p. 5 | Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jun 20, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 24.

Question Corner

1835.—Col. 2:16.

Please explain Col. 2:16. M. L.

The text reads, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day.” First of all the scripture is not one which enjoins moral duties in respect to meat and drink and feast days or Sabbath days. It does not say we should observe them in any way. God has given instruction abundant on this matter elsewhere. (2) It does not say that we should not keep them. God has given us instruction as to our “whole duty;” what lies outside of that is will worship. Eccl. 12:13; Col. 2:23. (3) Our duty is clearly set forth in this immediate connection, “As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and builded up in Him, and established in your faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Col. 2:6, 7. That is our duty, clear, concise. Why? —We owe Him our life. “You did He make alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” Verse 13. But He gives us life by giving us righteousness (Rom. 3:22; 8:10); and to that righteousness by faith the law bears witness (Rom. 3:21, 22). All this He does for us to “redeem us from all iniquity;” “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.” Titus 2:14; Rom. 8:4. In other words, the work of Christ within writes upon our heart God’s law. If we receive Christ at all it must be as the righteousness of God. If we walk in Him, it will be to keep God’s commandments, to walk as Christ walked, with sweet assurance, with clear conscience. Therefore let no one deceive us or disturb us, or condemn us in respect to any of the things of God or the things of empty form. Of course, on their part men will seek to condemn the followers of Christ, as they always have done, but if we are walking in Christ, we will not be condemned.

1836.—Sin against the Holy Ghost.

What is meant by sin against the Holy Ghost? M. L.

It means the utter rejection of the means which God has to save. “The blood of the covenant” and “the Spirit of grace” are God’s means of saving humanity. When man utterly rejects these, calls the death of Christ nothing, and attributes the power of the Holy Spirit to natural or evil causes, and persists in this course, he sins beyond humility, beyond repentance, beyond forgiveness; for unrepentable sins are unforgivable sins. Man’s greatest danger is to cherish his sin, his own way, and resist the pleading of the Spirit till he knows it no more.

1837.—Healing or Forgiveness First.

Which comes first, healing of the body or forgiveness of sins? C. F. G.

It depends on the condition of the afflicted one and the faith which he exercises. In some cases, like the healing of the demoniacs, the healing must have preceded forgiveness or they must have come simultaneously. The word which spoke deliverance spoke forgiveness. When the ailing one was too ill to appreciate the love and forgiveness of God, healing must have come first. In the case of the palsied man, however, forgiveness came first, evidently the very thing over which his soul was most burdened. See Matt. 9:1–8. The healing came as a proof of Christ’s power to forgive.

1838.—To What Does Isa. 34:9, 10 Refer?

N. B.

First and locally it is a prophecy of the land of Edom; but in its fulness it is a type of the earth desolated by sin, during the thousand years. Man shall have no place in its awful desolation.

1839.—“The One Who Restraineth.” 2 Thess. 2:6, 7.

Would like an explanation through the columns of the Signs, as to the meaning of 2 Thess. 2:6, 7. Who is it that “letteth” or “restraineth” “until he be taken out of the way”? In what way is he removed? M. A. H.

1. The apostle foretold the great apostasy in the Christian church, under the terms “man of sin,” “son of perdition,” the one that exalted himself, “the mystery of lawlessness,” “the lawless one.”

2. There is one that hindered his development. What only can hinder such a power in the church of Christ? Whose right is it to reign in the church?—“Gave Him [Christ] to be head over all things to the church.” Eph. 1:22. But He reigns in the church, He dwells in the church, by dwelling in each member of the church by faith. Eph. 3:17; Gal. 2:20. Just as long, therefore, as the church retains Christ’s presence—His Holy Spirit—by faith, no apostasy could rule, no one could exalt himself. Christ alone would be exalted. And Christ in the hearts of His people, Christ’s Word and authority in the church, prevented the rise of the man of sin.

3. How was the restraining one removed?—By cherishing sin. “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.” Christ abides nowhere if He is not welcomed. To “as many as received Him” He gives “power to become the sons of God.” Therefore when that time came that the church of Christ, yielded to apostasy, setting aside the Word of her Maker that she might honor men and their tradition, she thrust Christ out, and the lawless one came in with all the sad consequences which have followed.