The Purpose of the Law

Morality is universal and timeless (for all people at all times) because all moral virtues emanate from God. Peter said, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:15-16). We are to be holy simply because God is holy. The scriptures say, “God, who cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), and “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18). Lying is a sin and always has been a sin because it is contrary to the nature of God. Therefore, when the Law was given to Israel through Moses around 2500 years after creation, moral virtues did not come into existence at that time. It didn't become wrong at that time to lie, steal, and murder while it had been perfectly fine to do those things before the Law. No, the Law simply stated these prohibitions clearly. Before the Law was given, murder was already sinful (Gen. 4:1-15); homosexuality was already sinful (Gen. 19:4-7); adultery was already sinful (Gen. 39:7-9). But along with the stating of timeless and universal moral laws, God also gave to Israel some non-moral laws such as keeping the Sabbath day (Ex. 20:8-11), not eating certain animals (Lev. 11), and the keeping certain feasts and festivals (Lev. 23). It now became sinful for Jews to violate these non-moral laws even though it was not sinful for Gentiles nor had it been sinful before.

But when Christ died on the cross, the Old Covenant (including the Law of Moses) passed away by being superseded with the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:7-11; Eph. 2:15; Heb. 8:7-13). So when the New Covenant replaced the Old, the timeless and universal moral laws did not pass away because they never did originate with the Law of Moses to begin with. They have always emanated from God and they still do. The Law of Moses passing away means that the non-moral laws passed. The apostle Paul writing to Gentile Christians said, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Col. 2:16, 17). He was saying that Christians are not bound to these non-moral laws because their purpose all along was to be a shadow or symbolism of the true reality which was fulfilled in Christ. For example: the Passover was a feast the Jews were commanded to keep (Ex. 12:1-28) yet we are told; “For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). In other words, the keeping of this sacrificial feast every year by the Jews symbolized the true sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our sins. Paul told the Gentile Christians in Galatia: “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). The Law was never intended and never could save anyone. God meant for it to be an instructor or tutor to teach Israel what to look for in their Messiah Jesus who was to come. Therefore keeping the Passover feast had no saving power but taught them about the real Passover Lamb Jesus Christ.

The non-moral law prohibiting Jews from eating certain animals was also given for instructional purposes. In Acts chapter 10, God showed the apostle Peter a vision of unclean animals and told him to kill and eat them. Peter’s protest against doing this was answered with “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (Acts 10:15). God then led Peter to a Gentile’s house to preach the gospel—this was the beginning of evangelism to Gentiles. There never has been
anything morally wrong with eating certain animals. It was a regulation given to teach the spiritual truth that salvation is for all people. Gentiles were represented by the unclean animals. As God’s people, Jews were to remain separate from Gentiles until the salvation of the world was accomplished in Christ and avoiding unclean animals symbolized this. But really God’s people
are whoever puts their faith in Christ whether they are Jew or Gentile. God saved all people through Christ and the gospel is to go out to all.

My 10 Favorite Old King James Phrases

1. "Jacob sod pottage" Genesis 25:29
2. "superfluity of naughtiness" James 1:21
3. "harpers harping with their harps" Revelation 14:2
4. "building the rebellious and the bad city" Ezra 4:12
5. "all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt" 1 Samuel 30:31
6. "I think myself happy" Acts 26:2
7. "and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him" 1 John 3:17
8. "By his neesings a light doth shine" Job 41:18
9. "they are sottish children" Jeremiah 4:22
10. "whilst that I withal escape" Psalm 141:10

The Weak Brother Perish

“Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died” Rom. 14:15

“And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?” 1 Cor. 8:11

Without question, “brother” is someone genuinely saved. And since Paul emphasized “for whom Christ died,” he was clearly talking about him perishing from the salvation he once had in Christ. The bolded words in these verses are from the Greek word transliterated as “apollymi” which means to perish or to be lost. Here is how it is used in several other places: Matt. 10:28, 15:24, 18:11; Luke 13:3, 15:6,9,24, 19:10; John 3:16, 17:12; Rom. 2:12; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 4:3; 2 Pet. 3:9.

