Tradition must give way to the clear statements of the Scripture

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  1 Cor. 15:56 .Yet death for Paul is not just an intrusion; in some sense it is also an intruder, a personal and cosmic, power who demonically reigns in this age (Rom.5:14, 17; cf. 1 Cor 15:25–26). In this respect it is like sin; indeed, death is the manifestation of sin’s reign (Rom.5:21). Here, of course, we see Paul employing the mythological language of apocalyptic to characterize a biological and ethical phenomenon as a cosmological tyrant. To summarize, in the space of a relatively brief passage, Paul’s understanding of death exhibits the blending of no fewer than four different shades of meaning: death as the consequence and concomitant of sin, as a means of sacrificial atonement, as an intrusion into the order designed by God, and as an intruder that tyrannizes the present age. This comparison affords Paul the opportunity to speak of the release of the Christian from the law by th...

  I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.  But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any  so-called brother  if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person , or an idolater, or is verbally abusive , or habitually drunk, or a swindler —not even to eat with such a person. For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?  But those who are outside, God judges.  1 Cor. 5:9–13 NASB.2020 cf. (Rom. 13:3, 4) The punishments that the church applies in this connection are purely spiritual. They do not and may not consist in fines, corporal punishment, branding, torture, imprisonment, deprivation of honor, banishment, the death penalty, and so forth, as Rome claims; nor in the dissolution of family, c...

Apostles’ Council Apostles’ Council The main topic of the Apostles’ Council was whether circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses were necessary for believers. Meanwhile at Jerusalem some years passed away before the barrier of Judaism was assailed. The Apostles still observed the Mosaic ritual ; they still confined their preaching to Jews by birth , or Jews by adoption, the proselytes of the covenant. At length a breach was made, and the assailants as might be expected were Hellenists. Appointment of Hellenist Officers The first step towards the creation of an organized ministry was also the first step towards the emancipation of the Church.  The Jews of Judea, ‘Hebrews of the Hebrews,’ had ever regarded their Hellenist brethren with suspicion and distrust; and this estrangement reproduced itself in the Christian Church. The interests of the Hellenist widows had been neglected in the daily distribution of alms. Hence ‘arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrew...