issues and opinions

Gambling #3

Is Gambling a Sin?

            I have noticed through the years that many Christian people are just not convinced that gambling is a sin. This is one of those topics that many people find difficult to study for themselves. You will not find a verse in the Bible where it is clearly stated, “Thou Shalt Not Gamble”. You won’t find gambling named in the verses where groups of sins are listed, and the few verses we have that reference “casting lots” are not described as sin. Most people will need a Bible teacher to help them with this understanding and decision. It is common for teachers to condemn gambling as a sin on the grounds that it involves greed, covetousness, and a mindset of getting something for nothing. But I see a great number of people reject these explanations and refuse to believe that they apply to their motives. If this is you, I would request that you consider another explanation of why gambling is a sin.

            Immoral Associations

            As a boy, I understood that there were many families who were being hurt and kept in poverty by the action of the parents. Even at that young age I could see that some of the families I knew were being hurt by the immoral places the parents hung out and the immoral activities they were engaged in. Some of these people were drawn to the back rooms and joints where the beer flowed and the gambling was common. Not to mention the other immoral activities that went along with it. In these places gambling and alcohol went together with other immoral activities.

            And even as a boy I saw gambling as being bad because of the things it created with the families. A person can be caught up in a gambling game and before he knows it the money he had to support his family is gone. There is ego involved as to how someone thinks he looks in front of his peers and crony’s, and he may keep betting and playing until all the money for his family is squandered. When this happens, he cannot always bring himself to stop until all is lost, even things needed for the survival of his own children.

            Also, with this comes the element of addiction. Some personalities are easily addicted to gambling. To some people gambling is like a drug. They just cannot stop. We know that this type gambling is a sin because of 1 Cor. 6:12.

                    ¹² All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 

            This is not trying to say that sinful things are lawful. This is not the context of this verse. What it is saying is that it is sinful to be “under the power” or addicted to anything.

            Today the gambling industry fully understands the personalities of those people they want to entice into gambling. They don’t even try to hide the odds and fully explain that you cannot win and beat the house, and yet people gamble anyway. The thrill is there even when the gambler is winning or losing.  There is that addictive quality about this thrill and there will be some who cannot step away from it. And in the major casinos, there will be the other sinful activities available as there always are. Alcohol will be plentiful and sometimes free and the shows and the crowd will be there to tempt you to sin in many other ways.

            But you might say, what is the harm if I gamble and don’t go to these places and I don’t spend money that is needed by my family? And I would answer like this:

            What do the pillars of your church have to say about gambling? What do your church leaders say? Do they support you in this or are they against it? If you engage in gambling, will it be against their convictions? Would you announce your intentions to gamble to your church congregation? Would you be rebellious against the convictions of your church friends and leaders if you gambled anyway? Do you think this would be a good thing to do? I would dare say that your gambling in spite of this would be a rebellious act that would go against the leaders of your church congregation.

            And would your gambling cause some other person to follow you and do the same? Is there any way for you to be sure that this person would not become addicted to gambling and ruin their life? Would that person ever abuse their family with their gambling? If that were to happen, do you think you would have any part in their sinful behavior? I feel sure we all know the answer to these questions.

            Some churches have raffles and raise money for the church or for charities this way. And Governments prey on a citizen’s desire for gambling and raise money by using lotteries and alcohol sales. But we know that the proper way for a Government to raise money is by taxes and the proper way for a church to raise money is by free will offerings by the members. We are to “give as we have been prospered on the first day of the week” (Paraphrased)

            But what about punch boards and raffles and contests that require the player to pay a fee to play in order to win a prize?

            I think no one can disqualify these activities from being in the same category as all other types of gambling. You might try to make the case that they are on a more harmless scale for the player, but they are still the same basic thing. I would suggest that we need to apply the same basic rules and the same litmus test to these activities as we do to any type of gambling.

            1. Would this influence anyone to become associated with gambling and hurt their lives                                and their families?

            2. Could this ever lead someone to addiction because of a “harmless game”?

            3. What would the church leaders say about this?

            4. Would you have to rebel against your church to participate?

            Romans 14 tells us that any activity is a sin that is stubbornly participated in that causes another brother to stumble.

            There are many other reasons not to gamble. But if you have rejected them, I ask you to consider the logic in what I have said.

Carl O. Cooper

Wine in Judges 9:13

                              ¹² “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us!’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Should I cease my new wine, Which cheers both God and men, And go to sway over trees?’  

            When I first read these words “Which cheers both God and men”, it caused me to stop and question what this could possibly mean? Could this be referring to alcoholic, fermented wine?  If it is, then it literally flies in the face of all the Bible has to say about wine in many other Scriptures that condemn drinking alcoholic drink.

            But a closer inspection of the verse reveals another mystery as well.

            Did you notice when you read this verse that the “wine” referred to here is specified as the “new wine”? You see, that presents a problem if you wanted this “wine” to be fermented, alcoholic wine. “New wine” is always referring to fresh squeezed grape juice and is not “aged and fermented” to produce alcoholic wine. So that is the first mystery solved. But even that is not the end of the explanation here.

            I did a search of the original translated text used here to see how this was written before it was translated into English. You can do this yourself. All it takes is a Bible program that gives you the “Strongs” numbers and the definition of the original words. Here is a sample from the Gospel Advocate’s Bible Program.

¹² Then said <H559> the trees <H6086> unto the vine <H1612>, Come <H3212> thou, and reign <H4427> over us. ¹³ And the vine  <H1612> said  <H559> unto them, Should I leave  <H2308> my wine  <H8492>, which cheereth  <H8055> God  <H430> and man  <H582>, and go  <H1980> to be promoted  <H5128> over the trees  <H6086>?

            Notice here that the word translated “wine” by the English translators is Strongs #H8492. Now, the question is; what is the real definition of this word?

Hebrew Strong’s Number: 8492

Hebrew Word: ‏תִּירוֹשׁ‎

Transliteration: tîrôsh

Phonetic Pronunciation:tee-roshe’

Root: from <H3423> in the sense of expulsion

Cross Reference: TWOT – 2505

Part of Speech: n m

Vine’s Words: None

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Usage Notes:

English Words used in KJV:    

wine 38    [Total Count: 38] or tiyrosh, tee-roshe’;

from <H3423> (yarash) in the sense of expulsion; must or fresh grape-juice (as just squeezed out); by implication (rarely) fermented wine :- (new, sweet) wine.

—Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary

            So, a proper definition of the Hebrew word used here, translated “wine”, is “must or fresh grape-juice (as just squeezed out);”.

            No wonder the text refers to this juice as “new wine”.

            Another mystery solved.

            But just to point out the context here, let’s back up in the text to verse 8;

Judges 9: 8 “The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I cease giving my oil, With which they honor God and men, And go to sway over trees?’

            These statements are a literary form of poetry which allows inanimate objects the ability to take human characteristics to drive home a point. We sometimes refer to this as “personification”.

            These statements with the olive oil and the grape juice are showing the great value of the products already being produced by the trees and the vines and how foolish it would be to take on a new type duty which they obviously were not created to do. God gave these trees and vines the ability to do what they do and to continue in doing it honors God and men.

            And while we are at it, consider the logic of what is said again in verse 13.

Should I leave  <H2308> my wine  <H8492>, which cheereth  <H8055> God  <H430> and man  <H582>,

            Now anyone can see how men can get high and cheerful drinking alcoholic wine. But how would God get high and cheerful if men drank alcohol? Well that causes us to take another look at Strongs #H8055. This word has many, many meanings but it is translated 95 times in the Bible as “rejoice”. Just suppose the translators had used the word “rejoice” rather than “cheereth”? How would this have influenced your decision about this “new wine” being alcoholic? Consider the word “rejoice” written in “personification style” like the “olive oil”.

            Should I leave my “new wine” in which both God and Men “rejoice”?

Carl O. Cooper

Are we saved by any one thing “alone”?

By Carl O. Cooper

               Our mental, physical, physiological, and genetic makeup, as well as, but to a lesser degree, our environment, determine our personalities. All this determines how we reason and how we react to the world around us. And this plays an important role in how we react to what the Bible has to say.

               When we read about law and doctrine, faith and works, love and obedience, and grace, our personalities sometimes get in the way and cloud our understanding of the Bible’s real message in all of these words. It is so easy for our personalities to determine where we will focus our emphasis and miss the overall message. A tender hearted person, for instance, could place their emphasis on the acts of love and grace and completely miss what the Bible has to say about law, doctrine, and works. Another person might get so focused on doctrine that he completely forgets that the Bible also speaks about faith and love.

               The truth is, in respect to our salvation and as to what is required by God for us to be saved, then every one of these words carries the weight of our salvation. Our salvation depends on all of these things and we cannot be saved without them all. It is when we elevate one over the others that we create a problem. When one or two stand alone, more important and over the others, they will not save our souls.

               We are saved by Grace. God has given us a plan of salvation whereby we can be saved. This was given to us by His grace. We did nothing to merit it. It was a free gift. God gave this gift to man out of the goodness of His own heart, not because we deserved it at all. We are saved by the grace of God, but “grace alone” does not save. If that was so, then everyone would be saved. God has placed conditions on how this grace is distributed to man.

               One of the conditions that God has placed on being able to receive forgiveness and justification by His grace is faith. We are told in Heb. 11: 6, “without faith it is impossible to please Him”. Faith is a very important prerequisite to having our sins forgiven. No matter what we do, without faith it is not acceptable to God.

               But faith that leads us into obedience to God’s instructions is the type of faith that saves. Obedience (works) saves us, but not without faith. (James 2: 21-23) “Faith without works is dead”, (James 2: 20).

               But what is the difference between law and works? Are they the same? This is an area that confuses many people. If we cannot be saved by law, how then can we be saved by works? Works are obedience to law. Disobedience to law produces sin (1 John 3: 4). If a man could perfectly obey law and therefore have perfect works, he would not need salvation, for he would never have sinned. God has always required that salvation be accomplished by works. Could Noah have been saved had he not obeyed God by building the arc? (1 Peter 3: 20). Could Abraham have been saved had he not offered Isaac as a sacrifice as God commanded? (James 2: 21). Can we be saved today without obeying God’s gospel plan of salvation? (Faith, repentance, confession and baptism for the remission of our sins) God has always required works in order to be saved. But works without faith are useless.

               Salvation without obedience is impossible. Heb. 5: 9 tells us that Christ is the source of “eternal salvation to all who obey Him”, and 1 Peter 4: 17says, “Judgment is the outcome of those who do not obey the Gospel of God”.  This “Gospel of God” is “Doctrine”. Can we be saved without the correct doctrine of God? No, we cannot, no more than we can be saved without the correct Gospel of God.

               But what about love? Isn’t the Bible all about love? Surely if we have the love of God in our heart then God’s grace will save us. Won’t this override all this “rule keeping” philosophy? Why isn’t love and faith enough?

               There are so many definitions of love. It seems there is a definition to suit any personality. The Bible’s definition of the love required for salvation is the same as obedience. 1 John 5: 2-3 makes this exceptionally clear. “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commandments. This is the love for God; to obey His commandments”.

               We do not read about law and doctrine, faith and works, love and obedience, and grace all in one place in the Bible. They are highlighted in the areas where they are discussed. And sometimes we are told of their great importance individually. But let us never think that standing alone any one or two of these requirements is all we need. And let us not get “hung up” on any one to the neglect of the others. All are required by God to be saved.

Carl O. Cooper

Illumination of the Holy Spirit

And other false doctrines

Most denominational churches teach a false doctrine referred to as “Illumination of the Spirit”.

This is taken, in part, from

1 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV)

            14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are             foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

            To a person who has limited Bible knowledge, this can be a difficult passage to understand. It is easy for a person who is skilled with words and who appears to be knowledgeable about the Bible to confuse the meaning of this Scripture in the minds of those who have not studied it. This is how the false teaching of “the illumination of the Spirit” has been spread throughout the religious world.

            The Calvinist would teach here that because man is so hopelessly deprived of salvation because of the natural sin he has inherited from Adam, he cannot understand Spiritual things even if they should pertain to his own salvation. Furthermore, they would teach that this man would have no ability to “work out his own salvation” until the Holy Spirit entered him and indwelled him and gave him the understanding he needed to be saved. Of course they would not teach that just anyone could receive this gift, but only those who have been selected and predestined to receive it as God Himself would decide.

            But if we apply even the tiniest bit of common sense and logic to the doctrine of “Illumination of the Spirit”, anyone can see that there is no truth in it.

