Sunday, June 26, 2005

Pledging, Oath taking and making of Vows

Whether we would like to admit it or not, many Christians in the contemporary Local Church are having problems with pledging, oath taking, and making of promises or vows in a fund raising or donation campaign. A likely reason why many Local Churches desire their members to pledge is because the leadership wants them to give more than they can afford at the moment. Not every one has ready cash to donate with a one-time payment. The question is not, whether Christians are willing to donate to a good cause or not, but most are wondering whether these practices are biblical, permissible or necessary in the New Testament Church. Let us search the Scripture for our answers.

"Swearing", oath taking, vow making and pledging come from the Greek word "ommno". An oath is a solemn statement or claim used to validate a promise. The BBC English Dictionary defines a pledge as "A solemn promise to do something". If a person pleges something, he promises solemnly that he will do it or give it. A pledge is also something given as downpayment on a debt. Unless a person fulfills his pledge he is still in debt.

Old Testament Practices

Oath taking, swearing or making a vow are common Old Testament practices. These are permitted by God, but, God commanded that all oaths should be taken in His Name:

"You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name" (Deu. 6:13, NKJV, emphasis added).

But, God gave a solemn warning for His covenant people before they made a vow. Vowing was voluntary. But after a vow was made, it had to be performed. Vows, therefore, were to be made only after careful cosideration:

"It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows" (Proverbs 20:25, NIV).

"When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed - better not to vow than to vow and not pay" (Eccl. 5:4,5, NKJV, emphasis added).

"If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth" (Deu. 23:23, NIV).

In other words, God gave His covenant people a choice. To make a vow or not to make a vow; to pledge or not to pledge. But, it is sinful in the sight of God if a person after making a pledge and fails to honour it. Notice that even slow in a paying a vow or a pledge is sinful! The word "slow" is very subjective. Anything that is not done immediately could be considered as slow and consequently guilty before God. The words uttered from a person's mouth are so binding that no one can take back his words. Furthermore, a person is considered, by God, as a "fool" if he fails to honour his vow or pledge. The Biblical principle is, do not pledge or take an oath unless a person is absolutely sure of performing it immediately!

The first mention of a vow in the Bible is of Jacob at Bethel:

"Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth'" (Genesis 28:21-22).

Jacob made a vow to pay tithe. God did His part to bless Jacob and he honoured his vow.

Sometimes oaths or vows were accompanied by protective curses to make sure they were kept:

"And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, 'Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, befoe I have taken vengence on my enemies.' So none of the people tasted food" (1 Samuel 14:24, NKJV).

David pronounced a curse upon himself in connection with an oath which he had taken. He vowed not to eat until evening with these words:

"God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down" (2 Sam. 3:35). This was a strong pledge on his part that he expected to keep his promise.

New Testament Practices

Christians should always remember that Jesus came to fulfill the Law and not to destroy or abolish it:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell ou the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matt. 5:17,18, NIV).

Seeing in this light, the principle on pledging, oath taking and vow making laid down in the Old Testament is equally applicable in the New Testament. However, Jesus carried this principle to a higher level:

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all; either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" (Matt. 5:33-37, NIV, emphasis added).

Notice that, Jesus was laying down the principle that the Christian must not have two standards of truth, but his ordinary speech must be so sacredly true as his oath or pledge that his "yes" and "no" are in point of reliability is equivalent to any oath or pledge. In fact, if he does more than saying "yes" or "no" or later changes his mind to mean "no" after saying "yes", such action is led by an evil spirit. God the Holy Spirit should at all time so vividly present in the life of Christian that he would do anything, including saying "yes" or "no" and mean it, to honour God. Therefore, any Christian Church should not practice pledging, oath taking or vow making.

"Above all, my brother, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your 'Yes' be yes, and your 'No,' no, or you will be condemned" (James 5:12, NIV, emphasis added).

Notice that the early Church practised this principle of giving. Christians were given the liberty to decide to give or not to give, or to say "yes" or "no". There were no mention of pledging, oath taking or making of vows in any of the Epistles.

In fact, Paul advicesd the Corinthians to emulate the christians in Macedonian Churches in the preparation of their finacial gifts to the brethren in Judea. Later, he sent Titus with some brethren to collect and convey these gifts (2 Cor. 8 and 9).

Monday, June 20, 2005

Covenant Relationship between Christians

The Old Covenant Relationship

In the Old Testament the basis of the covenant relationship of God's people with one another is the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 17. Subsequently, at Mount Sinai the covenant was established a second time, not with Abraham individually, but with all his descendants collectively - Israel.

The process by which God entered into His covenant with Israel is described in Exodus, beginning in Chapter 19. Here, God declared the purpose for which He was bringing Israel into covenant relationship with Himself:

"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:5,6, NKJV).

Notice that, from then on, Israel was set apart (from other nations) unto God as a special people, not by any intrinsic righteousness of their own, but by the covenant God made with them.

As members of one covenant people, the Israelites had special obligations to one another, different from those that they had to members of other nations who had no covenant relationship either with God or with Israel.

The general principle of covenant relationship may be seen in this way:

Those who have a covenant relationship with God necessarily also have a covenant relationship with one another. The relationships established by a covenant extend in two directions: vertical and horizontal. The covenant that brings God's people into union with God must of necessity also bring them into union horizontally with all who have entered into the same covenant with God.

The New Covenant Relationship

The same principle of covenant applied when carried over from the Old Testament to the New Testament (Covenant). When Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples and shared with them the bread and the wine, He brought them into a covenant relatioship with Himself by that act. After He had handed them the cup and told them all to drink of it, He said:

"For this is My blood of the new covenant ...." (Matt. 26:28).

Notice that, his disciples not merely shared the cup of the covenant with Him; they also shared it with one another. The same solemn act that brought each of them into covenant with Jesus, at the same time brought them all into covenant with one another. From then on, their covenant relatioship was not merely vertical, to Jesus; it was also horizontal, to one another.

This truth is borne out in 1 Corinthians, where Paul was explaining the significance of the Lord's Supper. He emphasized this horizontal relationship between all who partake of the one loaf and the one cup:

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread" (1 Cor. 10:16,17).

Peter declared that all believers who entered into the new covenant in Christ has the same effect as God's previous covenant with Israel:

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9,10, emphasis added).

Therefore, as God's own special people, all Christians are obligated, by their covenant commitment, to relate to one another as they relate to God individually. By picking out phrases such as "one another" wherever they occur in the New Testament Scripture we may form a general picture of this mutual obligations.

All Christians who have entered into the new covenant in Christ are required to behave in the following ways toward one another:

1. Love one another (John 13:34).

2. Build up or edify one another (Romans 14:19).

3. Accept or receive one another (Romans 15:7).

4. Admonish one another (Romans 15:14; Colossians 3:16).

5. Greet one another (Romans 16:16).

6. Through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13).

7. Bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2).

8. Show forbearance to one another (Ephesians 4:2).

9. Kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32).

10. Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32).

11. Be subject or to submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21).

12. Teach one another (Colossians 3:16)

13. Comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

14. Encourage or exhort one another (Hebrews 3:13).

15. Stimulate or to stir one another to love and to do good works (Hebrews 10:24).

16. Confess their sins and trespasses to one another (James 5:16).

17. Pray for one another (James 5:16).

18. Be hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9).

19. Be submissive to one another (1 Peter5:5).

20. Be clothed with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5).

In my opinion, unless we, as Christians, discharge these mutual responsibilities with the right attitude toward one another, we are not fulfilling the terms of the New Covenant. In the sight of God, we become "covenant breaker"!

The Outworking of the Covenant Relationship among Christians

What really concerns me is that there is a teaching in the contemporary Local Church that christians are urged to form "friendship pairs" or "discipleship pairs" among members of the congregation. The purpose is to encourage both members of the pair to grow in their christian walk and to discharge the 20 mutual responsibilities that I have listed above. Note carefully that each responsibiblity contains the phrase "one another" and not "each other". The problem is, this method is not biblical. For details please read my earlier message - "Paradigm Shift for the Body of Christ? - posted on 11-4-05".

As you can see, under the New Covenant, christians in a local congregation as part of the whole Body of Christ are to relate to "one another" and not just to "each other" (as in the so called "friendly pair" relationship) for the purpose unity. This is made clear by the apostle Paul in Ephesians Chapter 4:

"I, therefore, prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love ........ " (Eph. 4:1 to 6, emphasis added).

In my opinion, "friendship pair" is not only an unscriptural but a harmfull man-made doctrine:

1. It causes division and "competition" in the local congregation. Some people tend to maintain a close relationship only with their partner and not with all those who are worshippers in the same Local congregation.

2. It is possible for the "pair", even of the same sex to develop into an unhealthy relationship or unhealthy "bonding". Paul said, "Do not give the devil a foothold" (Eph. 4:27, NIV).

3. In the partaking of the Holy Communion, those who are involved in "friendship pair" may unknowingly failed "to discerning the Lord's body" (1 Cor. 11:29). According to Paul, "many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep" (V.30). One of the reasons why christians need to come to the Lord's table as often as possible is to remind them of the covenant relation between one another - and certainly not to remind them of the covenant relationship between the "friendship pair" partners only (Please read my earlier message "Biblical significance of the Holy Communion" - posted on 27-4-05).

New Covenant, New Lifestyle

Christains under the New Covenant are initiated into a new lifestyle. This new lifestyle is described by the Greek word "koinonia" which means "having in common" or "fellowship" or "to be in union with" or "to share in common life". The earlier Church in Jerusalem fits this description very well:

"Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common" (Acts 4:32, emphasis added).