Furthermore, “perish” is positively in reference to salvation because both passages also speak of this brother being caused to stumble. The Greek word transliterated as “proskomma” is translated as “stumbling block.”

“Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way” Rom. 14:13

“But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak” 1 Cor. 8:9

There are only two other places in the New Testament where this word is used (Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:8) and both are quotations from Isaiah about Israel rejecting their own Messiah (Is. 8:14, 28:16). Christ, the very Savior Himself became a stumbling block to their salvation! And the very next thing Paul said after quoting from Isaiah is: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved” (Rom 10:1). The term “stumbling block” is clearly a metaphor for somebody being a hindrance to another’s salvation.

In Romans 14 and First Corinthians 8, Paul was not saying that a Christian will perish by simply doing something one time against their own conscience. He was giving his readers a scenario of what could possibly happen to a weaker brother if they (his readers) did not walk in love and abused their liberty in Christ. Their bad example might stimulate a weaker brother to do something against their conscience. This in turn could start them in the direction of routinely violating their consciences to the point of being seared and consummating in their departure from Christ. It is a sobering warning against the consequences that could come from us not walking in love toward our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Don't Stay Deceived

One thing worse than being deceived is staying deceived. In this short writing, when I talk about being deceived I'm not talking about the people in cults and false religions who believe they are saved but really are not. I'm referring here to Christians who are genuinely saved but have some wrong denominational beliefs. All true believers embrace the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith: Christ's death, burial, and resurrection; His divinity and humanity; the Trinity, etc. But Christians who hold to and defend the fundamentals may be erring in some of their secondary beliefs.

We all tend to think that our own beliefs are right while others with differing beliefs are wrong. But why don't we ever think that we could just as easily be the ones who are wrong? The fact is, nobody is right about everything which means all of us are wrong about some things. And if we are wrong about some things then we are deceived to a certain degree. The deceived believe they are not deceived while at the same time believe the undeceived are deceived. This is the nature of deception.

It wasn't until many years into following Christ that I realized I was deceived about some things I believed. Saved, yet somewhat deceived. And once I adjusted my beliefs in a few areas, I had to admit there were probably other areas I was deceived but not yet aware of. Now I've come to a place where I try to regularly question what I believe against what Scripture actually teaches. After all, if what I believe is really true then it should stand up to close scrutiny. And if some of my beliefs turn out to be false then as a servant of Christ I have no choice but to change them. Being right honors Christ and being right comes only after changing my wrong beliefs.

Many Christians, on the other hand, seem to have their beliefs set in stone. They don't even want to consider they could be wrong about some things. But to not think they might be wrong about some things is really to think they are right about everything. And, as said earlier, nobody is right about everything. We all need to reevaluate our beliefs often and be willing to change them when we are found to be wrong. Staying deceived is far worse than being deceived.

Jesus Never Said . . .

Some people try to argue that if Jesus was silent on a certain subject then there is no prohibition against it. For example, homosexuals love to say that since Christ never addressed the subject of homosexuality then there is nothing wrong with it. But this is false reasoning for two reasons. First of all, Christ endorsed what the will of God has always been from the very beginning, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh" (Matt. 19:5). God's will is for one man and one woman to be joined in marriage for life. Anything outside of this--adultery, fornication, homosexuality, gay marriage, polygamy--is sin.

And secondly, the apostles of our Lord did specifically condemn this sin. Paul spoke against homosexuality and lesbianism in Romans 1:26-27. Peter and Jude both reviled the ungodliness of Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Pet. 2:6; Jude 7). In fact, Jude even calls their sin "sexual immorality" and describes it as going after "strange flesh." And sadly he tells us that they are an example of "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." It is not that they only died in the fire that fell from heaven which destroyed their cities but that they also are suffering in the fires of hell right now.

Now some will argue that this was only what the apostles said and not Christ. But this is willful and deliberate denial of Christ's authority because the apostles were delegated with His authority. Jesus said to those He sent, "He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me" (Luke 10:16).

