talking about, for in verse 20 he says: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” T h e Mother of Jesus Q. Why did the Lord Jesus address His mother as w o m a n ? Was this not a title of disrespect? (See John 2:4.) A. Not at all. When Jesus was on the cross He addressed her the same way. John 19:26 says— “When Jesus there fore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!” It is thought by some that in those days the word was almost equal to our word lady. It was a title of respect; for when one woman went to Jesus, exercising great faith, and He wished to commend her, He said — “ 0 woman, great is thy faith” (Matt. 15:28). There is, however, no evidence that the Lord Jesus ever used the title mother when speaking to Mary after He entered upon His public ministry. A new relationship had been estab lished the moment He stepped out of His home life at Nazareth, and be gan His ministry. (Cf. Matt. 12:46- 50.) From that time on, it was His supernatural parentage that He em phasized' —^ that He was the only begotten Son of the Father in heaven. W as Judas a Saved M an? Q. Do you believe that Judas was saved before he was lost? A. There is not thè slightest sugges tion in any portion of Scripture to in timate that Judas was ever a saved man. In fact, the very contrary is taught. In John 6:64,65 we read: “ But there are some of you that be lieve not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that be lieved not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Bather.” Here we learn that Judas, with the others who rejected Him, was an unbeliever. And then
the Lord Jesus added these words, recorded in the same chapter: “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon; for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve” (John 6:70, 71). Here we learn that Judas is called a devil. Therefore it is altogether contrary to sound doctrine and plain scriptural teaching to say that Judas was ever a saint, and that he became a sinner, thus losing his salvation. Such a position is taken by some Christians who deny the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. Changing M asters, Not Fathers Q. Please explain John 8:34,35: “Ver ily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.” What did the Lord mean in this last phrase? A, If you will read this passage in the Revised Version, you will note that the word son in the last clause is written with a small letter, and does not refer to Christ the Son. It refers to a child of God, who is a son of God. The Lord Jesus means that a serv ant of sin is not to abide forever; “but the son abideth ever.” The con trast here is in the fact that servitude is temporal, but sonship is eternal; that servitude is not forever. Then even though a man is a servant of sin, that position of servitude can be changed. And that is a blessed thing. Jesus said, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” But that position of servitude can be changed; “ the servant abideth not in the house for ever.” That is, a man can change masters , but he cannot change fath ers. If you are born of God, you are bom once and forever. God is your Father; and you never can be any thing else but a child of God. If you are a servant of sin, you can change that position. You can be taken out of that servitude to sin and be forever made a child of God.
Baptism for the Dead Q. What is meant by being “bap tized for the dead” as related by the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians 15:29? A. This is a very important question for the Mormon doctrine is built up on an erroneous interpretation of this text. The Mormons claim that bap tism is essential to salvation. They teach that if one should die unbap tized, a friend here on earth could be baptized as his proxy, the credit for this act being applied to the dead man. This is the real interpreta tion of the Mormon’s teaching of be ing “ baptized for the dead.” Of course there is not a vestige of Scripture in Corinthians or in any other part of the Bible to substanti ate such a perversion of the truth of God’s Word. Paul’s argument all through chapter 15 is that Christ is risen from the dead; and because He lives, we too shall live. The resur rection of Christ is the foundation stone of Christianity. Without it our faith is vain, and we are still in our sins. In the resurrection of Christ God demonstrated the sufficiency and the efficacy of the redemption price that our Lord paid on Calvary. Baptism is a picture of our asso ciation with Christ in His death and resurrection. It speaks not only of death, but also of our being risen with Him. But if Christ is not risen from the dead, as some contended, then, as Paul asked, “What shall they do which are baptized for the dead?” In other words, if Christ be not risen from the dead, then we have been baptized unto a dead man, and of what significance or value could that be? Baptism speaks of resurrection as well as of death; but if Christ be not risen, the ordinance of baptism loses all of its significance; for then we should have been baptized for (i.e., “unto” ) the dead (or a dead man), which would have no meaning. The whole trend of the argument Paul follows in this fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians makes it conclu sive that this is what the Apostle is
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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