The Gospel Of Repentance

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 change that! We

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 the end of

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 f

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

In the book of Leviticus chapters 18:22 and 20:13 God through Moses condemns homosexuality. Also in Leviticus 19:19b the word tells Israel that they were not to wear two different types of material sewn together. The command regarding the clothing is an ambiguous one. The reasoning behind that one is some believe that pagan nations may have worn different clothing sewn together when performing some type of occultic ritual and thus Israel who were/are God's chosen people, and had to be separate in every way from all other nations were forbidden from this practice. We do not know for sure. The reason I bring the matter up is that so many people who lack Biblical discernment have this notion that since homosexuality was condemned in the Mosaic law and is of course condemned in the new testament (Read Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6), then it is also sinful to wear two different types of clothing (i.e. Denim and cotton), and to eat shellfish or shrimp since they were also supposedly