            For instance, if our ability to understand the words and teachings of the Bible come from a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit such as the “Illumination of the Spirit” doctrine teaches, then the person who received the supernatural illumination would become infallible and unable to be wrong in his understanding of Bible doctrines. But anyone can see that this is just not the case with any who claim to have this “illumination” gift from the Spirit. There are hundreds if not thousands of denominational churches who each teach different doctrines, most of which disagree with one another and many of which actually contradict one another. Even an unskilled Bible student can readily see that this could not be possible if these churches received their understanding of the Bible as a supernatural gift from God.

            2 Tim. 3: 16-17 gives the true story of where our Bible knowledge comes from.

            ¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

            Notice that verse 17 tells us that the inspired Scripture is all a person needs to make him complete as a Christian. The Bible is all we need and nothing else is required. There will be no need for special revelations, special supernatural gifts, or any other books that men through the ages will write. The Bible is complete and it is all we will ever need to teach us what we need to do to be saved and how to live our Christian lives.

            Another false Doctrine, Somewhat related “Spiritual Gifts”

            Many denominations teach that once a person is saved, the Holy Spirit enters their lives and imparts to them their own Spiritual Gifts and that becomes their personal ministry. This is a comfort to people who do not understand or do not want to live a committed life for religious things. With this doctrine a person can avoid any parts of religious service they don’t want to obey. Such as;

            “I don’t attend church like you do, but that is not my Spiritual Path”

            “I don’t follow everything that the Bible tells me to do just like you do, but that is not my                        Spiritual Path”

            “My Spiritual gift is playing a musical instrument in the worship service”

            “My Spiritual gift is holding church in the bars and night clubs for the sinners there”

            And anything else you can imagine, since who can criticize the Spiritual Gifts from God?

            How simple it is to side step and to avoid many things you need to do in order to live your Christian life in full harmony with the teaching and commandments revealed to us in the New Testament. All a person has to do is convince himself that whatever he is doing is “approved” and “permitted” by a direct gift of God and has become his “personal ministry”. Who then could criticize anything someone might want to do, no matter how it might contradict Scripture?

Carl O. Cooper

The Authority of God

The source of all religious division

January 12, 2012

            Does God have authority over the wind? If you ask this question among those who profess to believe in the one true God, the obvious answer is, yes He does. If you ask the question, does God have authority over the universe, then again the obvious answer is, yes He does. But if you follow this up by asking the question, does God have authority over you, then you might notice some hesitation before the question is answered, but the obvious answer is, once again, yes He does. So if that is the case, and it is, then what would you expect to do if God asked you to do something? This is such a simple and basic progression of logic that hardly anyone could fail to follow it and understand it. Herein lays the basic foundation and plea of the church of Christ.

            With all this in mind, and with the understanding that obedience to the authority of God is the natural order of the universe and everything in it, then we have to decide what we will do with the knowledge of some of the things God has instructed us to do. One such thing and one of a high degree of importance is the prayer of Jesus on the night He was betrayed. As Jesus was making this prayer to God, He was fully aware that He was about to die. In  John 17:20-22, Jesus had been praying for His apostles and He expanded His prayer to include “all those who would believe in Me through their word”. This includes you and me and all who today believe in Christ. Look at what this verse says;

John 17:20-22 (NKJV)
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in              Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

            Could there be any clearer way to tell us that all Christians are to teach the same doctrine? While the concept of obedience to the will of God is fresh on our minds, what does this scripture do to the pattern of religious division we find in the world today? People who claim to have a reverence for some form of Christianity in today’s world somehow have been led to believe that division in religion is proper and acceptable and even approved by God. And even though there exists hundreds of different denominations of churches who all teach different doctrines and even though many of these doctrines actually contradict each other, people have been taught and conditioned to believe that this is somehow approved by God. And in spite of this scripture which teaches clearly that God’s instruction to us is for all to teach the same doctrine and to be one, as God and Christ are one, people still teach and believe that one church’s doctrines are as good as another and in some unknown way all are true and approved by God. With these 2 verses of scripture in plain, full view, what an amazing, deceitful,  and successful lie the devil has influenced people to believe. Now this scripture is clear and precise and plain enough. And if this was the only one we had to explain this subject it would be enough.

