Could you explain "captivity to the law of sin," Romans 7:23?

Could you explain "captivity to the law of sin," Romans 7:23" TARGET="_blank">Romans 7:23?

Four laws are in the passage.

   1. "The law of God" is spiritual, holy, just, good (verses 12,14), While the law cannot justify (3:20), in chapter 7 Paul demonstrates that the law cannot sanctify.
   2. "The law of my mind" (verse 23) consents that the law of God is good (verses 16, 18).
   3. "The law of sin" is a principle which opposes the expression of God's law in the life (verses 17-20), even though the inward man delights in it (verse 22), and the mind of the individual willingly desires to comply with it. Frustration and failure confront him at every turn. Thus hedged in, he finds himself taken "into captivity" as a prisoner of war by this sin principle in his members. The problem lies within self: "but I am carnal, sold under sin" (verse 14). Carnal self cannot be controlled by even a spiritual law. Deliverance is found alone through the resources of the risen, glorified Jesus Christ our Lord (verse 25).
   4. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (8:2).

W. Skates

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Does Mark 16:16 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation?

Does Mark 16:16" TARGET="_blank">Mark 16:16 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation?

In Acts 10:47," TARGET="_blank">Acts 10:47, Peter commanded people to be baptized who had already received the gift of the Holy Spirit. According to Romans 8:9," TARGET="_blank">Romans 8:9, those who have the Spirit are born of God (John 3:6)," TARGET="_blank">John 3:6), so the new birth is independent of baptism. Being "born of water and of the Spirit" (v. 5) therefore cannot refer to baptism. The Greek construction could be translated, "born of water, even the Spirit." This is consistent with John’s explanation of the Lord’s words in 7:39: rivers of living water symbolize the Spirit.

Further, the New Testament presupposes that obedience characterizes those who are saved (Romans 6:17;" TARGET="_blank">Romans 6:17; 1 Peter 1:14)." TARGET="_blank">1 Peter 1:14). Since in Acts 10" TARGET="_blank">Acts 10 Peter commanded believers in Cornelius’ house to be baptized, we should rightly expect every believer to be baptized. Mark’s gospel emphasizes that actions substantiate truth (1:27; 16:20), therefore those who believe will demonstrate their faith by obedience.

A more cogent response, though, may come from observing that Mark 16:16" TARGET="_blank">Mark 16:16 describes two classes of people: those who believe and are baptized; those who do not believe. A third possible classification, those who believe but are not baptized, is not mentioned. Some of the many passages stating that those who believe (with no mention of baptism) are saved include Acts 16:31;" TARGET="_blank">Acts 16:31; Romans 10:10;" TARGET="_blank">Romans 10:10; John 3:36; 5:24; 6:47; 20:31." TARGET="_blank">John 3:36; 5:24; 6:47; 20:31.

D. Oliver
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If a sister meets with the elders, should her head be covered?

If a sister meets with the elders, should her head be covered?

When elders meet to receive help from the Word of God regarding their responsibilities (Acts 20:17-35)" TARGET="_blank">Acts 20:17-35) or to make decisions regarding the care and direction of the flock, a sister should not be present. It is a meeting of elders. When the elders meet with a person to shepherd him (in this case, her), to hear how the individual was saved, or to discuss that individual’s coming into the fellowship, a sister who is present is expected to talk with them. If she is not expected to be silent, she should not be expected to wear a covering. These two truths are united in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 11:2-16 and 14:34, 35, both being in the section of 1 Corinthians that deals with assembly gatherings.

D. Oliver
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Is Jesus Christ inferior to His Father?

Does the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of the Second Person of the Divine Trinity involve inferiority or subsequence to the Son?

It is on such strange affirmations that the deniers of the Eternal Sonship of our Lord rest their theories, and is exactly what the arch- heretic, Anus, rested on to deny the deity of the Son. But what is eternal cannot be subsequent to anything, and what is divine cannot be inferior to anything, and the Son partakes of the whole Divine Essence equally with the Father and Spirit. Really Anus was more subject to the Scriptures than the present-day deniers we refer to, for he saw that the Lord’s Sonship, as prior to His incarnation, was so clearly revealed in the Word of God that it could not be denied. His only escape from the dilemma he had manufactured for himself was then to deny the Lord’s deity. He was exceedingly exalted, but because He was clearly said to be the only-begotten Son, and that long before He came into the world, there must have been a time when He was not begotten, and therefore did not exist.

By the mercy of God the followers of Mr. J. Taylor do not, up to now, deny the deity of the Lord; therefore they must invent another loop-hole of escape: the Lord was only Son as the result of incarnation. It is really fortunate that Anus is not still in the flesh, for one would tremble for this whole company in face of his sophistries, to which they seem to have some strange affinity. It is hard to conceive of men, with any pretence to weighing the words of Scripture, being satisfied with the reasonings they allege, involving as they do the modelling of the Divine and Eternal relations in the Godhead on the human and temporary expedients of earthly relationship. The human relations of any father and son, involve, so they assert, inferiority in the son, therefore the Divine relations of Father and Son must also involve inferiority in the Son, as though anyone thought of the eternal generation of the Son in terms of the human. It is a complete reversal of the true order of things.

Sonship in its highest possible human development, that is where all thought of even a conventional inferiority of the son has passed from view, is only a faint shadow of the Eternal and Divine Sonship, where neither subsequence nor inferiority could have ever existed. When the Lord claimed in John . 17, to have worked also, as the Father (“My Father worketh hitherto and I work”), the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because such words could only mean that, by speaking of Himself in the same breath with God as His Father, He did clearly assert His equality with the Father, and our Lord accepted the inference, while asserting that such equality did not preclude subordination for mutual purposes. If the Lord was only Speaking of a relation established on the earthly plane at Bethlehem, then, according to these teachers, He would not have been equal to His Father and proves by their own showing that He was speaking of Divine relationships existing before His birth. It is surprising that any Christian teacher should fail to differentiate between eternity and the divine on the one hand and time and the human on the other, and try to import into the former, ideas attaching to the latter.

W.H,

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Should I help match my friend with a girl friendl?

Is matchmaking helpful, wise, and Scriptural?

No. Cultural means of bringing a man and woman together differ widely. Our Western ways wouldn’t countenance a father’s sending his servant to find a wife for his son, as Abraham did for Isaac. As different as that scenario was, the common denominator is in the servant’s words, "I being in the way, the Lord led me" (Genesis 24: 27)." TARGET="_blank">Genesis 24: 27). The most important factor in bringing believers together is God’s leading. Matchmaking is God’s work. He is much wiser and more able in this work than we. Better than parents and closest friends, He knows what matching personality will most effectively contribute to His plans for each one.

Well-intentioned matchmakers may injure one or both of the "matched" individuals. The more God-honoring approach is to pray faithfully for both the man and woman involved.

D. Oliver
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Are there varying degrees of punishment in the Lake of Fire?

Do Scriptures such as Luke 12:47-48" TARGET="_blank">Luke 12:47-48 and Revelaion 20:12 teach that there are degrees in punishment for the wicked dead?

Revelation 20:12" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Luke 12:47-48" TARGET="_blank">Luke 12:47-48 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

These scriptures certainly do teach degrees of punishment. The former passage especially lays down what is doubtless a general principle of God’s dealings in judgment, namely, that the punishment varies, not so much according to the amount of evil inherent in the act itself, as according to the amount of knowledge of right and wrong possessed by the sinner. It is worthy of note that “the servant which knew” is beaten with many stripes, merely for not doing things he should have done, i.e. for sins of omission; while “he that knew not” gets his few stripes for wrong things done by him, i.e. for sins of commission. Another passage in which the same principle is strongly emphasised is Matthew 11:20-24," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 11:20-24, where Christ pronounces woes on the cities in which He had preached most, and in doing so says that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon, and even Sodom in the day of judgment than for them.

W.R.

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Is the head covering a symbol to teach the angels?

Is the head covering a symbol to teach the angels?

The passage simply states that a woman "ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels" (v. 10, ESV). If we confuse this passage with Ephesians 3:10," TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 3:10, we might add to it the thought of teaching the angels.

Elect angels are very aware of the value of accepting the sphere of responsibility God has assigned to them. This is the principle of headship. They see this principle expressed in the woman’s head covering and appreciate it.

D. Oliver
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Is the Gospel Hall similar to the group The Church of Christ?

Greetings. I found your site while searching for an ESV/KJV parallel Bible. I looked at your description of "Gospel Hall" and found the teaching not too dissimilar from the Churches of Christ is some respects. Am I missing something?

Don

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In some respects yes, the Church of Christ and the Gospel Hall both hold to doctrines about the church that are based on the example of the early believers in Acts and the teachings about the church in the Epistles. The name of the church comes from the Bible, not a denomination. The manner in which the meetings are conducted is also taken from the Bible. For example, the breaking of bread is done regularly; the women are silent in the meetings; the singing is for the congregation without instrumental accompaniment; there are elders in each congregation accountable to each other etc. etc.

However, the people I have met from the Church of Christ usually point to their baptism as when they were saved. Although all of the people at the Gospel Hall, if they are part of the fellowship, were baptized as believers, they don't depend on their baptism to make them saved. Instead, they have a moment sometime earlier in their life when they realized how their sin made them condemned before God and that Christ did all the work to save them from eternal fire. At that time they received Christ as savior and received the assurance of eternal life. "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life, but he that does not believe on the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." (John 3:36)." TARGET="_blank">John 3:36).

