QUESTION: Since it states in the Bible that women can be saved through childbearing, then would women have no need of being born again? Does this mean that women can get into the kingdom of God just by bearing children; thus absolving them of the spiritual aspects of salvation?

ANSWER: No, it does not absolve them from the spiritual aspects of salvation nor from the need of being born again for the following reasons. First let me insert the Scripture text here that I assume to be alluded to in this question. I Timothy 2:14-15 reads thus: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."

When Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3, "...Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," He was referring to mankind-the human race. He was not referring to just "man," the male side of the race, but to the race itself-both male and female. This term is used this way throughout the Scriptures. In Genesis 1:27, we read, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." The male and female are component parts of one another and we see in this text they, both male and female, are referred to as man. The only time this is not true is when the male and female are being distinguished between the different roles that each of them fill in their relationships together as husbands and wives and parents in the home, and a few cases where a particular or specific woman is referred to. Thus we conclude that every person (male or female) getting into the kingdom of God must be born again and come in the same way. Acts 5:14 says, "And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women."

The Amplified Bible renders the text this way, and I feel it turns the true light on it. "Nevertheless (the sustenance put upon women of pain in motherhood) does not hinder their (souls' salvation), and they will be saved (eternally) if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control; (saved indeed) through the childbearing, that is, by the birth of the (divine) Child." This text introduces two important points. First: that the pain suffered in childbearing, which was a part of the penalty for her transgression, and even if she die (and many have), none of this is any hindrance to the salvation. Also note that the thought carried here is not that her soul is saved because of this, but that none of this is any hindrance to her being saved. Second: that the childbearing referred to here was the bearing of the Christ Child, Jesus, the Divine and only begotten Son of God who was born of the woman without the man and was the Saviour of all mankind-both men and women. In my thinking I cannot come up with any solution to this text that satisfies me better than this. I will insert here a quote from Adam Clarke. At this place on page 593, of Vol. 6, he inserts a quote from Dr. MacKnight which says in part, "The female sex shall be saved (equally with the male) through childbearing-through bringing forth the Saviour, if they live in faith, and love, and chastity, with that sobriety which I have been recommending." And again on the same page we read this: "The salvation of the human race, through child-bearing, was intimated in the sentence passed on the serpent in Genesis 3:15, `...I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head,...' Accordingly, the Saviour, being conceived in the womb of His mother by the power of the Holy Ghost, is truly the seed of the woman who was to bruise the head of the serpent; and a woman, by bringing Him forth, has been the occasion of our salvation."

It is interesting to note in this connection that Jesus Christ is the "Seed of the Woman." In Scripture, all the genealogies are reckoned on the male side; so and so begat so and so, and on and on it goes. A man's seed was reckoned in his sons. This is true even though he may have begotten a number of daughters, too. But there is one exception to this rule. He who was the Chief of them all, Jesus Christ, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Prince of the kings of the earth, the King of saints, the Blessed and only Potentate, the only begotten Son of God, the Saviour of all mankind is reckoned as the "Seed of Woman." True, after the stream of His genealogy started it was picked up and run through the male side, too, from generation to generation; but it was headed in the woman and He was declared to be the "Seed of the Woman."

After the stream ran through the male side for several hundred years, it surfaced in the woman in Isaiah 7:14, where we read, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Accordingly, we read in the first chapter of Luke, verses 26-35, that the angel Gabriel appeared to a virgin named Mary and announced to her that she was going to conceive and bear a son and said some very exalting, majestic things about Him. She questioned how this could be since she was a single woman, but Gabriel explained to her that the Holy Ghost would come upon her and the Highest would overshadow her, and therefore that holy thing which would be born of her would be called the Son of God. The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 surfaced again in Matthew 1:20-25, where the angel is explaining to Joseph about this miraculous, spiritual phenomena which was baffling him. The angel told him that it was by the Holy Ghost and that it was the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14.

FL-Dear Bro. Murphey: Thank you for the note of cheer and encouragement. May God bless you and the work that you are doing. I am praying for you and the Church there and for the camp meetings. May many souls find the way of salvation.

I am thanking God for all the help He gives me and also for His help to others.

-Sis. Judith Klokner

TN-Dear Bro. Wayne and Co-workers: Christian love and greetings from East Tennessee. May the good Lord continue to bless, lead and direct you in the good publishing work, in the interest of the Church of God at large. The articles, editorials and testimonies are so good, helpful and encouraging.

I love, appreciate and enjoy the old-time Reformation Church of God, and have been in it most of my life. My father and mother, with the help of others, got a congregation started in Middle Tennessee in 1909, the year I was born. Bro. Willis M. Brown was the first preacher. Many left sectism under the anointed preaching, got saved, sanctified and some were healed. They were happy and thankful to be a part of God's great Church, the body and Bride of Christ. My parents, and some others, remained true and faithful, worshipping elsewhere when compromise affected the congregation.

My dear wife was 88 years old in March and I was 88 last month. Praise the Lord. -Charles B. Williams

MO-Dear Bro. Wayne and Sis. Mary: Greetings in the precious name of Jesus. I thank the Lord for His many blessings. I enjoy the Faith and Victory paper, especially the testimonies of the saints. I enjoyed the report on the new Print Shop building....

Please remember me in prayer for the places on my face, especially the one on my forehead. I have a place that has come on my jaw that is troubling me. May God bless you all.

Christian love, -Sis. Mamie Butcher

MO-Dear workers at the Print Shop: I pray God is blessing you each one with special blessings. My body gets weak and painful at times, but God still gives me needed help. His blessings to me are many, and I thank and praise Him for all He does for me.

It is hard for me to write very well anymore, but I think of all the saints and pray for them.

May God continue to bless the work you are doing at the Print Shop.

With Christian love and prayers for all the Church everywhere. -Zelda Dollins

UT-Dear saints: I am writing to thank each one who prayed the prayer of faith for my husband, Gordon. He is better, thank the Lord. When God's faithful children call on Him, He is there with open arms and great love to help us in whatever we need.

Gordon was near death, and the doctors didn't think he would make it, but we know there is a greater power. The doctor had asked if we had made any arrangements if Gordon should die. I said that two years ago he had filled out a form that he wouldn't be put on life support.

When I got home I called Clayton and Roberta Gaines for an agreement of prayer and I went right to prayer. Gordon soon showed improvement.

I can't praise or thank the Lord enough. Gordon is home. He has a private nurse and a therapist who comes two and three times a week to care for him.

Gordon and I were so pleased for the card from the Guthrie Camp Meeting and for all who signed their names and a few words. He got calls, cards and letters from the saints. Thank you so much. May God bless each one of you.

Love,

-Sis. Martha East

KY-Dear Bro. Wayne and all others: Greetings in Jesus' name. It is so good to be a child of God. He is good to us all. Praise His holy name. A song has been on my heart since the weekend. It says, "What would I do without Jesus?" Oh, I couldn't make it without Him. Sometimes it seems He is gone, but I just keep calling His name in prayer, and I find He has been there all the time. We must walk by faith.

We had a bad storm here yesterday evening. It rained so hard that the roads were flooded. My sister, niece and I, were caught out in it. Some semi-trucks were pulled over onto the side of the road. I thought at once that I would do the same, but I was afraid of being hit because visibility was so poor. So I just kept driving, asking the Lord to bring us home. And praise His name, He did!

I still want all the saints to remember my children, that they will be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. My youngest son is raising three children by himself, as well as working long hours.

Continue to remember my parents. They are both 80 years old and have to use walkers.

One morning I was thinking about you dear ones at the Print Shop, and all you had to do. I know it takes a lot of praying to get the mind of God. You must know what messages, articles, etc. to print. My prayers are with you.

Continue to pray for my husband and me. I would love to be able to be with the saints and have Christian fellowship. It is so wonderful to be with the family of God. Won't it be great to get to heaven? What a day that will be! Oh, to see the face of our dear Savior and hear Him say, "Well done, enter in." I don't want to miss it. It will be worth it all.

Christian love,

-Sis. Mary Hughes

MO-Dear Bro. Wayne: Greetings in the precious name of Jesus; the One that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own precious blood. There is not only forgiveness of sins in Jesus blood, but also a cleansing and keeping power. There is a verse of a song that brings this out very well. "There is a blessed fount of blood, Whose virtue stands between, A barren land of sin and shame, and fields of living green." The chorus says, "Blessed fountain of blood, I have plunged 'neath its flood, And now its cleansing billows roll, Through all my happy soul." Thanks be to Jesus. I have found it so.

I was glad for the good that I received from the Guthrie Camp Meeting. I am sure there was much good accomplished.

Your saved Brother,

-T. V. McMillian

MI-Dear Bro. Wayne and all the workers in the Lord's work: Greetings in the holy name of Jesus! I pray all is going well. I am so glad that you won't have to worry about any more floods after you move. The good Lord always knows how to work out a plan for us when we need it. He sure is a great and wonderful God.

The Lord blesses me in so many ways. He watches over me night and day, and when things go wrong in my home He always makes a way that it gets fixed. I am so glad I know Him. I tell Him in my prayers I love Him and I thank Him for all He does for me.

I pray for all of you dear ones in His work. May God bless each and every one of you richly in body and soul. Your reward will be beautiful. You all will have many stars in your crown....

I love all of you and thank you all for your prayers and for the wonderful Faith and Victory paper.

My love and prayers,

-Sis. Olive Getterson

OK-Dear Bro. Wayne and all the workers: Greetings of love to all.

This is a beautiful day and we have so much to be thankful for.

I am so thankful for the day God healed the terrible pain I had in my side the first part of the Guthrie Camp Meeting. I am thankful I got to attend as much of the meeting as I did....

Love and prayer,

-Sis. Emma Dilley

FL-Dear precious saints: Greetings of love in the lovely name of Jesus, the only name under heaven whereby we must be saved.

God has been so good to me. I still need much help in body, but I thank the Lord for all He has done. Willard still needs much help in his soul and mind. His diabetes is also very bad.

My desire is to be faithful to the end, as the Bible tells us in Hebrews 3:6. "But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." It has come to me at different times that it isn't how long we stay in the world, but what we do with our time while we are in the world.

Please continue to pray for us, and our unsaved children and grandchildren. Cheryl and Kevin are still encouraged and they have been a big blessing to me.

Christian love and prayers,

An average teenager asked an average question that many average individuals wonder about: If God is love, then why does He let so many people suffer? Indeed, if God is all powerful, why doesn't He destroy wicked rulers who cause so many others to suffer and die?

We will find the first answer to this question in Genesis, where Adam and Eve were given a choice to obey or disobey the Lord. Of every tree of the garden, man could eat freely, but only one was denied him-the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We know how that Adam and Eve both ate the forbidden fruit. Because they made that wrong choice, they were punished.

Much knowledge can be gleaned from this significant beginning in history, but the point to remember is that humans have always been able to choose right or wrong. In the state of innocence, man had peace and closeness with God. Wrongdoing made man hide from God and kept man separated from closely communicating with the Lord.

After Adam and Eve sinned, or disobeyed God, human beings have been born with the nature of sin. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom.5:12. Sin separates us from God.

Suffering and trouble come when humans do not seek the Lord and His love. God did not force Adam and Eve to obey Him and He has never forced anyone to obey Him since then. When we choose to live in sin, then our troubles are multiplied and inherited by our children. (Ex. 34:7; Jer. 32:18-19.) Sin is passed from generation to generation and increases in wickedness. Noah's generation became so wicked that God sent a flood to destroy them.

According to the Scriptures, we are living in the last days before the earth will be destroyed by fire. (II Pet. 3:10.) We can see that iniquity has increased more and more through the generations. (II Tim. 3:1-7.) "And because inquities shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Matt. 24:12. By forsaking God and His righteousness, humans go deeper and deeper into sin. They leave the love of God out of their lives.

Yes, God is love: "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." I John 4:8. Since God is love, sin will separate us from God's love. When we do not seek God's love, we are choosing to do wrong. God's love is available to all who ask Him for pardon and mercy. Salvation has been given to us by God's Son, Jesus Christ, who was a second Adam, made a quickening spirit. (I Cor. 15:45.) God sent His Son to redeem all mankind because He loved the world and was not willing that any should perish. (John 3:16.) Through the redeeming blood of Jesus, we can once again come boldly to the throne of grace and feel the love of God. (Heb. 4:16.)

There is no problem so big that the Lord cannot lift a person from it and set his feet upon the straight path. The apostle Paul wrote that he was once a chief among sinners. (I Tim. 1:15.) We have testimonies among us today of how the Lord delivered souls from deep pits of sin. In love and mercy, God still reaches out to wretched sinners today. He is more long-suffering than our human comprehension can understand. We wonder sometimes why the Lord doesn't destroy wicked people, but His divine mercy is extended to murderers, gang leaders, cruel rulers, etc. If they do not accept His offered mercy on earth, they will face punishment after death. (Rev. 21:8.) God is so loving and so powerful that He deals even with the hardest of sinners.

Those who have sought the Lord and know the love of God will find a place of refuge even in the most severe battle. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Rom. 8:35, 37. Often it is by suffering and troubles that souls are drawn to the Lord.

Christian greetings to all our faithful readers and supporters.

David, in one of his Psalms of thanksgiving, said, "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears." II Sam. 22:7.

Nothing compares to having God respond to our cry for help. And He does that often for us here at the Print Shop. Just as the answer to David's cry came from the temple, it is through the Church and those who have a love for the Gospel that we are able to continue laboring at sowing the seed of God's Word.

Another way in which we have realized the blessing of the Lord in answer to our cry, is in His protection over the Print Shop. The neighborhood in which we are located continues to deteriorate. At times it seems the facility here is surrounded by those who disregard law and order.

It is not uncommon for the police to be called out to deal with disturbances. One nearby resident recently said that she has lived in Los Vegas and Los Angeles, but has never seen as much domestic violence as there is in this neighborhood.

June 19 was a climactic day for those who live in this area. At approximately 7:00 a.m., an explosion completely gutted a small trailer directly across the street from the Print Shop parking lot, critically burning the young lady who was in the trailer operating a methamphetamine lab. This event brought in the city police, county sheriff, and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, as well as others from the dangerous chemicals division.

Additionally, on the night of June 19, as some of us were working late into the evening, another disturbance occurred, some of which we heard transpire on the front lawn of the Print Shop. One neighbor caught someone stealing from his house, so he chased the suspect past the Print Shop and into another neighbor's house where a fight ensued.

The victim was shoved through a glass window, severely lacerating one arm, and requiring hospitalization.

Several instances of arson have also occurred in the past, as well as a drive-by shooting.

We know that God values the souls of those around us, and with this in mind, we have endeavored to view the neighborhood as a mission field. For quite some time, Sis. Janie Woodruff has gathered the neighborhood children together here at the Print Shop to read to them, and various workers have also been able to befriend a number of the residents who live nearby.

While we are grateful that God has not allowed anything of value to be stolen or serious vandalization to take place here at the shop, we are looking forward to the time when we will be able to complete the new Print Shop building so the publishing work can progress in a less tense atmosphere. Until then, we would appreciate your prayers, both for the souls and safety of all in our present location.

By the time this July edition reaches you, we hope to have the reprint of the Evening Light Songs hymn book returned from the bindery. We will work quickly to fill the back orders we have accumulated, and thank each of you for your patience in waiting for these books to be available.

For those who have access to the Internet, we now have the Bible Lessons Sunday School book on our Web Page. Our Internet address is: http://www.theshop.net/faithpub

As our readers will recall, in August of last year, Bro. Bob Sallee and Bro. Michael Smith journeyed to the country of Malawi, Central Africa, to visit the congregations under the oversight of Bro. Failos Namaozongo.

Bro. Bob Sallee has expressed a continued burden for this missionary work, and accompanied by his daughter, Sis. Karen Sallee, plans to return this July for another visit.

Money is being sent with Bro. Bob so the congregations which Bro. Failos has raised up in the country of Mozambique can be registered in the name of the Church of God. Registration will allow and facilitate visits in Mozambique by Church of God missionaries.

Keep Bro. Bob and Sis. Karen in your thoughts and prayers as they make this journey. We wish them the blessing of a safe and profitable trip.

The National Camp Meeting of the Church of God will be held at Monark Springs, MO, on July 18-27. Further information about this can be found under "Meeting Notices" on page 6.

The Faith Publishing House bookstore will be in operation each day of the meeting, except for Sundays. In addition to the books and tracts which we make available, we also plan to have a computer in operation so that those who are interested in checking on the expiration dates of Print Shop publications they receive can do so, as well as obtaining any other information concerning subscriptions.

There will be several new books sold in the book store this year, and we invite everyone to stop in and see what we have.

Note: There will be no August issue of the Faith and Victory paper. This lightens the work load somewhat and permits the Print Shop workers to attend the Monark Springs Camp Meeting. We continue to maintain other aspects of the publishing work, however, and ask a continued interest in your prayers.

May God bless each of you.

-Wayne Murphey