            But it is by no means the only scripture we have that tells us in no uncertain terms that our responsibility and duty as part of God’s creation is to be subject to His authority and to be obedient to His instructed will. Among the many verses that tell us to be subject to God’s authority and to obey His commandments is 1 John 5:2-3.

² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His             commandments.
³ For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.

            And just so we can know how serious it really is to be obedient to God’s authority , and to know that our salvation depends on it, look at Hebrews 5:9.

⁹ And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

Now this verse gives the positive side and offers eternal life to those who obey God. But there is a negative side as well.

            Ephesians 5:6 is the negative side and tells what to expect for disobedience.
⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

            There are many other scriptures we could quote that show beyond doubt that just like all of God’s creation, man is subject to the authority of God and is expected to obey the commandments and instructions found in the word of God, the Bible. And with all of this evidence and all of these instructions in God’s Word, what does this tell us about all of the religious division found in the world today? For one thing, this tells us clearly and without doubt that this religious division is neither authorized nor approved by God. The churches of Christ have always recognized this and the plea has always been that all those who profess themselves to be Christians and have a desire to submit to the authority of Christ should join themselves together and teach the same doctrines and become part of the one body described in the Word of God. We need to all be of the same mind and be united as one, just as God and Christ are united as one.

            Many would ask, how can unity be possible as divided as we are? And this, too, has been considered and studied for many years within the churches of Christ and the answer is much simpler than you might guess. Why are we divided in the first place? Don’t we all have access to the same Bible? How do we read the Bible and yet have all these different and conflicting doctrines and denominations? Well, the problem is not with the words within the Bible. The problem is with books and words of men. Different churches and denominations have been starting for 2000 years and new ones are still starting even today. In all these new types of churches their beginning is always the thoughts and desires of one individual. There are many reasons for starting a new denomination. Some are more sincere than others but all share some things in common. All are rebellious and all promote division and disunity and conflicting doctrines one to another. And all need some way to show a distinction and difference with other groups. How does one denomination perpetuate their church from one generation to the next and how do they show their members that they are distinct and different from all the others?

            All these different denominations do this with a document usually referred to as a creed or “a statement of faith”. This document lays out the statement of beliefs and doctrines that makes this denomination who it is. Without this document the denomination would soon cease to exist. The members would not have the doctrines that designate what makes the group have a separate identity to all the others.

             Is this beginning to tell you something? I think most people can readily see that the books and teachings that cause religious division among people who profess to love Christ are not the Bible but are the statements and creeds that are written and intended to highlight and show the differences and the divisions of different denominations. Long ago this was recognized and it was understood that if all religious creeds written by men were discarded and believers in Christ returned to the Bible and only the Bible as the only guide to religious doctrine from God, then denominations would cease to exist. Can you imagine the unity that could be generated if the only book we turned to for instruction in God’s word was the Bible? Now, of course we know that this would never be perfect and nothing ever will be. The Bible tells us in

Matthew 7:13-14 ;

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

            But do we have a desire to submit to the authority of God? Do we have a desire to be obedient to the will of God? Then what will we do with the words Jesus spoke as His last dying desire for our unity? The plea of the churches of Christ is for unity among those who have a professed reverence for Christianity.

Carl O. Cooper

Is Judgment The Same For All People 

Please read the following Scripture very carefully.

Romans 2:6-11

            6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient             continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-      seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness–indignation and wrath, 9             tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the             Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

Notice these words in these verses

To The Jew First and Also The Greek

For there is no Partiality With God.  

            Does the statement, “For there is no partiality with God”, seem strange when you also read, “To the Jew first and also to the Greek”? You might ask, how can the Jew be first if there is no partiality with God?

            You might also notice this passage as well;

Romans 2:9 (NKJV)

                    ⁹ tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of                                the Greek;

            So, how can this be? If there is no partiality with God; how can the Jew be first in glory, honor and peace and at the same time the Jew is to be first in tribulation and anguish?

            Well, there are some things we know from what God has revealed in the Bible for us to understand. The first thing we know is that the Jews had the Law of Moses and the Gentiles did not. That does not mean that the Gentiles did not have a law. From the days of creation when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man has been governed by the Moral Law. Mankind was subject to this law as his guide for righteous behavior and acceptance with God’s approval for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, man was never able to obey any law good enough to prevent being condemned by sin. This “moral law” continued to govern mankind until Moses came on the scene and God set up the system of “The Law of the Jews”.

            There were 2 parts to this new law. There was the “ceremonial part of the law” which included circumcision, Sabbath Days, sacrifices, feast days, priesthoods, and many other parts.

            Only the Jews were subject to this part of the Law.

            But there was another part of this new Law. It was the moral part of the Law. Things that had already been the law for mankind ever since the Garden of Eden. Laws such as, “thou shall not kill”, and many other moral rules, such as lying, stealing, cheating, false witness, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and many others. These moral laws were for the Jews, yes. But they were for the Gentiles as well. The moral laws that governed man’s behavior from the beginning of time were never done away with. They continued right along and became a part of the Jewish Law. This means that all men, Jew or Gentile were still responsible to obey the morals laws of God.

            But the Jew had a special responsibility to obey the entire Law. They had a written Law and they had the Prophets and the Priesthood to continually explain it to them.

            So now we are beginning to see why God would hold the Jews more accountable for proper obedience. They were given more information and promises and more was required of them. Is this unusual???? No, not at all. Look at the following examples.

Examples

A. James 3:1 (NKJV)

1. My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.                                

a. Here is a case where the Bible identifies a class of people who are held to a stricter set of principles than the common population.                                                                                               

b. These people are warned that their position causes them to be judged with a                                            different set of rules and laws.                                               

B. 1 Timothy 2:11-13 (NKJV)

            11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to             teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first,                                   then Eve.

                        a. God has a special set of rules to govern a woman’s role in life.

                        b. If she disobeys these laws she will be responsible for her sin.

            So just like the Jews, who had a greater responsibility to obey the Law of Moses than the Gentiles; People of today are subject to the same types of special responsibility to God’s Laws for their special roles in life. Now would this still be a true statement today?

A. “Who will render to each one according to his deeds. To the teacher first, and also to the students”.

B. “Who will render to each one according to his deeds. To the woman first, and also to the man.

            Every role in life carries with it a special set of rules that apply specifically to the person who is responsible for his position here on the earth. Depending on the role you occupy, you may be subject to rules that will produce sin in your life that would not be sin for someone else.

            Do elders have a special set of rules for them?

            What about husbands and wives?

            There is nothing unusual about this situation. It has always been the normal way all things are. It is true in the work place. It is true in the military. It is true in the home. There is always someone who has the responsibility for certain parts of his environment and he has special rules to follow that everyone just does not have to adhere to.

Carl O. Cooper

Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart?

By Carl O. Cooper

            OK friends, here is a question for you. Please think carefully before you answer, just to be sure you consider all the possible answers.

            Consider the people of Sodom; did God have a plan to destroy the city and all the people who lived there? Would that plan include the small babies and the old and feeble as well?

            Well, the Bible said He did have a plan to kill all the people and what’s more, He carried it out in a violent way. Look at these verses;

Genesis 18:19-21 (NKJV)

                    ¹⁷ And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 19 For I have known him, in order that            he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do           righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 20 And the                Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it                that has come to                Me; and if not, I will know.”   

            Now I can almost hear the voices of those reading this article. No! No! God does not kill people. God loves everyone and he would never take someone’s life, even bad people. God loves everyone too much to kill them. Even when they disobey His Word and sin, God will always love them. After all, don’t we all sin?

            Of course we know that God takes no pleasure in killing people. Surely that includes children, especially. But we do know this;

Numbers 14:18 (NKJV)

               18 ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no              means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth           generation.’  

            Yes, God is longsuffering and allows time for repentance and forgiveness. But He does not clear the guilty. And sometimes the innocent are caught up in the acts and behavior of the sinful. Sometimes the innocent suffer because of the sins of someone else. But if so, and some are killed with no accountability, they will not suffer punishment for their sins. But there comes a time when God is through with longsuffering and warning and their time for repentance has run out. In many cases in Bible history God had a plan for cleansing His world of wicked and disobedient people and He carried it out in very violent ways. The case in point was Sodom and Gomorrah. God had a plan to destroy these wicked people and He rained fire and brimstone on the cities until all the occupants were all killed. Now it would be very unlikely that every individual in these cities was a homosexual but everyone was destroyed. However, those who might not have been homosexual did not stop and restrain those who were and they seemingly approved of this ungodly behavior and became guilty of the sin themselves. They were also destroyed. And then there were the babies. What a tragedy, the children had to suffer the sins of their parents.

            Sodom and Gomorrah was not the only time God took vengeance on a wicked people and destroyed them. There was the flood. How many people did God kill in the flood? Would you say millions? And, yes, some were children and innocent, and they perished with the guilty. But God cleansed the earth from sin with the water of the flood.

            And there was the case of the rebellious children of Israel who made the golden calf on their way out of Egypt captivity.

Exodus 32:26-28 (NKJV)

               26 then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side–come to me.”   And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord               God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance          throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his      neighbor.’ “28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of               the people fell that day.  

            There are many, many cases just like these in the Bible. God is longsuffering but when people continue to disobey and their sin reaches a level where it becomes necessary, God will enact vengeance and justice and cleanse the earth of a sinful people or nation when He thinks it is necessary.

            Look at this passage in the New Testament as well.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (KJV)

               10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love         of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they            should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in               unrighteousness.

            Not only does God take vengeance on evil people, He also plans how He wants to carry out His vengeance and justice and He causes His plans to be properly carried out to His own satisfaction. When people reach a level of evil that only God can decide and know where that level is, God causes them to act and move in the proper way for His plans to be carried out. When these people reached that level in 2 Thessalonians, God sent them a strong delusion to believe a lie “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

            Now someone tell me why it is so hard for people to say that “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Look at this verse where God sends this message to Pharaoh, King of Egypt.

Exodus 9:15-16 (KJV)

               15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt            be cut off from the earth. 16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

          God had a plan. He intended to free the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. And in the process He intended to show His power and proclaim His name throughout the earth.

            God’s plan extended back to even before Pharaoh was born. God raised him up for the purpose of demonstrating His power and the greatness of His name throughout the earth.

            God’s plan included the destruction of the entire Egyptian army. This could never have happened if Pharaoh had allowed the Israelites to escape and had not pursued them even into the Red Sea. But God continued to harden Pharaoh’s heart to the point that he took his army into the Red Sea with a mighty wall of water on each side of his army. And when God caused the chariot wheels to start coming off, the soldiers had a change of heart about God. At that point they suddenly repented of their disrespect for Jehovah God and would have stopped their pursuit, but it was too late. God’s plan could not be stopped at that point. All of them were killed by God. Once again, God cleansed His earth of an evil people who had refused to call Him God.

Exodus 14:24-25 (KJV)

               24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through            the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 25 And took off their chariot               wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the              LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.  

            Yes, the Egyptians were ready to repent and they acknowledged the LORD as God. But it was too late. God’s plan was already in effect and there was no stopping the destruction until God’s plan was carried out and the entire army was destroyed. God demonstrated his might and power in a mighty way when He freed to Israelites from captivity in Egypt.

            God raised up Pharaoh for a specific purpose and He hardened Pharaoh’s heart and caused him to act a certain way in order to carry out His great and mighty plan to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

            God is Sovereign and He rules this world. He is the God that made us and He is the God that rules the universe and the world. Is there anyone among us who would dare question God’s actions and to call God unjust according to our own standards? Job tried that and quickly learned that he was not up to a level to where he could judge God. And neither are we.

Carl O. Cooper

Was Obedience to the Jewish Law Sin?

After It Was Nailed To The Cross?

            There is no doubt that the Bible teaches that the Law of Moses was “nailed to the cross”. We see that clearly in Col.2:13-14.

Colossians 2:13-14 (NKJV)

13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive             together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

14  having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And      He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

            I really don’t think it requires any discussion to say that Jesus’ death on the cross ushered in a new relationship for all men with God. The sacrifice of Jesus’ blood on the cross created a new dispensation and a new “contract” with God where all men are justified and saved exactly the same. There was no longer “Jew or Gentile” but all were made as one body when they became Christians. No man was required to keep the Law of Moses anymore and the saved were “Translated into the Kingdom of Christ”, the church.

Colossians 1:13 (KJV)

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:  

            So, with all that being said, how do you explain the following situation with Paul and the Apostles in Jerusalem? Here are instructions given to Paul by the Apostles in Jerusalem:

Acts 21:20-25 (NKJV)

20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of           Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;

21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses,    saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.

23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.

24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may         know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also               walk orderly and keep the law.

25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing,           except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and       from sexual immorality.”  

            In the beginning of the days when Christianity became the new contract / covenant with God, the Jews of all ages had lived their lives being obedient to the Law of Moses. This law was imbedded deep in their conscious. To disobey the law, to some, would be a strong violation of their sense of right and wrong. For the Jew, at this stage of the new covenant, it would be sinful for him to violate his conscious and disobey the law.

            I remember as a boy in Tennessee in the 1950’s no one would think of working in the garden or mowing the yard on Sunday.

            This was a view that was imbedded into most people’s conscious by the actions of other people around them. Even stores were closed on Sunday and certain items were not allowed to be sold and the state had enacted “Blue Laws” to regulate business done on Sunday. There are still many people who can’t bring themselves to mow their yard on Sunday even today.

            Now we know that to require people to obey the Law of Moses or the “Blue Laws” as a condition of salvation is not only incorrect, it is also sin. But that is not what the Apostles in Jerusalem were telling Paul to do. They understood that the Jews could not violate their consciousness and do something that they felt was wrong, and so they allowed them the freedom to practice the Law of Moses, even though it was no longer required for their salvation.

            This transition period for the Jews, allowing obedience to the law was temporary at best. There was a day coming in about 40 years when the Temple would be destroyed by the Romans and the Jewish Law would be shattered and destroyed.

            Is it wrong today to do something that violates your conscious? We all know the answer to that, don’t we? It is just as wrong for us to violate our conscious today as it was for the Jews in the days of the Apostle Paul. If we feel like something is wrong and we do it anyway, it becomes sin for us. It is a different story, however, for us to take a matter of our own opinion and bind it on others as a condition of their salvation. This is where the Jews went wrong in the first century. Many Jews wanted to bind the Law of Moses on Christians as a condition of their salvation. This rose to the level of sin and was never tolerated by the Apostle Paul.

            There are those people today who are converted and come into the church with things they have been taught all of their lives. They too, have need of a transition time to acclimate their

consciousnesses to the doctrines of their environment. For them to fear changing all the old beliefs they were taught can sometimes violate their conscious until they have time to grow to a point where they fully understand how they should handle it. During this time we need to be careful how we handle these new converts. We must not “send them to Hell” because of their misunderstanding of Bible doctrine. Now that does not mean that we tolerate them teaching error about things that violate Bible teaching that alters the Gospel and can cause men to lose their salvation. But everything that a new Christian can misunderstand is not a threat to other people’s salvation. So, like the Apostles in Jerusalem, we must learn tolerance for things that violate people’s conscious when their feelings are not a threat to other Christian’s souls.

Carl O. Cooper

When The Devil Rules

By Carl O. Cooper

In the not too distant future, in the world that’s yet to be,

Came the Devil and his henchmen, and he gave a gift to me.

He said vote for me for office, and this is what we’ll do,

I’ll take money from these rich folks, and distribute it to you.

I’ll make the water crystal clear. I’ll create a clean blue sky.

And I’ll give all females freedom, as we let their unborn die.

I’ll renew the laws of Sodom, and we’ll change the marriage rules.

And those churches and their preachers we’ll just call a bunch of fools.

We will change our father’s country, it’s the one for which they died,

And we’ll wipe their names from history books as though our teachers lied.

And we will teach the races hatred; they will hate each other sore.

And though it takes a little time, it’s sure to come to war.

We will share our country’s bounty. Everyone will have a share.

We will fund this life with taxes on the rich as they can bear.

And when all the wealth is used and gone and the heart to work’s no more,

We will confiscate the factories and we’ll force men through their doors.

When the people get too old to work and all their strength is lost,

We will call it humane extinction and that will save us from their cost.

Our government becomes our God, though ruled by just a man.

And the land that our fore fathers knew lies buried in blood and sand.

You have a choice, oh man, I say don’t let it slip away.

You can’t just wait and let it happen; you have got to act today.

Don’t hide your eyes from evil that’s out there lurking for your vote,

But use the sword of God, my friend, the book that Christians Quote.

The answers lie on every page and it tells you what to do.

The Bible’s filled with good advice and it’s always just and true.

You can turn to it for guidance and if you love your fellow man,

You will make the good and proper choice to save our hallowed land.

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