The Christian, Politics, and Government

What role, if any, should the Christian play in politics? All any man can know about the subject is what the Bible says, and since it was written for the benefit and enlightenment of all men in all ages from the time it was first penned until the last day of this earth’s existence, and for all cultures and under all the different kinds of governments, it speaks to us not in specifics but in general statements on the subject. As it relates to specifics, it is sometimes hard to know exactly what one ought to do under some scenarios that arise, but we have God-given principles to guide us.

That America is a deeply divided nation, no one doubts. There are two very distinct trains of thought in our society about what the nature of our country ought to be, and it seems any middle ground has disappeared, leading to anger and bitterness on both sides. So where does a Christian fit in, what does he do, what should he do? What does the Bible teach?

First of all, it should be clear to all who truly want to be what a Christian ought to be that one’s first order of business is to be as much of a Christian as he/she can be every single day of his/her life. What does that mean? It means I should live a spiritual life daily. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22-23 NKJV) Just above this passage in Gal. 5:19-21 are listed the “works of the flesh” (v. 19) of which I would like to list two of those works as they pertain most directly to the topic at hand (politics), namely, “hatred” (v. 20) and “outbursts of wrath” (v. 20). The reader can clearly see the contrasts between the works of the flesh and those of the Spirit.

Furthermore, there is a passage in Eph. 4:31, which also speaks directly to the issue, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” (NKJV)

When we Americans are so deeply divided over the issues, it is very easy for a citizen who is also a Christian to become bitter and angry and think and speak evil of others who are in opposition, and even reach the point where he/she despises them in his/her heart. Yes, the Bible teaches we ought to hate evil, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10 NKJV; see also Prov. 8:13 and Amos 5:15) Hate the evil but love the person. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8 NKJV)

We ought to hate the evil a government does when it enacts laws that are contrary to God’s teaching and supportive of evil (say, as examples, laws supporting gay marriage and abortion), and it must be admitted, for it cannot be denied, that government is made up of the men and women who make the laws. Yes, they are responsible for the evil a government may allow or do in its lawmaking and governing capacity, but in a democracy, we are also accountable in that we vote the lawmakers and the executive into or out of office. We, as a nation, will be held accountable, which means we need to vote for those candidates running for office who are most supportive of Christian principles.

We can and ought to hate laws that are contrary to God’s teaching in the New Testament, and the kind of thinking that leads to those laws, but yet have compassion for the misguided lawmakers who made them in that each has a soul that is worth more than all of the wealth of this world combined. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26 NKJV) Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Mark 2:17 NKJV) That was his mission. What is the mission of his servants? Are we in the condemning them to hell camp or are we in the converting them to Christ camp?

If our reaction to ungodly laws that are passed is one of hatred, anger, bitterness, railing, and reviling against the lawmakers, then we have done two things—(1) we have allowed politics to destroy our own soul and our hope for heaven and (2) we have ended any hope that those responsible can be converted due to our unchristian attitude and reaction toward them. Please note I said against the lawmakers. It is right to hate sinful, evil laws.

Do not misunderstand: the unjust are not going to heaven, which includes lawmakers who have promoted sin via the laws they have helped pass. The Bible does not teach that they are. It does teach, however, that the Christian’s job is to do his/her best to bring the world to Christ. We must teach the truth of the Bible on every Bible subject. If the powers that be in government reject the truth, God will deal with them on the last day. “‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Rom. 12:19 NKJV) As for the Christian, God says, “give place to wrath” (Rom. 12:19 NKJV) or as the ESV translates it, “never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.” (Rom. 12:19 ESV)

The Bible teaches we ought to pray for those in authority. “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:1-4 NKJV)

One might say, what do we pray for when we pray for them? We might pray a number of things. We might pray that they be given wisdom, if there is need they might be led to repentance, we might pray that God would work providentially in their life to help them see the light, we might pray for their welfare and that of their family, and as the text says, we should give thanks for them. We might say sometimes, what is there to be thankful for in some men? Well, we ought to look for the good.

No one was ever more unjustly mistreated by the government than Jesus himself. Pilate declared Jesus innocent when he said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person” (Matt. 27:24 NKJV) and then turned right around and had Jesus “scourged” (Matt. 27:26 NKJV) and handed him over to be put to death. Do you think that might have aroused bitterness and anger in most of us had we been in Jesus’ shoes or been a family member or close friend? Yet, Jesus “was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isa. 53:7 NKJV)

Peter says, “When he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.” (1 Peter 2:23 NKJV) God is the ultimate judge of all things and everyone. The government may do great evil, but the Christian answer is to follow the example of Jesus. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom. 12:21 NKJV) “Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Rom. 12:19 NKJV)

That God judges governments (thus countries) cannot be doubted by anyone who has ever read the Old Testament prophets. It was not just Israel and Judah that God judged and brought to ruin because of their sins. If you read the Old Testament, you will read of nation after nation that God prophesied judgment against through his prophets and eventually brought them to their downfall.

