Truth Magazine

By Stan Cox

In our two previous articles, we answered the questions, “Who are elders?” and “What is the role or work of elders?” In doing so we showed that the concept of elders as taught in the pages of The Examiner is a plain perversion of New Testament Scripture. In this final article we answer the question, “Do elders have authority?”

Once again The Examiner finds itself in direct conflict with plain Bible teaching. One article representative of their error was found in the July 1987 issue of the magazine. The title of the article is “Do Elders Rule?” written by Dusty Owens. Amazingly, the entire article is taken up in an attempt to explain away certain passages of Scripture which plainly teach the authority of elders. He quotes Hebrews 13:17, which states, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” His explanation of the verse? King James had his translators use such strong terms so that he could control the people through the church. This is just an example of the weak argumentation used by Holt’s group. Additionally, he quotes 1 Thessalonians 5:12, “And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.” His answer to that verse? I quote, “Definitely, ‘over you’ is a biased translation of proistemi.”(1) He makes similar objections to the translation of 1 Timothy 3:4-5, and 1 Timothy 5:17. All of these words were “mistranslated” by the scholars who did the work. No wonder many of The Examiner writers and readers study from a translation prepared by one in their own group. Their doctrine simply does not jibe with what God’s word actually says.

The Scriptures stand on their own. Look at 1 Timothy 5:17, “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.” Look also at the parallel between the leadership an elder is to exercise in the local church with that in his own home. A parallel is found in I Timothy 3:4,5. “One who rules is 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?)” The most ludicrous thing in the entire article quoted above is that Dusty Owens denies this verse indicates a man has authority in his own household. Not that it should surprise us. If he is going to explain away the authority an elder has in the local congregation, then he must also explain away the authority a father has over his own children. If this passage teaches that a man has authority over. his own children and they must submit to that authority, then it teaches that an elder has authority in the local church. The parallel in the verse is obvious. And that is why he is put in the ridiculous position of denying the authority of the father in this verse.

Very quickly, I want to address a passage writers for The Examiner commonly abuse in an attempt to prove that elders do not have authority. It is found in Matthew 20:25-28. Here Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” The context indicates that Jesus was addressing a problem the disciples were having with pride and a desire for preeminence. The mother of James and John asked that Jesus give them a place of importance and power so that they might have prominence in the kingdom of God. She wanted for them to be sitting up there with Jesus on his throne, and to be more important than the others. This was very obviously wrong. Note this well, Jesus was not condemning authority in this text, but rather the abuse of authority as well as the lust for power that the disciples were guilty of at this time. It was the lust and abuse of authority to which he referred when he named the Gentiles. To deny that authority exists because of this passage would be to deny that Jesus himself had authority. Don’t forget the last part of this verse, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Jesus came to serve, but that does not make his statement untrue when he said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” A parallel can be stated with regard to elders. They are appointed to that office to serve, not to abuse their authority. That is what Peter is addressing in 1 Peter 5, when he states, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” Peter is not in this passage denying that elders have authority. Rather he is observing that they do indeed have that authority, and in having it, they must be very careful not to abuse it.

Any verse which uses the term “oversee” or “shepherd” indicates authority. When a man is appointed to serve as an elder, the “appointment” in and of itself carries with it the power or authority to carry out the work assigned. We understand this in secular matters. When a congressman is elected, he is a servant of the people. That does not change the fact that he has been empowered by his election with the authority to write laws on behalf of the people. It is inherent in his office. When a judge is appointed to the bench, he arrives with the authority to carry out judgments over criminal or civil cases. Elders too have authority intrinsic in their appointment. Believe you me, if God established that office, and he did, he will give the men who serve in that work the power to fulfill their God-given responsibilities.

Writers and followers of The Examiner doctrine are fighting against God. They are trying to explain away what is plainly taught in the Scriptures. They reject common and accepted scholarship with regard to translations and definitions. They develop long and twisted logic to escape the import of plain Bible passages. Their argument is not with us, their argument is with God!

