going out to purposely injure someone’s reputation.
This passage deals with the “on purpose” type of action. When such injury occurs we are to go to the one who did the sin and tell him how it was that he did wrong. If the heart is right, the problem ceases at that point. No one else has to know. If this does not settle the issue because the sinning brother refuses to repent, then witnesses need to be brought and the matter once again is explained. If this does not bring about the repentance of the sinning brother, then the church is to be told. The church then acts to correct the defiant Christian. If this fails he is to be treated as a heathen or publican (sinner).
There is a good principle for us to learn in dealing with one another. If we get our feelings hurt and it bothers us, then we should go to the one who hurt our feelings and tell them how they hurt us. If we go to just that one and no one else then pain can be avoided by the fact that no one else knows. This is common sense and not a command from God. The passage in Matthew 18:15-17, is a command.
HOW DO CHRISTIANS KEEP FROM LOSING THEIR FAITH?
Two parts of faith is a belief in the existence of God and the action of diligently seeking God (Hebrews 11:6). God used the example of the nation of Israel to show the danger of allowing unbelief to settle into our hearts (Hebrews 4:11). Unbelief is reaching a point in our thinking where we no longer trust God nor what He has said. Paul spoke about Hymenaeus and Alexande,r that they had made a shipwreck out of their faith (I Timothy 1:19,20). Paul, likewise, warned the Galatians about their having fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4). In view of these Scriptures, a primary cause of one losing their faith is allowing unbelief to settle into the heart. Once this takes place, one cannot diligently seek God.
Seeking God is a matter of seeking Him first, as well as the righteous conduct required by that seeking (Matthew 6:33). From the time we become Christians, we train our minds to seek those things that are above (Colossians 3:1). The attitude that we are to possess in that seeking is one of setting our affection on things above (verse 2). Jesus warned that before the fall of Jerusalem (in A.D. 70) that the love of many would wax cold (Matthew 24:12). Love, then, is an action of the mind which manifests itself in the actions of our lives. If one desires to never fall, then they must continually work on training their minds to love God.
One of the best places to show this is II Peter 1:5-7. The message in this setting of Scripture is a call for Christians to continue to grow as they add to their faith (verse 5). The summation is found in verse 8 by telling us that if we use our lives to abound in these things cited in verses 5-7, we will never be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ. The person who fills his heart with the Word of God and spends his life practicing that Word will never lose their faith.
WHAT IS MEANT IN ACTS 8:35, WHEN IT SAYS THAT PHILIP PREACHED JESUS?
The eunuch was reading from the book of Isaiah about the death of the Messiah (Isaiah 53). Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. The eunuch replied that he needed someone to help or guide him in understanding what the prophet was talking about. The eunuch did not know if the statements referred to Isaiah or to some other man. Philip then begins with that Scripture and teaches the eunuch about Jesus.
Since Philip began at the same Scripture then we know the chapter or section of Scripture that the eunuch was reading. It speaks about the Messiah being rejected of men (Isaiah 53:3). Those who believe in Christ returning to earth and setting up His kingdom in the city of Jerusalem in our time must surely avoid this Scripture. This declares that the Messiah would be rejected. The rejection is defined in verses four and five by speaking of the Messiah suffering and our being healed by His stripes.
Philip applied this knowledge to the recent events that had taken place in Jerusalem with the death of Jesus on the cross. Once this connection was made, the eunuch wanted to be baptized. Philip told him he could be baptized if he believed that Jesus was the answer to Isaiah’s prophecy. Whereupon the eunuch confessed that he did believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. In all the years since preaching Christ has led men to the same conclusions which the eunuch reached that day on the road to Ethiopia. Today we preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
WILL YOU EXPLAIN CIRCUMCISION UNDER THE OLD LAW AND CIRCUMCISION UNDER THE LAW OF CHRIST. CAN PEOPLE BE CIRCUMCISED TODAY FOR OTHER REASONS AND NOT SIN?
Circumcision under the old law was the seal of the covenant that the Jewish people had with God. On the eighth day after a male child was born then he was circumcised as part of the covenant God made with His people. After the church began, circumcision became a major issue. The Jews who were circumcised the eighth day viewed the Gentile Christian as not being acceptable until they submitted to circumcision.
The conference in Jerusalem in the early part of the book of Acts became necessary because certain Christians were teaching the Gentiles they had to be circumcised after the manner of Moses or else they would not be saved (Acts 15:1). Paul, through inspiration, explained many times how that the law of Moses had been removed and was no longer binding (Colossians 2:14). Even some very well known Christians then had a hard time accepting the truth which Paul was teaching everywhere he went (Acts 22:21; I Corinthians 4:17).
If anyone today chose that path of circumcision in order to obey Moses then they would be sinning (James 2:10). In the same way if we used mechanical instruments of music in worship because they did so under the law of Moses. The law of Moses was the shadow while the law of Christ is the substance (Hebrews 10:1). Those who choose to circumcise their children for health reasons or other reasons not connected to the law would not be sinning by so doing.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT?
One of the first internal problems of the church that we read of was the neglect of the Grecians widows in the daily ministration (offering) (Acts 6:1). The solution as stated by the apostles was for the congregation to find seven men whom they, the apostles, could appoint over this business. Many treat this as though these men were “deacons”. The qualifications, however, were not the ones cited in I Timothy 3. I do agree that this work could have been laying the groundwork for the work of deacons later on. One of the qualities that prior to Acts 6, the Scriptures show that the apostles were the ones with power (Acts 4:33). Hence, the selection of the seven did not refer to miraculous power. To be filled with the Spirit then carries another meaning. Paul told the brethren at Ephesus to be “…filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). The verse just before called on them to be wise by understanding the will of the Lord (verse 17). Being filled with the Spirit is another way of saying that we are being led by the Spirit. How then does the Spirit lead us today?
Paul makes a contrast with the law of Moses and the law of Christ. The law of Moses is the living after the flesh while following Christ is living after the Spirit (Romans 8:13) . If we live after the Spirit then we mortify the deeds of the flesh. We do this by accepting the teachings of Jesus as revealed by the Spirit. One, then, who does this is led by the Spirit of God through those teachings (Romans 8:14) . Being filled with the Spirit is the issue of filling up one’s heart with the Word of God. It is not miraculous or mysterious. It is a person accepting the will of Christ and doing that will each day (James 1:22).