Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, there seems to be people out here in our churches and schools bent on destroying what God has built? Is this not so? ANSWER:  Yes, you're right. There are people who are deep into carnality and fleshliness. They are not into heresy but simply carnality! Paul speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 11:19. "For there must be heresies among you, that they which are approved (who are tried) may be made manifest among you."    I have seen evil men in churches who are heretics. Not doctrinally so but in their actions, Hodge would say. Hodge points out that the word "heresy" here implies that they choose to destroy, say a church or a seminary. The word implies, he says, a "chosen way of life, a party of men who come together to destroy." Hodge goes on and writes: "By the prevalence of disorders and other evils in the church, God puts his people to the test. They are tried as gold in the furnace, and their genuineness is made to appear. It is a great consolation to know that dissension, whether in the church or in the state, are not fortuitous, but are ordered by the providence of God, and are designed, as storms, for the purpose of purification."    So be prepared for evil men in the church who will try to take over, to divide, and cause trouble. In God's mysterious providence they are sent by Him to make you stronger. There are no accidents with the Lord. All things have a reason for happening!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

THE GOSPEL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT!

What is the "gospel" as mentioned by Paul in Romans 1:1?     The word gospel in Greek is euagelion and it literally means "good news, message." Paul writes that "he is a servant of Christ, a called/apostle, set apart for the gospel of God." "Of God" can be in Greek grammar a Genitive ("about God") or an Ablative ("from God"). The answer may be found as to how the gospel is used in the OT, especially since most of the references are in the book of Isaiah. In the Hebrew text "gospel" is simply the word as a verb "basar" meaning message with the implication that it is a good message, good tidings, or good news.    The most important verses in the OT refer the "gospel" or the "good tidings" to the actual appearances or the coming of God Himself, and/or the coming of the Messiah. That is specifically what Paul is addressing when He says that he is a "called/apostle" "having been previously set aside (Perfect tense, "appointed") for this gospel that was promised before hand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures (v. 2).    What gospel is Paul referring to then? Isaiah says "Get yourself up on a high mountain (so that one can call throughout the valley), 'O Zion, bearer of good news, ... O Jerusalem, bearer of good news, ... say to the cities of Judah, 'HERE IS YOUR GOD!'" (Isa. 40:9). The good news in this verse is that GOD HAS ARRIVED in the person of the Son of God, or God the Son! The same idea is repeated in 41:27!    This thought is also brought out in 60:1-6 where Isaiah says "The Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light" (v. 3). "The wealth of the nations will come to you ... and will bear GOOD NEWS of the praises of the Lord" (60:5-6).    Isaiah 61 is a distinct chapter about the Messiah. Here it says that "the Spirit of the Lord God will be upon Me (the Messiah), because the Lord has anointed (Meshioch, "Messiah") Me 'to bring good news (the gospel) to the afflicted ... to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God" (61:1-2). When God the Son came He brought both blessing and judgment!    The Rabbis get the point. They write in the rabbinical commentary: "A Divine voice requests the prophets to announce from the mountain tops the advent of the Lord of hosts." THE LORD HAS ARRIVED!    The Rabbis come close to being very honest that Isaiah 52:7 is definitely messianic. The verse reads "Say to Zion: 'Your God reigns.'" "The Lord will comfort His people" (v. 9). Then comes that great passage in 52:14 where the Messiah is so beaten (before His crucifixion) that H is unrecognizable. "Many were appalled at You—so marred was His face unlike that of a man, and His form (His body) unlike that of the sons of men." On verse 7 the Rabbis comment: "God reigns! God has become King and has re-established His kingdom in Zion (Israel)."    The first part of verse 7 is so important! It reads: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger of 'GOOD NEWS (TIDINGS),' that announces peace, the harbinger of GOOD NEWS, that announces salvation."    The Rabbis add: "God's people are comforted, Jerusalem will be redeemed and the power and the salvation of the Lord are made known to the uttermost ends of the earth."    This is what Paul is addressing in Romans 1:1! – Dr. Mal Couch (August 2009)

YOU MAY BE EUTHANIZED!

This information comes to me from those who have been warned AT FIRST HAND!    The Veteran's Administration is now calling in families of Vets and warning them that prime care may be removed from vets in Veteran Homes as ordered by the government. The hospitals the government now controls will be the first to impose euthanizing patients, at least by means of withholding important care for their patients. It will only be a short step to imposing such an order on those who are receiving Medicare and Medicaid assistance.    This is no longer a theory. I happen to know of families personally who are being called in by the doctors and given a warning of what may soon happen to their loved ones. In one Vet hospital, in one such medical counseling session, the nurse stepped forward (who apparently is a Christian) and said "If I can help it, this will not happen on my watch! This goes against all of the oaths we have sworn to!" One doctor also spoke up, while talking to relatives and said, "But don't worry! This order will probably not go through from our present administration." I believe the doctor is overly optimistic! What is often so forcefully entertained will in time come to pass!    A few years back, I told my congregation that I did not expect to die a natural death; that I may be euthenized with the way things were going. While I am not a prophet, I seemed to have called this right!     For those of you who are younger, and with the way things are going, it is likely that you will indeed by taken out by the government.    It is also a fact that patients are being asked, "In your condition, and at your age, what value are you to the society?"    The final analysis is that the children are responsible as to what happens to their parents. Everyone reading this with parents still living need to take this warning to heart. In the New Testament, the insensitive Jews were withholding financial care from their parents by claiming Corban. This word means "a gift." The Jews would claim that their money was designated as a gift to the temple. They would tell their parents "Corban" and then refuse to help them in their old age. Christ brought an accusation against the Jews for withholding funds. He said, "A man says to his father or his mother, anything of mine you might have been helped by is Corban (that is to say, given to God), you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother" (Mark 7:11-12).    Please print this article out and pass it on to your family, friends, or to your church. And then write your congressman! You need to also ask who you voted for last fall. We are now moving into terrible times. While what is coming upon the church is not the tribulation, things are indeed moving in that direction. Christ warned that in the tribulation "lawlessness will increase, and most people's love will grow cold" (Matt. 24:12). – Dr. Mal Couch (August 2009)

New Audio File: Revelation

Please join Daniel E. Woodhead for the next installation of the book of Revelation.

This is the first of three lessons on the Rapture and resurrection of Church Age believers just before the events in the throne room of God preceding the Tribulation.

• Rapture, Resurrection and The Church Part I

THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS!

Everyone has heard by now of the tornado that went through Minneapolis August 9 while the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was meeting to vote on accepting homosexuals as priests in their church!    I've been asked, "Was this simply an accident or did God provide them with the tornado?"    There are no accidents in God's world. Please read your Bible. Those who have this question show that they do not read it! Job makes the sovereignty of God quite clear.    "God tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt, . … He restrains the waters, and they dry up; and He sends them out, and they inundate the earth" (12:14-15).    "God sees everything under the heavens. When He imparted the weight to the wind, and meted out the waters [in the heavens] by measure, when He set a limit for the rain, and a course for the thunderbolt.  … ."  (28:24-26).    God "draws up the drops of water, they distill rain from the mist, which the clouds pour down, they drip upon man abundantly. Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thundering of His pavilion? He spreads His lightning about Him, .…   He judges peoples; … He covers His hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark. … Under the whole heaven He lets [the lightning bolt] loose, and His lightning to the ends of the earth. … He thunders with His majestic voice; and He does not restrain the lightning when His voice is heard. … To the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong' " (36:27-37:6).     "He disperses the cloud of His lightning. And it changes direction, turning around by His guidance, that it may do whatever He commands it on the face of the inhabited earth. Whether for correction, or for His world's [needs], or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen'"(37:9-13).    Those of you who do not believe in God's sovereignty, read the above and weep! – Dr. Mal Couch (August 2009)

New Audio Files: Mark and Ephesians

Join Dr. Couch and the Clifton Bible Church for the books of Mark and Ephesians.

• Mark 1, Part Two
• Ephesians 1, Part Two

IN OUR MOST RECENT TIMES …

There is no question in my mind that God's purposes for Israel are still taking place in the march of history. God says in the Abrahamic covenant: "I will bless those who bless you (Abraham and his descendants), and the one who curses you I will curse" (Gen. 12:3).    I am convinced this is what brought on the Russian revolution. Czar Nicholas II hated the Jewish people. He vowed their destruction and approved of the destructive pogroms that wiped out hundreds of Jewish villages and slaughtered thousands of God's earthly people. Nicholas even laughed upon hearing of their slayings. The Russian revolution followed that brought about his death and the death of his immediate family.    The Russian people as a nation shared in his hatred. This is why twenty million Russians died in the revolution that took place through the 1920s.    About 20 million Germans also died because of that nation's hatred and the genocide that attempted to liquidate all of the Jews in Europe. As well, millions of Poles, who likewise detested the Jews, died during World War II.    Before that great war, Spain was brought to her knees in 1492 because of her pogroms against the Jews in the terrible Inquisition carried out by the Jesuits. Spain would never be the same as a great world power!    Either the Bible means what it says or it does not! God keeps perfect records, and He brings about the judgments that were prophesied, just as He determined. God added: "I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you [Israel]" (Jer. 30:11). Something for America to think about! – Dr. Mal Couch (August 2009)

New Audio Files: The Issue of Baptism and Repentance

Please join Dr. Couch and the Clifton Bible Church for the Monday Night Bible Study topic The Issue of Baptism and Repentance.

• Part One
• Part Two

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, I know you were a cameraman/reporter for Channel 8, and a stringer for ABC-TV, during the Kennedy shooting in Dallas. You mentioned about running past the police barricade on Stimmons trying to catch up with the motorcade after the President was shot. I had never seen the barricade mentioned but by a few other reporters. What a story you have to tell! ANSWER:  Yes, what a day! I was only one of four people who saw the rifle in the window just after Kennedy was shot. My testimony is in many books. I learned a lot about life and history while being a young reporter during the early 50s and late 60s. I had a lot of "adventures" that few people had. It all helped give me a "world history" understanding that painted a significant background for understanding the Bible.    Thanks for reminding me of this.    Dr. Mal Couch (August 2009)

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, I understand from 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 that the lost will believe a lie during the tribulation period. But then in Revelation 7, it speaks of the Gentiles coming to Christ during the tribulation period. Is there a contradiction? ANSWER:  No this is not a contradiction. It is a both/and not a neither/nor! Revelation 7 reads, "I saw a great multitude, … from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, … crying saying: 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb'" (vv. 9-10). Who are these folks? "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (v. 14).    Many multitudes during the tribulation will believe the lie of the anti-Christ who is driven by the lie of Satan (2 Thess. 2:9-12). They are deceived and "do not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved" (v. 10). Thus, God sends them a deluding ("leading astray") spirit so that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" (vv. 10-12).    Yet, thousands will believe the truth during the tribulation! Not all are deceived. Those who come to Christ during this terrible tribulation period will suffer, and die as martyrs. But many survive and enter the messianic kingdom when Christ comes.    Those who believe in Christ during the tribulation ("those who are beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus," Rev. 20:4), will "come to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years" (v. 5). They are the ones who are "Blessed and holy and who have a part in the first resurrection" (v. 6). This "first resurrection" is the resurrection that takes place as the kingdom period begins. These resurrected ones are the tribulation believers and martyrs. They "will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years" (v. 6b).    Who are "the rest of the dead" who do not come back to life until the thousand years are completed" (v. 5)? They are the unbelieving dead who are resurrected for the Great White Throne judgment. The lost are resurrected and "judged from the things which were written in the books (scrolls) according to their works" (v. 12). "The dead were judged every one of them according to their works" (v. 13). "They are thrown into the lake of fire, anyone whose name was not written in the book of life" (v. 15).    It is not difficult to get all of this straight, that is, if one studies by context and takes the Bible at face value. Don't dump all of the Bible verses into one big bucket and mix everything together. Keep things where they belong!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (August 2009)

Lutheran Church To Allow Gay Clergy, Couples

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America passed several resolutions Friday that recognize committed gay relationships and, for the first time, permit non-celibate homosexuals to be Lutheran clergy. The resolution on clergy, easily the most controversial, passed by 559 "yes" votes (55.3 percent) to 451 "no" votes (44.6 percent). It committed the ELCA to open its clergy ranks to people in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships." Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson asked for silence and prayer for several minutes after the historic vote. A klatch of female pastors, several of them lesbians, who were standing in the rear of the cavernous assembly hall at the Minneapolis Convention Center dissolved into tears. "I feel a tremendous amount of joy and a tremendous amount of pain," confessed the Rev. Jenny Mason, a St. Paul cleric who said she was ejected from the official list of ELCA "rostered" clergy in 2001 for having a same-sex lover. "This means our church can move forward and practice this welcome" toward gays. The Rev. Donna Simon, pastor of Abiding Peace Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Mo., echoed Ms. Mason's sentiment. "It was time our church was in front of our world and not behind it." But one of the top runners for vice president of the ELCA called the vote on gay clergy "appalling." "The assembly has voted to remove the ELCA from the universal Christian consensus on marriage and homosexual behavior," said Ryan Schwarz, a leader of the Lutheran Coalition for Reform. "The church should not be voting on whether or not to follow the teaching of the Bible." A prior vote, which allows congregations to "recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships," passed by 619 "yes" (60.6 percent) to 402 "no" votes (39.3 percent) Friday morning. Bishop H. Gerard Knoche, head of the 90,000-member Delaware-Maryland Synod, said he wept after the first resolution passed. "I was in despair over this; that the church has moved in this direction," he said. "I went into the worship session and cried. That helped. I am now trying to deal this reality before I retire. I'll do what I can to hold the church together." As they stood in long lines in front of the microphones during morning and afternoon sessions Friday, Lutherans passionately spoke, quoted Scripture and their founder Martin Luther, and prayed during one of the last days of their churchwide assembly. Many warned the 4.7-million-member denomination will continue to lose disenfranchised members. "What had been the teaching of my church has been reduced to personal opinion," said Catherine Ammlung, a member of the Delaware-Maryland Synod. "[She and others like her] find ourselves not in step any longer in the foundational premises of our church's teachings." Others, such as Allison Guttu of the Metropolitan New York Synod, said her congregation has grown with the involvement of gays. "Recognizing the gifts of gay and lesbian pastors would encourage more growth," she said. "This resolution is about allowing people to follow their conscience." Emily Eastwood, executive director of Lutherans Concerned, the denomination's gay caucus, said Friday night that she was "proud to be a Lutheran." "Supporters and advocates of full inclusion have longed for this day since the inception of the ELCA, and for many of us what seemed like a lifetime," she said. "The ELCA has always had gay ministers; now those and all ministers are free to claim who they are and to have the love and support of a lifelong partner, regardless of orientation or gender identity, which is all we ever asked." Each of the four resolutions before them concerned some aspect of welcoming homosexuals into all aspects of church life. The first resolution, which promised that Lutherans respect the "bound consciences" of those who disagree with them, easily passed by 771-230 Friday morning. A fourth resolution, which implements the other three, passed early Friday evening by a 667-307 vote. "The results will be immediate, deep and for many, profoundly negative," said Mr. Schwarz, a McLean, Va., layman who as of late Friday was a top candidate for vice president of the ELCA. "I believe the decisions we have taken are wrong." Matthew Riak, leader of the Sudanese Christ Lutheran Church in Wyoming, Mich., said the votes meant "that you do not need Africans in this church." Saying he represented 114 African immigrant congregations, "The African national congregations may leave this church," he added. "You care so much for your [gay] brothers and sisters and you forget us." His is not the only foreign group to protest the votes. In late July, Bishop Nicholas Tai of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong said the votes, if passed, would be "a source of profound embarrassment for the Lutheran Church in Asia." This article originally appeared in The Washington Times by Julia Duin on Saturday, August 22, 2009.

Ask Dr. Couch #127

Dr. Couch, there seems to be a lot of confusion on the qualifications for a pastor and deacon. There seems to be a lot of tradition involved in interpreting some of these issues. Do you have any suggestion?

ANSWER: Yes, my book Biblical Theology of the Church (Kregel) and my book Pastor's Manual for Doing Church, both deal with the qualifications and characteristics Paul wants in the elders and deacons. By the way, I prefer the term "characteristics" instead of qualifications. No one human being can come up to the qualifications the apostle lays down. I have never seen anyone in office who has done that.

The apostle Paul sets forth standards, but we know that he knows none will ever walk perfect. This is not to say we are sloppy with those standards. They stand as ideals for the church to consider strongly for leadership. You are right, by the way, in what you see in traditional interpretation on some of these matters. I have found it is almost impossible to get churches to move away from tradition to true biblical guidelines. They do not understand elder leadership (or they elect not to embrace it). They make the pastor a puppet of the board, or, he becomes the straw boss over the church and the board. Yet all of the biblical balance is in the Word of God, but it is just ignored!

Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #125

Dr. Couch, I have a lot of questions about the issue of the qualifications of both the elder and the deacon. Can you shed light?

ANSWER: Rather than use the word "qualifications" I prefer the word "characteristics." For some reason the word "qualifications" seems to imply absolute perfection for these two offices, and this is certainly not true. The apostle Paul often had to chide these men in their failures. I believe Paul is saying that his lists help in determining whether these are the characteristics that these men possess for their office.

While there have been several books written about the elder and deacon, none come up to the details I provide in my book A Biblical Theology of the Church (Kregel). There are a lot of misunderstandings about these issues regarding what the Bible actually says. I analyze the verses and open them up grammatically in order to really ascertain from the Greek grammar what is being said. I also give some very important quotes from the early church fathers as to what these verses mean.

Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #126

Dr. Couch, when there is a financial need for a brother in the church, should finances be given from the church funds, are with what the congregation gives by a special appeal? Or, is it appropriate to give funds from both sources?

ANSWER: The principles for giving are found in 2 Corinthians 8-9. In those chapters we find there was a collection put together to help the poor in Jerusalem. It appears that there were pledges made that were then pooled and collected from the Corinthian church, to be taken to Judea and to Jerusalem.

In my opinion, the source does not matter, nor does it matter how the funds are put together. The main point is the generosity of the fellow believers towards those in need. While some pastors may disagree, I see no problem in an open appeal for helping someone. Let me correct this a little. I don't mean "open" in the sense of mentioning names publicly. An open appeal can be done quietly by telephone to different members, asking them to contribute.

I have always had a policy in church to not pull too much from the church treasury that cannot be reasonably replaced. I think we forget that the Bible expects us to pray, and then respond with wisdom, about such issues that may seem tough. But in my opinion, this is not that big of an issue. Help the brother in the quickest and best way possible.

Thanks for asking!

Dr. Mal Couch

New Audio Files: Genesis, Mark, Ephesians and some topicals

• Genesis 10
• Genesis 11

• Mark-Introduction
• Mark 1

• Ephesians-Introduction
• Ephesians 1

• The Afterlife
• The Afterlife - Question and Answer

• What is Happening to our Nation? The answer!

THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILES (Yad Vishim)

When the Germans invaded Belgium, a group of 100 German Jewish children who had found refuge there, fled and found their way to France. There they were hidden in an abandoned Chateau de la Hille. Elsa and Alexander Frank, who were the caretakers of the children's home, arranged for them to be cared for. Hidden away in the mountain abandoned lodging, the children survived the war. The children colored pictures that showed their hideaway. In the drawings, they sketched German bombers flying overhead on their way to bombing cities on the West coast. – Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #124

Dr. Couch, most Bible teachers say that the church began at Pentecost, but in Ephesians 5:25 Paul writes "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it." Loved is in the past tense. If the church did not start until after Christ ascended, it seems that this must be talking about something else. What do you think?

ANSWER: Both the words "loved" and "gave" (Himself) are not in the past tense but in the aorist tense. While there are certain similarities in the two tenses (in some cases but not all), the point is simply that He "Did" these two things—He loved and He gave!

There is no conflict in the passage. Christ loved the church that would be forming by the work of the Holy Spirit shortly after His resurrection, more specifically after His ascension. The apostle Paul is simply applying the work of Christ to the soon-coming church. The church was not around until Pentecost.

Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

Canadian Health Officials: Our Universal Health Care Is Sick, Private Insurance Should Be Welcomed

Dr. Anne Doig, the incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association, said her country's health care system is "sick" and "imploding," the Canadian Press reported. "We know there must be change," Doig said in a recent interview. "We're all running flat out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands." Canada's universal health care system is not giving patients optimal care, Doig added. When her colleagues from across the country gather at the CMA conference in Saskatoon Sunday, they will discuss changes that need to be made, she said. "We all agree the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize," she said. Current president of the CMA, Dr. Robert Ouellet, will make a presentation at the conference about his findings when he toured Europe in January, and met with health groups in several countries. Ouellet has said that "competition should be welcomed, not feared," meaning private health insurance should have a role in the public health system. Doig said she isn't sure what kind of changes will be proposed when the conference wraps up, but she does know that changes have to come – and fast. She said she understands that universal health care, while good in some ways, has not always been helpful for sick people or their families. "(Canadians) have to understand that the system that we have right now — if it keeps on going without change — is not sustainable," Doig said. This news story originally appeared here on Fox News

WHEN A TEDDY BEAR SAVED THE CHILDREN

Jewish mother, Margaret Gruenbaum, had already lost her husband to a Nazi death camp. Now the order went out that she and her two children, Michael and Marietta, were doomed and scheduled to be deported, thus on their way to the death camp at Auschwitz. But Margaret persisted and convinced the Germans that her job of making teddy bears for German children for Christmas, was important and necessary for German Christmas-time family morale. The Germans were convinced and a telegram was sent taking her and her children off the death list. The celebration of the birth of Christ, and teddy bears, saved three Jews who survived the war! – Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #123

Dr. Couch, the Landmark Baptist churches believe there is no universal church; they believe in local assemblies only. Also, they say the church began directly with John the Baptist. How do they defend these positions?

ANSWER: They can’t! But they are so out of it in terms of interpretation that they don’t even know they are in the dark! The problem is they cannot read very well; too, they mix the dispensations all together, pulling some verses from here, and some from there, putting them all in one pot and stirring them up. John the Baptist came to herald the coming of Israel’s king and Messiah. This has nothing to do with the church age following Israel’s rejection of their king and the repudiation of the Davidic kingdom over which Christ is to reign.

Also, remember that such way out views show that those folks have an agenda. Always ask: what is your agenda? They have an ax to grind. They hold to something that is odd because they have certain legalistic fears. What do they do with 1 Cor. 1:2 where Paul says he is addressing the church in Corinth, "to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."

All believers are included together. All are joined "in Christ Jesus" and are all saints "by calling," and as well, they are joined together all "in every place" who call upon Him. How could that be any more clear? What would they do with 12:12-13 where Paul says by one Spirit "we were all baptized into one body"? Paul was not a part of the local Corinthian assembly. How could he say that all were placed into "one body"? Is this the local Corinthian church "body," or the entire body of believers who are now part of the spiritual body of Christ?

I know some of these folks and I brought up to them these issues. They just looked at me as if they had gone brain dead. They didn’t say a word, nor could they answer me. They just did a lot of blinking, and never came back. I discovered by this that they held to some wooden-headed positions and had never considered the other side. But worse, they did not want to consider what the biblical text was actually saying. They had no hermeneutical skills or clear thinking abilities.

These kinds of folks, unless they are open to the Bible, you have to leave alone and just keep on truckin! They will not listen. For them to change their mind on some of these issues is abhorrent and causes them great inner trauma. It is as if they are about to lose their salvation.

Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

A LETTER FROM A NATIONALLY KNOWN BIBLE TEACHER

"Thank you so much for the book sent to me: America, The Nations, And Israel. As soon as I got it I opened it and read all the way through to the end. Thank you so much for writing it. I am going to donate it to our library here at the University. This way many of our students will be able to read it and use it for their studies. Thanks again for the volume. Sincerely in Christ." ET    The book is going extremely well and we appreciate the comments of so many. Almost everyone who has written me or sent an email, tell us they could not put it down until they finished it. To order the hardback, 145 page book: Just $11 donation to Scofield Ministries, 120 CR 3222, Clifton, TX 76634. – Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #121

Dr. Couch, I agree that the pastor should be one among equals with the church elders, but would you explain the reasons that an elder and pastor are not different offices?

ANSWER: In the NT, and the NT alone, we find that there is a leadership group (plural) in the church that is given four titles. Or, to put it another way, they each are given four titles: pastor (shepherd), teacher, elder, overseer. Thus you have a board or group of men with each designated as: pastor/teacher/elder/overseer. This means we have four designations or four functions in the same person(s).

All of this is easy to prove from Scripture but the only problem is (1) people are not reading their Bibles, and (2) they are running on traditional denominational gas and not by what the Scriptures say.

For example, Paul summoned together the ELDERS (pl.) of Ephesus (Acts 20:17) and he called them also the OVERSEERS (pl.) (v. 28). (Overseer is "episcopos" and means "to over scope, overlook.) He then uses the verb SHEPHERD (to pastor) as what these men together are to do with the flock at Ephesus (v. 28). Paul uses the word PASTORS (shepherds) as a noun describing the church office only once (Eph. 4:11). There, he puts it this way: "PASTORS (AND, INDEED) TEACHERS." So PASTORS are to pastor by being TEACHERS!

Thus the four descriptions describing the same group of guys!

To further prove that the ELDERS and OVERSEERS are the same guys, all you have to do is notice that Paul describes their characteristics as church leaders in two lists, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and Titus 1:5-9. Same list, but he begins 1 Timothy 3:1 by calling them the OVERSEERS, yet in Titus 1:5 he calls them the ELDERS!

To really get it biblically settled you need my two books Biblical Theology of the Church and Pastors’ Manual for Doing Church. Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch

Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, have you heard of the gentleman in California who is predicting the coming of the End Times on October 31, 2010? ANSWER;  No, I have not, but I'm not interested! I've lived long enough to hear all kinds of things. I personally believe that we can say we are rapidly moving into the season of the rapture of the church and the beginning of the seven year tribulation period, but we must be careful to set dates because the Scriptures do not! I believe we are into what the Bible speaks about—the apostasy of the church. But how long this period will last before the saints are caught away, no one knows. I believe this apostasy because of the "departure" ("the standing away") we see clearly taking place all around us, both in the world and in our churches. These days fit that description perfectly. But even with this, I prefer to be cautious. I could be wrong!    However, several things make me sense that we are indeed into the apostasy. (1) The fact that the entire world is now so tied together. And: (2) What is happening in one place is happening everywhere! (3) Israel is back in the land! (4) And the idea of a one-world global government is part of the discussion among all the nations on the earth! (5) As well, the clear determination to drive the Jews into the sea. (6) The rampant explosion of immorality that is consuming all nations. This is exacerbated by worldwide communications, that whatever happens in one place, quickly spreads to another. Evil is being compounded and in no way is slowing down!    I will not write anymore on this because I have treated it many times in past articles. By the way, everyone should read 2 Chronicles 36:11-21. Does this not sound like what is happening in America today? (Share these verses at your church or with your Sunday school class!)    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #122

Dr. Couch, have you ever hear of the book Selling Jesus by Douglas Webster? What do you think of it?

ANSWER: The book was written in 1992 and in my opinion is still a classic as to what is happening in the evangelical church-world. (I have the book and often go back and read it again!) Webster was right on target as to how our pop Hollywood and Nashville culture would destroy our churches. Webster correctly wrote:

The church cannot afford to feed the insatiable appetite of culturally generated felt needs and remain faithful to its identity and mission. The temptation is strong for the church to prove its attractiveness in secularly defined, socially acceptable ways. But love demands a distinction between self-actualization [pure secular psychology] and Spirit-led confirmation. (p. 113)

If you are in a hot-rock church, get out! It is in no way biblically based. The purpose of church is to teach the Word of God so that men can grow in spiritual maturity. Now many, if not most, of our pastors no longer know how to exegete the Word of God. They do not see that as the purpose of their ministry. I talk by email or phone to an average of four pastors and laymen a week who see their church "going down" because of the doctrinal confusion in the congregation. I would love to see a Christian publishing house reprint this volume. It is needed!

Thanks for asking!

Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, what do you think of fasting today? ANSWER:  Fasting is not commanded by the Lord. And if one traces all the various references out, you find that this was mainly a Jewish practice, though we have several mentions of those in the church fasting.    On some of the references we have a manuscript and a textual Greek issue. For example, the NAS rightly translates 2 Corinthians 6:5 and 11:27 as "hunger" rather than fasting. Where it is mentioned in Acts 27:9 it is very Jewish, though the apostle Paul seems to have been honoring it while on his trip by sea to Rome. Ger makes the brief comment: On Paul's trip, the celebration of "Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement ("the Fast, ten nesteian) had already come and gone."    Most of the references of fasting are found in the very Jewish context of the Gospels. There are only a few references made concerning those in the church fasting, as I have already mentioned. We find the church leaders fasting in Acts 14:23 and also in 13:2-3. This will shock many reading this question, but Christ and the disciples did not practice fasting regularly, or at all. The disciples of John the Baptist asked Christ why His own disciples did not fast. He answered: "The attendants of the bridegroom (Christ) cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast" (Matt. 9:14-15). This may imply that the disciples would indeed fast after His ascension!    The Bible does not make fasting mandatory, and, we find that only the church leaders in some occasions actually fasted. I do not want to judge anyone about this issue. Fasting is up to the conscience of the believer. But it is my experience that those who fast often do it with a little bit of legalism or extra spiritual piety thrown into the mix. They almost brag about their fasting. Of course, they do not have to do this, and I would not want to say that all who feel they should fast from time to time, are doing so from a super spiritualized position.    The main issue is how one walks in fellowship with his Lord. We all should be aware that if necessary, we can take that extra time to be in communication with Him. Fasting originally began be the fact that one was so burdened and convicted about certain issues in their life, they could not eat! Their hunger had left them and they just wanted to spend time speaking with the Lord. In time, fasting became a "ceremony" or a practice that showed how burdened one was over a problem or issue.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #120

Dr. Couch, how do you take 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul speaks about “examining yourself” and the issue of eating and drinking judgment on oneself?

ANSWER: This is the section where Paul gives forth the guidelines on the Lord’s Supper. We all use Paul’s words, and this passage, as a reminder not to come to the communion table while walking about in sin. However, while there may be nothing wrong with that, the context of his statements really should be confined to the issue at hand. Many in the Corinthian congregation were coming to the table simply for a meal, and some were getting drunk. They were partaking in an “unworthy manner” (v. 27) and not remembering (v. 24) Christ’s sacrifice for their sins. I don’t see this same kind of behavior or problem in our churches today.

Two words are important in this section: “examine” yourselves (v. 28) and “judge” yourselves (v. 29) about the issue. Loss of salvation is not in the works here but God could take some of these believers home for so defiling the picture set forth in the communion table of why Christ died on the cross—to save us from our sins. Therefore the apostle writes: “Many are weak (sick, asthenia), some are sick (better, arrostos, physically weak), and a number die, i.e. fall asleep.”

We forget that the early church believers were coming out of raw paganism and many did not fully appreciate the great spiritual happening that took place with their salvation. They were arrogant, fool-hearty, still very immoral. While this entire passage and its lesson is sobering, we do not have going on today in our churches what was happening in those days. The word “examine” is in the Greek dokimazo and it is in the present tense. Paul is saying “be constantly examining or judging” what you are doing about this matter!

God is using Paul’s words here to reign in the churches who were still moving forward in understanding Christianity and what it was all about to live out one’s faith in a very personal way.

Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

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Dr. Couch, what do you think of the Babylonian ziggurats? ANSWER: It is possible that one presently in Babylon could be the one mentioned in Genesis, or, it could certainly be one like that in Genesis. I believe also that the pyramids of Egypt, and of Central and South America, are patterned after the ones in Babylon.    Remember, the Bible is not giving us mythology but factual history that we can rely on. Unger writes in his book "Archeology and the Old Testament: "The Genesis account neither misrepresents the attitude of the tower-builders nor misunderstands the name of the tower. The temple-tower or "high place" called "the hill of heaven" or "the mountain of God," on whose topmost stage the shrine and the image of the city's patron deity was worshipped. The tower shows man's revolt against God and his determination to promote and glorify himself. All history goes back to what the Bible says of the scattering found in Genesis 10, the Table of Nations!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #119

Dr. Couch, did Adolf Hitler have plans to take the Holy Land during World War II? I know you are somewhat of an expert on that period of history. What do you think?

ANSWER: Yes, the Germans would have taken the Holy Land and came very close to accomplishing that goal. The great German general, Erwin Rommel (known as the Desert Fox) was moving across North Africa with such an invasion in mind. His army made up of Germans and Italians moved east from Tripoli in order to take Alexandria, Egypt from the British. From there, Rommel planned to sweep northward and take the Suez Canal, and then march into the Holy Land, which was under the protection of England.

Meanwhile, from the north, German troops along with some Russian Ukrainian defecting divisions, were to move south from the Caucasus and take Palestine. The Germans were planning a pincer movement—divisions moving from the north and the south against the tiny land of Israel! This would give the Germans and the Italians complete control of the Mediterranean area which would soon strangle the Allied war efforts!

The Germans would then “liberate” the Arabs from the “tyranny” of the English who were drawing their oil from the Middle East for the war effort. Most of the Arab nations had pro-German sympathies. In fact the Arab religious leader, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, went to Berlin and met with Hitler concerning this plan.

In order to prevent all of this from happening, many Jewish young men joined up with the British and formed a “Jewish” Brigade to battle the Germans, with the promise that England would accelerate their plans to give them a Jewish State after the war. Unfortunately, only a few Englishman understood all of the prophetic implications of all of this. Winston Churchill had a small inkling, and so did the great British General Ord Wingate. Wingate was an Evangelical, prophecy believing premillennialist. He used to be a replacement guy, an allegorist and an amillennialist, who thought God was finished with the Jews! He saw the light by reading the Bible with its normal, literal interpretation. He became what I now am, a Zionist Goy (a Gentile who loves Israel, because God does)!

By God’s providence, Rommel was stopped before reaching Alexandria. He was somewhat of a “good guy” as the German generals went. Often in his letters to his wife he wrote about God’s (Gott) protection. And he was appalled to hear of the mistreatment of the Jews in the concentration camps. It was said of Rommel’s troops that no anti-Semitic statement was ever heard from the mouth of his soldiers.

Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

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Dr. Couch, from the Table of Nations in Genesis 10, where do we put the American Indians, and the people of India and China? ANSWER:  This is a tough question, though almost all scholars, even in the secular world, believe that the Table of Nations is showing us that all peoples come from the three sons of Noah, Ham, Shem, and Japheth. Yet the closest references in the verses have to do with the races that are surrounding the Jewish people, at least to some degree. But even that has to be explained because there are connections within the list of peoples that would cover the tribal nations of Western Europe, Russia, Africa, the Greeks, and the Italians. Unger says the Table is a "remarkable geographic-ethnographic survey of the ancient biblical world that figures in redemptive history and has been remarkably illuminated by modern archaeological research."    Without being specific, Unger points out that "Christianity has had great outreach upon the Japhetic peoples of Europe and America."    One of the most valuable books in my personal library is a work entitled The Key written by John Philip Cohane (London: Turnstone Books, 1973). Prof. Cohane worked closely with the University of Pennsylvania. He spent his life working on place-names and proper names found worldwide. He constantly quoted Genesis 10 and the story of Abraham to show the continuity of all peoples around the globe. He wrote: "Starting with no preconceived theories or opinions, objectively sorting out and assembling date, I could not have been more astonished where the chain of facts led me." Thus     Within a relatively short time, it became apparent that, for better or worse, all of  [certain words] figure prominently in ancient Semitic legends … Most of them are to be found in the Old Testament, notably in Genesis. This is not to say there may not be a more logical, even earlier, point of origin than the Semitics, but if so I have not been able to find it. On the basis of the evidence it would seem that a high percentage of the people on earth today are more closely related than is generally assumed and that they are bound together by at least one early bloodstream that is Semitic in origin. (p. 19)    And: There is scarcely a prominent fact in the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis that cannot be duplicated from the legends of the American nations, and scarcely a custom known to the Jews that does not find its counterpart among the people of the New World. It is a very remarkable fact that we find in America, traditions of the Deluge coming nearer to that of the Bible and the Chaldean religion than among any people of the Old World. … Other native legends told of the Garden of Eden, of the expulsion of Adam and Eve, complete to the temptation of a serpent and the sharing of a forbidden fruit. The same familiar legend was also pictorialized in native art that predated the advent of the Spaniards [coming to the Americas]. (pp. 24-25)    I challenge any one reading this to make it a point to study this book and come up with a paper or a booklet that would shed a tremendous amount of light on Genesis 10. This work needs to be done!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #118

Dr. Couch, what do you think of the influence of Hal Lindsay’s best seller of the 1970s, The Late Great Planet Earth?

ANSWER: I am sure I think of his book what the Lord thinks! Since I believe in God’s sovereignty, the Lord works in all our works that are done for His name sake. While the book is certainly not perfect, neither is anything you or I will ever do! However the book was translated in about a dozen languages, and at the last count, sold over twenty million (or even more) copies. I believe it was Time magazine that called that publication during the social revolution of the 1970s: "the handbook of the Jesus people movement."

I think it would be safe to say that millions of young people came to Christ because of the book’s message, which was: the prophesied coming tribulation followed by the dramatic return of Christ the Savior to earth to reign and rule!

Hal did pull a faux pas (a blunder) in the book, however. He wrongly calculated in the Bible a "generation" as being forty years from Matthew 24:34. Lindsay calculated that the nation of Israel came into being in 1948, and therefore, forty years later (1988) the tribulation events would take place! This was a big goof! The Covenant guys, the allegorists and preterists, loved this and have gone about crucifying Lindsay ever since.

Matthew 24:34 is an easy passage to explain but that is not the purpose of this question.

Always thank God when the truth goes forth, especially when that truth holds fast to the integrity of the entire message of Scripture. Hal’s book does that, but again as I wrote, imperfectly so!

Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, we all get the sense that we're there! We are now deep into the apostasy. You mentioned the other day a great verse that speaks to such issues in regard to the failure of the nation of Israel. Could you please refer to that again? Yes, I was referring to 2 Chronicles 36:14-21. The passage tells us that the leadership of Israel, and the people, "were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem" (v. 14). God then "sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people … but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words ands scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy left" (vv. 15-16).    The Lord then sent judgment (by the Chaldeans) who slew the people and destroyed the temple (v. 17).    The Lord then "fulfilled [His word] by the mouth of Jeremiah …" (v. 21).    A Scofield Ministries website reader sent an excellent email that we can all believe, if we are truly alert as to what is happening in our world! I think America as we know it is gone for good. The Constitution is out the window and we have a congress that is totally captured by special interests. Voting no longer makes a difference because the only ones running are those who tow the line and are sponsored by big money. The economy is in dire straits and is not going to turn around anytime soon. The majority of manufacturing jobs are permanently gone. Debt is spiraling out of control. Government is going wild. It is only a matter of time before the dollar is devalued and we move toward a regional or global currency. The swine flu situation has many suspect and troubling aspects. Things seem to be getting set up for martial law. – A Reader    This is really about the apostasy. And it is not just what is happening in America. Things are crumbling worldwide, not simply here in our country. For example, in Australia things are also falling apart. One of the largest denominational groups – the Uniting Church Australia – is rapidly turning liberal. It will soon support gay ministers.    A concerned Christian in that country keeps me informed about what is happening. He says: "This group is turning toward apostasy, and buying into the Emerging Church idea. They don't care about how Scripture is interpreted. And they are destroying any thought of proclaiming sound doctrine."    "We will have to move from the Uniting Church Australia (UCA) quickly. The people in the church who wanted to learn true doctrine are now in harms way spiritually. The days are evil and we are in dangerous times. Apostasy is well within all the areas of the churches these days.  I don't know where to go from here. It's hard to trust any church around here anymore. May the Lord come soon!"    All that the Word of God has prophesied is coming about before our very eyes!    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #117

Dr. Couch, who or what are the creatures in Revelation 5:13? Are they angels, fallen angels, the unregenerate, or the saved? And, is the scene post-rapture?

ANSWER: This entire section (5:8-14) is post-rapture. Verses 8-10 contain the “prayers of the saints” who have been gathered into heaven from “every tribe, and tongue and people and nation” (v. 9). These gathered in heaven constitute “a” kingdom not the millennial kingdom that takes place on earth in the future. This “kingdom” mentioned here in verse 10 is clearly the church which, when on earth, functioned as a priesthood to the Lord (1:6).

In what dispensation were people so universally gathered from around the world as referred to in verses 8-10? This is clearly the dispensation of the church saints, and in this passage, they (the church) are now in heaven praising the Lord! The church is never again seen on earth in Revelation from chapter 6 on. Poor Reformed Covenant guys just cannot answer that!

In 5:11-12 there is the chorus of the angelic hosts praising God and honoring Christ who is the Lamb, who saved from all the nations the great company of human beings, the saints who are mentioned. This scene has certain finality to it. The church has been gathered and is now residing in heaven, “rescued” just before the tribulation begins on earth in chapter 6.

Now coming to verses 13-14 and the words “every created thing”: The Greek word ktisma is a singular neuter noun with the neuter relative pronoun “o” following. Since the church in heaven is mentioned in verses 8-10, and the angels are mentioned in verses 11-12, what is now happening in verses 13-14?

I believe verses 13-14 constitute hyperbole, a poetic expression, a metaphor, an anthropomorphism of nature, as if nature is alive and praising God just like people and angels! Some commentators disagree but the neuter stands out so strongly in the Greek text, this is what I come to.

I trust this helps, and, thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch

New Audio Files: Acts

Please join the Clifton Bible Church as Dr. Mal Couch continues the journey through the book of Acts.

• Acts 19:1-26
• Acts 19:27-20
• Acts 21-25
• Acts 26

Ask Dr. Couch #116

Dr. Couch, how were people saved pre-Abraham? He was saved by faith (Gen. 15:6) but nothing is said about those who came before.

ANSWER: You are absolutely correct. Nothing is given to us as to how specifically God saved the believing saints before Abraham. But it clearly seems certain they were saved by trusting whatever God put before them, in other words, not knowing all the plan of the Lord, they still trusted His revelations to them at that early moment in human history. Paul simply uses Abraham as the great example of faith, but also of justification by faith. Genesis 15:6 is so clear the apostle felt it really proved the point, especially to the Jews who were attempting to be justified by works.

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch

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Dr. Couch, what is meant by "the chosen angels" in 1 Timothy 5:21? ANSWER: The Greek word for chosen is "eklectos" and is two Greek words put together meaning: "The out called ones." In the NT it is used some 29 times, with 28 times referring to the election of the saved in Christ. God protected and preserved many of the angels and did not allow them to apostatize when Satan fell from the presence of God.    Many believe that when Isaiah said that Satan said in his heart that he wished to "raise his throne above 'the stars of God,'" (14:13) he was referring to the heavenly angelic host. Unger also writes: "The sinless angels of light, are His first creatures—including the greatest of them, who later became Satan—were also called 'morning stars' (Job 38:7), because they were resplendent, unfallen creatures of light."    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #115

Dr. Couch, is there any theological reason for the rejection of Limited Atonement among traditional dispensationalists?

ANSWER: Before answering I need to tell a true story. Some years ago I was in a Reformed pastor’s office. He said, "Yes, I have many dispensational friends. And you know, they are all textual." I answered back, "Well, isn’t that what being a pastor is all about? Going into the biblical text and sharing it with the congregation?" He went brain dead and didn’t say another word!

Since most solid, strong dispensational are "textual" they are better able to exegete the Scriptures, and guess what, Limited Atonement cannot be supported, no matter what Calvin said. In research I found most interesting that most of the old Calvinists I admire did not support the doctrine. They said what I say, "Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient for all the world, but applied only to the elect." The world could come to Christ, but Total Depravity kicks in. None will of themselves come to Him! Therefore He must elect those who will be His own from among "the all" who will not believe from within themselves.

Some years ago I had a friend who holds a Th.D. as I do, and who was toying with Limited Atonement. I said, "What do you do with 1 John 2:2?" "He Himself is a propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."

Seems pretty simple to me. In five minutes he had changed his mind. The Calvinist William Hendriksen, whom I admire, who writes, "Of all men God is the Savior, but of some men, namely, believers, he is the Savior in a deeper, more glorious sense than he is of others. This clearly implies that when he is called the Savior of all men, this cannot mean that he imparts to all everlasting life, as he does to believers." (His Thessalonian commentary, p. 154)

Calvinist Ellicott writes, "Christ’s redemption was offered for the whole of mankind, from Adam to the last man. Who lay hold of the redemption must be determined on other considerations [such as by the doctrine of election]." (Commentary, 8:476) And even Calvin in his commentary on 1 Timothy 2:1-6 said, "Paul demonstrates that God has at heart the salvation of all, because he invites all to the knowledge of the truth." (21:54)

The Calvinist Kistemaker writes, "We can say that the atoning death of Christ is sufficient for all people but efficient for all true believers." (2 Corinthians commentary, p. 288)

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, what do you think of inclusivism? ANSWER: This is the view that says all beliefs lead to salvation. And of course, this is certainly dead wrong, and it is anti-biblical! Christ made it clear when He said: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).    He also said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me" (14:6). Between each of the major nouns is the conjunction "and" which is separating "the way," "the truth," and "the life." This makes each independent and standing alone. Also, the article "the" is placed in front of each of the nouns. This makes these nouns absolutely definite! "I am THE way" and there is no other WAY!    It is impossible to squeeze any other person, system, or ism, up in front of Christ! He is the absolute. No other religious system will work!    The Lord also used the definite personal pronoun: "I" or the Greek word "ego." In other words: "I" and no other person is capable of offering this salvation! He also used the simple Greek verb "I am" in the present tense. Or, "I just exist presently as the One who is THE (Only) WAY!"    The last part of the verse also reads: "No one IS PRESENTLY COMING Toward the Father if not through (by means of) Me!"    The issue is settled!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #114

Dr. Couch, do the Scriptures teach that there can be "carnal" Christians? And, is it possible to be "carnally saved"?

ANSWER: The Bible clearly states that there are three categories of mankind. Paul refers to the (1) natural man (psukikos, soulish) who operates only from the center of himself, from the core of his soul and from nothing else (1 Cor. 2:14). Then there is the (2) spiritual man (pneumatikos, spiritual) who is born again and who has the work of the Holy Spirit as central in his life. He is filled (controlled) by the Spirit for daily living. He wants to operate by what the Spirit of God says, and not what his flesh dictates. Then there is (3) the fleshly, carnal man (sarkikos, carnal) who is the Christian who operates by putting his flesh front and center—by what he can see, touch, hear, say, and where he can go. He then grieves and smothers the work of God’s Spirit in his life.

I am not sure what you mean when you speak of being "carnally saved." I believe when one accepts Christ, and places all of his sins at the cross, that this is the lowest moment for any human being. He then is most "spiritual" and empty of himself. Unfortunately, many Christians then get up off of their knees and start walking carnal rather than relying on the Spirit of God, and Scripture, in guiding them.

Thanks for asking,
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, I'm sending you some info from a man I know what says that he jumped ship from dispensationalism to reformed thinking. What do you think of what he said? ANSWER:  I find it interesting that all he did in the letter was to say how impressed he was with the piety of many of the reformed scholars. He quotes man after man but what I noticed he does not deal with any of their exegesis issues. He could not do battle doctrinally or biblically.    It does not matter how impressed we are with personalities. What counts is, what does the Bible say? And I found that this is not where your friend is coming from. For some reason, many are "impressed" with the "classical" sound some of the reformed guys put forth. This means that those reading them are not dealing with issues of exegesis and hermeneutics. They are impressed with the packaging and not the substance!    I find also that the reformed guys are not reading us, yet I have all of their theology books just three feet from my desk. I often read them, check them out on certain subjects, and appreciate them—when they are biblical. But too often they interpret by their indigestion or by the chili they ate the night before! And, they hold views that they cannot substantiate from the biblical text.    As I have debated with many of the reformed folks I have found they cannot "debate" back. They do not know how to exegete or handle passages. They just say that they are against dispensationalism but they have no ability to really handle the differences in the two views.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch #112

Dr. Couch, I saw where you said you leaned toward regeneration coming before faith. I find this issue confusing especially from some of the blogs that are out there. I am thinking of James White and Ergun Caner. How does this coincide with unlimited atonement?

ANSWER: To repeat again, I find at least two verses that need to be examined with the idea that regeneration comes before faith. One is Titus 3:5. “He saved us by the washing of the again birth (born again, regeneration) and the renewing (remaking) of the Holy Spirit.” The “again birth” in Greek is actually palinggevesia translated as “regeneration.” While faith by God’s sovereignty is in the mix of the salvation process, Paul does not bring it up here in this verse. He just goes straight to the theological work of what “being born again” means.

I also fall back on 2 Thessalonians 2:13 where Paul shows that we are chosen by God FROM THE BEGINNING FOR SALVATION “by means of” sanctification by the Spirit and “by means of” FAITH IN THE TRUTH. The sanctification of the Spirit would be the new birth (being born again) and the faith is our response brought about by God’s sovereignty. I do not understand what you mean about “unlimited atonement.” I do not see the relationship of that with the issue of the order of regeneration and faith. I do not see the connection. I must be brain dead on this issue but I just don’t understand the big deal!

Thanks for asking.
Mal Couch, Ph.D., Th.D.

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, have you heard about the flap over Barack Hussein Obama's lack of proof of being an American citizen? If he is not, then he is ineligible to be President, according to our Constitution. ANSWER:  Yes, and I understand this is a growing issue, with many lawsuits already filed against him to force him to prove his American citizenship. He has spent millions of dollars trying to ward off the attack. Many do not hear about this because the left-wing media is covering up the story. Obama's approval rating is now in the forties and still dropping. Even moderate liberals are seeing the light. There has never been such a constitutional crisis in America as this one—especially within the executive branch of government.    Maybe God will give this nation another reprieve and shower His grace upon us, even though we do not deserve such mercy! I know this could happen if we repent and confess our sins as a wayward, rebellious country!    Please pray!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, I believe Romans 10:13-14 indicates pagans are lost, so then we should preach Christ to them, right? Otherwise, why not let them be saved by some other way. What do you think of inclusivism? ANSWER:  These verses are looking at the lost from the earthly perspective. And yes, they cannot be saved without accepting Christ, and they cannot hear of Him without a "preacher" ("proclaimer"). This does not negate the doctrine of absolute predestination and election. These verses in Romans are giving us the subjective or the human perspective. If you want to fully understand the doctrine of predestination you need to study Ephesians 1:3-14. Read it carefully and slowly. Notice that "belief" is not mentioned because Paul is taking us up to heaven to observe the Divine perspective on salvation.    Remember my little saying, God is absolutely 100% sovereign and man is 100% responsible. I really cannot understand this but this is what the Bible proclaims from Genesis to Revelation. Paul points out in Romans 1 that men are responsible for seeing God in nature, but even with that revelation, they still refuse to come to Him. Paul is not suggesting that they can be saved by seeing God in nature but his point is that they do not even go past that revelation. They still refuse to believe in Him no matter how great or small the knowledge they have of Him.    Paul's conclusion on the subject is important: He writes "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, thee is not even one" (Rom. 3:10-12). This comes under the heading of  Total Depravity! In some ways 1 Corinthians 2:14 is even stronger. "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for these things are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually understandable." Thus mankind is really cut off from God and does not wish to seek Him!    I am not sure what you mean by inclusivism. Please explain.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

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Dr. Couch, the Episcopal Church is clearly into heresy. What does the word mean in Greek? ANSWER:  In Greek, the word is "hairesis." It is sometimes translated as "sect" (Acts 5:17; 15:5; 24:5; 26:5; 28:22). Often, it was used to describe Christianity in a negative light.    Paul makes a strange statement in 1 Corinthians 11:19: "There must be factions (heresies) among you, in order that those who are approved may have become evident among you." Here the word is translated "factions" meaning that which is contrary to the truth. In other words, when the church is facing heresy it makes the believers stronger and more resolute in what they believe. "Who are approved" is a Plural Noun related to the verb "dokimazo" meaning "to be tested, examined."    "There must" comes from the word "dei" meaning "It is imperative or necessary." In my NT commentary series Dr. Dan Mitchell writes on 1 Corinthians 11:19: "Paul was certain that some divisions would occur in the assembly, if only to bring to light those who defend the truth. It is significant that God in His sovereign purpose uses dissension and disorder in the church to put His people to the test." God can use that which is evil to strengthen what is good. He is not the Author of evil but He can use it for His providential purposes!    Heresy makes us think and investigate. It causes us to re-examine our convictions.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

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Dr. Couch, I keep hearing about the fact that there are some in Israel who are planning to reconstruct the temple in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. Is this so? ANSWER:  Yes, there is an organization of very conservative orthodox Jews who are planning to construct the temple. You asked the question, Where? And that I don't know. I do not put much credit to this, and I'll explain below why.    How many temples have there been? The (1) first temple was the one constructed by Solomon. It was destroyed in BC 586. Then there was a kind of (2) reconstruction or rebuilding of the temple when Nehemiah and Zerubbabel returned to Judah from Babylon. Some do not count this as a distinct temple construction project, though I do. Then (3) there was the Herodian temple that was still under construction while Christ was ministering. It was destroyed by Titus in 70 AD. There will be an (4) "Antichrist" temple that will be built by the orthodox Jews who may think that he is the Messiah. He will apparently give them permission to build the temple, probably after the signing of the seven year peace pact that begins the tribulation. He will enter it and desecrate it according to Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10. "He will take his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God." Finally, there is the (5) Millennial temple as described in Ezekiel 40-48.    Some argue: how can there be a restored sacrificial system, since Christ completed the needed sacrifice for our sins? I must remind you that we do a mini-Passover when we take communion. In fact, it is called a "memorial." The revised temple sacrifices are memorials as to what Christ did on the cross. They are not efficacious or required as if under the law. But they are a reminder of the fact that something (or someone—Christ) innocent had to die for our sins!    I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

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Dr. Couch, I really appreciate your work in the biblical languages. Few Bible teachers online today, are doing language studies. Thank you for your insights. Also, on the word "mystery." Many Amillennialists seem to be confused on the word. Did some of the old Amil writers and theologians get it straight? ANSWER:  Yes, they did. In my Hermeneutic textbook I have a whole chapter on the dispensations of Charles Hodge. He lists the dispensations almost in the same fashion as dispensationalists do today except he leaves out the dispensation of the Kingdom reign of Christ. Paul's point in Ephesians 3 is that the church was not revealed by any means or in any form in the OT. In his commentary on Ephesians, Hodge says what present-day dispensationalists do about the word "mystery." Present-day allegorists would be shocked to know what he writes.    He says on Ephesians 3: "The thing made known by Paul was a 'mystery'; i.e. a secret, something undiscoverable by human reason, the knowledge of which could only be attained by revelation. … The mystery of which he here speaks is that of which the preceding chapters (in Ephesians) treat, viz. the union of the Gentiles with the Jews. … The mystery made known to the apostles and prophets of the new dispensation (the church dispensation), that the Gentiles are, in point of right and fact, fellow-heirs of the same body, and partakers of this promise. … It seems never to have entered into any human mind until the day of Pentecost, that the theocracy itself was to be abolished, and a new form of 'religion' was to be introduced, designed and adapted equally for all mankind, under which the distinction between Jew and Gentile was to be done away with. … Neither is the Gentile in the church by courtesy of the Jews, nor the Jew by courtesy of the Gentiles. They are one body."    With these thoughts Hodge says what dispensationalists do today!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

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Dr. Couch, there is no passage in the OT that says Israel is adopted as a child of God, though there are verses that speak of the church saints being adopted unto the Lord. What about this issue? ANSWER:  There is one passage that speaks of Israel being adopted and that is Romans 9:4: "Who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises." Gill and other old great scholars point out that this is "national" adoption for Israel and is not a personal adoption, but is a corporate adoption. It is true that here the Jews are seen as "sons" yet they are also seen as a group, "God's son."    Israel is seen as a youth, loved of God and "called out of Egypt as God's son" (singular) (Hosea 11:1). It is more common for the church saints to be seen as individual sons of God who have received "a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'" (Rom. 8:14-15). While we are now adopted spiritually speaking as sons, we still wait for the final adoption when we leave this life (8:23). We receive this adoption (Gal. 4:5) and we are predestinated to this adoption as sons (Eph. 1:5).     The word "adoption" is two Greek words put together: "son-placement." We are placed as sons in God's family. We are then considered truly sons with all the rights and privileges of sons!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Bible Answers: July 2009

Please join Dr. Couch for his Bible Answers Radio program for the month of July.

• Bible Answers - July 5, 2009
• Bible Answers - July 12, 2009
• Bible Answers - July 19, 2009
• Bible Answers - July 26, 2009

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, how should 1 Timothy 6:10 read? Some translations say "Money is the root of all sorts of evil," and some say "Money is the root of evil." The Greek text reads: "For (the) root of all the evils is the affection (love) for money (avarice)." The word "love" is philos (affection, to like) and not agape. "Affection for money" is actually one entire word: "philarguros." The reason some translations used "of all sorts" is because "evils" is in the plural. Often it is translated "Of all the evil things."    Notice what Paul writes in verses 9 and 11. "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation," and, "Flee from these things, you man of God." From the other verses that follow it seems that Paul is directly addressing Timothy. Being a younger minister of the gospel, Timothy may have been open to certain temptations that Paul knew about. We often think that NT personalities walked on water, but that is not true. They faced the same temptations that we face. There is more than one reference where Paul seems to be concerned for Timothy's conduct. In one place he told him to "Flee youthful lusts" (2 Tim. 2:22).    What the apostle is saying in 1 Timothy 6:10 is sobering. The desire for money is the starting point for all kinds of evils! This does not mean that money is bad! And it does not mean that one can not be wealthy. But those who have been so blessed must be aware of what money can do. There are many in the Gospels and in the epistles who appear to have been wealthy. They were not chided for their wealth.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

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Dr. Couch, I have heard some say that the seven year tribulation is the final period of judgment of the Jews and a final judgment that ends the dispensation of the Law. Is this so? ANSWER:  There is some validity for this argument because there is no question that the last "week" of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel is a judgment against the Jewish people. The antichrist will "make a firm covenant with the many (the Jews) for one week (one seven year period), but in the middle of the week (three and a half years) he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering …" (Dan. 9:27). It is clear that this is yet future. The book of Revelation continually makes reference to the seven year tribulation by dividing it into "three and a half … and three and a half years, etc." This is referred to about five times throughout the book of Revelation. Also, the antichrist, as Paul reminds us, enters the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and "exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God" (2 Thess. 2:4).    One could argue that Christ presented Himself as Israel's King. They rejected Him, and with that rejection, the dispensation of the church began. It must be remembered that the dispensation of the church was not prophesied or spoken of in the OT. It was a mystery, which means "something not before revealed." Paul makes that clear in Ephesians 3. He wrote of:    "My insight into the mystery of Christ which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit" (Eph. 3:4b-5). That is "that the Gentiles are (to be) fellow heirs and fellow members of the body …" (v. 6). And "to bring to light what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God … according to the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord" (vv. 9-10). Even the angels in glory did not know about the church age. Paul goes on and writes: "In order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies" (v. 10).    Thus, in the mind of the Lord, the seven year tribulation is the close of God's judgment dealing with Israel before the establishment of the Christ's one thousand year Kingdom reign! The church is but a parenthesis, and it is taken home in the rapture before the terrible tribulation period begins on earth!    Some argue that the idea of the mystery of the church does not mean that the church is not mentioned in the OT, but this is not so. The most comprehensive and complete Greek commentary on Ephesians is written by Dr. Harold Hoehner. (It took him twenty years to write the 900 pages) He has an excellent treatment on "mystery" and writes:      Paul clarifies exactly when and to whom this mystery first became known. … In other generations it was not made known to people. … The mystery was made know to him by revelation, and he continues by saying that it was not made known in other generation. … The revelation is made known to all people, even the heavenly powers (vv. 2-4, 9-10). … It was not known by any person in past generations. … Paul discloses that this mystery, which was not known in past generations has now been revealed. … This corresponds with Rom. 16:25-26 where Paul states that the mystery was kept secret for ages but now has been manifest. … The revelation is some hidden thing or a mystery of God that is unveiled in God and cannot be discovered by human investigation. In the present context, it is the uncovering of a mystery that has been hidden in God throughout the ages (vv. 5, 9). (pp. 437-441)    Conclusion: It is possible then that the seven year tribulation period, which is a judgment upon the Jews (and also a judgment upon the Gentile nations), is indeed the final work with the Jews before the Kingdom is established on earth. Remember, the church is gone in the rapture before the beginning of the tribulation (1 Thess. 4)!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

A Thank You Note!

Dr Couch, I have been meaning to tell you FOR THE CAUSE OF ZION turned out great. The message of Christ's soon return needs to remain before the  people. You pulled together key thoughts, people, and events to  announce the direction the world is jetting toward. Your insightful  statement "Secular psychology has brought us into the first stages of  religious apostasy!" may turn out to be the quote of the decade! Thanks!! In Christian friendship, Pastor

Constitutional Crisis Looming? By Patrick Wood

The inflammatory issue of Barrack Obama's birth certificate is gathering steam across America: Was he or was he not born in the United States?

If he was born anywhere other than on American soil, then his presidency is invalidated. Why? The Constitution of the United States pointedly requires that the President be a natural born citizen. Defusing the issue would be easy: Obama could simply provide a legitimate and complete birth certificate proving his birth location. Not only has he stubbornly refused to do so, but he has spent several million dollars in legal fees to thwart various citizen lawsuits that demand proper disclosure.

Obama has also legally cloaked records that could potentially support or discredit his citizenship claims, like school records and transcripts from Harvard and Occidental College. Some investigators suspect that he may have applied for admission as a foreign student.

The pack of critics (called "birthers" by Obama defenders) is getting larger by the day. Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh are both talking about it. WorldNet Daily devoted an entire issue of WhistleBlower Magazine to it. Lawyers have filed dozens of lawsuits. Military officers are challenging potentially illegal orders to be deployed to combat zones overseas. Leftwing organizations are being drawn into vocal opposition, thus stirring the pot even more.

As the battle heats up, the attacks on the "birthers" by their detractors (mostly leftwing) is taking on a familiar pattern. The former are being being ruthlessly ridiculed, scorned and marginalized as the "lunatic fringe."

So far, neither side has blinked. Neither is willing to give an inch. The battle lines have been drawn. Herein lies the problem. Barrack Obama's approval rating is already dropping like a rock and the public is more sharply polarized than ever. After just six months in office, Obama has fared worse than even Jimmy Carter in 1976, whose outrageous acts had enraged the American public like none before him. Carter had no chance of serving a second term.

Many Democrats have already pulled away from Obama, fearing that he is a) too far to the left or b) pursuing a narcissistic agenda that leaves them out of the picture.

Obama should have balked during his campaign when supporters and his captive media compared him to the Messiah. Everybody hailed Jesus Christ when he appeared in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, but less than three days later, they demanded his execution.

Perhaps Obama was convinced by his handlers that nobody would care about this natural born citizen thing. Or, perhaps they convinced him that he could get away with it even if they did care.

What Obama may not know is that these same handlers might soon offer him up as a cheap sacrifice in order to force a Constitutional crisis.

Why? Because it would almost certainly require a Constitutional Convention to straighten out the mess. Every Presidential act would be invalidated. Civil unrest would be rampant. Chaos would reign, and chaos is the desired environment for the powers behind Obama.

With every passing day that the birth issue is not resolved in Obama's favor, the odds will persistently increase that a Constitutional crisis will soon unfold, and that America will be polarized like never before in history.


This article appeared originally at the August Forecast (www.augustforecast.com/tag/birthcertificate/).

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, who is Aristarchus? ANSWER:  First, his name means "best ruler." He was a Greek or Roman and close companion to Paul whom tradition says was killed in Rome by Nero. This would stand to reason in that he was one of the closest followers of Paul. He was a native of Thessalonica. What is so interesting about him is that we know little about him! But he was always seen with the great apostle. Apparently, he was just "there," always at Paul's side, doing whatever was necessary to make the burden of ministry easier.    Aristarchus was seized along with Gaius during the great riot at Ephesus (Acts 19:29). He traveled with Paul from Troas on his last journey to Rome (Acs 27:2). He was with Paul at Rome when the apostle wrote the epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon. It is suggested that he shared his imprisonment voluntarily.    Various verses speak of the simplicity of Aristarchus' silent companionship. He did not have to do big and great things to be of help to Paul. He must have been simple but always dependable in his nearness to the apostle. Aristarchus was part of Paul's traveling companions who, as a fellow worker, sent his greetings to Apphia and Archippus in Philemon 24. He was in prison with Paul when he sent a greeting to the Colossian saints. He would be an instructor to them if he was able to travel to that city (Col. 4:10). And with a larger group of followers he was seen with Paul when the apostle was threatened with death by the Jews (Acts 20:4).    Sometimes just one's presence is sufficient to encourage and give comfort to another believer. That seems to have been the role of Aristarchus!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch