Until recently, the debate over the New Perspective on Paul was of interest mostly to seminary professors, students, and the occasional pastor who stumbled across the issue while studying commentaries on Galatians and Romans. Many of us chalked it up as a heady theological discussion that would probably never interest, much less affect, our congregations in a significant way.

In 2007, however, John Piper published a book entitled The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright, in which he defended traditional Reformed doctrine (as he understands it), calling Wright’s “portrayal of the gospel…so disfigured that it becomes difficult to recognize it as biblically faithful.”¹ Piper’s book was a theologically dense book which was at times difficult to understand, especially to those not versed in the subject matter. In addition, Piper’s definitions of terms are often idiosyncratic (such as his insistence that God’s righteousness connotes a commitment to his own glory) and in some cases are missing altogether (you will not find a good definition of the imputation of God’s righteousness, which is perhaps the central concern of the book). Because of the immense popularity of Piper, however, especially among college students and young adults, the debate was suddenly thrust into the limelight.

This year (2009), N.T. Wright published his response to Piper’s book, simply called Justification, in which he attempts to defend his own understanding of Paul’s writings, and justification in particular, against the criticisms of Piper. Wright is an engaging and thoughtful writer; however, his book at times carries a very defensive tone. For example, much of the first chapter is a discussion of how he has been misunderstood by nearly everybody who has criticized his views. He takes the creative liberty of describing himself as a sort of modern day Galileo, attempting to explain to medieval individuals why the sun does not revolve around the earth.

As I read the books it occurred to me that a simple summary of the major issues involved, and the positions of each on these issues, might be helpful to people like me who are struggling to understand exactly what is going on. In other words, I am writing this short paper largely to help myself wrap my mind around some complex and yet critical issues being discussed by important theologians.

In a nutshell, then, here are the key issues:

1. What was the nature of first century Judaism?

Critical to Wright’s position is his understanding of first century Judaism. Based on documents from the period, in particular some of those found at Qumran, Wright and others have argued that Judaism in the first century was not primarily occupied with the question of how to obtain the righteousness needed to qualify for eternal life. In other words, the Law was seldom or never viewed as a way of earning eternal life, but instead it was seen as a “way of life for a people already redeemed.”² Keeping the Law, in other words, was a response to the fact that they had already been included as members of God’s people through Abraham. Those who faithfully kept the Law were assured that God would affirm at the final judgment what He had already declared in the present, that they were truly a part of God’s people.

The first century Jew was primarily concerned not with eternal life, but with the final fulfillment of the covenant that God had made with Abraham, to make his name great and to bless the world through his descendants, the nation of Israel (Genesis 12, 15). Rather than discussing how to get to heaven after death, they were very concerned with the final eschatological fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. Keeping the Law was a badge of membership, assuring that one would participate in the eschatological fulfillment of God’s promises. It was not a system of merit by which one could earn heaven.

This becomes central for the New Perspective understanding of Paul: Were there “Judaizers” in Paul’s day who were arguing that eternal life could be found through the Law instead of through faith in Jesus Christ? If not, then the arguments of Paul, particularly in Romans and Galatians, deal less with how to gain eternal life through Jesus and more with how a Gentile can be declared a covenant member apart from keeping the Torah. We will return to this concept below.

Piper argues in his book that we ought to be skeptical of importing concepts from extra-biblical literature and imposing them upon Scripture. We might misunderstand the extra-biblical literature, or it might only reflect one of many possible first-century viewpoints, or we might simply misapply the concepts to the biblical text.³

2. Who are the “agitators” that Paul addresses in Romans and Galatians particularly?

Wright’s understanding of first-century Judaism leads him to believe that Paul’s opponents are not those who are insisting that moral virtue or works of the Law are necessary for eternal life. Instead, the agitators are holding up certain works of the Torah as “badges,” marking off who was a member of God’s covenant family and who was not. In other words, Gentiles could only be included in the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham if they would keep the particulars of the Jewish Law.

The issue of table fellowship is central for Wright in understanding Galatians. Peter’s error (Galatians 2) was not an insistence that works were necessary for salvation, but instead a capitulation to the “certain men from James,” who believed that keeping kosher was a necessary badge of covenant membership. Wright states, “Paul is clear as to the implication of Peter’s withdrawal. Peter is saying, in effect, to the ex-pagan Christians, ‘If you want to part of the real family of God, you are going to have to become Jewish.’”⁴

This concept is critical in Wright’s understanding of the term “justification” in Paul.

Piper and other Reformed theologians have argued that Wright is misunderstanding the very nature of humanity. Even if many Jews did not have a works-based understanding of salvation, some certainly did. Paul could be addressing a subset of Jews, and not simply Judaism as a whole. In addition, legalism can also refer to those who might not believe that the Law literally saves, but simply that it creates spiritually superior men and women, that somehow the Law earns a degree of favor before God that makes the Law-keeper a better Christian. For this reason, Reformed theology would argue that Wright is mistaken in his understanding of Paul’s opponents.

3. What is the meaning of “justification” in Paul and how does it relate to salvation as a whole?

The term “justification” is defined by Wright as a declaration that a person is in the right. He states, “Righteousness,” within the lawcourt setting – and this is something that no good Lutheran or Reformed theologian ought ever to object to – denotes the status that someone has when the court has found in their favor.” He makes it clear that being declared righteous is different from being made righteous. To Wright, justification is God’s declaration that we have been acquitted from the charges of sin and the consequences that follow.

This acquittal is all understood in terms of the Abrahamic covenant of Genesis 15 and the covenant to Israel given in Deuteronomy 30. God had promised that through Abraham and his seed all of the nations would be blessed. His ultimate purpose was to create a community of redeemed individuals who were no longer enslaved by sin. Israel was the chosen nation through whom this community would be created.

God gave the Israelites the Law as a badge to demonstrate that they were covenant members, that they were the prototype of God’s redeemed community. Unfortunately, the people consistently failed to keep the Law. Not only that, but the Law divided Jew from Gentile so that salvation was not available to the majority of the human race. As a result, God’s “righteousness,” defined by Wright as His own covenant faithfulness, is in jeopardy. God cannot keep His covenant to the people because of a failure by the people, and this jeopardizes God’s reputation as a promise-keeper!

Therefore, in order for the promises to Abraham to be fulfilled, God had to provide a perfectly faithful Israelite to be the mediator of the covenant. Of course that Israelite is Jesus Himself. Christ’s obedience is defined by Wright as His death and resurrection, which did away with the problem of sin. For those who believe in Jesus’ work, then, the Holy Spirit becomes the new “badge” of covenant membership rather than the Law. Through the Spirit Christians are empowered to uphold our end of the covenant, ensuring that it will now be fulfilled. The works of the Spirit serve as evidence that God’s acquittal (justification) of us in Christ will be validated on the last day, when we are judged.

Justification for Wright is then the initial declaration that we are members of God’s covenant people. This initial declaration will be followed (for a true believer) by a final declaration which verifies the first one. The present, or first, justification is a result of belief in the death and resurrection of Christ. The final justification is based on our works, empowered by the Spirit. Using 2 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, Revelation 20 and other passages, Wright argues that believers will be judged based upon works. Those who have the works of the Spirit will verify the initial judgment given by God on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Wright describes justification using three terms: lawcourt (God declares us acquitted), covenant (through Jesus we are members of His covenant plan to save the world), and eschatology (God’s final plan has been inaugurated by Jesus’ work and through the indwelling Spirit).

This understanding, of course, differs in one very significant respect from traditional Reformed theology. Piper is concerned particularly that Wright denies the imputation of Christ’s “active obedience.” Reformed theologians have traditionally distinguished between Christ’s “passive” obedience on the cross and His “active” obedience by fulfilling the Law. Christ’s passive obedience dealt with our sin, but His active obedience was necessary in order to grant us the positive righteousness needed to receive eternal life. Piper argues primarily on the basis of 2 Corinthians 5:21 that Christ’s active obedience is imputed, or reckoned, to those who believe in Jesus. Therefore, we are not judged on the basis of our works, but on the basis of Christ’s works which have been granted to us. Justification is not the declaration simply that we are in the right and are covenant members. God’s righteousness is not simply his faithfulness to His covenant, either. Instead, Piper argues that God’s righteousness is a quality of God that He passes to the believer, which changes the believer’s fundamental character before God. For Piper, this righteousness is defined as “God’s commitment to God’s own glory.” By passing that righteousness to the believer, the believer can be considered righteous before God because He actually is righteous.

Works are therefore “necessary,” according to Piper, because they will follow in the life of a true believer, but we are not judged on the basis of those works. He is deeply concerned that Wright is adding works to the process of salvation.

