Jerald Finney
Copyright © March 3, 2015

1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

This website is dedicated to showing churches how to love and honor Christ by remaining under Him only.

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Wondrous Love

PowerPoint – Basics: 

Once you download a PowerPoint and display it, remember to click the “Slide Show” icon in the lower right. You must do this to view the whole slide show. However, when you do that, you will not be able to see the notes at the bottom which appear on the screen before clicking the  “Slide Show” icon. To go back to the first view, right click anywhere on the screen, and then click “End Show.”

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.

Related article:
The Only Way a Church Can Organize to Remain a New Testament Church (Holding Property in Trust for God Is a Scriptural Principle Churches Should Honor)
referred to in the above presentation.

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Brief Essay

Trust may have two connotations. God wants men to trust him. He commits to our trust spiritual matters as well as all the worldly possessions which he has entrusted us with.

God wants men to trust Him. We can totally trust Him. Do a word search of the Bible for “trust.” Here are a few of many verses which use the word “trust”:

• Isaiah 26.3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” 
• Psalms 4:5: “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.”
• Psalms 18:2: “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”
• Psalms 18:30: “As forGod, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.”
• Psalms 56:4: “In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”
• Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

God has also entrusted man with all things on earth, both temporal and spiritual. This principle runs throughout all of Scripture. God has entrusted believers and churches with what He has given them. He desires that they adhere to the precepts in the Bible, including the New Testament doctrine of the church. Here are a few verses that specifically refer to the word “trust” in that context:

Luke 16:11: “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”

1 Thessalonians 2:4: “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.

Timothy 1:11: “According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”

1 Timothy 6:20: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:”

“Steward” has essentially the same meaning as trustee. for more on this. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 says “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.” See What God Has Committed to Man’s Trust: “Ye Cannot Serve God and Mammon”: Steward or Trustee?

I recommend the essay 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) after reading this page. See Essays on The Bible Trust Relationship: Links to Essays and Other Resources for links to more resources and essays. 

Sadly, all lost people and most believers have betrayed God by violating His trust. We have done so in many ways.

This ministry shows churches and believers how to hold in trust the local visible church which God has entrusted us with. This website shows loyal churches who love the Lord how to organize a visible New Testament church in a manner which complies with New Testament church teaching thereby assuring that the church remains a church of Christ under Him only.

A church may do this by placing tithes, offerings, and gifts into “A Bible Trust.” When a church establishes “A Bible Trust,” relationship, the church owns nothing; church members give to God, not to a religious organization. When church members give to God, they no longer have any claim to that which they gave to God. That which they give to God is to be used for His purposes and His purposes only. Their gift is irrevocable. Furthermore, the church does not act legally in any way. She does not entangle herself with man’s law, the world. All tithes, offerings, gifts, and properties are held in a trust estate. The trust estate is managed by a trustee, not for his personal benefit, but solely for the benefit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the true, beneficial, and equitable owner of the trust estate. A church who utilizes “A Bible Trust” remains a spiritual entity only so long as she does not act legally in some other way.

For one to apply the principles presented on this website, he must understand:

1. that God created all things;
2. that God ordained the family, the church, and civil government;
3. that all things belong to God (God is the true and beneficial owner of all things);
4. that every believer, family, and church has been entrusted by God with all material (temporal) things in their possession;
5. that every believer, family, and church has been entrusted by God with all spiritual (eternal) matters;
6. that a New Testament church and church members are stewards of the mysteries of God, one of which is the mystery of the church.

The American believer interested in pleasing the Lord in the matter of church organization should understand:

1. the New Testament doctrine of the church;
2. that a New Testament church is a spiritual organism, not a worldly organization;
3. that a New Testament church is under the Lord Jesus Christ only;
4. that all churches and “religions” are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which states:
   
   “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
   
   
   
5. that the United States Supreme Court has incorporated the First Amendment such that the states are bound thereby;
6. that most or all states have included the protections of the First Amendment into their own Constitutions;
7. that the highest law is God’s law;
8. that man’s law is below and subject to God’s law;
9. that born again believers are to obey man’s law as long as it is consistent with God’s law;
10. that God ordained civil government and made clear in His word that civil government has no God-given authority to enforce the First Table of the Law (those matters which have to do with man’s relationship to God)(see, e.g., Romans 13 which is consistent with the Bible doctrine of government; see also,The biblical doctrine of government);
11. that God ordained civil government and made clear in His word that He has given civil government the authority to punish evildoers and reward those who do good (those matters which have to do with man’s relationship to man)(see, e.g., Genesis 1-9 and especially Genesis 8-9, Romans 13.3-4; 1 Timothy 1.5-11);
12. that the First Amendment is consistent with God’s law (see, e.g.,The history of religious freedom in America; see also, An Abridged History of the First Amendment);
13. that any law in America which is made regarding an establishment of religion violates the First Amendment;
14. that laws such as Internal Revenue Code §§ 501(c)(3) and 508 are therefore unconstitutional as applied to churches (they are laws respecting an establishment of religion, and prohibiting the free exercise thereof (see, e.g., Church Internal Revenue Code § 508 Tax Exempt Status, Federal government control of churches through 501(c)(3) tax exemption; The church incorporation-501(c)(3) control scheme);
15. that a corporate church is a legal entity (see, e.g.,God Betrayed: Union of church and state in America);
16. that state non-profit incorporation laws are made by the state and that churches who submit themselves to such laws become creatures of the state (see, e.g., God Betrayed: Union of church and state in America);
17. that the sovereign of the corporate (sole or aggregate) part of the church is the state (see, e.g., God Betrayed: Union of church and state in America);
18. that church corporate structure violates many other precepts of Bible church doctrine (see, e.g., God Betrayed: Union of church and state in America);
19. that a church can become a legal entity by becoming a business trust, a charitable trust, or an unincorporated association;
20. that a church proclaims that she is a legal entity when she acts legally in any way (e.g., opens a bank account, buys property in her name, takes out insurance in her name, etc.; see, e.g., Comparison of Bible Trust (ordinary trust), Incorporation (Includes corporation sole), and Ecclesiastical Law Center Trust);
21. that a church who intentionally, knowingly, and freely submits herself to any law made by man violates both God’s law and the highest law of the land (The First Amendment);
22. that members of God’s New Testament churches have always, since the beginning of the church, obeyed God’s law even when God’s law was inconsistent with man’s law;
23. that members of God’s New Testament churches have always, since the beginning of the church, been persecuted for obeying God rather than man (this very day, many of God’s children throughout the world are suffering persecution for refusing to compromise their Bible beliefs);
24. the definition of legal entity and the definition of spiritual entity;
25. that a New Testament church must be a spiritual entity only;
26. that if a church is not under the Lord Jesus Christ only, she is not a New Testament church;
27. that the sovereign of the state church (a church which is a legal entity such as an incorporated sole or aggregate Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) or Section 508 religious organization), for many purposes, is the state;
28. that a church who is under another head, for example, the civil government, is not a New Testament church;
29. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction is not a New Testament church;
30. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction grieves our Lord;
31. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction may or may not be within God’s permissive will (as opposed to His perfect will);
32. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction is a temporal worldly organization, as to some matters;
33. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction is a religious organization;
34. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction has intentionally and knowingly chosen to submit herself to that temporal authority;
35. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction has agreed that she will be bound by the rules (laws) that are included in the offer from the state or federal government and by her acceptance of the offer of the state to submit herself to those rules;
36. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction is subject to the authority of the state in resolving any disputes which may arise under the her contract with the state;
37. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction breaks her knowlingly, intentionally, and freely entered into contract with the state should she refuse to comply with the rules she has agreed to;
38. that the state may bring an action in state agency or state court against a church who has contracted with civil government for violation of a law or rule to which the church has intentionally, knowingly, and freely submitted herself;
39. that a church who is under civil government jurisdiction would be in violation of her agreement with the state should she refuse to accept the ruling of the civil government should the state charge that she violated a term of the agreement and take up the matter in state agency or court state court;
40. that, since the beginning of the church, a remnant of churches have refused to submit to civil government;
41. that since the wedding of church and state in the early third century under Constantine, a remnant of churches have refused to submit to the official church/state theology;
42. that the Catholic “church” first wed the state under Constantine;
43. that Catholic and Protestant theologies teach the unbiblical doctrine of union of church and state;
44. That historic Baptists have always stood for separation of church and state;
45. that Augustine articulated the unbiblical philosophy which condoned the persecution of heretics;
46. that other Catholic scholars, such as Thomas Aquinas, continued to support that philosophy;
47. that, since the beginning of the New Testament church, there have always been ordered autonomous New Testament churches who followed the precepts of the Bible;
48. that the Catholic “church” is not a New Testament church;
49. That the Catholic “church” is a religious harlot;
50. that the Catholic “church” mercilessly persecuted and killed anyone they labeled as “heretic” (some 50 million human beings);
51. that Protestant churches continued the union of church and state tradition of the Catholic church (to this day).

God’s remnant has always stood on Bible principles, including the Bible principle of separation of church and state. They have not betrayed God’s trust. A church in America today may exist in accord with the Bible principle of separation of Church and State without persecution because of the First Amendment. When the time comes that the law of the land contradicts God’s law, then the remnant will continue to obey God rather than man in spite of persecution.

End

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JERALD C. FINNEY
BAB, HB, BBA, JD
801 Elgin St.
Amarillo, TX 79118
Phone : (512) 785-8445 
E-MAIL: jerald.finney@sbcglobal.net

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