poor example and testimony for the Lord. Going back to the early days of the Christian church, we would find that many of the pastors and evangelists had some type of physical labor which they carried on in addi tion to their ministry. Many built the church buildings with their own hands. Q. Chowchifla, Calif. — *7 John 5:10 raises a question in my mind where it says ‘made him a liar.’ I ’d rather say 'made him out to be a liar.’ Is there usage of the original Greek that permits this kind of transla tion? I know unbelief doesn’t change God’s character, yet how is it trans lated in the original?” A. The verse says, “He that believeth not God hath made him a liar.” Some times we talk this way, too. A person may protest, “You’re making me a liar.” This doesn’t mean you actually áre a liar but this is how the person’s statements affect you. In I John 1 :10 there is the phrase, “If we say that we have not sin, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us." No man, by any actions, can change the character of the Lord whatso ever. God can never lie. He can never be implicated in anything that even borders on this sin. Q. Long Beach, Calif. — "Where did Cain get his w ife?” A. Without question, this is simply answered in that he married one of his sisters. Adam and Eve had other children, following the birth of the first two boys. In those days sin had not taken such a grasp on man. To day, such close marriage could cause feeble-mindedness. This was not the case in the beginning. Q. Golden, Colo. — “What does the Bible say about the original sin with which we are all born? My neighbor insists that babies must be baptized for original sin. I don’t believe this. 22
Don’t babies who die go immediately to heaven? I don’t know how to prove it by Scripture. She doesn’t believe in this ‘saved stuff’ as she calls it.” A. Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, which was passed on to the human family, at birth all men are sinners. See Romans 5:12 for what the Bible says about original sin. Genesis 6:5 reveals to the corruption in the heart of man as does Jeremiah 17:9. “That heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” David points out in his testimony, “I was shapen in iniquity, in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psa. 51: 5). He knew he had a sinful nature right from the beginning. Adam and Eve are the only two individuals in the history of the world who ever became sinners by sinning. All the rest of us, being sinners, just express our nature by sin. We do not believe that babies have to be baptized for sin. They are to be taught in the way of God. We are to seek to draw them to Christ. There’s no reason why a child shouldn’t be taught about Jesus as well as baseball and other things. It is an entirely erroneous theologi cal concept that original sin can be done away with by something which is outwardly performed; This is real ly impossible. Baptism comes after belief and is an outward sign to the world of an inward change of heart. We believe that if an infant dies be fore he can make a decision that he is saved and will go to heaven. This is on the basis of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ whose atonement covers the little ones. See II Samuel 12:23; Matthew 18:10; Mark 10:14. Q. Santa Barbara, Calif. — “Please dis cuss whether animals have souls.” A. This would all depend on one’s definition of “soul.” If you mean that they have something comparable to man’s never-dying spirit, then you are wrong. Redemption and eternal
Made with FlippingBook Annual report