4. Summary

As the debate over justification grows, there are a few key questions that need to be discussed in further detail:

• Is “covenant faithfulness” an appropriate way to understand the concept of God’s righteousness? What about “God’s commitment to God’s own glory”? Or is there another definition that works better? Traditionally the concept of righteousness has been understood in a moral sense as conformity to God’s standards of character and action. In this respect neither Piper nor Wright is endorsing what many would view as a traditional understanding of the concept.
• On what basis are believers judged? Is there one judgment on the basis of works for believers and unbelievers alike? What is the outcome of the judgment for believers (i.e. does it affect eternal life or only eternal rewards)? Piper and Wright both assert that there is only one final judgment, but they differ on the basis upon which men and women will be judged. An exploration of the possibility of separate judgments for believers and unbelievers might positively contribute to the discussion.
• Are Romans and Galatians addressed primarily to the issue of covenant membership or are they addressed primarily to the issue of how one receives eternal life? The answer to this is critical as the foundation of the Protestant Reformation rested upon understanding these books in the latter sense.
• What was the nature of first-century Judaism and is it appropriate to make sweeping claims about Paul’s theology based upon a limited number of ancient texts? It is safe to say that “first-century Judaism” was not monolithic any more than “21^st-century evangelicalism.”

This short article is not intended to provide comprehensive answers, but simply to be an introduction to the subject for those just entering the debate. We would do well to study carefully, knowing that our interpretations of God’s Word affect the spiritual lives of those to whom we minister.

¹ John Piper. The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007), 15.

² N.T. Wright. Justification. (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2009), 72.

³ Piper, 34-36.

⁴ Wright, 114.

What is the need of the hour? That depends upon the person who is thinking about it. If I'm walking along the street and see a beggar with a tin cup, what's the need of the hour? A dime. If a woman is being taken to the hospital, what's the need of the hour? A doctor. But in Christian work, what is the need of the hour? I started to list the things that we often feel are the need, which if supplied, would end our troubles.

Some say, "Well, if I just had a larger staff..." Would more staff be the answer? Today many a minister would like to have an assistant, and many a mission would like to have more missionaries. The cry of returned missionaries is always for more men and women to fill up the ranks...to them, the need of the hour.

Others say, "We don't need more workers, but if we had better facilities, if we just had more office space and more buildings and bigger grounds and a base of operation...if we had a place like Glen Eyrie...then we could do the job."

In certain areas of the world they say it's communication we lack, or better transportation, or better means to take care of health. The need of the hour on many a mission field is merely a radio. But if you get that radio, there's another need, and something else, and something else. Many feel it is literature. I hear that in my travels all over the world, "We just lack literature."

I know of people today who are saying, "If we could just get into a certain place." For years people have been on the borders of Nepal saying, "If we could just get in there." To them the need of the hour is an open door into Nepal. Right now hundreds of people are saying, "If we could just get into China." The Bible says, "My God shall supply all your needs." If the need were an open door into China, why doesn't God open it? "These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth...I have set before thee an open door."

Paul found closed doors, but closed doors to him weren't the problem. I really believe these closed doors were used of God to show him the open doors he was to go through next. I believe if God wanted to put His hand over the great country of China tonight, turning the Reds into confusion so they would start killing each other (a good deal of which they are already doing), He could do it. I believe in forty-eight hours the door to China could be opened.

Some say, "We need more time. If we just had more time..." Others say, "If I just weren't so old, if I were young again." People have said to me, "Daws, if I had known when I was twenty years old what I know now, I could have done a hundred times more for the Lord. Why didn't I."

Often the biggest need of the hour seems to be money. "If we just had money...That's the answer for a larger staff, more facilities, literature, communications and transportation...If we just had money."

What is the need of the hour? Frankly, I don't believe it is any of these. I am convinced that the God of the universe is in control, and He will supply all of these needs in His own way and in His own time, all else being right.

Let me tell you what I believe the need of the hour is. Maybe I should call it the answer to the need of the hour. I believe it is an army of soldiers, dedicated to Jesus Christ, who believe not only that He is God, but that He can fulfill every promise He has ever made, and that there isn't anything too hard for Him. It is the only way we can accomplish the thing that is on His heart...getting the Gospel to every creature.

In 1948 I was in Germany for six days. I had been put in touch with Colonel Paul Maddox, Chief of Chaplains for all of Europe, and through his recommendation to the Commanding General I got into Germany. I invited fifty German fellows to meet with me for three days, and twenty-five of them came. I talked to them every evening for three hours, beginning to lay before them the Great Commission, and the idea that I felt Germany not only needed to hear the Gospel, but that Germans themselves needed to obey the Great Commission by sending missionaries.

