Dr. Louis T. Talbot, BIOLA Chancellor, will be happy to answer your question concern ing any portion of the Word of God which may be perplexing you. A free question and answer booklet is available upon request.
DR. TALBOT’ Companion Bible Q. What is your opinion of the “ The Companion Bible” ? A. I suppose you refer to the set written by E. W . Bullinger. The work has many good qualities, but it is notoriously unsafe because it e s p o u s e s an ultra-dispensational view. As a matter of fact, it is the standard work for that extreme position. What1 Are the Jews? Q. Are the Jews a race or a religion? A. I have asked my friend, and director of our Seminary, Hebrew Christian Dr. Charles Lee Feinberg to reply to this question and here is, his answer: “ Judaism is a religion. It is fol lowed by many Jews, but not by all. There are different shades of theo logical view in Judaism with ortho dox, conservative and reform. Then there are other shades of religious viewpoint in Judaism. “ The term ‘Jew’ has reference, not to religion, but to a nationality. See Genesis 12:1-3 with the very first part of the promise indicated there. God promised Abraham that He would make of him a great na tion. The designation ‘Jew’ refers to a national idea. There are many Jews who do not adhere to Judaism or any semblance of it. It is a well- known error of many Jews, espe cially their leaders, to claim that the Jewish nation and Judaism are synonymous. This is untrue. It is no more valid than to assert that all Americans are Christians. “ Any non-Jew who embraces Judaism becomes a follower of the religion of Judaism, but does not thereby become a Jew. This is a fallacy which has been exploded many times before. “ It has been the contention of
bom again by the quickening power of the Spirit of God, once he has been made a partaker of the divine nature, once he has been adopted into the family of God, and justi fied before the throne of God, it is absolutely impossible for that man to be a lost soul. That is what we mean when we speak of the eternal security of the believer. Now to emphasize this point, let us see what we do not mean by the eternal security of the believer. We do not mean that if one merely pro fesses to be saved, if he goes down to the altar, takes the minister’s hand, and says that he accepts Christ as his Saviour— in spite of his public confession, it does not necessarily follow that such a man is eternally safe. W e do not mean that he is safe just because he joins the church, is baptized, takes com munion, does so-called Christian work, and takes an interest in re ligion. He may do all these things, and yet not be truly regenerate. Our Lord uttered a grave warn ing c o n c e r n i n g such professors when He said: “ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out demons (B.V.)? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, 7 never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:21- 23). Mark you; our Lord did not say, “ / used to know you, but you went away from me, and conse quently have forfeited your salva tion.” Rather, He said, “ I never knew you.” He was talking to mere professors who were never really born-again children of God.
unbelievers for a long time that by intermarriage the Jewish nation has lost its identity. It is sufficient to say that Hitler found out the very contrary of this position. W e do not deny the fact of intermarriages, but the nation as such has retained its identity and individuality, so that the promise of Genesis 12:1-3 is still valid, as well as the declaration of Jeremiah 30:11.” Death of Children Q. M y little boy who really loved Jesus and used to sing so sweetly, “ Jesus Loves Me,” has died unbap tized and some people think he is not saved. A. M y dear, grieving mother, your little son is “ safe in the arms of Jesus” and don’t you allow yourself to doubt that for one moment. He bade the little children come to Him. His atonement takes in all the little ones who have not reached the age of accountability and your little boy is among those of whom it was written: “ He shall lead His flock like a shepherd, and carry the young lambs in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isa. 40:11). Infant bap tism is not taught anywhere in the Word of God. Baptism is for Chris tians who thereby testify to their new life in Christ, and their death to the old life of sin. Baptism is a burial. It has nothing to do with salvation. It follows our acceptance of Christ and is a witness of the world of what He has done for us as believers. Eternal Security Q. What do you mean when you speak of “ the eternal security” of the child of God? A. We mean that once a poor sin ner has been regenerated by the Word of God, once he has been
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