MESSAGES

• Sanctification Through The Ordinances Of The Christian Church
• Jesus Christ, Our Only Mediator And Redeemer
• Justification By Faith Alone
• Does The Bible Allow For Women To Serve As Church Leaders ?

God has given us the ordinances of the Christian Church as a means of sanctification. Now, THIS sounds like a shockingly unusual statement for a Baptist to make!! But, if you will allow me to explain myself, I think that you will see that what I am saying is true. God has given us Baptism and Communion so that, through them, we might grow in our faith, and so, be sanctified. Before we discuss the New Covenant ordinances given to the Church, let us consider the many given to Old Testament Israel.

At Sinai, God gave Israel very many ordinances and ceremonies to observe. There are so many, in fact, and a lot of them are so strange and obscure, that most folk have little idea of what they all were. Here were some of the main ones. The weekly Sabbath was a rehearsal of God’s having rested at the close of the Creation week. Properly observing the Sabbath brought believing Israelites into meditation on and appreciation of God as the Creator and Sustainer and Sovereign Lord over the universe. So the Sabbath’s main purpose was to raise God in their thinking. The Feast of Tabernacles was a week at the close of the harvest season in which the nation set up temporary booths to dwell in. To observe the feast properly was to commemorate the way God had provided for their forefathers during the Wilderness Wanderings, as well as a thanksgiving for the recent harvest of crops. So the feast of Tabernacles was supposed to increase the people’s gratitude to God. The Passover rehearsed the great Redemption event of the Old Testament, the Exodus. By careful and proper observance of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Israelites were to discern, in the types, pictorial representations of the Truths already revealed to them concerning God their Saviour, and foreshadowings the types’ coming fulfillment in the Person and Work of the Incarnate Son of God. Now Christ has come. The types and shadows are fulfilled. The many ceremonies of the Old Covenant have therefore become obsolete and have passed away. During this current age of the New Covenant, God has graciously given us only two clear and simple ceremonies to observe, instead of the many complicated and dim ones that He gave Israel. These are the ordinances of Baptism and Communion. He gave them to us to raise our estimation of Jesus Christ and redemption through them. Therefore. . .

Participating in & meditating on Baptism & Communion ceremonies are two of things which God has given us His People for our sanctification. John 17.17. Sanctification through the Word, the Truth. Baptism & Communion set forth the Truth without words, in a pictorial fashion, to our senses. The things of Christ are presented to us therein. It is possible to participate in baptism or communion mindlessly, and to get nothing out of it. Observing or meditating on them well requires brain activity! But if we work hard at it, by them, we will be reminded and renewed, and our faith will be strengthened.

Baptism is a ceremony, a ritual. It has no saving power. The water of baptism is not magic water. When a sinner goes for baptism, he gets wet! An unsaved man who is baptised, becomes a wet, unsaved man. A man still in his sins who is baptised becomes a wet person who is still in his sins. There have been many people who were baptised, yet not saved. Of course, we all knew this. But, what does baptism mean, if we are clear on what it does not mean? This is beautiful and simple, and is found in your Bible!

1. Cleansing of Sin (Acts 22.16)

The most obvious symbolic meaning of baptism is that of washing and cleansing. Just as we take water baths to clean up our bodies, our soul needs to be cleansed of evil. The water of baptism can touch our skin, but it can never cleanse our hearts. The water can wash away dirt, but never wash away sin. Yet, it serves as a simple and beautiful picture of spiritual cleansing. In fact it is simple and easy for children to understand! Just as water is used to clean the body, the blood of Jesus Christ is powerful to cleanse away evil from our hearts, our minds, and our consciences. Washing with water can make you more acceptable to the eyes and the nostrils of men. Being spiritually cleansed with the blood of Jesus makes you acceptable to God, pure, clean, and sanctified in His sight!

Now, you may not have thought about this very much at the time you were being baptised. But I am asking you to think about it now. Remember your baptism. And remember what it was for--what it symbolised. God requires in you a pure and clean mind and conscience. He provides it by the cleansing power of the redeeming blood of His dear Son, by which you were sanctified. Think about this. And know that the blood of Jesus is still powerful to cleanse you day by day. And grow in your faith that you now have full acceptance with God because you have been purified forever by Jesus Christ.

2. Repentance, a Change of Mind About Jesus (Acts 2.38)

When John the Baptist was preaching, he was calling people to recognise who Jesus was. The kingdom is at hand. The Lord is coming. Prepare the way for the King to pass. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. One comes after me who is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to remove. I have baptised you with water, with respect to repentance, but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit! When people listened to John, they always heard about the coming of the Messiah, Christ! So John’s baptism was a call for them to recognise HIM! He must increase, I must decrease!

The nation as a whole rejected Jesus’ true claims to be Lord and Messiah. To the crowd which Peter addressed on the day of Pentecost, a call to repentance went out. A call to change their mind about Jesus. They had not received Him. They had rather rejected Him, conspired against Him, and called for His execution. By His resurrection, God the Father was demonstrating to all that Jesus is none other than God the Son, the Messiah, and He who has been convincingly declared to be the Lord of all. Peter’s hearers were convicted by this. “What shall we do?” Answering the call to baptism, then, meant that they were now recognising Jesus to be who He really is!

Did you think much about this on the day you were baptised? Think about it now! Think about it often!

3. Identification as a Worshiper of the Trinity (Matthew 28.18-19)

Being baptised in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, means that you are to live in the Spirit, and approach through the Son, into the favor and presence of the Father! You are now a Trinitarian! Remembering your baptism is another occasion to be provoked to worship the Three Persons of the Trinity! And to meditate on all that Christ means to us.

4. A Vow, or Commitment of The Will (Luke 3.7-8)

When John baptised people, a drastic change in their behaviour was expected. The proud religious crowd wouldn’t change for anybody. But people who felt their moral corruption came. They were baptised by John, and their lives changed! Submitting to baptism was like making a public vow, “I will not be the same old immoral person I was before! Now I belong to Jesus Christ, my Lord and my King, whom I will serve from now on!” Was this on your mind when you submitted to baptism? Know that your baptism was a commitment to Christ in all things. And every time you think on it, it can be a solemn moment of renewing that commitment! So do it!

5. Initiation into the Church (I Cor 12.13; Matt 3.11; John 4.1; Acts 2.41)

The Israelites had a ceremony by which a person was joined to the nation: circumcision. An uncircumcised Israelite boy was cut off from his people. Of course, we are saved and joined to Christ at the moment we believe on Him, and receive Him as our Lord and Saviour. But, you might say, ceremonially, we are not a part of the visible, local church, until we are baptised! No one ever became a member of a local assembly who was not baptised. Now, the spiritual blessing of salvation comes upon us when we believe. It is at that very moment that we are born again. Simultaneously, we are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. And, it is at that same moment that the Holy Spirit also baptises us into, or places us into the body of Christ, the one true church! When we read in the Scripture of the one true Church, which is the one true body of Christ, we are reading of His Bride also, and the Temple which is the one dwelling place of the Spirit of God. The various local assemblies, or local churches, are reflections of this wonderful truth. And as we who believe are said to be baptised by the Spirit into the body of Christ, sometimes called the universal or invisible church, at the moment we become children of God, so also we become joined to a local assembly at the moment we submit to the ceremony of baptism.

So, did you think of this on the day you were baptised? Water baptism signifies the spiritual reality and blessing of your having been placed into Christ’s BODY, the Church. And it also reminds you of your relation to the local assembly. For it was through this initiation ritual that you became a publicly professing disciple of our Lord together with the rest of us! Think about this as well!

6. Union with Christ (Romans 6.1-4)

By faith, we have been united to Christ. We could talk about this truth of our union with Christ under seven ways the Bible speaks of our being “together” with Him. Paul teaches here that symbolically, there must be a moral effect upon us because of our baptism! Through our union with Christ, we are now DEAD! Dead to sin, which no longer has any more power over us. If this is so, then we must not serve our old slave master, Sin. Baptism signifies our union with Christ. Therefore, our baptism is a constant reminder to us that we must not live in sin!

You may not have realised that this is one of the meanings of baptism on the day that you were baptised. But now that you do know it, you can think about it. You can embrace it. You can be moved and encouraged and fortified against sin by it. Have a strong faith in Christ. Sin no more! Let your baptism, and your remembrance of your baptism, be like a trumpet call to wake you up out of the spiritual slumber and dullness that sometimes overtakes you. This is one of the means which God has given to you to strengthen your faith and help you to grow in holiness of life. Submission to baptism and remembering your baptism are simple, beautiful and important!!!!

Because there has been a long history of confusion over the true meaning of the communion service, we must now list some reasons why this is not a sacrament, with the power to convey forgiving grace. Christ was physically present with the disciples when He spoke the words, “This is my body, this is my blood.” The disciples didn’t understand Him literally. If his words are taken literally, then His human body was not really human! If the power of forgiveness of sins resides in the bread and cup, then the minister who distributes them is turned into a priest, without whom other Christians could not receive forgiving grace. This is not Christianity! Every believer has direct access to God through Christ. And Christ has made every one of us believers a priest unto God! To turn ministers into priests is to make the communion an ordinance of the OLD covenant, and not of the New!

Now, this ordinance was instituted by Jesus Christ on the night before his crucifixion, during the annual Passover observance. Remember the Lamb, the blood, the death of the firstborn, and the exodus from Egypt! What, then, does the communion serve to remind us of, when we observe it today?

1. A Meal With Christ (Lk 22.8, 15)

In the Old Testament, some offerings that were offered to the Lord were partly eaten by the offerer, and partly burned up as an offering to the Lord. These signified communion with God. It was as if an Israelite were sitting to dine with God Himself. In that culture especially, dining together was very significant of peace, harmony, and fellowship. According to I Corinthians 10 and 11, the communion is the Lord’s Table and the Lord’s Cup. We are sharing it with Him, just as did His disciples as His table. We may partake of the bread and the cup, and be assured by it that we are in fellowship with the Lord Himself!

We “show the Lord’s death ’TIL HE COMES” He is not dead anymore. He is alive and He is coming again. We observe the Lord’s Table, and think about Him, the Living Lord, the One Who is coming again. At the Lord’s Table, we dwell on all that He has made us to have in common with Him. Him Who is the loving Saviour of our souls! And through this, our knowledge of Him increases. This results in our growth and sanctification.

2. Thanksgiving (I Corinthians 10.16)

The communion cup was the third of four cups on the Passover Table, as it was observed in our Lord’s time. This third cup was to be taken “after supper” (see I Cor 11.25), and you will notice that Paul calls it the “cup of blessing which we bless” which is what the Jewish rabbis called the third cup! Now I ask, “Where do blessings come from?”

At the communion service, we are furnished with an occasion to remember the blessings of the Lord. The Jews observed that meal as a remembrance of the Passover and Exodus. We observe this one to remember spiritual blessings connected with our salvation. They thought about and spoke of their redemption from slavery. We think and speak of our redemption from sin!

God has greatly blessed us! Be thankful. Be happy at the communion service! This is a happy occasion, as well as a solemn one! As you observe the communion service, your gratitude will increase, and so, you will be sanctified.

3. Remembrance of Christ’s Sufferings (I Corinthians 11.23-26)

In Luke 22. 19-20, notice the words, “Given for you, broken for you, shed for you.” Jesus Christ made a sacrifice the next morning. It was His redeeming purpose for coming into the world. To save men from their sins! He did it by making a propitiatory, substitutionary sacrifice for us. On the cross, Jesus endured the infinite wrath of God due to us. Through His sufferings, He secured our forgiveness, effected our reconciliation, and purchased our redemption!

