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iltuo]tsD0oTKltowWHATHRrsTEAttvUAsShocking hough t is, millionsof sincere believersare de-ceived by a diabolicaldeception. WasChristhuman,or di-vine?Read he truthabout hisvitalsubjecthat haspuzzledmillions.Seepage 1.ISJESUSOD?What s the real answer?s JesusGod? s He the sameasJehovah? s there more than one God?Hereyou will findGod's answer-from Hisown Word-as revealed n yourBible. Seepage 5.---orEtrPs BL00DYoursins-and your sins alone-made Christ's death anabsolute necessity.Se page 8.DID HRISTAYEROTHERS]ID ISTERS?What s meant n the HolyScriptureby "his brethren" and"his sisters"?WasMarythemotherof othersonsand alsodaughters?Seepage 10.WHAT ASTLIKE OBETIIEBROTIIERF ESUS?Purespeculation?No There s a Biblicalaccount of a manwhoactually was Christ's brother. Seepage 12.

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Millions onotKnowWhatChristReallyWasShocking though it is, Millions of sincere believers are deceived bya diabolical deception. ANTICHRISTS HEREALREADYPerhapsYOUhave been misled Was Christ human, or Divine?Read theTRUTHabout this vital subiect that haspuzzled millions. Your verySALVATIONdepends upon it

Ia EAL "Utopia" is Trrsl aroundl{ the corner. God is soon goingr- \-16 inten'ene in world affairsand s.rvr this world from itself.Prophecl foretells t. World eventsshow t is coming. Many of vou willsee t with your own eyes.While most peopleseem o want toscoff at the idea that their Creatorhaspower to intervene n human af-

fairs, nevertheless God's propheticmessages ontinue to be fulfi l led.Now we are swiftly reaching thepoint where the world's only hopewill be the intervention f God to nn-oeelt misguidedhumanity from th ehorrible result of their wrong ways.God alone has power to sAvE manfrom the inevitable esultof competi-tion, greed,self shness, nd resultingworld war. God alone has made itpossible or man to be saved rom theresults f stN. For God so Lovrn theworld, hat hecnvE his only begottenSon, hat whosoever el ieveth n himshould not perish, but have everlast-ing l i fe" (John 3:16) .Do we realize what a tremendoussacrificehad to be made o redeem usfrom sin and give us eternal life?God so LovED this world that Hegave His own Son to save t God tsloveCollectively, man is about to reachtheendof his rope.He will finally cometo realizeGod'sgreat ovr when he ssupernaturally saved from world sui-cide. And ndividually, weneed o real-ly understandjust How God hasmadeit possibleor us to be spared rom thepenaltyof our wrong ways.

by HerbertW ArmstrongUnusualProblem. The problem fjust lox'God ordainedhat he pen-altl' of humansin bepaid s one hathaspuzzled heologiansor genera-tions. In fact. it was the basis ormanl' of the early heresies fter thetime of the apostles.This subject equires lear think-ing and a willingnesso be correctedand reproved y the Word of God--our only'infalliblc sourccof informa-tion. We must be careful o considerell the scriptureson this subject,and realize hat one scripture annotbe used to contradictanother-forGoddoes ot contradictHimself,andas Jesus aid, The scripturecannolbe broken" John 0:35).First of all,we need o understandthat he reward fsin, thepenalty orgoing the wrong way, is DEATH.God's nspiredWord says: For thewages f sin s death;but theS{t ofGod is eternal /r/e through JesusChristour Lord" (Rom.6:23).WhenJesusookour sinsHe paidthe penaltywe have ncurred-noteternal ife in hell-fire,but oplrH."Christ died foroursinsaccordingothescriptures"l Cor. 5:3).But if Jesuswereonly human Hislife would pay the deathpenalty oronly oNE other person.No one fta-man beingcould savemankind.Thefull penalty or everyone'sins austbepaidYet God alonecould nor of Him-self pay the penalty or man's sins.The penalty s the forfei ting of hu-man life-not animal or any otherkind of life. And God, as the source

@1955Worldwide Church of GodAll Rights Reserved

of all life and the One who has lifewithin himself, and is a spirit being,cannot dre (John 5:26; I I Cor.4: 8) .Therefore it was absolutelynecessary that there be One who was bothhuman and divine.Christ Was Divine. In order to paythe penalty for your sins and mine, itwas necessary hat Christ be Di -vine-that His life be worth all ourhuman lives put together.Man does not have life inherentwithin himself. He hasonly a chemi-cal existence which soon ends. AsGod told Adam after his sin: "Fordust thou art, and unto dust shaltthou return" (Gen. 3:19).Then Goddrove man out of the gardenof Eden,"lest he put forth his hand, and takealso of the tree of life. and eat. andlive for ever" (verses 22-24). So wesee that Adam had no eternal lifewhatsoever inherent wi thin him-self-and God did not permit him toattain it at that time.The New Testament also showsclearly that man has no eternal lifeinherentwithin himself. One exam-ple is this inspired statementof John:"Whosoever hateth his brother is amurderer: and ye know that no mur-derer hath eternal life abiding inhim" ( l John 3: 5) .God alone has and can give eter-nal life. "For as the Father hath lifein himself; so hath he given to theSon to have life in himself' (John5:26). Again we read of Christ: '?nhim was lrrn: and the life was thelight of men" (John l:4). Jesus old

I

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Martha, "I am the resurrection,ndthe life: he that believeth in me,though he were dead,yet shall helive" (John ll:25). Paul describedChrist as the One "Who only hathimmortality, dwelling in the lightwhich no man can approach nto"( I Tim. 6:16).If Christ were only human, Hecouldhavesaved ut one other hu-man, and giveneternal life to none.To do this requiredGod-the life andpowerof the Creator.Christ s Creator.InJohn :l-2, weread that Christ-the Word orSpokesman-waswith God the Fa-ther in the beginning."All thingsweremadeby him (Christ)" (verse3). Paulwroteof Christ: For by himwere all things created, hat are inheaven, nd that are n earth" (Col.1:16).Christ s alsoprovedo be heOnewhodid thecreatingn Hebrewsl:8-10.Christ, he llrord, he DivineSpokesman, spake and it wasdone."ThereforeChrist's ife is the ife ofthe Creator God. Paul called Him"God our Saviour" Tit. l:3). Yes, ntheperson f Christ, heveryCreatorbecameour SaviourChrist s our Maker anda memberof the Godhead. herefore,His lifewhich He gave for us is of greatervaluethan he total of a// humanbe-ings.In Hebrews :l-4, we find a de-scriptionof the Onewho was madelike unto the Son of God" and now"abidetha priest.continually"verse3). The entirebookof Hebrews e-veals he presentofficeof Christ asour High Priest.Thisdescription anfit noneother han he Onewhocamein the fleshasJesus he Christ.He s described sbeing, Withoutfather,without mother,without de-scent,having neither beginningofdays, nor end of life" (verse3) .Hence.we see hat He was not the"Son" of God until He wasborn ofthevirgin Mary.Then Christ, the One throughwhom the Father had created theheavens nd he earth, was ranslatedinto leshandbornof a human irgin.Matthew writes that Mary "wasfoundwith child of the Holy Spirit"(Matt. :18).An angelspoke o Joseph ellinghim the child wasconceived f theHoly Spirit and commandinghim:2