What's more, Jesus didn't say everything He wanted to say to the remaining eleven disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:12-14). Christ was given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). Then He sent the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost with His authority to speak the truth. Therefore, the writings of the apostles are the words of Christ because they were given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Their writings are literally the words of Jesus Christ Himself.

John the apostle said: "We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6). The word "spirit" here is speaking of character, substance, or essence. What characterizes truth and error is how the teaching of the apostles is esteemed. People who don't listen to the apostles are not of God. They are not saved regardless of what they may insist.

They Went Out From Us

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us” 1 John 2:19

Calvinists and the proponents of “Once Saved Always Saved” (OSAS) use this verse as proof that people leaving the local church never were saved to begin with otherwise they would have stayed and continued in the church. But we should ask some basic defining questions as we take a closer look at this verse, such as: who are “they,” who are “us,” and what did they leave?

It is clear from the surrounding context just who “they” are. “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (v. 18). “They” are not your average churchgoers but false teachers who deny the Son: “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son” (v. 22). John was talking about the very men who had spread false doctrine to his readers and were undermining the teaching of the apostles, “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you” (v. 26).

Now since “they” are false teachers that came out from “us” of which John includes himself then “us” must have been the leaders of the early church with the 12 apostles at the center. In the first chapter, John stated that fellowship with the apostles is necessary for having fellowship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ; “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1: 3). Anyone teaching doctrine about Christ that is contrary to what the apostles taught is a false teacher and does not have fellowship with God, “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (v. 23).

According to OSAS proponents, verse 19 proves that those who leave the church never really were believers in the first place because if they had been then they would not have left. But clearly John was not talking about professing Christians leaving the local church but about false teachers who were no longer in fellowship with the apostles. And it seems these heretics were using their past association with the apostles as credentials to gain acceptance by the churches. This was the main reason John was writing, to warn about these men.

So when he said “they were not of us” did he mean that they never really were in fellowship with the apostles to begin with? He could not have meant this because then “they would have continued with us” would not make sense. The only way they could have continued in fellowship is if they had fellowship at one time. And if they had fellowship with them then they had fellowship with the Father and with the Son. So when “they went out from us” they must have been part of a larger group led by the apostles. Now it could be that these men were made to leave the fellowship; that they had been excommunicated through the discipline prescribed by Christ (see Matt. 18:15-20). But regardless, John wanted his readers to recognize that they were not true teachers because they no longer had fellowship with “us” and therefore were not sent out by them.

“They went out from us, but they were not of us.” The last part of this statement “of us” is also translated “belonged to us” (NIV). Yet a literal rendering of it is: “Out of us they came, but out of us they were not.” The same Greek preposition “ek” for “out” is used in both parts of the statement. Therefore, he was not saying that they never really belonged to that group or “of us” but that they were not sent out by that group.

Also, the last part of the verse is sometimes mistranslated: “none of them were of us” (NKJV); “none of them belonged to us” (NIV). Other translations get it right: “not all” (KJV, YNG, WEB); “they all are not” (ESV, NASB, RSV, ASV). It literally says “they are not all out of us.” It is not that none of them who left never really belonged to them but that not all of them who went out were sent out by them. This is crucial because if you hold to OSAS and that this verse supports it then you want it to say that none of them belonged. Because if it really means that those who left the church never were believers in the first place then it also means that this is not true for all of them. In other words, some who left really were believers thus disproving OSAS.

The entire verse literally says, “Out of us they came, but out of us they were not. For if they were out of us they had remained ever with us. But that they may be being made to appear that they are not all out of us.” John was saying that the way his readers would know these teachers were not sent out by the apostles is because they did not remain in fellowship with the apostles. Not all who came out from them were sent out by them because not all remained in fellowship with them.

In closing, this verse is not about professing Christians leaving the church therefore proving they were never saved to begin with. It is about false teachers who left fellowship with the apostles. Not all of them who went out from the apostles were sent out by them but only those who remained in fellowship with them. And fellowship with the apostles is fellowship with Jesus Christ and with the Father.

