The Gospel Of Repentance

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...