You can see some examples of this salvation moment at the Personal Stories section of the page. For example:

Rosa and her Son Jesus find Christ

At the Church of Christ, Acts 2:38" TARGET="_blank">Acts 2:38 is the basis of security of the believers - "Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins".

So while the two groups agree on many aspects of the church, they are preaching two completely different messages in regards to salvation: Should one have faith in Christ's work alone or trust in one's obedience in baptism and doctrines of the church?

In matters of the doctrines of the Church, we believe that although they are important, they are not what make the determination for having eternal life. A person will go to heaven trusting in Christ's death for sins even if he gets other doctrines wrong.

In regards to interpreting Acts 2:38," TARGET="_blank">Acts 2:38, we would teach that Peter wanted his audience to repent in order to be saved and then to be baptized as a way to tell the world that they had just been saved. Repenting and being baptized are mentioned in the same breath in this sermon which leads one to ask the question "Are both a requirement for salvation?" However other scriptures clarify that a person is saved through faith and then demonstrated through what he does later. For example, Peter in a sermon one chapter later (Acts 3:19)" TARGET="_blank">Acts 3:19) says that repenting and being converted are the proper responses to the message of the cross. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out..." Why not mention baptism if it is essential?

For more views about what is taught about salvation, see the section: FAQs about Salvation

Shad Sluiter
Postville, IA

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Should a believer be baptized before joining the fellowship of believers?

Why is it some assemblies will not admit believers to the Lord’s Table, until they have been baptized? Is this scriptural?

The question ought, I judge, to be reversed. Why do some assemblies admit believers who have not been baptized? It can hardly be questioned that baptism was ordained by Christ Himself as the initial rite in the Christian life. “Go, disciple the nations, baptizing them (i.e., the disciples when made), in (or into) the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 28:19). “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:15-16)." TARGET="_blank">Mark 16:15-16). Accordingly, in the Acts a profession of faith in Christ in one form or another was always followed by baptism, e.g., “Many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized” (Acts 18:8)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 18:8).

The twelve disciples of Ephesus, having been wrongly baptized, were re-baptized in (eis) the name of the Lord Jesus. There is not a single case mentioned of an infant being baptized. Baptism ought undoubtedly to be put before all candidates for fellowship. With young converts there is rarely any difficulty, but when we come to older Christians seeking fellowship, who have perhaps formed part of some evangelical denomination for a number of years, the case is more complicated. Many such firmly believe they have been truly baptized, either as children before faith, or by sprinkling after faith.

The question then arises whether it can be right altogether to refuse fellowship to such undoubted believers, who seem unable to see the need for “rebaptism.” I judge that such passages as 2 Chronicles 30:18;" TARGET="_blank">2 Chronicles 30:18; 1 Samuel 21:6;" TARGET="_blank">1 Samuel 21:6; Numbers 28: 9," TARGET="_blank">Numbers 28: 9, etc., with our Lord’s comment on the last two passages in Matthew 12:3-7," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 12:3-7, shew that there are cases where God’s strict order may be modified by special circumstances. “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.” Each case, however, must be judged by spiritual men, who will surely have wisdom from God how to act; but certainly there should be no reception into the local fellowship without this question being raised.

W.H.

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What is Confirmation?

What is Confirmation?

Confirmation is one of seven sacraments performed in some churches including Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches. In some instances the sacrament of confirmation is a ritual where a youth becomes a full member of the church. Sometimes a person is given a special name, often of a saint. Confirming one’s faith is a way of declaring that the person is a Christian who understands and accepts the beliefs of the faith.

One would look in vain to find anyone in the Bible practicing the ritual of confirmation as seen in many churches today. We don’t begin life as a Christian and then confirm it at a ceremony. Instead of CONFIRMING someone as a Christian, the Bible’s message of salvation begins with CONDEMNING us as sinners. Romans chapter one two and three making it quite clear that nobody is righteous – that is nobody is a Christian as they begin life, regardless of how religious of a heritage they may have. Therefore, the only fact that can be confirmed in a person is that they did NOT begin life as a Christian – they are sinful and need to be saved.

Romans 3:9-23" TARGET="_blank">Romans 3:9-23 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, (10) as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; (11) no one understands; no one seeks for God. (12) All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (19) Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. (20) For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin… For there is no distinction: (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

There are plenty of people found in the Bible who declare their faith in Christ receiving Him as their savior. These people acknowledge their guilt and then trust Christ as a Savior. The confirmation of one’s salvation that is Biblical is found in the fact that trusting Christ is sufficient to know that one has eternal life.

1 John 5:9-13" TARGET="_blank">1 John 5:9-13 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. (10) Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. (11) And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (13) I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

Shad David Sluiter

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