Bethany Bible Church

Day: January 19, 2010

  • 1 John 1:9

    A visitor to our website writes:

    Would you give a short explanation of I John 1:9?

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    If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, NKJV)
    Dear friend,
    I believe that the best way to understand verse 9 is by seeing it in the light of the verses that surround it.  Verse eight says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  That tells us that we are sinners in need of forgiveness from God; and that we would be kidding ourselves if we denied that fact.  Verse 10 says something similar; but in it’s case, the focus is on the person of God Himself: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”  God Himself has testified that we are sinners (Romans 3:9-20; also Romans 3:23); and really, the fact that He sent His Son to die on the cross on our behalf is loud and clear proof of that fact!  And so, the first step toward entering into genuine fellowship with God through His Son Jesus is to admit the truth—that we are sinners and are in need of a Savior.  As John says in verse 9, “But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (v. 9).
    You can look at it this way.  One of the things that would most hinder our entering into a deep friendship with someone would be by our offending them or hurting them in some way, and then refusing to admit the truth about it.  We’ve all experienced that to some degree.  Similarly, one of the things that most stands in the way of someone entering into fellowship with God is a refusal to admit the truth about their condition before Him; and to acknowledge the truth about the harmful nature of the sin in their lives.  When they read the Bible, or they hear the scriptures preached in a sermon—and as the Holy Spirit uses such means to show them the truth about the sin in their lives—they dismiss it.  They let themselves off the hook.  They say that they’re not so bad; or that other people are way worse off than they are; or that those things aren’t really a problem—just “mistakes”.  But the word “confession” means, literally, to ‘say the same thing’ as God says about our sin.  And that’s what we need to do about our sin—say the same things that God says about it; and treat it as seriously as He treats it.
    And that’s how we begin to walk in the light as He is in the light (verse 5-7).  Once we admit the truth, we stop hiding from His moral spotlight and we step into its beam and allow the sin in our lives to be exposed for what it really is (see John 3:18-21).  And the wonderful promise God makes for us in the verse you have asked about is that, when we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive those sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  God doesn’t simply ignore the punishment that is due to us because of our sin.  All of the guilt for our sin was placed on His Son Jesus as He hung on the cross; and Jesus received the total punishment for our sins on our behalf.  So God the Father is utterly just in forgiving us; because the debt was paid in the full.  And He is utterly faithful to do so; because He was the One who sent His Son to pay the debt for us.
    I believe that the way we apply this verse in our lives is through prayer.  When we stumble into sin, or if the Holy Spirit brings to our recollection some sin that is keeping us from a full relationship with the Father, we must “confess” it to Him.  We must admit to God in prayer what it was that we did—and name it as “sin”.  We must admit the truth—that it was a sin so grievous to His holy character that it made the death of His own Son necessary.  And we must then place all our trust in what Jesus did on the cross for us, thank the Father that Jesus died in our place, trust in His full forgiveness, and—in His strength—turn from that sin.  Once we do so, we can move on and grow in fellowship with Him.
    Blessings,
    Pastor Greg
    Bethany Bible Church
    (All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)

  • Accountability

    A visitor to our website writes:

    “In the case of a person who was born prematurely, and that has mental disorders that cause them to not fully understand what is going on; are they competent enough to be held accountable before God on the Day of Judgment?  Most of their emotions are due to their disability.”

