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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Does a husband guide or lead his wife apart from a right example?

Does a husband guide or lead his wife apart from a right example?

Whether a husband or wife, a parent, a Sunday School teacher, a preacher or elder, or a brother or sister in Christ, none of us has the ability to bring greater spiritual help to others than what we practice ourselves (1Ti 4:12, 16)." TARGET="_blank">1Ti 4:12, 16). Can a husband who finds fault with the other believers in the assembly hope to help his wife feel comfortable in the company of those believers? Will an elder expect his wife to submit to the teaching of the elderhood (namely, the teaching of the Word of God) if she sees that his life is not spiritually consistent with the Word of God? Does a husband who will not submit to the Scriptures in one aspect of his life have any "weight" in helping his wife to obey the Lord? She could easily sense that his interest in her obedience is only for the sake of appearance, since reverence for the Lord hardly characterizes him.

Examples of humbly submitting to the Lord and delighting in His will and Word are the strongest influence for good in any believer’s life. Our steps provide much better guidance than our words, no matter how loud, strong, persuasive, or apparently sanctimonious they are (Mat 23:3, 13)." TARGET="_blank">Mat 23:3, 13).

D. Oliver
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Why did God speak through dreams?

Why has God communicated His message through dreams?

In general, God communicated truth through dreams when the Scriptures were not completed. In the future, He will also communicate through dreams to Israel, a nation which seeks signs (Matthew 12:39;" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 12:39; 1 Corinthians 1:22)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 1:22) and whose language is like Thomas’, "Except I shall see..., I will not believe" (John 20:25)." TARGET="_blank">John 20:25). Perhaps all recorded dreams relate to God’s earthly purposes for Israel and unfold His immediate plans. This may suggest another reason for God’s instantaneous communication by dreams to a completely passive (sleeping) individual.

God links dreams with prophecy: "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" (Joel 2:28)." TARGET="_blank">Joel 2:28). This will have its fulfillment during Daniel’s seventieth week ("the Tribulation"), when events in the prophetic Scriptures will unfold. No additional truth will be revealed, because the canon of Scripture is complete (2 Timothy 3:16, 17;" TARGET="_blank">2 Timothy 3:16, 17; Revelation 22:18);" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 22:18); instead, with prophetic authority, these "dreamers" will use language similar to Peter’s in Acts 2:16," TARGET="_blank">Acts 2:16, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." These dreams will not reveal new truth, but the fulfillment of what was previously revealed.

Solomon explains the normal source of dreams, "A dream cometh through the multitude of business," or, as a less literal translation (TCV) says, "Bad dreams come from too much worrying" (Ecclesiastes 5:3)." TARGET="_blank">Ecclesiastes 5:3). Most dreams, then, are an expression of the individual’s thoughts, happy or sad, optimistic or pessimistic, worrisome or encouraging. Dreams tell us more about ourselves than about God. Even dreams in which God speaks to the unconverted (Job 33:15)" TARGET="_blank">Job 33:15) may result from thoughts stirred by the Spirit during waking hours. Such dreams do not reveal truth, but impress it on the sinner.

D. Oliver
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What is the 70t week of Daniel? How long is the tribulation?

How soon will Daniel's 70th Week begin after the Rapture?

When the Church age, the parenthesis between the 69th and the 70th Week (Daniel 9:24-27)," TARGET="_blank">Daniel 9:24-27), is complete, the rapture will take place. The removal of Church saints signals the beginning of prophetic events related to Israel. Then Israel's prophetic clock will begin to tick. Daniel 9:27" TARGET="_blank">Daniel 9:27 indicates that the confirming of the covenant with many (Israel) for one week commences the 70th Week. The temple will also be rebuilt (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4;" TARGET="_blank">2 Thessalonians 2:3,4; Daniel 9:27)." TARGET="_blank">Daniel 9:27). These both imply a possible time lapse, although no specific time is mentioned. Recent world happenings in the political arena have taken place swiftly and unexpectedly. How quickly may such events occur after the Church is at home in the glory?

A. Hull

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Does God grant the believer the desires of his heart?

Does God grant the believer the desires of his heart?

"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart" (Psalm 37:4)" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 37:4) promises this. The promise, though, has a condition, "Delight thyself also in the Lord."

Faith is the result of the work of God in our souls. After all, why is faith being tried (James 1:3)" TARGET="_blank">James 1:3)? God is strengthening our faith. Therefore, when we ask for the desires of our heart, if that request results from what we have learned about God through His Word and through the trials He allows for our learning, He grants it. If our requests come from our own desires for comfort, self-fulfillment, pride, or whatever, they are not of God, not of faith, and not promised an answer.

Sometimes our God waits for us to rearrange our priorities. For example, a man might view marriage as a way to help him avoid inconveniences and overcome weaknesses. Through experience with God, he learns that the eternal value of a wife is to enable him to fulfill God's will, to learn more of God's ways, and to become more like Christ. When that adjustment of priorities takes place, he is actually looking for a different woman than he was at first. Now he is thinking in keeping with God's will. Now the desire of his heart is God's desire.

D. Oliver
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Were all the followers of Christ indwelt by the Holy Spirit before the day of Pentecost?

THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE DISCIPLES AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
Were all the followers of Christ indwelt by the Holy Spirit before the day of Pentecost?

The true answer is, not one of them was. No doubt, as we shall see, the Spirit was with them in a sense, but the Lord distinguishes between this and His indwelling, in John 14:17" TARGET="_blank">John 14:17: “He dwelleth with you and shall be in you.” But earlier we read, “The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39)." TARGET="_blank">John 7:39).
Later the Lord said, “It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I depart I will send Him unto you” (John 16: 7)." TARGET="_blank">John 16: 7). Does this mean that the Spirit had never been working on the earth before? No, far from it—He had, as we have seen, been always with His people, for we read of His workings throughout the Old Testament. He it is “Who moved (or brooded) on the face of the waters,” preparatory to the renovation of the earth (Genesis 1:2);" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 1:2); “who strove with men” (Genesis 6:3);" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 6:3); who filled His servants and came mightily upon them for special service, e.g., Bezaleel, Joshua, Samson, etc.; who moved holy men of God in the Old Testament to speak, and to write, e.g., David: 2 Samuel 23:2" TARGET="_blank">2 Samuel 23:2(see 2 Peter 1:21);" TARGET="_blank">2 Peter 1:21); and who was vexed with the rebellion of Israel (Isaiah 63:10)." TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 63:10). These various actions He performed as an Omnipotent and Omnipresent Divine Person. But it was later at Pentecost that He came down, Personally to indwell His people and baptise them into “the One Body,” and thus unite them to the Risen Christ in glory, in answer to the request of the Lord Himself.

W.H.

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I want to choose a career that pleases God. What should I do?

What guidelines can you give a young believer in selecting a career?

The Cretan’s poet described them as "lazy gluttons" (JND, "slow bellies," AV) in Titus 1:12." TARGET="_blank">Titus 1:12. Christian teaching directed them to "maintain good works for necessary uses" (3:14) Weymouth Translates this, "to set a good example in following honest occupations for the supply of their necessities." Paul wanted the Thessalonian believers "to work with your own hands.., that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing" (1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12)." TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12). Money is not the first consideration. These passages suggest some leading questions in deciding on a career.

1. Will this help my testimony?
2. Is this consistent with Christian ethics?
3. Is it honorable work (not a means to hastily acquired wealth, Proverbs 23:5)" TARGET="_blank">Proverbs 23:5)?
4. Does this career serve a necessary purpose for others?
5. Will it enable me to be financially responsible?

These questions filter through the many options and point to a broad field of choices.

The possibilities further narrow with more personal concerns.

1. Is this career a suitable use of my God-given abilities?
2. Will this allow me time for the most important priorities in my life (spiritual priorities, first)?
3. Will it limit my consistent participation in assembly life?
4. Will this enable me to win souls?
5. Do I know enough about this career to choose wisely?
6. Is this a reasonable fit with my personality?

The paramount concern is to know and do the will of God. All of these considerations are helpful only in the degree to which the believer undergirds his entire life with the sincere desire, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 9:6).

D. Oliver
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What is the chain of events when "the saints which slept arose"?

What is the chain of events when "the saints which slept arose"?

Christ commanded His spirit to depart. A divine hand sundered the temple’s veil from top to bottom. An earthquake opened graves. Sleeping saints arose. They exited their graves after Christ’s resurrection. They appeared to many in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:50-53)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 27:50-53). This spanned the three days of the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4)." TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 15:3, 4). But is Christ’s resurrection before or after the "sleeping saints arose"? If they rose when He died, they remained in the stench of corruption until the third day, alive in an opened sepulcher whose contents were visible to passers-by. Why these saints waited in the tombs and why they were not discovered (thus causing excitement in Jerusalem) are problems that make this interpretation unlikely. The grammar equally supports another interpretation: after Christ’s resurrection, these saints came back to life, exited their tombs, and appeared in the city. The punctuation in the KJV agrees with this sequence.

The order is consistent with the way the Lord raised Lazarus (John 11" TARGET="_blank">John 11:). The stone was rolled away and the grave was open; then Lazarus was raised. At the Lord’s death, the graves were opened, as though in anticipation that those bodies within would be brought back to life.

D. Oliver
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How distinct are the Persons of the Trinity - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

Are there three distinct Persons in the Godhead, to be distinguished from one another?

It is wise to be humble as we approach the high and holy subject of the Being of God. Any mere discussion of Him, before whom the angels veil their faces, the Three in One and the One in Three, should be guided by Him. We must not try to define or explain or measure where the Word of God is silent; in fact our wisdom is to limit ourselves as far as possible to the words of Scripture. We "cannot by searching find out God" (Job 11:7)," TARGET="_blank">Job 11:7), except in so far as He is pleased to reveal Himself.

God has never condescended to prove His existence, nor yet explain His mode of Being; but He reveals Himself in His Works and Word; and even then we need God the Spirit to teach us. The great truth of the Old Testament is the Unity of the Godhead. “The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4)," TARGET="_blank">Deuteronomy 6:4), and we believe this as strongly as any Jew or so-called Unitarian. But from the very first verse of Genesis we are made aware of a Plurality in that Unity. The word for “created” is in the singular, but “God” is a plural word— Elohim, though when this stands for strong ones or false gods, it takes a plural verb (e.g., see Exodus 32:4)." TARGET="_blank">Exodus 32:4). In verse 2 a Personal Being in the Godhead is differentiated: “the Spirit of God.” Then in verse 26 we read, “Let us make man in our image.” Later, in Exodus we become aware of another Person—the Angel of the Lord, to whom Divine honours are paid (chap. 23.20-22)—and yet He is distinct from Jehovah. In Matthew 3:1" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 3:1 the word “messenger” (“messenger of the covenant”) is in the Hebrew the same as “angel”. We are brought face to face with a Personal Wisdom possessed by Jehovah “before His works of old” (Proverbs 8: 22-31);" TARGET="_blank">Proverbs 8: 22-31); and in Proverbs 30:4" TARGET="_blank">Proverbs 30:4 we are asked, Who is the Creator and “what is His Son’s name?” Who then is this Angel of His presence— and Who this Spirit against whom Israel rebelled and Who was grieved with their ways? (see also Zechariah 12:10" TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 12:10 and Zechariah 13:7)." TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 13:7). Clearly even in the Old Testament there are in the Unity of the Godhead, three Personal Subsistencies.

In the New Testament this becomes clearer. In Matthew Jesus is identified with Immanuel—”God with us.” But “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son” is equally true, so that the Giver and the Given One are both God. Again in John 1:1" TARGET="_blank">John 1:1 we read “The word was with (or in relation to—pros) God, and the Word was God” and in V. 14, “the Word became flesh.” To Him at His baptism the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I sin well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 3:16-17). Later, He “by the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:14)" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 9:14) and then after the Lord ascended, the Father sent the Spirit, in His and His own name, to testify of Christ.

All who believe are to be baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28.)," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 28.), and to such comes the message, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14)." TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 13:14). “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18)." TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:18). We do not confound the Persons nor do we divide the Substance. There is a distinction in the Divine Functions. The Father preordains—determines “the times and seasons,” and gives the Son; The Son creates, redeems, intercedes; The Spirit calls, gives life, indwells. But those three Divine Persons are coequal, coeternal, co-substantial in the Unity of the Godhead.
W.H.

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Is the Spirit

Is the Spirit’s leading relevant to assembly meetings?

We worship by the Spirit (Phi 3:3," TARGET="_blank">Phi 3:3, JND); we work by means of the Spirit (1Co 12:4-7);" TARGET="_blank">1Co 12:4-7); we walk together with others by the Spirit (Gal 5:25)." TARGET="_blank">Gal 5:25). The Spirit’s leading is essential in every aspect of our assembly life and service. If our assembly meetings do not display the sovereignty of the Spirit ("the Lord the Spirit," 2Co 3:18)" TARGET="_blank">2Co 3:18) in directing them, we have nothing more than mere ritual and empty form. The substance, timing, and coordination of our worship, prayer, teaching, and preaching must result from the leading of the Spirit. This will be very limiting to those of us who know little of His leading in our daily lives.

D. Oliver
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