DR TALBOT' BIBLICAL M IRACLES Q. I am a member of a Protestant Church, but I do not accept the mira cles recorded in the Bible. M y intel lect will not permit me to do so. W h y do you insist upon a belief in such doctrines as the Virgin Birth of Christ and His bodily resurrection as es sential to salvation? A. Let me seek to answer your ques tion by two passages of Scripture; there are many other passages which might be used. In the first place, “ the natural man (the unsaved man) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, be cause they are spiritually discerned ( that is by the power of the Holy Spirit).” (See I Cor. 2:14; compare I Cor. 1:17-2:16.) In this entire passage we find a contrast between “man’s wisdom” and “ the wisdom which cometh from above.” My friend, the Christian faith is based upon the supernatural, from beginning to end, and makes no attempt to satisfy man’s intellect; rather it satisfies the heart. There is no place for rationalism. In the second place, let me exhort you, in the words of the Lord Jesus, “ Ye must be bom again . . . Except a man be bom again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 7). Read all of the third chapter of John, in which Christ told Nicodemus that the sinner must let the Holy Spirit of God regenerate the heart, giving him new life in Christ, before he can be saved — much less grasp spiritual truth! Do not make a god of your in tellect, my unsaved friend. Go to Cal vary’s Cross, and “ behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). One other word: “ we are not saved by our own goodness.” “ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). Good works should follow salvation; but they can never be the
A. Because Cain brought a bloodless sacrifice, in spite of the fact that God had taught him that “without shed ding of blood is no remission” of sin (Heb. 9:22). Abel, on the other hand, brought “ the firstlings of his flock” (Gen. 4 :4), a blood sacrifice, that showed his faith in the coming of Christ, “ the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Heb. 11:4 leaves no room for doubt; for there we read that “ by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” And in Heb. 12:24 the blood of Jesus is called “ the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Here the type is explained. Every Old Testament saint is in heaven today because he believed God’s promises—and they were many, given in plain statement, in shadow, and in type—that the only Redeemer was to come to die for a sinful world. And every lost soul of every age will be in hell because he spumed God’s only way of salvation, which is the way of the cross. “ There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). MODERN CHURCH Q . Should we support a church that denies the deity of Christ and His finished work on Calvary? A. No. We should first make every effort, through prayer and influence, to maintain a testimony that is true to Christ and the Bible in whatever church we may join. Then failing that, we should withdraw our mem bership, and put it where we may share in giving the Gospel to the world, as well as feed our own souls on the Bread of Life. Certainly any one or any church that denies the deity of our Lord and His finished work on the cross should not have the support of a Christian’s gift or time or interest. Except as we can win them to Christ, we should not have fellowship with them.
means of salvation. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Let no man trust in his own self-righteousness to make him fit for the presence of a holy God; for “ all our righteousnesses are as filthy' rags” in His sight. (See Isa. 64:6.) DEATH OF PETER Q . Does the Bible tell us how Peter died? A. In John 21:18, 19 the risen Lord said to Peter: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands (this suggests cruci fixion), and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.” This is all the Bible tells of how Peter died. Tradition says that he was cmcified with his head down, for he felt unworthy to be cmcified as was his Lord. But that is only tradition. DEAD OR ALIVE Q . What is the meaning of Rom. 8:10: “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” ? A . It means that our redemption at present is only partial. My spirit has been quickened, but not my body. The body is yet to be quickened, when Christ comes to translate the church. Then He will “ change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the work ing whereby he is able even to sub due all things unto himself’ Phil. 3: 21). When that takes place, our re demption will be complete—body, as well as soul. CA IN 'S OFFERING Q . W h y did God reject Cain’s offer ing, and accept Abel’s?
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