"Thou shalt call his name "Iesas[meaningSaviourl: or he shallsavehis people rom their sins" (verse2t).r The narrative ontinues:Now all) this was done, hat it might be ful-filled which wasspoken f the Lordby theprophet, aying,Behold, vir-gin shall be with child, and shallbring forth a son,and hey shallcallhisnameEmmanuel,whichbeing n-terpreteds,Godwith us" (verses2-23).Here we see that even JesusChrist'sname evealedHim both asSaviour, andGod with us-a divinebeingwith us, n the lesi-to slvrus from our sins.Only His life-that of the Cre-ator----could ay the full penaltyofsin for all mankind.JesusWaeAlso Human. n order opay he penaltyof humansin, t wasnot enoughhat Jesuswx Divine.Hemust alsohavebeenhuman.The Bible definitionof sin is this:'Sin is the transgressionf the aw"(I John3:4).God'sspiritual aw wasgiven o man-not theplants, or theanimals,nor the angels.The TenCommandmentsovern he relation-shipbetween en,andbetween anand God. The transgressionf thislaw constitutes in. And, aswe haveseen, he wages, r reward,of sin isdeath (Rom. 6:23). God exacts heforfeitureof human ife as hepenal-ty for sin."For it is not possiblethat theblood of bulls and of goats shouldtake awaysin." (Heb. l0:4). It re-quiredHUMANl-oonChrist, then, must havebeen tz-man n order o pay his penalty.Paul explainsn I Cor. 15:21-22:"For since by man [Adam] camedeath,byman Christ]came lso heresurrection f the dead. For as inAdam all die, even o n Christ shallall bemadealive." Sinceeternal lrnis madepossiblenly by MAN'sesur-rection-and the resurrectiono eter-nal life is madepossibleor all menonly by the resurrectionof /re oNslr,tltt-CHntsr-and since He wasresurrectedrom the dead-there-fore he DEATHf the oNnMAN, esusChrist, was necessaryo pay ueN'spenalty.Adam. the father of the humanrace. ntroduced in into the world.And all of us have uccumbedo it. It

is the human race hat is under hedeathpenalty or sin-and that pen-alty must bepaid-sv nuunx llrnSo since only God has power tosave and give life-and since onlyman canpay he penaltyof sin-theonly possible way to savemankindwas for Yahveh-the "Lord" or"Eternal" of the Old Testament,heOne who executed he creation orGod he Father-to come n the leshZIS A HUMAN-GON bCCOME MAN-anddie for the sinsof the world.Only thus could the penaltyof allhuman sin be paid by one man asSaviour of the world. That life wasthe life of our MlrEn become tu-nanN,or theverypurpose f death-a ife greaterhan he sum-total f allhuman ives Mnnvnlous r'avsrnnvJesus Had HUMAN Nature. Godcame n the flesh as JesusChrist,lived without sin, andthus was ableto die andpaythe full penaltyof sinin our stead.The apostlePaul was nspired owrite: "But when he fullness f thetime was come, God sent forth hisSon,madeof a woman,madeunderthe aw,To nnoEru hem hat wereunder he aw, hat we might receivetheadoptionl sonssonship]"Gal.4:4-5.Christ was made of a woman-born of the virgin Mary. He wasmade "unde1 fhs lsv/"-His verypurposen coming n the human leshwas o take our sins upon Himself,which would put Him "under thefxv,r"-s1dg1 ts penalty,death. Hedid this to redeem all humanitywhich s "under1ls laq,'"-gnder thepenalty of on,'.rs. Jesuswas Goomademortal human lesh, 'for thesufering of death" (Heb. 2:9)-nonTHAT ERY unposnSo Jesus ookhumannatureuPonHimself and was made subject todeath n order o beourSaviour. Healsohimself ikewiseas he childrenare partakersof flesh and blood)took part of thesame"-took on HU-MAN NATURT-becamelesh andblood-"that through death hemightdestroy im thathad hepowerof death, hat is, the devil" (Heb.2:14).As is fully explainedn our freebooklet The ResurrectionWas Noton Sunday, Jesuswas really onlnduring he threedaysandnightsHisbodywas n the grave.He who had

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been one of the personali t iesnGod-n'as changed nto flesh so //ecould otr for our sins.Paulexplains hat Christ: "Beingin the form of God, thought t notrobbery o be reull- with God: Balmade himself of no reputation"-EMprrED imself of His divinegloryandpower-"and took upon him theform of a servant,and wasmade ntie ltreNnss of men. . . and becameobedient ntoDEATH"Phil.2:6-8).When Christ was in the humanflesh,He said: 7 can of mine ownself do NoTHING:s I hear, judge:and my judgment s just; becauseseeknot mineownwill, but the willof the Fatherwhich hath sent me"(John5:30).Jesus ademptiedHim-self of His divineglory andpower.He plainly said he could of Him-self-in His own human strength-do NorHrxc.In John 4:12. esusaid: He thatbelieveth n me. he works hat I doshall he do also; andgreater worksthan theseshall he do; because gounto my Father." Here we see hatanyoutsidehelpandpower hat Jesushad---*oming rom God the Father-we may also have, and may accom-plish greater works through thepowerof the Holy Spirit which Hewent o heaveno send.In living a perfect life, in doinggreatmiracles,Jesusdid Nor haveanyspecial elp rom God he Fatherthat we cannotalso have.Christ, one of the beings n theGodhead, ad nowbex'n hangedntoflesh-still having the personalityand will to do right which distin-guishedHim as an entity-yet nowhad become uman, havingHUMANNATURE ith all of its desires.weak-ness,and zsts-and subject o deathjust like any other human.This is a truth about which nil-lions are oncnrvnnDoctrineof Anti-Christ.The Satan-inspireddoctrine hat Jesuswasnothumanand that He did ,4ot nheritthe sinful natureof Adam. that Hedid not have he normal humanpas-sionsand weaknessesgainstwhichall of us have o struggle-in a word,that Jesus id not reallycome in theflesh" as a normal.human being-this is the doctrine of the Anti-Christ. Notice Romans8:3: "GodsendingHis own Son n the likenessof sinful lesh."

"Every spirit that confesseth otthat JesusChrist s come n the leshrs uor of God:and his is that spiritof anti-christ,whereofye haveheardthat it shouldcome;and venNowalready s it in the world" (I John4:3) .Millions are being aught, n oneform or another,his deception f Sa-tan the Devil Somebelieve hat Je-sushad a "special"kind of blood nHisveins-not containing umanna-ture with all its weaknesses.henthere s the belief Ihat denies he factthat Jesus nherited human naturefrom His mother,Mary. This theorythwarts he meaningof the manyscriptures howinghat ChristJesuscarneas the sonof man-inheritingHis hu-rnannature from a normal.humanmother.Yes. as he scriptures learly state,this Satan-inspiredoctrineof Anti-Christ is "eyen ow" in the world-and some honestand sincerepeopleare beingdeceived y it.Doctrine Exp lained. Now, /rstenlThe underlyingeunrosr of Satan-the Adversary-in formulating thedoctrineof Anti -Christ is this: // isan attempt to deny the act that anormal man-with HUMANNA-ru*n-could, with the help of God'sHoly Spirit which is now accessibleto everyman Acts 0:34-45),ive nperfectobedienceo the LAwor Gooas Jesus Christ did. Again noticeu'sy Christ came n the likeness fsinful flesh:". . . and for sin, con-demned inand he lesh"-Wsv?-"That the righteousness f the lawmight be ulfilled IN us, who walknot after be fesh, ut after heSpir-i t " (Rom.8:3-4).The idea Satan is trying to putacrms s that it is impossible or manto keep he spiritual aw of God, andso Jesusc{rmeursour Saviour-not"in the lesh"with normalhumanna-ture-but through ome special ro-cess" o hatHe couldkeep he awofGod in our stead And thereforewedon't have o keep he SpiritualLaw.What Christ did in our steadwas odie for us But His obedience asournxnuplrThose who believe his doctrineseemtoforge/ hatJesus beyedGodin everyway, "leavingus an EXAM-rlu, that ye should ollow his steps"(I Peter2:21-22), hat Jesus aught,'1p thouwilt enter nto life, keep he

commandments"Matt. l9:17), andthat He said of all mankind: "Manshall not live by bread alone,but byeverywordof God" (Luke 4:4). Weare not only to keep he letter of thelaw,but to follow it as t is magnifiedthroughout he Bible n "everywordof God."As Jesusexplained hroughoutMatthew5, we are o oo and TEACHeven he leastof the commandment(verse 9), andshouldgo far beyondthe scribes nd Phariseesy obeyingeven he spirit, and ntent,of God'sgreal aw of love assummedup in theten commandments.Satan he Devil, hroughHis alseministers who appear as "ministersof righteousness"II Cor. l:13-15),is trying to deceivehe world nto be-lieving n a rnlsr CHntsr-a Christwhodid away with the Father'sspir-itual law and made t possibleor usto inherit eternal ife without havingto build,with the helpof God'sSpir-it, the kind of holy, righteous HAR-AcrERwhichwouldenableusto beyGod'seternal piritualLAw bothnowand orever.Truth MadeClear.Now thatweun -derstand he real motivebehind hedoctrineof the Anti-Christ, let usconsider few final scriptureswhichwill clearup the truth of this matteronceand or all time.

In James 3-14,we ead: Let noman say when he is tempted, amtempted f God: or Gon cANNorBETEMPTEDITHEVIL, either empt-eth he any man: But every man istempted, when he is drawn awayofhisown ust, andenticed."How plainl How abundantlyclear Not havinghumannaturewithits passionsand lusts,God cnNNorbe emptedwith evil.And on he con-trary, every man Is tempted of hisown /zst-because every man doeshavehumannature.Now turn to Hebrews2:17-18.HereGod shows hat Chr ist squali-fied to be a merciful and faithfulhighpriest- "'For in that hehimselfhath sufered being TEMPTED,e isable to succour th6m that aretempted."Again, n Hebrews4:15 we read:"For we have not an high priestwhich cannot be touchedwith thefeelingof our infirmities;but wAs INALL PoTNTSTEMPTED ike as we are.yet without sin."

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Could anything be more cueR.?God cnuNor be tempted. YetChr ist Jesus wns tempted in al lpoints l ike we are. He was HUMAN.He was empted hrough the /asls ofHis suunN NAruRE.He said: l canof mine own sel fdo NorutNc" (John

5:30). In the days of f leshly weak-ness,He cried out to God who wasable to saveHim from death (Heb.In spite of having human naturejust as we do, with all of its passionsandweaknesses,f being tempted nall points l ike as we are," He wa s"yet wrTHout stN."He will ingly sufferedeveryhumantr ial , pr ivat ion, and persecut ion," leaving us an EXAMPLE,hat yeshould ol low his steps:Who DID NosrN. neither was guile found in hismouth" (l Pet. 2:21-22).Jesus Kept Gommandments.Though havinghuman nature, Jesusdid not sinl And what is the Bibledefinition-God's definitio n----of in?"Sin is the transgressionof ruruw" ( l John 3:4) .Then Jesus, hough havinghuman

nature obeyed God's ttw. He said,"f havekept my Father'scommand-ments" (John 15:10) .He instructed:" l f thou wi l t enter nto i fe, keep hec o\r i \ rA\DMENrs"Matt . I9: 7) .So it is not only possible-butobligatorl '-that we obeyGod'sspir-itual law, the Ten Commandments,as hey are magnif ied hroughout het l iblc. Kccping thenr in the spr i ldoes t , r tmean spir i tual iz ing" hemarrar. but real\ obeying hem as -/e-sl l . r . fet us the erantple, thru thepower of God's Holy Spirit, whichHe gives to them that osrY Him(Acts 5:32) .By clever ly twist ing, distor t ing,and misapplying cattered criptures,Satan-operating through his falseministers preaching he doctr ine ofAnti-Christ-has been able to de-ceive nearly all of professing Chris-tianity on this subject.Peter knew th at men would espe-cially try to twist and pervert th ewritings of Paul n regard o the la wof God. He was nspired o write thatPaul 's epist les contained "somethings hard to be understood,whichthey that are unlearned nd unstablewrest, as they do also the otherscriptures, unto the ir own destruc-t ion" ( l l Peter3:16) .God does not contradict himself,and literally hundredsof plain, clearscriptures eachus to oBEy he com-mandmentsof God, the holy, spiri-tual lnw of God. And your Bibleclearly reveals hat Jesus-born intothe human f lesh and havine human

nature even as you and l-kePt HisFather'scommandments nd set us aperJ'ecterample.Exercising Character . The onlydiJ'/ 'erence etween Jesus and anyother human is that He was con-ceivedof the Hol-v- pi r i t . ThereforeHe obeled God's aws rom bir th-and neverhad o go through he pro-cess f repent inq f going he wrongway. of unlearninqurong ideasandhabi ts,and of gradual l l ' et r rning oexerciseHis \r i l l 1, ,al r t i ,qhtcont in-ual ly.He, who had beenGod. rrasnou'changednto huntan.de.sl rvi thal l i tsweaknessesnd lusts. \er er thelessHe retained n His personalin he de-termination, the wllt- to obe,t 'Go dalways.The temptatior to do wrong. theidea of sinning enteredJesus'mind.Yes, it DID occur to Him to disobeyGod. He wns tempted in al l pointsl ike we areBut from birth, JesuswouldalwaYsreject thesewrong ideas, hese emp-tat ions.He said, Get behindme,Sa-tanl" He wrt . r .ED o do r ight . Hewent o God the Fathe for Powtn todo alw'aysight . . {nd. praving or the\ i : i : i : Fi . : . .cCC\ l ' . l l : . ,ughhc i1Ol1Sprr i t .He alua-rs id r ight .But it uesr 't easy Jesushad ex-actly the sameday-to-day attle withsin that we do.Jesusneededoutsidehelp sorely.And He knew where o get that help."And in the morning. r is ing up agreat while before da1,,11swent out,anddeparted nto a sol i taryplace, ndthere pnnvro" (Mark l :35) . WhenHe needed trength o go through heterribleordealof the crucifixion, be-ing in an agonyhe prayed more ear'nestly: and his sweat was as it weregreat drops of blood falling down tothe ground" (Luke 22:44).

Perhapsnow we can better under-stand Paul 's inspired statcment nRomans :3: For what he aw couldnot do, in that i t was weak throughthe flesh,God sending 1i5 x'nSon nthe l ikenesso/stxrul //e.rft. nd forsin,condemned in in the f lesh."Yes, Jesushad sinful flesh-fta-man nature. But by' exercising hewrLL to alwaysobey'God, and by re-ceiving he extra help He needed omaster His f leshly desires, Jesusrepudiated the sway of sin inthe human fleshand showed hat th e

"A thoroughunderstandingof the Bible sbeffer thana collegeeducation.ot-Theodore Rooseuelt

That 's a poweriu l sta le-ment,coming rom a manof Theodore Roosevelt 'sstature.And he is by nomeansalone n this senti-ment. Many great leadershave shared Roosevelt 'shigh esteem or a knowl-edgeof the Bible-Newton,Jefferson, Franklin. Lrn-coln, to name a few Ofcourse, o one ts suggest-ing that you forgetaboutacollege education. Thepoint s hatnumerous enof great ability and emi-nencehave ound heBibleto be ol immenseeduca-tionalvalue.Yet mostof ushaven't bothered to readthe book hat s the basisofmuch of our Judeo-Chris-tian heritage.Why not takea few minutes day o f indout about he most moor-tant book everwritten?Ourfree Bible CorrespondenceCourse, pens he door oa whole new realm of dis-covery,Why not enroll o-day? Just write to the ad-dress of our officenearestyou. Who knows? Youmightbe in for a few sur-orises.

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is human ife which has ransgressedGod'sLaw, the Law claimshumanlife as ts penalty.Contrary o popu-larpresent-dayeaching,heWordofGod states hat the wages-the pen-alty---ofsin, is DEATH-not eternallife in a so-calledhell fire" (Rom.6:23).Whenwe sin,we breakGod'sperfectspiritual aw, "for sin is thetransgression f the law" (I John3:4).Thepenalty or this sinisdeath.The penaltymust be paid. God theFatherwill not compromise.t mustbe paid by man. Therefore,Jesus,who s andwasGod,whohasalwaysexisted John l:1,2), was actuallymade lesh (verse 4). He, who wasGod, actuallybecamehuman fleshbecause John4:2,3-RSV-states,"By thisyouknow he Spirit of God:everyspirit whichconfesseshat'Je-susChrist hascome n the lesh is ofGod,and everyspirit whichdoesnotconfess esuss not of God." He wasconceivedn andborn of the humanvirgin,Mary. "Now the birth of Je-sus Christ took place n this way.WhenhismotherMary hadbeenbe-trothed o Joseph, efore hey cametogethershe was found to be withchildof theHoly Spirit" (Matt. :18,RSV). He was madenot only flesh,but human flesh and blood.NoticeHebrews :14: Since hen he chil-dren are sharersn blood and esh,himselfalson like manner artook fthe same" IvanPanin ranslation).Jesuscalled Himself the Son ofMAN epeatedly, nd also he SonofGod. Matthew wrote, "Now whenJesus ame nto the district of Cae-sareaPhilippi,he asked isdisciples,'Who do mensay hat he Sonof manis?' And they said, Somesay Johnthe Baptist, others say Elijah, andothers eremiah r oneof the proph-ets.'He said o them, But who doyou say hat I am?' SimonPeter e-plied,'Youare heChrist, heSonofthe living God.' And Jesus nsweredhim, 'Blessed re you, Simon Bar-Jona For fleshand bloodhas not re-vealedhis o you,but my Fatherwhois in heaven"'(Matt. l6:13-17,RSV).Jesus, n nature, s equal withGod-"Jesus: who,existing n God'sform, counted not the being on anequality with God ought to begrasped at, but emptied him-self . . . being made in likenessofmen" (Phil. 2:6, Panin ranslation).6

Heis calledGod n Titus2:10.13 .ThereforeHe is God.The Biblecon-tainssomuchon these oints hat heaboves a mere ragmentof the evi-dence.Yes, Jesus s also"Jehovah,"al-though his word s a mistranslationused n the AmericanStandardVer-sion.The originalname, n the He-brew, contained he consonants"YHVH." In writ ing in Hebrew,vowelswereomitted, upplied nly nspeaking. hus the precise ronun-ciationof the name s not definitelyknown,but today t is commonly s-sumedobe Yahveh, r Yahweh. hemeaning,n English, s "THn Etnn-NAL,"or "THEEVER-LIVING,"r the"SnLF-ExISTnNt."t is commonlysupposed hat Yahveh, or, as com-monlycalled, Jehovah," r, as n theAuthorizedVersion, The LoRD,'o fthe Old Testamentwas God theFrrHnn of JesusChrist. This is afagrant errorYahvehwas he God of Israel, heonly One of the Godhead nown oancient srael.When He came n hu-man flesh they did not recognizeHim. "He was n the world,and heworld was made by him, and theworld newhim not" (John :10-l .Authorized Version).Neither didthey know God the Father (Matt.l l :27 andLuke 0:22,Panin). Noone knoweth . . who the Father s,save he Son,andhe to whomsoeverthe Sonwilleth o nEvEnL im."In Genesis . the Hebrew nametranslatedGod" is Elohim. This saunipluralname, uchas church," or"family." A churchor a family con-sistsof more hanoneperson, et isone church,or one family. In thissamesenseElohim-the God king-dom-includes both God the Fatherand Yahveh,who was the Logosorthe Wonn of God, and also theirSpirit emanating rom them, theHoly Spiri t, the LrFn,cHARAcTER,andpowrn of God.Jesus,n prayingfor thewelfare f theChurch,prayedthat its many membersmight "beoNE lswe areone" (John17:ll,2l,Moffatt). The Church s oun body,yet composed f many members ICor. 12:12).A husbandandwife areoNEFLESH,et two persons.The word "God" has two mean-ings-the God kingdomor the familyof God, ,c.Nnhe personscomposingthat kingdomor family. Christ and

the Father are oNE God, nol twoGods----onelohim. That is why Elo-him said, Let us makeman n ounimage" Gen. :26).Yahveh was the "WoRD" orSpokesmanf the Godhead-its sec-ond member.As soonasGod beganto sPEAKo man, t wasalwaysYah-vei whospoketranslatedLoRD" ntheAuthorized. nd Jehovah"n theAmericanStandardVersion.SeeGen. 2:16, 8 and Exodus20:2).Almost alway'st is Yahveh n theoriginalHebrew-the "WoRn" whowasmade lesh.The proofof this s along study, involvinghundredsofpassages.As a fragmentof the evidencecomparesaiah ;13-14 ith I Peter2:7-8. saiahsaid, The Lonn ofhosts" YHVH) shallbe "a stone fstumbling nd . . a rockof offence."Petersaid, n quoting his text n ref-erence o Christ, He is "a stoneofstumbling, nda rockof offence." e-sus s the Lono-the Eternalof theOld Testament.Now compare saiah 40:3 withMatthew :3andMark :3. JohnPre-pared he waybeforeYahveh Isaiah40:3)whowasCHRtsr Mark l:14-l5 ).In Revelation:17,RSV,We read,"When I sawhim, I fell at his feetasthoughdead. But he laid his righthand ponme,saying,'Fearot, amthe irstand he ast."'And in verse8, " 'l am heAlphaand heOmega,says he Lord God,who is and whowas and who is to come, the Al-mighty."AgainRevel tion22'.13,1am the Alpha and the Omega, hefirst and the last, he beginning ndthe end." Study also Revelat ion22:16 or proof t was"/esaspeakingJesus hristcallsHimself he Alphaand the Omega, he Beginningandthe End. heFirstand heLast.Nowcomparehese extswith Isaiah44:6:"Thussays heLonn, theKing of Is-rael and his Redeemer,he Lonn ofhosts:l am he irst and am he ast;besides e here s nogod.'"Now urn o Isaiah 8:l -12. Formy ownsake, do it, for how shouldmy name be profaned?My glory Iwill not give o another.Hearken ome, O Jacob, and Israel,whom Icalled am He, I am the first, andam the last."' Verses 7-18 how twas Yahvehspeaking.And also inIsaiah l:4, "Who hasperformed nd

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done this, calling the generationsfrom the beginning? , theLono, thefirst, andwith the last; am He." Allof thesescripturesshow hat Yahvehis the First and Last. Christ is theYahvehof the Old Testament.Christ ls the ROGK-The God oftho Old Testament. In I Corin-thi:ns l0:4, the "Rock" of the OldTestament s calledChrist. "For theydrank from the supernatural Rockwhich followed them, and the Rockwas Christ" (verse 4). II Samuel22:2-3: He said, The Lono [Yah-veh] is my rock, and my fortress,andmy deliverer, my God, my rock, inwhom I take refuge, my shield andthe horn of my salvation,my strong-holdand my refuge,my saviour; housavestme from violence."' Sealsoverse32.In Psalm l8:l-2, AV, r/rri sare"RocK" is Yahveh- Whcn Mccswas talking to Yahvch, and skedHim His name(Ex. 3:4-5,l3), Htanswered hat His namewas"I AM"(verses , 14) and Yahveh-theEter-nal One (versc 5). SealsoEx.6:2-3. In John IE:S-E,as soonas JesusidentifiedHimself to the mob led byJudasas"I AM" (the "he" in italics sailtled wlthout inspiiatlon, and wasnot in the original), hey wentback-

wardand ell to the ground.Again inJohn 8:56-58, esus alled Himself:"I AM." For we read, Jesussaid othem 'Truly, truly, I say o you, be-foreAbrahamwas, am'" (verse 8,RSV).The personof the Godheadwho isour Rtoreunn is JesusChrist.John4:42 contains his: "They said o thewoman, lt is no longer because fyour words that we believe, or wehavc heard for ourselves, and weknow that riris ri indeed ie Slvtonof the world."' "But our common-wealth is in heaven,and from it weawait a Savior, the Lord JesusCbrist" (Phil. 3:20).ReadalsoTitus2:lG14, Lukc l:68-69.Tlut Jesus, he Savior, is Yahveh,scc lsaiah 49:7 znd 60:16, whereHe-Yahvch4 a/so "the mightyOne of Jaob"-to be or Jacobmsans a s(Nl, or dcscendant of Ja-cob-the Mrghty One of all Jacob'schifdren.Also in Isaiah48:17, Yah-weh is cafled the Redeemer,and theHoly One of Israel-the One of Is-rael who is Holy The same s ex-pressedn lsaiah 43:14,"Thus saysthe Lord, your Redeemer,he HolyOneof Israel. . ." Alsonote henextverse (Is);'YAnveh fs-ffial5 ttolyOne,Creatorof Israel, srael'sKing.Now noticen Acts 3:14-15hat theChristwho wasdeniedwas he same"HoLY gvs"-(sftveh "Bul ye de-nied the Holy and RighteousOne. . . the Prince of life" (Panin).Sdso Act's2:27and Mark l:24.Ghrlst Wag Davld's Shepherd.Who was David's shepherd?(Psalm23:l-)InJohn 0:l I,JesussaidtrfewasheSkephcrd. Open your Bibles also toHc,breYn 3:2G"Now may heGodofpeacewho brought again from thedeadonr l-ord Jesus, he grat sheyherdof the sheep. . ." Compare histext with I Peter2:24-25,whichsays,"For you were straying like sheep,but have now returned to the Sheyherd and.Guardian of your souls."We also ead, Tend the flockof Godthat is your charge,not by constraintbut willingly, not for shamefulgainbut eagerly,not as domineeringoverthose n yourchargebut being exam-ples o the flock. And when he chiefShepherd s manifested ou will ob-tain the unfading crown of glory" (IPeter5:2-4).It is JnsusCnntsr who is coming

