Question: Does 1 Tim.3 teach that deacons/pastors/bishops/ministers must be married, and must not practice polygamy?
Answer: No, these verses do not teach that a leader/pastor/deacon/bishop must be married or not practice polygamy.
Who wrote these verses? Paul did. Yet he was single. See 1 Cor.7:7 where Paul is teaching that his recommendation is that men remain single as he was, because single men could focus on the ministry better, instead of being distracted by wives. So it would not make any sense for Paul who is single and recommends that ministers be single, would command that ministers be married. Also, Timothy was also single. So it's impossible for Paul to be commanding or recommending that leaders be married.
The context of 1 Tim.3 is that leaders/ministers should be the type/kind of men who are good men, who if they are married, that they would be able to maintain their marriage and not be the type/kind of man who is constantly getting a divorce and remarried over and over.
If Paul meant that leaders must be married, he would have explained why leaders must be married, but he didn't. If Paul meant that leaders must not practice polygamy, he would have explained why, but he did not do so. Instead, he meant that men should not be the type of person to argue, fight & get divorced. He explained that leaders should not be brawlers (trouble makers) & should be good leaders. Being single or practicing polygamy has nothing to do with the context. The context is very clear that it's saying that the men should be good men, not bad men.
The Greek word for "one" in 1 Tim.3:12 can be translated as "first" and is sometimes translated as such. The correct translation must be determined by the context. Since the context has nothing to do with polygamy, then it's wrong to translate it as "one". The context demands that it be translated as "first", meaning that the man should still be married to the first woman that he married instead of being a man who is wrongfully divorced over and over.
To learn more about biblical polygamy, please click here.
Question: What's your stand on vaccines?
Answer: It is best to avoid vaccinations if at all possible, since we know that they are not always the best option for our health and possibly could be dangerous to our health. But we must also obey the law. If the law allows by an exception or way out, we should seek to take that legal way of avoiding vaccinations. But if it is not possible to avoid, then we must submit to the law and trust Jesus for divine protection.
Q. The Greek Septuagint of Exo.3:14 has the name of God as "EGO EIMI HO ON". What does that mean?
A. EHJEH ASHER EHJEH is the original Hebrew words in Exo.3:14.
EGO EIMI HO ON is the Greek words/translation for the same phrase in the same verse.
Therefore they mean the same thing: "I am JEH the beginning, currently self-existing, and eternally existing, JEH". (The h is silent so it's pronounced JE/G, the same sound in Jesus.)
Greek is actually true Hebrew. But the language did undergo many changes over the thousands of years from the time of Exodus until 300-100 A.D. Therefore we do not see the exact same letters. But it still means the same thing. The words are not 100% identical in translation because even the way words are phrased changed, not just the letters. For one thing, the writers of the Greek Septuagint refused to write the true original name of "Jesus". Supposedly they thought that it was too Holy to write or pronounce. They had this way of thinking because it had been illegal to write or pronounce His true name during the captivities under the Assyrian & Babylonian empires. Their descendants thus were taught by the pagans that the name was never to be written or pronounced. Even after the captivity was over, they continued that practice, having forgotten why/how that custom came to be. They forgot how that the Assyrians changed their language. Even as most Mexicans today forget the lesson of history, that Spanish is not their native tongue. Therefore the LXX leaves out JEH/JE in this verse and leaves out "Jesus" in all verses. But in this verse, they write a Greek phrase that has the same meaning of "I am JE, the beginning, currently self existing, and eternally existing, JE".
This is the meaning of both the original Hebrew and the LXX Greek:
"I am JEH the beginning, currently self-existing, and eternally existing, JEH".
To say only "I AM, I AM", would be to deny that He still exists both now and in the future. I AM is only present. But the phrase must mean the same as "the first and the last", and "the beginning and the end" and "the Alpha & the Omega". All of these phrases are different ways of saying the same thing as Exo.3:14 which must include pass, present and future. (Eternity). JE is short for JESUS. His full name is JESUS.
See article: What Is The Name of God?
Question: Is it a sin to be transgender?
Answer: If a person is born with both male & female body parts, the person cannot do anything to sin concerning their gender. This is very rare. They are innocent & have not committed transgression against the Law of God. They cannot prevent what their body looks like. Only that person knows whether they can have sex with male or female and we cannot judge. We can welcome such people as followers of Jesus if they repent of all sin & keep the commandments. We cannot say that they are guilty of homosexuality if they were born with both body parts.
But if a person is not born with both gender body parts, then they are either male or female. They are not both. Their mental gender must match their physical gender. But people learn how to behave/act by their surroundings such as dad, mom, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, friends, television, magazines, radio, music and books. People learn how to be more masculine or feminine.
People who claim to be transgender but were not born with both body parts are sexually immature. They are confused. They have spiritual, emotional & mental problems. Usually this is because of over controlling mother, weak dad, absent dad, divorce or molesting at young age. And as I said previously, music, television and society influence our thinking. Most "transgender" people have made decisions to transgress the law of God. They are not true transgender. They are sinners. They must repent and accept only the gender that they were born with. If they were born with penis, they are male. If they did not have penis, they are female. It's that simple. To have sex with a person of the same sex is sin. To dress like the opposite sex is sin. To act like the opposite sex is sin. To have a surgery to gain penis or to lose penis is sin. We are not God and we have no right to change our body parts.
Question: What was the purpose of Earth and the universe before Satan's rebellion? What was the purpose of dinosaurs and why did God create humans after Satan's rebellion?
Answer: The reason that Jesus created the universe, Earth, animals, angels and mankind is that He wanted companionship and love. He was all alone. There was no one else.
Being perfect, He knew that if he created anything that would live, that living creatures would not be as perfect as Himself. And of course if He created any living creatures that could give him love or companionship, that they needed a physical place to live. So He created the universe and Earth and all planets and solar systems for the angels and dinosaurs. But then the devil and a third of the angels rebelled against Him. They were very stupid to think that Jesus wasn't perfect, right, fair, righteous and good. The war between the good and bad angels and God and the devil resulted in the destruction of much of the universe including the ice age that killed the dinosaurs. Millions/billions of years passed and Jesus decided that He wanted to created an even better creation that could love Him better and more. He would need to plan on mixing his own being/person/soul with the blood of this new creature/man so that we can be blood related and closer and more perfect and more in love. So He recreated the Earth and created mankind. From the beginning of this, He always planned to come in the flesh and die for us.
In our salvational process, we are to become perfect. We will never be turned to spirit until we are perfect, meaning without any sin. If we could become perfect in just only a few years, we wouldn't need to be baptized. We would just be turned to spirit instead. But we must be baptized to become perfect and yet still must continue to this salvational and perfectional process until Jesus comes. None of us will be perfect until the final last days and weeks of this generation.
We must become perfect before being turned to spirit so that after we are turned to spirit that we would not end up like the rebellious angels. He doesn't want a repeat of what happened with the angels. So He created humans in the flesh first so that we could more effectively learn our lessons before being turned to spirit. In this way, we are going to become more perfect than the angels. And the bible even says that we shall judge the angels.
His ultimate goal is Paradise, full of love, peace, righteousness, and light, with no darkness or sin or evil. Every piece of the puzzle had to be created, each one in its own order. The purpose of the dinosaurs was not just love and companionship, sort of like pets, but also to be the precursor to modern animals. He was able to see the end from the beginning. And thus, created the ancient creations to eventually be remodeled for the modern creation, to eventually be transformed into the future creation. Each step with the common goal of future Paradise for Himself and for us.
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