Even before that, we can go back to the time when the children of Israel were given the land of Palestine after they departed from Egypt. Why did God drive out and destroy those nations that occupied the land before Israel? Because of evil, of sin, of wrongdoing. Moses, speaking on behalf of God, told Israel prior to their entry into the Promised Land that “it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you.” (Deut. 9:4 NKJV) Every nation God brought judgment against in the Old Testament was brought to judgment because of its sin and evil.

A couple of points need to be made here. (1) Generally speaking, a country comes to be whatever its leadership leads it to be or allows it to be. Thus, in the Old Testament history of God’s people, we read of good kings and bad kings. When a bad king ruled, idolatry and other evils were in the ascendancy; when a good king came to power, a check was put on that and some, if not all, of the evil was rolled back. Leadership (government) is always for the better or the worse. (2) God will eventually judge a nation for its evil, even if the leadership led it to be that way, unless there is repentance. Needless to say, repentance is hard to come by. (The reader would do well to read Jer. 18:7-10.)

Unfortunately, from a human point of view, when God brings judgment on a nation, the just often suffer along with the unjust, even if it is only for a time. When Judah was carried away into Babylonian captivity for the sins of the nation, Daniel and his three friends had to go too, even though guilty of no sin themselves. The just became captives along with the unjust.

Romans 13 is the chapter that tells us our duties as Christians toward the government. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Rom. 13:1 ESV) Paul goes on to say, “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Rom. 13:2 ESV) Paul then goes on to explain that government is meant for our good, not to bring evil upon us (Rom. 13:3-7). I think we all understand the need for government and how there must be laws, rules, and regulations for our safety and well-being. Try and imagine living in a world of utter chaos and lawlessness where there was no government at all and it was every man for himself.

There is also a passage in Titus we need to take note of, “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.” (Titus 3:1-2 NKJV) So, we are to obey the government, but there is more in this passage for our consideration. One who desires to get involved in politics ought to ask himself this question: Can I do it and obey the scriptures at the same time? Will it lead me to be peaceable, gentle, to be humble, and to never speak evil of another, or will it make all of that harder for me?

By getting involved, I am not speaking about running for office (although that would be included) as much as I am about becoming immersed in politics so intensely that it comes to be a major part of one’s life and being. We need to be informed citizens and know the issues and the candidates, but when I become so immersed in politics through the news outlets and programs that it begins to dominate my life, almost like being possessed, that is what I have in mind and what I am talking about. Is that good for the Christian? Will it help or hinder you in developing the fruit of the Spirit in your life?

Does there ever come a time when government must be resisted? Peter answered that question in Acts 5:29 when he said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (NKJV) He was not speaking to the Roman authorities when he spoke, but rather to the Jewish authorities. Nevertheless, the principle would be the same. If our government were to fall into the hands of Islam and we were commanded by law to abandon the Bible and Jesus as Lord, do you think God would say, “okay, obey the government you are now under, become a Muslim?” To ask is to answer.

When I say that under such circumstances we ought to resist the government, I do not mean by taking up arms. Christians do not go to war to fight, kill, and maim, but we ought to do as Peter and the other apostles did. What did Peter and the other apostles do? They simply continued to go on about their business of being Christians and doing the Lord’s will. Now I grant you some Christians did die because of it (Stephen and later James come to mind), but they were to “rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings.” (1 Peter 4:13 NKJV) “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good, as to a faithful creator.” (1 Peter 4:19 NKJV)

The Christians in the church of Smyrna were told, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10 KJV) Here is an example of the government throwing Christians into prison (who else had that power?) and possibly, if I understand the passage correctly, ending in their death, although the phrase does not have to mean that. It is certainly, however, an admonition to faithfulness even if death is the result.

The Bible does not teach that every single government that has ever existed has been good and done what is right. If so, why did God destroy the nations he did in the Old Testament? If so, why were Christians murdered by the Roman government in the first two to three centuries after the Christian faith came to be? It does teach us to submit to government and only resist in the way I have spoken of, and only do that when the laws made by men violate the law of God. The resistance consists of living as a Christian despite what the government demands.

The God-given purpose of government is for the good of man. However, as long as men are the governing body, men will be men, which inevitably means there will be some ungodliness in them. That is not God’s fault but man’s. Both David and his son Solomon were great kings but both also proved to be sinners.