again n personas KrNc of kings torule, and to REsroRE.n Revelation19:13Johnwrites, "He is clad in arobe dipped n blood, and the nameby which he s called \The Word ofGod." "From his mouth issuesasharpsword with which to smite thenations,and he will rule them with arod of iron: he will tread the winepressof the fury of the wrath of GodtheAlmighty" (verse5). And againin Revelation 17:14 John writes,"They will makewar on the Lamb,and the Lamb [Christ] will conquerthem, or he s Lord of lordsandKingof kings, and those with him arecalled and chosenand faithful." TheGreat Shepherdwho is coming toRULErs King over all kings is Yah-veh. "And ye my flock, the flock ofmy pasture,are men, and I am yourGod, saith the Eternal"-Yahveh orChrist SeeEzek.34:ll, 30-31.)Now notice saiah2:l-4 and Micah4: l -4. "And i t shal l come topass . . that the mountain [King-doml of Yahveh'shouseshall be es-tablishedn the top of the mountains[kingdoms]"-rul ing the world."And he [Yahveh-Christ] shalljudge among he nations,and shallrebuke many people,"and then theyshall havePEAcE.In almost every Old Testamentpassage,he Lonp Yahveh-theEternal-is JesusChrist.Clearly, Je-sus is the God of the Old Testa-ment. oFunGdWilhbrrc

As a motionpictur, hey wereacclaimedby the world.As thelaw of God, they have beenloved by some, hated byothers-but transgressed byall.To mostpeople hey remaina puzzling nigma. heyare,ofcourse, the Ten Command-ments.Bul ust how are hey ap-plicable o today's world?Ourfree bookfet The TenCommand-ments expla ins these l iv inglawsand showshowGod, n Hislove,gave hem to mankind orthe good of us all. To receiveyour copy, just write lo ThaPlain Truthat the address near-esl you. (See back cover forworldwide addressei.)

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ONEMAN'SBLOODl'f.rHE PUMPSnd pipesof our hu-

I mananatomy ll send he same^ life-givingsubstance oursingthroughour fleshlybodies.In the English anguage,we callthis precious luid "blood"-themost critical ngredient f all of ourhuman l i fe-support systems.". . . The life of the flesh s in theblood . ." (Lev. l7:l l). Fleshandbone cannot live without that oneblood that winds and meanders tsway from head o toe in every ivinghumanbeing.The ApostlePaulwas ecturinganaugust athering f egotistical hilos-ophers boutsomeof their mistakenideas nd llogicalbeliefs oncerningthe Godhead. n the courseof thissmall plenarysession," aulutteredoneof the mostprofound ruths thatGod hasever evealedo man: And[God] hath made f oneblood all na-lions of men for to dwell on all theface of the earth . . ." (Acts 17:26).RegardlesSf race or nationality,weare all bloodbrothers. heproph-et Malachi remindsus of our com-monblood ine:"Have wenot allonefather [Adam]? hath not one Godcreated s?" (Mal. 2:10).,4// humanity has sprung forthfrom the first man Adam (I Cor.l5:45) andhis wife Eve-the motherof all living (Gen.3:20).And, in thatphysical sense,we are all the off-spring f God(Acts 7:28).But our common loodbond s notour only sharedsimilarity.All meneverywhere-regardlessf raceor re-ligion-are afflicted by a terminalspiritual disease, ommonly ermed"sin."Sin hasbeenour common ot sincetheGarden f Eden.For nearly6,000yearswe have suffered spirituallyfrom an ongoing risisof the blood.Sin reigned rom Adam to Moses.And up to his time, Solomonknewnot a singlepersonhad beenan ex-ception o the rule. For there s not ajust manuponearth, hat doethgood,and sinnethnot" (Eccl.7:20).That'sOld TestamentheologyUnhappily,centuries ater condi-tionshad notchanged.Paulof TarsusI

wrote n his epistle o the Christiansresiding at Rome: "For a// havesinned, ndcome hortof thegloryofGod" (Rom.3:23).That'sNew Tes-tament heologyThis wisdom-filledapostlealsoforecast he spiritual poverty thatwouldcharacterizeur age.He wroteto the young evangelist imothy:"This knowalso, hat n the ast daysperilous imes shall come.For menshall be loversof their own selves,covetous, oasters,roud,blasphem-ers,disobediento parents, nthank-ful, unholy, Without natural affec-tion [znnatural affection abounds],trucebreakers,alse ccusers,nconti-nent, fierce,despisers f those hatare good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, overs of pleasuresmorethan overs f God; havinga form ofgodliness, ut denying the powerthereof . ." (I I Tim. 3: l-5).This is an uncannilyaccurate e-scription four chaotic, in-filled ge.Rampant in s once gain illing heearth just as it did before Noah'sFlood. The so'calledgood n humannaturehas ailed onceagain-in spiteof unprecedentedaterialistic nowl-edge-to triumph over sin. Instead,evil men and seducers ave,as Paulwrote,grownworse ndworse, eceiv-ingandbeing eceivedverse 3).Individually, omeof us have, orone reasonor another. fared betterthan others.But not a singlepersonhas beenable o avoid sin en toto.We all have been stained withblood-guiltiness.' guilt resultingfrom the shedding f blood.. ."(Webster'sThird New InternationalDictionary,primarydefinition).True. most have not committedmurder n the literal,physical ense,but we haveall harbored hespirit ofmurder (Matt. 5:21-22; I John3: 5).In Psalm 5l David cried out forGod o deliverhim from bloodguilti-ness(verse 4). He had indirectlyslain Uriah with the sword of theAmmonites n order to coverup hisadulterywith Bathsheba.In a similar manner,we are all,eachof us, ndirectlyguilty of shed-

ding the blood of Christ. In hispowerful ermon n the dayof Pente-cost, he ApostlePetersaid: There-fore et all the house f Israelknowassuredly,hat God hath made hatsame esus,whomye havecrucifed[Roman oldiers id thedirty work],bothLord andChrist" (Acts2:36).A l i t t le later in yet anotherpowerfulsermon,Peter continuedwith thesame heme: But ye deniedthe Holy One andthe Just, andde-sireda murderer o be granteduntoyou;And killed he Princeof life [Je-susChrist], whom God hath raisedfrom the dead..."Acts3:14-15).

If youhave inned andyouhave),you haveearnedyourselfa horribledeath n a lake of fire from whichthere s never ny esurrectionRom.6:23). Your sins-and your sinsalone-made Christ's deathan abso-lute necessityl nd sinceHe died nyour place-in your stead-you (in-directly)murdered imJesusChrist ol \azareth allowedHis life's blood o be pouredout inorder o "bare the sin of many," andto make "intercession or the trans-gressors"Isa.53:12).By His death,He paid he highest rice n all of his-tory. The memberof the Godheadwhocreated dam John :l-3) will-inglyandvoluntarily ave p theverylife worth more han he sum otal ofall the creation, ncludingeveryhu-manbeingwho haseveror will everlive on thisgoodearth.Christ died a horrible death foreachof us ndividually, aswell ascol-lectively, or all mankind. f youhavereally repentedof your sins, beenbaptizedand God has begotten ouwithHis HolySpirit Acts2:38), ouare bought and paid for. Paul re-minded the Corinthian Christians:"Know ye not that. . . ye are no tyour own?For ye areboughtwith aprice" (I Cor. 6:19-20).Peter eloquentlystated he verysame hing with a differentchoiceofwords: Forasmuch syeknow hatyewerenot redeemed ith corruptiblethings,as silverandgold [someeventoday till seem o think thatmoney sgoing o save hem from acomingca-

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lamity], from your vainconversation[conductiddledwithsin] receivedytradition rom your fathers;But withthepreciousblood of Christ, as of alamb without blemishand withoutspot" ( IPet .: I8- l9) .All humanity has beenestrangedfrom God the Father by sin. Wewould tle editoriallyderelictnot tomention Isaiah'sdescription f thisspiritual divorce rom God."Behold, the Lord's hand is notshortened,hat t cannot ave; eitherhis ear heavy, hat it cannothear:Butyour iniquities have separated e-tweenyou and your God, and yoursinshavehid his face rom you, hathe will not hear.For your handsaredefiledwilh blood [don't forget hathate s the spirit of murder-I John3:15],andyour ingers ith niquit l:your lips have spoken ies. y'ourtonguehath mutteredpcn'erscncss"( Isa.59: l -3) .Sin had erected an impenetrablestonewall betweenGod and His hu-man children by creation.God criedout through saiah:. .. I have our-ishedand brought up children, andthey have ebelledagainstme" (Isa.l :2) .Only the priceof bloodcouldpayfor thishuman ebellion.". . . Almostall thingsare by thelawpurgedwith blood:andwithoutshedding f blood s no remissionofsinsl."wrote he ApostlePaul Heb.9:22\.But all the king'scattleanddl theking'sgoats ouldnot remove he ul-timate deathpendty for spiritual sin(Rom. 6:23)."For it is nol pcsiblethat the blood of bulls and of goatsshould take away sins," continuesPaul (Heb. l0:4). The bloodof ani-mals-not made n God's very ownimage----couldot make he smallestdent in the iron curtain separatingGod and man.But JesusChrist did the impossi-ble With his astbreathHe broke hebarrier orever Jesus,whenhe hadcriedagainwith a loudvoice, ieldedup the ghost [breath].And, behold,the veil of the temple was rent intwain from the top to the bottom . . ."(Matt. 27:50-51\.NoticeHebrews :12: Neitherbythe bloodof goatsand calves, ut byhisownblood he [Christ] enterednonce nto the holy place,havingob-taineAeternal redemption or us."

And Romans5:8-10: But Godcommendeth is love toward us, inthat, while we were yet sinners,Christ died or us. Much more then,being now ustifed [from pastsins]by his blood,we shall be saved romwrath ldeath-Rom. 6:23] throughhim. For if, whenwe wereenemies,we were reconciled o God by thedeathof his Son, much more,being[already] reconciled,we shall besaved y his ife [asour merciful andcompassionateigh Priest-book ofHebrevsl."Continuen verse17: "For if byone man's [Adam's] offencedeathreignedby one; much more theywhichreceive bundance f graceandof thegift of righteousnesshall eignin life Dy one,JesusChrist."So by one man's blood-JesusChrist (actuallyGod in the ffesh)-many havebecn, are being, and will&, reconciled o God the Father.Christ Himselfsaid: And /, if I belifted up from the earth,wil/ drawallmen lmankindl unto me." Johnwrote hatJesus aid his "signifyingwhat death he should die" (John12:32,33).Paulwrote after he fact) hat Je-sus "had by himself purged ours ins. . " (Heb. :3) .Jesus ame o reconcile s to God.to save us from utter destruction:"For Godso oved he [whole]world,that he gavehis only begottenSon,that whosoever elieveth n himshouldnot perish,but haveeverlast-ing [eternal]ife" (John3:16).Do 1'ouwant to avert perishing?Do you want your sins orgiven?Now thoseare silly questions.Of courseyou doBut it's not hat simple-and yet tis .Thereare requirements he over-all basicpreconditions that youwillhave o enter ntoa covenant. bind-ing agreement,with God. It's de-scribed n Hebrews0:16-18: Thisis the covenanthat I will makewiththemafter hose ays, aith he Lord,I will put my laws nto their hearts,and n their mindswill I write them[throughhe Holy Spirit];And [asaresultof entering his newcovenantwith Godl their sins and iniquitieswill I remember o more.Now whereremission f these sins] s, there sno moreoffering or sin."OtherscripturesActs2:38;3:19;

5:32,etc.)show hat repentance,be-dience, aith and water baptism arepart of the terms of the agreementyoumustperform.Then Godguaran-tees His Holy Spirit as a free gift,which is absolutely ssentialor thecovenant o be operative.But never orget that thecovenantis only madepossible y one man'sblood.Paul called t: ". . . the bloodof the covenant" (Heb. 10:29;l3:20) .So in order to evenstart the salva-tion process, ou must have aith inChrist'sblood-His atoning acrificeto blot out your pastsins.Paulput it this way: "Being usti-fied freely by his grace hrough heredemption hat is in Christ Jesus:WhomGod hath set orth to be apro-pitiation through aith in his blood,

FROMTHEPEOPLEWHOBRING OUTHEPLAINTRUTH . .Here's he story of a uniquegroup ot people-the World-wide Church of God. l t 's achurchwith a purpose, mis-s ion that 's being act ively ul-f i l ledon a wor ldwide cale. t 'sa church that is having aprofound,posi t ive mpact onmi l l ions f l ives.Read he ful lstory n the booklet, hls /s lheWorldwideChurch of God. Foryour ree opy,wr i te o:

THEPLAIN RUTHPasadena,al i f 91123Or, f you iveoutsidehe UnitedStates, rite o theaddress l ouroffice earest ou .ffiffiffi

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to declarehis righteousnessor theremissionof s ins that are past ,through the forbearanceof God"(Rom.3:24-25).And sowe mustbelieven Christ'ssacrificeas an historicalevent thatapplies o the repentant inner,now,at this present ime-in order tomake a permanantcompactwithGod.God earnestly esiresor usto en-ter into hiscovenant ith Him.In Hebrews 0:19-22, aulempha-sizes he confidence e shouldhavetoward God: "Having therefore,brethren,boldnesso enter nto theholiest by the blood of Jesus . . Letus draw near [to God] with a trueheart n full assurancef faith,havingour hearts sprinkled by Christ'sbloodl from an evil conscience, ndour bodies washed with purewater."However, t's pretty hard to havethe boldness nd conf idenceweshouldall possessowardGod f weare saddledwith guilt-ridden on -sciences.Usuallya consciencerob-lem s caused y a sinproblem.)"Woe unto hem hatdraw niqui-ty with cordsof vanity,and sin as t

werewith a cart rope," amentedheprophetsaiah Isa.5:18).Many of you are walking aroundweighted ownand heavy adenwithsin.You can'tseemo getrid of thatnaggingguilty conscienceBeforehis spectacularonversion,Paul (then Saulof Tarsus)had ustsucha conscienceroblem.The veryfirstwordsChristspoke o Paulwere:". . . I am Jesuswhom hou persecu-test: t is hard or thee o kick againstthe pricks [go againstyour con-science]"Acts9:5).With agreatdealof help rom God(which you will alsoneed),Paul didsomethingabout his gui l ty con-science.He repentedof his manysins He cameunder he cleansing f-fect of Christ's blood."How muchmoreshall he blood of Christ,whothrough the eternal Spirit offeredhimselfwithout spot to God,purgeyour consciencerom dead works toserve he ivingGod?"(Heb.9:14.)But notice hat God useda humaninstrumenton earthnamedAnaniasto help Paul: And Ananiaswent hisway,andenterednto the house; ndputtinghishands n him said,Broth-er Saul, heLord,even esus,hatap-

peared nto thee n the wayas thoucamesttowardDamascus],athsentme, that thou mightestreceive hysight, and be filled with the HolyGhost [Spir i t ] . And immediate lythere ell from his eyes s t hadbeenscales: nd he received ight forth-with, andarose. ndwasbaptized inwater l" Acts9: I7-1 ) .God is no different oday He stilluses umannstrumentsn His spirit-ual serviceo man.They areHis ser-vants-ministerssentb1' esusChristto preach the gospeland to feedGod's lock.God's true ministersare warm,friendlyandbalanced.ike he HeadofGod'sChurch, esusChrist. hel'dis-playforgiveness,ompassionnd mer-cy. Theydo not condonein;but theywon't ondemnhesinner ither. trueminister f Godwill showyouhow oturn fromyoursins.He will show outhewayoutof sin.The WorldwideChurch of Godhasmanysuchministers round heworld. Although God doesuse hesehumanministers o serve nd o helpthose homHe scalling,t is o Himyouarecoming hrough he bloodoJone ntan-Jesus f Nazareth.

DidChristHaveBrothers ndSisters?What s meant in the Holy Scriptureby "his brethren" and "hissisters"? WasMary the mother of other sons and also daughters?

\ Tor longagowe received let-| \ ter from a sincerenquirer e-r- \ quest ingbib l ical proof onwhetherChrist really had brothersand sisters. Please o not sendmethe viewsof this or that theologian;would like definite and conclusiveproof rom God'sWord-the Bible,"he said.Let us, hen,go hrough his matter10

in a detailedstudy,noticingexactlywhat heBibledoes ayabout hiscom-mon heologicaluestion.The Word "Ti l l " or "Unt i l . " InMatthew :25 we read hat althoughJosephwas living with Mary, he"knew her not [that is, he did nothave ntercourse]ill shehadbroughtforth her firstbornson:andhe calledhis nameJEsus."@1974WorldwideChurchof GodReprinted rom The Good News

Somecommentatorsave elt thatthe word "till" doesnot necessarilyindicate hat Joseph egan o haven-tercourse fterwards. ut the fact is,wheneverMatthew uses the word"till," he uses t literally to indicatethe end of what is being ta lkedabout.For example,Josephand Marywere in Egypt "until the death of

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Herod" Matt .2:15). heword un-til" shorvs hat they werenot thereafter he deathof Herod-they werecommandedo leaveEgypt "whenHerodu'asdead"(verses9-20).A similarexamples found n Mat-thew 5:26: ". . . Thou shalt by nomeans omeout thence, il/ thou hastpaid the uttermost farthing." Thismeanshatwhen he uttermostarth-ing hasbeenpaid, t will be possiblefor one o comeout. Thus the word"till" hasa specificmeaningo Mat-thew.Matthew, n sayinghat Joseph idnot know Mary "till shehadbroughtforth," indicateshat after hat greatevent hewashis wife and heybeganto havenormal ntercourse.After al l , one would correct lygather hat that was he reasorlwhythe angelappearedo Joseph aying:"fear not to takeunto theeMary thywife" (Matt. l:20).Therefore,even from the firstchapterof the New Testament,heconcept f Mary'sperpetual irginityis on shakyground.The "Figurat ive" Theory. ThesameGospel f Matthewgives salsoone very importantdescription fChrist by compatriots hoknewHimandHis whole amily. Is not his hecarpenter's on? s not his mothercalf d Mary? and i is brethren,James. ndJoses. ndSimon.andJu-das?And his sisters. re he) not allwithus?" Vatt . l3:55-56.)This is the scripture hat is ofteninterpretedb1' somechurchesas re-ferring o "brethren"and sisters" na figurative ense.But are thesewords usedfigura-tively?Examine he passagegain.Is thereanyreasono supposehatin mentioningHis father, mother,brothersand sisters, hesepeoplemeantHis real father(not realizingor believingChrist wasconceived fGod) and real mother but not Hisrealbrothers ndsisters?s thereanyreasonwhy the disbelievi ng ewswould ecognizend efer o thesen-dividuals s Christ's"brothers" n afigurative ense?The argument gainst literal in-terpretations not valid.The "broth-ers" and "sisters"must havebeenasreal as"carpenter's on" and"moth-er"We must rememberhat Christ nthis instancewas preachingn His

home town (Matt. 13:54).Peopleknew His mother and all His rela-tives.These fellow citizens isted fourbrothersand "all" His sisters-implying that Christ had at leastthree sisters,otherwise hey wouldprobablyhavesaid both."Christ's family, therefore,con-sistedof four brothersand at leastthreesisters, ho with Mary, Josephand Christ madea total of at leastten,a good-sizedamily-not unusu-al in thosedays.The "Cousin" Theory. One of thetheories elieved y a largenumberof peoples the"cousin" heory.Ac-cording o this theory, Mary wasaperpetual irgin and the "brothers"and"sisters"mentionedn the NewTestamentmust have been nothingother han"cousins"This view restson the hypothesisthat in Greek"brother" (adelphos)can alsomean cousin."But onecanimaginewhatconfusionwouldresultif sucha common nd requentworddid reallyhave wo meanings.Cou-sin" in Greek s exadelphos, nd heword means from brotherso';husthe people nvolved are cousins fthey come from parents who arebrothers. he Greek anguage,here-fore,hasa commonand usablewordfor "cousin."But let us ask whatMatthewhimselfmeantby "broth-ers."In Matthew :2 we read hat "Ja-cob begatJudasand his brethren."Does this mean that Jacob begatJudas and his cousins?Of coursenotIn Matthew 4:21 we are told of"two brethren. . in a shipwith Ze-bedeeheir father." Matthew makesit clear that these "brothers" arefrom the same ather and/or moth-er But supposehat "brother" couldmean "cousi1"-s far-out supposi-tion-then what would "father"mean?Was Zebedeehe "father" oftwo "cousins"?Was he the "grand-father"? And, if "brother" means"cousin" and "father" meanspossi-bly "grandfather,"whatdoes moth-er" mean?It is clear rom this hat f the ogicof this theory were correct, Christhad"brothers"who werenot broth-ers. "sisters"who were not real sis-ters.a "mother" who wasnot a real

mother, and so on-throwing thewhole of the New Testament ntomeaninglessonfusion.The answer s that Christ had'brothers" and "sisters"-and thewordsmeanexactlywhat theysay.The "Only Chald"Theory.We havealreadymentioned hat many com-mentators elievehat heword"till"in Matthew :25 doesnot necessarilymean the end of something alkedabout.Many commentators lsobe-lieve hat theword"firstborn" n thesame erse oes ot necessarily eanthat others ollowedafterwards.We shall see rom Scripture hatthe secondsupposition s just aswrongas he first.First, there is a great differencebetween "firstborn"and an "onlybegotten"hild.Thedistinctions a/-ways clear n the New Testament.Matthew uses he word "firstborn"Qtrototokon).So does Luke: "Andshebrought orth her firstborn pro-totokonf son . ." (Luke 2:7). Bu tsoon fterwards ukeuses differentword(monogenes)or an only child:". . . Behold, herewasa deadmancarried out, the only lmonogeneslsonof his mother. ." (Luke 7:12:8:42; :38; tc.).We see, herefore, hat the NewTestament uthorsknew the differ-ence betweena "firstborn" and an"only begotten" hild

Christ was the firstbornof Marybut the only begotten monogenes)sonof God John :16).The Disciple Theory. What aboutthe "brethren"beingChrist'sdisci-ples?The answers easy ndstraightfor-ward.The ApostleJohnwrote:"Af-ter this he wentdown o Capernaum,he,andhismother,and his brethren,andhis disciples" John2:12).Thus,without hehelpof anymorescriptures, ecansee hat the Apos-tle Johnwas amiliarenoughwith thesituation o know that His brethrenwerenot His disciples----otherwiseewould not have said "his brethren,and his disciples."If onecould nsist hat, n thissen-tence, brethren"and disciples"arethe samepeople, necouldalsocon-clude,by the same ogic, hat"he andhis mother" were the sameperson.The idea s completely onsensical.Look further into the "disciple"theorv. n Matthew 12:46-49we arel1

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told that thediscipleswere nside hehousewhile His brethrenwereout-side. His brethren came with Hismother, and one of the multitudespoke o Christ telling Him that HismotherandHis brethren adcome ospeakwith Him. An outsiderwouldnot haveusedsuch erminology adhe not seenHis real mother and ealbrethren.

That the "brethren" were differentfrom the "disciples" is also evidentfrom John 7:3-10: "His brethrentherefore said unto him, Departhence, and go into Judea, that thydisciples also may see he works thatthou doest."One could also eadActs l :13-14,where the disciples were prayingwith Christ's brethren.

