Questions and Answers

We have reviewed so far relationships between the Father and Jesus Christ; man with fellow man; those within the family unit; and our own personal relationship with God.

In any great relationship, friendship is a fundamental and essential part along with other requirements such as honesty, trust, loyalty and a proper lifestyle.

Great Relationships in the Bible

In this Q&A, we are beginning to review examples of some of the great relationships in the pages of the Bible.

Abraham and Lot

When God told Abram (later Abraham) to “get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house To a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1), Lot went with him (verse 4). In the following chapter, we read that “Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.  Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.  And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock” (Genesis 13:5-7). The result was that Abraham gave Lot a choice of whether to go to the right or to the left (verse 9), even though it would have been Abraham’s…

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We have so far looked at the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ; man’s relationship with fellow man and how to deal with others, together with reviewing relationships within the human family. In this Q&A, we are going to look at our vitally important personal relationship which we must have with God.

Our personal relationship with God.

So many today feel that they have a relationship with God while still trampling over His laws. But Christ tells us that we worship God in vain if we lay aside the commandments of God in order to teach and follow the commandments of men (Mark 7:6-8).

In addition, “once saved, always saved” is a false doctrine that we have covered at length previously, and we have to be obedient to the Way that God has called His people to live, that of obedience to His law—not walking all over it, thinking that it doesn’t matter. It does.

In his booklet “A World Held Captive,” Mr Herbert W Armstrong, late human leader of the now defunct Worldwide Church of God, observed as follows:

“MAN was created to have a personal relationship with God — to be begotten as children of God, finally born into the GOD…

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One of the most famous passages where the word “meek” is used is found in the Beatitudes in the book of Matthew. In this section of Scripture, His so-called Sermon on the Mount, Christ is starting to define what it means to be a Christian, and even, in part, what it will be like when we are in the Kingdom of God.

Christ’s sermon describes qualities to give us a picture of the character of the true people of God—those who are and will be a part of His Family and have the full blessings of the Kingdom to look forward to.

We are told in the Beatitudes that meekness is a requirement. In Matthew. 5:5 we read: “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.”  It refers to those who will be in the Kingdom of God, ruling this earth. But what exactly does the Bible mean by meekness?

Miriam Webster’s Dictionary defines being meek as:

“1: enduring injury with patience and without resentment;

“2: deficient in spirit and courage;

“3: not violent or strong.”

According to this definition, while meekness in some respects has good attributes such as patience and humility and non-violent conduct, there are also some connotations that are not so…

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In the previous Q&A, we reviewed some Scriptures that show how we are to deal with others in our relationship with them. In this Q&A, we are going to look at relationships within the conventional family.

Relationships within the human family.

Family is a place where strong relationships are built and provides a sense of meaning and belonging, although it has been undermined and demeaned in recent years by those who have an agenda to eliminate the family as we know it.

In our booklet “The Keys to Happy Families and Marriages!,” we read the following on page 18 under the heading of “The Christian Family”:

“As the Bible gives clear instructions as to the individual roles and functions of husbands and wives, it also explains the duties and responsibilities of fathers and mothers toward their children, and of the children toward their parents.

“As we have far too many marriage problems, we also have FAR too many family problems. Too often, parents know little about proper parenting, and rebellious children are the result. Children who are victims of divorce are expected to be resilient when someone they love suddenly disappears from their life. More often than not, they grow up with multiple mothers, fathers, and…

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In the second part of this series, we started to look at an outline of biblical information to show just how important inter-personal relationships are with other human beings.

In this third part, we will review some Scriptures that show how we are to deal with others in our relationship with them.

How we are to deal with others in our relationship with them.

One of the most obvious places to start is in Exodus 20 where God gave Israel the Ten Commandments. The first four commandments are instructions about how humans should relate to God and the other six are about how people should treat and relate to each other. If these were taken seriously, all relationships would be unrecognisable to what we experience today where selfishness and self-serving predominate.

The Ten Commandments give a summary of how to love God and how to love our neighbour.  God gave additional statutes and judgments showing the practical application of the Ten Commandments.

For example, Exodus 22:21-22 tells us: “You shall neither mistreat a stranger [sojourner or foreigner] nor oppress him… You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.”

Rather than oppressing others, we ought to help them when we have opportunity. Deuteronomy 22:1-4 states:

“You shall…

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In the first part of this series, we looked at the relationship between God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.   In the second part, we will give an outline of biblical information to show just how important inter-personal relationships are with other human beings, and how bad relationships can be disastrous for everyone involved.

Relationships – Man’s interpersonal relationships with fellow man.

In Genesis 1:26, we read that God spoke about creating man who was to be made in His image with God’s end goal of reproducing Himself through man. As God is a Family, He wanted man to become part of His Family—to ultimately join Him in His Family as born-again immortal God beings. In Genesis 2:21-25, we read that a woman was made and that husband and wife, as well as their children, were to be a human family (compare Genesis 1:28). This was to be a physical pattern of the ultimate purpose of enlarging the God Family. However, Adam and Eve failed to obey God, and so there were conversations in chapter 3 where God spoke to Adam and his wife after they had eaten of the forbidden fruit and where, as a consequence, God expelled them from…

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One of the great themes in the Bible is that of relationships – between God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, God and man, and between human beings themselves.  Pretty much everyone has relationships with other people unless they live on their own on a desert island, and so it should come as no surprise to anyone that it is a major theme running right through the Bible.   Unless we get these relationships right, we will have a miserable life, but much more importantly, the spiritual application is of paramount importance, as we get close to God, and stay close to Him, which will give us eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

This series of Q&As is but a brief overview on this subject, and we hope that it will prove helpful to all who read this information, and to those who decide to delve further into this matter.   There is so much more in the Bible than that which we will cover in this series.

Relationships – God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Right from the dawn of civilisation we read in the first book in the Bible that there was a relationship with God the Father and one other…

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Have you ever wondered what God thinks about taxes; when man’s tax system was instituted and why; whether we ought to pay taxes today; and whether there will be taxes in the Millennium?

To be clear, we need to distinguish between tithe contributions—money which belongs to God—and taxes—money which belongs to Caesar. As we explain in our booklet on tithing, titled, “Tithing-Today?” the first time tithing is mentioned specifically is when Abraham gave the tithe from everything to Melchizedek (Jesus Christ manifesting Himself as a human being). We can see from the context that tithing was in force already prior to this event, and that Abraham followed a practice with which he was familiar. Later, we find that Jacob spoke about giving a tithe to God.

In the New Testament, it is clarified that tithing is still in force and effect today. In the book of Hebrews, we read that the tithe, which was temporarily given to Levi, reverted back to Christ who had received the tithe long before Levi was born. God challenges us in the book of Malachi to pay Him His tithe, and He says that we defraud Him, if we do not do this; and Malachi wrote…

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Some Scriptures appear to indicate that God can forget at times.

We read passages like Exodus 2:24-25: “So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”  At first thought, it looks like God had, for a time, forgotten the children of Israel and finally realised that they needed help, but is this so?

First of all, what was the covenant that God remembered? A covenant with Abraham or Abram was first mentioned in Genesis 15:18, where we read: “On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.”

A second covenant between God and Abraham (Abram) is mentioned in Genesis 17, beginning in verse 1. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying: ‘As for Me, behold,…

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1 Timothy 4:8 is rendered, as follows, in the New King James Bible:

“For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

The Authorized Version says: “For bodily exercise profiteth little.”

Commentaries are divided as to the exact meaning of this verse, as is also reflected in the way it is being translated. For example, the Greek states, as explained by some: “… profiteth to (but) a small extent.”

The New American Standard Bible states: “for bodily training is just slightly beneficial.” Weymouth New Testament reads: “Train yourself in godliness. Exercise for the body is not useless, but godliness is useful in every respect.”

The German Luther Bible says: “…does not help much” or “is of little use.” The Menge Bible reads: “… brings only little benefit.”

Barnes Notes on the Bible states: “The apostle does not mean to say that bodily exercise is in itself improper, or that no advantage can be derived from it in the preservation of health.” He also stated that an alternate reading would be: “For bodily exercise profits for a little while,” explaining:

“The Greek will admit of either interpretation [“profits a…

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