Category Archives: Uncategorized

Puritans & Pilgrims in Massachusetts, Uncategorized

The Pilgrims and the Puritans in New England

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I. Introduction: From the Storm Resulting from the Reformation Emerged Separation of Church and State
II. John Calvin’s Beliefs about the Relationship of Church and State, His Influence in the Colonies upon the Issue and the Impact in America; John Knox’s Beliefs on the Subject
III. Old World Patterns of Church-State Union Were Transplanted to the Colonies through the Puritans, Episcopalians, and Others
IV. The Story of the Pilgrims Who Arrived in America in 1620, the Mayflower Compact
V. The Theology and Goals of the Puritans Up to Their Arrival in America in 1629
VI. The Theology and Goals of the Puritans in America
VII. The Results of Puritan Theology in Massachusetts Soon Came to Fruition
VIII. Organizing the Church State “Theocracy” in Massachusetts Colony
IX. Punishing Every Sin and Persecuting “Heretics”
Appendix to “Punishing Every Sin and Persecuting ‘Heretics'”: Continuing Legislation, Persecutions of “Heretics,” Baptist Churches in Boston, and Other Matters
X. The atmosphere in Massachusetts begins to shift toward toleration and even freedom of tolerance; the second Massachusetts charter which provided for freedom of conscience to all Christians except Papists was secured in 1691; nonetheless, only in Boston was freedom of conscience honored; forced establishment remained in Massachusetts until 1733

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Christian Issues, Heresy and Apostasy

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The apostasy of churches worldwide and now in America was foretold in the Bible. Therefore, it should not alarm the true believer. For studies on this apostasy, see The Bible Doctrine of the Church. The articles linked to here, for the most part, show the extremes of the apostasy in America. Many churches are on the path to apostasy, even though they have not reached the depths of depravity revealed in many of these articles. There are many avenues toward the apostasy. One is church legal entity status such as non-profit corporation, charitable trust, unincorporated association, charitable trust, and 501(c)(3) or 508(c)(1)(A) tax exempt status. By taking one step that dishonors the Lord Jesus Christ, the bridegroom of the church, a church has started down the path toward apostasy.

Rising Anti-Christian Sentiment Finds Its Way to Finland (083123)

The father of a “gay Christian” activist changed churches when his home congregation rejected his son’s views on homosexuality. When asked about these words of Jesus, he commented that there were other churches he could go to, but he had only one son. (REUTERS/Alvin Baez)

Sorry, But We Won’t Rewrite the Bible for Gays and Lesbians (062616)(“… In response to my open letter to Isaac Archuleta, who describes himself as a bisexual Christian, Richard S. posted a lengthy comment on my personal Facebook page, including this statement: ‘The logical conclusion to your theology (gays can change and if they don’t it must be because they don’t have faith or are deceived) is extremely damaging to the souls of gay people. That was the point of Isaac’s letter. No amount of nice words will erase the damage. Only honest reconsideration of your theology will bring healing. Please don’t discount/deny the faith of your gay brothers and sisters. They have much to contribute to the church.’ …” [Good article, but I do not agree with everything the author states such as “[W]e don’t say or believe that if gays don’t change “it must be because they don’t have faith or are deceived”.”)

Virginia Passes Legislation Forcing Churches to Allow “Transgender” Males into Women’s Bathrooms (04720)

The Fall Of The Boy Scouts – Lessons For The Church (022020)

Links to selected articles concerning the apostasy (browse down to “A. Articles” for more thorough listing):

For good source of Christian news, books, etc. go to Way of Life.

  • evilpastors
    Click the above image to go to the article, “Welcome To Post-Christian Protestantism Where Liberal Feminist Pastors Rule (022619).”

The following article chronicles the total apostasy and chaos in some “American churches.” Sadly, most churches in the U.S. are somewhere along the road headed in that direction, if not already there: Chaos In The Church: Non-Binary Deacons, Drag Shows & Transgender Baptisms. See also, Church: Out with George Washington, In With ‘Mother’ God.

Most “Christian” preaching and activity – from politics, to lifestyle, to “church organization,” to prayer, to “worship (including music, actions, preaching, etc.), to witnessing, to “soul winning”) dishonor the Lord and actually cause unbelievers to blaspheme the name of Christ. The following illustrates this: 

‘Star Wars’ Nativity Scenes? In Churches? (121315)(In February 2014, I wrote on the influence of Star Wars from the perspective of a lawyer in The Force Is All Around Us – Even In Our Courtrooms.)

After some introductory statements, you will find the latest articles on “Christian Issues, Heresy, and Apostasy.” Here is a sampling:

Jesus was not politically correct. Political correctness is anti-freedom.

Pew: Reformation theology waning among Protestants (091517)(Google “more Protestants believe like Catholics” for more articles)
On The Road To Post-Christian America? (101315)
Progressive Christians Want Jesus But Not The Bible (021210)
Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Goes Full Heretic (04_2015)
Presbyterians Become The Silly Church (062114)
Mainline Churches: The Real Reason For Decline (March, 1993)(I will give you the real reason-“churches” abandoned the truths of the Bible and lost the power of God.)
The Presbyterian Church Is Dying A Slow Death After Abandoning Biblical Orthodoxy (01_16)

Once churches begin to compromise–for example, by incorporating (corporation sole or aggregate), getting 501(c)(3) tax exemption, etc.–a downhill slide has begun for those compromising churches. As pointed out in Section VI of God Betrayed, after the United States Constitution was ratified, churches (even many of those churches which had fought long and hard in the spiritual battle in the colonies for religious freedom) began to run down to get incorporated. That compromise in their love for the Lord Jesus Christ began a slow downhill slide (See God Betrayed, Section II for more insights on heresy and apostasy in American churches).

In this section, I will be posting articles on the apostasy in American churches. Simply click the links below to read the listed articles. Perhaps your church is not yet apostate, but are you somewhere along the path to apostasy? Have you denied your Lord by becoming a state church through non-profit incorporation (includes corporations sole – See, Critique of “Church Freedom and the Corporation Sole” Website), 501(c)(3) or by becoming a legal entity and state church in some other way such as unincorporated association or utilizing an Ecclesiastical Law Center legal trust which renders a church a legal entity (See, Ecclesiastical Law Center Exposed)? Have you violated – by your beliefs, preaching, and/or actions – principles in the Word of God either ignorantly, or purposely; and have you justified your actions based upon pragmatic and/or other arguments. Have you acted with unholy motives such as fear, covetousness, greed, power, pride, the desire to have and run a successful organization, etc.? If so, you are on the road to apostasy.

Click the image above to go to the article “Is Separation of Church and State Found in the Constitution?”

God is a God of mercy and grace. Even when Israel decided they no longer wanted to operate as a theocracy under God and insisted upon a king (See I Samuel 8), God granted their wishes after warning them of the consequences. Even though they grieved Him, God told Israel that He  would bless the nation if they would keep His commandments and statutes. Israel was now operating under God’s permissive, as opposed to His perfect, will. Even though Israel had committed a wicked act, God promised that He would still bless thim if they loved Him and followed His commandments and statutes (See I Samunel 12). The story of the road to and arrival at total apostasy in Israel followed as recorded in the Old Testament. When Israel, and then Judah and Israel after the split, had a good king (Judah has eight good kings and Israel none after the split) that nation was blessed by God. When either had a bad king, bad consequences as foretold by God, followed. Inevitably, Israel became totally apostate and the only remedy was judgment.

The same principles apply to the apostasy in the church. Much is said about apostasy and the coming apostasy of the church in the New Testament. All these issues are covered in some detail in God Betrayed.

Click to see where compromise has taken many American “churches”: John McArthur: Mainstreaming Paganism in the Church

For great sermons click here and then scroll down to “4. False Religions: Roman Catholicism, Hebrews Roots, Islam, Masonry, etc.”

Some Youtube videos which expose heretical teachings:

Unchecked apostasy will lead one to the largest “church” in the world. That church rejects Jesus but embraces all other religions. Click the following to hear more about this from one of the apostate leaders, Oprah Winfrey: What Oprah says about God.

REPROBATES: From Such Turn Away (Joel Olsteen, Robert Tilton, Paula White, T.C. Jakes, Leroy Thompson, Rod Parsley, Ed Young, Jr., Mike Murdock, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Myles Monroe, Particia King, Benny Hinn, Rick Warren, Robb Bell, Paul Crouch, Mike Murdock)

REPROBATES: From Such Turn Away, Part 2 (Kenneth Copeland, Frederick K. Price, Todd Bently & wife, “Pastor” Laura White, Jesse Duplantis, Joseph Price, Joel Olsteen, Tony Palmer, Ed Young, John Hagee, Robert Schueller, Rob Bell, Brian McClareen, Gloria Copeland, etc.) My question: How could anyone fall for these heresies?

Youtube teaching by Brian Moonan: JOSEPH PRINCE (of this world) FALSE SPIRIT EXPOSED

A. Articles

[As of 051715, emphasized articles are in red below. Before that date, emphasized articles are at the end under:B. Featured Articles until 051715]

UK Youth Groups And Sunday School May Come Under Government Monitoring (121115)(Google: UK Youth Groups And Sunday School May Come Under Government Monitoring for more articles.)
Why Are So Many Christians Biblically Illiterate? (021016) (Google: Why Are So Many Christians Biblically Illiterate? – for more related articles)
Pastor: Christianity Irrelevant If It Continues Quoting The Bible (021715)
Bigger May Not Always Be Better – Some Megachurches Struggling With Commitment (021616)
Exploring the Megachurch Phenomena: Their characteristics and cultural context (1993)
Christianity’s New Mission Field: Muslim Refugees (021616)
Progressive Christians Want Jesus But Not The Bible (021210)
Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Goes Full Heretic (04_2015)
Presbyterians Become The Silly Church (062114)
Mainline Churches: The Real Reason For Decline (March, 1993)(I will give you the real reason-“churches” abandoned the truths of the Bible and lost the power of God.)
The Presbyterian Church Is Dying A Slow Death After Abandoning Biblical Orthodoxy (01_16)
Too Little Too Late? Anglican Church Tries To Reverse Apostate Trend (012716) 
Apostate Christian College “Talks” With Professor Who Believes Muslims Worship The Same God As Christians – Does Not Ask Her To Resign (122715)
Democrats Think Christians Bigger Threat Than Muslims (122815)
You Could Be Fined 250,000 Dollars If You Offend A Transgender Woman In New York City (122815)
Guns In Church? FEMA Helps Churches Prepare For ‘Active Shooter Incidents’ (122015)
No Religious Preference For Refugees? Obama Stunner: 31 Christians VS. 2,000 Muslims (122715) 
Christian Couple Charged With “Radicalism and Indoctrination;” Lose Children (112715)
Chrislam Invades Wheaton Bible College – Non-Muslims Encouraged To Wear Islamic Head Scarf (121615)
Universities Unraveling – Higher Education Needs A Higher Purpose (120915)
Hello, Hezekiah! Archaeology and Biblical History Come To Life (121515)

‘Star Wars’ Nativity Scenes? In Churches? (121315)

The Burden Of Damascus – Russian S400 May Speed Up Prophetic Timeframe (121415)(Those who correctly divide Scripture understand that Russia and an alliance will attack Israel and be defeated. This would be an impossible outcome should God be left out of the equation. However, He wrote the equation. He will defeat Russia and those who go against Israel. Everything will come about how and when foreknown by God.)