Thus one more human theory tum-bles in the face of scriptural evi-dence.But let us ask once more: DidChrist have brothers and sisters?The answer f rom God's inspiredWord has to be an emphatic and re-sounding "yes" They were brothersand sisters from the same mother-Mary. tr

WhatWas lt Like To Bethe Brotherof Jesus?URE PECULnrroN?o Thereis a Biblical accountof a manwhoactualywasChrist'sbroth-er. His life story s full of lessonsorus.James-the authorof the bookofJames-isverydistinctly alled th eLord 's brother" (Gal. I :19). HismotherwasMary. Let's brieflyex -aminehis storyandsee or ourselves

what t was ike to be the brother fJesus.When the brothersof Jesusarelisted, James'name appears irst,which maywell indicate hat he wasthe eldest f Jesus' ounger rothers(Matt . 3:55).After Jesuswas born, both HismotherMary and His stepfather o-seph knew that God would be wellpleasedor them to havechildrenoftheir own. Soon the expansion ftheir family wasunderway. n timeJameswasborn.Living Faith. James rewup in thetownof Nazareth ndhadcontinuousandprofound ontactwith Jesus ntilJesuswas hirty years f age.He sawJesusn everyconceivableituation.James asable o observeromchild-hood the epitomeof the Christianwayof life And so after his conver-sion ater,Jameswould know-per-haps better than any human alivethen-what it meant to be a realChristian12

Perhaps when Jesus and Jameswere young children, hey wanderedtogether n the greencountryside ndexplored he rocky ledges n the cliffsaround Nazareth. On occasions heywould walk togetheralong he shoresof the Lake of Gennesaret o uatchthe f ishermen haul their nets toshore.They sat at a common table forfamily meals and rehashed he day'sevents in dinner conversation.Asthey grew older, perhaps hey talkedover the problems, aspirations, rus-trations and desiresof youth as theywent to sleep.They sat next to eachother in the synagogueon Sabbathand traveled together along the roadwith their parents to Jerusalem okeep the annual feasts.After a hardday'swork in their father'sconstruc-tion business, hey perhaps"talkedshop" as they scrubbedoff the grimeand sweat.

James probably had many discus-sionswith his older brother,who dis-playedunusualwisdomat a very ear-ly age (Luke 2:40). Although Jamescould not haverealized t at the time.he was having set for him the perfectexample of obedience o God, livingfaith-honoring one'sparents, or ex-ample (Luke 2:51). Later, this con-stant, ifelong examplewould act as aguide to James in ministering toChrist's Body-the Church.James found Jesus easy to geto l97l AmbassadorCollegeAll Rights Reserved

alongwith-even when Jesuswasgo-ing through His teen-ageyears andthen His early twenties. They musthave shared many enjoyable mo -ments Luke 2:52).Famil iar i ty. Yet. of course,Jamesmust have ometimes ottenquite an -gr1'with his brother, and thought Je-suswasdeadwrong. Even though Je-suswils iving perfectly, Jamesdidn'trealize it; and at times he must havethought that his brother's actions"didn't make sense."He was to learndifferently later.Jesuswasan importantexample nanotherway. Indicationsare that Je-sus became the head of the familywhile stil l a teenager-as we don'tread of His stepfather Joseph afterthe family's journey to Jerusalemwhen Jesus was twelve years ol d(Luke 2:41-51). f so, Jesusset animportant example for James as thefamily leader.And He alsoset he ex-ample of hard work and right man-agementof the heavy and technicallyproficient construction business hefamily was noted for. (The Greekword tekton, translated "carpenter,"be taken n the broad sense s"build-er of houses"-that is, both wood-worker and stoneworker.)Yet there was the element of fa-miliarity that is alwayspresentwhentwo peoplespenda great deal of timetogether. A prophet is without honor

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in his owncountry--or his own ami-ly. James espected nd deeplyad-mired his brother n manyareas, utfor a ong ime Jesuswasalways im-pl1 "Jesus" o James, ndnever theChrist." Which,of course,wasquitenatural.Then when Jesusbecame hirty,familyeventsook a new urn. Jamesbecame little bit concernedwhenhis older brother and leaderof thefamilywentwandering ff in the wil-derness way rom home-for a for-ty-day fast preparatory o startingHis ministry.Jesus urely eft some-one n charge f the family-perhapsJames himself. But howeverJesusprepared or and explainedHis de-parture, t must haveseemed littleodd o James t the time.Strange Brother. Then Jesus eappearedat a wedding n Cana withsome riends disciples) homJamesprobablyalso knew. Jameswas re-lieved o seehis brotheragain-andwas illedwith manyquestions.Whathappenedwhen Christ turned thewater into the finestquality wine?Perhapst did not evenregister nJames' mind. He may have heardabout or evenseenwhat happened,but after all, how could Jesus-hisown brother-do something ikethat?After the wedding, ameswent toCapernaum ith Jesus nd His newdisciples.Mary herselfalsowent onthe rip (John2:12). hisgave amesthe opportunity o talk with the menwhowouldnowbe hisolderbrother'sconstant companions-and who be-lievedon Jesus nougho followHimin His work (John2:l l).Jesuswouldnot be spendingmanymore days at home. Because romhereon, He wasgoing o devote ulltime to proclaiming he message fthe Kingdomof God (Matt. 4:17).He wasmakingmanystatementshatmust have troubled James.Someteachings ike "the Son of man isLord evenof thesabbath" ventuallycauseda group of Jesus' ormerfriends o attempt o cart Him off outof the public eye-as they thoughtHe had goneberserk Mark 3:21).Perhaps venJameswasamong hisgroup.As late as the autumnprecedingChrist'sdeath, ames till did not be-lieve that his brother was who Heclaimed o be. John 7:2-9gives he

account n whichJames nd he restof Jesus'brotherssomewhat kepti-callyasked esus:f you want o con-vince peopleof your power, whydon't you go down to Jerusalem tFeast t ime. where there' l l behundreds f thousands f people osee ou? f youare eallydoing hesemiracles,et the wholeworld seeJesusansweredHis brotherseye-ball-to-eyeballn no uncertain erms.I'm headed n a collision oursewiththis world.but the time for me to beput to death s not hereyet.That re-ply must have eal lysetJames hink-ing.James' ttitudeof unbeliefwasnotgoing to last much longer. AfterChrist'sdeath,Jamesexperiencedsomething hat he would never or-get-something that would act as adriving orce or the remainder f hislife.Convinced at Last. James musthave had his brother'smurder con-stantlydominatinghis thoughtsandmust have been considering hestrangestoriesabout the circum-stances urrounding esus' eath.Soit wasquitea movingexperienceorJames o see his supposedly eadbrothersuddenlyappear nd hen saywords o this effect:James, emem-ber all those hings that I told youaboutmyself, bout he act hat I amthe Christ?James,my brother, heywereall true, and nowyou'reseeingfirsthandevidence f them (l Cor.l5:7).Jameswas absolutely onvincedWhat elsecould he havebeen?Henowsearchedut Jesus'disciples,hevery men that he had previouslyshaken i s head ver Acts :13-14).From this point on, Jameswas n onthe "grass roots" foundationof theChurch of God, receiving he out-pouringof God'sSpirit on Pentecostin 3 l l .o.Now the constantcontact thatJameshad had with Jesuscould bevaluably used by God. True, hehadn'tspentagreatdealof time withJesusduring His three-and-a-half-year ministry, but think of all theyears-the tens of thousands ofhours-he had spent with Jesuswhenhewassoyoungandso mpres-sionable.Even Peter and John andthe otherapostles,houghmanyhadbeen hildhood riends, adn'thadsomuch contactwith Jesusat such an

early age and for such a long time.Many times n a true Christian'life when there is a decis ion o bemade,he will ask himself:Let's seehow would Christ do it? In manycasesn James'ife-after his conversion-all he had to do was o thinkbackand say:Let's see,how did mybrother do it?James owgrew powerfullyunderthe directionof God's Spirit. And avery fewyearsater he s shownasanapostle n the Church of God (Gal.l:19). Here Paul refers o James san apostle.James'powerful writing style ispreservedor all time n the epistle fJames. he heavy nfluence f Jesus"Sermonon the Mount" is obviousnthis epistle-no "epistleof straw" assome all t, but an epistle f LIvINcrerrs It wasprobablywritten short-ly beforeJames' eath,James yingin martyrdom, according o tradi-tion.So James, he man who wantednothing o do with his brother'smessage n the beginning, ied for thatsamemessage t the end-and willforever. rom the time of his resurrection, emainas a real brother ofChrist. in the fullest senseof thatword, n God'sFamily.

YoucanunderstandprophecyEvents owshaping p wi l laf -fect every l iv ing person onearth.Read omorrow's ead-l ines today Discoverwhatprophecy aysaboutmodernnations.Here s the amazingrevelat ionf where he UnitedStatesand Britainare men-t ioned n Bibleprophecy. ouneed his nformationn orderto prepareor whal he utureholds n store.Request ourfreecopy of TheUnitedSlalesand Britain n Prophecy.Writeto The Plain Truth n care ofouroff ice eareslo you.