A Considerate Sequel to Hebrews, Part 2

Hebrews 10:22-25
[22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
[23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
[24] And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
[25] not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Our faith in Christ's person and accomplished work of redemption should persuade us to draw near without fear. We must have a true heart, believing in truth the things which we have heard. “Let [the believer] ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways,” James 1:6-8. Our hearts are sprinkled by the blood of Christ which cleanses from all sin, and we are washed by the water of the word.

A Considerate Sequel to Hebrews

After some consideration and meditation on the topic I previously addressed in “A Considerate Look Into Hebrews” I felt it was useful and necessary to speak about the second trouble passage in this epistle. Hebrews 6:4-9 has been used by many teachers to promote 'conditional salvation' or 'falling away' and its partner tends to be Hebrews 10:26-31 especially, with the latter portion of chapter 10 altogether. In that regard, I would like to begin examining carefully and prayerfully Hebrews chapter 10, beginning with verse 19 and working our way toward verse 39 in an effort to expound the true meaning of the passage, and perhaps convince otherwise Bible-believing, God-fearing Christians that their eternal salvation is in no way dependent or incumbent on our conduct; it is entirely a work of grace, entirely a gift of God. Believers are entirely kept by the power and preservation of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. God willing we will progress, and shed light I pray on some well intentioned but Scripturally inaccurate teachings regarding salvation's retention.

The Year in Review

Well, my Blog has been around for exactly one year as of today. It has been an enjoyable and learning experience, both as a Blogger and as a Christian. The Blog itself has undergone numerous changes since its inception last year. I altered how many Posts appeared, whether or not they had titles, whether or not I showed my number of followers…I never could rightly decide how my Blog should appear in a finished and satisfactory state.

Is Jesus Good? Part 3

So...is Jesus good?

The question, for those who cling to and isolate this verse on a doctrinal island, must be answered “no.” But there is extreme hazard in confining one verse of Scripture as if it was written in a vacuum. The idea of Jesus denying His goodness, and thus denying His deity, was not the purpose of this passage. No, Jesus was endeavoring to extricate the young man from his own flawed view of goodness and works; how neither was acceptable to God. If he did not approach Jesus as Savior (acknowledging Him as God), then it was pointless to approach Him at all. Christ serves no purpose to the one set on redeeming himself through religious activity and moral living.

Is Jesus Good? Part 2

The condition of the rich young ruler is to be examined more thoroughly than Jesus’ question. The young man apparently considered himself good since he was following the letter of the law and therefore trusting in his own righteousness which comes from the law. Scripture makes it clear that such righteousness does not save, Romans 3:19-26; Philippians 3:4-11. In this context the young man felt that he and Jesus were equals, both good teachers. Jesus wished to dispel this flawed thinking. If the rich young ruler addressed the Lord merely as a good man, then His answer was that no one was good but God. If the young man came to Jesus in faith, trusting in the Christ’s righteousness and abandoning his own, then he had every right to call Jesus good; because in that light he would also perceive that Jesus was in fact God incarnate. The rest of the passage indicates he did not perceive this, because he went on in an effort to justify himself through obedience to the law.

Is Jesus Good?

This is the question raised by the topic of this post. I raise the question out of sincere concern for some who twist this verse, misusing it out of context, to propose the idea that Jesus denied being good, so He denied being God. The truth lay elsewhere, however; Jesus denied being neither, which is clearly revealed if the verse is not wrested out of its context to stand alone without the wisdom and support of the rest of Scripture to give clarity.

Grace, Part 2

Philemon 17-19 portrays our position and security in Christ. We are the erring and sinful slave, running away from God. Like Adam, and every descendant since, we are naturally inclined to resist and avoid God, fearing His holiness and ashamed of our inability to measure up to His perfection. Deep within we understand that we cannot meet God’s standard of righteousness so we go about attempting to erect our own in its stead, one that we will be comfortable with. God sent Christ as the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty our sins deserved, and to open a way back to Him. Now the guilty sinner washed by Christ’s blood in faith, may return to His God without shame, and without attempting to merit what is hopeless: that is, a perfection that God would find pleasing. When we are found and overcome by our Lord like Paul was on the Damascus road we are not only cleansed of our sin due to the value and efficacy of Jesus’ blood, we are adopted into the household of faith by virtue of the One who found us. “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ,” Galatians 4:7.

Grace

In the tiny personal epistle of Philemon we find a remarkable gem of spiritual truth buried which I would like to share with you. Paul is having personal correspondence with a fellow Christian named Philemon; the apostle is pleading with the man regarding a certain runaway slave named Onesimus. This slave, whose name means “useless” ran away from his master, encountered Paul, and was converted to Christianity. There is a vivid picture of reconciliation and forgiveness painted in the progression of events, which we would do well to pay careful attention to.

Genesis Chapter Seven, Part 3

7:11 the same day were all the fountains of the deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
The fountains of the deep appear to have been massive underground chambers of water, extremely pressurized by the earth’s crust resting upon them. When the ground rent the pressure was loosed, and out came the water in destructive force, possibly as the earth’s crust began to settle into the previously water-filled chambers. These enormous pockets of water were the storage chambers for the “mist from the earth [that] watered the whole face of the ground (i.e. the whole world,) Genesis 2:6. The result of this eruption was the fountains of the deep, which were likely seen for many miles across the earth, and could easily explain the oceanic trenches, especially the Mid-Oceanic Ridge. For an extremely detailed argument regarding this and related topics, please see In the Beginning, by Walt Brown, Ph.D.

Genesis Chapter Seven, Part 2

7:1 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark
Note that God was in the ark, calling Noah and his family within to join Him. A believing father is a strong foundation of truth for his children, and such was Noah. Looking ahead to New Testament times we read about the Philippian jailor who asked Paul what he must do to be saved. Paul replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household,” Acts 16:31. Elsewhere Paul writes about the benefit of a believing parent: “otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy,” 1st Corinthians 7:14. The concept is not one of heredity. A child does not inherit the faith of their parent; common sense and daily life attest to this. But a godly parent living their faith and praying daily for the conversion of their child is a strong witness to the child looking to see the validity of the faith their parent espouses and proclaims.

Genesis Chapter Seven

Before continuing in our commentary on Genesis, I would like to share with the reader some interesting mythology I recently read about, as well as some viewpoints about the theory of religion’s evolution. Basically, since academia at large teaches that Evolution is true, they frame religion in an evolutionary setting, teaching that animism/spiritism is the oldest religion to have “evolved” along with primitive man, followed(in chronological order) by pantheism, polytheism, and finally monotheism.

A Question of Eternal Security, Part 8

Scripture is clear about the matter. Conditional salvation is a falsity embraced by every religion from Roman Catholics to Jehovah’s Witnesses, but it is not biblical. What comfort, assurance, or hope is in this doctrine? This is not the liberty Christ has called us out to! “[God] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have (present tense) redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,” Colossians 1:13-14.

A Question of Eternal Security, Part 7

Of this new life, God has spoken in this way, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5. Also, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world,” Matthew 28:20. And, “I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob,” Malachi 3:6. That many “Christians” do not practice Christ’s commands is an indication they may never have had saving faith. Yet we cannot judge the certainty of another’s salvation because God alone knows the heart, 1st Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 17:9-10. We are told on the basis of conduct to judge whether or not someone is walking in the faith; but this should only compel us to heed the Apostle’s advice in warning them to test themselves as to whether they are in the faith, 2nd Peter 1:10; 2nd Corinthians 13:5. We are to encourage fellow believer’s to run the race with zeal, looking toward the consummation and the reward, which Christ will give to His faithful servants, Luke 19:12-27.