Many people believe that civil leaders are not responsible when they allow the people that they govern to have the freedom to choose to do what is evil. Scripture provides definitive information that shows that this view is false.

Was Pilate Responsible for the People’s Free Choice to Have Jesus Crucified?

Pilate was a secular governor who failed to release Jesus even though he knew and declared repeatedly that Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:4, 14, 15, 22; John 19:4, 6). Instead, Pilate gave the Jewish authorities and the Jewish people the choice of whom they wanted Pilate to release: Barabbas or Jesus (Matt. 27:15-23; Luke 23:17-20; John 18:37-40).

Pilate thus gave these people the choice to choose to do something that was sinful (release Barabbas and condemn Jesus) or to do what was right (release Jesus and condemn Barabbas). The Jewish authorities and people (Matt. 27:20) chose to do what was sinful by requesting the release of Barabbas and the condemnation of Jesus (Matt. 27:21; John 18:40).

In vain, Pilate washed his hands and said that he was innocent of Jesus’ blood (Matt. 27:24). The people said that His blood would be on them and on their children (Matt. 27:25) Was Pilate absolved of wrongdoing because he gave the people the choice to do what was right or to do what was wrong and they chose to do what was wrong?

Through the apostles, God indicted not just the Jewish authorities and the Jewish people for the murder of Jesus but also the Roman authorities (Acts 3:13-15; 4:27; 13:28). God thus held Pilate also responsible for the injustice that took place even though the people and not Pilate made the free choice to have Jesus crucified (Matt. 27:22-23).

Conclusion

When a governmental authority gives people the freedom by law to make a sinful choice, God holds both the governmental authority and the people who make that sinful choice responsible. This truth has profound significance for what governmental authorities choose to do concerning their enacting and enforcing legislation that gives the people that they govern the freedom to choose to do what is sinful.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

It is a very sad reality that many people in the world suffer greatly because they are poor. Three Scriptural statements provide these many millions of poor people with crucial revelation that they desperately need.

In three successive chapters in Proverbs, God sets forth three truths that go contrary to the thinking and practice of many of the people in the world today. By giving attention to these words from God, they will have essential truth that they need to have God’s mind about being poor.

Proverbs 19:22

Given the opportunity to do so, some people lie to try to get out of their poverty. Some provide false information to governmental authorities in order to get assistance for which they would not otherwise qualify or the amounts that they would receive would be substantially reduced were they to tell the truth about their situation.

People cheat on their tax returns in order not to pay as much taxes as they should. By doing so, they seek to have more money than they would were they to be truthful about their finances.

Contrary to the thinking and practice of all such people, Scripture declares,

A poor man is better than a liar (Prov. 19:22).

Because God teaches that it is better to be poor than to be a liar, everyone who does deceitful things to get wealth shows that he does not have God’s mind about being poor.

By faith and trust in God, every poor person should be truthful. They should not lie to try to escape their poverty. Showing that they fear God, they should commit themselves to God to take care of them. 

Proverbs 20:17

Many people obtain material goods and money through deceitful means. Because they temporarily enjoy the fruit of their lies, they think that what they have done is justified by the sweetness of what they obtain through their falsehoods.

God warns such people,

Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel (Prov. 20:17).

No matter how appealing it may be to acquire and enjoy things through lying that you otherwise would not be able to have, God wants us to be certain that the ultimate consequence of such actions will not be sweet. By faith in God, people who are poor must reject opportunities to get things and wealth through deceitful ways.

Proverbs 21:6

Poor people are often tempted to think that they need to lie in order to change the sad realities of their circumstances. Such people must heed what God says about such wrong attempts to acquire wealth:

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death (Prov. 21:6).

God teaches that people who lie to get treasures are actually pursuing death even while they think they are trying to improve their lives by their dishonest acquisitions. Poor people must take God’s viewpoint and reject such fatal seeking of wealth!

Conclusion

God cares so much about all human beings that He has provided us with these (and many other) key truths so that we will have His mind about being poor. God wants all people, including poor people, to put their faith in Him by being truthful and honest in all their ways at all times.

Do you have God’s mind about being poor?

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In my last post, I treated three reasons why cremation is unbiblical. A striking statement about Joseph in Hebrews 11 provides additional conclusive evidence for the case against cremation.

Joseph’s Charge to the Israelites Prior to His Death

As he neared death, Joseph communicated his full assurance that God would fulfill His promises to His people about bringing them out of Egypt and into the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 50:24). Joseph then made the Israelites take an oath that they would carry his bones with them out from Egypt (Gen. 50:25).

By giving this charge to his own, Joseph displayed that he valued highly what would become of his bones after he had died. Not only did he not want his body to be cremated so that it would be reduced to ashes, but also he cared about where his remains would be buried.

Joseph wanted his bones to be buried in the Promised Land into which he was certain that God would one day lead His people. Was Joseph’s desire concerning his bones simply a manifestation of a cultural practice of his time or was it a display of something far greater?

