Communications

Galatians 3:27-29

Dear Bro. Don,

In the September, 2001, Tidings, page 414, I was puzzled to read, “Paul brings out the point in Galatians. In the kingdom there will be neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female.”

What have I missed in 48 years of reading this passage? Every version I have read gives this passage as present, not future.

My understanding is that when we “put on Christ,” the effect is immediate. When Paul wrote in Romans 16 of Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, etc., he could refer to them as “servant of the church,” “my helper,” “labor in the Lord.” The same expressions are used of males and females “in the Lord.” That is, they were then one in Christ.

Am I correct in my understanding? Elston Murphy, Hurstville, Australia You are correct in reading the verse as applying to a present standing in the ecclesia. Of course, Bro. Ben was also correct when indicating these conditions will prevail in the kingdom. He went on to make it clear that at the present time, “No member of the body is inferior to any other member. In fact, we are all, male and female, collectively the bride of Christ.”

We do recognize, however, that the equality of “male and female” will be more fully realized in the kingdom than is now the case. Throughout the New Testament, we see a clear distinction in present roles between male and female as Jesus, the apostles and the bishops were all males. Further, I Corinthians 11 and 14 and I Timothy 2 mention some restrictions on the roles of sisters. We do not anticipate any such distinctions in the kingdom.

This having been said, sisters in Christ now should be given by all means the same respect as brothers, for we are “heirs together of the grace of life.”

Mittagong Bible Week

Dear Bro. Don,

Greetings in the love we share in our risen Lord.

I would firstly like to extend to you a warm thank-you on behalf of the Mittagong Bible Week Committee for including an announcement of the dates for our week in the Tidings Magazine.

Unfortunately, due to the attacks on New York, Bro. Ed. & Sis. Judi Nevers, (who would have been the only attendees from the U.S.A.) were unable to come. However, the week was filled with many blessings, no doubt the events in the U.S.A. giving an extra impetus to our faith. We had the company of Sister Wendy Johnsen Meyer, Nanaimo, BC, with her husband, John Meyer, and two children. You can imagine our combined joy when John applied for baptism during the week. So, after interviews conducted by Bre. Geoff Watson, David Caudrey, and Duncan Heaster, JOHN MEYER died to sin and rose to his new life in Christ in the waters of baptism and before a company of over 200 brothers and sisters and their families. After their extended stay in Australia and South Africa (John and Wendy are both medical doctors and were on locums in Australia before visiting their home in South Africa), John and Wendy will be returning to Canada as brother and sister in Christ. After the baptism we received our new brother into our worldwide fellowship and then remembered with him the grace of God in Christ by breaking bread together. This is the first time in the 30 years that our biennial Bible Week has been held that we have had a baptism. You can imagine the pleasant surprise for the committee. We wanted to find water such that everyone could watch the baptism. When we approached the school authorities with a request for a suitable place for a baptism, the first question they asked was, “Is it full immersion?” When we replied in the affirmative they promptly retrieved a blow-up pool which was very satisfactory for the purpose.

We also had the pleasure of the company of other overseas visitors, namely, Bro. & Sis. David Smith, Sunderland, UK; Sis. Joanna Richardson, Bristol, UK; Bro. Duncan Heaster, Vilnius, Lithuania; Bro. Alan & Sis. Mary Eyre and Sis. Normalyn Wallace, Kingston, Jamaica. Although Sis. Mary was only able to be with us for one day, we gained great strength from her faith and courage and hopefully will continue to be blessed with the wisdom which flows from her pen.

We were thus granted a wonderful week together.

Thanks for a great magazine and for helping us all to maintain contact with our brothers and sisters.