Truth Magazine

By Larry Ray Hafley

“Mrs. (Gerald) Ford does not need our condemnation (for her widely publicized remarks about `affairs and abortion’); she needs our sympathy and our prayers in her behalf. We should pray that she would wake up to the need of sanctity of the home and proper example for our children. We should pray that she realize that sin is sin and needs to be forgiven” (John N. Ball, The Christian Standard, November 23, 1975; p. 8).

All of Mr. Ball’s statement is not quoted. He said many good things in his article. Indeed, there is nothing to disagree with except for one “small” factor that is a “large” part of the trouble with much preaching and teaching. Mr. Ball says Betty Ford “does not need our condemnation.” I beg to differ. She does need “our condemnation.” True, she needs sympathy and prayer. She needs love and understanding, but one cannot sympathize or pray or love or understand one out of darkness into light. This is done through doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. Mrs. Ford is a big girl. She lives in the major leagues. Her words and actions have immeasurable effects and incalculable consequences. When she openly and unashamedly accepts illicit sexual activity, she needs condemnation and plenty of it. She is to be condemned for what she will not condemn.

But Mr. Ball’s words represent the spirit of the age. All agree that love and prayer are necessary. One should approach those overtaken in a fault in the attitude of humility and brotherly love, “in the spirit of meekness” (Gal. 6:1). The idea of many is that one can be loved and prayed out of perdition, if not “out of purgatory. “Do not call names.” “Do not condemn:” “Do not adamantly oppose that which you know to ‘be evil.” “Pray for it.” “Love it, and maybe it will go away.’ Sorry, but that is not the way it works. That is just part of the cure. A person must be loved and tenderly taught, but this does not minimize nor negate the. need for some plain, old condemnation. Betty Ford needs it, and so does every preacher who thinks sin and error can be loved prayed and sympathized out of existence.

Truth Magazine XXI: 4, p. 61
January 27, 1977

By Robert Wayne La Coste

(Editor’s Note: Let us apologize to Brother LaCoste for not getting this in print earlier. The material is somewhat dated inasmuch as streaking has somewhat waned. However, what he has said regarding nakedness is as apropos for 1977 as it was when it was written.)

It’s unbelievable at the behavior of some men in this world. A few short years ago, anyone who ran naked on the streets would have been thrown into jail for what the, law used to term as “indecent exposure.” Now it has a new title called “streaking” and can even be seen on television if you are of a mind to stay up that late. It appears to me that many people have lost sight of all that is decent, modest and virtuous. Surely the Bible does not teach that parts of the human body are impure and unholy, but the Bible surely teaches us that the body is to be clothed modestly whenever displayed publicly!

“I desire therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing. In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety” (1 Tim. 2:8-9). Now how does this picture compare with this ungodly, reprobated vulgarity called “streaking?” It is obvious that God does not consider the human body beautiful when displayed in public in the nude. Dear reader, the time for nudeness is in marriage (Heb. 13:4). The time for nudeness is when one must care for the physical needs of the body, its health and hygiene. Paul also wrote, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). When one shows no concern for the will of God concerning the body, he sins! This Biblical evidence can not be denied.

Many people have told me, “Why, preacher, Adam and Eve were nude.” This is true (Gen. 2:25) However, after learning good from evil in partaking of the forbidden fruit, we read they were ashamed and “clothed themselves” (Gen. 3:7).When Moses saw many of Israel naked “unto their shame before their enemies, Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side” (Ex. 33:25). The point is: Public Nakedness and Shamefulness are related. God warned Israel, “Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea thy shame shall be seen” (Isa. 47:3).

You know dear reader, the Bible doesn’t tell us what kind of fruit was on the forbidden tree in the garden of Eden. Some have surmised that it was an apple, but the Bible just does not say. In away, perhaps it would be good if we knew. When Eve partook of it, she immediately realized she was naked and hid herself. If I thought for a moment that this would do any good, I would be for passing that fruit around again! But until people have respect for decency and morality, which the Bible affirms as being the will of God, they will continue to surprise us with their foolishness. We who love God’s word can do something about it! We can insist that stricter laws be passed forbidding these ungodly things. And most important, we can and should warn all about what God has said about the matter!

Truth Magazine XXI: 4, p. 61
January 27, 1977

By Irvin Himmel

Unlike other epistles which develop a central theme, the letter written by James covers a variety of subjects. The following statements bring the letter to a rather abrupt close:

“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from depth, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Truth Is The Standard of Right

The above quotation from Jas. 5:19, 20 acknowledges that truth is our standard. Notice four facts about this truth:

(1) Jesus is its author. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). What Moses taught was true, being from God, but Jesus is the source of the system of truth by which we receive the provisions of God’s grace.

(2) It frees and sanctifies. Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8: 32). Our Lord, the embodiment of divine truth, prayed on behalf of His followers in this manner: “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

(3) The apostles were guided into all of it. In John 16:12-14, Jesus promised the apostles that He would send the Holy Spirit, and He assured them that the Spirit would guide them “into all truth.” Peter afterward affirmed that he and the other apostles had been given “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). Since all truth was revealed through the apostles, that left nothing in the way of new truth to come later through Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Ellen G. White, or Charles T. Russell and his successors of Watch Tower fame.

(4) It imparts life. “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures” (Jas. 1:18).

We cannot go to the law of Moses to learn the truth of which Jesus is the author. Nor do we find that truth in human creeds, the decrees of Popes, the traditions of the fathers, or by doing whatever seems right in our own eyes.

It Is Possible To Err From The Truth

James was concerned about brethren who “err from the truth.” God does not hold men to the truth by some irresistible compulsion (Read 2 Pet. 1:10). In various ways people stray from the truth.

(1) By turning their ears from the truth. Paul warned that men would gather about them teachers who would scratch their itching ears, “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim. 4:3, 4).

(2) By failing to see the value of the truth. One may walk according to the truth for a time, then decide to leave the truth because he sees no real value in it. What we believe does make a difference. For example, one who believes there are apes in his family tree may begin acting like an ape.

(3) By deception. “But evil men and seducers shall Wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:13). Peter warned of men who wrest the scriptures, cautioning his readers not to be led away with the error of the wicked (2 Pet, 3:16,17).

(4) By neglect. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation . , .?” (Heb. 2:3). “Take heed, brethren,, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12).

(5) By falling into sin. Some men and women never renounce the gospel in theory, but in practice they abandon the truth. Many have fallen into sin and are now wallowing in it.

Sinners Need To Be Converted

There are two classes of sinners: aliens (people who have never entered into covenant relationship with God) and erring brethren. James was addressing brethren in our text. “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him . . . he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul . . . .”

The faithful have an obligation to the erring. Some who have erred will resent our admonitions, but others will profit by them. Our manner of approach is important (Gal. 6:1,2).

We often show eagerness to save our health, our reputation, our business, funds for old age, etc. Everyone’s first concern should be the saving of the soul. Jesus taught that the soul is more valuable than all the world (Matt. 16:26).

Death-eternal separation from God-is the penalty for sin. “For the wages of sin is death. . .” (Rom. 6:23). Some try to make sickness, or mental anguish, or possibly physical death the only punishment for sin. Others suppose that annihilation is the penalty. The Bible describes the punishment for sin as one’s being “cast into the lake of fire” which is “the second death” (Rev. 20:14, 15; 21:8). To save a soul from this terrible penalty is the great object of the statements of our text.

Truth Magazine XXI: 4, p. 60
January 27, 1977

By Ron Halbrook

Sing To God Only?

One more example of creating needless confusion will be given, though many could be found. Passages like Col. 3:16 are sometimes misconstrued by those who think they are “going all the way back to the Bible in its original meaning.” They tell us the passage does not really instruct us as it appears to in its present punctuation: “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs . . . . ” The passage really says, “Let the word’of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom (change “,” to a “,” and keep reading-RH) teaching and admonishing one another (insert ” ” or at least a “,” to show break in thought here-RH) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Thus the true meaning of the verse is that we should sing only songs of praise directly to God and not any songs which primarily teach and admonish one another.

Brethren have not picked this point up from being extra-ordinary Greek scholars, but from at least three possible sources. (1) The Authorized or King James Version was revised in 1881; separate English and American committees did their own work, then exchanged the results of each and conferred. When it was all said and done, the American committee still wanted a few more changes; “The New Revised Version” or the Revised Version carried the English committee’s preferences and listed the few remaining American suggestions in an appendix. Although one or two words of Colossians 3:16 were changed from the A. V. in the new R.V., no punctuation changes were made: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.” In the appendix of American suggestions, the semi-colon after “wisdom” is omitted and one is placed after “richly.”

An “American Revised Edition” was published in 1882 incorporating the preferences of “The American Committee of Revision” and putting the English preferences in an appendix; the semi-colon change mentioned above is thus made in the text-., But an additional change is made: a semi-colon is added after “one another,” seeming to separate the teaching and admonishing from the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It is difficult to know exactly why this punctuation is added; both the English and American committees used “what is sometimes called the heavier system of stopping” — “a larger use of colons and semicolons than is customary” for “convenience in reading aloud” (Preface to American Revised Edition). This was done “especially in the Epistles” such as Colossians.

Whatever the reason for that extra semi-colon, the American Revision Committee reviewed all the work that had been done to revise the K.J.V. and in 1901 issued the “American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible,” or the American Standard Version. It was acclaimed by competent scholars as the most accurate version ever given to the public. The Preface to this new work said that “the somewhat ponderous and peculiar system of punctuation of the original edition” was basically reproduced but with a renewed effort at improvement. In Col. 3:16, they returned to the punctuation of the K.J.V. and of the R.V. (1881), as being the best. The New American Standard Bible was issued in 1970 and retains this punctuation. Still, someone picking up a copy of the American Revised Edition might think he had discovered a more accurate punctuation of Colossians 3:16. Such a brother needs to be informed that when the American Revision Committee did its final and best work, it settled with the “traditional” punctuation and threw the altered one out.

(2) Another source for the idea could be some modern speech translations. The ones which translate Col. 3:16 so as to apparently make all singing .”to the Lord” and none to “one another” are not noted for accuracy. The New English Bible says, “Sing thankfully in your hearts to God, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” William F. Beck’s New Testament in the Language of Today translates, “With thankful hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.” Good News for Modern Man likewise separates all the teaching of “each other” from the singing, and apparently makes all singing directed to God only; the whole verse reads, “Christ’s message, in all its richness, must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct each other with all wisdom. Sing psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God, with thanksgiving in your hearts.”

It is doubtful these translators were trying to make the point some brethren try to make, i.e. that no songs of teaching and admonition to one another should be sung. The New English Bible says on Eph. 5:19, “speak to one another in psalm’s, hymns, and songs; sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord . . . ” Beck also says, “speak psalms, hymns, and songs to one antoher,” and Good News For Modern Man says, “Speak to one another in the words of psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing hymns and psalms to the Lord . . . ‘ Likewise, the American Revised Edition referred to above translates Eph. 5:19 to show that both teaching and admonishing one another as well as praising God are appropriate in songs.

We should also notice that many of the thoughts in Ephesians and Colossians are parallel, even identical. This is certainly the case regarding 5:19 and 3:16. Compare “speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” with “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” Compare “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” with “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

The Bible teaches that our singing has a two-fold purpose: teaching one another and praising God. Generally, songs which do one, also do the other to some extent; but they may stress either one and be entirely scriptural. In any case, we are to sing “psalms,” and the ones provided in the Bible sometimes stress teaching and sometimes praising. So even if the phrase “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace . . . to the Lord” were separated from the “teaching and admonishing” in Col. 3, the verse still would not exclude songs which primarily teach and admonish. To the contrary, we are commanded to sing such!

(3) Many brethren have Adam Clarke’s fine commentaries in their homes, which is a very likely source of the idea being discussed. Clarke gives his translation of the verse with a comment following: `Let the doctrine of Christ dwell richly among you; teaching and admonishing each other in all wisdom; singing with grace in your hearts unto the Lord, in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. This arrangement the original will not only bear, but it absolutely requires it, and is not sense without it.” That was his opinion on the word order for that verse, but it is not clear that he meant to make the point brethren make. Again, on Eph. 5:19 he says, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms, ” and comments on songs, “to magnify God and edify men.”

But his comment on the word order in Colossians is in error. Not the least evidence of his claim can be found by searching the Greek scholars: M. R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, pp. 915-916; H. Alford, The Greek Testament, Vol. III, pp. 237-238; Kenneth S. Wuest, Eph. & Col. in the Greek New Testament, pp. 226-228; R. C. H. Lenski, St. Paul’s Epistles, pp. 177-178; A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. IV, p. 505, and his Paul and the Intellectuals: The Epistle to the Colossians; and several other Greek scholars. The main point they discuss is whether “in all wisdom” should be connected with “dwell in you richly” or with “teaching and admonishing.” Every one of them agrees that “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” is a connected phrase.

The actual order of the Greek words can be seen from an interlinear: “The word of Christ let (in) dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing yourselves, in psalms, hymns, (and) spiritual songs in (or, with) the grace singing in the hearts of you to God.” The leading thought is: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. This clause is modified by two participial phrases, each of which is apparently introduced by a prepositional phrase: (1) in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, (2) in (or, with) the grace singing in your hearts to God. As the word of Christ indwells us, we will both teach and admonish one another in songs and we will praise God in songs. David Lipscomb puts it well, “What is sung must be the outgrowth of the rich indwelling of the word of Christ in the heart. The purpose is to praise God and teach the word of Christ” (Eph., Phil., Col., p. 299).

In teaching Greek, Brother E. V. Srygley impresses his students with a very important maxim: A little knowledge of Greek can be a dangerous thing! Most brethren who “know a little Greek” know a very little (including your’s truly). It has been often observed that there is not a single truth necessary for our salvation which cannot be found and understood in the English Bible. Helpful insights may be gained from the Greek-nearly always confirming and illuminating what the English already says-but a man does not have to know Greek to get to heaven. The claim has been made that the view of Col. 3:16 exposed above is required by the Greek; that is not so. Let us be reminded: We should not get brethren all confused and upset over matters about which we know very little to begin with and which are not necessary to our souls’ salvation.

Conclusion

Brethren, let us be cautious lest we cause needless confusion. Rather than pressing our personal preferences and opinions so as to create chaos, let us keep them to ourselves. After a “love affair” with some such idea, we may “cool off” and “straighten out” ourselves. In the meantime, what about those brethren we have needlessly confused? Instability may plague them the rest of their lives or they may be driven entirely away from the Lord by the confusion. Young people may be sent off on tangents from which they will never return. “Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!” (Matt. 18:7). In trying to appear “independent,” we can become dangerously eccentric.

Truth Magazine XXI: 4, pp. 58-59
January 27, 1977