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    Dear friend,
    When I think of a question like this, one of the first things that comforts me with respect to the Day of Judgment is that our great God will always prove to be a righteous and just Judge.  The Bible teaches us that He is a “God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He” (Deut. 32:4).  “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).  In the end, when all of the facts are known and all of the judgment of God completed, He will prove to have judged everyone in a completely faithful and righteous manner.  He will have accurately taken all things into account, will have rightly measured the motives and intentions and limitations of people, and will always render a judgment that is fair and just.
    Because that’s true, I also take comfort in the fact that He is a God of great mercy.  Psalm 103:13-14 says, “As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.  For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”  He knows and understands when someone truly loves Him and is genuinely seeking to live for him; and yet who also suffers under physical, mental, and emotional limitations.  He will always take those things into account in a compassionate and gracious way.
    As a just Judge, He holds us accountable to the degree we are genuinely “competent”.  Some people can only know a little about Him, for example, because they were born in a part of the world in which the Bible had not been given.  They may only be able to see the creation and know that He is the Creator.  They may not have heard the full exposition of His commandments, or heard the message of the gospel.  But they will not stand accountable for what they did not know.  They will be held accountable for walking in the light of the truth that they had.  As Paul writes in Romans 2:12-16; “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.”
    I would also add that even if a person was suffering from the disabilities you mentioned, they would still need to place their trust in Jesus Christ and believe on Him with the best understanding they have.  All of us, no matter who we are and what limitations we may have, were born of Adam and Eve and are sinners.  We all need to be saved from our sins; and there is no other Savior than Jesus Christ.  And when it comes to the matters of everyday life; if such a person were intellegently aware of ways that they may have sinned or caused harm to someone else, they are obligated to the best of their ability to confess their sin and trust in Jesus for forgiveness.  Certain mental or physical limitations may cause us to be more prone to fall into certain sins, or to more easily say things that are hurtful to others; but if we are aware that we have done so, we still need to ask forgiveness from God and from others, and trust God for help.
    Praise Him!  He is not only the righteous Judge of all; He is also the great Helper of the helpless!
    Blessings in Christ’s love,
    Pastor Greg
    Bethany Bible Church
    (All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)

  • Children's Salvation

    A visitor to our website writes:

    “I am 19 years old.  I am also a wife and mother.  Before my husband and I got married we had twin girls.  My husband and I are both Christians and we are concerned about the children being saved.  We were concerned particularly about Deuteronomy 23:2.  Can you please give us some insight on this?”

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    Dear friend,
    Thank you for writing your question to me.  I have no doubt that your daughters are very precious to you (and I assure you that they are precious to God also); and so I can only imagine how concerned this question must have made you.  I’ll do my best to answer it.
    First, let me assure you of something that you didn’t ask about–but I suspect still needs to be said.  It seems clear that you recognize that the circumstance you and your husband were in before you got married was not in accordance with God’s will.  But if you have both confessed your sins and have trusted in the cross of Jesus fully as God’s payment for those sins, He has fully forgiven you both.  God’s word says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  Once we’ve done that, we can do as Paul said; “. . . [F]orgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
    In Christ, God does not lay your sin upon you, your husband, or your daughters.  I have several married Christian friends who have come from situations like the one you described; but having embraced the forgiveness of God through faith in Jesus’ cross, they went on by God’s grace to live fruitful lives of service to Him.  Not only are their marriages a testimony to God’s grace today; but their children are too!
    I just wanted to start off by assuring you of that.

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    Now for the Bible verse you asked about.
    In the New King James Version, Deuteronomy 23:2 says; “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD.”  These are words that the Lord gave to Moses to speak to the children of Israel just before they entered into the promised land.  It’s important to remember that they were spoken to a particular people in a particular situation.
    God’s purpose in giving these words was to stress to the Israelites the absolute necessity for holiness in all of life.  This was essential to God’s plan for them; because they were to be an outstanding people above all other peoples on the earth.  It would be them (as it says in Romans 9:4-5), “to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God.  Amen.”  Many of the laws and regulations that we read that God gave to them at this time in history were laws and regulations that were meant to keep them a very holy and distinct people on the earth.  Those laws and regulations don’t necessarily pertain to all peoples; but specifically to the Jewish people entering the promised land, who then constitute “the assembly of the LORD”.
    What’s more, the law that God spoke to the people at that time concerning those of “illegitimate birth” had to do with an earthly situation–that is, the “earthly” assembly of the Jewish people in its decisions and leadership of the nation.  It was concerned with the holiness of that assembly, and probably also with their national purity as a distinct people born of Abraham and from whom the Messiah would come.  But it has nothing to do with someone’s ultimate spiritual condition, or whether or not they may enter into heaven.  After all, “illegitimacy” is a condition that someone is born into apart from anything they themselves actually did.
    There is a great hero in the Bible named Jephthah.  He was a mighty man of valor; but he was also born as the son of a harlot.  Because of his illegitimate birth, he was excluded from the assembly of his people (Judges 11:2).  And yet, later on–when his people were in danger and needed a leader–they called on him (vv. 6-11).  Chapter 11 of Judges goes on to tell us that the Spirit of God came upon him, and he was used greatly by God to deliver his people from their enemies.
    Being born in illegitimate circumstances does not prohibit God from pouring His grace on someone and using them for His glory.  My advice is to simply raise your two daughters to love the Lord Jesus Christ and to give themselves to Him by faith.  Pray for them.  Take them to church.  Teach them about His love.  Let them come to Jesus; because the Bible assures us that He gladly welcomes them (Matthew 19:13-15).  Your little girls are as free to come to Jesus and be saved by Him as anyone else is.
    Thanks; and God bless you and your family.
    Pastor Greg
    Bethany Bible Church
    (All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)

  • Non-Christian Marriages & Adultery

    A visitor to our website writes:

    “As a Christian, I have been struggling to find the answer to this issue.  If someone has sexual relations with a woman or man that is married, it is considered adultery.  But what if that marriage is between two non-Christians and is not recognized in the eyes of God?  ie. civil ceremony, etc.  Would that still be considered adultery?”

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    Dear friend,
    First, let me begin by suggesting that it’s an error to assume that a marriage between two non-Christians is not recognized in the sight of God.
    Jesus was once challenged by the Pharisees with the question, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” (Matthew 19:3).  I think it would be fair to say that the Pharisees who asked this question were NOT believers in Jesus.  What’s more, the entire debate they were having was because there were some who wanted to know whether or not they could put away their own wives without guilt.  Jesus answered them by saying, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate” (vv. 4-6).  They went on to ask why Moses had commanded that a certificate of divorce be given to one’s wife and that she be put away.  Jesus answered, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery” (vv. 8-9).
    My point in citing these statements of Jesus is that (1) they were spoken to unbelievers; and (2) they treat marriage as sacred in the sight of God–even in the case of those who are unbelievers.  Similarly the apostle Paul, when he writes to the Corinthians about marriage issues, speaks of a situation in which a believer is married to an unbeliever; and he treats that marriage as being as valid and inviolable in the sight of God as a marriage would be between two believers (1 Corinthians 7:12-16).  In teaching these things, the Scriptures infer that a marriage between two unbelievers is just as much a marriage in the sight of God as is a marriage between two believers.
    So, to answer your question; the violation of a marriage between two unbelievers absolutely constitutes adultery.  A civil ceremony is a non-religious marriage ceremony that is not entered into in the context of a church; but it is still a legal marriage from the standpoint of the state.  This would also be true in the case of “common-law” marriages; which eventually become legal marriages from the standpoint of the state, and which then cannot be terminated except by a legal divorce.  Since such a marriage is recognized by the legal authority of a state, God calls us to honor it as a full marriage in His sight in that we are to honor Him by honoring the laws and authority of the state (Romans 13:1-6).

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    Now; suppose a man and a woman are in a relationship with each other that is NOT a legal marriage in any respect–either in the sight of God or in the eyes of the state.  Let’s suppose we’re talking about a live-together situation.  If someone in that relationship were to have sexual intimacy with some third party, it obviously would not be called “adultery”; since a covenant bond of marriage had not been violated.  But it would still be a sin.  It would be a sin by a different name–“fornication”.  (The live-together situation itself, by the way, is also “fornication”.)
    It’s helpful to think of marriage as a circle.  Sexuality has God’s blessings and approval so long as it occurs between one man and one woman within the commitment of that circle.  When someone outside that circle steps in and has sexual relations with someone in that circle, that is called the sin of “adultery”.  But when someone who is not at all within the “circle” of marriage has sexual relations with someone else who is not at all within the circle of marriage, that is called the sin of “fornication”.  And both are violations of God’s standard of marriage.  What’s more, both sins equally receive the warning of His judgment.  Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”
    I would say that it would be best to ask the question, “What is the situation that God has clearly placed His blessing upon sexuality between two people?”  And the answer is clear and exclusive: life-long, legal marriage between one man and one woman.
    In Jesus,
    Pastor Greg
    Bethany Bible Church
    (All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)

  • Genesis 48:5

    A visitor to our website writes:

    Could you please tell me why in Genesis 48 verse 5 why Israel tells Joseph that Ephraim and Manasseh are his?