So, to what extent should a Christian become involved in politics? I will ask a better question, one that is also easier to answer and is more personal. To what extent do you think you can do so and still maintain the fruit of the Spirit and be the person God would have you to be?

When I answer that question, I know it sets some severe limits on my involvement. As a Christian living in a democracy and having been given the right to vote, I feel I have the duty to go vote even if it means voting for the lesser of two evils, so to speak. Beyond that, I think I need to leave it with God for my soul’s sake.

If we believe God is still an active God in the affairs of man (I believe the Bible teaches he is), then he is going to work it all out eventually in the way that is in accord with his will and righteous nature. Yes, that may mean sometimes evil men rule, but they rule for a reason if they do (God knows why). But always bear in mind God is in charge. Daniel talks about a decree made against King Nebuchadnezzar in Dan. 4:17 and says it was made, “In order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever he will, and sets over it the lowest of men.” (NKJV)

God is in charge. Evil governments may arise for a time, but they shall be punished for their evil eventually. If you think your government is evil and doing wrong, and you are right about that, God will take care of it in due time, one way or another, unless there is repentance. Sin never goes unpunished unless it is repented of and forgiven. But the question is for me, as an individual, what do I do as it relates to politics and the government? The answer is I live as a Christian.

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Why the Waters of Marah Still Matter

When the children of Israel left Egypt, led by Moses, the first major event one reads about in the book of Exodus after the Red Sea crossing is found in Ex. 15:22-26, the crisis at the waters of Marah. I say crisis, for that was how the children of Israel perceived it. They had been traveling three days in the wilderness and had found no water to drink during that time.

Was that a crisis? It was, when you consider how much water was required for this exodus. In Ex. 12:37-38 we get some idea of the numbers. It reads as follows: “And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.” (ESV) There may have been over 2 million men, women, and children needing water, as well as all the flocks and herds of livestock. You do not carry that kind of water in canteens.

After this three-day journey without finding water, they come to Marah, a place that has water, but water so bitter it cannot be used for drinking. In fact, according to the notes in the NET Bible, the Hebrew word “Marah” means bitter. The Bible says, “The people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’” (Ex. 15:24 NKJV) One has to understand Moses was only God’s representative; thus, to complain against Moses was to complain against God (see Ex. 16:8). Moses individually had no power to provide them with water; they knew that, so the complaint was against God.

This manifested a lack of faith in God. How? Back in Ex. 3:16-17, before the plagues, before Moses ever entered Egypt after his personal exile, God told Moses at the burning bush incident to “Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’” (NKJV)

After entering Egypt, Moses did as commanded according to Ex. 4:29-30 with Aaron being his spokesman. He was also directed to perform miracles before the elders as you read about in Ex. 4:1-9, and according to Ex. 4:30 he did so, as signs of confirmation that it was God who was behind this affair. Afterwards, we know of the plagues that hit Egypt which were further confirmation that God was intent on bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt into “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Add to these miracles the Red Sea encounter, where the waters were parted for the children of Israel but collapsed on the Egyptians, and the children of Israel should have seen God’s determination to hold fast to his promise to them.

Why then would the children of Israel believe that God would allow them to perish for want of water at Marah after seeing all he had already done on their behalf? Did they not believe God? Did they not trust him after all they had both heard and seen? According to the footnotes in the NET Bible, the Hebrew word translated “complained” or “murmured” or “grumbled,” depending on your translation, “is a much stronger word than ‘to grumble’ or ‘to complain.’ It is used almost exclusively in the wilderness wandering stories, to describe the rebellion of the Israelites against God … They were not merely complaining—they were questioning God’s abilities and motives. The action is something like a parliamentary vote of no confidence.”

That they needed water there was no doubt. That they were in want there is no doubt. What should they have done rather than rebel? Well, I can think of several things—trust in God for deliverance, pray to him, ask Moses not in a complaining or murmuring way but in a supplicating way to intervene with God on their behalf. God had told them he would bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. If they believed in the goodness of God, that he would not lie to them, then surely they should have seen he was not about to let them die of thirst. But the Psalmist had this to say about them, “They did not believe in God, and did not trust in his salvation.” (Psalm 78:22 NKJV) That was said of them at a later date in their history but was true of them basically from the beginning, as their first rebellion, based on a lack of faith, was at the Red Sea (Psalm 106:7).

A lesson for all Christians in this is the need to trust in God in our own personal crises. If we are faithful, God is on our side, and if we will trust and obey and be patient, he will work things out for us. This does not mean he will allow us to live eternally upon the earth. It is appointed for man once to die (Heb. 9:27 NKJV). Nor does it mean we will be blessed in the ways we might like—say fame, fortune, and prestige—but it does mean he will see us through our life’s struggles and help us through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4).

