issues and opinions

The Name of God

Exodus 3:14-15

By Carl O. Cooper

            In today’s world there are seldom any questions among Christians about the name of God. We have the Bible to identify God. The Holy Spirit has given us the name of God and we do not have to guess what we are instructed to call our God.

            Now this is not true with the religious world in general. Non-Christians are still confused as to the correct name for our God. There are many false religions in the world today and many have names for their gods that we don’t find in the Bible. A case in point would be “Allah”, and although Muslims would tell you that this is the name of the same God, Christians know this is not true. There are many names for the gods of the false religions in the world. None of them is the name of the God we read about in the Bible.

            The same is true with the names of the Gods in the Old Testament. False gods were everywhere and each with their own name. Is it any wonder that Moses needed God to tell him what name He wanted to be called when He was introduced to Pharaoh? The all powerful God who created the universe and had the power to demand that Pharaoh release the Israelites from slavery needed a name that identified who He was. And, what’s more, even Moses needed to be taught God’s majesty as well. Moses knew about the God of the Israelites and he knew He was the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. But by what name should He be called? God cleared that up in no uncertain terms. “I AM WHO I AM” was the reply. Just this statement alone infers the great power of God and I can almost feel the terror generated in Moses with this reply.

            Now there are scholarly explanations for this name “I AM” and they do give additional information that teaches facts about God’s name. For instance this term “I AM” is generally referred to as the “Tetragrammaton”. It is said to appear more than six-thousand times in the Bible. And yet I dare say none would identify with this terminology at all. And there are other translations of these terms. The most common would likely be “Yahweh” and “Jehovah”. Sometimes Yahweh is spelled YHWH and translated into English as LORD. Note that all the letters are capitalized in these spellings. Now this is information that a Bible student would want to know, but somehow it seems that the terror Moses faced when he encounters God is lost with this scholarly explanation.

            When God gives a name for His people to call Him it conveys His dominion over all things. It shows the source of His power, and His eternal nature. “I AM” is the self-sufficient, self-sustaining God who was, who is, and who will be. This is the God who is the all powerful creator of the world and everything in it. He has the power to demand that His will be done and the power to see that it happens just as He wills it to be.

Carl O. Cooper

Saved By Faith?

It’s true, we are saved by faith

By Carl O. Cooper

            Yes it’s true. We are saved by faith. The Bible declares it in more than one place. Almost everyone who knows anything about the Bible can quote John 3:16. Look at John 3:16 but look at the verse before it to understand the context.

John 3:14-16 (NKJV)

               And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

            Now what in the world does “Moses lifting up the serpent” have to do with the faith that saves us? How could lifting up the serpent save anyone? Well, before we go into that, let’s explore some other things that have saved people.

            Another common and well known Bible story is Noah and the ark. God destroyed the world by a great flood but Noah was saved. Look at these Scriptures.

Genesis 6:13-14 (KJV)

                And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

¹⁸ but with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark,

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

            So Noah did all that God commanded him to do. He built the ark according to the pattern God gave him and at the proper time he entered the ark. By doing all that God told him to do, he was saved.

            Now, tell me. Why did Noah build this ark? It took many years. Don’t you know this was asking a lot to have a man follow these complex directions year after year? Would it really sound reasonable that a great flood would come upon the earth and float a huge ship such as the one Noah built? So why did Noah do it? We know the answer, don’t we? It was faith. The only reason Noah followed God’s instructions was because he had enough faith to do so.  Now we are not talking about “belief”. That type of faith is just not enough. Look at how James describes that type of faith.

James 2:14 (NKJV)

            What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

            Be honest with yourself here. If Noah had refused to obey God and refused to build the ark, would he have been saved? Or just suppose Noah had reasoned to himself that the ark was just too big, or suppose he decided that cedar is a better wood than “gopher wood”, would this have been enough faith to save Noah? No, Noah was saved because he had enough faith to obey God and do exactly what God told him to do.

            And then there was Abraham.

            There are several stories about Abraham. In every case recorded Abraham displayed great faith. Enough faith, in fact, to obey everything God told him to do without question. But look at the story about the time God told Abraham to kill his son, Isaac, and offer him as a sacrifice to God. Look again at what James has to say about Abraham’s faith.

James 2:20-24
                    But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says,“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.  You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

            So just like Noah, Abraham’s faith saved him. But also like Noah, would Abraham’s faith have been enough to save him if he had refused to obey God’s instructions about sacrificing his son? According to James it was Abraham’s faith that caused him to obey God. James says that this is the kind of faith it takes to save anyone. It is a faith that is strong enough to obey whatever God tells you to do. You see, faith alone is not enough. James says the devil has that kind of faith, and that is just not enough to save. The kind of faith that is counted to us as righteousness is the kind of faith that Noah and Abraham had. It is the kind of faith that will cause us to obey anything God tells us to do.

            Now, fast forward up to today. If faith alone will not save us, then what kind of faith will it take to save us? Has God given us any special instructions such as the instructions He gave Noah and Abraham? Well, yes, He has. God told us to have faith, alright. But He told us He requires some other things to be saved as well. Do we have enough faith for our faith to be counted as righteousness, like Abraham and Noah? One other thing God told us to do is to “repent”. Look at this Scripture.

Luke 13:5 (NKJV)

                I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Acts 17:30 (NKJV)
                    Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

            Any doubt about it? It is as clear as can be that repentance is required by God in order to be saved. Once again we see that James understood that “faith alone will not save”.

            But there is still more instructions from God about our salvation. Check this out.

Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV)

                that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Matthew 10:32 (NKJV)
                     “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

            There is still more to the Gospel that saves than repentance and confession.  We know that the type of faith that saves us and is counted to us as righteousness, (like Abraham and Noah), is the kind of faith that does not refuse to obey anything God tells us to do.

            Look at the passages about baptism. Remember the type of faith that saves us.

Acts 2:36-38 (NKJV)

                “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 22:16 (NKJV) And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the                                                   name of the Lord.

1 Peter 3:20-21 (NKJV)

               who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us–baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

            So there you have it. What kind of faith saves us? You can see that it is the type of faith that Noah had. And it is the type of faith that Abraham had. It is the type of faith that causes us to obey anything God tells us to do. And, like Abraham, we don’t have to fully understand why God requires it. We just have to have the type of faith that causes us to obey God no matter what. This is the kind of faith that James describes and this is the kind of faith that is counted to us as righteousness.

            Now how about that story of the bronze serpent that Moses made for the children of Israel? Look at the Scripture.

Numbers 21:9 (NKJV)

            So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

            What did it take to be healed by this bronze serpent? Well, first it took the type of faith that would cause someone to look up at the bronze snake. Faith alone would just not do the job. It took action on the part of the person who wanted to be saved. It was simple enough, but something besides faith was required. And as you can now clearly see, that has always been the way people have been saved by faith.

Carl O. Cooper

By Carl O. Cooper  

            Is it possible for God to sin? Well, the Bible gives us the answer to that, doesn’t it? Let’s look at James 1:13 to refresh our memory on this.

James 1:12-13 (NKJV)

12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  

So the answer is, NO! It is not possible for God to sin.

            Can we sin? You know we can. The bible is clear about that too.

            Recently we heard in the news about babies being beheaded and burned. If we killed babies would this be a sin? Yes, you better believe it would be a sin. But what would happen if God told us to kill babies? Would it be a sin if God told us to do it? Do you remember the story of Saul and the Amalekites? In 1 Samuel 15:3 God gives Saul his orders to kill all the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:2-3 (NKJV)

2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”   

            “Now hold on here just a minute”, says the tender hearted.  “God would not kill babies! That just can’t be the God I know”. The Bible must be wrong here. This must be an error in the translation from the Hebrew and Greek to English. Or maybe it is some type of figurative language or a synecdoche or irony, because I just can’t believe that God would instruct a man sin and kill babies.

            And what if God Himself killed infants and babies? Would God be guilty of sin? You know that God did this many times in the Bible stories we read. A case in point would be Sodom and Gomorrah. God rained fire and brimstone on these cities and completely destroyed all the inhabitants. This included babies and young children as well. Was it sin when God killed these children?

            To answer these questions we need to remind ourselves just what the definition of sin really is. The Bible defines sin for us and we really don’t have to guess. Look at 1 John 3:4 for the answer.

1 John 3:4 (KJV)

4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

          Another way to phrase this is to say that sin is a deliberate violation of the will of God.

            Now tell me this; when Saul killed all those babies in Amalek did he violate the will of God? If he did not, then it was not a sin.

            And how about this; when God killed all the babies in Sodom, did He violate His own will? The answer is No! It was not a sin.

            Is it possible for God to violate His own will? The answer to that is also NO! Therefore, it is impossible for God to sin.

            Would it be a sin if God hardened Pharaoh’s heart as He did in Exodus? No it would not be a sin. If it is God’s will to harden Pharaoh’s heart to carry out His own plan then it becomes God’s will and it is not a sin. Therefore, it is impossible for God to sin.

                        The next question would be, are you willing to judge God as a man? Are you willing to say that killing babies is evil, and if God killed babies then that makes God evil. If this was your mindset then (once again) you would have to find some way to make the Bible “not really say” that God told Saul to kill the Amalekite children. You might try to call these Bible verses some kind of poetic language or find some other name for the style of writing that would cause these verses to mean something else. Men do that, you know. We all have a “world view” of the God we think we understand.

            For many, God just could never do such a thing as kill babies. For these people, there must be, there has to be some other explanation that makes the Bible not say that God told Saul to kill infants. If we are free to judge God as a man, we cannot let the Bible say these things. Perhaps if we search hard enough we will find a fragment of ancient text where these verses are left out. My answer to this is, do not be afraid to say “I don’t understand”. There are things in the Bible that we just don’t understand and we do not have the wisdom and understanding great enough to “judge our God’s motives and reasons”.  God made us and the entire universe and we have no right to question what He says and what He does.

Carl O. Cooper

Marriage

By Carl O. Cooper

            Marriage was instituted by God. Of this there can be no doubt. The Bible confirms this in more than 1 place. Look at what Jesus had to say about marriage in Matthew 19:4-6 (KJV) 

            And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

            Jesus quoted Gen. 2:24 and showed those listening that marriage was instituted by God and it is God who joins a man and his wife together. And since this union was created by God, man does not have the authority to undo this union unless it is a case where God, Himself, allows it to be done.

            Jesus also gave His ruling on when this separation can be done and approved as a divorce by God. We find His words about that in Matthew 19:8-9 (NKJV)

            8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

            Jesus gives the final word on the subject of marriage and divorce. It is clear and to the point. Marriage is instituted by God. God is involved in every marriage in some way. In a proper marriage, God joins the couple together and they “become one flesh”.

            Jesus said that no man has the right to dissolve this union. That is, unless, and only unless, there is sexual infidelity involved. This is the only case where Jesus says divorce is approved by God.

            Yes, the Bible is clear about God’s requirements concerning marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Understanding what the Bible says about it is easy. But following these requirements is another thing, altogether. Many people just don’t follow God’s commands and do not have proper divorces and their marriages are actually, in many cases, living in adultery. Even the disciples saw how hard it would be to follow God’s requirements. Look what they said in Matthew 19:10-12 (NKJV)

            10 His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: 12 For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”  

            Notice He says that “some men made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake”? Do you want to be a faithful Christian? Then you must follow God’s requirements concerning marriage, divorce, and remarriage.

Carl O. Cooper

A Christian Woman’s Role In Life

The Myth of Total Equality With Man

            The older I get, the more I see this word “equality” abused between men and women on this earth. It is totally misunderstood by women of the world in general, and as time goes on it is more and more misunderstood by women within the church of Christ. And not without good reason. The culture of this world has, for some time now, been influenced by the powers of Satan. And has evolved in the direction of less and less regard for any authority at all, and even less regard for the authority of the Word of God, the Bible.

            Now you would expect this by the world in general. But as time goes on, the desire to incorporate this mindset into the women of the church of Christ has become more and more overpowering and almost impossible for women to ignore. As women assume more and more authority in the secular world, they are expecting the same authority in the church. This boldness also comes with changes in attitude and in the types of clothes women of the church are beginning to accept as well. Some are accepting the styles found on women at the mall and on TV, and little is left to the imagination. Some pants are so tight that they reveal a woman’s figure almost to the same degree as if her body was just covered with a coat of paint.

            Now the subject of modesty and nakedness is another subject and will require another article to address that. This article is about “equality” between a man and a woman in everyday life. And the first thing I would like to point out is the Bible’s explanation of the role of women that dates all the way back to the first man and woman, found in the book of Genesis.

            I know that almost everyone has some basic knowledge of the creation of man and woman in the Bible. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and there were 2 trees there planted by God. There was the tree of life and Adam and Eve could have eaten from this tree and lived forever. But there was another tree there as well and it was the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil”. Look at what the Bible says happened.  

Genesis 3:9-13

^9. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you       not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

            The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 

            As you can see, this part of the story takes place after Satan convinced the woman to eat from the forbidden tree of “The Knowledge of Good and Evil”. You might notice here that the first evil thing Adam noticed after he ate from the tree; the very first sin recorded by man and woman after they ate from the tree, was the evil of “public nakedness”. This “story” needs to be written as well and perhaps it will evolve as another article at a later date.

            But let’s continue with the conditions God placed on woman because she sinned and ate from the forbidden tree and tempted her husband to eat as well.