I gave them the privilege of asking questions during the meetings, and every once in a while a hand would go up. I was trying to lay upon their hearts the very thing the Lord laid on the hearts of the disciples when He told them to go to every creature, make disciples of every nation, start in Jerusalem and go to the ends of the earth. One German spoke up, "But, Mr. Trotman, you don't understand. Here in Germany some of us right in this room don't even have an Old Testament; we only have a New Testament." I said, "When Jesus Christ gave these commandments, they didn't have even a New Testament."

Later one of them said, "But, Mr. Trotman, we have very few good evangelical books in this country. In America you have thus and so." I asked, "How many books did the disciples have?" A little further on one of them said, "Is it true that in America you can hear the Gospel any day?" I answered, "Yes." He said, "If we had that...but we can't get the message out on any radio." They said, "You have automobiles, we ride bicycles." I reminded them, "The disciples didn't have bicycles. Jesus rode a borrowed burro."

Now these questions didn't come up one right after the other or they would have caught on, but they arose during the nine hours together.

Finally one fellow spoke up and said, "In America you have money. I work twelve hours a day for sixty cents. We don't have much money. I replied, "The disciples were sent out without purse and without script.

Every excuse in the books was brought up. "We don't have this, and we don't have that. We don't have buildings; we don't have facilities." Each time I replied, "But the twelve didn't and He sent them out."

Then finally near the end one fellow, a little older than the rest and with almost a bitter expression on his face, got up and said, "Mr. Trotman, you in America have never had an occupation force in your land. You don't know what it is to have soldiers of another country roaming your streets. Our souls are not our own." I said, "The disciples lived at the time Jesus Christ lived, and their souls weren't their own. The Roman soldiers were in charge."

Then it dawned on me in a way I had never considered before, that when Jesus Christ sent the eleven out, he let a situation exist which was so bad that there could never be a worse one. No printing presses, no automobiles, no radios, no television, no telephones, no buildings, not one single church, no uniforms, nothing for the vestry...He didn't even leave them a little emblem.

He left them only a job to do, but with it He said, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore..." What does the "therefore" mean? It means, "I have the power to give you the order and I have the power to back you to the hilt." He has all power in heaven and earth...not just heaven, but in the earth; all power, not part of the power, but all power, which means power over the Romans and power over the Communists.

Earlier Jesus Christ had said to this same little group, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me..." He that what? "...believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." Do you believe that statement is true? Or must you say that for a moment it makes you stop to wonder. Could it possibly be true that the Son of God would say to a human being, "The things that I do, you shall do, and greater things than these you shall do"?

I believe with all my heart that the reason so many wonderful Christians don't accomplish more in their lives is they don't believe Jesus meant what He said. They have never come to the place where they believe that the all-powerful One, Who commissioned them, could enable them to do these greater works. The last thing He said was, "All power is given unto Me. I'm giving you your orders now. Go and teach all nations and see that every created being hears the Word."

Now, gang, we think it is going to be a tough job, even with the printing press, the radio, the airplane, and modern medicine. What do you think the early disciples thought about it? When Paul wrote to the Romans, he said, "I thank my God that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." When he wrote to the Thessalonian church, he said, "For our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." And he said to the Thessalonians, who were not even as strong as the Bereans, "For from you sounded out the Word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad."

How did the message go? Not by telephone, not by television, but by tell-a-person. That's the only method they had. It was as simple as that. Everyone was to tell someone else. "I cannot help but speak the things which I have seen and heard," was the impelling force. That's how it spread, and it did spread. They didn't need the printing press and they didn't need materials.

Over in England they really went for the Bible study and memory materials. It was hard to get them to see their value at first, but when they did, some of them felt they were a necessity. One rainy night during the Billy Graham Crusade at Wembley Stadium around 3000 came forward at the invitation. Two clergymen came running up to me, "Mr. Trotman, Mr. Trotman, we ran out of materials! What will we do? I said, "Relax. They probably ran out of them at Pentecost, too!" They looked at me for a minute and, obviously getting the point, said, "That's right!"

The answer is the man, not materials. Maybe the greatest problem today is that we try to put into printed form that which should go from lip to ear and heart to heart. We de-emphasize materials, and people can't understand why. Materials are the tools. Tools by themselves are useless. If there were a young fellow beginning his study of medicine who had all the necessary instruments for a major operation, and an old doctor who just had a razor blade and a plain, ordinary crooked needle and some strong string, I'd put myself into the hands of the old doctor for surgery rather than this boy over here with all the instruments, wouldn't you? It's not only the tools; it's the man who has the tools in his hands.

What is the need of the hour, gang? I'll tell you the need of the hour. It is to believe that our God controls the universe, and when He said, "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," He meant it. That is exactly what is going to happen. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord!

Today more people than ever in a lot of our civilized countries know about Jesus Christ because of the radio, literature, mission societies, Billy Graham, etc. But they only know about Him; they don't know Him. The Book says, "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." How much does the water cover the sea? Do you think that every square inch of sea has water in it? Yes! That's how every tongue and tribe and nation in every single nook and corner of this earth is going to hear about Jesus Christ and His glory.

What is the need of the hour? It is to believe that "Thy God reigneth." The rain isn't coming down like you feel it should in order to have good crops. Can He send it if it's necessary? If He doesn't, can you say, "Thank you, Lord"? That's what He wants. "In everything give thanks."

You don't need anything that He can't supply. Is it knowledge? Is it strength? God can do more through a weakling who is yielded and trusting than He can through a strong man who isn't. "For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (II Corinthians 1:20).

I want the fellows and girls who come to Glen Eyrie to go away with this thought securely in their minds: "God, I'll never come to the place where I'm going to let the lack of anything persuade me that You are being hindered." I would rather you would go away with that in your hearts than with methods or materials or ideas that we may have to share with you, because I know the potential of the man who will come to the place where he can say hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, "Lord, I believe my God reigneth."

Listen! You have an excuse if you want one. You have more than an excuse: you have hundreds of them. That isn't what's holding us back. It's that we don't live and preach the fact that He is on the throne. And when He's running the show, He will take care of all the props, even the transportation.

I was in Hong Kong on my way to India in 1948 when a Pan American flight was delayed long enough to make me miss my connection in Bangkok. I inquired if there were any way for me to get to Calcutta. The crew said, "No, not a chance in the world." Then one said, "We do have orders for this plane to go on to Calcutta, but because of regulations this crew can't take it." So I prayed, "Lord, You know about the meetings in Calcutta, and it's nothing for You to work this out."

We got to Bangkok and a radio message came, "We do not have a crew to bring this ship to Calcutta. Your crew ordered to bring it." Only four people were on that big DC-6, and the other three didn't have to go to India for three days. I arrived in time for those meetings, and as a result, a man from Nepal came to know the Lord, a man who later became a key for getting the Gospel to that closed country way up in the Himalayas.

The need of the hour, as far as I'm concerned, people, is to believe that God is God, and that He is a lot more interested in getting this job done than you and I are. Therefore, if He is more interested in getting the job done, He has all the power to do it, and has commissioned us to do it, our business is to obey Him...reaching the world for Him and trusting Him to help us do it.

The Lord could easily have said to the disciples, "You fellows are only eleven men, and you lack facilities and transportation, so all I want you to do is start the fire in Jerusalem," but He didn't say that. The believers in South India testify they are glad Thomas believed Jesus Christ that he was to go to the uttermost part of the earth. I understand that the Mar Thoma Church, the largest in Southern India, traces its origin back 1900 years to the work of this disciple. Aren't you glad that Thomas didn't say to Jesus Christ, "I don't have a DC-6 jet?"

"Ye shall be witnesses unto Me in..." not EITHER Jerusalem OR Samaria OR Judea OR on the foreign field. You are to be witnesses, when you have the Holy Ghost, "BOTH in Jerusalem, AND in all Judea, AND in Samaria, AND unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Suppose you are a pastor. You have a responsibility to your people to be a shepherd to the flock. You also have a responsibility for people in other countries. You have to be concerned. The only reason you are not out there telling them about Jesus Christ is because you're training the lay people to love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ in your city, your state, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

I close with this...a little of the Nav story. I used to have a map of the world that I kept before me. I'd put my fingers on some of the islands—Australia, New Zealand, Okinawa, Formosa—and say, "Lord, let me win men for you in these places." I wasn't challenged to do this by hearing a sermon, but by a verse of Scripture, Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." It was in the previous chapter Jeremiah had said to the Lord, "Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." Ten verses later the Lord says to Jeremiah, "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for Me?" Then just a few verses later He says, "All right, if you believe Me, call unto Me and I will answer."

I asked a buddy, "Do you believe this verse?" He said, "Yes." I said, "I do, too, but I've never seen these great and mighty things, and I'd like to." So we started a prayer meeting every morning. We decided to meet at a certain spot, have a fire built, and be in prayer by five o'clock. Not one minute after five...we just made it a date. We prayed two hours on weekdays but met at four on Sundays to pray for our Sunday school boys by name and for the Sunday school. We prayed for Harbor City, Torrance, Long Beach, San Pedro, Los Angeles, Pasadena, and the surrounding cities from which I had received calls from young Christian fellows saying, "Come over here and show us how you're reaching these boys."

The third and fourth weeks we started to include cities up the coast—San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle and Portland. We said, "Lord, use us in these cities." By the fourth or fifth week we had covered every state in the Union. As we listed them we prayed, "Lord, use us to win young men to You in the State of Oregon. Use us to win young men in Massachusetts." Every morning we prayed for every one of the forty-eight states. Then about the sixth week one of us said to the other something like this: "If we believe God is big enough to let us win men in every one of the forty-eight states, let's go all out!"

We bought a world map and left it up in the Palos Verdes hills. Each morning we'd pull this old map out and pray that the Lord would use us in China and in Japan and in Korea. At the end of forty-two days I felt a burden lift. We stopped asking God to use us and began thanking Him that He was going to do so. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for," and substance is substance. It's reality; it's something you can believe in. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We claimed the promises as we prayed. These promises were the brick and prayer was the mortar that put them together.

After forty-two days we discontinued our prayer meeting. Forty-eight hours later I was in the hospital, flat on my back, for a week, and I had a lot of time to think. The Minute-Men idea came and from that The Navigators work was born.

Three or four years later I was rummaging around in a drawer of the living room table when I found a little purple card..."Washington, Oregon." In another drawer was a list of names— Les Spencer from Illinois, John Dedrick of Texas, Gurney Harris from Arkansas, Ed Goodrich of Wisconsin. I discovered that men from every one of the forty-eight states had come to the Saviour during those three or four years. God had answered, and these men were being trained as disciples. Then I thought of the world. "Why, Lord, am I permitted to have a part in this?" For the same reason you are.

"All power in heaven and earth is Mine. It's Mine for you to appropriate." This is not only a privilege; it's an order. He wants nothing less. God doesn't want you to take an island...He wants you to take the world. For what are you asking God? What do you want? Do you want to win a few? You'll have to start with a few, and you'll have to be successful with the few. You can be because Jesus said, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." No man ever followed Jesus who didn't become a fisher of men. He never fails to do what He promised. If you're not fishing, you're not following. You have to win one before you can win five, and five before you can win five hundred. The world is before you. How big is your faith?

The need of the hour is men who want what Jesus Christ wants and believe He wants to give them the power to do what He has asked. Nothing in the world can stop those men. Do you believe that? Do you want to be one of them? You may, but you will have to ask. "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Years ago when I prayed for Formosa I couldn't have comprehended what I'm seeing now. But that's the way He has promised it will be, so when you call, ask big!

Copyright ©1957 The Navigators; re-printed with permission from The Navigators, all rights reserved.

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The issue of where our giving should go is involved in the doctrine of the local church as it is outlined in the New Testament. The local church is to be governed and led by a group of men called elders or overseers. The term “elder” looks at the dignity of the office and “overseer” at their function. These are really the pastors who are responsible for leading the local body of believers. Among the elders, churches usually have one or two men (sometimes more depending on the size of the church) who are devoted to studying and teaching and equipping others for ministry (see Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Tim. 3:1ff; 5:17f).

As the leaders of the church, they, along with deacons who are the elders helpers, are responsible to oversee the use of the funds for the needs of the church. This would include a livable wage for those giving their time to full- time service.

If there is one person in control of the money, then you have not only an unscriptural situation but one that can lead to fraud. For a biblical illustration of the way the leadership is to work, compare the situation in Acts 6. There the leaders (in this case, the apostles), appointed seven men who took care of the distribution of the funds or food for the needs of the people. In today’s terms, this would be equivalent to the function of the elders who appointed deacons to care for such issues.

This begins with the establishment and selection of qualified men as elders to lead the church. For more on this, see A Biblical Philosophy of Ministry and The Measure of a New Testament Church on our web site.

For more on the issue of tithing, see the study called Financial Faithfulness on our web site.