Christians Continue To Debate Pros And Cons Of Megachurches (122315)(For true, wise, knowledgeable, and understanding Christian, there is nothing to debate – the Bible settles it.)
Vatican Under Fire For No Converting Jews Policy (121315)
Christians See Parallels Between Rise Of Islamic Terrorism And End Times (122315)
Sliding Down the Censorship Trail (122115)
Christian Love Gone Wrong – “I’m a Christian and I LOVE the Qur’an” (121815)
79% Of Evangelicals Believe ‘Violence Across The Middle East Is An End Times Sign’ (120515)
Hanukkah Holds Hidden Secrets To End-Time Prophecy (120515) 
Christian Growth & Persecution In India (112415)
Christian Refugees Left Out In The Cold (091015)
It’s Official: ‘Homophobia’ Now A Mental Disorder! (112215)(Not. I am secure enough in the Lord to know better. First, I don’t fear sodomintes; I just know that God judges nations who are overrun with sodomy and other sexual sins – they always go together.) 
The Great Falling Away – Evangelists Shying Away From Preaching Repentance (111715)
Evolution Hoax: Despite Attempts At Secularization, Americans Still Believe In Genesis Account (112015) 
Christians Are At War With One Another As Americans Leave The Church In Droves (110415)(The title is incorrect. It should read “church goers” are at war with one another as Americans leave their religious organizations (their religious social clubs) in droves. There is a very small remnant of true believers and a very small remnant of New Testament churches.)
Christianity Faces Worldwide Decline (110315)(By the way, Catholicism is not Christian).
Activists Press For Mandatory ‘Gay’ Lessons For Kindergarteners (103015)
Feds To School Girls: Transgender Rights Supersedes Your Right To Privacy (111315)
Christians Fight Back After Toronto Ban At Music Festival (102915) 
China Ramping Up Persecution Of Christians () Modern Day “Molech” Clergy Say Women Have Right To Kill Babies (091315)
Equality Act Creates LGBT Rights Everywhere! (Revealed: LGBT Nuclear Bomb Against Churches)(102315)
New Astronomy Findings Challenge Big Bang Theory (020915) 
Losing Hope – More States Considering Legally Assisted Suicide (020415)
Reaping Liberalism – Drop In Attendance Forces Anglican Church To Only Open Some Churches On Holidays (102015)
‘Christian Hating’ Group To Advise Feds On Violent Extremism (101815)
Muslim Converts To Christianity Risk All For New Faith (101415)
More Parents Turning To Homeschooling (073115)
On The Road To Post-Christian America? (101315)
Dark Times Come To Nepal – Conversion To Christianity Banned, Christian Missionaries Told To Leave Country (100515)(Much Christian attention has been directed towards persecution from Islamic jihadist groups such as ISIS. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the threats of persecution against Christians are actually multi-faceted and extend far beyond the reach of Islamic extremists alone.)
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2015/October05/054.html#VBggA8HoJboVI7UV.99
GPS Tracking Of Children – Conditioning The Next Generation For Big Brother And 666 (100515) 
Lesbian Bishop: ‘Remove Crosses From Church’, Add Muslim Prayer Room (100515) 
More Christians Discovering Biblical Beliefs Could Cost Them Their Jobs (093015)
Pope Francis Embraces Chrislam And Lays A Foundation For A One World Religion (092715)
Outspoken American Christians Finding Themselves Placed On Travel Restrictions To Australia and Canada (100115)
Top U.S. Companies ‘At War With Religious People’ (092715)
Obama Throws Christian Refugees To Lions (092415)
Christian Man Fired For Sharing Faith Based Film With Lesbian Co-Workers On Facebook (092215)
ISIS Using Churches As Torture Chambers, Forcing Christians To Convert Or Die (092115)
The Canaanites, Child Sacrifice And Abortion (092015)
Corporations On Attack Against Christians (091915)
UCSB Teaches Students To Reconcile Faith With Homosexual Behavior (091815) 
‘Blood Moons’ Discoverer Fires Back At ‘End Of World’ Claims (090815)
Mega’ Agenda 21 Resurrected With Pope’s Help (083115)
At A Berlin Church, Muslim Refugees Converting In Droves (090415)
How I Dumped The Mega-Church Model And Found Something Bigger (090415)
From This Point Forward, Christians Are Going To Be Banned From Holding Many Jobs In America (090615)
Why Trump Is Triumphant With Evangelicals… For Now (090815)
Outrage Against Christians: Public Schools In US Shun Christianity, Welcome Islam (09_15)
I Am A Christian, But I Don’t Follow Christ (090815)
Christian Refugees Wonder ‘Is Any Place Safe’ (091415)
When Should Christians Disobey the Law? A Lesson From Norway (091115)
Christian Professor Warns: Movies About Heaven, Near Death Experience ‘Can Harm Christian Theology’ (091315) 
Fight Ensues As Atheists Attack College Football Teams For Promoting Evangelical Christianity (082915)
UK Seeking Crackdown On Street Preachers: It Is ‘Improper’ To ‘Talk About Morality’ (082315)
Elites Preparing Last Phase Of New World Order? (082615)
‘My Pastor Is On The Ashley Madison List’ (082715) 
Christians Debate Whether It’s OK To ‘Act Muslim’ To Save Their Lives (082615)
New Bible Videos On YouTube Helping Christians Understand God’s Word (082815)
Pew: Orthodox Jews Mirror Evangelical Christians (082015)
5 Lessons From The Hacking Of Adultery Website Ashley Madison (082015)
Chick-fil-A Blocked From Opening At Denver Airport Due To Stance On Same-Sex Marriage (082215)
Do All Infants Go To Heaven? (100312)
Dangerous Move To Implant Abortion-Inducing Device Into Teen Girls (081815)
10 Things That Are Going To Happen Within 15 Days Of The End Of The Shemitah (081315) 
MP: Use Anti-Terror Powers On Christian Teachers Who Say Gay Marriage Is ‘Wrong’ (080315)
Kentucky Ministers Banned From Calling Homosexuality A Sin (073115)
Why So Many People Think Pope Francis Is The Antichrist (072915)
More Parents Turn To Homeschooling: 62% Increase In The Last Decade (073115)
New Campaign Rallies Millions Of US Christians To Urge Congress To Kill Iran Deal (081215)
The Universe Is Steadily Deteriorating And So Is The Human Race – Why Is This Happening? (081115) 
Anti-Christian Hatred Sweeps The World (072715)(Of course, all those being called Christians and being persecuted because of it are not Christians as defined by the Bible, but many are. The Bible makes clear that God wishes no one to be persecuted by his fellow man because of his religion; God wants a nation to honor freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. I explain this in my writings and teachings.)
Explaining the Evangelical Attraction To Donald Trump (072315) 
Christian Student Removed From Student Council For Opposing Gay Marriage On Facebook (071515)
Jewish Man Who Fled Nazis Funds Rescue Of 2,000 Christians From ISIS To Repay ‘Debt (071515)
The Epidemic Of Bible Illiteracy In Our Churches (070615)
Transgender Rights Gone Mad – Oregon To Allow 15-Year-Olds Sex Change Without Parental Permission (071315)
Sharing Scripture Online Could Be Criminal Offense Under New New Zealand Cyberbullying Law (071515)
Support for a Young Earth? Scientists Baffled By Preserved Dinosaur Blood Cells (071515)
Blasphemy Of The “Christian” Left – Seminary Distributes Pro-Gay Condoms That Mock Christ’s Second Coming (072215)
Obama To Force Charities To Promote Abortion Or Lose Funding (072315) 
Christian Denomination Officially Embraces Gay Marriage, Axing ‘Man And A Woman’ From Canon (070215)
For Churches That Won’t Perform Same-Sex Weddings, Insurance Begins to Look Iffy (070915)
Christian Law School Forced To Support Homosexuality If It Wants Accreditation (070815)
Baptist Scholar Says Mormonism Is Evolving Towards Christianity With ‘Biblical,’ Views of ‘Christ and Salvation’ (061515)
Polyamorous Rights Advocates See Marriage Equality Coming For Them (062915)
Government Crusade Against Churches Begins With Removal Of Non-Profit Status (070215) 
The Decline Of Religion In The West (062615)
Pentagon Urged To Boot Chaplains Who Oppose ‘Gay’ Marriage After Supreme Court Ruling (062915)
After Same-Sex Marriage, Is Polygamy Next? (070215)
Another Sign In The Heavens? Star of Bethlehem To Appear In Night Sky June 30 (062915) 
Bible Teaching Could Soon Become A Crime With ‘Anti-Extremism Banning Orders’ (061715)
Christianity Quickly Growing In The Muslim World (061615)
Tony Campolo and David Neff: From Evangelical Left To Post Evangelical? (061115)
After Gay Marriage, Is Polyamory (Group Marriage) Next? (032915)
Pastor To Be Prosecuted For ‘Hate Crime’ Of Insulting Islam During Sermon (062015)
Christianity Sees Explosive Growth In China (061115)
Moral Acceptance Of Behaviors Once Condemned At Record High Levels (053015)
Iraq: Despite Thousands Fleeing ISIS, Churches Are Full Of New Believers (060915)
A Rare Win – Christian Employee Wins Tribunal Over Sharing Her Faith (060915)
A Massive, Silent Cultural Revolution Has Changed America (060615)
God May Be Female, Some Church Of England Clerics Say After First Women Bishops Ordained (053115)
United Church of Canada to Investigate ‘Effectiveness’ of Minister Who Professes Atheism (053015)
ISIS Fighter Who ‘Enjoyed’ Killing Christians Wants To Follow Jesus After Dreaming of Man In White Who Told Him ‘You Are Killing My People’ (060315)
Obama To Force Faith-Based Grant Recipients To Hire LGBTS (052815)
The Pattern Of Failure – Lessons From 246 Pastors Who Fell Within A Two Year Period (052615)
Chrislam Infiltrates Westminster Abbey (043015)
Church Of England To Consider ‘Transgender Baptism’ Service (052115)
Christian Martyrs Of ISIS Having Worldwide Impact (053015)
Report: Common Core Lesson Plan Pushes Pro-Palestinian Agenda (051915)
United Methodist Lobby Proposes Divesting From Israel, Investing In North Korea, Legalizing Prostitution (051115)
Risen,’ New Movie About Jesus’ Resurrection, Linked To Mel Gibson’s Massively Successful And Gritty ‘Passion Of The Christ’ (051915)
Push To Court-Martial General For Thanking God (051715)
Christian Churches And Schools Better Prepare For The End Of Tax Exempt Status (051315)
Maybe Christianity In America Is Dying Because It’s Boring Everyone To Death (051315)
Girl Scouts Of America Allowing Boys Who Identify As Girls To Be Members (051815) 
‘Prophetesses’ Who Claim They Can Predict the Future and Heal the Sick Are the Focus of New Lifetime Reality Show Titled ‘Preach’ (050615)
Christians Who Have Avoided The Culture Wars May No Longer Have A Choice With Religious Freedom In Jeopardy, Legal Scholar Says (050914)
Methodist Pastor Bullied By Denominational Leadership For Supporting Traditional Marriage (050615)
Oprah Winfrey’s Deceptive Prayer Practices Leading Many Astray (050615)
The Anti-Christ And The Assyrian Connection (050715)
Most Births Will Be ‘Out Of Wedlock Within 10 Years’ (042715)
Princeton Ethicist: It’s ‘Reasonable’ To Kill Disabled Newborn Babies (043015)
Biblical Expert: Russia Creating End-Times ‘Beast’ (050215)
The Great Falling Away? Christians Leaving The Faith In Droves (042915)
‘We Will Not Obey’: Christian Leaders Threaten Civil Disobedience If Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage (042815)
Sentencing Of Christians Explodes 10,000% In China (042515)
Will History Repeat Itself? Lessons From The Armenian Genocide (042415)
Navy Chaplain Censored: ‘Don’t Pray In The Name Of Jesus’ (042415)
Poll: Israel Is One Of The World’s Least Religious Countries (042115)
19 Statistics About Abortion That Every American Should Know (042015)
Atheism on the Rise? Growth Of Disbelief Signals Danger For America (041715)
Most Americans Now Say Jesus Was Actually A Sinner (040115)
Devout Christian NHS Worker Launches Appeal After Being Suspended For Inviting A Muslim Colleague To Church (041915)
Analysis: 8 Reasons Conservative Christians Are Concerned About Their Own Religious Freedom in the Obama Era (040615)
The Extinction Of Eastern Christianity May Figure Europe’s Own Future (040515)
Christian Schools Could Be Forced To Promote Gay Relationships (041915)
Global Survey Ranks Most And Least Religious Countries In The World (041315)
Christian Churches ‘Must Be Made’ To Affirm Homosexuality, Says New York Times Columnist (040715)
New Trend: ‘Radically Inclusive’ Churches That Embrace All Religions And All Lifestyles (032415)
Americans No Longer Trust The Church – 1 In 4 Americans Now Reject God (032515)
Why Evangelicals Are Divided by Afterlife Testimonials (032615)
Church of England Pastor Welcomes Muslim Prayer Service (031615)
The New Christian Left Is Twisting the Gospel: Here’s How (03_15)
This Is The End? Pope Gives Up Cryptic Hint (031615)
Rising ‘Nones’ Show Americans Losing Their Religion (050414)
The Rising Tide Of Muslim Converts To Christianity (072814)
Former SEALs Chaplain Could Be Kicked Out Of Navy For Christian Beliefs (030915)
Planet Fitness Revokes Woman’s Gym Membership After She Complains About a Man Using Women’s Locker Room (030915)
Minister Who Denies God’s Existence: I Don’t Appreciate Being Told I’m Not A Christian (032315)
Preacher Fined For ‘Emotional Harm’ Caused By Quoting Levitical Law Against Homosexuality (032415)
Photos Of Baby Walter, Miscarried At 19 Weeks, Help Save Children From Abortion (030915)
College Ministry Kicked Off Campus For Requiring Leaders To Be Christian (032315)
These Stats About Who’s Consuming Christian Media May Surprise You (022615)

Prophecy Buffs Speculate About Possible Rise Of The Antichrist On World Stage (022815)
Major Christian Denomination Is Just Seven Votes Away From Making a Monumental Decision That Some Say Will Cause Its Demise (031015)
2015 Presents Startling Alignment Of Prophetic Events (030515)
The Rising Dangers Of Chrislam (030915)

Utah Highest In Church Attendance, Vermont The Lowest – Poll (021915)
House Churches Swap Steeples For Sofas, And Say They’ve Never Been Closer (022615)
Meet the ‘Foreign Legion’ Of The Anti-ISIS Christian Militia (021815)
Three-Parent Babies Could Risk The Future Of The Human Race, Warn 55 Italian MPs (022215)
Former Megachurch Pastor Rob Bell – Christianity Irrelevant If It Continues Quoting The Bible (021715)
Take Me to Church? Half of Pastors Believe Faith Will Become Online-Only Experience (021315)
‘First I’m Going to Pay My Tithes,’ Says Single Mother of Four Claiming $188 Million Lottery Win; But Should Christians Play the Lottery? (021315)

Hundreds of ‘Churches’ To Celebrate ‘Evolution Sunday’ As Others Celebrate ‘Creation Sunday’ (020915)
Students Opposed To LGBT Agenda Shamed In Classroom (020915)
Ford Contractor Says He Was Fired For Speaking Against Company’s Support of Homosexuality (020815)
2 Million-Strong CUFI Seeks To Double Down On Christian Support For Israel (020315)
Military Chaplains The New ‘Dont Ask, Don’t Tell?’ (020415)
More Teens Becoming ‘Fake’ Christians (020315)
Share Your Faith – Lose Your Job: Christian Nurse Sacked For Praying For Muslim Colleague (01_15)

Christian Magistrate Suspended And Sent To ‘Equality Training’ For Suggesting Children Need Mom And Dad (011915)
School District To Stop Interrogating Christian Homeschool Kids (011515)
Eight Reasons Why Some Full-time Pastors and Staff Should Go Bivocational (01_15)
UK Christian School Shut Down For Having ‘Discriminatory Views’ Toward Other Faiths (012015)
The 10 Most And Least ‘Bible-Minded’ Cities In America: Did Yours Make The List? (012315)

Celebrating Evil – Kansas Church Invites Community To Come Celebrate 42 Years Of Abortion In America (010815)
In China, A Church-State Showdown Of Biblical Proportions (011115)
2014: Worst Christian Persecution In Over 20 Years (010815)
Your Christian Faith Could Cost Your Job (061814)
Top 10 Most Discussed Issues Inside The Evangelical Church In 2014 (010115)
2014 Best And Worst Faith-Based Movies In Hollywood (123114)

Researchers Have A Major Warning About The Impact Of Porn On Young Men And Marriage (121914)
Stop Conversions, Stanford Religious Dean Tells Churches (122914)
Palestinian Leadership Hijack Christianity: Jesus Declared A Palestinian (122514)
Seven Major Prophetic Signs Of The Second Coming (010315)
Atlanta Fire Chief: I Was Fired Because Of My Christian Faith (010915)
‘Pope’ Claims Mary Was Conceived ‘Without Original Sin’ During Feast Of Immaculate Conception (121014)
‘Every Religious Organization Should Be Worried’: Kentucky Wants Ark Encounter to Hire Non-Christians (121714)
Death Penalty For Smuggling Bibles? (121514)
Hanukkah’s Winning Strategy For End-Time Believers (121514)
Bank Of Montreal Now Requiring Business Partners To Conform To Its Pro-Gay ‘Diversity’ Standards (112714)
Decline in Church-Building Reflects Changed Tastes And Times (120414)
Porn Culture Infiltrating Schools (121114)
Church Leaders Alarmed That IRS Agents Could Pose As Clergy To Access Privileged Information, Enforce Birth Control Mandate (111914)
Rick Warren’s Call For Christians To Unite With Catholics, ‘Holy Father’ Raising Concerns (120214)
What Ever Happened To Rob Bell, The Pastor Who Questioned The Gates Of Hell? (120214)
Anglican Bishop Says Quran Should Be Read at Prince Charles’ Coronation (120714)
Security Warning: Churches A Rising Target For Attack (120314)
8 Clear Signs Of A Compromising Church (12_14)
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History of the 1st Amendment, Uncategorized

1. Introduction to History of the First Amendment

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A Publication of Churches Under Christ Ministry

Previous Section:
Bible Doctrine Concerning Relationship of Church and State (Click here to go to links to all lessons)

Next Lesson:
2. Definitions of “Separation of Church and State,” “Established Church,” and “Religious Freedom or Soul Liberty”

Click here to go to all links to lessons on religious liberty in America.

Click here to go to links to all written lessons.

Click here to go to the 3 1/2 to 6 minute video lectures.

For accompanying for more thorough study from God Betrayed click here.

Jerald Finney
Copyright © February 22, 2018

Christians, except for a small minority who have ferreted out the truth, and secularists have accepted the brand of historical revisionism presented them by those they trust.[1] Revisionists revise in spite of the fact that he truth is available. This study presents accurate historical facts which are readily available through honest research. See [2] for link to some resources which verify this.   Both Christian revisionists (such as David Barton and Roger Federer) and secular revisionists (such as Leo Pfeffer,[3]) have distorted the true history of the First Amendment; “Christian” revisionism through manipulation of selected facts taken out of context and other dishonest devices and secular revisionism, although much more honest and accurate in reporting historical fact, through their inability to properly analyze because they leave God and the spiritual out of the equation.[4]

Revisionists, both “Christian” and secular, work on the lowest level, at the public level. They disseminate books, articles, videos, and public media interviews. They select facts out of context which support their agenda. Their adherents trust and believe them. Few followers have time to check out what they are being told. Even though legal and historical scholars have published the truth, their works remain obscure; the general public has neither the time nor inclination to examine the truth of what they are being fed. This study is based upon undeniable historic fact. Anyone can discover and verify these facts, if they have the time.

Secular revisionists such as Leo Pferrer have been very instrumental in the development of First Amendment law at the highest level—in the courts. Although Pfeffer’s work, unlike that of Christian revisionists, was for the most part factually accurate, he simply did not get it even though he did mention God. On the other hand, Christian revisionists, usually knowingly, present a factually false view of history. See [5] for link to a book which explains “Christian” revisionism. They have disseminated their history to the general public so successfully that the general Christian population who is interested in history as well as many politicians all the way up to Presidents of the United States have accepted and continued to disseminate the accepted “Christian” view of history. “Christian” revisionism has been published in briefs, memorandums of law, etc. in court cases all the way up to the Supreme Court. To present lies to such studied authorities is discrediting to Christianity in general. Although some “Christian” revisionists have now been exposed before the public in general, blind Christians continue to follow their teachings.[6] After all, most Christians believe that other “Christians” would not lie to them.

Religious freedom without persecution of “heretics” was historically rare, almost non-existent before the founding of the colony or Rhode Island. God’s people have always, regardless of persecution, come together as local churches, preached the Gospel, and helped their fellow man. Paul wrote in the midst of persecution:

  • “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”[7]
  • “We, having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”[8]

In the preceding verse, Paul quoted a portion of Psalm 116.10 which says in its entirety, “”I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:” Tied up in the liberty given believers by Christ is speaking (“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”[9]), and associating or meeting together (“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;”[10]). Furthermore, God gave mankind the Bible, which in certain times past, was banned and burned. The First Amendment was written and ratified with the intent of protecting God’s churches, the exercise of religion by the dissenters in the colonies, the preaching of the Gospel, the coming together to worship God, the dissemination of literature, mainly the dissemination of God’s Word, and the right to petition the civil government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment was the culmination of a long spiritual warfare between established churches and dissenters, mainly the Baptists. God’s power moved mightily during that period of conflict. Many believers suffered persecution. The roots of the struggle in America were embedded in New England, spread to the south, to Virginia, and then to the new nation.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

True historical facts prove that the religion clause of the First Amendment is a legal statement of the principle of religious freedom, or soul liberty, or separation of church and state which conforms to biblical principles. Bible-believing Christians, based upon their spiritual beliefs, fought the fight which resulted in the First Amendment. They made the spiritual Bible-based arguments and practiced their faith despite persecution. Their efforts and arguments gradually convinced others.

Many of the early colonists were Protestants who thought Luther and/or Calvin were correct in their belief that church and state should be united. Others, the Anglicans, brought the state-church concepts of union of church and state of England to the colonies. Dissenters believed in and fought for separation of church and state. The First Amendment was primarily the result of a spiritual warfare between those holding opposing Scriptural interpretations, the established churches versus the dissenters, primarily the Baptists.

  • “Of the Baptists, at least, it may be truly said that they entered the conflict in the New World with a clear and consistent record on the subject of soul liberty. ‘Freedom of conscience’ had ever been one of their fundamental tenets. John Locke, in his ‘essay on Toleration,’ says: ‘The Baptists were the first and only propounders of absolute liberty, just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty.’ And the great American historian, Bancroft, says: ‘Freedom of Conscience, unlimited freedom of mind, was from the first a trophy of the Baptists.’ Vol. II., pages 66, 67.
  • “The history of the other denominations shows that, in the Old World, at least, they were not in sympathy with the Baptist doctrine of soul liberty, but in favor of the union of Church and State, and using the civil power to compel conformity to the established church….
  • “The Reformation which began with Martin Luther corrected many errors of faith and practice among those who came out of the corrupt and apostate church, but not all. It was left to the sect once ‘everywhere spoken against’ to teach their Protestant brethren the lesson of soul liberty, and this they did in the school of adversity in the New World.”[11]

At times, persecuting established churches became persecuted churches when they moved to other colonies controlled by another church/state establishment. When that happened, the persecutors generally became dissenters seeking religious tolerance or religious freedom.

Beating of Obadiah Holmes for “heresy” by the Puritans in Massachusetts.

The First Amendment to the Constitution resulted from “a factual relationship that was rapidly solidifying when the Constitution was amended by the Bill of Rights.” The First Amendment was the final product of a long struggle by men who believed strongly in the God of the Bible and who were willing to die rather than bow down to false religion. Their spirit was fused into the ordering of the affairs of the United States. “A wall of separation which would bar that spirit from making itself felt in secular concerns can never be built, because it would have to bisect the human heart.”[12] William H. Marnell correctly observed that:

  • “[t]he First Amendment was not the product of indifference toward religion. It was not the product of the deism which prevailed in the Enlightenment, however much the spirit of deism may have been present in certain of the Founding Fathers. Above, all, it was not the product of secularism, and to translate the spirit of twentieth-century secularism back to eighteenth-century America is an outrage to history. The First Amendment was rather a logical outcome of the Reformation and its ensuing developments. It was so far removed from secularism as to be the product of its exact opposite, the deep-seated concern of a people whose religious faith had taken many forms, all of them active, all of them sincerely held. It was so far removed from indifference toward religion [specifically Christianity] as to be the result of its antithesis, the American determination that the diversity of churches might survive the fact of political action.”[13]
Puritans hung 4 Quakers for returning to Massachusetts after being banished for their religious beliefs.

The dissidents in the colonies, chiefly the Baptists, were able to gain a foothold, and they played it for all it was worth. The Baptist theology of the founding era, initially under the leadership of Roger Williams and John Clarke, successfully challenged the doctrines of the established churches concerning the relationship of church and state. Among the results were the establishment of the first civil government in history of any lasting significance with religious liberty, the government of the colony of Rhode Island, and later the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which required religious freedom for churches and freedom of conscience for individuals. The First Amendment allowed churches to operate under God without persecution. The First Amendment did not apply to the states.

Primarily due to the efforts of our Baptist forefathers, a time came, as Baptist pastor and historian John Callender said in 1838, when

  • “[e]xperience has dearly convinced the world, that unanimity in judgment and affection cannot be secured by penal laws….
  • “Indulgence to tender consciences, might be a reproach to the Colony [of Rhode Island], an hundred years ago, [that is in 1738, one hundred years before Callender wrote this], but a better way of thinking prevails in the Protestant part of the Christian church at present. It is now a glory to the Colony, to have avowed such sentiments so long ago, while blindness in this article happened in other places, and to have led the way as an example to others, and to have first put the theory into practice.
  • “Liberty of conscience is more fully established and enjoyed now, in the other New-English Colonies; and our mother Kingdom grants a legal toleration to all peaceable and conscientious dissenters from the parliamentary establishment. Greater light breaking into the world and the church, and especially all parties by turns experiencing and complaining aloud of the hardships of constraint, they are come to allow as reasonable to all others, what they want and challenge for themselves. And there is no other bottom but this to rest upon, to leave others the liberty we should desire ourselves, the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free. This is doing as we would be done by, the grand rule of justice and equity; this is leaving the government of the church to Jesus Christ, the King and head over all things, and suffering his subjects to obey and serve him.”[14]

By the time the First Amendment was added to the United States Constitution, only New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut had established churches. In 1833 Massachusetts became the last state to disestablish.