However, that is not the main lesson I want to get from this Old Testament story. God did come to the rescue of the children of Israel and provide water, but how did he do it? The Bible says he told Moses to cast a tree he showed him into the bitter waters at Marah, which, having done so, the waters were made fit to drink (Ex. 15:25 NKJV). However, it is my understanding that the Hebrew word denotes “wood” and not necessarily a tree, although either is possible; thus, the English Standard Version translates the word as a “log” rather than a tree; other translations say “a piece of wood.” (CEV, GNB, NLT)

I want to ask the reader some questions to get to the main point of this article. What power was there in that tree or piece of wood to transform a body of water from bitter to pure, sufficient to quench the thirst of perhaps as many as 2 million people with all their livestock? Not one bit of power—none at all. However, what would have happened had Moses not thrown the tree or wood into the water? Would the water have become drinkable had he not?

What power was there in the rod Moses had in his hand to part the Red Sea? God told him, “Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.” (Ex. 14:16 NKJV) None! But what if he had not done it?

What power was there in the rod Moses used to strike the rock, in a later incident where water was needed, to bring forth water out of the rock to provide for the people’s thirst? (see Ex. 17:5-6) None! But what if he had not done it?

What power was there in the fiery serpent that God told Moses to make and put on a pole (he made it out of bronze) to heal those who had been bitten by poisonous serpents to save them from death if they would look at it? (see Numbers 21:8-9) None! You surely do not believe your doctor would treat you that way if bitten by a poisonous scorpion or rattlesnake, do you? But what about those who did not look at Moses’ bronze serpent?

What power was there inherent in marching around the walls of Jericho, blowing trumpets, blowing a ram’s horn, and shouting to get the walls of the city to fall down? (Joshua 6:2-5) None! But what if they had not done it?

What power was there in the water of the Jordan River to cleanse Naaman of his leprosy? (2 Kings 5) None! Could all lepers have been cleansed of leprosy by doing what Naaman did? Was the power in the water? What if Naaman had not gone and washed 7 times as directed? (We know, don’t we, for until he did so, having refused for a time, he remained leprous and was not cleansed.)

In John 9, Jesus meets a man blind from birth. The Bible says, “He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And he said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.” (John 9:6-7 NKJV) What power was there in the water of the pool of Siloam to cure blindness? None at all! But what if he had not gone to the pool of Siloam?

Are you seeing a pattern? The God who spoke the universe into existence and who needs but speak and it is done does not need rods, or bronze serpents, special water treatments, or marching, or horn blowing, or anything else to achieve the end he desires. All he needs to do is speak and it is done, but sometimes he chooses to work by means of agency. When he chooses to do so, it becomes a matter of faith on our part—faith to believe and do or faithlessness to disbelieve and not do.

Naaman was a person who had a hard time believing and doing. He just could not see the sense in it or the reason for it. Be that as it may, he was not healed until he believed enough to obey.

Let me drive the point home. It does not matter in the least whether you or I see a reason in a command God gives. Sometimes he gives commands just to test our obedience (Abraham being a case in point with the sacrifice of his son Isaac). Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, said to the Corinthians, “For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.” (2 Cor. 2:9 NKJV)

Many, many people who consider themselves to be Christians (the reality is they are not) cannot bring themselves to be baptized. Is it a command of God? They know it is (Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Gal. 3:27, 1 Peter 3:21, Rom. 6:3-4, etc.), but they cannot believe it is necessary, for they cannot see any reason behind it. How often has one heard the phrase that “the water does not have anything to do with salvation”? It does if God says to be baptized. It fits into the same category of things we have discussed here.

I have asked the question before and never received an answer, but I will ask it again. If Jesus wanted you to know baptism was for the remission of your sins, how would he have to phrase it to get the message across to you; that is, if you do not believe baptism is necessary? He actually specifically said it was for the remission of sins, that exact thing, speaking through Peter via the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (NKJV) Then, in Acts 22:16, the Holy Spirit spoke of being baptized to wash away sins. Years later Peter states it again, as if we could not understand what he said in Acts 2:38, when he writes, ‘there is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism.’ (1 Peter 3:21 NKJV) Jesus himself said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5 NKJV) and he said the man that would be saved would be the man that “believes and is baptized.” (Mark 16:16)

People all over the world are convinced Jesus was in error when he said “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16 NKJV), believing the truth to be “he who believes and is baptized or not baptized, either way, will be saved.” That is adding to the word of God and is just as dangerous as if a man were to say, “he who believes and is not baptized will be saved.” Add to God’s word or contradict it, either one, and face God in the judgment.

The lesson we need to learn from the event at the waters of Marah is that if God decides to use agency or means to save us, then so be it. We must either conform and throw that log or tree into the water, or forget about receiving the blessing. We either believe and obey, or disbelieve and do not obey and forfeit the blessing. The spiritual application is valid until the earth no longer exists. One must respect whatever agency or means God so desires to use to bring blessings and salvation to man. To fail to respect that is to show a lack of faith in God despite all protests to the contrary.

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Is Denominational Baptism Scriptural

Many different baptisms are being performed today by religious people, using different methods and modes and for different purposes. However, the only baptism that I as an individual facing eternity ought to be concerned with is the baptism that Jesus spoke of when he said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NKJV)

This is the baptism of the Great Commission when Jesus told the apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in (literally “into”—see NAS reference note—DS) the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19-20 NKJV) This is the “one baptism” Paul spoke of in Eph. 4:5 that places one in Christ (Gal. 3:27) where salvation is found (2 Tim. 2:10). It is therefore spoken of as being “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38) and is a baptism into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13) of which he is “the Savior of the body” (Eph. 5:23 NKJV), the body being the church (Eph. 1:22-23).

It is a baptism you are required to teach, for the Great Commission that was given to the apostles was that they teach those they had made disciples of and baptized to go and do the same, teach and baptize others. (Matt. 28:20) This continual handing down of the teaching and practice from one generation to another is to last as long as the Great Commission remains in effect—until the day of Christ’s return. It is the one and only scriptural baptism that was to last for all generations.

While the baptism we have just discussed is the only one a man or woman needs to be personally concerned with, the truth is man has come up with his own inventions, thus we have differences in baptisms today. Solomon said, “God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” (Eccl. 7:29 NKJV) Human nature never changed, and so it is today as it was back then.

The first invention of man, relating to baptism, was the idea that he could sprinkle men and call it baptism and put his man-made invention on an equal plane with the baptism of the Great Commission. Man can try it and use that procedure and pay for his error in the end. God never gave man the authority to change the meaning of his inspired word or to add to it. “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches.” (1 Cor. 2:13 NKJV)

The words baptize, baptism, etc., found in your New Testament were words from the Greek carried over into the English without ever being translated. We call them transliterated words. Why were these Greek words never translated? Because the Greek means to submerge, immerse, or dip. Vine’s “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,” a standard work, says of the word baptism, “consisting of the processes of immersion, submersion and emergence.”

By the time the Bible was being translated into English, men had already become wedded to their invention—sprinkling and calling it baptism. To translate the word accurately using the word immerse would end their deception for any capable of reading. Sprinkling for baptism was officially adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in 1311 A.D. at the Council of Ravenna hundreds of years after the apostles were gone.

Paul says, “We were buried with him through baptism.” (Rom. 6:4 NKJV) He was talking to people who had been buried in water, not sprinkled or poured, for baptism was a burial. Sprinkling and pouring are not only frauds but also exceedingly dangerous in that many who know no better believe they have been scripturally baptized. It would only be scriptural if one could change the meaning of God’s word. Wise people will not do that, not if they have read the scriptures concerning those who would do so.

Scriptural baptism is immersion and immersion only, but many denominations do practice immersion and are still in error on the subject of baptism. How so? They are in error on the meaning or purpose of baptism.

Let me ask a question that will help clarify. If I dive off a diving board or someone pushes me into a swimming pool or a lake and I end up immersed, is that a scriptural baptism? If young children were in a backyard pool playing church and one immerses the other would that be a scriptural baptism? We would all say no to both, but why so? It would be because baptism is about more than just being immersed in water. There has to be understanding, purpose, and heart behind it of such a nature that will make it pleasing to God.

God has told us, if we will accept it, exactly what the purpose of baptism is and what it accomplishes. Acts 2:38 tells us what we need to know about the purpose of baptism, but how many believe what they read there today? Not many. Man came along generations later and began denying what Peter, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said in that sermon recorded in Acts 2 and gave to baptism a different purpose and meaning to suit themselves. When one changes an ordinance of God and gives it an entirely different meaning than he gave it, then it is a little presumptuous to just assume he is pleased. What we have done is set ourselves up as God, displaced God as the lawgiver, and said this is now what this ordinance means. We now decide. He does not.

Generally speaking, most denominations believe one is saved by faith with or without baptism and prior to baptism. It is to them either a symbolic act or, in some cases, the means of entrance into their denomination. In the latter case, there is a world of difference between entering a denomination (which they admit is not the body of Christ but only a segment of it) and entering the body of Christ, the church he established. What denomination was Lydia a member of? Lydia had it right, denominationalism has it wrong.

Why is one who believes he is already saved, had his sins remitted, already entered into Christ through his faith alone, and thus already in Christ’s church, baptized to get into a denomination? There were no denominations in New Testament times. Not a single person in the New Testament was ever baptized to enter into a denomination, so why do it now? Certainly, this kind of baptism is not scriptural, for, as I have said, it was impossible to do such a thing in New Testament times, thus baptism was never designed for that purpose.

For those who believe they are saved by faith alone apart from baptism, passages like 1 Cor. 12:13 become meaningless, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” (NKJV) It becomes meaningless, for that is the very thing a saved by faith alone advocate must deny. He must deny that “we were all baptized into one body.” His point of view is that he was already in the body (Christ’s body and thus saved) before and without baptism.

Salvation is in the body of Christ (Eph. 5:23, 1:22-23). You are baptized into that body (1 Cor. 12:13), but the saved by faith alone man must claim to have gotten into that body some other way. He claims to be saved without being baptized into the body of Christ. It logically follows then that his baptism, since he feels it does not put him into the body of Christ, must be to put him into a denomination of which the New Testament knows nothing. Or else be merely symbolic since it is not a baptism into Christ.

If one is baptized only as a symbolic gesture, much of what has just been said applies as well. Why is one who believes he is already saved, had his sins remitted, already entered into Christ through his faith alone, and is thus already in Christ’s church baptized as a symbolic gesture? When did God command man to be baptized as a “symbolic gesture?” My Bible does not say anything about “symbolic gestures.” If someone would grab a concordance and look up the word “symbol” or “symbols” or “gestures” it might help, but when I tried it, I only got one hit on the word “symbol” and it related to the head covering in 1 Cor. 11. I also tried the word “sign” and the word “figure” and came up dry as well.

The old King James does use the word “figure” in 1 Peter 3:21 related to baptism, but it does not help those who want baptism to be just a figure, for it says, “the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us,” and that is not the figure those who promote denominational baptism are wanting. The bottom line is that all of this business about baptism being just a symbol is not found in my Bible or yours but only in the minds of men who have wandered from the truth. It is a baptism that has no scriptural meaning and is an invention of men who want some changes in the Bible so it will read more to their liking.

Whether one views baptism as a passageway to enter a denominational church, to gain membership in it, or as just a symbol, both are inventions of men and worthless as far as the Bible is concerned. If you were baptized for either reason you were simply immersed like a man diving from a diving board (that is, if you were immersed at all).

But the objection is made that I did it to obey God. How can you obey God when you do a thing he has not commanded? He never commanded you to be baptized into a denomination (obviously since they did not exist back then) nor did he ever command you to be baptized as a symbol for anything. He did command you to be baptized for a specific set of purposes none of which are found in denominational baptism.

One cannot accidentally obey God. Let me explain. If I were to partake of the Lord’s Supper without knowing the meaning of it, could it be truly said I worshiped God in that act in a way pleasing to him? We would all say of course not. So it is with baptism. To obey God you have to know what you are doing and why and desire to do it for the reasons he said. One is to walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7) and faith comes by hearing God’s word (Rom. 10:17). We cannot walk blindly without knowing what we are doing and think we might just get lucky and do the right thing by accident. There is no such thing as obedience in that type of action.

Sometimes years down the road, after the fact, there are those who learn the truth about baptism and need to be baptized scripturally, but they look back some decades earlier and deceive themselves into thinking that way back when 30-40 years ago when they were baptized it was for the right purpose. How does this happen?

We all learn the truth gradually, not all at once. Minds are changed and/or brought to the truth gradually over time, bit by bit. Because this process is so gradual, by the time we have finally come around a full 180 degrees in our thinking, we look back and cannot remember a time when we did not think as we do now. There is great danger in this.

Because of it, we may never obey the truth, never be scripturally baptized, and thus never enter the church of which Jesus is the Savior, because we cannot remember the truth of our thinking and motives at the time years earlier when we first were immersed. We tell ourselves we thought back then the way we think now, thus we do nothing to change our state. Denominational baptism ends up sinking another ship. There is but one scriptural baptism and denominational baptism is not it.

The purpose of this article has not been to be a wrecking ball, but before one can build in a location already occupied, the old structure must first be torn down. Denominational baptism is an old structure that needs tearing down so that the truth can be built in the location that old structure once occupied.

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Running From God

Why do men run from God? It has been a question with me for years, and one I have had the deepest interest in. I cannot understand it, and things I cannot understand, when it comes to the way people behave, have a way of bothering me. I have always wanted to know why people do what they do. I have wanted to know how men think, why they think the way they do, and thus what motivates them. The reality is only God can know for sure, for only he can see inside a person and read a person’s heart. As for you and me, the Bible says, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Cor. 2:11 NKJV)

Our best hope for knowing another lies in their willingness to open up to us. Even then we may end up scratching our heads in bewilderment. They may tell us what they think, but do they themselves understand the processes of the heart and mind that have led them to the point where they are at?

If there is a God (I am not expressing doubt), then by definition of what it means to be God, it is clear one could not successfully run from him. Hear David in the 139th Psalm.

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether… Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.” (Psalms 139:1-4, 7-12 NKJV)

The writer of the Book of Hebrews put it this way, “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Heb. 4:13 NKJV) To try and run from God, hide, or win a battle against him is folly and only shows how foolish a person can be.

Since man cannot run from God, why try? While we may never know a particular individual’s thinking or motive for attempting to do so, the Bible tells us of some who have tried to run from God and gives us their motivation.

Adam and Eve were the first to try and run from God. When they sinned in the Garden of Eden by eating of the forbidden fruit, breaking God’s commandment, they attempted to hide from God. Adam said to God he was hiding because of his nakedness (Gen. 3:10), but that had never been a problem before. Sin made it a problem and thus sin caused the first man and woman to run from God and try and hide from him.

Every case of running from God or away from God has been caused by sin in a man’s life. “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:20 NKJV) Those who love God and obey his commandments do not run from God. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:3 NKJV)

God is man’s great benefactor. Why run from one who is the only one who can give you eternal life and save you from hell? There is only one reason, the fact of sin in one’s life, sin that has not been repented of or forgiven. Every reason we can list as motives for man’s attempt to run away from God will in every case come back to the matter of sin in the person’s life. But the question remains why?

What was the reason behind Adam and Eve’s sin? There are some things here that we can learn. Eve was willing to listen to someone other than God for guidance. A big mistake. Eve listened to the serpent. Adam was willing to listen to Eve. The world is full of people whose desire is to get you to listen to them and follow them and their lead even in what is styled Christendom. What folly! The word of God lies in the hands of the man or woman who holds the Bible, there and there only will you find God’s guidance. God’s word is the only sure guide man will ever have.

In the Christian faith, God speaks to us through the pages of the New Testament. There we are told how to become Christians, how to worship acceptably, and how to live the Christian life. We are warned much like Adam and Eve were. We are neither to add to that word nor take from it. There is a simple reason for that—whatever is added is not God’s word but man’s word; whatever is subtracted leaves God’s word incomplete and thus not whole. In the latter case, you end up with partial truth, not the whole truth.

Adam and Eve were God’s children. Eve sinned by listening to another who was enlightening her, so she thought, rather than listen to God. We ought to learn a lesson here. If you cannot quote book, chapter, and verse from the New Testament for your practice or doctrine you have listened to someone other than God and need to leave it alone. Adam and Eve did not have a Bible, but they had God’s word directly spoken from his mouth.

In our dispensation of time, the New Testament is the last will and testament of Christ our Savior and thus God’s word for man to live by until time shall end and Jesus shall return. God “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” (Heb. 1:2 NKJV) Peter, in his sermon in Acts 3 speaking of Moses’ prophecy concerning Jesus, said, “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’” (Acts 3:22-23 NKJV)

If we are not listening to Jesus’ words (the New Testament) we are listening to men or to ourselves. We must also remember that adding to God’s word in how we worship, or otherwise, is as bad as subtracting from that word. It is only, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.” (John 8:31 NKJV) That is what Jesus said about it. God’s word has boundaries. Adding or subtracting, either one, changes those boundaries.

But why did Eve do that? Why did she listen to another? Because she liked what she heard from the serpent more than she liked what she heard from God. So another thing we can learn from Adam and Eve is to not allow our personal desires to guide us. “It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jer. 10:23 NKJV) Always remember it is not what seems good or right or desirable to you or me that counts with God but whether or not we are obeying him according to his word.

I don’t know that a man can have too big a heart, but I do know our great love for a wife, a husband, a child, a parent, a friend, or whoever can lead us to reject God’s word in order to have them saved, so we think. We then start running from God. The person we love will either not accept or obey the gospel or if they have done so go off into false doctrine or apostasy and we want them saved so badly that we start looking at scripture differently. Suddenly we find the word of God changing and old passages that used to teach us one thing now seem to be teaching us something entirely different. What has changed? Has the Bible changed or has it been our heart?

Our great passion for and love for our fellow man can easily result in our rejection of God’s word for the word we want it to be rather than the word it is. Adam’s love for Eve seems to have overwhelmed him. The Bible says Adam was not deceived, Eve was. (1 Tim. 2:14) Did Adam love Eve more than he loved God? Love is a wonderful thing, but we must love God foremost. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me,” said Jesus. (Matt. 10:37 NKJV) Love for a person or persons can cause people to run from God.

Do we think God is unjust in condemning those who will not believe the truth and obey it? Do we think we love more than God who gave his only begotten son on the cross to die to give man a means of salvation? Do we think we love more than Jesus who died for us all? Do we think God is just too strict? Many do. However big your heart is, I can assure you it is not as big as God’s, but do we really expect God to save unrepentant sinners and people who do not love him? If he did, how would heaven be any better than life on earth?

So, what lessons have we learned from Adam and Eve? (1) Sin led them to run from God. (2) This sin was caused by or the result of listening to the words of another who was not God. (3) Eve listened to another other than God, for she desired the doctrine he brought more than the doctrine God gave. (4) Love for one’s mate, or for others, even for all of humanity, cannot supersede one’s love for God, and if it does so it will only result in disaster. Are you and I immune today from falling into one or more of the same traps? No, not at all.

Jonah is another example, and with little doubt the best-known example in the Bible, of a man who attempted to run from God. God sent him to Nineveh to preach against that city’s wickedness. Jonah did not want to go and do that for fear that Nineveh would repent and God would not destroy its inhabitants but rather forgive them and spare them (see Jonah 3:10-4:2), which is exactly what ended up happening. The story is well known. Jonah wanted to see the city destroyed, and fearing that preaching God’s message to the people there would end up saving the city, he tried to flee from God, got caught up in a storm on the sea, a storm God sent purposely, and was tossed overboard by the sailors to save their own lives. He was thereafter swallowed by a great fish, one that spit him out after he repented of disobedience to God’s command.

Once again, then, we have another example of a man running from God because of disobedience to God, but what was the motivating factor in his disobedience? In Jonah’s case, the motivating factor was a lack of love for his fellow man. One could call it hate. He wanted to see the people of Nineveh die, 120,000 of them. Jonah had a heart problem.

When a person has a heart problem, they will want no part of God and will naturally flee from him. Not every sin is heart-related. One might sin out of ignorance, for example, but when sin is in the heart, man wants no part of God and will seek to run from him. The heart must be changed to change the man.

Then we come to the rich young ruler we find in the New Testament who thought he wanted eternal life and came to Jesus seeking an answer as to how to obtain it. We find this account in Matt. 19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22, and Luke 18:18-23. Jesus invited the young man to sell his goods and come follow him. The young man could not bring himself to do that and ended up walking away from God. Why? Because he loved his wealth, his money, more than God and eternal life. He had a heart problem, the love of money.

There is another account found in John of those who ran away from God. The text says, “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:42-43 NKJV) Again, the problem lies within the heart of the man. It is men wanting the wrong things out of life leading them into sin and away from God.

In the example just given, the rulers were going away from God but headed out to the synagogue for worship. They wanted to be religious but just not Jesus’ way. In today’s world men will search and search and search to find the denomination that will teach it the way they want to hear it so that Paul’s prophecy finds its fulfillment. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4 NKJV)

You tell me what it is you want to hear today, and I think I can find you a place to go if you will let me research it just a little. You can find the doctrine that comforts you in whatever state of sin you are living in, and in whatever beliefs you are holding, if you will only search awhile. You may well end up in a place you do not want to be in the next life, but for the here and now you can find a place of comfort, a place where they will tell you the lie you are living is nothing other than God’s truth.

The Bible only teaches one church and one faith and it does not teach a thousand different competing doctrines. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:4-6 NKJV) Churches today have people in them who are in reality running from God but are not willing to admit it to themselves. They left the old place and came to the new so they could persist in their sin rather than be cleansed from it.

Yes, we can run from God; we just cannot hide from him. We must give an account. The day of accounting will be a terrifying day for many, for in that day the heart of man will be revealed and we will all have to come clean. Why did we believe what we believed? Why did we practice what we practiced? Was it because of God’s word or was it because we had a heart problem we would not admit to or face up to? Is your faith and trust in your own heart, in your own mind, in what seems best and right to you, or is it in the words spoken by the Holy Spirit? God’s word is just an extension of himself. Jesus is called the Word (John 1:1-2, 1 John 1:1). He is revealed in his word. Are you running away from God? I hope not, for I can promise you he will find you in the Day of Judgment when you do not wish to be found.

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