“Is the remission of sins the same thing as the forgiveness of sins?”
Bible words can often be defined by the way New Testament writers quote the Old Testament. For instance, we know that the words deliverance and salvation are the same, for when Paul quotes Joel, he changes the word “deliverance” to “saved” (Joel 2:32; Rom. 10:13). In the same way, we know that remission and forgiveness are the same, for in quoting Jeremiah, the writer of Hebrews changes the word “forgive” to “remission” (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 10:17,18).
In addition, we know that God set Christ forth “to be a propitiation… to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past” (Rom. 3:25). That’s not talking about the sins that are past in your life, that’s talking about the remission of the sins of Old Testament saints like Abraham and David. So when we read that Abraham was also “justified” (Rom. 4:1-3), and David was “forgiven” (Rom. 4:7), we have to conclude that the remission of sins is tantamount to justification as well as forgiveness.
Finally, if you look up the word “remit” in a good dictionary, one of the words used to define it is “forgive,” and vice versa.
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
This writer has often been taken to task for his alleged inconsistency in “eliminating” water baptism from God’s program for today while holding to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
This criticism is based upon the unscriptural assumption that baptism and the Lord’s Supper belong together in Scripture and in God’s program for the present dispensation.
Well, do we remember how a startling misquotation of Colossians 2:14 first led us to a study of this subject? A Bible teacher of some note had “quoted” the passage thus: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances, that was against us, leaving two, baptism and the Lord’s Supper”!
This is pure—and unscriptural—tradition, for the fact is that the two are never linked together in the Scriptures and certainly not as ordinances for the Body of Christ. True Bereans will search the Scriptures as to these facts and be forever done with the notion that baptism and the Lord’s Supper belong together in the program of God.
Moreover, there are definite distinctions and even contrasts between the two.
Water baptism was an Old Testament ordinance. The Lord’s Supper is a New Testament celebration.
Water baptism, like all ordinances, was “imposed.” The Lord’s Supper never was imposed.
Water baptism was required for salvation. The Lord’s Supper, never.
Water baptism was associated with our Lord’s manifestation to Israel. The Lord’s Supper is associated with our Lord’s rejection and absence.
Water baptism denotes an unfinished work. The Lord’s Supper speaks of the finished work of Christ.
Water baptism was a single act. The Lord’s Supper is celebrated again and again.
Water baptism was not included in Paul’s special commission. The Lord’s Supper was included in Paul’s special commission.
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
“In hope of eternal life, which God…promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).
In the Law of Moses, God promised the people of Israel that they could “live” (Lev. 18:5)—live eternally—if they kept His commandments. We know that’s what Leviticus 18:5 meant because the Lord Jesus quoted that verse to a Jewish man seeking eternal life (Lu. 10:25-28).
But God promised us Gentiles eternal life before the Law, even “before the world began.” But unlike the promise of life He made to the Jews in the Law, He didn’t reveal His promise to us Gentiles for thousands of years! Speaking of that promise (Tit. 1:2), Paul added,
“But hath in due times manifested His word through preaching, which is committed unto me…” (Titus 1:3).
When God finally decided to reveal His promise to give the Gentiles eternal life, He “manifested” it through Paul.
If you’re not sure what that word “manifested” means, it is well defined in something the Lord said about things that had not yet been revealed about God’s prophetic program for Israel:
“…nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest, neither any thing hid, that shall not be known…” (Luke 8:17).
So to make something manifest means to make known something that was secret or hidden. That means when Paul says that God “manifested His word through preaching, which is committed unto me,” he meant that he preached a secret that had been hid but now was made known. Doesn’t that sound like what he wrote in Colossians 1:25,26?
“…I am made a minister, according to…the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest.”
But now, here’s the thing about the hidden, secret mystery that Paul made manifest. It involved more than just the fact that God promised eternal life to the Gentiles before the world began. It involved what Paul talked about in Ephesians 3:8,9,
“…unto me…is this grace given, that I should…make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.”
Paul wasn’t just called on to reveal the mystery that God promised eternal life to Gentiles before the world began. He was called on to reveal the fellowship of the mystery, something he explained a few verses earlier in that passage when he said,
“…God…made known unto me the mystery…that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs and of the same body…” (Ephesians 3:2-6).
