Basic HTML Version
J
PAGE
6
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PASTOR
GENERAL'S
REPORT, DECEMBER
2 ,
1986
0
'Did
God
Create
a Devi l?"
Th i s
endur ing question-and
t h e
B i b l e
answer--is again r ep r i n t ed
as a
booklet.
I t
w a s
reduced from a
booklet
t o
a r e p r i n t i n
t h e
pr ev i ous
decade.
The
new e d i t i o n
was
ed i t ed
by
Herbert
W.
Armstrong.
The
f i r s t
sentence on
page
9
of
t h e
new e d i t i o n now
reads,
"The
ear th
was
created
perfect ' --not
'perfect
and
complete"
as i n
ear l ier
e d i t i o n s .
The
second paragraph on
page
9
is
expanded t o i nc l ude
t h e
a u t h o r ' s
increased understanding and now
reads
from h i s
own
handwr i t ten
cor r ec t i on :
'He
gave
Adam
a chance t o
t a k e
t h e
place
of
Satan
t h e
d e v i l ,
si t
on
ear th ' s
throne , and
restore
t h e
Government of
Go d
on
ear th.
Adam
rejected
t h e
tremendous oppor t un i t y , y i e l ded t o Satan
who
t o
t h i s
day
remains on
ear th ' s
t hrone
as
t h e
god of
t h i s
world.
C h r i s t ,
t h e
second
Adam,
w i l l
soon
come t o
s i t
on
t h a t
t h r one and r e s t o r e
t h e
Government of
God
( A c t s
3:19-21).
Remember, L u c i f e r
had
been
placed
i n ru l e r sh i p . '
0
"All
About
Water
Baptism"
I n
t h e
drophead
t h e fol lowing s en t ence s have been
deleted
by
request
of
t h e
Personal Correspondence Department: "Suppose you
were
bap t i zed by a
mi n i s t e r you have s i n c e l o s t conf idence in.
Should
you
be
bapt ized over
again?' I n any
case
E d i t o r i a l would have
had
t o sho r t en
t h e
drophead t o
accommodate
t h e
l a r g e r
typeface
now used i n
booklets.
Before
h i s
death
Herbert
W.
Armstrong expanded
t h e
f i r s t
paragraph of
t h e
booklet
t o
read:
"We
are
born
mortal-with
a
temporary phys i ca l
l i f e .
But t h e
great
Plan
of
God
prov i des f o r
a
r eb i r t h
i n
t h e
Kingdom of
God
t o
immor tal i ty
and
happy, joyous
l i f e
f o r
a l l
e t e r n i t y .
W e
may r ece i ve
t h e
g i f t
of e t e r n a l
life....
I)
I n paragraph
4 #
page
l I
he
added:
"...(or
a
false
C h r i s t )
....'
On page
5 ,
t h e
second paragraph,
t h e
f i r s t
sen t ence
is
edi ted
t o
read:
"The
blood
of
Ch r i s t
by
itself
does
no t f i n a l l y save any man.'
On
page
8
t h e
l a s t
paragraph
preceding t h e
subhead
"Baptism
De f i n i t e l y Commanded" now
reads:
"...Since
t hey
d i d
no t have
t he
Holy
Spirit....
i ns t ead of
t h e
o l de r wording
'...
had
no t been bap t i zed
with....'
Mr. Armstrong
t hough t
these
e d i t o r i a l
changes
improved
t h e
readers'
g r a sp
of
t h e
s ub j e c t .
On
page
14
t h e
o l d subhead, "Baptism
Should
Never
Be
Delayed, ' and
t h e
next sen t ence are
deleted.
Before
t h e
nex t
subhead,
"Should
Ch i l dr en
Be
Bapt ized," Mr. Armstrong
added
a
paragraph
t h a t
reads:
" Bu t
t h i s
does
no t mean
t h a t
God's
mi n i s t e r s should
be
ha s t y i n bap t i z i ng one u n t i l
there
is
evidence
of
a
REAL
CHANGE
of mind
and
heart--a
real
su r r ende r t o
Go d
and
t h e
w i l l
of
God.
God's
mi n i s t e r s must
be
as sur ed
of
a
genuine repentance and
bel ief
i n
Jesus
C h r i s t
as pe r sona l Savior .
The
mi n i s t e r
mus t
be
assured
t h a t
t h e
i nd i v i dua l
is
genuinely
called
of
God
(John
6:44) ,
has
f u l l y repented
and r e a l l y wants t o t u r n
h i s
l i f e
over i n t o
t h e
hands
of
t h e
l i v i n g
God.
Many tragic ci rcums tances have occur red because
of
f a i l u r e t o
be
sure of
these
po i n t s , i n t e r p r e t i n g temporary
remorse
f o r t r u e repentance.
But
when
t h e
cond i t i ons
Ch r i s t
set
are
a l l m e t ,
one
shou l d
be
bap t i zed
immediately.'