Why is there Evil in the World?

If you think about it, isn’t evil in the world necessary in order for us to be saved? The only way we could have been saved is for God’s own Son to come into this evil world and die for our sins. But what if there was no death? How would Jesus Christ have died for us?

Jesus was crucified by the hands of wicked men (Luke 24:7; Acts 2:23). But what if there were no wicked men in the world? Who would have crucified Him? There would have been nobody to plot against Him (Matt. 12:14, 22:15, 26:4, 27:1; Mark 3:6) or false witnesses to testify against Him (Matt. 26:60; Mark 14:56, 57). No angry mobs crying out for Him to be crucified (Matt. 27:22, 23; Mark 15:13, 14; Luke 23:21; John 19:6, 15). No soldiers to mock Him (Matt. 20:19; Mark 10:34; John 19:3), scourge Him (Matt. 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), and to cast lots for His clothes (Matt. 27:35; Luke 23:34; John 19:24). Simply put, the crucifixion would not have happened if there were no wicked people in the world to carry it out. And no crucifixion of Him means there would be no salvation for us.

What if there was no sickness and disease in the world? Then Jesus would not have healed the multitudes (Matt. 4:24, 8:16, 12:15, 14:14, 15:30, 19:2; Mark 1:34, 3:10; Luke 4:40, 5:15, 6:17-19, 9:11). Now some might argue that if there was no sickness and disease in the first place then Jesus would not have needed to heal anyone. But the miracles Jesus performed were necessary in order to prove He is the Messiah, the Savior of the world (John 10:25, 37, 14:11, 15:24; Acts 2:22). Being manifested to Israel and ultimately to the rest of the world by the miracles He performed was an integral part of our salvation.

God’s plan of redemption started from the very beginning (Gen. 3:15) and human history that followed, especially the history of Israel, was shaped according to this plan. What if God had not called Abraham out and made a promise to him and to his Seed Jesus Christ? Then there would be no eternal inheritance for the children of God. If there was no Abraham then there would have been no Isaac, Jacob and the entire nation of Israel. And since Jesus was born of the tribe of Judah, there would be no heritage for Him to be born into. Jesus will sit forever upon the throne of David (1 Kings 2:45; 2 Chron. 7:18; Psalm 132:11; Isa. 9:7, 16:5; Luke 1:32). But in order for there to be a throne to sit on, David had to rule over Israel. Therefore Israel’s monarchy as well as surrounding foreign kingdoms were necessary in order for God to carry out His plan. Why did God allow so many bloody wars and loss of innocent lives during Israel’s history? Ultimately it was to consummate our salvation. Christ came into the world at the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4). Everything had to be in place at the right time for Him to enter the world as a man and die for our sins.

Evil and suffering in this life are necessary for an infinitely greater good: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18). The greater good is so much greater than we can even begin to imagine. We are just so focused on the here and now that we can't see beyond it.

Is evil a necessary evil? As a part of God's plan of redemption, it seems to be. Evil people have done horrible things to others throughout the world's 6000 year history. But all of the pain and suffering pales in comparison to what will happen to those who die in their sins. God seems to have allowed pain and suffering in this present world in order to save us from far greater pain and suffering for all eternity. What we are enduring now is necessary in order for God to have saved us from our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Maturity of the Faith

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:9-13

Many claim that the "perfect" in this passage is Christ Himself because this understanding supports their belief that the gifts of the Spirit have not ceased; that they are still here today until He comes. But there are four reasons why the "perfect" cannot be Jesus Christ Himself:

1. The Greek noun “teleion” is in the neuter gender. Therefore Paul could not be speaking about any person.

2. “Teleion” can be translated as either “perfect,” “complete,” or “mature” depending on its usage. Here it should be translated “mature” because the context of Paul speaking about a child maturing into an adult clearly favors this.

3.The analogy of a child growing into adulthood is a gradual process that takes time while on the other hand Christ's coming will be a sudden event.

4. After the gifts would eventually cease, Paul expected Christians to continue walking in faith, hope, and love. Now if the gifts would not cease until Christ returns then why would we still need to exercise these traits after we are glorified in Him? “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). We walk by faith because we can’t see Him. Once we see Him we will no longer need to believe. “But hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” (Rom. 8:24). We only hope now because we don't see Him now. Also we are commanded to love because our sinful natures are inclined toward selfishness. Once we are resurrected at Christ's coming our very natures will be to love.

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” Ephesians 4:11-14.

In this passage, Paul actually tells us what the “maturity” is that will come. It is the faith. Did the apostles instantly assimilate all the details of the Christian faith on the day of Pentecost or did it come to them gradually over time? It is obvious from reading the book of Acts that it took time. One example is that for the first few years they did not evangelize Gentiles because they had not yet learned God’s will in this matter. Another is the Jerusalem council recorded in Acts chapter 15 where they had to decide necessary practices for the newly converted Gentiles. If they had all knowledge of the faith already then they would not have needed to meet.

Paul used the analogy of a child maturing into an adult in both the Corinthian and Ephesian passages. His point is that similarly in which a child grows into an adult, the full understanding of the Christian faith developed gradually as the apostles and prophets of the early church taught and gave new revelation. “For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” The full knowledge of the Christian faith did not come immediately but in parts. Every prophecy and every gift added to it. In fact, the New Testament itself was written in 27 parts. The completed canon of Scripture coincided with “the faith” finally reaching its maturity. Jude speaks of “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” And since the gifts of the Spirit were needed to deliver the faith, and the faith was delivered once and for all, then why would the gifts need to continue after this?

Now when Paul spoke of seeing “face to face” he was not referring to us beholding Christ at His return. This phrase was part of another analogy he used of looking into a mirror. We tend to miss his point because mirrors today give a very clear reflection but back then rather dimly since they were made of polished metal. He means that we see our own faces in a mirror distortedly but others see us clearly—looking at us face to face. So when the maturity has come then “I shall know just as I also am known.” I will see just as clearly as others see me. In other words, I have an immature understanding of the faith now which is like seeing my face in a mirror dimly but eventually I will have a mature knowledge which is like seeing face to face.

We might paraphrase what he was saying in the Corinthian passage like this: “The gifts of the Spirit are the means by which God is gradually revealing the Christian faith to our understanding. It is a process similarly to that of a child growing into adulthood. But mature adults do not continue to speak, think and act the way they did as children. Likewise the gifts will cease once our knowledge of the faith reaches the mature level God intends. Right now our limited understanding is like seeing our own faces dimly in a mirror but once we reach full knowledge then it will be as clear as when we see each other face to face. Though the gifts will cease at that point, faith, hope and love will continue. And the greatest of these is love.”

Now the argument will be made that because of the thousands of Protestant denominations, Christians today are not in unity as Paul said must happen; “till we all come to the unity of the faith.” But “the faith” is simply the foundational and fundamental doctrines of the faith that we all agree on, not our secondary beliefs that divide us. The fact is, if we take an average true believer out of every major denomination: one from the Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Church of Christ, etc. and join them into one group, there would be unity on the essentials. Just ask this eclectic group if Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are saved and we will get a unanimous answer of “No.” All true believers have an accurate “knowledge of the Son of God.” We agree on exactly who Jesus Christ is—this is the essence of true saving faith.

Some also may argue that reaching “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” is unattainable in our present state; it can only be reached after He returns and glorifies us. But Paul was not talking about us reaching the same sinless perfection as the Person of Jesus Christ Himself. He simply meant that our understanding of the faith was to reach the standard He set for us. And besides, will there be any “trickery of men,” “cunning craftiness,” and “deceitful plotting” in Christ’s Kingdom after He comes? No. A mature knowledge of the faith is what we need right now to stand against these things until He returns.

The faith was “once for all delivered to the saints.” The apostles laid the foundation (Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:10; Eph. 2:20; Rev. 21:14) which never needs to be repeated. Therefore the gifts served their intended purpose and then ceased.