Does God imply certain truths in His word that we are to comprehend by use of our reason? Some advocate that we should only be bound by what God has explicitly commanded us in the Bible. Any use of reason to determine what the Bible implies is “overthinking” it to them.  However, while I would not advocate that each Christian is required to master formal logic to go to heaven, it is impossible to get around the necessity of correctly reasoning and inferring what the Bible implies if we wish to follow God’s will. The sides of a square are all the same length. Given the length of one side of a square, anyone familiar with even the most basic truths of geometry would be able to infer the length of the other sides of the square.  Likewise, we can know a certain truth from what the Bible implies without God having to explicitly state it.

The Bible was written by about forty different men who were writing to various audiences. We must correctly infer whether or not God’s explicit commands apply to us, and if so, how. One does not need to be a master logician to conclude that God’s command in Genesis 6:14, “Make thee an ark of gopher wood,” was to Noah and is not required of people today to be saved. Alternatively, I do not need the Bible to explicitly call my full name and tell me what I should be doing in 2020 to know that I am required to follow certain courses of action. I know that even though Jesus was speaking to a certain lawyer when He said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” that I too am to love God and others (Matthew 22:35-39). I know that Jesus is quoting Old Testament passages, but I also know that in first-century epistles to Christians that love for the Lord and love for others is a requirement for being saved (1 Cor. 16:22; James 2:8-9). To see these statements as binding on me, I have to infer that what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:1-2) and what James wrote to the dispersed Jews (James 1:1) applies to me as well living 2,000 years later in Flatwoods, KY.

In fact, Jesus expected the Sadducees, who denied the life of the spirit after death and the resurrection (Acts 23:8), to infer from the statement God made to Moses in Exodus 3:6, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” that these three men were in existence beyond the grave (Mt. 22:31-32; Lk. 20:37-38). While the explicit statement God made was about His identity, there was a truth about the existence of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who had died hundreds of years before Moses that the Bible reader was to necessarily infer from the statement.

Jesus expected men to infer that He was God from various implications in Scripture, His teaching, and His miraculous works. Jesus showed that David’s statement in Psalm 110:1 where He called Jesus Lord implied that Jesus was more than just the physical descendant of David (Mt. 22:41-45). Men were to infer that Jesus was both the root and the offspring of David—the God who existed before David and came in the flesh after David. The Jews correctly inferred that Jesus was claiming He was God when He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), since I AM is God’s name (Ex. 3:14). Jesus expected men to infer that He was the Son of God by the implication of His miraculous works (Jn. 10:38).

We can infer that Christ’s kingdom had come in the first century from passages like Colossians 1:13 and Revelation 1:9 since Christians were in it. We can infer that if we are to love and appreciate those who rule over us, (1 Thess. 5:12; Heb. 13:7) —that is, elders who shepherd the flock (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:1-4) —because they watch for our souls (Heb. 13:17), that it is God’s will we be members of a local congregation with faithful overseers who will function as supervisors for our souls. God doesn’t have to explicitly say to me, “Thou shalt place membership at a local congregation,” for me to know this is God’s will. The Lord directs us by the implications of His word.

-Mark Day

When Israel lacked faith in God that He could deliver them safely in to possess the land of Canaan, God punished them by making them wander in the wilderness for forty years—one year for each day they spied out the land—until all the older generation (those twenty years old and up) died in the wilderness (Num. 14:20-35). Later, Moses rehearsed this matter and made this observation, “Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it” (Deut. 1:39). These little ones and children are described as having no knowledge of good and evil. Children are born innocent. They receive pure souls from God (Ecc. 12:7; Zech. 12:1; Heb. 12:9). They do not yet have the capacity to make decisions between right and wrong. Paul described this early period in his life before he committed sin, and thus died spiritually, by saying, “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Rom. 7:9). Sin is transgressing God’s law (1 John 3:4). Little children have not transgressed God’s law by being born into this world. God is just and allows people to make their own decisions. God did not hold the little children in the wilderness responsible for their parents’ decisions.

While we may be heavily influenced by others, especially our parents, Ezekiel 18 shows that each person will answer to God for the decisions they have made once they have matured to the point they have the capacity to know right from wrong. This chapter shows that a righteous man may have a son who turns from the godly example set before him and walks in iniquity; however, a wicked man may have a son who sees the sins of his father, and—even though we might think he has no chance—chooses to live a righteous life. God deals with people according to the decisions they make, not what their parents or children have done. The most prominent verse in the chapter highlights this by saying, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezek. 18:20).