The bread and the cup were conveniently at hand during the supper, and so the Lord made use of them. These elements became emblems. The broken bread. The poured out cup. They symbolise the great sufferings of the Lord Jesus. How beautiful! How simple! Let your heart ache with sorrow, and throb with gratitude and love. Growing love for Him Who loved you so much that He died for you? That is sanctification!

4. A Sign of the New Covenant(I Corinthians 11.25)

Note very well Hebrews 8-9; and especially 9.12-14! Also 13.20-21. In the Old Covenant, the Israelites received commandments, but no power to obey them! In the New Covenant, we are cleansed within, by the power of the blood of the covenant! Believe it! There is power in the blood of Jesus! The communion service encourages our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Who died for us. And in the power of His blood to cleanse and remove our sins forever, to give us a clean conscience before God, and to secure our eternal redemption!

5. Our Union With Christ (I Corinthians 10.16, 21)

We are said to be partakers of Christ. Of course, this is figurative. But it is justifiably strong language for such a very important truth. The most important truth for the Christian life, our union with Christ. Our being “buried with Christ”, etc, was one way of expressing this truth. Our being partakers of Christ is another way. We have been joined to Christ. We are partakers of Christ. There is no salvation outside of Christ. There is perfect security and peace with God IN CHRIST!

Those who superstitiously think that they are physically feasting on the body and blood of the Lord are missing the whole point, and badly! When we partaker of the bread and cup physically, this is a powerful symbol that, by our faith, we are partakers of Christ spiritually, and that, being joined to Christ, we are perfectly accepted by God. We are now IN CHRIST! A growing appreciation of our union with Christ is the most important thing that we can experience, for it is the most important truth for the Christian life.

6. Communion with Each Other! (I Corinthians 10.17)

In the First Century, the communion service naturally tended to lead to the love feast! In Paul’s teaching, the fellowship of Christians in a harmonious, happy brotherhood, is the necessary result of fellowship with Christ. We are partakers of Christ. And when we partake of the one bread that is broken in the communion service, and of the one cup that is divided in the communion service, we are signifying our being partakers of each other--of our fellowship with one another. Being in Christ brings us into peace with God. And into peace with each other!

As you eat the meal provided by the Lord, so also do others who have been saved by His grace. We have Christ as our Head. As He is our one Head, we all make up His one body! Therefore, let us live at peace with each other!

Participating in and meditating upon Baptism and Communion ceremonies are part of the list of things God has given us His People for our sanctification.

John 17.17. Sanctification through the Word, the Truth. Baptism and Communion set forth the Truth without words, in a pictorial fashion, to our senses. The things of Christ are presented to us therein.

By them, we are reminded and renewed, and our faith strengthened.

“If one regularly and properly observes the Lord’s Supper, it is impossible to remain backslidden.”

I Timothy 2.5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

When Paul wrote, and Timothy first read, verse five, they understood the word “Mediator” to have a very rich meaning. In light of God’s dealings with the nation Israel in the OT, and because the Lord Jesus, the God-Man, has now, in the fulness of times, in God the Father’s perfect time, come in the flesh, we must realize that what God taught His People then through the three offices of Prophet, Priest and King, have now been accomplished in the Person and Work of the Son of God, our dear Saviour Jesus Christ.

Prophets, Priests and Kings were each anointed with oil, signifying that their time of service had begun for the work God had given them to do. So the Lord Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit of God, so that He might do the work given to Him to do. At His baptism, when he came out of the water, the heavens were split, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. And the Father said from heaven, This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased. Isaiah had long before prophesied of Him, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. You see, the word Christ means “Anointed one”. The Spirit of God was upon the Lord Jesus without measure. And, filled with the Spirit of God, He came preaching the Gospel; through the eternal Spirit, He offered Himself without blemish or without spot unto God as a sacrifice for our sins; in the Person of the convicting, enlightening, regenerating, abiding Holy Spirit of God, He saves us, brings us to life in God, and rules our minds.