Endnote

1. “Do Elders Rule?” The Examiner, Vol. 11, No. 4 (July, 1987), p. 9.

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 9, pp. 266-267
May 7, 1992

 

By Lewis Willis

In our worship recently, we sang “Jesus Paid It All.” This old song has stirred the hearts of God’s people for many years. The melody is almost as beautiful as the thought it expresses. I was especially touched by the words of verse 3:

For nothing good have I

Whereby Thy grace to claim

I’ll wash my garments white

In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

There is absolutely no basis upon which men any of us – can automatically lay claim to God’s grace. None is so great, so important, so good that he deserves the outpouring of God’s favor upon him. The Psalmist wrote in Psalms 14:3: “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Paul quoted this verse in Romans 3:10. Shortly afterward, he wrote: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Honest men confess that it is exactly as the Scriptures say – we are all guilty of sin. Our sins alienate us from God (Isa. 59:1-2). The curse of death is pronounced upon us by reason of our sins, and we are powerless to do anything to change our condition before God. If sinful man is to be saved, it will have to be accomplished by someone or something other than ourselves. And, that is where Jesus enters to change this hopeless scene.

Notice several Scriptures that address what God and Christ have done to save us: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lk. 19:10). “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9). “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). These are well-known passages to most of us. They tell us the basis upon which salvation from sins is available to us. Certainly it is not our works that save us. It is our “works” that have brought us unto condemnation. If we are saved, it will be God who saves us, through Christ Jesus our Lord!

The verse of the song we are considering sets forth the profound truth that we can be purged from our sins when we are washed in the blood that was shed on Calvary’s cross. David wrote: “Purge me. . ., and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa. 51:7). This is the same message that is found in Revelation 7:14: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” There is no cleansing from sin except it be by and in the Blood of Christ, the Savior.

This raises the interesting question: “How do I reach the blood of Christ that cleanses me?” Some think that man reaches the blood of Christ by “accepting Jesus as his personal Savior,” and by reciting the sinner’s prayer. The Bible nowhere teaches such! It does, however, tell us how we come in contact with the blood of Christ. All of us know that he shed his blood in his death, at the hands of the Romans and the Jews, at Calvary almost 2000 years ago. The Word of God teaches us how we can reach that “death” in which his blood was shed in the long ago. Listen to the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:3-4: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

I realize that most preachers will not tell you this. Either they do not know the Truth about how men contact the blood of Christ or they do not believe it or they refuse to teach it. Whatever the reason, scores of people are being denied forgiveness, because modern preachers are not teaching the Truth that the death of Christ, in which he shed his sincleansing blood, is reached when we are baptized into his death. This is a sad circumstance – and it is so unnecessary!

These false teachers often protest that if one has to be baptized to reach Christ’s blood, then salvation is by man’s works, and not by grace. Again, these people are not telling the Truth. It is absolutely true that man is not saved by his own works, or by works of merit. Paul taught as much: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). However, and this is the point that modern preachers do not seek to know, or else will not admit, baptism is not a work of human merit – it is an operation or a work of God! Note Colossians 2:12: “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Paul says that baptism accomplishes its purpose because it is “an operation of God.” The New King James Version says it is “the work of God.” Baptism is effective because God makes it work! Therefore, by baptism we reach the death of Christ. We need to reach his death because that it where his blood was shed. We need His blood to cleanse us from our sins.

The song we are considering says that we have done nothing whereby we might claim God’s grace. We are simply washed in the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God when we obey his Word and are baptized into his death. In that sense, “Jesus paid it all – All to him I owe!” Have you been cleansed by His Blood? Have you been baptized as his Word requires? If not, let me urgently ask that you obey him while yet you can. The day is coming when it will be too late for you to obey him?

