Tag: Salvation

Women Are Saved from Judgment through Childbirth? (17)

Posted on by Eusebio Tanicala

Question #17 – Does 1 Timothy 2:15 teach that Christian women are saved from judgment through giving birth to children?

Answer:  Please observe the different translations:

*King James Version:  “Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”

*New King James Version:  “but she shall be saved through her childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.”

*Revised Standard Version – “Yet woman will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.”

*English Standard Version – “Yet she will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”

*Hugo McCord’s New Testament Translation of the Everlasting Gospel – “However, she will be saved through child-bearing if they continue in faith and love and dedication with good sense.”

*New International Version – “But women will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.”

*Mabuting Balita para sa Ating Panahon – “Nguni’t maliligtas and babae dahil sa pagsisilang ng sanggol, kung may kababaang-loob siyang mamumuhay sa pananampalataya, pag-ibig at kabanalan.”

*Baro Naimbag a Damag Biblia – “Ngem maisalakanto ti babai babaen iti panaganakna, no la ket agtalinaed iti pammati ken ayat ken agbiag a manakem ken nasantoan.”

Questions that come out from this passage:

1.  Does giving birth to children have salvific merits that will result to eternal salvation of the soul?

2.  Are women being the off springs of Eve assured of safety from physical death in the process of giving birth to children due to the sin committed by Eve and the accompanying curse in Genesis 3:16, “To the woman He said: I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

3. Does the passage teach that Eve and all women suffer heavier penalty because it was Eve and not Adam who was deceived by the Devil? 

Explanation

     Women giving birth to children are not given salvation merits based on this passage.  I don’t think that the more children a woman brings into this world, the greater is her assurance of salvation. 

     In the context of  1 Tim. 2:1-15, male members of the assembly are the ones to lead in the corporate worship service.  Women should be silent. They were reminded of their limitations in the corporate assembly. Women are not allowed to rule over the male members. Not allowed to teach the male members while in the assembly meeting.  That’s why in the following chapter, male members are the ones chosen and ordained to become elders and deacons to feed the flock, to lead the family of God. 

     Women in this chapter are given special attention. There was the shortcoming of Eve: she was the one who was deceived by the Devil (v. 13) and fell into transgression. The singular pronoun “she” in v. 15 seems to refer to Eve who had the curse given in Genesis 3:16.  Eve survived the multiplied pain and sorrow of childbearing. In spite of the curse in Genesis 3:16, women in general (now there is a shift to the plural “they” in v. 15), have the assurance that the curse will not put all women under heavy burden with the prospect of physical death in the process of conceiving and delivering children into this world.  The curse pronounced in Genesis 3:16 should not create fear as long as the Christian women live in faith in Christ as the Savior, possess love, holiness and self-control. With faith, love, holiness and self-control, and modesty, women stand equally worthy, as the male members, in receiving the grace and loving kindness of God that would result to salvation.

Salvation by… and its iterations (13)

Posted on by Eusebio Tanicala

Question #13 – I used to read or hear that “salvation is by grace only”, others say we are “saved by grace through faith only”, and still others declare  “saved by grace only + faith only”, and then later it has become “saved by grace only + saved by faith only + saved by Jesus only”. What is the truth?  Why is it growing in number of items?  

Answer:  People keep on adding the plus sign (+)  because when they read the Bible, there are more items and persons listed relative to our salvation.  So that we will not commit what we call in logic, the “Fallacy of Partial View” we should get as many items and persons that are listed in the Bible. Are we saved by “Grace Alone + Saved by Faith Alone + Saved by Christ Alone”? 

     Do not stop on the third item.  There are other persons and items we read from the Bible connected with our individual salvation.  What prohibits us to add more if we find them in the word of God, the Bible?  

+1.   Saved by God says Titus 1:3, 4; Titus 2:10, “God our Savior.”

+2.  “Justified by His blood, we shall be saved”, Roma 5:9, 10.

+3.  “Saved by the gospel if we hold fast to it”, 1 Cor. 15:2.

+4.  “We shall be saved by His life”, Roma 5:10.

+5.  “Saved by calling on the name of the Lord”, Joel 2:32; Acts 2:22; 9:14.

+6.  “Saved by the implanted word”, James 1:21; Acts 11:14.

+7.  “Saved by the teachings of Christ and the apostles”, 1 Tim. 4:16.

+8.  “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved”, Mark 16:16

+9.  “Repent and be baptized and receive the remission of sins”, Acts 2:38. 

+10.  “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made to salvation”, Romans 10:9, 10. 

     There are other items found in the Bible. We shall in the following series submit other items. Below, we give a description of the word GRACE.

     Grace (Xaris in Greek)   “. . . but the N.T. writers use Xaris pre-eminently of that kindness by which God bestows favors even upon the ill-deserving, and grants to sinners the pardon of their offenses, and bids them accept of eternal salvation through Christ x x x is used of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increased them in Christian faith, knowledge, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, p. 666)

     God in His kindness and mercy provided the basis of salvation which is Christ becoming flesh who suffered and died for the sins of the whole world. Therefore, GRACE is wide and encompassing. In Christ, we have God’s love, Christ’s blood, Christ’s righteousness, Christ’s commands and instructions.  The remission of sins of the whole world is not automatically applied to every individual when Christ appeared. Grace is available but not automatically imputed on sinners. God bids individuals to know about God, and to know about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Knowledge of this death, burial and resurrection of Christ for mankind’s salvation should be known and appreciated by an individual. God bids us accept this arrangement of salvation by appropriating the merits of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Accept it by FAITH.  But biblical FAITH involves obedience says Luke 6:46-47, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like.” And Christ tells the story of the “Wise Builder Who Built upon the Rock Foundation.” The obedient disciple is expected to obey the instructions of the Savior. 

       Some Bible teachers and preachers define grace as free gift from God without any conditions and without any participation of individuals. That makes salvation attractive to many, but that is deception. It is not biblical.   This is our illustration: Recently, there was a FREE book offer on the internet. To receive the FREE book, one should submit his name and address. Is the submission of name and address considered earning the cost of the book?  No. But if one who is interested to have the free book does not submit his name, the free book will not arrive in his residence. So there is a condition to receive the free gift of a book. There are offers in bazaars and malls about FREE items like “BUY ONE AND TAKE ONE FREE” during a Sale Period.   Is the second item free or earned? It is still free but one should obey the condition of buying one item. Does a customer go to the bazaar or mall and argue with the manager that to consider the item to be FREE, that item should be delivered to his residence without any effort? If a company usually sells a car at three million pesos, but at the birthdate of the store franchise he advertises “Buy one and take one free” would you consider the second car free or earned?  The second car is free, but one should buy the first car. To the giver, it is considered free because the second car costs nothing to the buyer. Likewise, this is true with our salvation. God offers salvation as free. But there are conditions to be met by individuals like Mark 16:15-16: Preach the gospel which should be accepted by a listener, then believe by the listener, then is baptized and then expect salvation.

Is there blotting out of names from the Book of Life? (11)

Posted on by Eusebio Tanicala

Question #11 –  Is there blotting out of names from the Book of Life?  Some friends say that once a disciple’s name is enrolled in the Book of Life, his name would not be blotted out nor erased by God.  They want this view to support the theory of “once saved always saved.” Is this true? 

Answer:  Observe the verses that are submitted below.  It is clear that the names of the disobedient disciples could be blotted out or erased from the Book of Life. 

1.  The Hebrew people considered themselves special and holy people with a covenant with Yahweh God (Exodus 19:5-10).  During the time of prophet Hosea, several hundred years after Mt. Sinai, idolatrous Israel was rejected by Yahweh: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God” (Hosea 1:9).  There was a falling away.  The idolatry of the Israelites made Yahweh angry so He allowed Israel to be taken into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Thousands died in the land of captivity as a consequence of their disobedience.  Jeremiah 24:7 says, “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.”  After 70 years of Babylonian captivity, a new generation was given a new heart that yearned for Yahweh and a part of Israel returned to Jerusalem when Cyrus, king of Persia, became the ruler (Ezra 1:1). 

2.  The Hebrew family kept a genealogy table identifying their tribe and family tree. This gives the idea to the Hebrew mind that there is a Book of Life kept by God where the names of genuine family members are kept. 

3.  There was a group of people who counted themselves as Israelites but they could not produce any genealogical table as evidence of their claim so they were not accepted as genuine Israelites. (See Ezra 2:59, 62; Psalm 87:6; Ezekiel 13:9). 

4.  Moses and the Hebrew people were taught by revelation that Yahweh God kept a list of obedient people in the Book of Life.  The humble and obedient ones are listed in this Book of Life, but the disobedient ones are blotted out or removed from the list is clear from Exodus 32: 32-33, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book” (v. 33).  Psalm 69:28 says, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” In the New Testament, we have Rev. 3:5, “. . . I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life. . .” Please read also Philippians 4:3; Luke 10:20 and Hebrews 12:23.

        When does the blotting out or erasing of names happen?  Most likely it is done when a person becomes seared in his conscience when repentance is no longer possible when the Lord’s longsuffering comes to an end during the lifetime of an unbelieving person.  When a person commits the sin unto death where the prayer of saints is no longer effective. It is not at the time of Judgment that the blotting out happens because at the Judgment Day it will be a time of opening the Book of Life says Revelation 20:12. 

5.  Hebrews 3:12-19, the life and journey of Israel in the wilderness, is an illustration of the Christian life. In Exodus 19:5-10, all Israel consented to enter into a covenant with God that made the Israelites a people of God. On many occasions, in the span of 40 years, part of Israel rebelled or murmured against Yahweh with unbelieving hearts. That was a departure or separation from God (Heb. 3:12).  Among Christians, there is an exhortation to hold fast to the end of one’s faith in Christ (v. 14). How many among those who came out of Egypt with ages 20 years and above who succeeded in setting foot on Canaan? Many fell in the wilderness because they sinned or rebelled (v.17). The group of Moses and 70 Elders plus Eldad and Medad, (a total of 73 leaders), even with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, failed to maintain strong belief and obedience to Yahweh (Num. 11:16-30). Only two people among the 73 (Caleb and Joshua) maintained a good record and were able to cross the Jordan River unto the Land of Promise. This is a proof of the possibility and actuality of falling from God’s grace. 

6.  1 John 5:16-17 says, “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.”  The one committing a sin is a “brother.” God is long suffering waiting for a time for repentance.  But there is a cut-off date like in the time of Noah. For about 120 years, Noah constructed the Ark and at the same time preached to the people to repent. Then the rains came pouring down 40 days and 40 nights and drowned all except the 8 people in Noah’s family that entered the Ark.

        From the above presentation, it is clear that a disciple who is genuinely converted, if he is not careful could fall from grace and lose his being a child of God.  Let us watch and pray for inner strength.