Genesis 3:16

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Carefully read what God said to the woman. This is highly significant.  

            God first mentions her motherhood and tells her that from that day forward women would experience severe pain in childbearing. God does not lie and God always speaks the truth. God also has the authority to see that His will carries the weight of the final word on a subject. No one questions that this statement from God came true.

            But this next part; Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

            It’s almost like this was just forgotten and ignored. It’s almost completely forgotten by women of the world and beginning to be watered down and forgotten by women in the church of Christ. And why not, when they are getting their instructions from the customs of the land, and unfortunately, from many of the men in congregations of the church.

            There are two reasons why women in the church are being confused about their role as a woman. Many men in teaching positions are just ignorant of the Bible teaching on this subject and others want to please the women in their lives by building them up and placing them on a high pedestal that is just not supported by the Bible. They take verses out of context such as this one and apply them with a broad brush to a woman’s life.

Galatians 3:26-28

²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

            Many people read this verse and because the bias and desire to blend in with the customs of our land is so great, they conclude that this means that men and women are equal in all things. Now it is true that there is no distinction between men and women or anyone else in our promise of salvation and eternal life. However, we do not all have the same talents, jobs, and roles in life. Look at this verse.

Ephesians 4:11-12

¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the ^[e]edifying of the body of Christ,

            The Bible is very clear about this, we do not all have the same jobs and there are differences in our roles that give us differences. But no matter what the role we have in life, we all have the same value to God and we all have the same and equal chance for salvation and eternal life.

            But this does not give us all equal authority in our different roles in life. Do you have the same authority as the elders in your congregation? No, you do not. But does this make you inferior as a Christian? No matter what our role in life is, we are all equal in God’s plan for salvation and eternal life. We cannot deny that God made male and female and He created the roles in life that we occupy.

            It is true that God created a woman to have a strong desire for a man. God gave her these emotions and they are useful in her role as a mother and a wife. These emotions and desires are so strong in a woman that God placed her under subjection to a man all her life to keep these desires in check. The first man in her life is her father and eventually it becomes her husband. If you doubt these desires, look around you at the females you see. Are they doing anything to attract the attention of a man? You can see that they are by the way they are dressed. Does it not make good sense that God created a way for these desires to be kept under control? These desires are kept under control by a woman being in subjection to a man.

            But the world is changing and in my lifetime I have seen a lack of respect for Bible authority. This is happening even in the church. Teachers and preachers and men in general have lost their courage to admit that women are in subjection to men and they are finding ways to soften the Bible phrases to allow women to think there is no subjection at all.

            Now this attitude is more prevalent in younger women who have more association with schools and work places among the younger females around them. Many of the older women are more secure with their roles and understand the Bible’s authority. Men who are married to these women do not always understand that their wives are exceptions and they build them up in Bible classes and have no understanding that their wives are exceptions. God bless these women who honor God in their role as a female.

            To be a woman and honor the role of a woman as God designed it does not mean that a woman is inferior to a man. Here is a good example to illustrate that point exactly.

            Which is greater, an eagle or a lion?

            Would you say that one is greater than the other? Which one?

            The lion can’t fly and the eagle can’t run down prey. They have different roles. But both are magnificent in their own roles and one is not greater than the other. It is the same with a man and a woman. Both are magnificent in their own respected role.

            There is no reason for a woman to be ashamed of her role as a woman. To be in subjection to a man is God’s design for women and to disrespect this is to disrespect God’s design. I guarantee you and I promise you and I assure you, to follow God’s design will give you a happier life. Of course, choosing a faithful Christian man for a husband will have a lot to do with how your life turns out. The husband has his role too. Look at this verse.

Ephesians 5:22-25

            Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. ²⁴ Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 

            Now there is more to the role of women than just this part about being in submission. Don’t think that this is all there is to it. There is the matter of teaching men and also about usurping authority over a man. There is also the matter of a woman taking leading roles in our assemblies when the church comes together. And please, let’s never forget “modest dress and behavior”.

            Men have roles too. I have not addressed them in this article but God designed a role for them as well. In fact, when a man abrogates his role, it can cause a woman to be deceived and lost. May God help you to learn what your roles are.

Carl O. Cooper

A Christian Woman and Modest Dress

Does The Bible Define Modesty?

            The older I get, the more I see “modest dress and modest behavior” abused by both men and women on this earth. It is totally misunderstood by the women of this world in general, and as time goes on it is more and more misunderstood by women within the church of Christ; and not without good reason. The culture of this world has, for some time now, been influenced by the powers of Satan. And has evolved in the direction of less and less regard for any authority at all, and even less regard for the authority of the Word of God, the Bible.

            Now you would expect this by the world in general. But as time goes on, the desire to incorporate immodest dress into the women of the church of Christ has become more and more overpowering and almost impossible for women to ignore. As women become more and more influenced by the culture of the secular world, many develop a “boldness” in the type of clothes they consider appropriate to wear. This boldness also comes with changes in attitude and in the types of clothes women of the church are beginning to accept. And some are accepting the styles found on women at the mall and on TV. And I don’t have to tell you that little is left to the imagination. Some pants are so tight that they reveal a woman’s figure almost to the same degree as if her body was just covered with a coat of paint. Now all Christian women do not accept this type of clothing and many understand that it is sinful for a woman to dress in an immodest way. But even so, the desire to follow the culture of the world around us is so strong and overpowering, it continues to be accepted more and more and criticized less and less.

            There was a time in my life that I remember when the subject of modesty and nakedness was understood by almost all women. Even women who were not “religious” understood that it was wrong to reveal their nakedness in a public way. But Satan has a way of chipping away our moral reservations and allowing the culture of our environment to become more and more acceptable a little bit at a time. This has been going on so long now that there is not even a clear definition of what nakedness really is. Are tight revealing pants nakedness? Is bikini swimwear nakedness? How about short revealing short pants and low cut tops? I could go on with this description but everyone sees these clothes almost every day. Just go to Walmart.

            How do we judge just what nakedness really is? Do we just accept the culture of our land and adjust our consciences to adapt the new and evolving definition as our society dictates what it is? Surely no Christian really believes that would be an acceptable answer. If we accepted that reasoning then there would be no stopping where this would lead. If we can accept the world’s view on the definition of nakedness then we would be forced to accept the world’s view of what is required to be saved. We would also be required to accept the world’s definition of the church. Or for that matter, which world religion is acceptable with God. No, we cannot accept the world’s definition of any moral absolute. We need a fixed and definite set of standards and we know that this fixed standard is the Bible. God created our moral laws. They are fixed and unchangeable and they are revealed to us in the Bible, our guide for moral behavior of all types.

            So, do we find nakedness defined in the Bible? Does the Bible tell us what nakedness really is and when it is a sin? You bet it does. And in case you are not clear on where you stand, let’s review how the Bible defines nakedness.

            I know that almost everyone has some basic knowledge of the creation of man and woman in the Bible. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and there were 2 trees there planted by God. There was the tree of life, and Adam and Eve could have eaten from this tree and lived forever. But there was another tree there as well and it was the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil”. Look at what the Bible says happened.  

Genesis 3:9-13  

^9. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you       not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

            The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 

            As you can see, this part of the story takes place after Satan convinced the woman to eat from the forbidden tree of “The Knowledge of Good and Evil”. You might notice here that the first evil thing Adam noticed after he ate from the tree; the very first sin recorded by man and woman after they ate from the tree, was the evil of “public nakedness”. This “story” needs to be written and published and talked about and explained from the pulpits all over the world. We need to make it clear to everyone who will listen that public nakedness is a sin.

            Now Adam and Eve had just ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This knowledge of good and evil was enough for them to know that their nakedness was a sin. And so they tried to correct it in their own way. And then we learn from God that their effort to clothe themselves was not enough to cover their nakedness properly.

Genesis 3:6-7

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

            This was their method to clothe themselves. Note that the KJV says that they made themselves aprons. Some translations say they made themselves girdles. We are not sure exactly what these “aprons” covered but it is obvious it did not cover enough. God made them clothes which He approved of, and the Bible calls them coats (or tunics NKJV)

Genesis 3:20-21

20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

            So there you have the story of the very first sins recorded in the Bible. Public nakedness was right at the top of the list right along with the sin of eating from the forbidden tree.

            But you might argue that revealing clothes is not public nakedness. Well, according to the standards set by the new culture of our land, this argument would be good enough for them. But the culture of our land is not the standard from which God judges us. We get our definitions from the Bible.

Exodus 20:25-26

And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. 26 Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

            Now use your logical reasoning here and decide what God is trying to say about nakedness. How can a person’s nakedness be exposed when they go up steps? Well, I think that’s pretty clear, don’t you. You could see under their robes and garments and see their thighs. God defines this as nakedness and He judges it “unacceptable”. Exposing the thighs in public is nakedness and it is unacceptable with God and therefore it is a sin.

            Also, look at Isaiah 47:3-5 2 Take the millstones and grind meal.

2 Remove your veil, Take off the skirt, Uncover the thigh, Pass through the rivers.

3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance,

            Does the Bible define exposing the thighs as nakedness? You can see that it does.

            What happens when a man looks at a woman who has exposed her nakedness for him to look at? All men will tell you that this will create impure thoughts with almost all men. Now some may be too young and some may be too old for these feelings to be aroused within them, but any normal man will struggle with impure thoughts when he looks on a woman’s nakedness. These thoughts are sin. Look at this passage in Matt. 5:28.

28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her                   in his heart.

            Now many women will say that their dress and behavior is not to blame when a man looks at her and has impure thoughts. They would deny that they have any blame or responsibility when a man loses his soul over their immodest dress. But the Bible has a different explanation concerning a woman’s dress. In 1 Timothy 2:9.

                                    Women are urged to have modesty in dress and behavior

             9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

            It is true that God created a woman to have a strong desire for a man. God gave her these emotions and they are useful in her role as a mother and a wife. These emotions and desires are so strong in a woman that God placed her under subjection to a man all her life to keep these desires in check.

            See Genesis 3:16. The first man in her life is her father and eventually it becomes her husband. If you doubt these desires, look around you at the females you see. Are they doing anything to attract the attention of a man? You can see that they are by the way they are dressed. Does it not make good sense that God created a way for these desires to be kept under control? These desires are kept under control by a woman being in subjection to a man.

            But the world is changing and in my lifetime I have seen a lack of respect for Bible authority. This is happening even in the church. Teachers and preachers and men in general have lost their courage to admit that women are in subjection to men and they are finding ways to soften the Bible phrases to allow women to think there is no subjection at all. 

            I challenge all fathers, husbands, preachers and elders, everywhere, to teach the women in your lives to respect the authority of God and dress according to the morality defined in the Scriptures.

Carl O. Cooper

The proper explanation of

John 3:16

It proves we are not saved by faith alone.

            It’s true! This verse, read in its proper context does not teach “saved by faith alone”. In reality, the context of this verse teaches just the opposite. It teaches that we are saved by faith, when accompanied by proper works. Now if you are associated with one of the denominational churches, just how many times have you heard that said? Never, right! Almost all of the people in the various denominational churches read John 3:16 and when they interpret the meaning of this verse, based on their own world view of salvation, they conclude that salvation is obtained by “faith alone”. They almost always include another doctrine and they say that “works have nothing to do with being saved”. This is common teaching by most of the denominational churches around us. But the fact is, John 3:16, when taken in its proper context, teaches that salvation is by works of obedience when accompanied by proper faith. Let’s take a closer look at these verses and you can see, without doubt, the proper meaning for yourself.

John 3:14-16 (NKJV)

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

            What in the world does Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness have to do with being saved by faith in God’s only Begotten Son? Be careful here because this sets the context of what these Scriptures are trying to get us to see. “Moses lifting up the serpent” is very important if you really do want to understand what is being taught here.

            Do you remember the story of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness? It’s found in Numbers 21, verses 8-9. Let’s look at these verses and see how they apply to John 3:14-16.

Numbers 21:7-9 (NKJV)

7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

            The story goes like this:

            The Israelites had been released from slavery in Egypt and had sinned against God. They were camped in the wilderness and God sent poisonous snakes among them in order to teach them to repent. If they were bitten by one of these “fiery serpents” they died. But God made a way for these people to be saved. It required 2 things. The first thing that was required was a faith in God that would cause them to obey God’s instructions and do what He required them to do. If they followed God’s instructions as He required them to do, they would be saved. They had to obey God and look at the serpent that Moses place on a pole. If they did this, God said they would be saved and not die from the bite of the snake. Sounds easy, right?

            But let’s put this into proper perspective. Here is a part of the picture that we seldom even think about or consider. Let’s look at Exodus 12:37-38.

Exodus 12:37-38 (KJV)

37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

            Wow! What a crowd of people. The Bible tells us it was six hundred thousand men, plus women and children. Most scholars number this nation of people to be from 1.5 million to 2 million people. Have you ever considered this? They lived in tents. There were no permanent houses available for them in the wilderness. If we were to consider 4 people to a tent, that would be about 500,000 tents. What a city of tents and people. According to the internet, the population of Forsyth County where I live (which includes the cities of Winston Salem, Kernersville, Clemmons, King, Lewisville and others) was 260,202 in 2021. The population of the people of Israel was 7.5 times more people that we have today in the entire county where I live in NC.

            What does this information do to the context of looking at the serpent Moses placed on a pole? Well, just suppose you were in my county of Forsyth and you were bitten by a poisonous snake. If you could be saved from this snake bite by looking at a serpent on a pole located somewhere over in downtown Winston Salem, would you find some way to get there so you could see it? Or would you be stubborn and rebellious and refuse to look at the snake on the pole? Would you claim that looking at the serpent was not necessary because we are saved by “faith only” and works have nothing to do with our salvation? Somehow, I just don’t think you would refuse to do the work of obedience God has required you to do.

            The same is true with the context of John 3:16. You can see now how the statement in John 3:14 about Moses lifting up the serpent applies to our salvation today. Yes, it’s clear. Faith is required, alright. But so are works of obedience. Look at these verses in James 2. With this new information, these verses should now become Chrystal clear.

James 2:20-24 (KJV)

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Carl O. Cooper

            Would it surprise you to learn that instruments of music were not used in “church worship” for the first 600 years of church history? You can look this up for yourself if you would like. Look up Pope Vitalian on the internet under Organ – Catholic Encyclopedia – Catholic Online. Pope Vitalian introduced the first instrument of music into the worship of the church. Up until that time all music of worship to God by the church was singing in a cappella form. You may be familiar with the term a cappella. You know it means singing by using the voice only, without the accompaniment of any type of instrument. But did you know that the word a cappella was an Italian word and it referred to “Chapel Music”? It was so commonly known that the music of the church was non-instrumental that it was referred to as a- cappella style. Stop and consider this for just a moment and think about what this means. It was very clear to the Christians of the original church that the music that God authorizes for the worship of the church is presented to God without the use of instruments. God specified singing and the original church understood what he wanted and followed the original pattern for the first 600 years of its existence.

            Many people are surprised to learn this history and have never heard it before. I invite you to look this up for yourself.

            Now that information may be strange to you and I hope it gives you cause to stop and think. But if that gives you reason to stop and think, the following information will really shock you. All the early reformers of Protestant denominations were against the use of instruments in public worship.

A quotation from the writings of John Calvin

“To sing the praises of God upon the harp and psaltery unquestionably formed a part of the training of the law and of the service of God under that dispensation of shadows and figures; but they are not now to be used in public thanksgiving.” (Calvin on Psalm 71:22)

The great reformer of the church, Martin Luther, wrote,

The organ in worship is the insignia of Baal… The Roman Catholics borrowed it from the Jews.

“Martin Luther,” McClintock & Strong’s Encyclopedia, Volume VI, page 762;

John Wesley, when asked about the use of the organ, replied, “I have no opposition to the organ in our chapel provided it is neither seen nor heard.” (Adam Clark’s Commentary, Vol. IV, p. 868)

Charles Spurgeon … Baptist

(Spurgeon preached to 20,000 people every Sunday for 20 years in the Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle and never were mechanical instruments of music used in his services. When asked why, he quoted 1st Corinthians 14:15. “I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with theunderstanding also.” He then declared: “I would as soon pray to God with machinery as to sing to God with machinery.” (Charles H. Spurgeon, Baptist)

Adam Clark, Instrumental Music, Law of Moses

Adam Clark: “I believe that the use of such instruments of music, in the Christian Church, is without the sanction and against the will of God; that they are subversive of the spirit of true devotion, and that they are sinful.

            There are many others and their positions are readily available for anyone to see within their writings on the internet. If you choose, you can read the historical quotations for yourself.

            As interesting as this information is, these are only the opinions of mere men. These men are highly respected in the world of religion for their contributions to the reformation movement, but only God has the authority to decide the type of musical worship He has asked us to present to Him. He has told us what type of music we are to use in our worship and He has revealed it to us in His Holy Word, the Bible. We are to sing. Look at some of the verses that deliver this information to us and see if you are in agreement with what the Bible tells us to do. You will find no mention of using any types of musical instruments in any of the pages of the new contract we have with God. The new contract is the New Covenant or the New Testament as we refer to it today.

            Let’s look at some of these verses found there:

Ephesians 5:19 (NKJV)
¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

Colossians 3:16 (NKJV)
¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 

            Here are two passages where the inspired writers of God’s Word have given us instruction for the type of music God has instructed us to use in our worship to Him. Look carefully at these instructions. You will see the subject matter of the type of songs we are to sing and you will find absolutely no authorization for musical instruments mentioned here at all. In fact, it is clear that we are to use our voices to present this music to God. Notice how it tells us to “speak these songs”? And notice, also, that we are authorized to “sing” and no other form of music or musical art is mentioned as being qualified to be presented to God as acceptable. No wonder the original church and the early protestant reformers rejected the instrument as not being acceptable to use as worship to God.

Questions About The Missionary Society

Clarified

By Carl O. Cooper  

            The debate within the church of Christ over an organized entity to collect funds and to oversee mission work has now lingered on for over 100 years. Some very well respected preachers in the church have stood against the formation of a system such as this. One such famous preacher who was perhaps one of the most outspoken in favor of the Missionary Society was Alexander Campbell. Campbell wrote many articles in favor of establishing the Missionary Society and at one time he served as president. On the other side of the fence were men like David Lipscomb and Tolbert Fanning and others who felt that there was no authorization given in the Bible for any outside organization to do the work of the church; Nor was there any authorization given to establish any other church offices to take the place of local elders in local congregations.

            It needs to be said and understood that there is more involved in authorizing a Missionary Society than only establishing an unauthorized entity that is formed to do the work of the church. The objection also includes the question of how does the church collect and oversee and distribute money and authority in a project where church cooperation is considered. How do churches cooperate and oversee funds for missionaries and for that matter, benevolence work? Many of those who objected to forming a Missionary Society also objected to any local church collecting funds for a multi-church project that required the elders of one local church to oversee and distribute funds that were collected from many separate congregations. David Lipscomb wrote many articles in the Gospel Advocate objecting to a local church collecting and distributing funds from other congregations other than their own. His view was that God gave no instructions for one congregation to abdicate authority to another congregation to do the work of the local church. Today, 100 years later, this system is common place in church co-operation everywhere.

            But here is my take on this situation of church co-operation and Missionary Societies.

            A few years ago I encountered, while on a mission trip to Guyana, South America, a group who called themselves “The Guyana Church of Christ Board of Trustees”. They sent me a letter and they said they wanted to be involved in selection or rejecting an American Missionary who I knew. I thought it was unbelievable that there was such an organization that did actually exist in Guyana. But it did exist. I took issue with them as a board and told them that there was no such office in the church of Christ. They told me that the Government in Guyana required them to exist and to be the spokesman for all the churches of Christ in Guyana. As I questioned them and their authority to make decisions for the church they tried to tell me that they understood that they had no authority to exist and they denied making decisions for local churches in Guyana. However, as time went on I discovered that local congregations were taking their problems and disputes to “The Board of Trustees” for them to settle disputes among the members. I knew that would happen as soon as I heard of their existence.

            Here is my reasoning on church co-operation and entities such as a missionary Society and a Board of Trustees.

            There are two ways the church of Christ is presented in the New Testament. There is reference to individual local congregations such as the church in Corinth or the church in Philippi. And these local churches are governed by the rulers (or Sheppard’s) of each congregation. Each congregation is self governing and autonomous and there is no higher office for the church on earth higher than the elders of each local congregation. And in addition to this way of describing the church, it is sometimes referred to as “the church universal”. This reference includes all the congregations of the church worldwide. In this case the only head of the church in this category is Jesus Christ.

            There is no Bible authorization, what-so-ever, that would describe or allow another entity to be formed by man that God did not design. No institution can be designed by man that would claim to do the work of the church God designed. This includes a missionary society, a benevolence society, or a board of trustees in order to make decisions in place of local elders in local churches. These entities are not described or authorized anywhere in the Bible.

            We do have an example of church co-operation in the Bible about collecting money to be sent to the poor Saints in Jerusalem. Paul gave instruction for a local congregation to collect funds on the first day of every week so that when he came to them he would either take the money himself or he would designate another person to take it to those in need.

            To me, this seems to justify the process of the elders of a local church to collect and oversee funds that could be used for special projects. These funds could be collected by contributions from other churches or individuals and distributed according to the oversight of the elders of the local congregation.

            I do not deny that there are some congregations of the church of Christ who disagree with many forms of church co-operation. These call themselves “non-institutional” churches of Christ. My explanation does not attempt to define their doctrine at this point.

Carl O. Cooper

The Desert

By Carl O. Cooper

Behold..The mighty mid-day sun casts down its rays

And one by one,

The devils plan their doom and rise,

And spew their dust clouds to the skies.

The devil fights the war to win,

And dares a man to venture in.

But many men have tried their hand,

And left their bones bleached in the sand.

With scalding sun, and throats burned dry,

And buzzards circling in the sky,

It seems their fate is just to die.

The devil turned the desert dry.

Empty wagons, broken down,

And wooden crosses in the ground,

Dare men to enter in this land,

Of heat and sun and burning sand.

Mighty man and his machine,

Have yet to turn the desert green.

What’s more, he never, never can.

The devil rules the desert land.