My dear readers,

Answers to Remaining Questions from Calvary Pandan Church Camp 2025 (9)

Question 1: Dear Pastor, how do you help and counsel a believer (with dispensational inclination) to see that a female elder is not biblical? The believer uses KJV and agrees with Paul's teaching, but said it's acceptable as there were no other suitable candidates and the church had agreed.

Answer 1: Expediency cannot be the basis for decision-making in the church. If in a future date the situation in the church changes, then what has been decided based on expediency will have to be stopped. But will the person allow it or want it to stop? If a woman is made an elder because “there were no other suitable candidates”, will she willingly step down when a male elder is found? Furthermore, will the church then reverse the decision to have a woman elder? What reasons will they give to remove her? If the reason is biblical, i.e. only men can be elders, the congregation will ask: “Why did the church do what was unbiblical in the first place by ordaining a woman elder?”

If expediency can be the basis to sideline God's truth, what’s to stop one from applying this same principle to all the doctrines in the Bible? Once that happens, all truths will be thrown out! Once a church uses expediency as the basis for church life and service, the church will die spiritually and the church will be Christian in name only, not in essence. The glory of God will depart, i.e. ichabod!

The biblical basis for having only male pastors and elders is based on God’s Word. It is God’s church, thus God alone has the right to determine who should care for, feed and protect His church whom He has redeemed with Christ’s precious blood!

The following passage gives the qualifications of an elder, which would include the pastor who is also an elder: 1 Timothy 3:1-7: “¹This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. ²A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; ³Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; ⁴One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; ⁵(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) ⁶Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. ⁷Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” We first note that the masculine gender is used throughout the passage. He is the head of the house, and thus, how he rules his house is the yardstick to measure his qualifications. The wife is not the head of the house, the husband is.

The phrase “the husband of one wife” clearly refers to a man. He was married when he became an elder. If his wife dies, he is not obliged to remarry to satisfy this “qualification”. He is a one-woman man. He does not have the problem of the lust of the flesh. The candidate for eldership must have all these qualifications. If he has most of them except one, he will not qualify. For example, he will not be made an elder if he cannot rule his household well (verses 4 and 5). Managing his household includes the salvation of his children and their behaviour, having a godly wife who will be exemplary, managing his finances well and he cannot be a miser, and the orderliness and cleanliness of his home.

In our Bible-Presbyterian system of church government, the founding fathers decided that since the list of the qualifications of an elder is about the character and behaviour of the elder, the office of an elder will be for life after ordination, even after he decides to step down and not stand for election. Since the Synod of the Bible-Presbyterian Church of Singapore was dissolved in October 1988, individual B-P churches are under no obligation to recognise the title of elders from other churches, including B-P churches. It is up to the BOE of every local church to decide on the recognition. All the more so when there are different standards among the B-P churches for the ordination of elders. Some B-P elders have been appointed out of expediency or carnal reasons, with little or no proper biblical evaluation of whether they have the spiritual qualifications mandated by God according to 1 Timothy 3:1-7. In the case of Calvary Pandan, candidates have to write theological papers and take an oral exam before they are presented to the congregation to be elected as elders. After the congregation has elected them, they will be ordained as an elder for life. Eldership is the highest office ordained by God to look after His flock.

When we compare the qualifications for leaders in Moses’ time or the kings in Old Testament times with the qualifications for an elder, the latter are the most stringent. Any church that decides to ignore these God-given qualifications will reap what they sow, which would be the spiritual death of the church. Having evil or carnal leaders is the fastest and best way to destroy a sound church. These leaders can be cultic, where they use favouritism, man-centred personalities, threats and fear to subdue the congregation. The Bible’s spiritual qualifications must be adhered to at all costs for the glory of God in Christ, the spiritual well-being of God’s people and the salvation of sinners who come to the church.

Another passage that teaches why women should not be pastors and elders is 1 Timothy 2:11-15: “¹¹Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. ¹²But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. ¹³For Adam was first formed, then Eve. ¹⁴And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. ¹⁵Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”

The context of 1 Timothy 2 is Paul’s pastoral teaching to Timothy, the pastor of the church of Ephesus at that time (cf. 1 Tim 1:3). The women in the church wanted to become leaders and teach publicly in the church, i.e. during worship service. Verses 11 and 12 do not mean that women cannot teach in smaller groups. For example, in a discussion group, the women or girls can contribute or ask questions about God’s Word. The Bible forbids women from preaching from the pulpit. God gave two irrefutable reasons for this teaching. The first reason is that Adam was created first. The second reason is that Adam was not deceived by the serpent in the Garden of Eden, but Eve was. Based on these two historical facts, God forbids women from holding the office of eldership.

Question 2: What does it mean to regard iniquity in our hearts? Is not forgiving someone and holding grudges / being angry at them considered regarding iniquity in our hearts?

Answer 2: Psalm 66:18-20: “¹⁸If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: ¹⁹But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. ²⁰Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.” To regard iniquity means knowing that one has sinned, for the root meaning of “to regard” is “to see”. He has been taught from the Holy Bible that he has committed a sin. He must not let sin remain. He must get rid of sin. The only way sin can be gotten rid of is in Christ. He must repent of his sin before God in Christ. It is not a sorry attitude but a genuine repentance before God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He draws closer to God through his repentance. Once God sees the sincerity of his repentance, his sin is washed away by the blood of Christ. His worship and prayers are heard by God once more. But if he refuses to repent of his sin, his fellowship with God is absent, meaning “the Lord will not hear me”. The relationship between God and His child remains. The fellowship is restored when he repents.

What if a sinner refuses to see or admit that he has committed a sin, e.g. he has taught an erroneous doctrine. If this sinner stubbornly refuses to recognise that his teaching is wrong or that he has committed a sin even after being rebuked, the truth of God in Psalm 66:18 will still apply to him. God will reject his prayers and worship of God. He is basically rendered spiritually useless. He knows and feels it if he is truly born again in Christ. His prayers are hollow. His preaching and teaching of God’s Word are bankrupt of truth. He cannot see his glaring contradictions when he teaches or preaches God's Word. He should repent eventually, as the Holy Spirit within him will make him miserable. A born-again child of God will never want to remain spiritually useless for long by holding on to his sin. He cannot pray for anyone. His worship and hymn-singing sound hollow and empty to his own ears. This spiritual misery will drive him to his knees in humble repentance before God.

However, the more frightful scenario is that his refusal to see and admit his errors and sins is not a matter of unwillingness but an impossibility. If he walks around with a cheerful disposition as if all is well with his soul, then sadly he might not be born again.

Not forgiving someone, holding grudges, and sinful anger are all sins in a person’s life. The Lord knows, and so does the sinner. He hurts himself, and God will not want that for His children. If God were to accept the worship of His children who regard iniquity in their hearts and answer their prayers, it would be like a parent rewarding his children for telling lies!