For a couple of months I have been struggling with my assurance of salvation on and off. It’s been a good time of growth as I keep on digging deeper into the why and how I am saved. Now there are a host of reasons why you might struggle with assurance of salvation. Some people … [Read more…]
The meaning of “binding and loosing” in Matthew 16:19 has caused many students of the Bible to scratch their heads: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Emphasis added) … [Read more…]
(Article from “DESIRING GOD” – https://www.desiringgod.org) Recently, the elders of our church gathered after the Sunday morning service to pray over a member who had received a difficult medical diagnosis. Complicating her condition was her upcoming travel to Haiti to work as a nurse on a short-term mission. After hearing the heavy word from the … [Read more…]
Are all of the TEN COMMANDMENTS upheld in the New Testament? The answer is yes, most definitely. To prove this, consider what Jesus Christ taught concerning the commandments and see the chart at the bottom showing where each of the 10 Commandments is addressed in the New Testament. Jesus Christ consistently upheld the 10 Commandments as given in the Old … [Read more…]
Artikel deur: Ignatius W.C. van Wyk (Department of Church History, University of Pretoria, South Africa – http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/hts/v72n4/93.pdf) This article presents the eschatology of the German theologian Gerhard Ebeling (1912–2001). Concentration falls on his views on death and life after death. Only a selection of his writings has been used for this article (originally a paper … [Read more…]
SCRIPTURE READING 1 Pet 3:19-22 ‘’ 19 in which[a] he went and proclaimed[b] to the spirits in prison, 20 because[c] they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of … [Read more…]
Years ago, I taught a class at my church in which I planned to teach though one book of the Bible. My first choice: the book of Numbers. Some people mistook this as a joke: Who would actually prefer to teach Numbers? But my good friends knew better and laughingly responded, “Of course you want … [Read more…]
There has been a good bit of talk in the blogosphere over the past couple of weeks about the election of a new President of the Southern Baptist Convention. As you no-doubt know, there are many who have been seeking to build bridges between the Calvinist and Arminian factions within the Convention. Monday’s “debate” … [Read more…]
One of the joyful challenges I face in maintaining this blog is answering the questions of Christians who are wrestling with issues related to Reformed theology. I receive many questions from people who are new to the doctrines of grace or who are fighting through them for the first time. I try to answer as … [Read more…]
I want to take a little break today from our regularly-scheduled programming (a series about profanity) to discuss something that has been on my mind a lot over the past few days. It stems from a few things I’ve read and a few discussions I’ve had, so I wanted to write about it while … [Read more…]