Baptists wanted religious freedom. Some probably could foresee the ideal of a church under God, a civil government under God, with neither church nor state over the other. But few knew how to have a civil government under God without establishing a church. Why? Fifteen hundred years of history had witnessed “Christian” establishments made up of church-state or state-church unions. Therefore, one should not be too hard on those early Protestants in America who continued those unions, since, according to Isaac Backus:

  • “[many things] prove that those fathers [the leaders of the Puritans in Massachusetts] were earnestly concerned to frame their constitution both in church and state by divine rule; and as all allow that nothing teaches like experience, surely they who are enabled well to improve the experience of past ages, must find it easier now to discover the mistakes of that day, than it was for them to do it then. Even in 1637, when a number of puritan ministers in England, and the famous Mr. Dod among them, wrote to the ministers here, that it was reported that they had embraced certain new opinions, such as ‘that a stinted form of prayer and set liturgy is unlawful; that the children of godly and approved Christians are not to be baptized, until their parents be set members of some particular congregation; that the parents themselves, though of approved piety, are not to be received to the Lord’s Supper until they be admitted set members,’ &c., Mr. Hooker expressed his fears of troublesome work about answering of them, though they may appear easy to the present generation.”[15]

This chapter will succinctly summarize the true history of religious liberty in America, initially pointing out some of the misleading teachings of secular and Christian revisionists. Ultimately, Christians can accomplish nothing with lies.[16]

Endnotes

[1] Influential Christian revisionists include non-scholars such as David Barton and Roger Federer. Secular revisionsts include scholars such as Leo Pfeffer. Pfeffer’s book Church, State and Freedom, was called a “masterpiece” and the ultimate sourcebook for the history of the evolution of the all-American principle of  separation of church and state. Pfeffer was an American Jewish lawyer, constitutional scholar, and humanist who was active in movement for religious freedom in the United States, and was one of leading legal proponents of the separation of church and state.

[2] List of Scholarly Resources which Explain and Comprehensively Document the True Histor of Religious Freedom in America.

[3] Leo Pfeffer, Church, State, and Freedom (Boston: The Beacon Press, 1953), pp. 81-93.

[4] Influential constitutional “scholars” such as Leo Pfeffer, since they have no concept of God or His sovereignty, have removed the most important aspect of debate from the equation—the spiritual aspect. Pfeffer, misrepresents spiritual matters because he does not understand them. He relegates the spiritual to the merely “ideological.” He attributes Madison’s positions on the issue of separation of church and state to his reliance on John Locke, and quotes Locke; then, even though Locke, in the quotes cited by Pfeffer, talks of government interference with the care and salvation of souls which belongs to God, Pfeffer never mentions God in his discussion but rather emphasizes Locke’s “social contract theory.” He overemphasizes the influence of rationalism and deism in gaining the First Amendment. He falsely proclaims that the “first four presidents of the United States were either Deists or Unitarians.” He asserts that the Great Awakening “emphasized an emotional, personal religion” which appealed directly to the individual, stressing the rights and duties of the individual conscience and its answerability exclusively to God.[4] He, like all secular scholars, simply did not get it even though he did mention God. He had no choice but to mention God, since a controversy over what God taught in the Bible was at the center of the controversy. He simply did not and could not examine that controversy. Lost men and saved men who were spiritually ignorant have led the way in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

[5] The Trail of Blood of the Martyrs of Jesus/Christian Revisionists on Trial….

[6] See Exposing Catholic/Calvinist/Reformed Historic Revisionism.

[7] 2 Co. 4.8-9.

[8] 2 Co. 4.13.

[9] Mk. 16.15.

[10] He. 10.25a.

[11] Charles F. James, Documentary History of the Struggle for Religious Liberty in Virginia (Harrisonburg, VA.: Sprinkle Publications, 2007; First Published Lynchburg, VA.: J. P. Bell Company, 1900), pp. 14-15.

[12] William H. Marnell, The First Amendment: Religious Freedom in America from Colonial Days to the School Prayer Controversy (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964), pp.  xii-xiii.

[13] Ibid.

[14] John Callender, The Civil and Religious Affairs of the Colony of Rhode-Island (Providence: Knowles, Vose & Company, 1838), pp. 108-109.

[15] Isaac Backus, A History of New England With Particular Reference to the Denomination of Christians called Baptists, Volume 1 (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock Publishers, Previously published by Backus Historical Society, 1871), pp. 37-38.

[16] Read James R. Beller, The Coming Destruction of the Baptist People: The Baptist History of America (St. Louis, Missouri: Prairie Fire Press, 2005) and James R. Beller, America in Crimson Red: The Baptist History of America (Arnold, Missouri: Prairie Fire Press, 2004) for a thorough discussion of the theology behind the lies of the Christian nationalists, whom Beller calls catholic Reformed, and a discussion of Christian nationalists other than Peter Marshall and David Manuel.

Uncategorized

(1) Introduction: Render Unto God the Things that Are His

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A Publication of Churches Under Christ Ministry

If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

Previous Series of Lessons:
4. Distinct Differences between Church and State Which Render Them Mutually Exclusive

Next Lesson:
(2) Render unto Caesar…? (Lk. 20.25, Mt. 22.21, and Mk. 12.17) .

Click here to go to Links to all lessons on Render Unto God the Things That Are His: A Study of Romans 13 and Other Verses Taken Out of Context to Support Union of Church and State.

Click here to go to links to all written lessons.

Click here to go to the 3 1/2 to 6 minute video lectures.

Jerald Finney
Copyright © February 20, 2018

Some Bible verses are taken out of context to support the argument that individual believers and churches are to totally submit to the civil government in all things except (perhaps) the preaching of salvation. Those verses include:

  • Render unto Caesar…? (Lk. 20.25, Mt. 22.21, and Mk. 12.17)
  • Let every soul be subject to the higher powers? (Ro. 13.1 and Ro. 13 in general).
  • Doth not your master pay tribute? (Mt. 17.24-27).
  • Submit to every ordinance of man? (1 Pe. 2.13).
  • Pray for all rulers? (1 Ti. 2.1-6).

Certainly, those who believe in this total submission have not studied the Bible doctrines of church, government (to include civil government and state), and separation of church and state as is being done in these short lessons and accompanying more advanced lessons.

To believe that the above and other verses teach blind obedience by individuals and by churches to civil government would make those verses inconsistent with the rest of biblical teaching concerning God’s total authority over the individual believer’s spiritual life, God’s total authority over the church, and God’s total authority over the state. For example, the Bible teaches that the authors of Romans 13 (Paul) and 1 Peter 2.13 (Peter) consistently violated these verses as wrongly interpreted by the lost and most “Christians” in America. Second, these verses would be inconsistent within their immediate context and the overall context of Scripture. The Word of God is never inconsistent.

The United States of America became the second civil government in history, after the colony of Rhode Island, to reject unity of religion and state and implemented the biblical principle of soul liberty which is also called religious liberty or separation of church and state.[1] America came closer than any nation to following God’s principles for church and state, and she included many of the principles of the Word of God in her founding documents.

America is no longer a nation under God and is experiencing the consequences of failing to operate under God and abide by His principles.[2] This inevitable turnabout was caused, to a large degree, by the union of church and state. Although the First Amendment guaranteed freedom from civil government, many churches chose to become state churches through incorporation shortly after the ratification of the Constitution.[3] The First Amendment originally applied only to the federal government.[4] States were free to and did offer to incorporate churches; and many churches, against the warnings of leaders like Isaac Backus, ran to incorporate.[5]

Because of the First Amendment which recognizes and implements the biblical principle of separation of church and state, churches can still choose to be spiritual entities and no church is required by any civil law to become a legal entity.[6] Nonetheless, many “Christians” incorrectly assume or believe that church and state should be united in America; that civil law requires such a union; and/or that churches should become legal entities because Romans 13 and other Bible verses are taken out of context and perverted to mean what they do not mean.

This book analyzes Luke 20.25 (also recorded in Matthew 22.21; and Mark 12.17), Romans 13, 1 Peter 2.13, Matthew 17.24-27 and I Timothy 2.1-6. What those scriptures teach concerning submission by individual Christians and churches to civil government is the subject of this section of lessons.[7]

Note. The historical section of lessons will give a religious history of the First Amendment which makes clear, as historical and legal scholars have written, that the Amendment meant to separate church and state. For the student who wishes to go ahead and look at more advanced studies before the historical section is finished, see:

Endnotes

[1] See God Betrayed, Section IV, for a history of separation of church and state and the First Amendment religion clause in America. These short lessons will also teach on that history in due time. Check the online “Written Lesson” section occasionally to see if the lessons have been added.

[2] See Ibid., Section V for an analysis of how the United States Supreme Court has systematically removed/ God from practically all civil government affairs.

[3] See God Betrayed, Section VI, Chapter 3.

[4] The United States Supreme Court extended First Amendment protection to all levels of civil government in the twentieth century. See Ibid., Section V.

[5] See Ibid., Section VI, Chapter 3 and for more details incorporation of churches in the colonies and in the states of the new nation.

[6] Jerald Finney, Separation of Church and State/God’s Churches: Spiritual or Legal Entities (Austin TX: Kerygma Publishing Co.; also published by Xulon Press, 2009) explains the distinctions between legal and spiritual entities, and the various ways churches can become legal entities. See also, God Betrayed.

[7] To totally understand the issue of God’s teachings concerning submission to civil government, one must understand other sub-issues or principles. God Betrayed offers a more comprehensive look at all the issues involved.

Uncategorized

9. How To Recognize a New Testament Church

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If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

Previous Lesson:
7. Other Bible Metaphors for a Church: Family, Etc.

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9. Heresy and Apostasy

Click here to go to all lessons on the Bible Doctrine of the Church.

Click here to go to the written lessons.

Click here to go to the 5 minute video lectures.

Jerald Finney
Copyright © January 5, 2018

Prior lessons on the church give much insight into knowing how to recognize a New Testament Church. This lesson gives some additional insights and stresses the importance of seeking a church which is organized and conducted God’s way, according to his commandments and his word.

To recognize a church, an assembly of people, which is modeled after New Testament Church principles, one must look at New Testament Church doctrine. That doctrine is given us in the epistles penned by the Apostle Paul. Prior lessons have examined much of that doctrine.

J. M. Carroll, in describing the overall organization of the church, accurately listed eleven “Marks of a New Testament Church:

  1. “Its Head and Founder—CHRIST. He is the lawgiver; the Church is only the executive. (Matt. 16:18; Col. 1:18.)
  2. “Its only rule of faith and practice—THE BIBLE. (II Tim. 3:15-17.)
  3. “Its name—‘CHURCH,’ ‘CHURCHES.’ (Matt. 16:18; Rev. 22:16.)
  4. “Its polity—CONGREGATIONAL—all members equal. (Matt. 20:24-28; Matt. 23:5- 12.)
  5. “Its members—only saved people. (Eph 2:21-22; I Peter 2:5.)
  6. “Its ordinances—BELIEVER’S BAPTISM, FOLLOWED BY THE LORD’S SUPPER. (Matt. 28:19-20.)
  7. “Its officers—PASTORS and DEACONS. (I Tim. 3:1-16.)
  8. “Its work—getting folks saved, baptizing them (with a baptism that meets all the requirements of God’s Word), teaching them (‘to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you’). (Matt. 28:16-20.)
  9. “Its financial plan—‘Even so (TITHES and OFFERINGS) hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.’ (I Cor. 9.14.)
  10. “Its weapons of warfare—spiritual, not carnal. (II Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:10-20.)
  11. “Its independence—separation of Church and State. (Matt. 22:21.)” [i]

Certainly, a preacher on the street corner with a crowd around him as he preaches is not a church. Nor is a group of people meeting in a house and preaching the Word. However, if that house group chooses a properly ordained and baptized pastor, organizes and operates according to biblical principles, initiates a proper baptism for new believers, and begins to partake of the Lord’s Supper, an ordered New Testament church comes into existence. The Lord desires that those who are saved be baptized into a properly ordered New Testament church.

An eChurch is not a New Testament church, nor is a group who starts following someone on Facebook or other social network. As has been established in prior lessons, a church is a spiritual body or assembly ordered according to the principles of the New Testament.

Only the assembly where the true doctrine is preached is a church: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Ga. 1.8).  Where only false doctrines are preached, no church can exist. For example, the Catholic Church, some Baptist churches, many Protestant churches, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Islam, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are not churches. When the preaching of a church conceals the gospel message of salvation by grace through faith alone from its members, so that the gospel message is not clearly proclaimed, and has not been proclaimed for some time, the group meeting there is not a church.

