Archive for the Doctrine Category
Drifting From The Truth
April 19, 2008 by Administrator.
“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.” Hebrews 2:1 NLT
As Christians, we are all in danger of being deceived by false teachers or chasing after the things of the world. We are advised by the writer of Hebrews to intently listen to the truth we have heard in God’s Word. I particularly like the implications of the word “drift” in this verse. This kind of drifting is like a ship without an anchor. It will be gently pushed by the waves away from where it began. Before long, the wind will howl and the torrential rains will pour. The ship will be surrounded by a thick darkness. The world’s influences will crash on us eagerly trying to capsize our witness for Christ. The fury of Satan will do all it can to overcome us. Without an anchor in Christ and His Word, we as Christians will drift into the tempestuously evil sea of the world. If we do not regard God’s Word as the infallible truth, then what do we have? Each person will do what is right in his own eyes. We cannot lean on our own understanding, but must see all things through the pages of God’s Word. If we do not heed the Truth, we will find ourselves far from where we ever expected to be.
The Forgotten Doctrine
March 5, 2008 by Administrator.
It is really a shame that so many “Christian” churches have completely forgotten, or purposely forgotten, to inform the lost about their eternal punishment to come. It seems that they are intentionally ignoring this doctrine because it seems harsh and can be a turn off to unbelievers. Of course this should be preached lovingly, not with hatred. Instead of trying to compassionately tell people the truth, many groups are altogether throwing out any mention of it. Unbelievers are warned not to sin, but they are never told what will happen to them after death. The wages of sin is death… eternal death. There will only be weeping, pain, sorrow, anguish, and torment for those who die in their sins separated from Christ. John MacArthur very bluntly describes with Scripture what is to come for the lost after death:
“The punishment of the wicked is never ending as the bliss of the righteous. The wicked are not given a second chance, nor are they annihilated. The punishment of the wicked dead is described throughout Scripture as ‘eternal fire’ (Mt 25:41); ‘unquenchable fire’ (Mt 3:12); ‘disgrace and everlasting contempt’ (Da 12:2); a place where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’ (Mk 9:44-49); a place of ‘torments’ and ‘flame’ (Lk 16:23-24); ‘eternal destruction’ (2Th 1:9); a place of torment with ‘fire and brimstone’ where ‘the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever’ (Rev 14:10-11); and a ‘lake of fire, and brimstone’ (Rev20:10). Here Jesus indicates that the punishment itself is everlasting—not merely the smoke and flames. The wicked are forever subject to the fury and the wrath of God. They consciously suffer shame and contempt and the assaults of an accusing conscience—along with the fiery wrath of an offended deity—for all of eternity. Even hell will acknowledge the perfect justice of God (Ps 76:10); those who are there will know that their punishment is just and that they alone are to blame (cf. Dt 32:3-5).”
How do you think your church congregation would respond if they were to hear “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards this Sunday morning? Let’s not assume that God is infinitely patient. He is love, but He is also justice. Though this doctrine is becoming more and more unpopular, it is still real as ever. Let’s never be accused of only preaching half truths. We are born depraved, incapable of doing good. Only Christ can save us from our sins and the jaws of Sheol.
Soul-Winner?
August 9, 2007 by Administrator.
A few weeks ago I read in a book the common evangelical term “soul-winner”. I put the book down and thought, “soul-winner… that is really unbiblical”. We are not the winner of souls nor are we slot machines that jackpot converts. The majority of “evangelists” I have met keep up with the number of converts they have “won” to Christ. Many pastors keep up with the number of baptisms during the time of their ministry. How ungodly! Our lives are to be devoted to the service of Christ, not the upkeep of our supposed spiritual efficiency. Every man and woman that has ever been saved was saved by the hand of God; not by soul-winning Reverend Joe. Do you think the apostles tallied up the number of repenting sinners during their preaching? God wrote about the growth of the church, but I’m sure His apostles weren’t keeping up with it for their own reputation. I think Paul would have been ashamed if he was introduced before his audience as the winner of over 5,000 souls. Glory in God, not man.
Woo Him Not
August 3, 2007 by Administrator.
Praying for the unsaved. – “We can invite the Holy Spirit to work in a person’s life so as to make them more receptive and responsive to the Gospel.” ~ Elmer Towns
“There are two kinds of means requisite to promote a revival: the one to influence God, the other to influence men.” ~ Charles G. Finney
I was horrified when I read these two quotes in the same article by Elmer Towns. The implications of these quotes are stating that we serve a God who needs man’s support, influence, invitation, wooing, and free will in order for Him to act. God doesn’t need man to say, “Ok God, we are ready for You here. Charge on!” Our sovereign Lord is not dependent on man. People seem to forget that man is a created, inferior being. On top of that, we are depraved. We are a little lower than the angels. And not even the angels try to influence God to action. If I serve a God that I must encourage and invite to work in someone’s life, then I serve a weak God. I pray that He will, but my prayers do not open the door for God to move in. My prayers are stating, “Lord, I can’t soften their hearts to Your Word, but You can. Please, convict them.” Instead, Towns and Finney are saying, “Lord, I’ve planted the seed and tilled the ground for You. Now hop to it.” Don’t mentally make God subjective to your will. Realize Who is in control and Who is sovereign. It’s Christ the Lord, not us. Beg for His action. A lost man has a spiritual door with a knob on only one side. God is on the side with the knob.
Spurgeon on Free Will
August 1, 2007 by Administrator.
On Dead Theologians there is an excellent quote by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The post is very insightful, honest, and blunt about free will and grace. The faint of heart Arminians must brace themselves.
Unfairly Justified By Grace
July 3, 2007 by Administrator.
“But then there was the question how God could be just and yet justify me who had been so guilty.” ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Innumerable times I have had people ask me how God could be loving or just if He allowed people to die and go to Hell. That question is entirely selfish. People seem to think that “fairness” is determined by the will of man. Man thinks that God loves a person of good deeds and only condemns the most evil. What they fail to understand is that we are all evil and condemned to eternal damnation. How amazing that even some should be called by His grace from their fully deserved condemnation! May we never call God unfair when it was unfair that Christ paid the wages of our sins. Should we not pay the penalty of our own sins? Yet Christ intervened for His elect and died for us. How astounding that even one be saved! What mercy and grace from our just God! As Christians, we have been unfairly justified by His wondrous grace. Be ever grateful for the calling of His grace. Think on Charles Spurgeon’s question and the following verse:
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace…” ~ Hebrews 4:16 NASB
Battle of the Wills
May 14, 2007 by Administrator.
Discussions and long arguments have arisen for scores of years concerning God’s divine predestination or man’s independent will. This topic is far too huge and deep to wrap up in a single post. So I will simply ask you the questions and use Scripture for clarity. Since Scripture is our one and only foundation as followers of Christ, use these verses to help you think through “free will” and “predestination”. If some of you are unfamiliar with these terms, please realize they are in reference to a Christian’s salvation through Christ Jesus. It is debated whether God chose the Christian to be saved or whether man made the conscious choice to turn to God for salvation. By clicking on the numbers you will see verses related to the designated question. Here are my questions:
01. Can the Lord give life and take life?
02. Does God act according to our standards of fair and unfair?
03. Is God over all things?
04. Who convicts the sinner of his or her sins?
05. Who saves the sinner from their sins?
06. Are we saved by our own grace?
07. Then by whose grace are we saved?
08. Can we save ourselves?
09. Can we choose Christ when Romans 3:10-12 says that no one chooses God?
10. If we can freely choose despite Scripture, should we thank ourselves every day for choosing God and His salvation?
11. Does that mean that we do our part of the saving and then He does His?
12. Does that mean that Christ’s blood is insufficient since man must first accept His blood in order for Jesus to save them?
13. Who convicts the sinner?
14. Who saves the sinner?
15. Does God need our help?
16. Does God need our permission to use us?
17. Did God need our permission to create us?
18. Does God need our permission to take us?
19. Does God need our permission to save us?
20. Since Romans 3:11 says that man cannot choose God, can God choose man?
21. Is God over all things except the will of man?
22. Is Christ’s atonement restrained and held back because of the will of man?
23. If so, does that make man’s will greater than God?
24. If not, does that make God greater than man’s will?
25. Since man’s will is not greater than God and man cannot choose Him, does that mean that God chooses the sinner?
You can ignore these passages and these questions if you like, but there has to be a Divine intervention in order for Romans 3:10-12 to be true and man be saved through the grace of Christ Jesus at the same time.
This short post has hardly done any justice to the discussion of choosing or being chosen. For some quick comments, please look at John MacArthur’s comments in The Beauty of Election post by Dead Theologians.
Judge Not
April 26, 2007 by Administrator.
We are all quite familiar with the verse “Judge not, lest ye be judged” in Matthew 7. Sadly, this verse has become a modern secular tool against Christianity. Claiming Christians and non-Christians alike use this verse to quiet the voices of any who try to condemn sin. This verse has been completely distorted for the individual moral convictions of whoever uses it. People will deliberately overlook countless Scriptures where God makes declarations of His hate for certain sins. Instead, “Christians” and the unsaved use this verse to dismantle other Christians for condemning sins that they don’t feel should be judged. Of course, we are to show love. But Christ has not called us to be so loving to the world that we disregard anything they do. God loved the children of Israel, but He would not sit back and tolerate their sinful, rebellious acts. Am I expected by the Lord to be tolerant? Proverbs 8:13 says that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. How do these conforming individuals explain verses like these? I understand that I should not judge others of their faults if I am too struggling hard with it myself. Yet, the fact of the matter is that we are not called, as followers of Christ, to make others feel comfortable in their sin. The Word of God is full of convicting messages. The Holy Spirit used those same convicting pages to draw me to Himself. If you don’t want people to feel convicted or guilty for their actions, then you are showing that you don’t want others to condemn you for your own actions. When people use this verse in defense of sin, they are really saying, “Tolerate, lest ye be not tolerated.”
Discussions and long arguments have arisen for scores of years concerning God’s divine predestination or man’s independent will. This topic is far too huge and deep to wrap up in a single post. So I will simply ask you the questions and use Scripture for clarity. Since Scripture is our one and only foundation as followers of Christ, use these verses to help you think through “free will” and “predestination”. If some of you are unfamiliar with these terms, please realize they are in reference to a Christian’s salvation through Christ Jesus. It is debated whether God chose the Christian to be saved or whether man made the conscious choice to turn to God for salvation. By clicking on the numbers you will see verses related to the designated question. Here are my questions: