The Gospel Of Repentance

                                                Jesus is using agricultural imagery in John 15. The phrase “I AM” makes reference to Jesus’ deity – His pre-existent nature. In layman’s terms He is God. Jesus regarding Himself as the True Vine was the last of His 7 “I AM statements in John’s gospel [1] . This phrase was first used way back in Exodus 3:14 when God spoke with Moses through the burning bush and revealed Himself as the Great I AM! The one to deliver Israel out of Egyptian slavery. Jesus speaking to the disciples directly (minus Judas Iscariot for he at this point had betrayed the Lord), and by extension every believer born into the family of God thereafter explained to them the relationship between the Father, Himself, believers, and non-believers. Jesus begins by declaring, “I am the true vine”. True obviously meaning genuine and authentic. He also says, “My Father is the husbandman, or vinedresser or gardener, and we are the branches. He continues in verse 2, “Eve

All of us are born naturally once of course. And, everyone of us is born dead (Eph 2:1). Spiritually dead that is due to the transferring of Adam’s original sin to the whole human race. All of us are under the wrath of God when we are born due to our first father’s transgression or sin of omission. The Bible describes what happened to us in Romans 5:12, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all men have sinned. What this verse is describing is because of the sin of Adam all of his descendants; the entire human race are sinners because God has transferred or imputed Adam’s sin nature unto us therefore all have sinned for we were in Adam’s loins when he committed the sin making us all guilty. As we fast forward  4,000 years in time to Christ, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3,5,7). In order for us to be born a second time, we MUST go through a rebirth, a re

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. -            Romans 8:29-30 The word justified (verb form) is the Greek verb dikaioō which means to make right or righteous. This is the first level of our salvation. In the area of justification, God is making us right with him, and the same time granting us His righteousness. Those whom God called in eternity past to be conformed to the image His Son will by the power of God be regenerated (made spiritually alive, Eph 2:1; Col 2:13), have an awareness of their horrible sin and guilt towards God. In God’s precise timing the Lord will open their hearts (like Lydia Acts 16:14),  they will be given the willingness and ability to believe the gospel message and be saved. The reason why we can be justified is bec

                                                               “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose”.                                                                                                                                     -Isaiah 46:9-10 God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; as yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.                                                                                                      -Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3 Our God is in Heaven. He does w

The writer does not know how many critics there are regarding the doctrine of predestination and sovereign election; that is God in eternity past deciding who he would save totally independent of anything that man would ever do. God’s choosing of some was strictly of His own autonomous free will. The clear implication is that there are those that God did not choose in eternity past, leaving them to remain in their sins and ultimately perish. What the critics are saying is that is totally unbiblical, and blasphemous to declare that God would be unfair in any way to His creation. What do I mean? The critics of predestination and sovereign election have stated for Reformed Thinkers to insinuate that the God of the Bible would choose some and exclude others is heresy. Is their assessment true? I do not believe so, and I will try my best to explain why, but before I do that I will point out some shocking things I read in an article recently that totally rejects the Calvinistic View.

                                                     Most people think when Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God, that being born again is something we can make happen-that Jesus was giving Nicodemus a command.  No. Rather Jesus was making a declaration to Nicodemus; giving him a revelation. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin which was a Jewish Supreme court, and the teacher in Israel (John 3:10). An expert in Mosaic Jurisprudence. He believed he could get to heaven by the deeds of the law, and their oral traditions (Matt 15:3,6). Being born again obviously presupposes prior birth. In our case natural birth. In John 3:3,7-8 Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born from again (literally being born from above) in order to even see the kingdom of God. We all have had a physical birth which we had nothing to do with. Our spiritual birth is the same way – we have nothing to do with it. In other words, there are