The Gospel Of Repentance

This subject will always be full of tension. Unfortunately, the tension is usually negative. Why? Because of man's distorted worldview of both matters. That is why I want to analyze it again. You may recall that I wrote an article entitled, "The will of God vs. the will of Man" some time ago. This will be an addendum to that article. This matter is so crucial to the nature of God and man that it deserves more treatment. My goal is to get you closer to the nature of God and the nature of man through this article - to provide Biblical insight so the tension we feel can become a positive instead of a negative.  Is that possible? Can tension become positive? With clear Biblical explanation, I believe it can. So, let us start with man since that is who we are.  God at the beginning of time created man and gave him dominion over everything He created. Man had the absolute power to do anything he wanted within the confines of God's will. In other words. man was...

”Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. Anyone that loves the world the love of the Father is not him.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     - 2 John 2:15 As believers, it is absolutely imperative that...

Podcast originally recorded April 13th, 2018 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wpu8Jz0DfFacDTk5iSPaut28gGT3UElV/view?usp=sharing

The word unfair is an adjective. It means: not based on or behaving according to the principles of equality and justice.  Also means to be unkind, inconsiderate, or unreasonable. I would add that being disrespectful is also unfair - we can not expect to receive respect if we are unwilling to give it.  The writer would be fair in saying many in this world believe God is unfair in His dealings with man. Why is that so? Because in man's perception, when things go wrong in our lives or in the lives of others that we know and love, and even sometimes those we do not know, we make a judgment. In our minds, that person or that group of people did not deserve to have their house burn down. Or for the young child to die of cancer who never harmed anyone, or that family to end up homeless on the street - that honest hardworking man to lose his job, etc.  So based on the definitions I mentioned above, is God, any one of those things: unkind, inconsiderate, unreasona...

This is a most critical question. If Jesus died for the sins of those who die in unbelief, then Jesus' death for them was ineffective. Why? Because in the final analysis to die in unbelief is to perish, forever separated from God. If Jesus died for your sins, that means he paid your sin debt on the cross - He was punished for your sins. That means your sins can never be counted against you, ever! That is wonderful news. The common belief is Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, without exception ( I John 2:2). Even those who go to hell. I have mentioned this before, what good is an atonement that does not save the sinner? It is only a potential or virtual atonement where the person is potentially savable if he or she has the willingness to believe. God is not going to leave it up to us to determine if His plan of salvation is effective or not. In other words, He did not send Jesus to the earth to die the most horrible and tragic death ever and leave the final decisi...

Another way to phrase the title question is The preservation of the Saints . It should be obvious that God secures our salvation. Since that is true, then why do so many people believe and teach that man has to secure it?  I have said this before in previous articles, but it bears repeating if God leaves it up to us to secure the salvation that he provided to us as a gift, then He might as well have thrown it in the trash. Why such harsh language? Because man cannot secure what God has already secured. The moment man was adopted into the family of God, that was a permanent adoption. We do not get in, and then get out when we choose to.  Why? Remember the Bible says we (the elect), were chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesian 1:4). Meaning that God pre-determined that some of fallen mankind would be recipients of His saving grace. Why? Because it pleased the Lord to do so (Ephesians 1:5).  Those that know the wonders of God's grace in saving ...

Paul the Apostle is describing what happens when one engages in spiritual warfare. The verses that discuss this matter is Ephesians 6:12-18. The key word here wrestle comes from the Greek word pale. Pale (pronounced pal-lay) comes from another word Palaestra which was a Greek school to train wrestlers. The objective of the wrestler was to subdue his opponent by pinning his shoulders to the ground.  So now we see why Paul used the illustration of wrestling when dealing with evil spirits - it was so his audience, the Ephesians could relate to his message. How are we to wrestle? The answer is we are to wrestle in the Spirit through prayer. Once we put on all the armor of God, the Bible says, "Pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding on behalf of all the saints" (Eph 6:18) - Amplified Version.  The McCabe part about our spiritual conflict is that we are battl...