A church can exist only where the Bible is believed to be the inerrant Word of God, where the Bible is the sole basis for faith and practice, and where that Bible is taught, preached, and practiced.

Local churches assemble in His name for the breaking of bread, worship, praise, prayer, testimony, the ministry of the word, discipline, and the furtherance of the Gospel (He. 10.25; Ac. 20.7; 1 Co. 14.26; 1 Co. 5.4, 5; Ph. 4.14-18; 1 Th. 1.8; Ac. 13.1-). Every such local church has Christ in the midst, is a temple of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Co. 3.16, 17), and is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Ti. 3.15).

A church is the body of Christ of which He is the Head. Christ desires that a church remain solely under Him: “And [God] hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church” (Ep. 1.22-23). “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church” (Ep. 5.23). Prior lessons have covered this and other  matters mentioned in this lesson in more completely.

New Testament church doctrine and example further define what a church is to be:

  1. Click here to go to a study of Matthew 22:21, Romans 13, and related verses.

    Spiritual entity only. [ii] A church which is a legal entity such as a 501(c)(3) corporation is, at best, in God’s permissive will and out of God’s perfect will. Such a church has combined the earthly, temporal, and Satanic with the heavenly, eternal and spiritual.[iii]

  2. The body of Christ of which He is the Head. Christ desires that a church remain solely under Him: “And [God] hath put all thingsunder his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church” (Ep. 1.22-23). “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church” (Ep. 5.23). A church which is a legal entity has two heads, the Lord Jesus Christ and civil government. Such a church cannot be a New Testament church.[iv]
  3. Separate from the world. An incorporated 501(c)(3) or 508(c)(1)(A) church is not separated from the world.[v]
  4. A church is to assemble in His name for the breaking of bread, worship, praise, prayer, testimony, the ministry of the word, discipline, and the furtherance of the Gospel (He. 10.25; Ac. 20.7; 1 Co. 14.26; 1 Co. 5.4, 5; Ph. 4.14-18; 1 Th. 1.8; Ac. 13.1-).
  5. Every such local church has Christ in the midst, is a temple of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Co. 3.16, 17), and is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Ti. 3.15).
  6. A church has duties outside the meeting house. The teaching of doctrine inside, work outside.[vi] Outside, the members are to present the Gospel, including all relevant truth from God’s word, to the world through door to door and one-on-one evangelism and street ministry, in the political arena, and everywhere one is involved.
  7. Fight the spiritual warfare against powers, principalities and the rulers of darkness in this present world (Ep. 6.10-18). This fight is being waged by Satan on all fronts. Churches and believers should likewise be fighting on all fronts using God’s methods of warfare.

Click here to go to Bible Study of Ephesians. Ephesians reveals the institution of the church as God’s masterpiece. It is more wonderful that any temple made with hands, constructed of living stones, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1 presents the church as a body. The book is both doctrinal and practical. The first three chapters are doctrinal and go into the heavenlies. The last three chapters are practical and cover the believers responsibilities on earth. A church and a believer are to remain connected to their heavenly head as they walk on this earth.

Bible Studies of various Books on the Doctrine of the Church.

The Biblical Doctrine of the Church.

Endnotes

[i] J. M. Carroll, The Trail of Blood, (Distributed by Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, 163 N. Ashland Avenue, Lexington KY 40502, 606-266-4341), pp. 4-5. J. M. Carroll was a leader among Baptists who studied history and the Bible in an attempt to “find the church which was the oldest and most like churches described in the New Testament.” In the course of his studies, he gathered “one of the greatest libraries on church history. This library was given at his death to the Southwestern Baptist Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas.”

[ii] See What is a spiritual entity?; A Church Is a Mystery, an Assembly, a Spiritual Body; The Holy Spirit Forms a Church which Is a Temple, a Spiritual Body, the Body of Christ.

[iii] See What is a legal entity?; Links to Lessons on Satan.

[iv]  Christ Ordained the Church and Builds It upon the Rock; Christ, the Head/Bridegroom/Husband of the Local Church.

[v] What is an established church?; The Biblical Doctrine of Separation of Church and State.

[vi] Click here to go to Bible Study of Ephesians. Ephesians reveals the institution of the church as God’s masterpiece. It is more wonderful that any temple made with hands, constructed of living stones, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The book is both doctrinal and practical. The first three chapters are doctrinal and go into the heavenlies. The last three chapters are practical and cover the believers responsibilities on earth. A church and a believer are to remain connected to their heavenly Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him alone as they walk on this earth.

Uncategorized, Written Lessons

(3) God is the God of Israel

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If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

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Previous Lesson:
(2) Israel’s Performance, God’s Judgement, and a New Economy—God’s Grace

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God Desires That All Nations Choose To Glorify Him

Click here to go to links to all lessons on Israel.

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Click here to go to the 5 to 8 minute video lectures.

Go to much more extensive essay by clicking here.

Jerald Finney
Copyright © December 28, 2017

1God promised the nation Israel He would bless those that bless her and curse those who curse her. This promise was for all time. No such promise was ever given to any other nation.[1]

To suggest that Israel has only the rights God has given to all nations is a shocking rejection of clear biblical teaching! God distinctly tells Israel that He has “separated [and] severed [her] from other people”[2] and that she will not be “reckoned among the nations”[3] because He loved Israel and chose her to be a “special people … above all people.”[4]

God promises repeatedly, “O Israel … I am with thee … to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee.”[5] “The Bible identifies the true god as ‘the God of Israel’ 203 times, ‘the God of Jacob’ 28 times, ‘the God of Abraham’ 17 times, and ‘the God of Isaac’ 13 times. Never is He called the God of any other ethnic group. These designations are foundational to everything the Bible teaches, including the character of God. To profess to believe in God and at the same time to hold a prejudice against God’s chosen people, the Jews, or against Israel, which turns these clear biblical identifications into meaningless titles, casts doubt upon whether one really knows the true God.”[6]

The land of Israel was unconditionally given to Abraham and to his seed in the covenant God made with Abraham (the Abrahamic Covenant).[7] God said to Abraham, “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever;”[8] “And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.”[9]

“The Abrahamic Covenant as formed (Gen. 12.1-4) and confirmed (Gen. 13.14-17; 15.1-7; 17.1-8) is in seven distinct parts:

  1. “‘I will make of thee a great nation.’ Fulfilled in a threefold way: (a) In a natural posterity—‘as the dust of the earth’ (Gen. 13.16; John 8.37), viz. the Hebrew people. (b) ‘In a spiritual posterity—look now toward heaven … so shall thy seed be’ (John 8.39; Rom. 4.16, 17; 9.7, 8; Gal. 3.6, 7, 29, viz. all men of faith, whether Jew or Gentile.) Fulfilled also through Ishmael (Gen. 17.18-20).
  2. “I will bless thee.’ Fulfilled in two ways: (a) temporally (Gen. 13.14, 15, 17; 15.18; 24.34, 35); (b) spiritually (Gen. 15.6; John 8.56).
  3. “‘And make thy name great.’ Abraham’s is one of the universal names.
  4. “‘And thou shalt be a blessing.’ (Gal. 3.13, 14).
  5. “‘I will bless them that bless thee.’ In fulfillment closely related to the next clause.
  6. “‘And curse him that curseth thee.’ Wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew—well with those who have protected him. The future will still more remarkably prove this principle (Deut. 30.7; Isa. 14.1, 2; Joel 3.1-8; Mic. 5.7-9; Hag. 2.22; Zech. 14.1-3; Mt. 25.40, 45).
  7. “‘In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ This is the great evangelic promise fulfilled in Abraham’s Seed, Christ (Gal. 3.16; John 8.56-58). It brings into greater definiteness the promise of the Adamic Covenant concerning the Seed of the woman (Ge. 3.15).

“NOTE.—The gift of the land is modified by prophecies of three dispossessions and restorations (Gen. 15.13, 14, 16; Jer. 25.11, 12; Deut. 28.62-65; 30.1-3). Two dispossessions and restorations have been accomplished. Israel is now in the third dispersion, from which she will be restored at the return of the Lord as King under the Davidic Covenant (Deut. 30.3; Jer. 23.5-8; Ezk. 37.21-25; Lk. 1.30-33; Acts 15.14-17).”[10]

Thus God made three kinds of promises in the Abrahamic Covenant: (1) personal promises to Abraham, (2) national promises concerning Israel, and (3) universal promises that would affect all the people of the world.[11]  Some of those promises have been fulfilled, but His promises “to give the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession to Abraham’s physical descendants (Genesis 17.8) and to give the Abrahamic Covenant for an everlasting covenant to those same descendants (Genesis 17.7, 19)” have not yet been fulfilled.[12]

The Abrahamic Covenant was an everlasting covenant dependent upon God and not upon what Abraham did. A theological controversy surrounds this issue, but the Bible makes clear that the covenant is everlasting.[13]

Palestinian_1As pointed out above, Israel entered the land under Joshua after Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness under the conditional covenant God made with Israel prior to their entering the land, the Palestinian Covenant. The Palestinian Covenant, which was established by God with Israel after He gave the Mosaic Covenant, was separate from the Mosaic Covenant.  “These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.”[14] In conjunction with the covenant, God made very significant promises to Israel.[15]

These promises are to be fulfilled with literal, not spiritual, Israel, and reveal that God always leaves the way open for unfaithful Israel to be reconciled to Him. The final fulfillment of these promises to Israel is in the future. Since God intends to fulfill these promises to Israel when all the curse of Deuteronomy 28 concerning the nation Israel has been completed, this shows that literal Israel, as distinguished from the church (identified by some theologians as spiritual Israel), will survive the curse of God. God’s promise to restore Israel to the land which he gave to Abraham and his descendents when all the curse of Deuteronomy 28 has been fulfilled is another guarantee of Israel’s permanent ownership of that land. The Word of God in the promises of the Palestinian Covenant guarantees that literal Israel will repent and become saved in the future.[16]

3DavidicThe future blessing of Israel as a nation rests upon the Palestinian Covenant of restoration and conversion and the covenant God made with David, the Davidic Covenant of the Kingship of the Messiah, David’s Son, and this gives to predictive prophecy its Messianic character. The exaltation of Israel is secured in the kingdom, and the kingdom takes its power to bless from the Person of the King, David’s Son, but also “Emmanuel.” The interpretation of “Emmanuel” is “God with us.”[17]

Later, after Israel rejected the theocracy and demanded a king, and after God anointed David as King, God made a covenant with David as recorded in 2 Samuel 7.8-17.[18] The Davidic Covenant, “upon which the glorious kingdom of Christ ‘of the seed of David according to the flesh’ is to be founded, secures:

(1) A Davidic ‘house’; i.e. posterity, family.
(2) A ‘throne’; i.e. royal authority.
(3) A kingdom; i.e. sphere of rule.
(4) In perpetuity; ‘for ever.’
(5) And this fourfold covenant has but one condition: disobedience in the Davidic family is to be visited with chastisement, but not to the abrogation of the covenant (2 Sam. 7.15; Psa. 89.20-37; Isa. 24.5; 54.3). The chastisement fell; first in the division of the kingdom under Rehoboam, and finally, in the captivities (2 Ki. 25.1-7). Since that time but one King of the Davidic family has been crowned at Jerusalem and He was crowned with thorns. But the Davidic Covenant confirmed to David by the oath of Jehovah, and renewed to Mary by the angel Gabriel, is immutable (Psa. 89.30-37), and the Lord God will yet give to that thorn-crowned One ‘the throne of his father David’ (Lk. 1.31-33; Acts 2.29-32; 15.14-17).[19]

assyrianCaptivityUtterly violating the conditions of the Palestinian Covenant, the nation was first disrupted[20] and then cast out of the land.[21] The dispersion was for disobedience, as foretold by God.[22]

A temporary dispersion within was prophesied, to come before the extended dispersion. “The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.”[23] This refers to Babylonian captivity of 70 years prophesied by Jeremiah.[24]

God, through Moses, told Israel that her continued disobedience would be punished by a worldwide dispersion.[25]

The Lord Jesus confirmed Moses’ words: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”[26] After the siege and total destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. almost all Judea became a desert and remained that way for nineteen-hundred and fifty years until 1948.

But the same covenant unconditionally promises a national restoration of Israel which is yet to be fulfilled. We see this in many prophecies. See En27[27] for some of those prophecies.

6This is where we are in prophecy at the present time: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”[28]

God told Israel, “If my people [Israel], which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”[29] Israel will repent in the future while still in the dispersion: “And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul[.]”[30]  God will then forgive them, restore them to their land which He gave them, and heal them.

Go to the following webpage for links to more in-depth Bible studies on Israel: The Bible Doctrine of Government.

Go to much more extensive essay by clicking here.

