The Gospel Of Repentance

                                                The Apostle Paul had to diffuse some illogical conclusions he knew he would anticipate based on his teaching on justification by faith with his Jewish readers in Rome. The corrections Paul had to make are no doubt corrections we as teachers of the Word of God must face today.                             Paul at the end of Romans chapter two is discussing circumcision. Paul explains to his readers that those are who are physically circumcised have no essential advantage over those who are not circumcised if those circumcised (the Jews) are disobedient to the law of God. Paul also indicates those who are not circumcised (the Gentiles) are blessed if they keep the law. In addition thi...

The noun form of these two words would be Continuationist  and Cessationist. What do these words mean? In Biblical terms it is dealing with certain gifts of the Holy Spirit such as: Apostles, prophets gifts of healings [i] , miracles, tongues,  (I Cor 12:28-29). The continuationist believe all of these gifts are in operation today whereas the cessationist believe they have ceased at the end of the apostolic era – the end of the first century. In the writer’s opinion, the continuationist (not all) assume since these gifts are in the Bible and God does not revoke His gifts, then they continue. Furthermore, they would say they have either witnessed these gifts in action, or they have operated the gifts themselves; tongues, prophecy (in the predictive or foretelling since), a word of knowledge. Continuationists also believe in what is called a “latter rain” blessing where the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh just as or even more so than Pentecost. This phenomenon...

The word call in the Greek is Kaléō. The Hebrew word is qārā. Both words mean a general call. In relation to salvation, its meaning is referring to those God has chosen to be recipients of His saving grace. The calling of God is an invitation to repent of sins; that means forsaking of your sins and turning to Him for salvation through Jesus Christ. There is what is called and outward call. This is where the gospel is preached to all people. The outward call of God is resisted and rejected by men when they hear the gospel message and are commanded to repent of their sins that they may have life. An illustration of this is in the parable of Matthew 22 which is the parable of the wedding banquet. In this parable the king prepares a banquet for his son. The king sends out his servants to bid those invited to come, but all of them make excuses for not coming. In addition, those who refuse kills the king’s servants [(i.e. the believers (vs 6)]. When the kings receives this news, he is ...

We live in a society of moral relativism. This is the age of tolerance and subjectivism. To many truth is relative, not absolute. [i] What a lot of people are saying today is, “What you believe is fine for you, but I have my own truth! Your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth"! To affirm that there is absolute truth, and only one way to God, and eternal bliss seems arrogant. Truth is never arrogant. For Biblical truth is the only truth that saves. A lot of people say they believe in Jesus Christ. That’s not enough. What one believes about Him, and who He is is the key. It’s not good enough to say that Jesus was a great moral teacher or a first century Prophet, and miracle worker from Galilee. He did not leave that option open to us. Hear the words of C.S. Lewis the author of the classic Chronicles of Narnia series: “ I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great mo...

So Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God. For assuredly I say to whoever says to this mountain, be removed, and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes those things he says. Therefore I say to you whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. -           Mark 11:22-24 Unfortunately, these verses have been butchered by those in the Positive Confession/Charismatic/Word of faith movement. They have and continue to grossly mis-apply these passages. There are many that believe Jesus was saying we can whatever we ask for indiscriminately. If these verses stood alone on an island by themselves then yes, I would say we could take these verses at face value. As a result of this text, no doubt millions have prayed for healing, money, a job, a husband, a wife, a new house, car, casting out of demons, and the list goes on. None of these things are wrong in ...

Grace - the Greek word is charis. This word has several meanings: that which bestows or occasions pleasure, delight, or causes favorable regard. [1] Mercy – the Greek word is eleos. Is the outward manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it. [2] Most common definition for grace is unmerited or undeserved favor. In the case with God, He gives us what we do not deserve. Common definition for mercy is not getting what we do deserve; which is eternal punishment. In both scenarios God is showing extraordinary love to mankind. Both of these benefits are extended to the entire world every day. This is course would be debated by many regarding those in third world countries where people are stricken with disease, hunger and, poverty constantly. While it is terrible these things occur, there are many organizations that are actively involved in helping the destitute of this wo...