WWUTT 285 Q&A Hebrews, Pastors, and Women Holding Public Office?

Who wrote the book of Hebrews? Has the church replaced Israel? What is the

Eastern Orthodox Church? Is it biblically permissible for a woman to have a career or hold public office?

These questions and more when we understand the text. Many of the

Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty.

Visit our website at www .wutt .com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you, Becky. It is Friday, so we'll be reaching into the e -bag and taking questions from the listeners.

I have quite a few questions to get through today. You can submit yours to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

You can ask about anything. Ask about something that you heard on the broadcast. Ask about something that you saw in one of our what videos, which was how the whole

Q and A thing started. It was responding to questions from the what videos. Or you could ask any theology question that you've always wanted to ask and have answered.

I will tell you, though, that if the question is particularly personal, I have responded to an email before and have said, why don't you ask this of your pastor or your elders because they are your shepherds.

They're the overseers of your soul, and I want to give them the opportunity to know about this thing that is on your heart and be able to lead you and shepherd you in this.

But if it's, I mean, any general kind of theology question, more than likely I'll respond if I have not responded to you yet.

It could be because either I'm lazy or I clicked on your email and then forgot that I clicked on it and didn't respond.

Or I could have responded to it on the program and then just left that as a response instead of also responding to the email.

So anyway, I some of those emails do fall through the cracks. I don't get the chance to respond to every single one of them.

But this first one I did reply to by email, and I'm also responding to it on the program.

This is from Jeremiah. Hey, Pastor Gabe, I really enjoy your what videos. My favorite Bible teachers are

R .C. Sproul, James White, Mark Dever, Timothy Keller, John Piper, and my favorite is John MacArthur.

So of course, I really like your material as well. Well, thank you, Jeremiah. Those guys are head and shoulders above me, but I'm I'm certainly flattered.

I'm honored to include me with those guys. My question is, who do you think wrote the book of Hebrews?

What do you think are the best arguments out there? A .W. Pink makes a very strong internal argument for from the scripture in favor of Paul writing the book.

Well, I tend to be against the grain on this because most scholars that I have read argue for the

Apostle Paul being the author of Hebrews. I even attended a conference a couple of years ago where the speaker was talking about discipleship.

But somewhere in the program, he made an argument for Paul being the author of the book of Hebrews.

And he was a Greek scholar. I didn't go up to him afterward and try to say, well, here's the reason why

I think you're wrong. But but anyway, there are two reasons I don't believe Paul wrote it. First of all, there's no clear greeting in all of Paul's letters that we have.

There is a distinct introduction and conclusion. He identifies himself in every letter and there's no such identity in Hebrews.

This is an argument from silence, of course, but it's a very loud silence given the nature of the letter, who it's written to.

And yet Paul doesn't find it necessary to remind them that he's a former

Pharisee, a former teacher of the law. It doesn't make sense to me that he would be writing a letter primarily to the

Hebrews and yet not identify himself as a Pharisee, as a former

Pharisee himself. That's quite a claim of authority considering the things that he's talking about, how

Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets. Who would know better about those things than the

Apostle Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees, as he described himself to the Philippians? Why would he say that to the

Philippians and not to the Hebrews if he was the author of Hebrews? The second reason why

I believe Paul didn't write the book of Hebrews is really the stronger reason. Hebrews 2 .3

says of the gospel, it was first declared by the Lord and it was attested to us by those who heard.

Well, Paul didn't receive the gospel by those who heard. He received it from direct revelation from the

Lord himself. He says that in Galatians 1 .12, in his address to the Galatians, reminding them of his authority, he says it also in Ephesians 3 .3.

So again, it's that argument, Hebrews 2 .3, why I believe that Paul did not write the book of Hebrews.

So who did write it? Well, that's always going to be a mystery. I don't think we're going to know for sure.

But considering that there are some stylistic similarities to Paul's writings, I think we can formulate some theories.

It would have to be someone close to Paul. Also the mention of Timothy in chapter 13 suggests someone from Paul's group.

The most likely candidates are Apollos and Barnabas. Now despite the fact that Martin Luther argued for Apollos being the author,

I think Apollos can be ruled out in favor of Barnabas. Apollos was a Jew, but he was from Alexandria, Egypt.

He had a Greek name and his ministry outreach was primarily to the Greeks, particularly in Ephesus and Corinth.

Barnabas, however, was a Levite. He would have known the Levitical system well, which is a central theme in the book of Hebrews.

In Acts 11, we see Barnabas sent out from Jerusalem to find Paul and they served in ministry together. Barnabas was present at the

Jerusalem council in Acts 15. His acquaintance with both Hebrews and Paul runs much deeper than Apollos' relationship with the

Hebrews and Paul. So that would be my argument for Barnabas and why I don't believe Paul is the author of the book of Hebrews.

Thank you for your question, Jeremiah. This next one's from Jim in Cordova, South Carolina. Pastor Gabe just wanted to let you know that I very much enjoy your podcasts.

I find them very encouraging, inspiring, and informative. Keep up the good work. Well, thank you for that, Jim. In regards to various views on eschatology, it seems to me that a person's view of the rapture and millennium is determined by their view of Israel.

It seems to me that those who believe that God is through with the nation of Israel hold to the post -Trib rapture and are amillennialists, whereas those who believe that God intends to honor his promises to the nation of Israel believe that the 70th week of Daniel is

Israel -specific and is for the purpose of bringing about their redemption and restoration. I would be interested to know where you stand on Israel.

Has the church replaced them or do God's promises stand? It's really kind of interesting the way that you formulated that question.

Has the church replaced them or do God's promises stand? Well, the church has not replaced

Israel. The church is Israel. It's the continuation of Israel. There has always only been one people of God.

And the reason why God chose Israel was because through Israel, the

Messiah would come into the world. Jesus Christ is that promise, and he fulfilled all that Israel could not do.

Just as the Israelites were called out of Egypt, so Jesus was called out of Egypt, Matthew 2 .15.

Just as the Israelites passed through the Jordan River, so did Jesus, Matthew 3 .16. Just as the

Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years, Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days, Matthew 4 .1

and 2. But when Israel was tempted, they sinned and fell away from God.

Yet when Christ was tempted, he remained faithful and perfect. Jesus fulfilled all that Israel could not, and he became the faithful witness when

Israel was not faithful. That's why he's referred to as the faithful witness in Revelation 1 .5.

All who are in Christ are Israel. We've been grafted into the vine. It's the cultivated olive tree example that Paul gives in Romans chapter 11.

So Israel has not been replaced. Israel is the people of God who are in Christ.

Now the second part of your question was, has the church replaced Israel, or do God's promises stand?

Well, it's not like God's promises have been nullified. God fulfilled his promises to Israel, but furthermore,

God's promises to Israel also came with this caveat, you must remain faithful to me.

And if the Israelites would not, then as he says in the book of Deuteronomy, I will send you back on slave ships to Egypt, which

I promised you that I would not do. So the nation of Israel as it exists today has no special privilege or entitlement to the land that they occupy.

This is a concept referred to as Zionism. They do not deserve that land.

Now that's not to say that, well, let's just go to war with Israel and just wipe them out. Not what I'm arguing about.

We made a treaty with Israel and we should honor our partnership with Israel as the United States of America.

But there are doomsday sayers out there that will say that if we sever our ties with Israel, God will destroy us because we didn't defend

Israel. And that's not going to be the reason why. God's going to destroy us as a nation because we're an ungodly nation.

It has nothing to do with our relationship with Israel. And furthermore,

God's favor is not presently upon what we identify today as modern day

Israel. They are still an apostate people. They do not recognize Christ as the son of God.

And a very clear reading of Romans, you come away knowing that. It doesn't matter if you are

Jew or Gentile, everybody is condemned before God. This is the reason why

Paul says in Romans 3 23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It's after he's made the argument that both the

Jews and the Gentiles stand condemned and neither one receives special favor from God. The only way that we are saved is through Christ.

There are not two peoples of God. There's not Israel and the church. There's only one, only one people of God, and that's all who are in Christ Jesus.

And in the New Testament, the church is referred to as Israel. I've been teaching through a class in Galatians on Wednesday night.

We've got a group of teens that gather on Wednesdays and we've, we've been doing Galatians. So I just talked about this a couple of nights ago.

We were in Galatians 4 verses 25 and 26, where it says, now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia.

She corresponds to the present Jerusalem for she is in slavery with her children. So this is at the time that Paul was writing this, talking about how the temple system was still in place.

And those who were Pharisees and teachers of the law, they still believe that it was by their works that they gain meritorious favor with God.

Also, they believed it was by their bloodline because they were descendants of Abraham, that they somehow had this inherent favor with God.

But the reality was that they were in slavery because they were still enslaved to the law, believing that it was their keeping of the law that gained them salvation.

Paul goes on in verse 26 to say, but the Jerusalem above is free. So you see the contrast between that present day

Jerusalem is in slavery, but the Jerusalem above is free. And it's that Jerusalem that we're a part of just yesterday, finishing up the book of Ruth.

I was reading from a revelation chapter 21, where it talks about the bride of Christ, the new

Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. There's the reference there of the Jerusalem above.

And Paul also says in Galatians 6 .16, that we as the church are the

Israel of God. And I mentioned that a straight reading of Romans, we see that there is no favoritism shown to the

Jew, for we're all equally condemned before God. And both the Jew and the Gentile are saved only through Christ Jesus.

It says in Romans chapter nine, that not all who are descendant from Israel belong to Israel.

So we are part of a spiritual Israel, not an ethnic Israel. In Romans 6 .14,

it says you are no longer under the law, but under grace. Those who are still under the law are part of an earthly Jerusalem.

But those who are under grace are part of the heavenly Jerusalem. And that is everybody who is in Christ Jesus.

So then let me come back to the way you started your question, Jim, because you said in regards to various views on eschatology, it seems to me that a person's view of the rapture millennium is determined by their view of Israel.

I could say you could go either way with that. So you could say that a person's view of Israel is shaped by their eschatology, or you could say that a person's eschatology will shape their view of Israel.

You could go either way on that perspective. But you are correct in understanding that depending on your view of the millennium, it's premillennialism, historical premillennialism, amillennialism or postmillennialism, whichever one of those views of millennialism you hold, there will be a determination of what you believe about Israel, whether we're talking about an ethnic people group in an earthly Israel or we have an understanding of a heavenly

Israel. I will tell you that I do not believe in a rapture in the pop culture sense.

I don't believe that there's going to be this silent taking away of people and nobody's going to know what happened.

Whoa, what just happened? Everybody just disappeared. The Bible doesn't even talk about it. I'm not even sure that I believe in a seven year period of tribulation.

I believe that the rapture of the church and the return of Christ are the same event, and that event will be preceded by the revealing of the man of lawlessness and also the great apostasy, the great falling away.

So as Paul, of course, talked about with the Thessalonians, so that's my take.

That's my view on the end times. But as Paul also said with the Thessalonians, we are to encourage one another with these words.

I don't think that the various views on the end times should ever, ever be a cause for division in the church.

If there is a church out there that stands on our view of the rapture in the millennium is this, and you have to have this view in order to become a member.

I think that they are divisive, even if division has not occurred in their church over that subject matter, because they are automatically excluding certain believers from becoming a member of that church simply because they don't hold a certain view of the rapture in the tribulation.

That is wrong. That is not the way we're supposed to understand those things, going to our charts and throwing up dates and timelines and all this other kinds of thing.

We are supposed to be encouraging one another with the hope of knowing that Christ is going to return as he promised that he will, that he will put all things under his feet, that he will make all things new and is making all things new according to what we read in Revelation 21.

So let us rejoice in this and encourage one another with it. We can challenge one another back to the scriptures on our various views so long as it does not develop into a quarrel and then becomes division in the church.

So, Jim, I love you, and I hope that as you sign your letter, Love in Christ, I hope you hear me signing my answer the same way, and I sure appreciate your question.

I hope that that has not only provided for you my perspective on the end times, but is something that will challenge you in your study of that as well.

This next question comes from Marcos. He says, Pastor Gabe, thank you for everything you do in the videos that you put out faithfully and the podcast, which

I just found. Here's my question. My wife out of habit calls other people pastor who are not our pastor.

She was wondering if this was appropriate to be doing since these people have no leadership over us.

Should she continue doing that or should she just refer to them as brother? Marcos, I think it's a great question, but honestly, it's perfectly acceptable to be able to call another pastor by the title of pastor, even though he's not your pastor.

I go by Pastor Gabe on Twitter. It's Pastor underscore Gabe if you want to look me up, and that honestly,

I just kind of had to accept that title because that's what people called me. I remember when

I became a pastor at the church that I pastor and all the little kids are calling me Pastor Gabe. It was kind of strange to me at first because I never really thought of myself that way, but then realizing that that is my position in the church and that is my responsibility to be the shepherd and the overseer of those who are in my congregation.

That's what the word pastor means is it means shepherd. So I accepted the title and anybody is welcome to call me that like the earlier this week,

I went into the city building to pay our water bill, and when I walked in the office, they said, hey, Pastor Gabe, you know, so the ladies that work there, they're not part of my church, but they know me as a pastor in the community.

Perfectly fine as it is a title, just like you would call somebody a doctor, even though I didn't do near the school that a doctor does.

But anyway, or you would call somebody a judge. I have a friend in the community who is a judge, and every time I see him at the grocery store,

I say, hey, judge. So you can also refer to somebody as a pastor. The other pastors in the community that I'm friends with,

I call them pastor. So, you know, it used to be regular that you would refer to your local neighborhood pastors reverend.

That used to be the appropriate title that you would refer to your pastor as reverend. And my mom actually still signs my letters or she addresses my letters to Reverend Gabe.

She's the only one that calls me that, though. I don't ask anybody to call me that now. I'm OK with you referring to me as pastor so long as you understand that I'm not your pastor like I go by Pastor Gabe at the start of every program.

That's the way that Becky introduces me, but I'm not your pastor. I am fulfilling my responsibility, according to Titus one nine, to preach the sound words and rebuke those that contradict them.

But I'm not overseeing the care of your soul. I don't personally know you. I don't know what your family life is like.

I don't know how you live your life on a regular basis over the course of the week. These are things that your pastor needs to look out for.

If something happens to you and you need care and prayer, I can't come to your aid.

So you do need to be a part of a local congregation, a local church. See, this is

I did this yesterday, too. This was me attempting to combine two words, and I almost said congregation. Anyway, so you need to you need to have a local church that you are a part of and respect your elders and your overseers, as the

Bible instructs you to do in in First Peter, Chapter five, the Apostle Peter.

This is where we really understand the concept of a pastor being a shepherd. He says, I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you not for shameful gain, but eagerly not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders.

Clothe yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

And this concept of in verse five, you who are younger be subject to the elders. That's not talking about age.

It's talking about those who are less mature in their faith than the maturity a pastor has when he is called to the position of pastor or elder, you need to be subject to the position that they hold and honor their calling to be the shepherd and overseer, the caretaker of your soul.

Paul also gives these instructions in first Thessalonians five to be subject to the elders, those who have been called to oversee your care in the teaching and the administration of the word of God.

It is a privilege to be a pastor. I love my congregation. All the kids in the church call me Pastor Gabe.

That is the church that I pastor. But I don't pastor you through this program. You need to have a congregation that you are a part of and an elder or a pastor that you refer to as somebody who is caring specifically for you personally.

All right, this last question here. Okay, this is actually a series of questions.

This comes from Joel in Georgia, and he's got four questions. And I'm going to see if I can squeeze them all here into the last 10 minutes.

Hello, watch. There are a few questions that I have for you. Please choose which ones you want to feature on the podcast.

Okay, so I guess I have the option of which ones I want to answer. I'll still try to get to all of them. And if you have the time, reply to this email.

I'll see if I can do that, Joel. Question number one. There's a popular Orthodox channel called

Be the Bee. This channel has a video that describes their namesake as taking the good from what is in the world.

The quote Be the Bee came from the era of St. Basil the Great on Christians reading pagan literature.

Does this metaphor have any validity? Could a young Christian be the bee when reading secular books such as Harry Potter or the

Odyssey? I had the chance to watch this video and kind of get acquainted with the

YouTube channel. I'm going to go ahead and play a clip so you get a better understanding of what's being talked about here.

This is how they describe being the bee. Bees are really amazing creatures.

They live together in complex societies and play a very important role in nature, pollinating flowers and making a lot of the food we eat possible.

And Be the Bee is an awesome metaphor that goes back at least to St. Basil the Great, who used it to answer a difficult question people had.

People wondered whether it was okay for Christians to read books by non -Christians. There was a fear that reading books by pagans like Homer's Iliad or Plato's Republic would compromise one's

Christianity and lead one astray. That's where St. Basil jumped in with Be the Bee. In his address to young men on the right use of Greek literature,

St. Basil suggested that we approach non -Christian works, like bees, approach flowers. Just like bees only take the good nectar from flowers, we should only take the good from whatever situation in which we find ourselves and leave the rest behind.

St. John Chrysostom took things a step further when he explained the reason bees work so hard to collect the good nectar.

The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others.

Okay, anyway, that gives you kind of an idea of what Be the Bee means. It's another way of saying, here's another way that I've heard this, eat the meat and throw away the bone.

So in whatever we are digesting and whatever it is that we read, we can absorb the good things and throw away the bad things.

So Be the Bee is just basically that same kind of concept. My concern about this is that a channel that runs this as its gimmick is making an excuse for why we can talk about secular things instead of looking at all the things in the world through the scriptures, which is the way that we should approach them.

And I think that R .C. Sproul, Jr. does this great. He's got a podcast called Jesus Changes Everything.

And in a recent edition of that podcast, he even read from Plato's Republic. But Sproul was sure to point out that Plato was a lost man, according to this in Romans chapter one.

Yet there were still some things that Plato said there in the Republic that were helpful for the way that we understand the world.

So that was R .C. Sproul, Jr., being able to look at something secular through a lens of the scripture.

I don't think that Be the Bee is approaching it that way. I don't think that that's really the purpose of their channel.

And I won't go into deeper reasons why. Let me just hit it from this point. Be the

Bee is a channel that should be avoided. Why? Because it comes from the Greek Orthodox Church.

And I think, Joel, that you already kind of touched on that when you presented the question when you because you said there's a popular

Orthodox channel. So you understand that this is from the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church is also called the

Eastern Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church. They are a false teaching church. They are as bad as the

Roman Catholic Church. It's not exactly Roman Catholicism, but pretty much like they still practice transubstantiation, which is the idea that in partaking in communion, the bread literally becomes the body of Christ and the cup literally becomes the blood of Christ.

And the whole purpose behind this is that Christ is being re -sacrificed. Well, that's a false teaching because that goes against what's said in Hebrews 7 and Hebrews 10.

And Peter says, First Peter 318, that Christ died once for sins. He's not being re -sacrificed.

So on that point alone, this is a false teaching church. They also believe in the veneration of the saints.

Now, that's different than the Roman Catholic Church that worships and praise to the saints. But the

Eastern Orthodox Church will still go up to like pictures of saints or or sculptures of saints and kiss them and think that they're paying homage to the saints somehow, which that does nothing.

I mean, the saints are not up in heaven looking down at that going, oh, thank you for kissing that idol of me.

So they also believe that salvation is a combination of faith and works.

And along with those works comes the observance of holy days, certain rituals and traditions. It's very rigid.

They believe that the scripture includes the apocryphal books, and they also have what's called the holy tradition of the

Orthodox Church. And the Eastern Orthodox Church does not believe in an eternal hell.

They believe that people can be prayed out of judgment, which goes against Hebrews 9 27, which says that it is appointed for a man wants to die.

And after that comes judgment. So there's a lot of things wrong with Eastern Orthodoxy.

And it's because this channel comes from the Orthodox Church that they should be completely avoided.

The Orthodox Church claims to be the only right way. That's why they call themselves the

Orthodox Church. We are the right teaching. We have it. And nobody else does, which is very prideful, very boastful, and also very wrong when you consider their teaching and how it contradicts the scriptures.

OK, question number two from Joel. And I think I'm only going to have time to answer this one here. I'll get to your other ones when

I respond to your email. How set are gender roles for Christians in the modern era?

I know your viewpoint is that women can't be the leaders of churches with biblical evidence.

However, does the Bible limit women to the house and home and caring for children? Can women pursue a strong career in a leadership position in a large company or run for political office, for example, president of the

United States? And Joel mentions that Carly Fiorina was one of his top choices during the primaries.

OK, let's look at this question from the Proverbs 31 standpoint. So in Proverbs 31 verses 10 to the end of the chapter, that's where we kind of have that thing we refer to as the

Proverbs 31 woman. It begins an excellent wife who can find she is far more precious than jewels.

I have that wife, by the way, and then goes on to describe how her husband praises her and the work that she does in the home.

Here's here's the verses that I want to get to. So verse 15, she rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.

Verse 16, she considers a field and buys it with the fruit of her hands.

She plants a vineyard. So you have this woman doing business transactions here.

And I believe that not only can a woman have a career, but a woman who is a wife and a mother can also have a career outside the home.

She it also talks about verse 18. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.

So she has other projects that she does that she can profit from financially.

Verse 24, she makes linen garments and sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchant.

Verse 26, that was 24. Did I say that? Verse 26, she opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

So not only can she be a businesswoman, but she is also a teacher, though a woman cannot hold a position in the church as the pastor or an elder or a deacon.

We've talked about that in weeks past. That's out of First Timothy chapters two and three, though she cannot hold a position as a pastor in a church.

I do believe that she can be a businesswoman. She can have a career even outside the home. That is perfectly acceptable.

However, does this mean that she can run for public office? No, I do not believe that she should.

In Isaiah chapter three, when the people of Israel had rebelled against God, the Lord mourns over his people because, as it says in verse 12, infants are their oppressors and women rule over them.

Why does the Lord mourn over his people in this way? Because men are not doing what God had designated for the men to do.

This starts in the home. The man is the head of the household, just as Christ is the head of the church.

In Ephesians chapter five, and in no way has that ordination changed in 2000 years.

What is it that the head does for the body? It nourishes the body, provides for the body.

So the man is supposed to be the primary caregiver in the home, and he's also supposed to spiritually provide for his family, for his wife and for his children.

Now, as this is a picture of Christ and the church, so we also have this designation of authority in the church.

A man is supposed to fill the role of pastor, elder or overseer or the role of deacon, and women are not supposed to have authority over the men.

This is first Timothy chapter two and chapter three, where we read these instructions. And also you have the designation of discipleship that is given in Titus chapter two, the older men mentoring the younger men and the older women mentoring the younger women, the older women mentoring the younger women.

Did I say that right? But the men in particular hold the higher positions of authority in the church.

And so just as we have this model in the church, so this also should be the case in the secular government.

If the home and the church are operating properly, if everybody is filling the roles that God meant for them and designed for them to fill, then in our public offices that will be reflected as well.

But the reason why we have women in the position of representatives, senators, governors, the

Supreme Court, the reason why there is a woman right now that is a heartbeat away from the highest office in the land, president of the

United States, is because men are not leading in the home and men are not leading in the church.

And then we see that played out in the culture at large as well. We are a sinful people and God is turning this culture over to its sinful passions and desires.

Same sex marriage is the law of the land. No longer is it even necessary for a marriage to be comprised of a man and a woman the way that God designed it.

Men can become women. A man can go into a woman's bathroom legally.

You've got men impregnating women and not loving and cherishing them and caring for them.

And so those women, because they are not being cared for by their men, because men are not leading, they're going into abortion clinics and killing their children.

Blood is being spilled over the fact that men are not stepping up to be men. And it is because we have gone away from God's intention and his design and instead, as a culture, are chasing our sinful passions.

As a culture, we must turn from this sin and repent and be cleansed by Christ. But this is not just for a culture to do.

You as an individual must turn from your sin and believe in Christ Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins, so that through him we might have forgiveness and right standing with God.

Romans 6 .23 says, For the wages of sin is death. That's what we deserve for our treason against God.

But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Repent of your sins and believe in Christ and receive his life, eternal life, in our

Lord and Savior. It is on this truth that the church stands and he is our authority.

So we must submit to Christ and what he has commanded according to the word of God.

Thank you so much for your questions, Joel. I'll try to respond to the other couple by email. If you would like to submit a question, our email address is when we understand the text at gmail .com.

It is sure a blessing to have you with me, and thank you so much for tuning in to the broadcast.

We will resume our study of the book of James on Monday. God bless. This is

When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours.

But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family. Find a good, gospel -teaching,

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