It is admittedly strange to think of using the word repent when relating to God. For us, repenting has to do with changing one's mind regarding sin - forsaking it and running to the Lord. Obviously, God does not repent in the same way we must repent; that is from sin.  We only hear of God repenting in the Old Testament, not the New. The word repent in Hebrew is the word naham  which means to comfort, to relent.  The word repent appears 40 times and the word comfort appears 65 times.  In Genesis 6:6 we read that God repented (as it says in the KJV) that He made man on the earth and that it grieved the Lord at His heart. Now, that seems like an odd thing for the Lord to say right? Why would God regret that he made man when He knew what man would do before He created him? Scholars say that the writer is describing God in what is called the anthropopathic mode. What that means is that human emotions and characteristics are being attached to God. It helps ...

Daniel 5:31 it mentions that Darius the Mede received the kingdom at age sixty-two. Some believe extrabiblical history supposedly never mentions Darius the Mede.  Not a whole lot is known about the Kingdom of the Medes. The name Darius is a title that means Lord and King.  Others have said Darius is actually a general by the name Gubaru who was with the Babylonians but left them to join the confederation of the Medes and Persians who defeated Belshazzar and his father Nabonidus when Babylon was conquered in 539 B.C. It is important to determine who Darius is for our own knowledge and peace of mind. Also, it is important to be able to refute the critics who deny the historicity of the book of Daniel, and the actual existence of Daniel himself. If one is totally captive to the truthfulness of the Word of God such as I am, then you have to believe that Darius the Mede was an actual historical figure just like Melchizedek was although he appears only once in Genesis 14:1...

There are many that believe we can create what we want with our words. Do human words have that kind of power?  The quick answer is no! Those that believe this lie are victims of the positive confession movement, name-it-and-claim-it which is prevalent in Word of Faith Churches.  The idea is that if you positive confess something enough times and you believe in what you are confessing, then it will come to pass. Actually what this is, is new age mysticism, not faith. This is also called the Law of attraction. In this "law", like attracts like. For instance, if you are uttering negative words in the universe, that is what the universe will bring back to you. Also if you are speaking positive things, then you expect positive things from the universe. This has some similarities to karma that is practiced in the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Those that believe humans can call things into existence by speaking words have not really taken the time to analyze the ...

These are doctrines that speak to the outward and inward call of God toward all of humanity. What I need to discuss are the differences between the two.  The outward call of God is presented to all of humanity but can be resisted. When we talk about the call of God, we are talking about the gospel invitation and command for man to repent of his sins and believe in Christ. The scripture says. "He that has the Son has life. He that does not have the Son does not have life (i.e. eternal life), but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36)".  Many respond to the outward call of God and often become members of the visible Church only. I believe these type of people are described in Matthew 13:20-22, "The one to whom the seed (i.e. God's word) was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself but is only temporary, and when persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles and fa...

The quick answer to this question is yes! God the Father did forsake his Son at the cross and I will explain why. Believe it or not, that was the pre-determined plan of God (Acts 2:23). Also, when Jesus cried out "My God My God why have you forsaken me?", he was fulfilling Psalm 22:1. It is crucial to remember that Jesus was being made an offering for sin by the Father God on purpose. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "He who knew no sin was made sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (Christ)".   Mankind's sins state was so hopeless that it required the advent of the perfect sinless Son of God to die ultimately by the hands of God the Father to deliver us from our sins which gave birth to our spiritual death (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13). The Father punished his Son on the cross and it pleased him to do it (Isa 53:10). Why? Because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to save the world (John 3:16-17). In order for man to receive...

If a non-religious person were to ask a Christian the above question most would say "no Christianity isn't a religion, its a relationship!" Is that a cliche' or a true statement? Many Christians look at the word religion as a bad word. Why? The reason being is that most "religious" people only look at religion as a system of do's and dont's. Their religious activity is emotionless, a mechanistic tradition passed down often from their parents and grandparents.  Often times people are involved in religious activity without even understanding why they are doing it, and what it all means. And in that case, one needs to examine themselves and their religion. There are also numerous others that are very impassioned about their religion because they are convinced it helps them, and they believe they are hopefully appeasing the god or ideology they worship. Then there are others that feel that what they are doing centers them - keeps their mind and...