The fellowship of the mystery is that Gentiles could not only have eternal life, they could be fellow or equal* members of “the same body,” the Body of Christ, with Jewish believers. And Paul was raised up to make this equality manifest.
In the 19th century, many Americans believed that it was the “manifest destiny” of the United States that our nation would expand across North America. But in the 1st century, the Apostle Paul made it manifest that even Gentiles like us are destined to live eternally as equal heirs with Jewish believers in the Body of Christ for all eternity. Glory!
* We know the word “fellow” means equal because in speaking of Christ, God the Father called Him “the man who is My fellow” (Zech. 13:7), and Christ was God’s “equal” (Phil. 2:6).
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
Paul begins v.22 with a “but” to contrast v.21, where he said he was “confident” Philemon would obey him and be gracious to his runaway slave, and even do “more” than Paul asked. That illustrates how God is confident we’ll do more under grace than He asked the Jews to do under the law. When he says he wouldn’t have written him if he didn’t think he would, that illustrates how God wouldn’t have written us 13 epistles through Paul if He didn’t think we would.
“But”—by contrast—after mentioning that he wrote Philemon, he also mentions coming to see him. This would make Philemon more inclined to do what he asked. This illustrates how we should be more inclined to do what the Lord asks us to do, knowing that He’s coming for us!
Along “withal” Paul was asking Philemon to do in this letter (v. 22) he asks him to get a room ready for him, for he trusted to come see him. He was in prison (1:1) so we have to ask what he meant. If the Lord told him he’d get out, he could have trusted His word as the psalmist did (Ps. 119:42)But we can only go by what the Bible says, so he probably meant he hoped to come, as Paul trusted/hoped in Philippians 2:19,23
But he trusted he’d get out of jail through Philemon’s prayers (v. 22) and the prayers of the Philippians (2:23). When he says his salvation from prison would come through prayer and through “this,” the “this” there meant the preach-ing of Christ (2:19-23). As more people got saved, Rome would be pressured to release him. So Paul expected God to answer prayer through His people using His Word.
That’s how God answers prayer today. Christ is our Head, we’re His body. In your body, if your head wants something done, it doesn’t get done until your body does it. Our service is what the Spirit supplies to answer the prayers of others (Phil. 1:19).Some in the body are eyes and ears, etc. (I Cor. 12:12-19), some are joints (Eph. 4:15,16). The Lord joins the Body together when He saves us, but we need compacting because we’re all so different and there are spaces between us. As the joints of the Body God joined minister to one another, the spaces between us compact!
Paul hoped to get out of prison to pressure Philemon to be gracious to Onesimus, but he didn’t pray to get out for he was “content” in prison (Phil. 4:11), knowing God could use him wherever he was. We should strive for that contentment!
It’s no accident that after talking about prayer, Paul mentions Epaphras (v. 23). He labored in prayer that the saints would stand perfect and complete in all the will of God (Col. 4:12). He probably prayed for the physical needs of the saints after the earthquake that history says hit Colosse, but Philemon met those needs easily (Phile. 1:7). Getting people to stand perfect and complete is harder, so he labored for it.
“Marcus” (v. 24) was John Mark. If Paul calls him a “fellowlabourer,” that must mean he gave him a second chance after he left Paul in the lurch (Acts 13:13; 15:37,38). That illustrates how God is a God of second chances, as He proved with Jonah, David and Peter—and will prove with you if you’ve disappointed Him in the past.
Aristarchus (v. 24) stuck with Paul through thick and thin, in the riot (Acts 19:29) and the shipwreck (Acts 27:2). That illustrates how you should stick with Paul through all the adversity that Satan hurls at Pauline truth today. Don’t be like Demas, who Paul mentions is a fellowlaborer here, but who later loved the world more than the truth (II Tim. 4:10).
Lucas (v. 24) was a kingdom saint who traveled with Paul to minister to him as a doctor (Col. 4:14) after the gift of healing faded away. His message for the Jews was different than Paul’s message for the Gentiles, but Paul calls him a fellow-laborer. Similarly, the message of non-grace ministries may be different than ours, but don’t despise them (cf. Luke 9:49,50), they are our fellowlaborers. And if Paul counted Lucas a fellowlaborer for his service as a doctor, he’ll count you one for whatever service you render in the Body.
