Central Church - Who We Are

Question: Will there be degrees of punishment in the lake of fire acording to a person's deeds?

Answer: I believe there will be. Here is the line of evidence. When Jesus addressed the unrepentant cities of Korazin and Bethsaida (Matthew 11:20-24), he told them that if the miracles he performed among them had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented. He then says, "It will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you" (v.22). In what way will it be more tolerable? It seems that he is predicting a more severe judgment for the inhabitants of Korazin and Bethsaida because they had a more clear revelation of the truth through the miracles of Jesus.

When we come to Revelation 20 and the Great White Throne Judgment of unbelievers by Christ, we're told that one of the books out of which they will be judged is the book of life and the other is of "what they had done" (v.12). Then we're told that "each person was judged according to what he had done" (v.13) and that anyone who's name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the Lake of Fire. A person's name will be missing from the book of life because they have not believed in Jesus. But their degree of punishment will be determined by what they have done.

This seems quite reasonable. We would not expect that a mass murderer who never repented and trusted in Christ should have the same punishment as a young boy who was kind and generous but who never received Christ as savior. Granted, each of them rejected the truth about Christ and was in rebellion against God. But the one did much more harm to others and damage to his own soul. Hitler or Idi Amin should receive a more severe penalty in the lake of fire than Ghandi. Each provided either an outright evil form of leadership or a peaceful form of leadership. The examples could go on and on.

This also fits with the idea that believers will receive different rewards in heaven based on their faithfulness to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Each one gets there only on the merit of Christ and on the basis of His sacrifice in their place, but each is also treated according to his or her level of obedience. This is why Paul can say in Romans 2:6-8,

God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

I cannot say how to describe the difference in punishment in the lake of fire. But God knows how to justly punish and reward all people based on His infinite knowledge of all their thoughts and behavior. He will do what is right.

Randall Johnson

Question: In Matthew 2, right after the visit from the Magi, an angel of the Lord appeared in verse 13 and instructed Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt for their lives were in danger. In verse 14 the text says they got up and left immediately. In the Luke 2, the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see what the angel told them regarding the birth of Jesus. Then verses 21-23 describe Jesus being taken to Jerusalem to be circumcised on the 8th day. These two passages seem to contradict each other.

Answer: Luke was undoubtedly aware of all that Matthew's gospel contained because both knew the accounts of Jesus' history which were the basis of their gospels. Each, however, chose different portions of those accounts to include in their gospels based on the audiences and purposes they had been given to communicate with.

When the Magi visit Jesus he and his family are living in a house. Herod has found out from the Magi when they had seen the star and orders all boys 2 years and under killed. This is likely because Jesus is over a year old at this time. In other words, after Jesus is taken to the Temple in Jerusalem by his parents to be dedicated, they return to Bethlehem and eventually find work and a house to live in. Later the Magi come and the events of Matthew 2 take place.

This means that Luke only records the first few weeks of Jesus' life in his birth account and then he glides over the Egypt stay. What he says is not inaccurate but abbreviated. Matthew has the most detail and covers the most time of Jesus' early childhood up to his return to Nazareth with his parents. Only Luke, of course, includes the account of Jesus around age 12 where he visits Jerusalem with his parents for Passover and remains behind discussing doctrine with the teachers of the law. Matthew does not include that incident because it does not fit his purpose.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all seem to be drawing from the same body of material but make different uses of the material and include or exclude different portions of it as suits their purposes. So sometimes, for example, one will speak of two blind men being healed, while the other will only mention one of them. The latter is not being inaccurate but only focusing on the one that matters to him in terms of his purpose.

Randall Johnson

Question: I can not find anything in my bible study relating what is proper in burial of the believer. Would cremation be allowed bibically? Is there anything in the Bible that would forbid it? This is a question that weighs heavy on my heart.

Answer: You are right that the Bible does not say anything for or against cremation. Because in the time of the early church it was a common pagan custom to cremate, the church at first only buried the dead. Because we believe the body is important, and will be resurrected because it is so important, we believe it should not be viewed as a useless appendage to be done away with at death.

But both burial and cremation can be done with this perspective in mind. Based upon how long a body remains in a grave, it will be reduced to basic elements. Those who have been buried at sea have perhaps eventually become food for marine animals and their DNA spread all over creation. Neither burial nor cremation really preserves the body in any permanent way.

So a respectful ceremony acknowledging the meaning of death and the hope of resurrection can be done for a burial and for a cremation and God will be honored. I am personally considering either donating my body to a school to help medical students or being cremated as a way of saving expense for my family and with a full acknowledgement that it will take just as much of a miracle to resurrect my body as it will for the person buried at sea. God is able to accomplish this.

Randall Johnson

Question: Currently we are studying the Sermon on the Mt. The question arose as to why Jesus said truly I say to you. I know in the KJV the actual word was verily, but why that word?

Answer: The word is from the Hebrew and is literally "amen," but when used at the beginning of a statement as Jesus does, it can be translated "truly." Jesus is the only one who uses it this way in the New Testament. The writer of the article in the Dictionary of New Testament Theology said, "By introducing his words with amen Jesus labeled them as certain and reliable. He stood by them and made them binding on himself and his hearers. They are an expression of his majesty and authority."

Jesus often makes such statements, as he does in the Sermon on the Mount, as contrasts with the way the Law of Moses has been typically interpreted. Consequently he is setting up his interpretation as authoritative over against the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees.

Plummer writes, "He is evidently conscious of possessing this supreme authority, and it manifests itself quite naturally, not in studied phrases, but as the spontaneous expression of His habitual modes of thought. One who knew that He was the Messiah, and was conscious of His own absolute righteousness, would consistently, perhaps we may say, inevitably, speak in some such way as this."

Randall Johnson

Question: Are we doing as Jesus asks when we substitute grape juice for wine, when we have communion with something not fermented? If we are not doing what he wants us to do, why not? What can a half thimble of wine hurt? I am confused and want to be obedient.

Answer: It is refreshing for someone to be so concerned about obeying the Lord. We need to be careful to do that. However, the Scriptures nowhere command what kind of food exactly we are supposed to be eating at the Lord's Supper. Does this mean we should assume that we must each the same meal Jesus and his apostles ate? But we don't know what that was. Do we know how much alcoholic content was in the wine they drank? We don't. Jesus only said that he would not drink of the fruit of the vine until he came again in his kingdom (Matthew 26:29).

Grape juice is fruit of the vine. And we know that for some individuals who have tried to stop drinking alcohol entirely, because otherwise they have a problem obeying the command of God not to get drunk, it seems safer not to have anything with alcoholic content in it. So to obey one command (do not cause your brother to stumble) we are saying no to alcohol at communion. But we are not breaking any command about what we are exactly to drink at communion because Jesus nowhere told us exactly what meal we were supposed to have. Wisdom dictates therefore that we are fine using grape juice and not in any way disobeying the Lord Jesus by doing so.

Randall Johnson

Question: : Are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday all Biblical to follow? I realize Good Friday was our Lord's last supper, but some churches celebrate Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday before Easter and some do not. Just wondering. And if they are Biblical, where are they found in the Scriptures?

Answer: Here are the Wikipedia descriptions of each of the holy days you mentioned:

Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday or Great and Holy Thursday), is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, and is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday. On this day four events are commemorated: the washing of the Disciples' Feet by Jesus Christ, the institution of the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot.

Good Friday, also called Holy Friday, Great Friday or Black Friday, is a religious holiday observed primarily by adherents to Christianity commemorating the Crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Golgotha, an event central to Christian theology. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and often coincides with the Jewish observance of Passover. Based on the scriptural details of the Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus, the Crucifixion of Jesus was most probably on a Friday. The exact year of Good Friday has been estimated as AD 33, by two different groups.

Holy Saturday is a day of silence and prayer which commemorates the dead Christ in the tomb. No Mass is celebrated. In some Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, there is provision for a simple liturgy of the word with readings commemorating the burial of Christ.

Of course these traditions are rooted in the centuries long observances by the church prior to the Reformation. Though many Protestant churches after the Reformation (AD 1500) continued to keep these traditions, others began to alter their traditions fearing a slavish and perhaps dangerous similarity to the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church practices.

There is nothing Biblical telling us to observe any of these days, though we are told by Jesus to remember him often through the Lord's Supper, but our historically based faith tells us that these were real events that really affected our salvation and so there is every reason to celebrate them if we choose. We are not obligated to observe them, but there is a richness to our history as the Body of Christ that we can affirm and utilize as spiritual disciplines to draw us closer to Christ.

Randall Johnson

Question: : I am doing the Lay Counseling Study and I am also doing a study on boundaries by Henry Cloud. The boundaries book and videos seem to sound selfish. When I go back to the Bible I don't really see a lot that encourages saying no to others. You would think sometimes you have to say no to helping people. Any way I'm confused, could you enlighten me with any knowledge of this area that you may have?

Answer: John 11: 1Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." 4When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." 5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

Mark 1: 35Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" 38Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else-to the nearby villages-so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39So he traveled throughout Galilee , preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

It seems to me that Jesus gives us the right perspective on this issue. NO ONE had more people asking him to help them than Jesus. But he did not always yield to that plea. In the case of Lazarus, he decided not to go immediately while Lazarus was sick, but went only after he died. He had a leading from the Holy Spirit that he was to wait. Sometimes we yield to someone's request for us to help them without listening to the Lord. Perhaps He has another purpose that we cannot as yet discern. Sometimes we can see that it is beneficial not to give way to someone's request because it will compromise our ministry (e.g., a man being asked by a woman to come to her house alone).

In the second passage above Jesus refuses to minister to the people where he is because he needed to get apart from the crowds to spend time with God and he had a bigger purpose to fulfill, going to other villages that needed his ministry. Knowing our limitations (calling, gifting, etc.) can help us determine our boundaries. If I want to help someone who has made a mess of their finances and they ask me for help, I'm going to refer them to someone who can help them better than me. If I am beginning to minister to people out of my own resources, I'm going to get away in order to be refreshed by God and reminded that only He can really help people.

Philippians 2:4 says, "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." In looking out for the interests of others it does not mean that we don't look out for our interests at all. The concept of boundaries should be understood as ways to actually help others rather than enable them (which is then not really serving them at all but allowing them to continue in sinful behavior patterns) and to protect ourselves from ministering in ways that don't actually help others (when I am too tired, too focused on myself, too out of touch with God). I remember once getting a request to counsel someone and feeling at the time that I was so overwhelmed with counseling that I couldn't do the job I had been asked by leadership to do. I told him no. I wish now that I had asked for time to pray about it first. I know it hurt his feelings. But I was also on overload and obviously not drawing from God's resources on this matter. I needed to step back in some way and recharge.

Randall Johnson

Question: : What happens to people who have never heard the gospel? Do they go to hell?

Answer: Romans 1:18-20 indicates that there is no one who has not known about God. From what He has created the truth about who He is has been "clearly seen" so that no one has an "excuse." God has made the truth "plain" to everyone but people "suppress the truth by their wickedness."

This seems to indicate that every human being has had a witness to the truth about God and that every human being should have submitted his or her life to God, but instead has, according to the verses that follow, 21-23, devised some other form of worship and "exchanged the glory of the immortal God" for some version of God created by their own foolish and darkened hearts.

So even if someone has not heard the gospel, they have received testimony of who the true God is and have rejected it. They have claimed to be atheists or have adopted some form of religion that is not the truth. "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven" against them, and we may thus suppose that at the judgment they will not be allowed into heaven. Jesus even described people who would stand in the judgment and say that they had lived their lives in the name of Jesus but whom he did not know and whom he would require to depart from him (Matthew 7:22,23).

However, if someone were to respond to the witness in creation about who God is and sought a true relationship with Him, God has shown that He will go to any length to bring the gospel message to them. We see examples of this in the book of Acts. In chapter 10 God sends an angel to Cornelius, a Gentile man who had embraced the teachings of Judaism, to tell him to send for Peter so Peter could enlighten him further about the gospel and how to have a relationship with God. Then God gave Peter a vision that convinced him to go with Cornelius' representatives. Peter preached to Cornelius and his household and they all received Jesus Christ.

In chapter 19 Paul comes across several "disciples" of John the Baptist who had apparently left Israel and moved to Ephesus before they were introduced to Jesus. Paul shares the rest of the story with them and they are saved and baptized.

We have heard many testimonies of Muslims who have had dreams about Jesus and been moved to seek out a Christian witness or to read the Bible and have become followers of Jesus Christ. We have had missionaries who have gone to tribal peoples and found them receptive to the gospel because they had received a prophecy from among their own people to expect someone bearing this message of salvation.

There is some mystery as to why someone would respond to the truth they have and others would not. This is where the issue of divine election is often brought into the discussion. But regardless of what role that plays we are told by Peter that "God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right" (Acts 10:34,35). Our loving and just God will never reject someone who truly wants to know the truth, but will see to it that the truth is made clear to him or her.

Randall Johnson

Question: : How are the Old Testament heroes in heaven? Who paid for King David's sin and, if his sin was paid for somehow, can a good man in Africa who has never heard the Gospel also be in heaven?

Answer: Please read the article right before this one. That will give you perspective on part of this question. For the rest, people mentioned in the Old Testament (heroes and non-heroes included) who believed the promise of God as it had been revealed to that point, were saved by the grace of God and their sins forgiven based on the anticipated atonement of Jesus Christ. Though they may have sacrificed an animal for their sin as God commanded, they were meant to realize that no animal can fairly be a substitute for my sin. Only I or another human being can die (or die in my place) for my sins (Hebrews 9:6-14).

Paul tells us in Romans 3:25-26 that God gave Jesus as an atoning sacrifice to demonstrate His justice in passing over sins committed previous to the coming of Christ. The forgiveness He was offering saints before the coming of Christ was based in the sacrifice Christ would make, so that God was just in forgiving sin before that. But each of those who were forgiven were believers. They were responding to the revelation God had given up to that point, whether the promise as it was stated in Genesis 3:15 or 12:1-3. The content of the promise was always being added to and expanded. But faith in that promise of God was always the means to receiving God's salvation.

Today, the promise includes Jesus as the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5-6). We must come through him now, must believe in him as God's provision for forgiveness.

Randall Johnson

Question: : A few weeks ago a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses came by the house. I have had one meeting with them. I don't have very much material on them other than the Josh McDowell and Don Stewart's Handbook of Today's Religions. Do you have any material where I could ask them some biblically sound questions that would cause them to see their organization/religion in a different light? I have already told them of my faith and trust in Jesus Christ and in His death, burial, and resurrection. Do I need to discontinue meeting with these guys, am I wasting my time? Because they can't influence me and I most likely can't influence them.

Answer: I have come to the conclusion that attempting to argue with them from a purely doctrinal stance is likely to produce exactly the stand off that you described. I believe what alone will suffice to make an impact in someone's life is genuine friendship. That means getting to know someone on a personal basis, not just a doctrinal basis. What are their personal concerns, who is their family, how do they need a neighbor's help, what problems are they facing that I have insight into, what problems am I facing that they have insight into, what is the real hope or lack of hope they experience, are their hearts wrenched with fear over whether they will have God's approval, etc. This situation is somewhat artificial because the JW has not necessarily come from your neighborhood and you would have no relationship with them otherwise. But it is possible that if they are willing to come on a week to week basis and really enter into relationship with you that you might have a chance to develop this friendship that might lead to their being willing to trust that you might have answers to life's bigger questions.

What you don't know about JW's you can always find out by asking them questions. And ask them how they feel about what they believe. If they believe that they cannot receive blood transfusions, how does that make them feel in an emergency situation? Are they scared? Does this only serve to activate their faith? Even if their faith is wrongly placed it might be commendable from the standpoint of trusting God despite what appears to be a hopeless situation. Aren't we called to have that kind of faith? You will learn a lot in this fashion if you can suspend judgment on what they believe until you have fully understood it and your probing questions might help them to reconsider it and actually want to know what you believe. You will also undoubtedly be required to do some study to figure out why you believe what you believe.

I am attaching a correspondence I carried on with a JW relative of a member of our congregation. I did it in the exactly wrong way of keeping it doctrinal and eventually gave up. But it will help clarify one issue for you, i.e., the JW view of the trinity and Jesus' deity.

Randall Johnson