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 9, p. 257, 279
May 7, 1992

By Robert F. Turner

God created man in his own image: capable of choice, with a moral (ethical) capacity. He was given a “sense of ought”: the recognition of ethical right and wrong according to some standard. This was necessary so that response to God’s standard could make man compatible with his Maker: good by choice “from the heart,” rather than a robot, subject only to animal instinct.

This “sense of ought” is the conscience, and it results in what is sometimes called “moral law.” One’s moral capacity should not be confused with Christ’s “love God . . . love neighbor” (Matt. 22:37-40): the foundation and summation of all stipulated laws. Moral capacity (some call it “law”) is universal in that all accountable beings are affected by it; but it is not a specific code of conduct, exclusively related to any particular period of history. In childhood its standard is received from parents and early associations, then honed and developed by each one’s experience. As one has access to the revealed will of God and respects the same, conscience is adjusted accordingly (1 Cor. 8:7-12).

In the absence of specific revelation, conscience respecting things of God is directed by that which is apparent in the world about us. Paul tells us man may “know” the 4geternal power” and “deity” of God by that which is revealed in the created universe. This knowledge imposes two obligations: to “glorify” (look up to, be humbled in his presence), and to be “thankful” (to recognize our dependence on him). No man, in any period of history, is exempt from these obligations.

When men of old failed to respond to these obligations: “did not like to retain God in their knowledge,” the conscience was seared. “God gave them up” to all sorts of sin (Rom. 1:19f). It is not revealed specifically what God would do for those who responded positively to primitive knowledge, but the history of God’s dealing with man suggests that doors to further information would be opened. Examples: Noah, Abraham. There were “prophets” of God in early days.

We do know that God deemed man sufficiently equipped to be morally responsible; and the access all men have to moral principles (good conscience) is enough that condemnation of their sin is just. That is the message of Romans 1-2. In addition to rudimental “mores” of men (Hammurabi code, Egyptian Book of the Dead) it is also clear that God gave some men specific and positive precepts – build an ark, sacrifice upon an altar, etc. Eventually, in the gradual unveiling of God’s will for man, a special nation was formed (Israel) through which “God with us” would come, and give the complete and final revelation. In this process, God “suffered,” and “overlooked” conduct that would later be condemned (Acts 14:16; 17:30; Rom. 2:4; 9:22), and his toleration must not be construed as approval of such conduct today (Matt. 19:8-9).

It is not wrong to designate dispensations (Patriarchy, Judaism, Christianity), but the laws or stipulated will of God (expressions of his nature) in any “dispensation” can not save man from sin (Gal. 3:21). They are “weak through the flesh” (Rom. 8:3), i.e., none keeps law perfectly. They only serve to show the direction God would have man go – the character God would have him build. Later instructions differ from the earlier ones according to God’s progressive revelation of himself, “precept upon precept, line upon line,” until all was complete. Since “all sin” (Rom. 3:23), they serve to identify sin (Rom. 3:20; 5:20; 7:7,13) and bring man to God for mercy (Gal. 3:24).

Jesus Christ (God with us) was and is the final revelation of God to man (Heb. 1:1-2). His word will judge us in the last day (Jn. 12:48). Just as all men have always been subject to all they could know of God’s will – and the truly submissive man gladly seeks and accepts all he can know of God’s will – all men are now subject to the will of God expressed in Jesus Christ. The conscience of a true Christian is “set” or adjusted by knowledge of that will – he has God’s final law written in his heart (Heb. 8:10; 2 Cor. 3:3).

Our previous ignorance, or reliance upon statements from the twilight or moonlight ages of revelation, cannot change the responsibilities imposed upon us by knowledge of the perfected will of God. When we become judges of the law rather than doers (Jas. 4:11-12), we forfeit the salvation of mercy and forgiveness provided in Jesus Christ.

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 9, p. 261
May 7, 1992

By Michael Garrison

And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (1 Tim. 3:16).

The phrase “without controversy” means there is and can be no doubt. No one should have any doubt about Jesus Christ being the Christ. He fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:17-18).

But, did he really fulfill all the Law? In Luke 24:44-48 we have the answer: “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise form the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Joseph P. Free reports, “There are three hundred and thirty-two distinct prophesies in the Old Testament which have been fulfilled in Christ.” He said, “The chances of all of these prophecies being fulfilled in one man are so overwhelmingly remote that it is strikingly demonstrated that they could in no wise be the shrewd guesses of mere men, but were given by God to holy men who ‘spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit’ (2 Pet. 1:21)” (Archaeology and Bible History, 284).

The title of this article is “The Mystery of Godliness.” The word “mystery” means “that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those who are illumined by His Spirit” (W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words) So, the prophets and apostles revealed that which was once a mystery. The mystery is that God was “manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. ” Let us examine each part of the “mystery of godliness” which is so important.

God

This means deity. The subject of this verse is Jesus Christ. He is God! John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:1, 14). The apostle Paul informs us that though Jesus was “in the form of God, (He) thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion of a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:6-8).

In Hebrews 1:8, God the Father calls his Son, God! And in Acts 20:28, we learn about “the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood, ” which is a clear reference to Jesus the Christ.

Yes, Jesus is God – He is not the Father, but God the Son.

“God Was Manifest In The Flesh”

Jesus was manifested – or made known – in the flesh. God the Son took upon him human flesh. See Philippians 2:6-8 again. In human flesh, Jesus became able to understand what it is like to be human. We are told in Hebrews 4:15 that “we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. ” So, Jesus knows what it is to suffer in the flesh, because he humbled himself unto God the Father and came to earth in fleshly form.

“God Was Justified In The Spirit”

“To justify one means to declare and prove him to be what he claims to be, and to disprove all false accusations that may be made against him” (E.M. Zerr Commentary). Jesus was once and for all time “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). Also, read Acts 13:26-39.

“God Was Seen Of Angels”

Angels have always had an interest in things pertaining to man’s salvation. Peter wrote, “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven: which things the angels desire to look into ” (1 Pet. 1:10-12).

Angels were present at various time while Christ was on the earth. In Matthew 4:11, after Jesus was tempted by the Devil, “angels came and ministered unto him. ” In Luke 22:38-43, as a result of his prayer to the Father before his betrayal, false accusations, crucifixion, and death, “there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. ” On the day of His resurrection, “the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it” (Matt. 28:2). So, Jesus was indeed “seen of angels!”

“God Was Preached Unto The Gentiles”

Jesus is the Savior of all who will obey his gospel. Jesus instructed his apostles, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:19). By the time Paul wrote to the saints in Colosse, he could tell them that the gospel “was preached to every creature which is under heaven – (Col. 1:23). So, the Jews and Gentiles had an opportunity to learn what to do to escape ungodliness and worldly lust.

“God Was Believed On In The World”

As the apostles went everywhere preaching the gospel, many believed and obeyed the gospel. In Thessalonica, when the gospel was preached, “some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas” and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few” (Acts 17:4). When the unbelieving Jews realized what was happening, they went to the rulers of the city and said, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6). So, many people were believing the saving gospel and Jesus was being believed on in the world.

“God Was Received Up Into Glory”

After Jesus had made it possible for sinful humans to escape ungodliness and have sins washed away in his blood (Rev. 1:5), he returned unto His Father in heaven. In Acts 1:9, the apostles saw Jesus “taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” This fulfilled Daniel 7:13-14: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. So, He went back to glory (Jn. 17:4-5).

In light of the six items above, no one has any excuse for not believing and obeying Jesus Christ. Do you believe? Have you obeyed? If not, why not do so as soon as possible? If you have fallen away from God, why not return to Him in humble obedience? He wants to save you and everyone else.

Guardian of Truth XXXVI: 8, pp. 244-245
April 16, 1992