Questions and Answers
Perhaps surprisingly to some of our readers, the answer to all of these questions is, “No.” Let us understand. We read in Titus 3:4-6: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared… according to His grace He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit [which] He poured out on us ABUNDANTLY through Jesus Christ our Savior…” We read in 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His ABUNDANT mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We read in 2 Peter 1:10-11: “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will NEVER stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you ABUNDANTLY into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We read in Ephesians 3:20: “Now to Him who is able to do EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.… In our Q&A on the “law of jealousy,” we pointed out that this law was a “ritualistic procedure,” which is no longer applied in its literal sense today. We stated that “In Numbers 5:11-31, God gave Old Testament Israel a supernatural means of determining whether a wife had committed adultery or not, although she had not been caught, and no witness was present (Numbers 5:13). When ‘the spirit of jealousy’ came upon the husband, so that he suspected a transgression of his wife, the husband could bring his wife to the priest, and he had to bring at the same time the ‘grain offering of jealousy’ (Numbers 5:15)… The priest gave the woman ‘holy’ or ‘bitter’ water to drink, after she had denied, under oath, any transgression. God then saw to it, that her belly would swell, if she was in deed guilty.” In this Q&A, we are going to discuss further aspects which are relevant to that temporary ritual law, showing that it has still spiritual meaning for us today, even though its practical and literal application has ceased. That the practical application is no longer valid today, will become clear throughout this Q&A. It is Satan, and not God who… The astounding truth of the Bible is that generally, He does not hear, nor does He answer the prayers of just anyone. In fact, at this time and throughout human history, only a small proportion of people have had the kind of relationship with God in which their prayers would be heard by Him! In the very beginning messages of Jesus Christ, He taught about praying, and throughout His ministry, He continued to teach His own disciples how to pray. His example gives us an important key to God hearing our prayers, and what is recorded in the Book of Hebrews about Christ is vital for us to understand: “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:7-9). Note again what is stated, that Christ “was heard because of His godly Fear”! Jesus Christ’s prayers were heard by His Father. There… The Bible does indeed speak of God’s Kingdom in different ways. But as we will see, there is no contradiction, nor are there separate or distinct Kingdoms. Let us note several examples where the Bible speaks of the Kingdom of GOD: In Mark 10:15, 25 we read that we must receive and enter the Kingdom of GOD. Mark 14:25 quotes Christ saying that He will drink wine in the kingdom of GOD. He states in Luke 4:43 that He came to preach the kingdom of GOD. He adds in Luke 6:20 that the poor are blessed because theirs is the kingdom of GOD. In Luke 7:28 He explains that everyone who will be in the Kingdom of GOD will be greater than any human being, including John the Baptist. (Human beings—flesh and blood—cannot inherit the kingdom of GOD, compare 1 Corinthians 15:50. As long as they are flesh and blood , they cannot enter it. They must be changed, compare verses 51-54. They must be born of water and Spirit, to be able to enter the kingdom of GOD, compare John 3:5. As long as they are not born of the Spirit, they are flesh (verse 6), and unless born again, they… Ephesians 4:11-12 states the following: “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…” Even though “teachers” is listed together with the offices of the ministry, including apostle, prophet, evangelist and pastor, what was the original intent of this passage and the inclusion of “teachers”? Looking at the qualifications of a bishop (literally, an overseer) or an elder (compare New International Version) will help us to clarify this issue. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 states: “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop [“elder,” New International Version], he desires a good work. A bishop [“elder”] then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behaviour, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest… This question is related to the issue of “single procession” or “double procession” of the Holy Spirit, which is hotly debated in orthodox Christianity. For instance, while the Roman Catholic or Latin Church believes and teaches that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, the (Greek) Orthodox Eastern Church believes and teaches that it only proceeds from the Father, but that it is given through the Son. As both Churches believe in the concept of the Trinity (one God in three Persons, erroneously believing that the Holy Spirit is a Person), their explanation of the procession of the Holy Spirit is, by necessity, flawed. When Christ was here on earth as a human being, it was the Spirit of God the Father which dwelled in Him. Prior to His human conception, the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11)—as well as the Spirit of the Father—dwelled in God’s prophets and others in Old Testament times, and subsequent to Christ’s resurrection, both His Spirit and the Spirit of the Father dwell in converted Christians who are called to salvation. Let us first see that it was the Holy Spirit of God the Father which dwelled in the human being, Jesus Christ,… God created marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This would exclude, for instance, marriage relationships between two men, or two women; nor would it allow polygamy. In the booklet, “‘In the Beginning…’ Answers to Questions from Genesis,” by the Worldwide Church of God, copyright 1980, the following is stated about polygamy: “God never approved or sanctioned the practice of polygamy. He did permit it in the law of Moses–just as He allowed divorce because of the hardness of man’s heart (Matt. 19:8). Nevertheless, according to the Bible, the ideal marital state is one husband and one wife who become one flesh in marriage for life. God gave Adam one wife (Gen. 2:24). Jesus also said that from the beginning it was God’s will that a man leave his parents and cleave to his wife–not wives–and the two of them would become one flesh (Matt. 19:4-9). In the New Testament, a minister or a spiritual leader is to set the right example and have only one wife (I Tim. 3:2). In addition to the scriptural admonition, polygamy is against the laws of the United States and most other countries. Romans 13:1-7 states that Christians are to obey the… In Exodus 6:2-3, God states the following to Moses: “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the LORD [YHWH or Yahweh; some translate erroneously as Jehovah. The expression “Eternal” is perhaps the best rendering in the English language to convey the correct meaning]. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by My name LORD [YHWH] I was not known to them.” The Authorized Version says: “… but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” Compare also Exodus 3:14,-15, where God reveals Himself for the first time to MOSES as “the LORD [YHWH] God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, And the God of Jacob.” He identifies Himself as “I AM WHO I AM,” and adds that “This is My name forever.” The passage in Exodus 6:3, as translated in the New King James Bible, poses a big problem, as God was most certainly known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as others, by His Name LORD (ETERNAL) or YHWH. We read about ABRAHAM (then still called Abram) in Genesis 12:8: “… there he built an altar to the LORD [YHWH] and… In our Update #479 (dated 11th February 2011; Q&A: “Are You God’s True Church?”), the specific question was asked: “Every splinter group or offshoot of the Worldwide Church of God claims to be God’s true Church. What do you say of yourselves?” The answer concluded with this statement: “We believe that we are part of the Church of God—the body of Christ—which is a spiritual organism. We do NOT believe that we are the ONLY group comprising the Church of God. At the same time, we would like to encourage you to study our literature in order to determine whether we belong to the remnant of the Philadelphia era, or whether we are part of the church of the Laodiceans. You may want to review our Statement of Beliefs at: www.eternalgod.org; www.churchofgodacf.ca; www.globalchurchofgod.co.uk; and www.aufpostenstehen.de.” There does seem to be a lack of understanding when a leader, members, or both, claim that their particular Church of God fellowship or group is the only true Church of God and that one has to belong to that particular Church organisation to be protected from harm during the Great Tribulation and to inherit eternal life. Let us first of all… Some believe that the Bible teaches that at the time of Noah, angelic beings produced giants through sexual intercourse with women. In fact, this belief is wide-spread and sometimes referred to as the “most controversial concept” in the entire Bible. Proponents refer for proof to Genesis 6:1-4. This passage reads: “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose… there were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” Note, first of all, that the Bible does NOT say that the giants were the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men. The Ryrie Study Bible states: “The giants were on the earth before the marriages of Gen. 6:2, and were not the offspring of those marriages.” Some translations wrongly imply that the giants were the offspring of those marriages…Is our salvation assured, or is it a big question mark in God’s eyes? Did He only give us a small measure of His Holy Spirit which may just barely enable us to overcome and inherit salvation?
Why is the “Law of Jealousy” no longer valid, and are there any spiritual lessons which we can derive from it?
Does God hear everyone’s prayers?
Why do we read about the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the Father, and the Kingdom of Christ? Are these separate and distinct Kingdoms?
Does Ephesians 4:11-12 indicate that “teacher” is an ordained office or rank in the Church?
Is the Holy Spirit, which dwells in converted Christians, the Spirit of the Father or of Christ, or of both?
What does the Bible say about marriage prohibitions?
How are we to understand Exodus 6:2-3?
Can you elaborate on the Church being a spiritual organism?
Did angels have sexual intercourse with women and thereby produce giants?