This article is a sequel to the previous one: The doctrine of Reprobation. For those who militate against Divine Election and Reprobation because in the human mind they appear to make God a mean ogre, I want to attempt to prove how wonderful both of these doctrines are, and how neither is a hindrance to the gospel, but rather how the gospel is enhanced by them.  I want to start with the negative view of what many say how preaching the gospel in light of divine election is pointless. Those who do not like divine election and predestination say that preaching the gospel is pointless because the elect are going to believe no matter what and the non-elect are not going to believe no matter what So why preach the gospel at all?! That type of reasoning is called Hyper-Calvinism. This is the fatalistic approach to the matter: Since God has already determined all things that will ever happen, why do anything at all? God has already made up his mind and nothing can c...

The doctrine of reprobation I believe is the absolute hardest doctrine in all of scripture. It is so painful that many scholars and theologians do not discuss it. It has been my experience that only those in the Reformed or Calvinistic camps discuss the matter. So, what is the doctrine of reprobation and is it Biblical? In order to understand this doctrine one has to place it in juxtaposition to the doctrine of sovereign election. The doctrine of election as I have explained several times before is defined is that God before time and creation decided to foreknow and chose some to be recipients of his saving grace in time  when he determined. In other words, exactly when God wanted, he would save them through the preaching of the gospel message - guaranteeing their salvation when they believed (Eph 1:4). The doctrine of reprobation is that God before time decides not to choose others before the foundation of the world - leaving them in their sins to be judged by God at t...

Malachi 1:2-3 it says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated". The Apostle Paul quotes this same passage in Romans 9:13. Why did God hate Esau? It's not that God had this seething malicious hatred toward Esau in as much that he preferred Jacob over Esau. Why? Because it served God's purpose. Keep in mind that God made the decision to choose Jacob and Esau's destinies before they were born (Rom 9:11). It also very important to remember that God's purpose included not just the twins boys but their descendants as well. Esau was the father of the Edomites. Jacob whose name was changed to Israel in Genesis 32:28 became the father of the Israelites or Hebrews (or who we call Jews or Israelis today). Jacob was chosen to be blessed in a way the Esau was not. Jacob was no better than his brother but was favored by God to receive benefits that Esau never received. The benefits, of course, have extended to the Hebrew race as they exist to this day. Edomite...

It is important I ask the question because there are many in the Church if not most that are convinced that everyone sins have been forgiven by Christ. Is that indeed true? Has Jesus forgiven every last person's sins? If I could see the faces of everyone that will read this article, I could imagine you looking back at me perplexed saying, "Del are you kidding me? Of course, everyone's sins have been forgiven by Christ!"  Okay then, we need to test that reasoning against scripture. To me, it is quite simple. If one dies in sin and perishes in hell were their sins forgiven? If one says yes then you believe in a sort of double jeopardy. Meaning that you have Christ paying for sins of the hell-bound, and the lost paying for their own sins. Does that seem logical and fair? Of course, it is not. It does not make sense nor is it fair for Christ to die for the sins of those who will eternally perish in hell and pay the penalty for their  own sins. Some of yo...

My foundation passage for writing this article: Isaiah 46:10, "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I do all my pleasure”  (italics added for emphasis). I often wonder why God created the universe in the light of the fall. What do I mean by this?  In other words, God created the earth knowing at the same time he would allow the fall of man into sin to happen and ruin his perfect creation. If you have ever pondered this reality like I do, then admittedly it brings tension to the mind. However, this does not make me question God in an accusative way, but rather it makes me desire to get to know the mind of God more so I can love and appreciate his uniqueness and explain to those in my sphere of influence the wonders of our God who also ponder this difficult matter. Let me say first off that I do not fully understand why God ordained the fall, but I do know that ordaining ...

The above mentioned phrase is usually used in our society as a kind way of saying you wish someone well in whatever it is they are doing; whether it is a new job, their education, or perhaps a new business venture. But, what is luck? What does it mean to be lucky or unlucky? Is there actually a thing in our world called luck? And if so, where does it come from? Permit me to be technical in this article. To some, I may even be annoying. I will accept that. I am going to attempt to break this idea down so we can see if luck really exists.  A definition of luck: Success or failure brought by chance rather than through one's own actions. Definition of chance: a force that causes good or bad things to happen. When we say things happen by chance, we are saying things happen for no reason at all. That is impossible. Absolutely everything that happens in our lives is for a reason even when we do not understand why they happen good or bad. If we are depending on "the l...