Revelation 20:12 presents the great final judgment where the dead stand before God to be judged “according to their works,” not the works of others. God will judge individuals for their secret thoughts and purposes (1 Cor 4:5), for every word—even careless words—they have spoken (Mt. 12:36), and for every deed they have done in their body (2 Cor. 5:10). I must answer for my thoughts, words, and deeds just as you must answer for yours. As Romans 14:12 declares, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

You can become pure in the sight of God again by becoming like a little child (Matthew 18:3). By being born again, born of water and the Spirit in water baptism, you can become a child of God (John 3:5; Titus 3:5; Gal. 3:26-27). If you have been born again but have gone back into sin, you can come back to God by repenting of your sins and confessing them to Him (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9). The decision is yours.

-Mark Day

Mark 10:13-15, “And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” [Parallel accounts in Matthew 19:13-15; Luke 18:15-17]

In this passage, Jesus lifts up children as examples of the nature of those who would enter His kingdom must possess. Notice He said “of such” is the kingdom of God. He is referring to “of this sort of character”. Also, one could not enter unless they received the kingdom “as” a little child. This is not describing “when” but “in that manner”, i.e. the qualities of a child. Like children, those that enter the kingdom would be:

Teachable – It has been rightly said many times that Christianity is a taught religion. We see this from the beginning in the Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…” See also Psalm 86:11; 2 Timothy 2:2.

Humble – As one is being taught, he must be like a child in humility to enter the kingdom (church, cf. Matthew 16:18-19). Jesus taught this on another occasion in Matthew 18:3-4, “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” See also John 3:3-5; Micah 6:8.

Obedient – When a person is taught and has a humble spirit, they are required to exhibit a childlike obedience in order to enter into the kingdom. Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” See also 1 Peter 1:22-23; Hebrews 5:9.

Free From Sin – Children have no sin until the age of accountability. Until that time they are “safe”. After we become accountable, we have need of having our sins forgiven and not living a sinful lifestyle. Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

If one would be free from sin in order to enter the kingdom of God, they must humbly obey those things taught in the word of God: Believe, John 8:24; Repent, Luke 13:3; Confess Christ, Matthew 10:32; Be Baptized, Mark 16:16; Live Faithfully, Revelation 2:10.

– Jerry D. Sturgill

As the new year begins and the old year passes into history, the scoffers described by Peter come to mind; these mockers live in sin, denying the end the world and the final judgment, “And saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Peter said these mockers would come in the “last days”—that is, the last age of time (2 Peter 3:3). The Christian age in which we live is the age known in the Bible as the “last days” (Acts 2:16-17). This age will terminate at the end of the world; there will be a final day known as the “last day.” The promise that Jesus would come again and judge the world in the last day was clearly taught by first-century Christians (Jn. 12:48; Acts 17:31). The mockers denied this, and pointed out that the fathers, early Christians who taught such, have died.

Their claim that the world has continued the same as it always has since its creation is not true. Peter brings up a fact the mockers willfully ignored: the flood that destroyed the world in Noah’s day, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Pet. 3:5-6). They combated a clear biblical fact that disproved their theory by willfully ignoring it. How often do people do this today? They make false claims about the Bible, yet they know there is evidence in the Bible that goes against what they are saying; however, instead of acknowledging this evidence to the contrary, they act as if it doesn’t exist.

As we prepare to enter the year 2020, let us remember Jesus’ promise to come again. Just as He ascended into heaven, He will come back again in the clouds (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16). The passing of a thousand years does nothing to diminish the veracity of the Lord’s promise; a thousand years is as a day to Him (2 Pet. 3:8). Let us not be deceived into thinking that the passing of time means the Lord will not come again in judgment. He is gracious providing time allowing men to come to Him in repentance (2 Pet. 3:9), but He has appointed a day of judgment which is coming to all (Acts 17:31). The physical world will then come to an end with the heavens passing away and the earth being burned up (2 Pet. 3:10). The context indicates 2 Peter 3 is not metaphorical but rather concerns the physical creation (v.4) that was overflowed with physical water in the flood of Noah’s day (v.6). The same physical world is going to be burned up in the last day, “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:7).

People are tempted to love this world and its amusements rather than looking to the eternal home in heaven (1 Jn. 2:15). The passing of the years should not dull our anticipation that the Lord will fulfill His promise to return in final judgment, rather it should heighten our awareness and motivate us to live in such a way as to be ready, for our salvation grows nearer. The inspired apostle Peter poses this question: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (2 Pet. 3:11-12).

-Mark Day

            Grasping the significance of having Christ as our mediator is vital for realizing how blessed we are as Christians. A mediator is someone who reconciles two sides who are involved in a disagreement. The scenario for all mankind is this; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), God must punish wickedness (Ps. 145:20), and we are enemies of God if we remain in sin (Col. 1:21-23). One day we will stand before the Father and give an account of our deeds (Rom. 14:10-12). Without Christ, how would you fair? What do you think would be the outcome of God’s judgment without Christ’s blood to cover our sins (1 John 1:7-10)?

            Mankind has always needed a mediator and in the Old Testament there were a few. Job was a mediator for his sons when he arose and sacrificed on their behalf (Job 1:5). What we see in the patriarchal time is that the head of a house was the mediator for their families. Noah sacrificed to the Lord for his family when they got off the ark (Gen. 8:20), Abraham created a covenant with God for his family (Gen. 15:1-17), Isaac continued that covenant after Abraham’s death (Gen. 26:24-25), and Jacob mediated between God and his children when they held on to their idols (Gen. 35:1-7). While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they asked Moses to mediate between them and God because they feared they would die (Deut. 5:22-33). Similarly, Samuel was a mediator between God and His people. Jeremiah wrote concerning the Jewish people of his time, “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth’” (Jer. 15:1). What Jeremiah is saying is if Moses and Samuel were to attempt to mediate for the people of Jeremiah’s day, he would not change His decision of their coming destruction. Even though Scripture does not explicitly say Samuel was a mediator, it clearly shows by example that he was (1 Sam. 7:5-8). Although these men were all mediators, the problem is they were men. Sin was a problem in their lives as it is for every man and they could not live forever. Once they died, the people again yearned for someone to stand on their behalf before God.

            Certainly, there were mediators at times; but there were also times when none could be found. Job longed for a mediator when he suffered and was afflicted. Job said, “Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both. Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let dread of Him terrify me” (Job. 9:33-34). God desired for a mediator to arise during the time of Ezekiel, but there were none to stand in the gap. The priests, princes, and prophets should have been the bridge; yet, they had turned to wickedness and caused others to sin against God. For this, God brought indignation and wrath upon His people (Ezek. 22:23-31).

            Christ has bridged the gap for all mankind, for all times (1 Tim. 2:5). With Christ as our mediator we live under a better covenant with better promises (Heb. 8:6). If one desires to have Jesus as their mediator, they must be a part of His Church (Heb. 12:23-24). Those who refuse the gospel also refuse to have Jesus as their mediator on the day of Judgment (2 Thes. 1:8-10). Will Jesus Christ bridge the gap between yourself and God when all mankind must appear before His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10)? Or will Jesus’ words stand as a prosecuting attorney against you because you ignored them (John 12:47-50)?

-Brandon Foresha

A mediator is sometimes needed to help two parties in conflict reach an agreement. When a brother in Christ has sinned against me and will not listen to me alone, Jesus instructed me to get one or two more to arbitrate in the matter (Mt. 18:16). 

The book of Philemon presents an occasion where Paul functioned as a mediator between Onesimus, a slave, and his master, Philemon, so that their relationship would be that of beloved brothers (v. 16). Onesimus had not left Philemon’s house on good terms; he was an “unprofitable” servant (v. 11) and may have wronged his master or stolen from him in some additional way (v. 17). Leaving Philemon, Onesimus eventually came in contact with Paul in prison. Paul converted Onesimus to Christ, and then sent him back to Philemon with this letter preserved for us in the New Testament in which Paul appealed to Philemon to receive Onesimus back (vv. 10-12). Paul wanted Onesimus to stay with him, but desired Philemon’s consent first (vv. 13-14). Paul had confidence that Philemon would not only receive Onesimus—which would be fitting in obedience to apostolic teaching in regard to the forgiveness of sins—but would do even more than what Paul had said (vv. 8, 21). Perhaps the greatest expression of Paul’s mediation is his statement in verses 17-19 of the epistle, “If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.” Paul was so desirous of peace between the two that he puts the debts of Onesimus on his own account and promises to repay, even though he could have demanded that Philemon owed him.

