The Riddle of Theistic Evolution, Part 3

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day,” Genesis 1:11-13.

Here we have the first “after his kind,” which would be a species or genus, perhaps. This repeats some ten times. What is it saying? God created the seed bearing plants and trees in a moment, complete as they were with total ability to reproduce their own kind, “whose seed is in itself.” Mendel’s laws testify that genetic variation has limits. New gene combinations are formed, but not entirely new genes; in other words, “lower” species do not advance to “higher” ones due to genetic boundaries. This might be exactly what the phrase “after his kind” implies.

The Riddle of Theistic Evolution, Part 2

“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day,” Genesis 1:4-5. There was a day-night progression before the sun or moon had been created. God divided light and darkness to teach us that God separates constantly. He separated Abraham from his homeland. He separated Noah from his former people. He separated Moses from Egypt and Israel from among the nations. He separates Christians from the unsaved by giving them a heavenly city and a divine heritage; things not of this present creation.

The Riddle of Theistic Evolution, Part 1

What is Theistic Evolution? The advocate of this doctrine might say that its explanation is simple. The theism implies God; the evolution implies how God brought the universe and all life into being. Is this a fringe religion challenging Christianity’s teachings about special creation? Hardly; Theistic Evolution arose within the very fold of Christianity, championed by well meaning professing Christians frightened in the 19th century by the rise of Darwinian Evolution.

1st John Chapter 3 Part 2

3:2-3 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Take note that John confesses what seems to be a paradox in this passage: now (present tense) we are sons of God; but it hasn’t been revealed what we shall be (future tense). In this present life we have eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, 1st John 5:1; John 3:16, 18; Acts 16:31, Galatians 3:26; etc. Eternal life is not a future attainment by being faithful until death, as some professing Christian teachers would have you believe, misquoting Revelation 2:10.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, Part 3

Our final case study can be found in Acts chapter 16. The Philippian jailor had been charged with keeping Paul and Silas prisoners, and to that end he bound them in fetters in the inner prison, Acts 16:24. That night there was an earthquake that freed all of the prisoners and roused the jailor from his sleep; he found to his relief that none of the prisoners had escaped. Fearing greatly, the jailor came to Paul and Silas and asked a telling question: “What must I do to be saved?” verse 30. Here the jailor revealed his understanding about why these men were in jail. He might have heard them preach, or listened to some of their hymns praising the God of Israel. Their testimony concerning this God was validated by the earthquake releasing the prisoners in a miraculous way. Here we see God the Holy Spirit at work on this man, convicting him of sin and drawing him to Christ, John 16:7-11.