By:
William John Hocking, Editor
A.M.B.— “Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt. 5:39). What does this mean? This passage is one of those that show the great difference between the principles of law and grace. Under the law an Israelite was allowed to exact due reparation for any personal injury he received. But the Lord Jesus introduced a state of things of another nature altogether. Instead of “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” He bade His own not to resist evil, but (using that example) when smitten on one cheek, to present the other in meekness. It is no question of our rights, but whether we will forego our rights when necessary to exhibit a spirit of grace. By Christ’s word and example we are bound thus to act. Alas! how we come short. Christ “gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair” (Isa. 1:6; Matt. 26:67; John 18:22, 23). Let us “learn of Him,” that we may “overcome evil with good,” and thus “heap coals of fire” on the heads of our enemies. Read carefully 1 Peter 2:19-24; 3:9,17,18; 4:12-16.
E.E.M.— Do you think sisters should have their heads covered during prayer at a meeting in a private house? The question is one of godly decorum, but it should not bring any into bondage. A covered head according to scripture is the sign of subjection (1 Cor. 11:1-16)— a relationship of the woman to the man which was established at the creation and which grace has not subverted. The apostle therefore lays down that while in private meetings at home, women may pray or prophesy (Acts 21:9; Cor. 11:5) in the presence of men, yet they should cover their heads in doing so that the principle of subjection might be maintained (1 Cor 11:13). In general meetings of the assembly they are forbidden to speak (1 Cor. 14:34, 35; 1 Tim. 2:12). In a day, like the present, when so much is done to equalize the sexes (in attire as in other matters) it seems especially laid upon the saints to hold rigidly to the order which God Himself instituted from the beginning.
E.O.— What are we to understand by being “baptized for the dead” (1 Cor. 15:29)? Instead of “for the dead,” read “baptized in the place of [or in the room of] the dead,” in the sense of filling up the vacant places made in the ranks of believers through those who fell asleep in Christ. This was done, as far as testimony went, by believers at their baptism. Who is meant by “they?” “They” refers, as has been said, to the new converts, and “the dead” to departed saints whose places the fresh ones filled. (See B.M.M., vol. 1, p. 220). Has this baptism any connection with Romans 6:3, 4? No; only that Romans 6:3, 4 states the doctrinal truth of which immersion in water is the figure. Our association with Christ in His death and resurrection is, of course, quite independent of water-baptism.