Endnotes

[1] 2 S. 7.23-26. David understood this. David said to the Lord after the Lord proclaimed to him what is called the Davidic Covenant: “And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God. And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said…. And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.”

[2] Le. 20.24, 26.

[3] N. 23.9.

[4] De. 7.6-9: “For thou [Israel] art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharoah king of Egypt.”.

[5] Je. 30.10-11.

[6] Dave Hunt, “God of Jacob, God of Israel, Part I,” The Berean Call, August 2006, Vol. XXI, No. 8, pp. 3, 5. See Matthew 22.29-31; See article for more good information on those who think the covenant with Israel was broken.  See also, Dave Hunt, “God of Jacob, God of Israel, Part Two,” The Berean Call, September 2006, Vol. XXI, No. 9, pp. 3-4.

[7] Ge. 12.1-4: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”.

[8] Ge. 13.15.

[9] Ge. 15.7.

[10] 1917 Scofield Reference Edition, n. 3 p. 24 to Genesis 15.18. This notation was made before the Jews were restored to the land in 1948. But even in 1948 and thereafter, there has not been a complete restoration to all the land that God gave to the Jews.

[11] Renald E. Showers, There Really Is a Difference: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology (Bellmawr, New Jersey: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1990), p p. 57-58.

[12] Ibid., p. 59.

[13] Ibid., pp. 60-68: Renald E. Showers sums up the dispensational arguments against the conditional position.

[14] De. 29.1.

[15] De. 30.1-10: “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”

[16] Bible teaching on this is outlined in this chapter, infra. See also, Showers, pp. 81-82.

[17] Mt. 1.23.

[18] 2 S. 7.8-17. “Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcoat, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: [a]nd I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime.  “And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: [b]ut my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.”  “Although this passage does not call God’s promises to David a covenant, other passages clearly indicate that God was establishing a covenant with His servant (2 Sam. 23:5; 2 Chr. 7:18; 21:7; Ps. 89:3-4, 28-29, 34-37; Jer. 33.19-26).” Showers, p. 85.

[19] See also, 1 Chr. 17.7-15.

[20] 1 K. 12.

[21] 2 K. 17.1-18; 14.1-25.11.

[22] De. 30.1-3: “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.” De. 28.25, 63-64: “The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth…. And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.” See also, Le. 26.32-39

[23] De. 28.36.

[24] Je. 25.11-12: “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.”. God gives explicit details of what will happen in that dispersion in De. 28.35-62.

[25] Deuteronomy 28.63-64. “And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.” See verses 63-68.

[26] Lk. 21.24.

[27] Is. 11.11; Isaiah 48 explains that Israel will be restored & why; Isaiah 49.8-21: Israel to be preserved & restored; Is. 51.3; Is. 52.8, 9; Is. 54 describes Israel the restored wife of Jehovah & security and blessing of restored Israel; Is. 61.3-11; 62: The restoration of Israel; Is. 65.17-66.24: The eternal blessing of Israel in the new earth.

Is. 65.1-16 tells of all the bad things Israel, the rebellious people had done. Is. 65.17-25 tells of the eternal blessing of Israel in the new earth. Verse 17 looks beyond the kingdom-age to the new heavens and the new earth, but verses 18-25 describe the kingdom-age itself.  Longevity is restored, but death, the “last enemy” (1 Co. 15.26), is not destroyed till after Satan’s rebellion at the end of the thousand years (Re. 20.7-14).

Je. 16.15c (see Je. 16.14-16); Je. 23.1-40: the future restoration and conversion of Israel. This chapter tells the bad things the nation, the prophets, the priests, the people had done, and also states. “And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase…. Behold, the days come saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Je. 24 speaks of both the good and the evil and the good people who will be deported & the evil who remain in Judah and those who dwell in Egypt. God says he will remove the evil “into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them … and will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and their fathers” (Je. 24.9-10). But He will “set [his] eyes upon them for  good, and … will bring them again to this land: and … will build them, and not pull them down; and … will plant them, and not pluck them up.” (Je. 24.6). Je. 30.8-11, 16-24; 31; 32.37-44: Israel will be restored; Je. 32.32, 37-41; Jeremiah 33: God will restore Israel and Judah; Je. 46.27-28; Je. 50.19-20, 51.5; Ezekiel 11.17-21: Israel to be restored to the land and converted; Ezekiel 16.60-63: The promise of future blessing under the Palestinian Covenant and the New Covenant; Ez. 28.25-26; Ezekiel 34.11-31. Israel to be restored and the Davidic kingdom to be set up.

Notice the reason God restores Israel: “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. Not for your sakes I do this saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” Ez. 36.22-23, 32 [Bold emphasis mine]. One purpose for God setting aside the nation of Israel was to point other nations to God. Israel failed miserably. See Ezekiel 36 and many other passages in the OT.  Man always fails.  Only God succeeds.  As was mentioned in Chapter 2 above, the God-given purpose of man is to glorify God, but man seeks his happiness, and seeks not the glory of God.

“Jehovah gives [in Ez. 37] the method of the restoration of the nation. The “bones” are the whole house of Israel who shall then be living. The “graves” are the nations where they dwell. The order of the procedure is: (1) the bringing of the people out (v12); (2) the bringing of them in (v12); (3) their conversion (v13); (4) the filling with the Spirit (v14). The symbol of the 2 sticks follows. The 2 sticks are Judah and the ten tribes; united, they are one nation (vs. 19-21). Then follows (vs 21-27) the plain declaration as to Jehovah’s purpose, and verse 28 implies that then Jehovah will become known to the Gentiles in a marked way.  This is also the order of Acts 15.16, 17, and the two passages strongly indicate the time of full Gentile conversion.  See also Isa. 11.10.” 1917 Scofield Reference Edition, n. 1 to Ezekiel 37.1, p. 881.

Ez. 37.26-28; Ezekiel 39.25-29: Vision of restored and converted Israel. Ez. 40.1-48.35: Israel in the land during the kingdom-age. Vision of the future temple. Vision of the glory of the Lord filling the temple. The place of the throne of the future kingdom. The measure of the altar.  The offerings. 43.19-27. The gate for the prince. The priests of the future temple. Etc. Ez. 43.7-12: The place of the throne of the future kingdom.

“That Israel is the wife of Jehovah (see vs. 16-23), now disowned but yet to be restored, is the clear teaching of the passages [in the book of Hosea]….  Israel is, then, to be the restored and forgiven wife of Jehovah, … Jehovah’s earthly wife (Hos. 2.23)[.] …” Schofield, n. 1 to Ho. 2.2, p. 922. Ho. 2.14-23: Israel, the adulterous wife, to be restored. Ho. 13.9-16: The ultimate blessing of Israel in the kingdom.

Joel 3.1; Joel 3.17-21: The kingdom blessing; Amos 9.13-15: Full kingdom blessing of restored Israel; Micah 4.6-8: Israel to be regathered; Zephaniah 3.14-20: The kingdom blessing of Israel; Zec. 2.4-13: Jerusalem in the kingdom age; Zec. 8.1-8: Jehovah’s unchanged purpose to bless Israel in the kingdom; Zec. 8.20-23: Jerusalem to be the religious center of the earth; Zec. 9.10-17: The future deliverance of Judah and Ephriam, and the world-wide kingdom; Zec. 10: The future strengthening of Judah and Ephraim and the dispersion and regathering of Israel in one view.

Luke 1.26-38 (Here the angel Gabriel says to Mary): “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesies… “And he raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.”

When Jesus taught the apostles after he was risen, they “asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Ac. 1.6-7). Notice, Jesus indicated that this would happen, but would not tell them when.

“… Taken together, the N.T. teachings concerning the return of Jesus Christ may be summarized as follows: (1) That the return is an event, not a process, and is personal and corporeal (Mt. 23.39; 24.30; 25.31; Mk. 14.62; Lk. 17.24; John 14.3; Acts 1.11; Phil. 3.20, 21; 1 Thes. 4.14-17). (2) His coming has a threefold relation: to the church, to Israel, to the nations.

“(a) To the church the descent of the Lord into the air to raise the sleeping and change the living saints is set forth as a constant expectation and hope (Mt. 24.36, 44, 48-51; 25.13; 1 Cor. 15.51, 52; Phil. 3.20; 1 Thes. 1.10; 4.14-17; 1 Tim. 6.14; Tit. 2.13; Rev. 22.20).
“(b) To Israel, the return of the Lord is predicted to accomplish the yet unfulfilled prophecies of her national regathering, conversion, and establishment in peace and power under the Davidic Covenant (Acts 15.14-17 with Zech. 14.1-9). See “Kingdom (O.T.),” 2 Sam. 7.8-17; Zech. 13.8, note; Lk. 1.31-33; 1 Cor. 15.24, note.
“(c) To the Gentile nations the return of Christ is predicted to bring the destruction of the present political world-system (Dan. 2.34, 35; Rev. 19.11, note); the judgment of Mt. 25.31-46, followed by world-wide Gentile conversion and participation in the blessings of the kingdom (Isa. 2.2-4; 11.10; 60.3; Zech. 8.3, 20, 23; 14.16-21).” 1917 Scofield Reference Edition, n. 1 to Ac.. 1.11, p. 1148.

“A distinction must be observed between the ‘last days’ when the prediction relates to Israel and the ‘last days’ when the prediction relates to the church (1 Tim. 4.1-3; 2 Tim. 3.1-8; Heb. 1.1, 2; 1 Pet. 1.4, 5; 2 Pet. 3.1-9; 1 John 2.18, 19; Jude 17-19). Also distinguish the ‘last days’ (plural) from ‘the last day’ (singular); the latter expression referring to the resurrections and last judgment (John 6.39, 40, 44, 54; 11.24; 12.48). The ‘last days’ as related to the church began with the advent of Christ (Heb. 1.2), but have especial reference to the time of declension and apostasy at the end of this age (2 Tim. 3.1; 4.4). The ‘last days’ as related to Israel are the days of Israel’s exaltation and blessing, and are synonymous with the kingdom-age (Isa. 2.2-4; Mic. 4.1-7). They are ‘last’ not with reference to this dispensation, but with reference to the whole of Israel’s history.” Ibid., n. 1, p. 1151 to Acts 2.17.

Acts 15.13-17: James declares the result of the council at Jerusalem which considered the issues of whether it was “needful to circumcise [the Gentile believers], and to command them to keep the law of Moses” (Ac. 15.5). the outcalling of the Gentiles agrees with the promises to Israel. Peter had argued, “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Ac. 15.8-11).

Romans 9-11: The Gospel does not set aside the covenants with Israel. 9.4-5 gives the sevenfold privilege of Israel. “I SAY then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.  For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew…. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, and I shall take away their sins” (Ro. 11.1-2, 26-27).

“That Israel has not been forever set aside is the theme of [Romans 11]. (1) The salvation of Paul proves that there is still a remnant (v. 1). (2) The doctrine of the remnant proves it (vs. 2-6). (3) The present national unbelief was foreseen (vs. 7-10). (4) Israel’s unbelief is the Gentile opportunity (vs. 11-25). (5) Israel is judicially broken off from the good olive tree, Christ (vs. 17-22). (6) They are to be grafted in again (vs. 23, 24). (7) The promised Deliverer will come out of Zion and the nation will be saved (vs. 25-29). That the Christian now inherits the distinctive Jewish promises is not taught in Scripture. The Christian is of the heavenly seed of Abraham (Gen. 15.5, 6; Gal. 3.29), and partakes of the spiritual blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 15.18, note); but Israel as a nation always has its own place, and is yet to have its greatest exaltation as the earthly people of God. See ‘Israel’ (Gen. 12.2; Rom. 11.26); ‘Kingdom’ (Gen. 1.26-28; Zech. 12.8).” (1917 Scofield Reference Edition, n. 2 to Ro. 11.1, p. 1204).

[28] Lk. 21.24.

[29] 2 Chr. 7.14.

[30] De. 30.2.