In regard to our relationship to God, the Bible clearly teaches, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,” (1 Tim. 2:5-6). Our sins cause us to be at odds with God (Isa. 53:1-2; Rom. 3:23). Jesus is the mediator who is both God and man; He understands both parties (Jn. 1:1-3, 14; Phil. 2:5-7; Heb. 2:14; 4:16; 5:1-2). The debt we owe to God because we have wronged Him with our sins was placed on Jesus’ account at the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). Similar to how Abraham offered up Isaac in his heart before the act was ever carried out (Gen. 22:10-12; Heb. 11:17-19), God has allowed man to be reconciled to Him throughout time based on the fact that in His mind sins would be placed on Jesus’ account (Rom. 3:24-26; Gal. 3:13). The preaching of Christ as this great mediator was “testified in due time” when the apostles proclaimed it at the inauguration of the Christian era. No doubt Paul had learned to seek reconciliation with those at enmity because of the great love He saw in God bringing man back to Himself through Christ: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18-19). Jesus, as the Mediator of the New Testament (Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24) continues to function as the go-between to continually give us peace with God through His blood so that we are on speaking terms with the Father. That God’s love has provided such mediation in Jesus should compel us to live righteously, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

–Mark Day

To the young Thessalonian congregation, recently planted by Paul, he wrote, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). The grouping of these brief exhortations show that they primarily concern the exercise of miraculous gifts in the first-century church.

While one can quench the Spirit’s influence by pursuing a lifestyle that is contrary to God’s word—by hardening one’s heart with sin (Hebrews 3:13)—the context in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 seems to indicate they were smothering the miraculous activity of the Spirit; the next exhortation against despising prophecies refers to the Spirit’s working in a miraculous context. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul addresses these miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit; one was prophecy (v.10), a gift that some, but not all, had in the first-century church (vv. 28-29; cf. 14:2-5). Prophecy was the means by which God revealed His message and served to edify her members (1 Corinthians 14:29-33). To first-century congregations such as Thessalonica, who did not yet have a complete, written New Testament, prophets foretold the message of God (the mystery of the Gospel of Christ) that had been hitherto kept secret (Ephesians 3:3-7). Sometimes a prophet of God would foretell events to come (Acts 11:27-28). 

However, there were also false prophets who claimed to have messages from God, but were liars (Acts 13:6; 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Corinthians 11:13; Revelation 2:2). When Paul was with the Thessalonians, he warned them about false prophets who would try to deceive them leading to a great apostasy from the faith (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5). With false teachers running amok, it is possible that some in Thessalonica had the tendency of putting all who claimed to be prophets of God in the same pigeon hole as false teachers and thus despised some true prophets of God. Do we not see people who have a similar attitude in regard to religious groups today? There are those who think that all religious groups advocate abandoning reason, manipulate emotions, and prey on the gullible to make lots of money. There are individuals who, upon hearing I am a preacher, have said to me, “Oh, your all about getting money out of people.” It is similar to Nathanael’s initial criticism concerning Jesus’ hometown, when he said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Jesus was the exception. Likewise, though there were false prophets, that did not mean there were no true prophets.

Since there are both true and false prophets, the proper response Paul advocates is to, “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). This is much like the admonition of 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

It seems that Paul had to leave the congregation at Thessalonica after only three weeks (Acts 17:2, 10). His two letters to them soon after his departure, which we have preserved for us in the New Testament, were written to more fully instruct them and encourage them to grow in Christ. Those who had the miraculous gift of prophecy in the infant church of the first century would aid new congregations like Thessalonica by messages from God just as Paul’s letters aided them.

While the miraculous gift of prophecy is no longer extant in the church today since we have the entire Bible: the complete revelation of God (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; James 1:25), we must still examine what a preacher says to determine whether it is true or false according to God’s revealed word. The teaching that is good should be embraced and practiced rather than despised and discarded.

-Mark Day