On Ezekiel 47:11

QUESTION: Explain Ezek. 47:11, "But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt."

ANSWER:  The stream of water is emblematic of the life-giving power of Christianity which vitalizes all the free agents who accept it represented by fishes, but leaves in a worthless condition those who persist in rejecting it, namely, the Gospel-hardened sinners and the "many" merely nominal Christians who take Christ's name but reject his meek and lowly spirit spoken of as "Ye that work iniquity," in Matt. 7:22, 23. The permanency of their lost estate is indicated by the salt which is an emblem here of perpetual desolation, because nothing can live and grow in salt.

— Steele's Answers p. 174.

On Methodist Doctrinal Standards

QUESTION: What are the doctrinal standards of the Methodist Episcopal Church?

ANSWER: For the laity the twenty-five Articles of Religion found, in the Discipline. For ministers, in addition to these, the Notes of Wesley on the New Testament and his first volume of sermons, American edition, comprised in the first two of the English editions. But some writers, such as Nathan Bangs and Abel Stevens, insist that the standard for the ministry is the same as that of the laity. Over this point there is a contention. The books named are the only standard of the English Wesleyan Church, and they were the only one for the American Methodists till their organization in 1784, when Wesley sent the Articles to be, as some say, in addition to the former standard, but others say they are a substitute for it. Some future general conference setting as a Supreme Court must decide.

— Steele's Answers p. 173, 174.

When Was Peter Converted?

QUESTION: Explain "When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren." (2) Was Peter converted before the crucifixion of Christ?

ANSWER: To be converted is to be turned back from the course one is pursuing. Peter in a few hours would be in the way of apostasy, when by divine grace, the grace of repentance, which accompanied the sorrowful look of Jesus, he would be turned back to loyalty and love to his Master. (2) Peter became a disciple of Christ, a Christian, when he left all and followed him. By his apostasy he lost justifying faith, but not the faith of conviction and penitence. As a backslider he needed to be restored and was restored, within a few hours after his fall.

— Steele's Answers p. 173.

Joining Orders Just to Get Insurance

QUESTION: Can a Christian man rightfully join several orders just to get insurance, absenting himself from the meetings?

ANSWER:  In the long run there will be no financial gain in so doing. Better put your savings in the savings bank, after giving the Lord his share.

— Steele's Answers p. 172.

Tithing?

QUESTION: Ought one to give a tenth of his income to the Lord?

ANSWER: Much more would be given to him, if all Christians should adopt the practice of systematic giving. The New Testament fixes no other ratio than this: "As God has prospered him" (I Cor. 16:2). By this rule some ought to give their two mites or one mite or nothing at all.

— Steele's Answers p. 172.

Immortality of the Soul

QUESTION: A neighbor denies "the immortality of the soul," saying that there is no such a phrase in the Bible; that after death the wicked will have a chance to repent, and if they do not repent, they will be annihilated. How is this?

ANSWER: The doctrine of the eternal existence of the wicked is found in all those passages which speak of their endless punishment in plain terms, as in Matt. 25:46, or under the imagery of "unquenchable fire" (Matt. 8:12). "Smoke of their torment ascending forever and ever" (Rev. 14:11); "the false prophet tormented day and night forever and ever" (Rev. 20:10); "eternal sin" (Mark 8:29, Revision); "eternal fire" (Matt. 25:41). There is no Scripture in proof that repentance after death is possible. The idea that God will ever annihilate a free moral agent is nowhere found in the Bible. If that is the way to secure a holy universe, God would have annihilated the devil long ago.

— Steele's Answers p. 171, 172.

Life Insurance

QUESTION: Is it right for a sanctified person to carry life insurance?

ANSWER: I fail to see anything sinful in it. Like fire insurance, it is a device by which men help one another, the long-lived help those dependent on the short-lived, the widow and the fatherless. In this way, "the strong bear the burdens of the weak," though not in the form that Paul intended. I do not think that he would have condemned it.

— Steele's Answers p. 171.

Irresistible Conversions?

QUESTION: Does God irresistibly convert men temporarily, suspending the free will for that purpose?

ANSWER: Never either in this world nor in that to come will he turn a free agent into a machine in order to save him. This doctrine leads to universalism, for if God, who is no respecter of persons, saves one sinner in that way, justice requires that he should save all in the same way, whether men or devils. Moreover, it implies the crude notion that the moral realm is the appropriate sphere of physical omnipotence. It also involves the marring of God's image in man by God himself, for moral freedom is the very center of man's likeness to his Creator. Man creates his own character, which in God's estimate is worth more than the whole material universe. He has the assistance of Divine grace, as a moral suasive, but not as a determining force. Saving faith is a graciously aided human act, not an irresistible grace — one of the five points of Calvinism. "Salvation through faith is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," is the meaning of Eph. 2:8, as every Greek scholar will say. See the exegetes.

— Steele's Answers p. 170, 171.

Will We Know People in Heaven? (Part 2)

QUESTION: In your recent answer to the question relating to knowing one another in the future world, you said there are texts from which an affirmative answer could be inferred, quoting Paul's words in Col. 1:28, "that we may present every man perfect in Christ." Are there any other texts of this kind?

ANSWER: Yes, II Cor. 4:14, "knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you." Here the apostle expects to recognize his converts, as also in chap. 11:2, "that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ." In Luke 16:9, Christ exhorts us to make, by a benevolent use of our money, friends, who, dying before we do, "may receive us into everlasting habitations." Here the beneficiaries are represented as on the lookout for their benefactors whom they recognize and welcome to heavenly mansions.

— Steele's Answers p. 170.

An Encouragement to Seekers of Joy

Let no one throw away his Christian experience because it is not joyful. This is what the adversary of your soul desires. Are you a servant of God, fearing him and working righteousness? Thank God and ask him to adopt you as a son. Are you adopted and have the witness of the Spirit now and then? Ask for the abiding witness. Are your peace and joy interrupted and variable? Ask in faith for the indwelling Paraclete in the plenitude of his grace. Take large views of God's mercy and benevolent purpose toward you in this life.

Let Paul's cumulative phrases in the ascription at the end of his wonderfully comprehensive prayer inspire you to ask for large things, even to be filled with all the fulness of God: "Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." This power is the personal Holy Spirit, the fountain of supreme joy through the inspiration of supreme love. Get an enlarged view of God's love as the ground of a larger faith. To this end study not only the Bible but the Christian poets. Let this spark from C. Wesley's glowing fire enkindle your soul: