Dr. Talbot’s QUESTION BOX
revealed Himself to him, showing Him that He was the Saviour. No one was ever saved, or could be saved, by keeping the law. That is what Paul is referring to here: the ordinances which could only con demn and drive the sinner to Christ. This did not apply to the Gentile Colossians whom he addressed in verse 13. They had to come to the same way of faith in the Saviour but they had not any knowledge of the Jewish law and so Paul makes no reference to it. In other words, “you" are the Gentiles, and “we” are the Jews with whom Paul iden tifies himself. The American Standard Version (1901) renders this similarly, but adds something which shows that the Colossian Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians (of which that church was composed) are really one. “And you, being dead through your trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses; having blotted out the bond written in ordinances, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nail- ng it to the cross." The "u s all” shows how Paul understood the unity of the Jew and the Gentile in Christ. What a miracle it was that God called him as a missionary to the Gentiles! Even so he never for got his brethren after the flesh and prayed constantly for them. DAY OF GOD AND DAY OF CHRIST Q. Is there a difference between "the day of Christ” and “the day of the Lord”? A. Yes, the day of Christ, also called “the day of the Lord Jesus" (I Cor. 5:5; II Cor. 1:14), “the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6) refers to the rapture of the Church when the Lord Jesus Christ takes His own to be with Him. The day of the Lord has to do with the tribulation, the judgment on unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, the antichrist and his fol lowers, and the millennium (Joel 1:15; II Peter 3:10-13). KB THE KING’S BUSINESS
heads of the church have held that office by apostolic succession is not Scriptural. There is but one single case of apostolic succession record ed in the Bible. In Acts 1, we learn that Matthias took the place of Judas, in fulfillment of prophecy. Even in the case of James, the recognized leader of the church in Jerusalem, (Acts 15), no successor was chosen following his death (Acts 12:1, 2). The Apostle Paul did not suc ceed any of the twelve apostles. His special apostleship to the Gentiles is mentioned in Romans 11:13 wherein he magnifies his Christ- given apostleship. In Galatians 2:1- 9 it is clear that he did not receive his authority as an apostle from Peter or the eleven, but directly from God. Not in the Epistle to the Romans nor in any other writings of Paul or any of the apostles is there a single intimation that there were archbishops, cardinals, popes, etc. in the early church, nor was there a special order of priests in the body of Christ. The true church began long before the papacy was heard of and therefore the entire papal system, with its indulgences, its purgatory, its masses, and its hierarchy, is completely man-made. Roman Catholic theologians state plainly that their authority is tradi tion, not the Bible. GRAMMATICAL ERROR? Q. I am puzzled at the Authorized (King James) translation of Colos- sians 2:13-14, and wonder why Paul changes from the second per son to the first in the two verses. Is it a grammatical error? A. No, it is not. In verse 13, Paul, as you indicate, says, “You, being dead in your sins . . . hath he quick ened together wtih him, having for given you all trespasses” and in verse 14, “Blotting out the hand writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nail ing it to his cross." Paul was a con verted Hebrew who was a strict ad herent of the law of Moses until the Lord on the road to Damascus
Q. Was the Roman Catholic Church the first Christian Church? A. No, it certainly was not. Note Acts 2:10 which tells us that among the “Jews, devout men, out of every nation” (Acts 2:5), there were “strangers from Rome, Jews and proselytes.” Again, in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, we read these words: “Salute A n d ro n ic u s and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow- prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me” (Rom. 16:7). From this we learn that there were some believers in Rome “ in Christ” (saved) before Paul himself was converted and called to be a mis sionary to the Gentiles. There was a church in Rome therefore some years before Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans. There was an assembly in the city of Jerusalem and one in Sama ria BEFORE there was an assembly of New Testament be lieve rs in Rome. In this sense, therefore, the church at Rome was not the first New Testament Church. The claim of the Roman Catholic Church that Peter was the first bishop of Rome and the popes as 24
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online