Paul closes this epistle by reminding Philemon to let the grace that God showed him be with his spirit (v. 25), and cause him to be gracious to Onesimus and all others. Amen.
“In hope of eternal life, which God…promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).
In the Law of Moses, God promised the people of Israel that they could “live” (Lev. 18:5)—live eternally—if they kept His commandments. We know that’s what Leviticus 18:5 meant because the Lord quoted that verse to a man seeking eternal life (Lu. 10:25-28).
But God promised us Gentiles eternal life before the Law, even “before the world began.” But unlike the promise of life He made to the Jews in the Law, He didn’t reveal His promise to us Gentiles for thousands of years! Speaking of that promise (Tit. 1:2), Paul added,
“But hath in due times manifested His word through preaching, which is committed unto me…” (Titus 1:3).
When God finally decided to reveal His promise to give the Gentiles eternal life, He chose Paul to break the news. The due time had finally come to disclose His promise!
But what does that phrase due time mean? Well, that exact phrase is used when some unbelieving Jews were persecuting some believers in Israel, and the believers were wondering how long God would allow this to go on! God answered them,
“To Me belongeth vengeance… their foot shall slide in due time… the LORD shall judge His people, and repent Himself for His servants, when He seeth that their power is gone” (Deuteronomy 32:35,36).
God told those persecuted believers, as it were, “I’ll judge the unbelievers among My people in due time, and the due time will come when I see that My servants (you believers) have no power to save yourselves from their persecution.” So the phrase due time refers to a time when God looks at men and sees “that their power is gone.” This helps us understand the next time the phrase appears:
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
The Jews had vowed they could keep the Law (Ex. 24:7), but over the next 1500 years they showed that they had no power to keep it. And when they showed that they were “without strength” to keep it, Christ died for the ungodly. But as far as anyone knew, He only died for ungodly Jews, Isaiah’s people (Isa.53:8). He only died “to give His life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28), the “many” in Israel, for that was all that God had revealed up until that time.
It isn’t until you come to Paul’s writings that you read that “Christ…gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (I Tim. 2:5,6). And the thing that made it the due time for Paul to testify this was that that’s when it became obvious that the Gentiles were without strength to save themselves too!
If you’re not sure what I mean by that, consider that if a Gentile wanted to be saved in time past, he had to become a Jew—a true Jew, a believing Jew—by believing on the God of the Jews. For Gentiles, salvation was found “in the remnant” in Jerusalem (Joel 2:32). That’s why the Lord sent the remnant of the 12 apostles to the Gentiles in “all nations” (Lu. 24:47).
But the 12 were told to take the gospel to all nations “beginning at Jerusalem” (Lu. 24:47). When the Jews in Jerusalem stoned Stephen instead of sending forth “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:3), it looked like the Gentiles were going to remain without strength to get saved.
That’s when God raised up Paul to testify that the Gentiles didn’t have to become Jews to get the eternal life that God promised Israel in the Law, for He had promised them eternal life before the world began!
Isn’t it about time you received “the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 1:1 by believing that He died for your sins and rose again (I Cor. 15:1-4)?
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
When a Bible writer uses the word “yea” after saying something (v.20), it meant he wasreally pouring it on (Psalm 7:5; 68:3). At the end of Verse 19, Paul reminded Philemon that he should do what Paul asked and be gracious to his runaway slave because Paul asked him to, and he owed him his very self, since Paul led him to the Lord. Then after saying, “Don’t you want to pay your debt to me by doing what I ask,” he really pours it on and says, “Don’t you want to give me joy by doing what I ask?”
The reason you should care about that is that it illustrates how you owe your very self to the Lord for saving you, but you shouldn’t do what He asks just because you owe Him, but also because it brings Him joy.
Paul is a great illustration of this, for every time he tells us what brought him joy, it was that God’s people were obeying Him. He told the Philippians it would bring him joy if they received each other graciously (Phil. 2:2). That meant it would rob his joy if they didn’t. Prison didn’t rob Paul of joy, for he rejoiced to see how God used it to get the gospel to Caesar’s household and “all other places” (Phil. 1:12-18). Even the thought of dying didn’t rob Paul’s joy, for he knew it was “far better” to be with Christ (Phil. 1:23). The only thing that robbed his joy was ungraciousness among saints!
And don’t forget who was asking the Philippians to fulfil his joy—the apostle who gave them joy when he led them to Christ, and who was living for the “furtherance” of their joy (Phil. 1:23-25). So in asking them to fulfill his joy, ye was saying, “I’m living for your joy, can’t you live for mine?” In the same way, it was the apostle who brought Philemon joy by leading him to Christ, and who was now continuing to live for his joy as well as the joy of the Philippians, who was asking Philemon to let him have joy of him by doing what he asked. And that illustrates how the Lord brought you joy by dying for you, and continuing to live for you (Rom. 8:34).
Back in Philemon 1:7, Paul said Philemon refreshed the bowels of the saints in his church by feeding them (cf. Ezek. 3:3). But when Paul said he could refresh his bowels by being gracious to his slave, he was using the word “bowels” as heart (cf. Jer. 4:19; Lam. 1:20). That illustrates how obeying the Lord refreshes His heart.
We know His heart needs refreshing sometimes because we read that after Satan fell after Genesis 1:1, it refreshed the Lord’s heart after He recreated the creation described in Genesis 1,2 (Ex. 31:17). Well, when you get saved, it refreshes the Lord because suddenly you are a new creature (II Cor. 5:17). Of course, when you don’t act like a new creature, it grieves the Lord (Eph. 4:30). But then when you obey Him again, it refreshes Him again. And we’re seeing all that illustrated here with Paul’s refreshment.
Paul was “confident” that the grace God had shown Philemon would get him to do what he asked and be gracious to Onesimus (Phile. 1:21). His confidence in the carnal Corinthians (II Cor. 2:3; 7:16; 8:22) and the legalistic Galatians (Gal. 5:10) illustrates God’s confidence of how grace can fix whatever is wrong with us.
Paul was confident Philemon would do “more” than what he asked, perhaps set his slave free! This illustrates how God is confident you’ll do more under grace than He told the Jews to do under the law. The law said not to do evil (Ex. 23:2), grace says to avoid the very appearance of evil (I Thes. 5:22). The law said to tithe (Deut. 12:11), under grace the Macedon-ians gave more than a tithe of their “deep poverty” (II Cor. 8: 1-5). The law said to sacrifice animals (Deut. 12:11), grace says to sacrifice your own body (Rom. 12:1).
The law said not to eat meat offered to idols (Ex. 34:15), Paul said you can, but not to if it will offend a brother (I Cor. 10:27,28). The Lord introduced New Testament grace by saying the law said don’t kill, but grace says don’t hate (Mt. 5:21,22). The law said don’t commit adultery, grace says don’t even think about it (Mt. 5:27,28). If you think it’s a good idea not to hate or lust, it is because your heart has been touched by God’s grace. Grace makes you evaluate what you’ve been given and how much it is worth to you.
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).
The story is told of a rather simple-minded factory worker who got called into his supervisor’s office for talking back to his foreman. His supervisor asked, “Did you call your foreman a liar?” The man admitted that he had. “Did you call him stupid?” He had to admit that was true as well. “Did you call him an opinionated, narcissistic egomaniac?” To this charge, the simple-minded man replied, “No, but could you write that one down so I can remember it?”
Of course, no one would ever accuse God of lying—or would they? There must be a reason the Apostle Paul wrote to Titus about the hope of eternal life, “which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2). Why would Paul have to vouch for God’s integrity like that? Surely somebody was thinking that God could lie, or it wouldn’t have been necessary to affirm the opposite. And it isn’t likely that it was Titus.
But Titus was stationed on the island of Crete (Titus 1:5), and the Cretians to whom he ministered used to worship the Greek god Zeus, who is said to have been born in Crete. And according to Greek mythology, Zeus was always lying to his wife Hera to cover up the affairs he had with gods, nymphs and mortal women. So the Cretians needed reassurance that the God of the Bible wasn’t lying in promising them eternal life, an assurance that Paul was more than happy to give them in an epistle that became a part of God’s written Word.
By the way, did you ever wonder why the gods of the Greeks were such moral degenerates? Why would anyone invent gods who were guilty of lying, cheating, stealing, fornicating, and even killing? It was because if your gods acted like that, it gave you an excuse to act like that! The Greeks invented such gods to justify their own sinfulness! After all, the gods couldn’t righteously deny men entrance into heaven because of their sins if they themselves were just as morally depraved!
How different is the God of the Bible! The Bible doesn’t justify men by lowering God to their low level of wickedness. The Bible justifies men by lifting them upto God’s level! As the Lord Jesus Christ hung on Calvary’s cross, God made Him “to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21). That means if you’ve trusted Christ as your savior, you have the very righteousness of God. God Himself is no more righteous than you are, for you have been “made the righteousness of God.” And that means God can’t righteously deny you entrance into heaven, for He has lifted you up to His own level of righteousness.
If that makes you feel eternally secure, say amen!
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
When Paul tells Philemon to put Onesimus’ wrong on his “account” and that he would “repay” him (v.18), we know he “wronged” him financially. Slaves often robbed their masters to finance their escape, figuring they owed them for all their free labor. That sounds justified, but Paul calls it wrong, just as it is wrong when employees steal from their employer today because they’re not paid enough. If you’re guilty of that, stop (Eph.4:28). If you’re not, remember you might be someday (ICor.10:12).
If Onesimus did steal from his master, Paul says he owed him. When you steal from a man, you owe him, and in Bible days you had to pay it back with interest (Ex.22:1).
Paul was probably offering to pay Onesimus’ debt because he was broke and couldn’t pay it himself. He no doubt spent all his money on the 1200 mile trip from Colosse to Rome, so had to get a job at the prison where Paul was incarcerated.
If you couldn’t repay what you stole, then they imprisoned you (Mt.5:25) until you paid your debt, as prisoners pay their debt to society today, with the loss of your time and freedom.
Since Philemon is a book of illustrations, we know that this illustrates how when men sin against their master God, He considers it a “debt” that they owe Him (Mt.6:12-14). And it’s a debt they cannot pay, for sinners are spiritually broke.
They can’t pay their debt to God because they don’t have anything He wants. So they have to go to prison till they’ve paid “the last farthing” (Mt.5:25). You know that verse is about hell, because that’s how the Lord introduced it (v.22).
Men in hell must pay for their debt with more than their loss of time and freedom. They are “delivered to the tormentors” (Mt.18:34) until they’ve paid the last farthing of their debt. But sin against an eternal God demands an eternal punishment! Hell has to be eternal because men can never suffer enough to repay God for the enormity of their sin. Men say that’s not fair, but it’s fair because men don’t have to go to hell. The Lord took their torment on the cross. All they have to do to be saved from hell is to believe that.
This shows it is wrong to say, as some are saying, that the sins of unsaved men are forgiven. People go to hell “because” of their sins (Eph.5:6). Their only hope is to let Christ pay their debt, something else we see illustrated when Paul tells Philemon to put his slave’s debt on his account. That’s what the Lord did for us, put our sin on His account.
An “account” is a registry of debits and credits. Sin debits a man’s account with God, but he has no way to credit it, since God doesn’t accept good works as credit (Isa.64:6). But God counts faith for righteousness (Rom.4:5), faith in the fact that God made Christ to be sin for us so we might be made righteous (IICor.5:21).
Paul usually dictated his letters (cf.Rom.16:22), but made his offer to pay Onesimus’ debt with his own hand (Phile.1:19). He did this to give Philemon something he could take into court if need be and insist he pay the debt if he wanted to. That’s an illustration of how, when it comes to your sin debt, you have it in writing that Christ paid it in the writing of the Word of God.
Of course, Philemon would never make Paul pay his slave’s debt because he owed Paul his own self (Phile.1:19). He led him to the Lord and saved his eternal life, and perhaps saved him from a life of sin and degradation in this life. In bringing this up, Paul was implying he owed him a debt he couldn’t repay. That illustrates how you should feel about the Lord!
After all Paul had given to Philemon, he would never expect Paul to give him more by paying Onesimus’ debt. After all the Lord has given you eternally in the next life, do you really expect him to give you more in this life? By giving you health and wealth, and solving all of your problems?
Paul says you should live for Him who died for you “and rose again” (IICor.5:14,15). If a man saves your life, you feel like living for him, right? But if someone dies saving your life, you can’t live for him—but you can live for the Lord who died for you and rose again.
