Questions for the Unamended Community

1a) What is a Divine Covenant?—Is a Covenant with God a mutual agreement? (Jer. 11:3-4; Deu. 4:13; Psa. 105:8; Gal. 6:7) "It is a covenant whether they consent or not, and is enforced as the imperious enactment of an absolute king" The Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, 1851, p. 172.

"The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, 4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: 5 That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD. 6 Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them. 7 For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice. 8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not." (Jer. 11:1-8)

"He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; which covenant he made with Abraham and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.’ (Psa. 105:8-10).

"These are the words of the covenant, which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. (Deu. 29:1)

"Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets." (2 Kings 17:13)

"And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it." (Deuteronomy 4:13-14)

1b) The Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 15—Consider this account in which only the furnace and lamp pass through the divided sacrifices, and Abraham does not. What was the usual manner of "cutting a covenant" in Abraham’s time? Did both parties pass through the divided animals signifying their acceptance of the covenant being "cut"? Why did not Abraham in this most important Covenant?

1c) The Edenic Covenant—Was it a mutually negotiated or agreed upon covenant?

1d) The Noahic Covenant—Was it a mutually negotiated or agreed upon covenant?

1e) The Mosaic Covenant—Was it a mutually negotiated or agreed upon covenant? Was a mutual agreement made between the Father and the children of Israel before leaving Egypt or were they commanded to leave?

1f) The Davidic Covenant—Was it a mutually negotiated or agreed upon covenant?

Note: It is unquestionably true that the Father desires willing or voluntary obedience. Voluntary obedience is a sweet savor unto Him. Nevertheless, until the Old man has been sufficiently crucified, threat and condemnation (with The Hope set before him) are necessary to bring men and ‘their members’ into subjection.

2a) Alienation—Does Colossians 1:21 say men are alienated by "wicked works" or by our "mortal nature"?

2b) Was Christ ever alienated from his Father? "In the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with Theos and the Logos was Theos." "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Logos of life"

2c) Was "God in Christ" reconciling the world to Himself? "I and the father are one." Was Christ alienated from his Father while at the same time he was reconciling the world to the Father?

2d) What was the nature of Christ, (even after baptism) as he hung upon the cursed tree? "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh."

3a) Does man have to be baptized to come under God's law?—Is "repent, and be baptized" (Acts 2:38) a Law (command)?

3b) Is a man baptized for personal sins?

3c) Is sin the transgression of God's law?

3d) How comes it then that men must be baptized for transgression of God's law before they are voluntarily "under" any law from God?

4) The Revealed Mystery—How many keys were granted to Peter and what did he do with them? Explain Acts 2 and Acts 10,11.

5a) Justification by faith and Justification through the Faith—From Adam until the death of Christ, did a man have to see the suffering dying saviour in sacrifice to be justified? Consider the example of the apostles who were ‘clean every whit’ but did not understand the sufferings and death of Christ.

5b) Since the first key was used to enlighten the Jews as to the work of Jesus, can we conclude that this aspect of the Mystery was hitherto "shut up" from their understanding?

5c) What is the difference between "justification by faith" and "justification through the faith"?

6a) Was Christ a substitutionary sacrifice for man in any sense?

6b) Was Adam threatened with a violent death if disobedient?

6c) If yes, did Jesus suffer the violent death supposedly threatened against Adam?

7a) The Law of Sin and Death— Does a man sin after baptism?

7b) Can a man still die after baptism?

7c) What is the law of sin and death?

7d) When is the law of sin and death removed?

7e) If at baptism then explain how a baptized person still has sin working within him, and how, its fruit is death, yet he is no longer under the law of sin and death.

7f) What did we inherit from Adam? Was there something more more than indwelling sin

7g) If indwelling sin still exists in the body of the baptized then how is it claimed that the baptized are no longer "under the law of sin and death"?

7h) The source of pre-baptismal lusts is indwelling sin (in the brain-flesh). If we are freed from the law of sin (and death) at baptism, what is the source of post-baptismal lusts?

7i) If baptism or circumcision (for Andrew's theory) frees from the law of sin and death why did Christ's own baptism and circumcision not free him from the law of sin and death?

8a) Original Sin & Adamic Condemnation—What is Original Sin?

8b) What is Adamic Condemnation?

8c) What is the difference between Adamic Condemnation and Original Sin?

8d) Provide a Scriptural demonstration that Jesus' baptism was for remission of sin as taught by Thomas Williams.

8e) Provide a Scriptural defense of the doctrine of original sin as taught by Thomas Williams.

8f) What was the sentence threatened against Adam for disobedience?

8g) What was the sentence received by Adam and Eve for disobedience ?

8h) Did the Elohim threaten to carry out a condemnation that they never intended to actually execute?

9) "Out of Adam" at baptism—Explain when Jesus passed "out of Adam." Include a definition of what was crucified on the "cursed tree." Incorporate the Mosaic type of the serpent being lifted up as an example.

9a) Do we pass out of Adam at baptism? Constitutionally____   Physically? ______

9b) If we do not pass out of Adam physically then we must be "in Adam" in some sense (physically). If we are still "in Adam" physically and the law of sin and death is a physical law of the body, then at baptism are we literally free from the law of sin and death? Have we literally passed out of Adam?

Questions Concerning the Pioneer Writings

  1. List the specific doctrines where Thomas Williams and J.J. Andrew disagree:

    1. J.J. Andrew taught that the first death was baptism, whereas Thomas Williams rejected this.

    2. ?

     

  2. Does brother Thomas write that "a spiritual body is a body purified from the law of sin and death" or that "a baptized body is a body purified from the law of sin and death" —See Elpis Israel, p. 42, 4th ed.

     

  3. Does brother Thomas write that "the death threatened was the result, or finishing, of a certain process; which is very clearly indicated in the original Hebrew" or that "a violent death within the 24 hour period of disobedience is very clearly indicated in the original Hebrew"?—See Elpis Israel, p. 68, 4th ed.

     

  4. Does brother Thomas write that "men's compliance or acceptance does not constitute the berith of the kingdom a covenant. It is a covenant whether they consent or not, and is enforced as the imperious enactment of an absolute king" or did he write that "Yahweh’s covenants are mutual agreements" —See The Herald, 1851, p. 172.

     

  5. Does brother Thomas write that "Eli, Mary, her mother, and Jesus all died, and must necessarily have been included federally in Adam" or that "men pass out of Adam at baptism"?—See Eureka, Logos ed., vol. 3, p. 256.