Israel’s Obedience to Joseph’s Charge

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, he obeyed Joseph’s charge by taking his bones with them (Exod. 13:19). The children of Israel later finally fully fulfilled the wishes of Joseph when they buried his bones in a parcel of ground in Shechem, which parcel “became the inheritance of the children of Joseph (Josh. 24:32).

The OT Scriptural record of Joseph’s charge and the Israelites full obedience to that charge shows that God has wanted all His people who have ever received His Word to know what Joseph ordained concerning his bones and what ultimately happened to them. Does this Scriptural record merely relate the fulfillment of self-chosen instructions given by a powerful Israelite leader who was following the cultural customs of his time or is the record intended by God to communicate something of far greater importance?

Divine Commendation of Joseph’s Charge

The writer of Hebrews explicitly commends Joseph to NT believers as one who “obtained a good report through faith” (Heb. 11:39). Considering all that Scripture reveals about Joseph that is commendable, it is highly instructive that the explicit commendation given concerning Joseph in this key NT passage concerns the very charge that we read of twice in preceding Scripture:

Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

God thus highlights that Joseph’s giving the charge that he did concerning his bones was the exemplary manifestation of his faith in God that God wants to call to the attention of all Christians! God’s commendation of Joseph’s believing desires that his bones be buried in the Promised Land shows that what he did was not just a record of a powerful Israelite following his own wishes in keeping with a cultural custom of his people and time.

Conclusion

Joseph wanted his bones to be buried—not cremated, and his wanting to do so was a vital expression of his faith in the promises of God. All Christians must likewise display their faith in God by seeking to have their bodies buried when they die.

The Scriptural record concerning Joseph’s charge about his bones powerfully argues against any legitimacy of cremation for God’s people. Christians must not cremate their own!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Scripture provides believers in churches with solid reasons not to replace their Lord’s Day evening services with small groups. This post presents a key line of biblical reasoning that supports this view.

The Importance of the Psalms for NT Believers

The apostle Paul instructs believers that they are to use the Psalms as a key part of Scripture with which they are to minister to one another:

Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

 ¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

 ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Given this explicit apostolic direction, believers rightly need to base their views about worship on what God reveals about worship in the Psalms. Although there are many key passages that need to be considered, Psalm 92 is a premier passage because it is explicit inspired instruction to believers about worshiping the Lord on a day of the week that He has especially consecrated for worshiping Him.

What Psalm 92 Teaches Believers about Worshiping God 

For OT believers, God set aside one day of every week as a day that was to be distinct from all other days of the week. Psalm 92 explains what God’s perspective was about His people worshiping Him on that day:

Psa 92:1 <A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.> It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

 ² To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

 ³ Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

 ⁴ For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

The Sabbath was a day on which giving thanks to God and singing praise to Him was a good thing (Ps. 92:1). Obviously, doing these things on the other six days of the week was also a good thing; nevertheless, God’s saying that it was good to do these things on the Sabbath highlights the goodness of doing so on His day.

The Psalmist specifies that these things were to be done at two periods in the day: in the morning and at night (Ps. 92:2). This explicit divine teaching instructs believers that worshiping God in the morning and in the night on the Sabbath was a good thing.

Not only did the Psalmist reveal that God was to be worshiped in those two periods, but also he added that worship was to include instrumental music using several instruments (Ps. 92:3). Psalm 92 thus plainly teaches believers that corporate worship in the morning and evening that includes singing and playing instruments in worshiping God is a good thing.

Application of Psalm 92 to the Lord’s Day

The NT reveals that the Lord’s Day belongs to God in a unique way that goes beyond what was true about the Sabbath. It is unthinkable, therefore, that God expects less from NT believers on the Lord’s Day (worshiping Him only once a day) than He did from OT believers on the Sabbath (worshiping Him twice a day).

The NT further reveals that God has specified that an entire church assemble itself in one place to worship Him through the combined ministry of all the believers in the church (1 Cor. 14:23-25). Furthermore, Scripture does not provide any passages that document that believers ever met in small groups on the Lord’s Day, either in the morning or in the evening, instead of meeting corporately to worship Him.

Of all the days of the week, believers should be the most diligent to base what they do in worshiping the Lord on the Lord’s Day as much on the Scripture as they possibly can. Based on the combined teaching of Ephesians 5:18-19, Colossians 3:15-16, Psalm 92:1-4, 1 Corinthians 14:23-25, and the many passages that show that the Lord’s Day belongs uniquely to the Lord, believers can have full confidence that worshiping the Lord corporately on both Lord’s Day mornings and evenings is a good thing that God wants them to do.

Conclusion 

The biblical line of reasoning presented above gives believers clear biblical direction to assemble themselves together both in the morning and in the evening on the Lord’s Day to worship Him corporately. The believers in a church should meet together in one place and worship Him through singing accompanied by musical instruments on both Lord’s Day mornings and evenings.

Furthermore, believers should not follow the ideas of so-called church marketing “experts” when those ideas lead them to abandon worship practices that have solid biblical basis. Churches should not replace evening services with small groups!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Numerous evangelical ministries have replaced certain weekly services with small groups. Other churches are also following suit. Clear teaching by the apostle Paul shows us, however, why churches should not replace these corporate worship services with small groups.

Essential Elements of Corporate Worship Services

First Corinthians 14 is one of the premier passages in Scripture concerning corporate worship. In vital teaching concerning the glorious efficacy of corporate worship that is done properly, the apostle Paul presents some essential elements of corporate worship:

1 Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: ²⁵ And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

We must give thorough attention to this apostolic instruction and heed what it says.

First, Paul speaks of a gathering of the whole church (“If therefore the whole church . . .” [1 Cor. 14:23]). By definition, choosing to meet in small groups requires the splitting up of the people of a local church into several groups, none of which are the whole church. The teaching of 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 about corporate worship, therefore, does not apply to whatever takes place when believers meet in small groups.

Second, not only does Paul specify that the whole church is coming together, but also he states that the whole church is coming together into one place (“If therefore the whole church be come together into one place . . .” [1 Cor. 14:23]). Although many modern translations (for example, NAU, NIV, ESV, CSB, and NET—see below) leave out the words “into one place” or some equivalent rendering, the original text of the passage (regardless of which major manuscript family of Greek texts we examine) has these words and they must not be left out:

^SCR 1Co 14:23 ἐὰν οὖν συνέλθῃ ἡ ἐκκλησία ὅλη ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, καὶ πάντες γλώσσαις λαλῶσιν, εἰσέλθωσι δὲ ἰδιῶται ἢ ἄπιστοι. οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ὅτι μαίνεσθε;

^BYZ 1 Corinthians 14:23 Ἐὰν οὖν συνέλθῃ ἡ ἐκκλησία ὅλη ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, καὶ πάντες γλώσσαις λαλῶσιν, εἰσέλθωσιν δὲ ἰδιῶται ἢ ἄπιστοι, οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ὅτι μαίνεσθε;

^BGT 1Co 14:23 Ἐὰν οὖν συνέλθῃ ἡ ἐκκλησία ὅλη ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ πάντες λαλῶσιν γλώσσαις, εἰσέλθωσιν δὲ ἰδιῶται ἢ ἄπιστοι, οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ὅτι μαίνεσθε;

^KJV 1Co 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

^NKJ 1Co 14:23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

^NAU 1Co 14:23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?

^NIV 1Co 14:23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

^ESV 1Co 14:23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

^CSB 1Co 14:23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together, and all are speaking in other languages, and people who are uninformed or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

^NET 1Co 14:23 So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds?

Explicit apostolic teaching shows that the corporate worship that Paul is talking about here requires that all the believers of a local church meet together in one place—not separately in small groups in many different places, even in one town. Because small groups meet in differing locations, the teaching of 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 about the vital efficacy of corporate worship does not apply to whatever takes places in small groups.

Third, Paul repeatedly stresses that it is the combined ministry of all the believers present together in one place that has the spiritual efficacy to bring needy people who come into their midst to be convicted of their sinfulness, repent, and worship God:

1 Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: ²⁵ And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

Clearly, Paul is highlighting how God uses proper corporate ministry by all the believers of a church to bring people to worship Him aright!

Because an approach to believers assembling that employs small groups necessarily splits a church into groups, it automatically precludes any such combined ministry of all the church from taking place. Only God knows how many needy people have not received the vital ministry that He would have given them had churches had corporate worship services instead of small groups.

Discussion

Many churches have abandoned Sunday evening worship services and replaced them with small groups. The discussion above shows that doing so is a terrible mistake that precludes the church from enjoying the full usefulness that God would choose to make of that body of people were they to heed His explicit revelation in 1 Corinthians 14:23-25.

Some will argue that their church does meet corporately in one service a week but chooses to do small groups in place of other meetings that they might have had. Because we are not all-knowing so that we know when God would providentially direct needy people to our churches, churches should not choose to forfeit the additional opportunities for such ministry to needy people that these other regular services would provide—they should meet corporately in one place for their services on both Lord’s Day mornings and evenings.¹

Believers who want to avail themselves of the potential benefits of meeting in small groups should do so at other times during the week because meeting in small groups is not a biblically authorized replacement for corporate worship services.

Conclusion

Plain apostolic teaching provides believers with vital instruction about the essential elements of corporate worship and the glorious efficacy of such worship in meeting the needs of needy people who come to one of those services. Scripture does not provide any such explicit teaching for small groups having that same efficacy.

Believers should heed the explicit instruction that the Spirit has provided them about corporate worship in 1 Corinthians 14:23-25. Churches should not replace services with small groups!

¹ I intend to treat why churches should not replace a mid-week prayer service with small groups in another post.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.