The new lifestyle of "koinonia" (fellowship) is the result of the whole congregation of believers in convenant relatioship walking in the light together. And when believers walk in the light, their sins are cleansed by the blood of Jesus:

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowhip with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7, emphasis added).

This is also the description of the early Church:

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowhip, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).

Is there a place of "friendship pair" fellowship in the early Church? Paul wrote to many Local churches. Is there a suggestion from him that the members of the congregation should be divided into many "friendship pairs"?

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

The Truth about Divine Healing

The source of all healings is God. God Himself revealed to His covenant people after He brought them out of Egypt that He is the Healer:

"If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you" (Exodus 15:26, NKJV, emphasis added).

In other words, God is not only the healer, He also controls diseases and healings. He puts diseases on people and takes away diseases. The conditions given by Him for living a disease-free life and receiving healing are:

1. Diligently heed the voice of the Lord.

2. Do what is right in His sight.

3. Obey and keep his commandments.

On the other hand, if God's covenant people refuse to do the above, then curses would come upon them:

"But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you" (Deu. 28:15).

The list of curses includes consumption or wasting disease, severe burning fever and inflammation(V22); incurable boils, tumours, scabs or festering sores and incurable itch (V27,35); blindness (V28); extraordinary, fearful, prolonged plagues, serious and prolonged sicknesses or severe and lingering diseases (V59); and every other kind of sickness and plague (V61).

These curses become hindrances to Divine healing. However, by God's mercy a way was made possible for the release of these curses - by the divine exchage of what Jesus has done on the cross. The most complete account of what was accomplished at the cross was given through the the prophet Isaiah seven hundred years before it actually took place (Isaiah 53).

Jesus the Healer

God's healing nature was manifested on earth in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Peter said, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38).

Notice that all three Persons of the Godhead are mentioned here. The implication is that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are united in the ministry of healing to sick humanity. Jesus has the power to heal because God is with Him and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. It is true that not all sicknesses are due to the oppression of the Devil, but Jesus heals all deseases and sicknesses including those brought about by the oppression of demons.

God makes healing available through His Word

The psalmist said, "Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions" (Psalm 107:17 - 20, emphasis added).

The psalmist gives us a picture of men so desperately sick that they have lost all appetite for food and are lying right at death's door. In their extremity they cried out to the Lord, and He sent them His Word to heal them and delivered them from death.

The truth of physical healing through God's Word is even more fully stated in Proverbs, where God says:

"My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh" (Proverbs 4:20,21,22).

Notice the all-inclusive promise of physical health and healing. The conditions of receiving the promise are fourfold:

1. Give attention to God's Word. As we read God's Word, we need to give it close and careful attention. We need to forcus our understanding upon it. We need to give it free, unhindered access to our whole inward being.

2. Incline our ear to God's Word. The inclined ear indicates humility. It is the opposite of being proud and stiff-necked. We must be teachable. We must be willing to let God teach us.

3. Not to let the Word depart from our eyes. We must keep both eyes fixed unwaveringly on the Lord's promise. We must not be doubtful, double-minded or waver in our faith (James 1:6 - 8).

4. Keep God's Word in the midst of our heart. The heart has decisive influence in human experience. In other words, what is in our hearts controls the whole course of our lives and all that we experience. God's Word in our heart gives life to our souls and health to our flesh.

An important truth is that not all Christians receive divine healing. This remains a secret, known only to God and not revealed to man.

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deu. 29:29).

God wants us to concern ourselves only with those things which are revealed in God's Word. These belong to us and to our children forever; they are our heritage as believers. And they belong to us "that we may do them" - We may act upon them in faith. When we do, we prove them true in our experience.

"Gift of healing?"

You often hear people talk about someone having the gift of healing. This makes it appear that God has given this person a supernatural ability to heal the sick. It seems then that whoever this person prays for ought to be healed. Whoever is not healed it is assumed to be the result of the lack of faith of the person prayed for! This belief is not biblical.

There is no such thing as the gift of healing! The Bible does not mention any such gift given to a person. Read 1 Cor. 12 carefully you will notice that Paul wrote about "gifts of healings" ministered by the same Holy Spirit who ministers other gifts also (1 Cor.12:9). Each healing is a separate and individual gift given by God. The healing itself is a gift! Therefore through a certain Christian at a certain time, God sovereignly produces different kinds of healing according to His own wisdom and will.

Some of the healings from Paul's ministry may fall into this category. The healing of the crippled man in Lystra certainly was a sign to the people, and convinced them of the authority of the ones proclaiming the Gospel (Act 14:8 - 11).

"Healing Ministry" carried too far

There is a woman pastor ministering in a small town in Malaysia. She claims to have an effective healing ministry. Her husband died of cancer some years ago. She was involved in the occult and suffered the same illness. Finally she received Christ, and instantly received divine healing. She built herself a ministry to preach divine healing at her "Prayer and healing" centre immediately. She said God uses her mightily to heal the sick. Soon she was overcome with pride and started to preach against doctors and medicines. Christains heard her said in some of her nightly meetings that medicines are of the Devil and everyone she prayed for must not take medicines any more. If what she said is true, then the logical conclusion is, if medicines are of the Devil than all doctors are working for the Devil! Deception! It follows that it was evil for Paul to give advice to Timothy to drink wine because of his frequent infirmities (1 Tim. 5:23)! It must also be evil for Isaiah to give advice to king Hezekiah to use "a lump of figs" to heal his boil (Isaiah 38:21)!

The place of doctors and medicines in healing the sick

James said, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17, emphasis added).

We all know that medical help is a gift of God and it does accomplish good for suffering humanity. In my opinion, if divine healing is the perfect gift from God, then medical knowledge is a good gift from the same God! We need to receive all gifts that God has to offer.
No one knows when natural healing and when divine healing would come about. Only God knows. I do not think it matters. Both healing actions are gifts from God Himself!

Monday, June 06, 2005

Understanding New Testament Divine Healing

New Testament Divine Healing is a Gift of God through the Atonement of Jesus for the sins of the world. Isaiah 53 (the "Atonement Chapter) has this prophetic vision about Jesus Christ:

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for you iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5, NKJV, emphasis added). 1 Peter 2:24 says the same thing.

Notice that, "by His stripes we are healed" and not "will be healed" - which means healings are already provided for anyone who believes.

Two New Testament Ordinances for Healing

1. Jesus said, "And these signs will follow those who believe .... they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16:17, 18, emphasis added).

2. James said, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5: 14, 15, emphasis added).

Notice that both these ordinances for divine healing are effective only through the exercise of faith in the Name of Jesus. In the case of anointing with oil, it is specifically stated that prayer must accompany this act. In the passage about laying hands on the sick in Mark's Gospel, no specific mention is made of praying. However, in most cases it would be natural to pray for the sick person, as well as laying hands on him.

Notice also that "the sick" in Mark's Gospel are not necessarily means only sick christians. In fact the ordinance of laying of hands on the sick, as set forth in Mark 16 is intended to go together with the preaching of the gospel to the unconverted. Healing is one of the miraculous signs (Mark 16:17) that follows those who go and preach the Gospel. Any believer sitting quietly in the pews and not "going" may not experience these signs.

On the other hand, the epistle of James is addressed primarily to professing Jewish christians. But the phrase "among you" would seem to refer to all believers who attend a christian church with elders. A sick person who made no profession of faith and was not associated with any christian church would not be included in the phrase "among you". Therefore, the ordinance of anointing with oil is intended primarily for those who already profess faith in Christ and are associated with some Christian church.

Two Important Lessons from James 5:14,15

1. God expects every sick christian to seek Him first, for healing through faith by spiritual means. This does not mean it is necessarily unscriptural for a christian who is sick to seek the advice or help of a medical doctor. But it is absolutely contrary to Scripture for any professing christian who is sick to seek for human medical aid without first seeking for divine help from God Himself, through the appointed elders of the church. All sick christians who do not seek divine help first before seeking medical help are guilty of direct disobedience against the ordinaces of God as set forth in the New Testament. In the face of this, any christian who falls sick and calls for the doctor, without calling for the elders of the church, is guilty of open disobedience. It is tantamount to saying to God: "I do not need You. I do not really believe You can help me or heal me. I am content to accept the best that man can do for me without seeking You for guidance or help". This prevailing attitude among professing christians is one main reason why so much sickness also prevails among them. God is the healer and it is not wise to close the doors of our home or churches against Christ the healer.

2. God expects every christian to associate himself with a church and that the elders of this church must know him and is known to him. These elders shall be ready to minister in faith, according to the Scripture, to the physical needs of their church members.

Notice that no believers can claim the fulfillment of Jemes 5 unless the church is a true church of Jesus Christ and the elders are true ministers who are called by God to take on the function and qualifications of elders.

How God ministers Divine Life and Divine Healing

Notice that there is no suggestion that the anointing oil used possesses any natural healing properties. Here, as in many other passages of Scripture, the oil is simply a type or picture of the Holy Spirit.

Thus, placing the oil upon the sick person represents the claim of faith on behalf of that person that the Spirit of God shall minister divine life and healing to his sick body. This claim is based upon a clear promise from God:

" But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11, emphasis added).

Here the phrase "to give life to your mortal bodies" means to impart divine life and power to the mortal, physical body of the believer in whom the Spirit of God dwells. The great agent of the Godhead who imparts this divine life is the third Person, the Holy Spirit. Sickness comes when a christian lacks divine life.

To be continued in the next message.