I. A Prophet of God was sent from God to speak His words to the People. This is a mediatorial role. If they were to know God’s Truth, they had to hear it from the Prophets. The Prophets, you know, often called for repentance. When the people sinned and broke God’s covenant, the prophets, in God’s Name, called them back to Him, saying “Thus saith the Lord.” Moses was a great man of God and a prophet to the people. Yet Moses said, “One day, God shall raise up from among your brethren, a Prophet like me. Him shall you hear.” Jesus, of Whom the Father said, “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased, hear ye him,” is none other that this great Prophet from God of whom Moses spoke. He came preaching the Gospel, teaching much truth (often through parables), calling for changed lives and righteousness far greater than possessed by the most outwardly religious people of His day, and telling people that they could come to Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life to find eternal life and to know Truth and to know the way back to God, and that they could exchange burdens with Him, to find rest for their souls. If you would know truth, you must get it from Jesus Christ, Who is the Truth. If you wish to walk on the Way to God, you must be IN Christ Jesus, Who IS the Way to God. If you would live forever, you can only have this life through the dear Son of God. See Jesus Christ for Who God says He is, and yourself for who God says you are. He is the eternal Son of God and only Savior of your soul. You are a sinner Who is in need of the righteousness of Jesus Christ if you would be right before God.

II. Throughout the Old Testament, Priests were anointed with oil and approved by God for a special task. It was their duty to stand as a mediator between God and the People, so that there would be a way for sinful men to approach God. Because our Holy God hates sin with a holy hatred, no corrupt, sinful man may enter into His Presence or into fellowship with Him. The People of Israel had many sins. They often violated the covenant God had made with them at Mt. Sinai. They often disobeyed His commandments. Not only was God’s heart grieved at this, God’s wrath was kindled against them. It was at such times that someone would be needed to stand in between sinful and rebellious men and the holy God whom they had offended. That Someone was God’s anointed priest. The priests were to pray on behalf of the people. When a man felt within his bosom the guilt of his sins, he was to bring a sacrificial animal to the priests. When, in the presence of the priest, and with his hands upon the head of the animal, he had confessed his sins, the priest would place the animal upon an altar. There he would slay the animal with a knife. He would capture its blood in a bowl and sprinkle the blood all about the altar. Then he pour the remainder of the blood out at the base of the altar. The laying on of hands on the head of the innocent animal signified the transfer of the man’s sin and guilt and shame before God to the sacrificial animal. The violent death and the blood-shedding symbolized the wrath of God against sinners for their sins. The death of the victim stood for wages of sin, DEATH, which was deserved by the man who had brought the sacrifice to the priest. As great and important as this work of the priest was, no priest in the OT, and no animal sacrifice in the OT, was able to actually take away a man’s sins. All these merely pointed forward in time, until God should send His Only Son to be the True Sacrifice for Sins. Jesus, because He is the infinite Son of God, could have suffered the infinite and holy wrath of God against our sins. Because He became the Perfect Man, He was qualified and He was able to suffer and die in our place, bearing our sin and guilt. Unlike the millions of animals that were repeatedly slain in Old Testament times, which could not actually bear away any man’s sin, and whose blood could not remove his guilt nor the wrath of God, the blood of Jesus Christ, which He shed in one act of sacrifice, is powerful to cleanse the heart, mind, and conscience of all who come to God through faith in Him. Jesus died in our place. His blood cleanses us completely. He bore and has removed our sins, and we have been credited with His righteousness, when we believed in Him. Praise God! Jesus rose from the dead! Because He lives, and is now exalted to the Father’s right hand, and sits on His throne of Grace, He is able to help us. We may pray to Him concerning our problems, and know that He cares. Did He not suffer and die for us? He shall not abandon us, nor refuse to listen to our heart’s cry now. He knows. He cares. You have a problem? He has been there, and knows all about it. He, better than even the priests of old, is able to put His blessing on you. You need Jesus Christ as your High Priest, to bring you back to God, and so that you may be acceptable in His sight even when you pray to Him in weakness. You may have, up until now, not realized that you were born in sin and under the wrath and curse of God. Flee to Jesus Christ for refuge and seek the mercy of God which Christ offers to you. Find there that He offers to you Himself! Perhaps you may have attempted to conceal from others or even from yourself that you are not right with God. Repent of this. Confess and agree with God that you need a Saviour, and that Jesus Christ is the Only Saviour Given. Come to Jesus Christ today.

