Gospel News · January - April 2018

“A sin unto death” (1 John 5:16)
Q.
John teaches that there is a “sin unto
death” for which prayer would be
unavailing. What is that sin?
A.
John gives two definitions of sin: one is
lawlessness (1 John 3:4) which a true
believer never commits; the other is wrong-
doing (1 John 5:17), which all are guilty of
doing. For the former there is no forgiveness
so long as the sinner continues in his lawless
state; but for the latter there is forgiveness
if the sins are confessed before God with that
objective in mind (1 John 1:9). He will
“cleanse us from all unrighteousness” but He
will not justify lawlessness.
“My Father’s house” (John 14:2-3)
Q.
A friend of mind quotes these verses in
John to support his contention that the
righteous are rewarded in heaven. I do not
accept his theory, of course, but am unable
to satisfactorily explain this passage. Can you
assist?
A.
Your friend relies on the words: “In my
Father’s house are many mansions…. I
go to prepare a place for you …. Where I am
there ye may be also.” The key words in this
passage, however, are the ones usually omit-
ted: “I WILL COME AGAIN”, which clearly
show that whatever reward is offered, it is as-
sociated with the second coming of Christ,
and the notion that the believer enters into
his reward at death is instantly destroyed.
Notice that Christ makes no mention of
heaven as the place of reward. This is some-
thing most people read into the passage. He
declares he is going to the Father to prepare
a place for us in his Father’s house, and he
will “come again” in order that he might
bestow that reward.
What constitutes the Father’s house? Paul an-
swers this in Hebrews 3:2-6. He speaks of
Moses as a servant in God’s house, and Christ
as the son of this house (vv. 5-6), and then he
adds: “Whose house are we, if we hold fast
the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope
firm to the end.” The “house” in mind, there-
fore, is the perfected Ecclesia, likened by Paul
in Ephesians 2:19-21 as the “household of
God, built upon the foundation of the apos-
tles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief corner stone; in whom all the build-
ing fitly framed together groweth unto an
holy temple in the Lord.”
The Lord ascended to the Father to prepare a
place for his faithful followers in this “house”
to be revealed in the earth in due time. He
does this by interceding on their behalf, by
mediating between God and the members of
his ecclesia, and thus helping them to perfect
their characters fit for an “abiding place” (the
word “mansion” can be rendered “abiding
place”) in the Father’s house when it is com-
pleted.
“We shall judge angels” (1Corinthians 6:3)
Q.
Please explain this verse in Corinthians.
A.
The term “angels” does not relate exclu-
sively to immortals who have been
elevated to official positions. For example,
the word “messengers” in Luke 7:24 and 9:52
is the same word rendered “angels” in the
Greek. In James 2:25, the spies who were sent
into the promised land are termed “angels” in
the Greek.
In view of this, the term “angels” can apply to
mortals placed into positions of authority; and
in 1 Cor. 6:3 Paul reminds the brethren of
Corinth that inasmuch as they will be placed
over such people in the age to come, they
should demonstrate their ability to exercise
such authority by skill in handling the present
things of this life.
Cain’s Offering
Q.
Why was not Cain’s offering accepted?
(Genesis 4:5)
Questions and Answers
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