Paul Named Names
Just a few words of reflection: why didn’t Paul leave Demas alone, in love with this present world (2 Timothy 4:10)? He didn’t; he mentioned him in 2 Timothy for all Adventists to read and reflect upon. Demas’s misdeed was publicized, and the incident was recorded as a permanent record for the church.
Ellen White and her minions do not want those entrapped in William Miller’s methods to have an escape route or to have any assistance as they reach out for Christ. (1 Cor. 10:13) She didn’t want anyone who escaped the clutches of her lies to have an intercessor or any solace or assurance…
Why didn’t Paul leave Hymenaeus and Alexander alone? (See 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 4:14.) Paul could have left well enough alone, not mentioning them and the trouble they caused him. The answer, though, is right there in the Bible that Adventist detractors try to use to ensnare the Adventists who ask uncomfortable questions. Hymenaeus and Alexander used false doctrine and teaching to try to ensnare vulnerable people.
Furthermore, Jannes and Jambres used magic tricks and Satanic deception to resist God’s command to let the Israelites leave Egypt (2 Timothy 3:8). They deceived Pharaoh into continuing his oppression of his slaves and led Pharaoh down a deadly path that culminated with his eldest son being killed. Jannes and Jambres turned rods into snakes and water into blood to confirm Pharaoh in his evil direction. Are we supposed to approve and condone that kind of attitude? “ But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.”—2 Timothy 3:9.
Clearly after one or two warnings, Paul’s judgment was that these situations should not be swept under the rug or kept quiet. You at Life Assurance Ministries are not apostles, but you do have authority under apostolic teaching to expose and criticize error. And that’s not all. Paul mentions someone named Alexander the coppersmith. We do know he attempted great harm to Paul.
Paul didn’t shut up or ignore it. He mentioned the men and the trouble they caused to his pastoral trainee. These letters of Paul’s became a permanent record handed down in the church. He didn’t act like their deeds could be ignored.
When Adventists ask you that question, “Why don’t you just leave us Adventists alone?” they should be aware that the answers to their question are right in the Bible for them to look at. These examples from Paul’s life show that Scripture equips us to discern spiritual deception
Well, just a reminder and a few words of reflection, because I’m sure these principles are clear to you and that you know these things, as well.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: Thank you for your encouragement. I have often pondered the fact that in these cases, Paul named names and included these troublemakers in God’s eternal word as part of His exhortation to the church. Thank you for sending your reflections on these insightful moments from Paul’s ministry!
Did God Die On the Cross?
I have a question. Jesus was and is God. Then tell me how He could die on the cross. I don’t mean to sound out of balance by asking the question. But I have always wondered, if God is eternal, how could He die on the cross? I do know there is no explanation in the Bible to explain this question that I am aware of. I also hope you don’t take offense that I would ask such a question. But I have always wondered what the answer would be. Thank you, if you do try to answer the question. I also realize we must take many things by faith. However, I have always wondered. Thank you.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: your question is not odd. We from our background were not taught that the Lord Jesus was always and completely GOD without giving up any of His God-attributes. But what Scripture tells us in Philippians 2 is that He humbled Himself and took the form of a man. That doesn’t mean that He gave up anything. It means that He added to His identity as God the Son the identity of a man. He was not two people with two consciousnesses; He was ONE person with two natures. It means He gave up His glory that was His by right as God.
Colossians 1:19 says,
“For in Him all the fullness [of God] was pleased to dwell,” And Colossians 2:9 says this: “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily,”
Not any smallest part of His full identity as God was missing from the Lord Jesus, including His omnipresence and omniscience.
Since He became a human, He also took a human spirit—the immaterial part of a human. His Spirit was always alive; He was never dead in sin because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. So when He died, His human spirit went to the Father as do the spirits of all believers, and His identity as God also remained alive. God is spirit—and neither His human spirit nor His identity as God died. His BODY died. He Himself met the thief on the cross in Paradise as He promised He would.
Jesus the man died a human death and shed human blood, because only human blood could atone for human sin. That’s why He came as a man—a sinless man. He came to be our Substitute. As God He was qualified to take responsibility for all of us because we are His creatures, and as a man without sin, He was qualified to shed the only sacrifice that could satisfy the Father. His human blood is what paid for sin. His resurrection was the proof that His blood sacrifice was sufficient to pay for the sins of the human race. His blood propitiated for our sin and broke our curse of death. Now, when we believe and trust Him, we are born again—made spiritually alive, and we will pass from death to life. Our physical death is the separation of our bodies from our spirits, and the resurrection is when the Lord unites our immaterial identities with our resurrection bodies. (See 2 Corinthians 2:1–9.) †
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