III. Every little child who knows his Bible knows that the Old Testament is full of stories about prophets, priests, and . . . kings! God sent Prophets to the people to tell them His will. He gave Priests so that the people might have a way back to Him. He gave some men as His anointed kings to rule over the people. Solomon was the greatest of the Kings of Israel. He ruled over the greatest territory. He collected tribute from all the surrounding nations. His armies protected the people from their enemies. He was a very wise ruler and judge. His glory as a king was great. His wealth, his building projects, his fame, his knowledge, his abilities, all made him very great. So great, in fact, that the queen of Sheba came from a very great distance to see his kingdom and marveled greatly at it all. “The half had not been told me!” she said. Well, I am here to tell you that the kings of Israel in the Old Testament times were only a dim shadow of the glorious Son of God our King! A greater than Solomon is here! It is Jesus, Who came teaching that the Kingdom was at hand, and that He Himself was the King! When Jesus came, though, it is as though men did not receive Him as King, nor submit to Him as they should have. Jesus did a great act which secured subjects for Himself: He died on the cross. His foes, Judas, the traitor, and Satan himself, must have thought that conspiring to have our Saviour crucified was their victory and His defeat. But, in the plan of God, and through the power of the resurrection of His body from the tomb, Jesus got the victory He had come to gain. By the cross, He actually smashed sin’s power over us, and defeated the devil once and for all. By His resurrection, He secured the eternal life which we believers already enjoy now and will possess forever, and entered into His exaltation. In His victorious exaltation at the right Hand of God, Jesus is now on His throne of glory. It is from there that He has sent His Holy Spirit to convict (and so, subdue) our rebellious hearts, enlighten our minds, and cause us to see that we must bow the knee before the Son of God. He has translated us into His kingdom, and out of the kingdom of darkness we had been in all our lives. His love have now triumphed over us. As a good King should do, He protects us, defends us, defeats our every foe, including sin, fear, and DEATH. He rules our minds. He leads us (but not by visions). He commands us. He loves us. He is someday coming again. When he does, all the nations shall bow the knee and confess Him as Lord. But we are not waiting until He comes again to so bow and confess. Jesus Christ is our Lord now. Is He your Lord, today? Or are you still doing your own will, and what is right in your own eyes, without regard to what God says is right, and what is His will? God now commands all men everywhere to repent. God is calling on you to believe the Gospel, which is His message to you about His Son and His Salvation. Surrender to Jesus Christ now, before it is too late, and before you must face Him in judgment. Child of God, love Him and obey all His words. Be His disciple. May God bless you, through the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son.

Our salvation comes to us only through Christ and by God’s free grace, and only by faith.

Sinners deserve only judgment.
But through faith in Jesus Christ, sinners can be justified in the sight of God.

Every aspect of our salvation brings glory to God, by ascribing to Him and His grace all the doing of it.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that no one can ever make himself right with God by his own efforts.

Rather, anyone who is to be saved from his sins must be saved freely by the love, kindness and grace of God to us through His Son Who died on the cross for us while we were yet sinners.

Some of the many Scriptures making plain the freeness of salvation: Romans 1.16-17; II Corinthians 5.21; Galatians 2.16; Philippians 3.4-9; I Timothy 1.12-13; Ephesians 2.8-9.

What is Man’s condition? He is lost, dead in sins, spiritually blind and deserving of damnation. Can Man save himself? No, never! Who can save Man from his sinful condition? Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God can save! How is this possible? When a sinful man believes in Jesus Christ as his only Lord and Savior, his sins are removed from him forever, because Jesus Christ died on the cross for his sins. And God the Father judges that the righteous, holy life which Jesus lived now counts as righteousness on behalf of the believing sinner who has no righteousness of his own.

Let me tell you a story about a man named MARTIN LUTHER.

Martin Luther lived about 500 years ago in Germany. He was of the Roman Catholic Religion. As a Catholic, Martin was taught from a little child to believe in these false teachings:

The priests were said to have the power to turn the bread and wine of the communion into the very body and blood of Christ.
The priests supposedly had the power to forgive sins.
Baptism was thought to wash away sins.
Christians were taught to pray to Mary.
The Roman Pope claimed absolute authority.
If one becomes a monk or nun, one will be able make himself more holy before God.

All these things, and many others, made up the Roman Catholic false gospel, invented by men.

After centuries of gradual corruptions of the truth of God coming into being by the time of Luther, we must understand that he would believe a deadly mixture of truth and error. With these in his mind, Martin Luther became a Roman Catholic monk.

At some point in his early years as a monk, Martin had discovered a copy of the Bible. And in it, he read Romans 1.16-17, which the Holy Spirit began to use upon his mind and conscience. Over a period of years, the truth of the Gospel, as proclaimed by the Apostle Paul, gradually became clearer and clearer to him. “The just shall live by faith.” “The righteousness of Christ is credited to the account of everyone who believes.” “God is able to justify sinners.” “Sinners are justified as a free gift from God, by His grace.” “Christ died for sinners.” “Sinners can be justified through the blood of Christ, and saved from the wrath of God through Him.” These, and many other teachings in the Biblical writings, became very precious to Martin Luther.

Luther began to teach them to others.

Soon, through studying the Holy Scriptures of the Bible, Luther came to understand that many of the teachings of the Catholic Church were false teachings.

Luther rejected the Pope’s authority, the doctrine of the mass as a sacrifice, prayers for the dead, and the belief in the existence of a Purgatory to which Christians went when they died to suffer for their sins. He came to see that the entire priesthood of the Catholic Church was all wrong. He rejected the notion that Christians should pray to Mary or to any other of the saints, realizing that Jesus Christ is our only Mediator and Redeemer.

Luther and others soon came to the business of reforming the Church from the bottom up and from the top down. They became Protestants, instead of Catholics. Their fundamental principles were these: The Bible alone is our only authority. One can only be saved freely by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and not through good works of one’s own. Every believer in Jesus Christ is a priest unto God and needs no one else to bring him to God except Jesus Christ, our great high priest.

What do you suppose followed? The Pope excommunicated Luther and his friends for these things. But Luther had found the truth. To begin with, he had never intended to leave the Catholic Church. He had not wanted to leave it. But Martin Luther had found the Truth! And it had been right there in the very Bible which the Catholic Church had given to him to teach! Beginning with the simple truth of the freeness of salvation through the Perfect Person and Work of Jesus Christ, he had been led to all the rest. His conscience was now clean before God, washed in the blood of Jesus! Now, Martin could know for sure that he was right with God, by faith in God’s Son. Now he could love God! His attitude was this. Each person is responsible before God to believe the Truth. If believing the Truth and obeying it means suffering, then so be it. He said, “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

May I conclude by saying this to you? You, by your own efforts may try to live a good and clean life, hoping to be saved. But this is not the Way of Salvation. The True Way of Salvation is that God has mercifully provided a Perfect Way of Salvation through a Perfect Person, His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I urge you to accept Jesus Christ. Believe in Him. Love Him. And trust Him to save you. Just as He saved Luther almost 500 years ago, He saved me, almost 30 years ago. He freely offers to save you, if you will humbly believe in His Son Jesus Christ Who died on the cross for sinners.

On 20th June, 2006, the Deccan Chronicle reported that the Episcopal Denomination (the USA Church affiliated to the World-wide Anglican Communion) has elected a woman as its presiding bishop, making it the first church in the worldwide Anglican Communion to choose a woman as its leader.

Without commenting on the Episcopal form of church government nor on the particular woman chosen for this post, I should like to make a few Scriptural observations.

In I Timothy 1.1, Paul calls himself “an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the commandment of God our Saviour.” Paul, as an apostle, and as the writer of this letter, had authority from Christ, Himself, and therefore must be obeyed.

Now look with me, please, at I Timothy 2. This chapter may easily be divided into two parts. 1) Paul’s instructions for the behaviour of men in the church (vv 1-8), and 2) Paul’s instructions for the behaviour of women in the church (vv 9-15). He tells the men to pray in the public church gatherings. He commands the women to be silent in the church. Further, women must not teach men, and women must not and cannot take any leadership role in the church.

Next, in I Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul gives to Timothy some rules for selecting church leaders (overseers). Among a number of moral qualifications, Paul says, “an overseer must be. . . the husband of one wife (meaning, to have only one wife). No woman can be the husband of one wife. Therefore, no woman can be permitted to serve as a church leader!

If anyone thinks women should preach, teach or rule in the church. Let him listen to the Word of God! I Corinthians 14.34-36. Women are to keep silent in the churches.

Those who accept the rule of women in the church may sometimes offer arguments in favour of it.

They may say that the church must change with the changing times. They may say, “We live in the 21st Century, and the 21st Century demands full equality for women in every area of life.” The Feminist Movement, they reason, is lifting women up from social degradation and is opening up opportunities for women in many areas of life, including opportunities for leadership. Under this influence, many churches now have women in positions of leadership. But does this make it right in the sight of God? In Matthew 28.19, our Lord Jesus has taught us to obey His every commandment. Paul, one of Christ’s Apostles, has given Christ’s Word to us that women must not teach or have authority over men in the church. Is that not enough for us?

Note well that Christ appointed 12 Apostles, and that each of these 12 was male. Had Christ intended that women should serve as leaders in the Church, He could have made that very clear by appointing some women as Apostles, but He did not!

It is true that some women among God’s people in the Bible provided leadership, or preached. We may think of Deborah the Judge, Hulda the prophetess, and the four daughters of Philip who prophesied in the early church. It may be argued by some that these examples furnish grounds for us to have women as leaders and preachers in the church today as well. But these women in the Bible are exceptions to the general rule found in Scripture. These exceptions cannot be made to overturn the otherwise plain and clear teaching God the Holy Spirit has given us in the Bible that women are not to rule men over nor teach men in the church.

In Galatians 3.28, Paul writes that, in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Many who are influenced by the unscriptural Feminist Movement today would try to make this verse of Scripture mean that one may serve as a church leader or pastor whether one is a man or a woman. However, this misinterpretation takes Galatians 3.28 out of its context very badly! Just read the whole context, vv 23-29! Paul is not talking about the office of elder or pastor, nor is he even talking about church government at all! He is not talking about something only some Christians may experience (for only some Christians can ever experience being a church leader). No! He is talking about blessings common to ALL Christian believers! Things like Justification by Faith in Christ alone, and adoption into the family of God. Each of us, all of us, will receive the things promised to Abraham: Restoration to complete and happy life on Earth in the Day of Resurrection!

It is sad that so many Christians are so easily confused by some of these arguments, which, when carefully compared to the true meaning of Scripture, are found to be mere excuses for disobeying the Holy Scriptures!

Now, to sum up, there is an order to moral and doctrinal authority in the church. And this authority rests with the duly appointed MALE Church leaders. In the churches, let the men be men and let the women be women. Let us respect each other and care for each other as Christ would have us to do. And let us not feel any discontentment at all that the world’s way of thinking is not Christ’s way of thinking. Rather, let us take every thought captive to obedience to Christ. Let us have the mind of Christ. Let us have male leadership in the churches!