Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P508 (01-31-20)
Synopsis
Christ is the head of the church. But as people come to know Christ, they need to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So a local body of believers is formed. It takes time to grow, and to protect the body of Christ, more mature believers, who have demonstrated by their life and conduct and their teaching that they correctly handle the word of truth, and are able to explain the meaning of God’s word, such men are appointed. Now, the role of each member of the body is to let the Lord teach them the meaning of the word of God, for it is really only the Holy Spirit who can reveal truth to men. And also because all men live in the flesh of ours, where sin dwells, often churches have a multiplicity of leadership, so as to guard and pray for one another.
Recall the shortcomings and struggles of the early church, so we can learn from that. The apostle Paul often asked for the prayers of the believers, that he would explain the gospel clearly as he ought. Yes, and there was a time when the apostle Paul reproved the apostle Peter for compromising the gospel by his actions. There was also a time when there was such a sharp disagreement on whether to take Mark along. Because of a prior failure of John Mark, Paul was unwilling to take him with him on a missionary journey. Barnabas, known as the encourager, took John Mark with him and separated from Paul, for the sake of John Mark. So the church is always in a state of growth on this side of heaven. One waters, another plants, but God causes the growth.
For a church to function properly, every member is to do what God has gifted and instructed him to do. At different times in life, that function can change. Let the Spirit lead you personally, what you should do. The job of the pastor is not to dictate, as in manipulation, for that to happen. As an example, so the pastor is not overburdened and has sufficient time in the word, God has placed in the body those gifted with helps. Such people, full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit, are appointed as deacons. Woman also have been appointed as deacons, as scripture provides an example of that with Pheobe, a sister in Christ.
Now, the scriptures provides clear instruction that a woman is not to be put in a position of authority over a man, for as scripture says, the woman was deceived first, as you recall Eve in the garden of Eden. God has designed men and woman with unique roles. Woman are to teach the younger woman how to love their husbands, and woman have been prophetesses in the Old Testament. But you will never see a woman in the temple serving as a priest.
But now that the Old Testament is set aside, there is no longer a need of priests to intercede for men as in the day of atonement. Pastors do not serve to atone or forgive people of their sins, as the priests in Catholicism do, or as Protestants incorrectly teach in 1 John 1:9. The forgiveness of sins is what Jesus already did for us, even before we were born. The role of a pastor or minister is to help people trust Christ, to appeal to the lost to become born again, and once born again, to build them up in the faith, teaching such fundamental doctrines of Christ, your identity in Christ, law and grace, the New Covenant of grace, completeness in Christ, the fullness of the gospel, total acceptance in the Beloved, and eternal security. Their manner of life should demonstrate how they trust Christ and should be an example to the body of believers, until we all mature to the unity of the faith. We should all be mutually encouraged by each others faith. So let us pray for one another, for no one is immune to Satan’s schemes, of being deceived or giving into the flesh. So let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
One of the greatest illustrations Jesus personally gave all of us, so we can know how to function in the new way of the Spirit, is the parable of the vine and the branches. Ponder over John 15, and ask the Lord to reveal to you the meaning of that parable. Another insight for growing in Christ is knowing what it means that you are a child of God, unconditionally loved and accepted. Do you realize that you are no longer under the law of sin and death but under the new law of the Spirit of grace, who lives in you? God no longer deals with you on the basis of sin, but on the basis of being your Father, who disciplines, or trains you, in perfect love.
Transcript
Dick from Cincinnati, Ohio
Dick: Bob, how are you doing?
Bob: I am doing good, Dick. Thank you.
Dick: I have not listened to you very long. I just found this station in the last month or so. I have been really rummaging around in my mind and heart with the whole idea of being born again. I was raised Roman Catholic and I was a practicing Roman Catholic into about my mid thirties. I am now in my late fifties. About fifteen years ago, or more than that, I went to a non-denominational Christian church, and this whole idea of being born again came in. Well, this is the why I want to do it. I want to ensure my salvation, so I thought I made a profession of faith to Christ, and now with what is going on to listening to nothing but Christian radio, everybody seems to have a different take on it. I keep hearing teachers saying, maybe fifty percent of the congregation out there is not saved, even though they think they are. I have a couple of brothers in Christ I meet with regularly. The one says that we have to recommit our lives to Christ every day, telling God we are sorry for our sins. Okay, we are going to pick ourselves up all over again and try to live by your word. I have another brother who says unless you know the hour, day, month or year that you are saved, then you are not. So, I am confused and, quite frankly, I am terrified.
Bob: Well, Dick, first of all, fear does not come from God. God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of love and of a sound mind. So you can know that that fear you are going through does not come from God. You must think to yourself that you must get yourself some new friends. What you have there is a hodge-podge of opinions but not based upon scripture.
Bob: Here is the issue, Dick. It is a divine logic that you cannot argue with. Salvation is being saved from what? In other words, I ask people many times, what is your understanding of the gospel? Nine times out of ten it comes back that “Christ died for my sins and I accepted him as my Savior”. And I say, “I am sorry. That is not salvation”. Salvation includes the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus. All three of those have a purpose. The reason for the death of Christ is because of His testimony to us.
Romans 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
Romans 3:10
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Bob: Therefore, everyone’s sins had to be forgiven. That is what Jesus did at the cross. He took away the sins of the entire world from the eyes of God never to see them again.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them
Bob: He not only died for our sins, but the sins of the entire world. That is all the way through the scriptures, all the sins of the world. Just as in Catholicism, the same thinking is taking place in the Protestant world. The Catholics keep going back to the confession booth to get forgiveness. Is that faith? Of course not! Faith is saying “thank you for what Jesus already accomplished”. If Jesus said “I have taken away sins, never to see them again”, then faith does not say “please forgive me”. Faith says “thank you” if that is truth.
Dick: Are dependence on the Lord comes from reiterating that thank you?
Bob: Absolutely. That is a sign that you understand what faith is all about.
Dick: Yes, I understand that.
Bob: Faith is not faith in itself but faith in Jesus and what He accomplished. I do not ask Jesus what He has already done. God has already given me everything I need for life and godliness.
2 Peter 1:3
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Bob: What am I going to do? Ask Him for more? No, I am going to thank Him that He has given me everything I need for life and godliness.
Bob: Now, the second part is the important part, Dick. It is a part that is neglected unbelievably in the Christian teaching.
Roman 6:23a
23 For the wages of sin is death
The wages of sin is death. It is not a paddling. It is not going to the woodshed. It is not going in and out of fellowship. There is no passage in scripture that teaches that. People teach that, but the bible does not. The wages of sin is death. Until the wages is corrected, we remain dead. Forgiveness does not make a dead man alive. The resurrection makes a dead man alive. That is the meaning of Christ’s resurrection. He entered into our death with us, so that when he was raised from the dead, we can enter into his resurrected life with Him. That is what salvation is, being saved from the consequence of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is life.
Roman 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So when we come to Christ, we thank him for the fact that He took away eternally the cause of death, which is sin, and therefore, having taken away the cause of death, which is sin, He was able to offer you and me a life called eternal life, that could never be taken away from you. The reason that life cannot depart from you and me is because the only thing that could cause it to depart from you and me would be sin, and the reason that is an impossibility is because he took it away. There is nothing that can cause His life to depart from you and me. That is why we have what is called eternal security.
1 John 5:12
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Bob: So you come to Him for what He came to give you, which is life. I did not have life. I was born dead. All of us were born dead.
Colossians 2:13-15
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
John 17:2
2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
Bob: He came that you might have life.
John 11:24-26
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Bob: You come to Him for that life saying, “thank you Lord Jesus for what you did at the cross, not only my sins from the eyes of God, but to take away the cause of spiritual death. Now you are offering me your resurrected life. I invite you into my heart as Lord and Savior” and you are saved. What kind of salvation do you have? Eternal.
Bob: You do not recommit your life. If you are recommitting your life, you are saying “I am going to do something if it kills me”. God says, “it will. Just keep recommitting and it will”. Dick, you see this whole issue is agreeing with God what He says about us as mankind and agreeing with Him in regard to His provision in regard to our circumstance. We have to see ourselves as God sees us. You did and that is why you are saved today. You saw yourself as a sinner. You accepted the fact that Jesus went to a cross. I do not know whether you fully understood or not, that He took away your sins. Most of the time people think He just covered sin, and that is why you have to keep asking for forgiveness, which is really a denial of what Jesus cried out on the cross when he said, ’it is finished”. It is really calling God a liar when He said “it is finished”. Agreeing with that and also agreeing that there is a consequence of sin called death that has to be corrected by resurrection. When a person understands that, then you come to realize you are in a different life altogether.
Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Bob: It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. If Christ lives in me, what is He living there for. He is living there to live His life through me. What He did on the cross, He died for us then so He could live in us now. We have to understand the truth of that. He gave his life for you in order to give life to you, in order to live His life through you.
Bob: You and I cannot live the Christian life. All we can do is to allow Him who lives in us to live it through us. We do that by faith. You go out in the energy of the flesh, trying to live the Christian life, and you will fall flat on your face, just like the guys who said you have to keep repenting or rededicating your life. Why? If you are trying to live the Christian life in the energy of the flesh, you will be falling on your face all your life. What are you preoccupied with? Sin. Why? That is all you are thinking about because that is your salvation, instead of thinking about life, new life in Christ Jesus.
Bob: If Christians will get the concept down of being a branch. That is the greatest illustration Jesus ever gave on the Christian life in John 15.
John 15:1-17
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branch. If you abide in me and I in you, He it is that will bear much fruit. Apart from Me you can do nothing. You cannot produce fruit. You can only bear the fruit that I produce in you and you get the privilege of bearing it, but you cannot produce it.
2 Peter 1:4
4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Bob: If we would only grab a hold of that illustration, and realize what He is saying to you and me, that you, Dick and Bob, are nothing but a branch. “You cannot produce anything that I am looking for, nothing. There is not anything in a branch I am looking for. But if you abide in Me, the life of the vine, I will produce in you and give you the privilege of bearing the fruit that is Mine, not yours”.
Dick: When people see fruit coming from me it is the manifestation of the glory of God coming through me because I received Jesus?
Bob: No, it is the fact you are abiding in Him. You and I received Jesus. That is a done deal, Dick. That is something that cannot be taken away. You and I are in Christ and you came to Him for resurrected life. If you just came to Him for forgiveness, then you might as well not have come to Him. That is not salvation. You came to Him for what He came to give you, and that is life. Jesus said, “I came that you might have life.” I came to Him for His resurrected life, to save me from the consequence of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is life eternal. That is a done deal.
Dick: Is the life I received, I receive it now, and goes through into eternity?
Bob: Absolutely! The day that you received Christ Jesus. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life. That is very cut and dry. If you have the Son, you have eternal life. If you do not, you do not have it.
Bob: If you came to Him by faith, and if that is true, and it sounds like it is true, then you are a true born again believer. Then you need to learn to abide in Him. Jesus Himself said, “I do not do anything unless the Father tells me to do it. And I do not say anything unless the Father tells me to say it and how to say it.”
John 5:19
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
John 12:50
50 “I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
Bob: But Jesus is God. As Archie Bunker said, “he is not too bad of a Christian”. So this is God talking: “I am going to teach you how to live because you cannot live as God. You have to live as a man. So I am going to behave like a man to teach you how to live. The way you have to live is in total dependency on the Father, so you will realize you cannot do anything unless the Father leads you to do it. So relax and let God lead you.”
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Bob: When things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness comes out of you, you know that you are not the source of it. You have the privilege of bearing that toward others, but you are not the source of it. God is the source of it. That is a choice we make, as born again person, to participate in the divine nature that lives in us, that is Jesus. Or, we can participate in the flesh. We have a choice. When you are living with the life of Christ living in you, who is continually leading you to walk in the newness of life, and you are yielding to Him, you are going to bear the fruit of God.
Romans 6:4
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Bob: When you yield to the flesh, you are going to bear the fruit of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16-18
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Bob: And the Spirit is always there saying, “Dick, is that what it was cracked up to be?” When you believed the lie, you get back into truth again and let Him set you free. You thank Him that He took away that sin from the eyes of God, never to see it again. God is not dealing with you on the basis of sin. He is dealing with you on the basis of new life.
Romans 8:2
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Bob: That is the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. That is that marvelous freedom that He said He bought you to set you free.
Dick: Thank you.
Bob: That is good news, isn’t it, Dick?
Dick: Yes! I have gone through a whole lot of turmoil over this thing because everybody I listen to has a slightly different twist on it. Where is the real thing? The way you explained it, I was born dead. Christ died for me over 2000 years ago. All I have to do is agree with the fact that what He did was for me.
Bob: Absolutely. And completed the work for you.
Dick: Yes, completed the work for me. Sin is gone and all I have to do is accept that. Then go on to Him and say, “I want to live in Your life, Your resurrected life, starting now, going through all eternity, with the life of Jesus abiding in me”.
Bob: Absolutely. I want to be a branch. I do not want to be a producer any more. I want to be a bearer of your fruit and your fruit alone. It is like a little child, when he falls down, you do not chastise him and beat him to death. You pick him up and tell him you love him and send him on his way. That is how God is dealing with you and me. We fall and make mistakes, and He is always there, picking us up, showing us where the mistake is made, and moving on. He is dealing with you as a loving Father, leading you, His child. It is the best news in the world.
Dick: It sure is. Thank you so much.
Shannon from Atlanta, Georgia
Shannon: Hi. Thank you for taking my call.
Bob: You are welcome, Shannon.
Shannon: I hear on television, several different sources where there are prophesies from Isaiah and Jeremiah, and different places, where they are interpreting those prophesies that I thought were concerning the nation of Israel, the previous or past dispensation of the law, as well as future dispensation of the millenial reign. They were interpreting that to be for the church, talking about a latter reign and coming glory of the church. Did I misunderstand something? Am I wrong that that is concerning the nation of Israel? Or is that applying to the church?
Bob: Shannon, some of the prophesies you have in the Old Testament are certainly applied to the end times. Those were certainly amplified by the Lord Jesus Christ. You will find that in Matthew 24, where he talks about signs of the end times.
Matthew 24:3-6
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,”they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Bob: But you have prophecies that were given, like in Daniel, that basically tie into the coming of the Messiah at the end of the age
Daniel 9:24-27
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
Bob: So you do have prophecies that are applicable to this dispensation. Then, of course, then you would have prophecies that were given in the Old Testament, that were fulfilled in Old Testament times. You have to take those prophecies in context. In essence, try to figure out if they have been fulfilled or whether they will be fulfilled.
Bob: Let me give you an example of that, Shannon. When Jesus talked about the end times, when he is talking about there will be destruction as we have not seen. There are people today, in Christianity today, that believe that all of those prophecies have all been fulfilled and were fulfilled in 70 A.D. I do not believe that at all. Some people do believe that. Prophecies are always up for interpretation and always up for grabs. You will find people dealing with prophecies that are all over the place.
Bob: I believe that when you are dealing with prophecies, like in Revelation, I do not believe anyone knows the complete truth of those prophecies until such a time they are fulfilled any more than people could have dogmatically explained the prophecies concerning the coming Messiah until Jesus came.
Daniel 12:8-9
8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end.”
Bob: After He came, “oh, that is it”. Even the apostles, who knew the prophecies, did not understand Jesus was the fulfillment of those. Prophecies is always one of those things people like to get involved in. It is kind of fun to get involved in it. In essence, unless it has been fulfilled, I think the best that we can do is speculate as to the meaning of it and when it will occur.
Shannon: Is there any scripture that you know of that refers to a wealth transference. That the Lord is coming back for the church without spot or wrinkle, meaning the church is going to be wealthy? That is what I heard. I do not see that at all. I do not believe scripture teaches that. That is not what I read.
1 Timothy 6:3-5
3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
Bob: Anyone who teaches godliness as a means to financial gain is a man of perverted mind. Anyone teaching that kind of stuff, you already know what kind of mind they have. It is perverted. There are people who teach church has superseded Israel. Israel is not the church and the church is not Israel. Israel is Israel. If you want to go to Israel, you can go to Israel, and watch them fight wars. Church is church. The church is made up of both Jews and Gentiles who are born again. There is a lot of people that really mess around with prophecy, Shannon. That is why you have to be careful with your interpretation. But what you are saying here, you are a hundred percent right on.
Shannon: It did not set right on me. So I called to see what you thought. I respect your ministry. You are the only ministry that teaches that our sins are forgiven and we no longer have to go to God for forgiveness of sins. That was a confirmation of something I had settled in. So it was refreshing to hear someone teach that. It is so rare to hear that today.
Bob: Yes, it is. We do not want to settle what God said is finished, do we?
Shannon: No, sir.
Bob: Is that not amazing? You get called everything under the sun for teaching that Jesus meant what he said whee he said it is finished. It is amazing.
John 19:30
30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Bob: In the book of Hebrews, after he provided purification for sins. Jesus did not say after he is providing. He said after he provided, he sat down.
Hebrews 3:1
1 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Bob: Why did he sit down? The work is over. Everyone knows what it says, but do not understand the meaning of it. When you teach the meaning of it, everybody thinks you are a heretic.
Shannon: I find it is okay to be alone. At times you feel separated. I have felt lonely for quite some time. My husband and I both have. That is where you grow closer to the Lord when you have no one else to depend on but the Lord Himself. I think that is the way He wanted us anyway.
Bob: I guarantee that is for sure, Shannon. I appreciate your discernment on those things. You keep trusting the Lord for it.
Shannon: Okay. Thank you so much.
Bob: You are welcome, Shannon. God bless. Bye now.
Curtis from Temple Hills
Curtis: Good afternoon, Bob. I hope both of you had a God-blessed weekend. Someone mentioned to me some time ago they were ordained a deacon. She is a female. I never heard of anyone female being a deacon. I am not an authority on biblical sayings. It has always been deaconess. But I never heard of a woman being a deacon. I just want to hear what your comment on that is.
Bob: Deaconess would certainly be a term for a woman serving in that capacity. Once again, what you are dealing with is roles people play in the church. For example, you had deacon and deaconesses, and they were servants.
Romans 16:1
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.
Philippians 1:1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons
Acts 6:1-4
1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
Bob: They would be people involved in physical things, in serving the body of Christ, waiting on tables, the cooking and fixing of coffee, and those kinds of things. The setting up of chairs, and whatever needs to be done, you have people who have the gift of helps. Quite frankly that would be the major gift evident in a deacon, in helps. They are there to help.
Bob: When you are talking about elders, you are talking about people who gained a level of maturity as to the meaning of the word of God, and therefore are elders in the New Testament. People that were used to go from assembly to assembly, and home to home, where people were teaching the word of God, to ensure what they were teaching was correct. That was the role of the elder, to ensure people were passing on correct doctrine and truth. The apostle Paul, even though an apostle, certainly served in that capacity, when he would go on missionary journeys where he had started a church, and see if their teaching was commiserate with what he had taught them. He even said if anyone who preached a different gospel than what we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:6-9
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
Bob: The apostle Paul was not exactly what you would call politically correct in every thing he said in those regions. He was a very strong in regard to bearing the purity of the gospel. That is basically the role of an elder.
Bob: In the same way, as the role of a deacon, is to be a help more in the local assemblies of the churches. So, a woman can serve in that capacity as well as a man. A woman will just not be put in a position of authority over a man.
Bob: I hope that helps, Curtis. Thanks for your call.