Uncategorized, Written Lessons

(2) Israel’s Performance, God’s Judgement, and a New Economy—God’s Grace

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If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

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(1) Israel, the only theocracy ordained by God

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(3)  God is the God of Israel

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Jerald Finney
Copyright © December 28, 2017

“The reader of scripture should hold firmly in mind: (1) that from Genesis 12. to Matthew 12.45 the Scriptures have primarily in view Israel, the little rill, not the great Gentile river, though again and again the universality of the ultimate divine intent breaks into view;[1] (2) that the human race, henceforth called Gentile in distinction from Israel, goes on under the covenants given to Adam and Noah; and that for the race (outside Israel) men are guided by conscience and human government continues. The moral history of the great Gentile world is told in Romans 1.21-32, and its moral accountability in Romans 2.1-16. Conscience never acquits: it either ‘accuses’ or ‘excuses.’  Where the law is known to the Gentiles it is to them, as to Israel, ‘a ministration of death,’ a ‘curse.’[2] A wholly new responsibility arises when either Jew or Gentile knows the Gospel.[3]

2The Mosaic Law covered the period from Moses until the death and resurrection of Christ, or from Exodus 19.1 to Acts 1.26. Under the covenant God made with Moses, the Jews were to be responsible for keeping the whole law.[4] They did not succeed in their responsibility. Their zeal for God was not according to knowledge; they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, went about to “establish their own righteousness, and did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.[5] The result was the captivity of Judah by Babylon and the captivity of Israel by Assyria. After the Jews later rejected the Lord, they were scattered over the entire world. Jesus lamented, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”[6]

“All during their many periods of declension and backsliding, God dealt with them graciously from the very first apostasy with the golden calf, when the law was being delivered to Moses, to the gracious promises of final regathering and restoration in the millennial age to come. These promises of a glorious future are guaranteed secure by the Abrahamic promises, which the law in no way abrogated (Gal. 3.3-25). We are also told clearly in the New Testament (Rom. 3.20 [“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”]) that the law was not a means of justification but of condemnation.”[7]

God declared that Israel would lend to other nations, but would not borrow, that Israel would reign over many nations, but that no nation would reign over Israel.[8] Israel was called the wife of Jehovah.[9] Israel is the “rod for his inheritance,” and God will use Israel to “break into pieces the nations.”[10] Thus, Israel is the key to everything regarding the nations of this world.

Again, Israel was ordained to be a theocracy under the direct rule of God, through His judges. This type civil government was unique to Israel. We see how this type of civil government was applied by Israel in the book of Judges. Over and over again, especially in Deuteronomy, the Jews were told to follow God’s law, to keep his commandments and statutes. “These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth….”[11]  God’s laws covered everything, including idolatry. The Ten Commandments exemplified the law, and the whole of the Ten Commandments, including the first four, were to be enforced in the nation Israel.

kings-crownGod gave Israel free will. Ultimately Israel rejected God’s plan under which God himself ruled over the nation of Israel and demanded a king like the Gentile nations. Israel demanded a king.[12] God told Samuel to hearken unto their demand, that Israel had rejected God and His rule over them:[13]

God also told Samuel to tell the people the ill consequences of being ruled by a king: the king would take their sons and daughters for various services to the king; that the king would give their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, the best of them to his officers and servants; their menservants, maidservants and their goodliest young men, their asses and put them to work; a tenth of their sheep; that they would be the servants of the king. Finally, Samuel warned them: “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”[14]

King_Saul004But they still demanded a king.[15]  They were looking at man, not God, when they made this demand: “And they said unto Samuel, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways[.]”[16]  They still did not realize that God fulfills His purposes. Had Israel walked in faith and kept His statutes and commandments, God had promised to bless them.

Before the Israelites rejected God, God’s law as transmitted through Moses, then through his successors, was the whole of civil and religious government. God’s chosen people, even in the theocracy, rebelled against God and His ways time and again, were judged by God for so doing, and returned to God.

When kings started to rule, kings dominated prophet and priest. Saul, the first king, disobeyed the command of God through Samuel[17] and even sought to slay Samuel, the prophet of God.[18] David followed Saul as king of Israel. After the death of Solomon, David’s son who became king after the death of King David, the nation of Israel split in two. The northern Kingdom was called Israel, and the southern Judah. Before those two nations were eventually taken into captivity for their failure to proceed under God, all nineteen kings of Israel were evil and only eight of twenty kings of Judah were good (did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord).

During that time, God sent prophets to warn the kings of both Israel and Judah to cast down their idols and return to the ways of the Lord and to proclaim the consequences that would surely come if they did not do so. Rarely did the kings heed the warnings of those prophets.  The Jews broke the Mosaic Law repeatedly.[19]

The nation was judged many times during this dispensation. Israel and Judah were both ultimately conquered and the people taken into captivity because of their rebellion against God. Worldwide dispersion resulted from their rejection of Christ.

5Israel miserably failed to obey God on the basis of conscience, the restraint of the Holy Spirit, human government, promise, and law. As a result, God instituted a new economy in which He dealt with all mankind on the basis of Grace. Conscience, the restraint of the Holy Spirit, human government, promise, and grace are being used by God to govern people. The law is not a ruling factor for the believer during this time of grace.[20]

ROMANSGrace as a ruling factor for the believer consists of two things. First, a confirmed favorable disposition toward God, the law of God in the heart.[21] The second thing is the indwelling Holy Spirit: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”[22]

Sadly, the majority of Jews and Gentiles do not accept the gift of righteousness offered by God through grace. Organized Christendom does not fulfill its mission given it by God in the New Testament—it does not “fulfill the Great Commission, maintain a pure membership, discipline unruly members, prevent false teaching from existing within it, and contend earnestly for the true faith.”[23]  Man again will fail, and judgment will follow.

Go to the following webpage for links to more in-depth Bible studies on Israel: The Bible Doctrine of Government.

Endnotes

[1] e.g. Ge. 12.3; Is. 2.2, 4; 5.26, 9.1, 2; 11.10-12; 42.1-6; 49.6, 12; 52.15; 54.3; 55.5; 60.3, 5, 11-16; 61.6, 9; 62.2; 66.12, 18, 19; Je. 16.19; Joel 3.9, 10; Mal. 1.11; Ro. 9., 10., 11.; Ga. 3.8-14

[2] Ro. 3.19, 20; 7.9, 10; 2 Co. 3.7; Ga. 3.10.

[3] Jn. 3.18, 19, 36; 15.22-24; 16.9; 1 Jn. 5.9-12

[4] Ja. 2.10.

[5] Ro. 10.1-3.

[6] Mt. 23.37-39.

[7] Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), p. 55.

[8] De. 15.6.

[9] Is. 54.5; Je. 3.14, 20; Ez. 16.26-59; 24.15-27. In Hos., we see the picture given that illustrates to the Jews how God feels when His wife, Israel, commits adultery.

[10] See Je. 51.19-23.

[11] De. 12.1.

[12] 1 S. 8.5.

[13] 1 S. 8.9.

[14] 1 S. 8.11-18.

[15] 1 S. 19.

[16] 1 S. 8.5.

[17] See 1 S. 15.

[18] 1 S. 16.2.

[19] Je. 31.32; Zec. 7.12.

[20] Ga. 3.19, 23-25; Ro. 6.14; 1 Co. 9.20.

[21] Ro. 7.22; 2 Co. 3.3-11; He. 8.8-12.

[22] 1 Co. 6.19-20.

[23] Renald E. Showers, There Really Is a Difference: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology (Bellmawr, New Jersey: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1990), p. 46.

Articles which address biblical principles relating to separation of church and state, Uncategorized

What God Has Committed to Man’s Trust: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon”: Steward or Trustee?

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Jerald Finney
Copyright  November 8, 2017

“Trust” is a Bible relationship that is recognized, not created, by man’s law. See Endnote 1. Many historic churches have honored this Bible relationship so as to keep their churches free from entanglement with civil government. See Endnote 2. Many American churches are presently declaring this trust relationship. See Endnote 3. 

Recently, at an Unregistered Baptist Fellowship Conference, a gentleman said to me something others have commented on over the years, “We use the term steward because Biblical law is over man’s law.” His statement raises the question: “Why not use the term ‘steward’ instead of ‘trustee’ in describing the ‘trust’ relationship with property?” This article will look at Bible teaching for the answer and address some collateral matters:  the meanings of the words “steward,” “trust,” “trustee,” “beneficiary,” “trust estate;” the eternal and temporal applications of the relationship; just versus unjust stewardship according to God; and the consequences of just and unjust application of the relationship.

Both “steward” and “trust” are Bible terms. “Steward” refers to the person to whom someone commits the care and management of his goods for his benefit. The term “trust” refers to the relationship created. The term “trustee,” a derivative of the word “trust,” is the equivalent of the term “steward.”

The term “trust” refers to both temporal/earthly and eternal/heavenly or spiritual relationships. “Trust” relationships are found throughout the Bible, even when the word “trust” or “steward” is not mentioned. Luke 16 speaks of a temporal material trust, and relates that trust to an eternal spiritual trust. 1 Thessalonians 2.4, and Titus 1.11 speak specifically and solely of the eternal spiritual trust. The first time the relationship is mentioned is in Genesis 1.27-31, where obviously although not explicitly stated, the relationship is both earthly and spiritual:

  • “27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

All such earthly and spiritual relationships have several essentials: the possession(s); the true, equitable, and beneficial owner of the possession(s); the commitment by the true owner of the possession(s) to another’s care and management; and the one to whom is entrusted the care and management of the possession(s) for the benefit of the true owner. Every Bible dispensation presents a specific stewardship under God.

Only once in the Bible, in Luke 16.1-13, are the words “steward” and “trust” used in the same passage. That passage is concerned with an earthly steward dealing with earthly possessions of his earthly master, the true owner of the possessions. There, “steward” refers to the person who has a duty to manage the goods of his master, for his master’s benefit. However, the Lord makes a connection between one’s earthly stewardship and his eternal stewardship (“Stewardship” means the office of a steward). The Lord says, “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? … “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Lk. 16.11, 13).

As has been pointed out, “steward” has the same meaning as “trustee.” So why not use “steward” instead of using derivatives of the word “trust,” to include “trustee.” The conclusion will answer this question; but first, this brief article takes a further look at “steward” and “trust.”

God entrusted mankind with all possessions, real and personal as well as spiritual. He owned all things—even the body, soul and spirit of man—but left all things, including the real estate, to man to be used for Him. God trusted man with all His earthly and eternal possessions. God committed all to his trust. He was “steward” or “trustee,” the one to whom God entrusted management and care of His possessions.

Now, let us examine the term “steward” and “stewardship” from a Bible perspective. Then we will look at “trust” and related terms—“trustor,” “trustee,” and “trust estate.”

The term “steward” is found in Genesis 15.2, 43.19, 44.1, 44.4; 1 Kings 16.9; Daniel 1.11; Matthew 20.8; Luke 8.3, 12.42; 16.1,2, 3, 8; 1 Corinthians 4.1,2; Titus 1:7. The word “stewardship” is used only three times in the Bible, all in Luke 16, verses 2, 3, and 4. “Stewardship” simply means “The office of a steward.”

A steward is a man who has charge of another’s goods. As defined in the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, “steward” means: “(1) A man employed in great families to manage the domestic concerns, superintend the other servants, collect the rents or income, keep the accounts, &c. See Gen. xv. 2—xliii. (2) In Scripture and theology, a minister of Christ, whose duty is to dispense the provisions of the gospel, to preach its doctrines and administer its ordinances. It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 1 Cor. iv.”

The first meaning of “steward” is reflected in several passages of the Bible: Genesis 15.2, 43.19, 44.1, 44.4; 1 Kings 16.9; Matthew 20.8; Luke 8.3, 12.42, 16.1-13 (parable of the unjust steward). Certainly, although not directly dealing with the eternal meaning, many of those stewardships have spiritual applications: Matthew 20.8; Luke 12.42-48 (levels of punishment based upon whether or not the steward knew the Lord’s will), 16.1-13.

The eternal application alone is seen in 1 Corinthians 4.1, 2: “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.  Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”; and Titus 1.7: “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre.”.

The story of a rich man and his unjust steward, which is related in Luke 16.1-13, is very instructive. The terms “trust” and “steward” are used in that parable. The master committed his goods to the steward’s trust (verses 1 and 11). The master was the beneficiary, “the true, beneficial, and equitable owner.”

The steward in this parable was an out-and-out-crook. He was guilty of malfeasance in office and misappropriation of funds. He wasted the goods of his master. His day of reckoning had come (Lk. 16.3). He was afraid of losing his stewardship, felt he could not do manual work, and was ashamed to beg. However, he, like many, was not ashamed to steal (verse 3). He did not repent, nor did he have regret or remorse for his actions. He was crooked—called “clever” by the world’s standards. He had no training for other work, his age was probably against him, he was too proud to beg, but he was not ashamed to be dishonest. He called all his master’s debtors and gave them big discounts.

The Bible tells us that the world loves its own but hates those who belong to God. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (Jn. 15:18-19). In Galatians 1.3-4, Paul says, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” Again in Romans 12.2 Paul says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn. 2:15).

The first commandment of the world is “self-preservation.” A shady business deal is winked at, questionable practices countenanced, and a clever crook is commended by the world. The law is on the side of the crook and the criminal many times. Every man, according to the world’s law, is innocent until proven guilty. God takes the opposite approach. God says that a man is guilty until proven innocent. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Ro. 3.23). A man can never be innocent before God, but he can be justified before Him. When a man trusts Jesus Christ as his Savior, he is justified by faith. See, e.g., Ro. 8.1.

The master did not punish the unjust steward, but commended him. Apparently the rich man got rich using the same kind of principles that his unjust steward used and he commended him, saying that the steward had done wisely. In what way? According to the principles of the world. This is the world that hates Christ. It makes its own rules. The law of the world is “dog eat dog.” The worldly master commended his worldly steward for his worldly wisdom according to his worldly dealings. The Lord Jesus said, “… For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” That is, the children of this world, of this age, use their money more wisely than do the children of light.

Then, our Lord makes the most shocking and startling statement of all. It concerns the relationship of the “mammon of righteousness,” that is, riches, money: “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Lk. 16.9). Money is not evil in itself; it is amoral. The love of money is the root of all evil. For believers, money is to be spiritual. Our Lord said that we should lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. We should be wise in the way we use our money. Then when we “fail” or come to the end of life, we will be welcomed in heaven.

Believers are spiritual stewards (trustees) of all that God commits to their trust; all of which is spiritual. We own nothing as believers. We are responsible to God for how we use His goods. We are to use the “mammon of unrighteousness” to gather spiritual wealth:

“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own. No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Lk. 16.10-13).

In this parable, the Lord Jesus is saying, “Do you think God is going to trust you with heavenly riches if you are not using properly or rightly the earthly possessions which He has given you?” Are you serving God or mammon? You cannot serve both.

Now, let us look at “trust” and related terms. “Trustor,” “trustee,” and “trust estate” are derivatives of the word “trust.” The concept of trust if found throughout the Bible. The suffix “-ee” added to trust results in a new word meaning a person with to whom something is entrusted. A “trustor” is one who entrusts monies and properties to a “trustee” who holds the money and property entrusted to him in “trust” for the benefit of the true, equitable, and beneficial owner, the “beneficiary.”

Some meanings of trust, as given in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, are: “(1) Confidence; a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person. He that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 20.25. (2) Something committed to a person’s care for use or management, and for which an account must be rendered. Every man’s talents and advantages are a trust committed to him by his Maker, and for the use or employment of which he is accountable.”

In the context of definition (2), the word “trust” is mentioned four times in the Bible:

  1. “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts” (1 Thes. 2.4).
  2. “According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (1 Ti. 1:11).
  3. “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” (1 Ti. 6:20).
  4. “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who [what trustor] will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own” (Lk. 16:11-12)?

In all these references, that which God entrusted was not material and spiritual, but spiritual only—“the true riches.”

The Lord spoke of this concept of trust, in conjunction with an earthly temporal example, in Matthew 25.14-30 and Luke 19.12-27, although He used neither the word “trust” nor “steward or stewardship.” He spoke of an earthly master leaving certain amounts of his goods or money with his servants, according to their abilities. Actually, the more important parallel spiritual meaning was to the Lord and His servants. The master had an absolute right to his own goods, but he distributed to his servants to be used for the benefit of the master, the servants to be awarded according to their profitable use of the property entrusted to them. Some used the money productively and upon the master’s return presented him with a profit. The property belonged to the master, and the servants were to use it for the master’s benefit, not for their own benefit. Of course, they would be rewarded if they used the property wisely for the benefit of the master. One servant in each example returned only the original amount left in trust with them. The master instructed that the goods which he had left with the unprofitable servants be taken from them, and they were left with nothing. The profitable servants were rewarded by the master. In the story found in Matthew, the Master said, “[C]ast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 25.30). Men, as servants of the Master are likewise left in trust of all things for His benefit and will be rewarded or punished according to their use of His goods.

In conclusion, the words “steward” and “trustee” signify the same thing. However, the use of the term “trustee,” a word derived from the word “trust” by adding the suffix “-ee”  is preferable to the use of “steward” when describing the entire relationship. Why? For five reasons taken together. First, the terms “steward” and “trustee” mean the same thing.

Second, the one time “trust” and “steward” are used in the same immediate verses, “steward” denotes the person with the responsibility over another’s goods and “trust” is used to signify the fiduciary relationship with the master’s goods or property (Lk. 16). Even though “steward” is the one with the duty to rightly administer the goods the master commits to his trust, the name given to the arrangement is “trust.”

Third, no where in the Bible are all the terms involved in the relationship reduced to singular (as “trustor”) or modified terms (as “trust estate”).

Thus, fourth, the use of “trust” and derivatives is more practical. The term “trust” as a noun (and as an adjective) and its derivatives, more succinctly describe all aspects of the relationship: “trustor,” “trustee,” and “trust estate.” On the other hand, the term “stewardship” is less adaptable: one can interchange “steward” and “trustee;” but the word “trust” describes the overall relationship. No word derived from “steward” describes the person who establishes the stewardship (the “trustor”). No word derived from “steward” describes the estate the steward is responsible for (“trust estate”)—er, perhaps the “stewardship estate?”; but stewardship means the office of a steward. Parallel words leave less room for argument and misunderstanding. Imagine trying to explain these matters to a lost person.

Finally, American law, although not establishing the Bible concept of trust, recognizes it. In so doing, American law uses the Bible term “trust” and its derivatives.  For example, American Jurisprudence 2d Trusts, a highly regarded encyclopedia of American law, describes “trust” in § 1, as follows:

  • “The fundamental nature of a trust is the division of title, with the trustee being the holder of legal title and the beneficiary that of equitable title. By definition, the creation of a trust must involve a conveyance of property.
  • “A ‘trust’ exists where the legal title to property is held by one or more persons, under an equitable obligation to convey, apply, or deal with such property for the benefit of other persons. A trust has been defined as a fiduciary relationship with respect to property, subjecting the person by whom the title to the property is held to equitable duties to deal with the property for the benefit of another person, which arises as a result of a manifestation of an intention to create it. The Restatement definition is similar, providing that a trust, when not qualified by the word ‘resulting’ or ‘constructive,’ is a fiduciary relationship with respect to property, arising from a manifestation of intention to create that relationship and subjecting the person who holds title to the property to duties to deal with it for the benefit of charity or for one or more persons, at least one of whom is not the sole trustee.
  • “Caution: A trust consists not only of property, but also of the trust instrument, the trust’s beneficiaries and trustees, and the trust administrator [if any].”

American Jurisprudence 2d, Trusts § 2 makes clear that a “trust” is not a legal entity, but merely a fiduciary relationship with property. For one thing, this means that the one cannot sue the trust, since it is not recognized as a legal entity. This is not true of a “business trust,” a “charitable trust” or some other legal extensions of the “trust” relationship.

“No particular words are necessary to create a trust if there exists reasonable certainty as to the intended property, object, and beneficiary. Further, the purpose and intention, rather than the use of any particular term, determines whether a valid trust has been established.” American Jurisprudence 2d, Trusts § 65.

The important thing for the born again believer, regardless of the terms used, is that he handle the use of God’s properties, all of which are spiritual to a born again believer, according to the principle of trust as described in the Bible. Those faithful and wise churches who remain under God only will be blessed by their Lord. However, churches who choose to leave their first love by placing themselves at least partially under the state (for example, corporate (aggregate of sole) 501(c)(3) or 508 churches), have left their first love and betrayed their Lord’s trust. They are unfaithful and act unwisely; they act either knowingly or unknowingly and will  punished accordingly (see Lk. 12.42-48; see also Lk. 16 discussed above).

See En 4 for links to additional resources.

Endnotes

En 1: See, for explanation, How a Church Can Organize To Remain a New Testament Church (Holding Property in Trust for God Is a Scriptural Principle Recognized by the Legal System).

En 2: In WAUSHARA COUNTY v. Sherri L. GRAF, 157 Wis.2d 539 (1990), 461 N.W.2d 143, Court of Appeals of Wisconsin. Submitted on briefs December 8, 1989. Decided August 2, 1990 the court reviewed pertinent Wisconsin  statutes back to 1849 to determine if a church or religious organization must be incorporated for its property to be tax exempt [under state law]. Annotation to the law said: “A church consists of those who are communicants, have made a public profession of religion and are united by a religious bond of common spiritual welfare. It is the spiritual body…. we must hold that the mere fact that [a] church or religious society had not yet been incorporated at the time of the delivery of [a] deed in no way frustrated the trust thereby created, if such trust was otherwise valid.” Fadness v. Braunborg, 73 Wis. 257, 278-79, 41 N.W. 84, 90 (1889) (emphasis in original)….  In Holm v. Holm, 81 Wis. 374, 382, 51 N.W. 579, 581 (1892), the facts included that the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Roche-a-Cree was a voluntary association until February 7, 1889. The court noted that “[p]rior to that date the title to the churches in which the members of the association worshiped was vested in trustees named in . . . deeds, and their successors in office. . . . The trusts imposed by such deeds appear to have been valid upon the principles stated by this court in Fadness v. Braunborg. . . .Id. …In Franke v. Mann, 106 Wis. 118, 131, 81 N.W. 1014, 1018-19 (1900), the court further said that ‘[w]hat has been said is in harmony with the law regarding trusts for religious uses….’ The Basic Bible Church established that title to the real estate subject to foreclosure was held in the name of the trustees for the benefit of the church. We conclude that the trust constituted an ‘entity’ which could claim tax exemption under sec. 70.11(4), Stats., for the benefit of the Basic Bible Church.”

On appeal, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in WAUSHARA COUNTY v. Sherri L. GRAF, 166 Wis.2d 442 (1992), 480 N.W.2d 16,  1992 approved, but did not restate, the reasoning above.

In KOPSOMBUT-MYINT BUDDHIST CENTER, v. STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION, 728 S.W. 2d 327 (1986) Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Middle Section, at Nashville. Permission to Appeal Denied, April 6, 1987, the court inferred a “trust” from the wording of a “joint venture” in 1982 and held that property held in trust for a Buddhist Temple qualifies for a property tax exemption, if the property is used for religious purposes and the owner, any stockholder, officer, member or employee of such institution is not lawfully entitled to receive and pecuniary profit from the operations of that property in competition with like property owned by others which is not exempt. The court stated, as regards trusts:

  • “A valid trust need not be in writing. It can be created orally unless the language of the written conveyance excludes the existence of a trust. Sanderson v. Milligan,585 S.W.2d 573, 574 (Tenn. 1979); Linder v. Little, 490 S.W.2d 717, 723 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1972); and Adrian v. Brown, 29 Tenn. App. 236, 243, 196 S.W.2d 118, 121 (1946). However, when a party seeks to establish an oral trust, it must do so by greater than a preponderance of the evidence. Sanderson v. Milligan, 585 S.W.2d 573, 574 (Tenn. 1979); Hunt v. Hunt, 169 Tenn. 1, 9, 80 S.W.2d 666, 669 (1935); and Browder v. Hite, 602 S.W.2d 489, 493 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1980).
  • “The existence of a trust requires proof of three elements: (1) a trustee who holds trust property and who is subject to the equitable duties to deal with it for the benefit of another, (2) a beneficiary to whom the trustee owes the equitable duties to deal with the trust property for his benefit, and (3) identifiable trust property. See G.G. Bogert & G.T. Bogert, The Law of Trusts and Trustees § 1, at 6 (rev. 2d ed. 1984) and Restatement (Second) of Trusts § 2 comment h (1957). We find that the Kopsombut-Myint Buddhist Center has proved the existence of each of these elements by clear and convincing evidence.” [p. 333].

Efforts of scholars to trace the origin have been futile. Trusts, Trust-Like Concepts and Ius Commune, 8 Eur. Rev. Private L. 453 (2000), C. H. van Rhee: ” … Whether these origins are Roman, Canonical or Germanic [or of some other origin] remains an unresolved question. …” Of course, scholars went to ancient history, but did not go to the most ancient history, the Bible. For more insights on this, see How a Church Can Organize To Remain a New Testament Church (Holding Property in Trust for God Is a Scriptural Principle Recognized by the Legal System).

En 3: Many churches are now organized in accordance with the Bible trust relationship. More are honoring God in this matter on a regular basis: the Biblical Law Center has organized over a dozen in the last year and a half, as well as scores of churches over the last 30 years.  No matter what terms a Christian uses, he should do all in accordance with Bible principle for the glory of God.

En 4: Click here to go to links to studies which show, from the law books, exactly what incorporation and Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) are.

How a Church Can Organize To Remain a New Testament Church (Holding Property in Trust for God Is a Scriptural Principle Recognized by the Legal System)

Powerpoint: The Basics of the Bible Principle of Trust in Church Organization Explanation of “Trust,” as opposed to “Business Trust,” “Charitable Trust,” and other kinds of trusts. How can you know who to trust for the truth about these matters? How can you know if what is presented here is the truth? Etc.

Click here to go to PDF of comments which help explain the Powerpoint directly above. The presenter also stated other things, but these notes cover the most important matters.