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    Dear friend,
    The old patriarch Jacob had been given twelve sons; and now in the passage you referenced, as he lay sick and dying in Egypt, he speaks some of his closing words of blessing to his beloved son Joseph. He strengthens himself on his bed and, among other things, says; “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’ And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine” (Genesis 48:3-5, emph. added).
    It’s important to remember that Jacob had thought that he had lost Joseph. Back in Genesis 37, Joseph’s other brothers had sold him into slavery in Egypt (which, of course, was in the hand of God to preserve the twelve tribes during a time of famine; Genesis 50:20). Now that he sees that he didn’t lose Joseph after all, he formally adopts Joseph’s two sons as his own and gives them a blessing among his other sons.
    The reason that Jacob was motivated to do this may have been because of his deep love for his deceed wife Rachel. Jacob had only two sons through her—Joseph and Benjamin (35:24). He particularly loved Joseph because he was the son of his old age (37:3). And so, as a memorial to his wife Rachel (who had died giving birth to Benjamin), and probably out of gratitude that Joseph had been returned to him, he claimed Joseph’s two sons as his own.
    Whatever Jacob’s motivation may have been in this, however, God’s providential hand was clearly seen. There was no tribe in Israel called by the name of “Joseph”; and the tribe of Levi was not given an inheritance of land in Israel. So, the two half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, together with the others, constituted a full twelve tribes with the possession of land (see Numbers 1:5-16).
    Jacob also demonstrated a faith that God would bring him and his family back to the land of promise after their time in Egypt was over. Blessing them as he had blessed his other sons suggested his confidence that they would have an inheritance of land given to them on their return—which, of course, they did.
    Blessings in Jesus’ love.
    Pastor Greg
    (All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)

  • Levi the Tax Collector

    A visitor to our website from Korea writes to ask:

    Would the Levi, the tax collector, in the chapter 5 of the Book of Luke be a descendant of the tribe of Levi, a son of Jacob in the
    Old Testament? The people of the tribe of Levi was supposed to work as priests or at least some attendants in the temple, weren’t they?

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    Dear friend,
    Greetings; and thank you for writing.
    The name “Levi” (which means, “attached”) came originally from the man Levi who was born to the patriarch Jacob by Leah. Leah was often in competition with her rival, Rachel (who was Jacob’s other wife) for her husband’s love. When the ancient Levi was born, Leah said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me” (Genesis 29:34)—and that’s how he got his name.
    And you are right—the decendents of ancient Levi was the tribe that served in the ministry of the temple. Ancient Levi’s descendent Aaron (the older brother of Moses), along with Aaron’s sons—was appointed by God to serve in the priestly role. So, it may be that Levi the tax collector was named after Levi the son of Jacob. But the fact that Levi the tax collector was named “Levi” doesn’t necessarily mean that he was of the tribe of Levi. We don’t know anything about the tax collector’s ancestry except that he was Jewish, and that he was born of a man named Alphaeus (see Mark 2:14).
    A tax collector, in Jesus’ day, was a Jewish man who collected taxes from his own Jewish kinsmen on behalf the gentile Roman government. He made his living by collecting not only the required revenue appointed by the Roman government, but by also collecting a percentage above the required amount as his own cut. Such man was considered to be a notorious traitor to his own people. It would be hard to imagine that a man of the priestly tribe (the tribe of Levi) would have done such a thing; but it’s not impossible either. (See Judges 17:7-13 for a story of an ungodly Levite.) In the end, we simply don’t know.
    You may find it interesting that this man Levi is the same man who wrote the Gospel of Matthew. When the other gospel writers tell the story of how Jesus called him to become one of His disciples, they use a different name for him. Mark and Luke, in their gospel accounts used the name “Levi” (Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32). But when they listed him as one of the apostles, they used the name “Matthew” (Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15). Many people in the Bible had two names; and so, when Mark and Luke wrote of his ministry as an apostle, they chose to call him by his more familiar name “Matthew”; but when they told the story of his being called while a tax-collector, they used his lesser-known name “Levi”. Perhaps they did this out of respect for his apostolic ministry; and out of a desire to protect his ministry from the scandal of his notorious past.
    But Matthew didn’t hesitate to use his name. In telling his own story in Matthew 9:9-13, he told the story of his sinful past as “Matthew”. In fact, even when he included his name in the list of apostles, he identified himself with his sin by writing it out in bold letters: “Matthew the tax collector” (Matthew 10:3). He had been a very notorious and very despised sinner in the sight of his Jewish kinsmen. But he was a sinner that Jesus loved. He was a man that Jesus called to Himself, and that He pardoned and cleansed, and that He placed into his service, and made into one of His own twelve ambassadors to the world, and to whom He gave the privilege of penning the longest and most “Jewish” of the four gospels.
    Thanks again for your note; and blessings in Jesus’ love,
    Pastor Greg Allen
    Bethany Bible Church
    (All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version.)