All Scripture is God Breathed
I have been studying Galatians as this letter seems so appropriate to what is going on in the American Church today. Let me quote from Galatians 5:1-6
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love."
Paul was writing to the churches in Galatia because certain men had come in after him who were convincing those Churches that they need to be circumcised and follow the Jewish Law. Paul was deeply concerned about this and wrote the letter to admonish the Churches in Galatia to stand fast to the Gospel he had first delivered to them and not for them to be swayed by the arguments of these “Judaisers”
The word of God is timeless and is applicable for all men in all times. Part of the current apostasy in the American Church is the attempt to make the New Testament seem to have two levels of authority. The new “Judaisers” want to keep only the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke & John as the infallible word of God, and to make the rest of the New Testament not infallible and therefore not as authorative as the four Gospels. This allows them to reinterpret the New Testament to what they want it to mean.
The above passage from Galatians proves how wrong these new “Judaisers” are about all of the New Testament not being all equally God Breathed and authoritive. What Paul was speaking about above is just as applicable today as it was in his day and what is so amazing is it points straight to the new “Judaisers” You may ask who are these new Judaisers? Well let’s dive into the meaning of the above passage.
What Paul is saying about the Law above is a Law of “Dead Works”. The Judaisers were wanting the Christians to take on a yoke of works. Or in other words, rituals based on outward acts that required no inward holiness.
If you have followed the emails I send out on the “Emerging” Church which is growing like a plague and infecting even Pentecostal Churches I hope you picked up on what the Emergent movements aim is: To change the gospel from salvation in the cross and inward holiness and obedience; to a Social Gospel based on Dead Works with no salvation through the cross and no inward holiness. Or in other words to place a yoke of bondage on Christians. And why are so many “Christians” flocking to this new Social Gospel? Because it allows them to remain in their sin, to relieve them of having to “crucify the flesh”, to die to self. It relieves them of having to be persecuted for their faith in Christ Jesus but at the same time deceive them into thinking they are a Christian.
As Paul says in Phillipians 3:18:
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ.”
Paul is saying here that there are many who think themselves Christians but who are actually enemies of Christianity. And he weeps for them, because their end is not what they think it will be, they are headed for the second death and do not even realize it.
God Bless and Stand fast in that faith that was first delivered to you!
John Baker
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The Holy Spirit, A Pentecostal Interpretation
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from truth, and be turned aside to fables." 2 Timothy 4:3-4
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8 comments:
Wow, really good. I always seem to be asking myself what my motives are for doing certain acts of kindness. Is it for the Lord and because of the Lord? What are the true motives of my heart. I was baptised as a young child of 4 years. I believed for years that I was saved at 4. I later fell away from my walk. After the falling away, I came back. I never believed in any other way to the Father but Jesus Christ, however my lifestyle said Jesus was not my Lord and Master. Now I wonder if I was truly saved at 4 and later a prodical or if I was saved later. This question troubles me because I was baptised at 4 but if I wasn't truly saved I should be baptised again. However, I may have been a prodical. My point is, this troubles me from time to time, meaning should I be baptised again. But reading in galations above, may be it is only the inward baptism of the heart that matters and not the act of water baptism? Although, baptism confirms to others where I stand with Christ.
Rachel
Rachel,
In answer to your question of whether you were saved at four or not.
Baptism is not salvation or being saved. Water Baptism is a public act of obedience and symbol of us having layed to rest our old sinful life and the raising up of our new life in Christ. However this symbol follows repentence and Salvation. Baptism can become a dead ritual or a "work" if it is not done as am outward symbol of the change that has already taken place in the heart. "for where the desire is there the heart will be also"
Salvation comes through repentence. Ask yourself this question: Is there a specific moment in your life where you can say that you prayed a prayer of repentence and asked God to come into your life, and you made a decision at that point to follow Christ? If you can say yes I wouldnt worry about being baptised again. If not find a good Orthodox teaching Chuch that has the Holy Spirit alive there and ask to speak to the pastor and ask him / her to lead you through a prayer of repentence and by all means be baptised afterwards.
I hope that helps, God Bless You
John Baker
Dear John,
Sorry for my confusing communication. At four years, I knew I was a sinner and prayed the "prayer". I did believe that Jesus was the son of God, I did believer that He died for my sins, and I did believe God raised him from the dead. I never stopped believing that Jesus Christ was the only way to God the Father. I also went my own way especially later and lived according to my desires. Looking back I can honestly say I was not obeying the Lord Jesus. Since obeying equals worship, I have to ask myself whom I was worshipping and who was my master. I later did repent and submit to the Lord and He is my risen savior. Thank you for your true comments and loving words to life.
I feel you may be correct about being baptised again. I have repented and am continuing daily to repent and pray for forgiveness and stregth to turn to Him and give up my own desires. My concern has only been if I was not truly saved before, should I be rebaptised as an outward sign of following the Lord in obedience.
I know you are busy with this blog but if you have time, what are your thoughts on covenant theology or reformation theology?
Love,
Rachel
Rachel,
As far as Covenent Theology I would have to say which one? I have seen so many flavors of Covenant Theology. There is the one that says there has always been one covenant through out the Bible: Old Testament and New Testament Combined, And that all of the prophecies in the Bible are interpreted as pertaining to one group through out history that God is speaking to.
Then there is the two covenant Theology, The three covenant Theology. And then there is amillenialism that is usually associated with the single Covenant Theology, but some who believe in the two or three covenant theology also believe in amillenialsim, but others premillenialism.
As far as Reformed Theology if you are talking specifically about TULIP:
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited or Definite Attonement
Irresistable Grace
Perseverence of the Saints.
You cant really argue too much with those five points,as there is a substantial amount of scripture that supports those five points.
However again like Covenant Theology, Reformed Theology has many flavors. You have the Hyper Calvanists who believe that if a baby is born and dies right after birth and that baby has not been "elected" then that baby goes straight to hell. I dont believe that.
And then you have had Reformed Theology twisted to say that if you are elected then you can go out and do what you want, live like you want because you are already elected and it does not matter what you do. I dont believe that either as our fruits show who is our father.
Perpescuity is a word used to describe the clarity of the Bible. It means the Bible has good clarity on the basics of the Christian faith and they cannot be disputed with any amount of validity.
Some of the basics that the Bible is clear on is this:
1. The Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1; John 20:28; Hebrews 1:8-9).
2. The Virgin Birth (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27).
3. The Blood Atonement (Acts 20:28; Romans 3:25, 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12-14).
4. The Bodily Resurrection (Luke 24:36-46; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 15:14-15).
5. The inerrancy of the scriptures themselves (Psalms 12:6-7; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20).
And those who disagree with any of the above doctrines are not Christians at all. Rather, they are heretics.
So disagreements are perfectly acceptable within the confines of Christianity, because our salvation does not hinge upon doctrines other than the above five.
But if some deny even one of the five fundamentals mentioned above, they have departed from the faith, "giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1). By denying the above scriptural doctrines, they have heaped to themselves "teachers, having itching ears" (2 Timothy 4:3); thereby even "denying the Lord that bought them" (2 Peter 2:1). These are the true heretics, who are preaching "another Jesus", according to 2 Corinthians 11:4:
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
And later in this same chapter, Paul refers to these people as the ministers of Satan, in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15:
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Some will say well Catholics, Mormons etc believe in the five fundamentals, yes but they de-emphasize them enough or tack enough pagan or heretical baggage on to them to make them of none effect, and therefore become instruments of Satan.
I come from a Pentecostal background, and most of the Pentecostals have went into Looney land as far their Theology. They have become mortally distracted with the Signs and Wonders parade. They have forgotten that the signs and wonders are supposed to be outward evidences of inward holiness and obedience. If you throw out the Inward Holiness and Obedience, and just concentrate on the signs and wonders, well old Satan will lead you down the false church road and that is where the Pentecostal movement has wandered off to.
God Bless
Thanks for your time and info here. To answer your question about which covenant theology, I'm not sure. I had never even heard of covenant theology until a few weeks ago. As to predestination versus free will. I think we are both but I don't know how they are reconciled at all. I definately lean towards Calvinism but I don't discount free will which may be what he means by irresistable grace.
The reason I am curious about covenant theology is because I see several verses that seem to imply that there is one group, the true Israel of God, The Church, The olive tree. I have been raised on dispensation and the Scofield bible, and a pre-trib rapture. However this past year of reading the bible alone and praying has taken me from pre-trib, to mid-trib, to pre-wrath to post-trib. I am premillenial. In reading Revelation I see the woman in the desert who I always thought was Israel, now I see that she is or could be the church. After this reading only the bible I later saw that the early church fathers said that the woman is the church. I also started to see that there is a possiblity that she is both or that they are one in the same. I cringed at the thought of being a heretic for evening thinking this, as you have to remember I have been brought up as a dispensationalist where there are very clearly two different groups, Israel and the Church. Then I find out about covenant theology where there are others who believe these two groups are the same group. I want to make sure I am not led astray and that I rightly divide the Word of Truth. What I have discovered this past year through prayer and study of the word is that I am not a dispensationalist in terms of rapture timing and possibly more even though it goes against everything I have been told is correct. What are your thoughts on Israel and the Church, the woman in the desert, rapture timing and millenial timing? I know how busy you are with this site so if you can't get back to me right away I understand, however I am greatly anticipating your answer.
God Bless You,
Rachel
Rachel,
The issue I have with the well known One Covenant Theology is that it has been used for some foul purposes and ideologies such as Replacement Theology which says that Israel has been cast off by God and that The Church has replaced the Jews as the true Israel. This has led to some down right horrible treatment of the Jews down through history.
Jesus and Paul both allude to a single spiritual covenant. What they term Spiritual Israel, the true descendents of Abraham, all those who live by faith. Paul talks about there being some Jews who make up part of that Spiritual Israel and also the Gentiles who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and grafted into the Olive tree you were speaking of.
Paul I believe also alludes to the Jews who are part of the Olive tree as those who have lived by faith and accepted Jesus as the Messiah. But Paul also talks about a blindness being placed on the eyes of Physical Israel. I believe he is talking about blindness until the time of the tribulation. And during the tribulation there will be a remnant of physical Israel who will accept Jesus as the messiah. When Paul speaks of the blinded physical Israel he is speaking of all those who make up physical Israel from that time forward.
Let’s look at Romans 2:25-29
“For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”
Many people confuse what Paul is saying about the “righteous requirements of the Law” with the “written code” The righteous requirements of the law was as Jesus said in Matthew 22:34-40
But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “‘you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
If a person keeps the Righteous Requirements of the Law, then they will not need to worry about the rest of the law, as by keeping the righteous requirements means they understand their relationship to God and live accordingly and would never violate the rest of the law. The Righteous Requirements of the law required Jesus to come and be a sacrifice for sins because no man can keep the Righteous requirements of the Law completely. The Jews thought that by keeping their “Written Code” they were justified before God. The “Written Code” was the Jewish Traditional law which had diverged from the Original Mosaic Law into dead outward ritual acts that required no inner spiritual righteousness.
If a Jew in Jesus day was attempting to keep the righteous requirements of the law then they would have seen him as the Messiah.
If you go on to read Romans Chapter nine Paul talks about Abraham and the true descendents of Abraham.
I believe that if a Jew is living by faith he / she would be led by the Holy Spirit into the knowledge that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. And hence they would become Messianic Jews. If you read Romans Chapter 10 Paul confirms this.
I believe prophecy specifically talking about Israel in the Bible has not been transferred from Physical Israel (The Jews) to Spiritual Israel. Physical Israel has a large part in Bible Prophecy to this day and in the future. God has not cast them off completely. A remnant of them will be saved. Paul alludes to this in Romans Chapter 11.
I believe the State of Israel fulfills Bible Prophecy concerning the end time re-gathering of the scattered tribes.
The mistake that people make in understanding the one Spiritual Covenant is they attempt to make that a visible covenant that can be split cleanly down a line separating the Jews from the Christians, and then say all Jews are cursed of God and are cast off by God. In the first place it violates the second commandment that Jesus spoke of above if a person hates the Jews and treats them badly; we are to treat them well and hope to lead them to Christ.
Many Jews today hate the cross for what it symbolizes to them: Genocide and hatred against them.
As Christians we have a lot of bad history to make up towards them.
They are the root from where we get our faith; it should be our desire to see them saved.
Concerning the Woman in Revelations Chapter 12. You should always understand that sometimes words in prophecy have a dual general and specific meaning for a group of people. The woman’s general meaning is “Physical Israel” The woman’s specific meaning: Revelations 12:6 “The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days”. is the “righteous remnant of Physical Israel” that will be saved in the tribulation.
Revelations 12:5 “She gave birth to a son” stands for “Physical Israel” that Jesus was born out of, since he was born a physical Jew: : “a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron”.
I tend towards a Mid-Tribulation Rapture. I don’t have any Biblical support for it but neither do pre-tribulation adherents. I believe Jesus is coming back for a Spotless Bride, for those who are truly his. And I think his bride will have to be cleaned up for that, and he house cleaning only comes through persecution.
As far the millennial reign. I am a Pre-Millennial adherent, I believe that there will be a literal one thousand year reign of Christ on earth, this will commence after his second coming at the end of the Tribulation. The Bible gives overwhelming support for this. Otherwise too much of the Bible has to be made allegorical and if this is done it turns into total nonsense.
God Bless.
Is is possible that tulip in true yet we still have free will?
Should we spend and inordinant amount of time discussing it at all?
Does it have to be one or the other?
Can it be both? I see your argument about the child dying young. I can't reconcile that in my mind so limited attonement doesn't seem to ring true.
Prayer Changes the Man
In all our praying, however, it is important that we keep in mind that God will not alter His eternal purposes at the word of a man. We do not pray in order to persuade God to change His mind. God’s love desires the best for all of us, and He desires to give us the best at any cost. He will open rivers in desert places, still turbulent waves, quiet the wind, bring water from the rock, send an angel to release an apostle from prison, feed an orphanage, open a land long closed to the gospel.
What the praying man does is to bring his will into line with the will of God so God can do what He has all along been willing to do. Thus prayer changes the man and enables God to change things in answer to man’s prayer.
A.W. Tozer
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