What did Jesus mean in Matthew 19:17 when He said, “ Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, GodV? In this question the Lord Jesus was just raising the man’s estimate of Himself. He as much as said, “Why do you call me good, and stop there? Why do you not go on and give me the place that is rightfully mine, that is, that I am God?” I live a moral life and try to conform to the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. Even though I do not make a pro fession of faith in Christ, why do I not stand as good a chance of getting to heaven as the man who says he is a Christian, and yet does things I would not think of doing? You are trying to get to heaven by your own efforts, and that can never be done according to God’s Word. He says “ There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). “Without shedding of blood is no remission” of sin (Heb. 9:22). These Scriptures will suffice to show you that God has plainly told us how to be saved— by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by faith alone. Read the New Testament prayerfully and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you; as you read the Word of God under His direction you will be convinced and converted. “ Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” As for your neighbor who professes to be a Christian, and yet does questionable things, let me say that only he and God know the true state of his heart. He may be a hypocrite. He may be a true believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, yet a weak Christian. The Holy Spirit gives power over sin to all who claim the promises of God. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1 :9 ). Go to Him: confess your sins, and accept His finished redemption for eternal life. Read John 3:36 and John 5:24. Please explain Matthew 2U:19: “ Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days / ” Matthew 24 tells us of the great tribulation period on the earth, “the time of Jacob’s trouble” ; and the Lord is speaking in verse 19 of the distress that those will be in who are with child in those days. To a certain degree the same thing is true in any war zone in any age, but how much more it will be in that day when there shall be trouble, such as never was, “no, nor ever shall be” ! This verse does not say, “Work for your own salvation,” but “work out your own salvation.” It is your own salvation that you are to work out. The text is best explained when considered in connection with the verse which follows: “ For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure.” The entire passage means that the Chris- O C T O B E R , 1 9 4 9 What is the meaning of Philippians 2:12, “ Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” ?
Dr. L. T. Talbot
tian is to manifest to the world his salvation by a godly and careful walk. This he cannot do in his own strength; he can do it only by the power of God. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4 :6 ). Is it right to give a part of our tithe to support radio pro grams? Certainly it is right to support any cause which is pro claiming the gospel of our crucified and risen Lord. One’s first responsibility “ as unto the Lord,” is to the body of believers in his own church who have pledged themselves to take care of certain missionary responsibilities, both at home and in the foreign field. It seems to me one does not need to give all of his tithe to one church, although we should be very careful in our giving lest we are deceived by those who are not true to the Word of God, and to the Christ of the Bible. I can think of no better way of getting the Word of God out to the world than through a true broadcast of the gospel. Why do we read in the Old Testament that God “repented” of certain things? When used concerning God,, “repent” in all its forms simply means, to man, God appears to change His mind. “Known to God are all his works from the beginning of the world”1 (Acts 15:18). In reality it is man who changes, or repents, which acounts for the seeming “repentance” of God. Please explain John 5:37, “ Ye have neither seen his face at any time.” Did the Jews not hear God’s voice when Jesus was baptized, and “a voice from heaven” said, “ This is my be loved Son, in whom I am well pleased"? When the Lord Jesua told the Jews that they had not heard the Father’s “voice,” He used the term in the sense of other similar uses in Scripture: “Hear, and your soul shall live” ; and “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” The Jews did not accept the testimony of God from heaven; that was equivalent to not hearing, in the sense in which Christ used the term. * What will become of the Jewish nation after the millen nium? Where will they dwell? They will be in the new earth. Read Isaiah 66:22: “ For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.” National distinction among saved Gentile nations will pass, but Israel will remain the memorial nation. Pa 35 Pive
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs