Saturday, December 26, 2015

You Must Be Born Again

Are you rejecting the council of God against yourself? Being born again is a birth that comes only once from God and it is God who gives it. God is the one who grants it, God is the one who permits it, God is the one who authorizes it. He gives us the right to take the action which is the meaning of “Gave right to” (John 1:12).





Saturday, December 5, 2015

Have You Seen Gods Glory?

What is blocking your view?

One of the best-known verses in the Bible is Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The Bible clearly tells us that there is a great separation between man and God. Since the Fall in Genesis 3, man has suffered both physical and spiritual death under God’s judgment.

We are now separated from God’s glory to the degree that no man can even see the full glory of God and live (Exodus 33:20). In the presence of a holy God, impurity is consumed (Hebrews 12:29).

Yet God the Father, in the wonder of His mercy and grace, has allowed us to see His glory by gazing directly upon the Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, displayed all the wonder of God in human form. While this is not easy to comprehend, we can all thank God for this truth. Through His incarnation Christ became the once-for-all sacrifice to atone for man’s sin and reconcile us to God.

The Bible tells us that as we know the Son, we know the Father. Consider three amazing passages about the Son.

Paul explains in Colossians 1:15–16, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

Later Paul writes, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). In response to His disciple Philip’s request, “Show us the Father,” Jesus replied, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8–9).

If we want to see God’s glory, we must view it through Jesus Christ. If we want to see the Father’s glory, we must see it through the Son. In Jesus we see all of God’s grace, holiness, wisdom, creative power, love, justice, and mercy. While we do not see physical glory in His fleshly human body, which was as breakable as ours, we do see all the glory of God’s character reflected in the person and works of Christ.

When you look through a telescope, you look through two lenses. The objective lens at the big end of the telescope captures light from vast and distant objects and brings it into focus. Then the small eyepiece at your end of the telescope converts the image into a form your eyes can comprehend. God’s glory is like this. Christ brings into focus the brightness of the Father’s full glory, and now His Word, the Bible, is our eyepiece through which we see Christ.

This makes the Bible immensely important. If our vision of God’s glory relies on our ability to see Christ through His Word, any scratch, crack, or obstruction on this eyepiece will distort our view of God’s glory. In less abstract terms, any doubts cast upon the authority of Scripture, its infallibility, or its inerrancy in any part, invariably places doubt on the glory of both the Son, who is the focus of Scripture, and the Father.

Which words of Scripture are important in showing us the Son? John 1 tells us that Jesus is the Word, that He has been since the beginning, and that the Word created everything. So from the very first verses in Genesis, we are reading about the Son.

All Scripture originated from and points to God’s Son. So we must be very careful to ensure that we embrace all Scripture as our starting point in every area of our thinking, and keep every inch of this vital eyepiece clean and free of scratches.

When we start with God’s Word, we are able to look through the telescope and view all aspects of the world correctly, according to God’s glory. For example, when we look through the lens of Scripture at the amazing designs in nature, we see the Son’s amazing glory in creation.

HUMAN PHILOSOPHIES HAVE OBSCURED THE CLEAR VIEW OF GOD’S GLORY THAT THE WHOLE WORLD NEEDS TO SEE.

When we examine the curse of sin through the lens of Scripture and the illumination of the Son, we see the Father’s glory in judgment. Only by looking through the first lens (the Bible) can we see the truth of Christ, and only by looking through the second lens (Christ) can we see the Father’s glory. On the other hand, if we try to see God’s glory without looking through both the eyepiece and the objective lens, we will fail.

The church’s attempts to reinterpret Scripture based on modern human philosophies, such as evolution over millions of years, have clouded the eyepiece, causing many to doubt the Bible’s message about Jesus. This compromise has obscured the world’s view of God’s glory. This is a tragedy because the biblical view of Jesus Christ has eternal, life-and-death consequences.



In these last days it is as important as ever for Christians to be well-grounded in biblical thinking. The church needs lens cleaners because lost and needy sinners desperately need to hear the pure, unobstructed gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Do You Want To Be Lost? You'll Have To Work At It.

Acts 16:25-34
The Philippian jailer conversion.

“It takes a huge effort to avoid being saved.” The following are 3 ways non-Christians work so they can hold their place and not do what the Philippian jailer did to be baptized into Jesus Christ.

  1. You will need to throw away your watch. Don’t think about time and how your life is ticking away from getting closer to God. Nobody knows how many ticks one gets. Luke 12:13-21. Most people think our last day comes too fast. If we want to be lost keep looking at your time and wait. The more one waits the closer we come to what? The end! Be urgent to obey God immediately. Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey Genesis 22:3. When we know the right thing to do, when do we do it? Immediately. The longer you delay you may talk yourself out of it. When you become a Christian you recognize Jesus Christ as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is sovereign in your life. No one receives an order from the King, looks at it and says, I’m not going to do that. If I want to be lost I can’t be taking all this effort thinking like this.
  2. If you’re going to work at being lost you need to become a church Inspector. What is the number one excuse that insulates people from the call of the gospel? The church is full of hypocrites. Non Christian’s love this and feel so good to say it – the church is full of hypocrites. It gives them a get out of hell free card. I don’t need to become a Christian or go to church because it’s full of hypocrites. News Flash – Hypocrites are everywhere in life. Doctors, Bankers, Lawyers, everyday normal people, there are hypocrites in every walk of life – but when we go to church… Ah ha, that’s totally and completely different. Suddenly when there are hypocrites claiming to be part of the body of Christ, that means we can’t have any part of it. Look at Luke 12:56. Jesus regularly roasted hypocrites. If your lost and want to stay lost, you have to ignore the inconsistencies of hypocrisy that keeps you from doing business, or going places, or enjoying a sporting event. You will have to act like one bad apple ruins the whole barrel. You will have to put your pretend face on every day. And if there is one bad Christian then you can't be part of it because one bad Christian is faking it, they are all faking it. Christians, they are all hypocrites. You can do all this church inspection if you are determined to be lost!
  3. You will have to do some pretending to be lost. You will have to pretend that the sole purpose of life is to have a good time. Nothing under the sun is really new. Remember Ananias and Saphira in Acts chapter 2? They pretended and lost their lives before the elders! Solomon believed life was all about fun until he summed up life having everything at his disposal - Ecclesiastes 2:1-11. He tried to make life good and fun, but it didn’t work. If anyone in history could have made life about having fun to the fullest, King Solomon was the man. It didn’t satisfy, in fact it made him a fool (v.15). Pleasure does have a role (V.24), but it is not the anchor of life. Solomon figured this out. If your not a Christian trying to fill your life with all kinds of fun, you will find some difficult times with that. Why? When you go to a funeral, suddenly it becomes apparent that fun is not the end of all things. But if we determine not to become a Christian, we really need to think about that. If your going to have long thoughts about the purpose of life and its meaning, you better put that out of your mind if you aren’t going to become a Christian. Continue working hard to be lost, go out and have fun.


What about this Christian thing? Getting baptized, living right, doing what the Lord wants me to do, oh you know, its too much. Can’t do all of that. Have you ever thought about how much you are doing so you can hold the Lord out of your life pushing Him at arms length?

Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me all of you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light.”



Enjoy this Podcast lesson on how to work at being lost.




Monday, November 16, 2015

Christians are in Christ. Are you a Christian?

Bible study:

Going to church does not make you a Christian; nor does saying a prayer, telling yourself that you are, or trying to be a decent person. You can only be a Christian if Christ is in you, which can be tested and proven according to the scriptures.


Rom. 6:23; Rom. 8:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; 15:22; Eph. 1:3; 1 Jn. 5:11 - We must be in Christ to be saved.

Acts 4:10-12; 2 Tim. 2:10 - Salvation is in Jesus.

Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27 - We gain entrance into Christ through baptism, we literally "put Him on." Since we must be in Christ to be saved, we in faith must be baptized into Christ to be saved through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Rom. 3:24 - Redemption is in Christ.

Rom. 6:11 - We are alive to God in Christ.

Rom. 6:23 - Eternal life is in Christ.

Rom. 8:1 - There is no condemnation in Christ.

Rom. 8:2 - The law of the Spirit of life is in Christ; it frees us from the law of sin and death. Only people in Christ are free from the law of sin and death.

Rom. 8:39 - God's love is in Christ.

Rom. 12:5 - We are one body in Christ (cf. Eph. 4:4).

1 Cor. 1:2 - We are sanctified in Christ.

1 Cor. 1:27-31 - God saves men in Christ so that no one can glory in the flesh. Those who are saved can only glory in Christ.

1 Cor. 4:10; Col. 2:3 - We are wise in Christ.

1 Cor. 15:19 - Hope is in Christ. We have hope of eternal life (Tit. 3:7).

1 Cor. 15:22 - We are made alive in Christ.

2 Cor. 1:21 - God establishes us in Christ.

2 Cor. 2:14 - God leads us in triumph, in Christ.

2 Cor. 3:14 - The veil is removed in Christ.

2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15 - We are a new creation in Christ.

Gal. 1:22; 1 Th. 2:14 - Local churches are in Christ. A local church is composed of people who are in Christ (i.e., those who are Christians).

Gal. 2:4 - Liberty is in Christ.

The law of Christ (Gal. 6:2) is the perfect law of liberty (Jas. 1:25).

Jesus said that we will be judged by His words (Jn. 12:48). And, James said that we will be judged by the law of liberty (Jas. 1:25; 2:12). Therefore, the words of Christ (spoken by Himself or through His apostles) constitute the law of liberty (cf. Gal. 6:2; 2 Jn. 1:9). The law of Christ and the law of liberty are synonymous.

Gal. 2:16 - We are justified by faith in Christ.

Gal. 3:14 - Abraham's blessing is in Christ.

Gal. 3:17 - God's covenant was confirmed in Christ before the Mosaic Law was given to Israel.

Gal. 3:26 - We are sons of God through faith in Christ.

Eph. 1:1 - The faithful are in Christ.

Eph. 1:3 - Every spiritual blessing is in Christ.

Eph. 2:10 - Christians are God's workmanship created in Christ for good works.

Eph. 3:6 - Gentiles are fellow heirs in Christ, partakers of God's promise in Christ through the gospel.

Eph. 3:11 - God accomplished His eternal purpose in Christ.

Phil. 1:1 - The saints are in Christ.

Phil. 3:3; 4:4 - Rejoicing is in Christ.

Phil. 3:14 - The prize (salvation) is in Christ.

Col. 1:2 - Saints and faithful brethren are in Christ.

Col. 1:28 - We are perfect in Christ.

Col. 2:3 - All the treasure of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ.

Col. 2:6 - We walk in Christ.

Col. 2:7 - We are rooted and built up in Christ.

Col. 2:9 - In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Col. 2:10 - We are complete in Christ.

Col. 2:11 - We are spiritually circumcised by Christ.

Col. 2:12 - We are buried (died), and raised (alive) with Christ through the working of God at the point of baptism by immersion in water. Not before.

1 Th. 1:3 - Our work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope are in Christ.

1 Th. 4:16 - The dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Tim. 1:14 - Abundant grace with faith and love are in Christ.

1 Tim. 2:7 - Truth is in Christ.

2 Tim. 1:1 - The promise of life is in Christ.

2 Tim. 1:13 - Faith and love are in Christ.

Rom. 3:24; 2 Tim. 2:1 - Grace is in Christ.

2 Tim. 2:10 - Salvation is in Christ (cf. Acts 4:12).

2 Tim. 3:12 - All who desire to live godly in Christ will suffer persecution.

Phil. 6 - Every good thing is in Christ.

Phil. 8 - Boldness is in Christ.

1 Pet. 3:16 - Good conduct is in Christ.

1 Jn. 5:11 - Life is in Christ.

1 Jn. 5:20 - Christians are in Christ.

Jude 1:1 - Christians are preserved in Christ.


Are You A Christian?




Monday, September 21, 2015

Jesus Existance and Resurrection Evidence

Video 1 - Is Jesus Christ an actual historical person?


Video 2 - Did Jesus Christ rise from the dead?


Why is it that you should believe in the resurrection of Jesus?

The first problem that one has to get around is the idea of miracles are impossible. Everybody believes in something whether they have seen it or not. When you ask the atheist or skeptic have you ever seen life evolve from a primordial soup? They will say no. When you ask them have you ever seen a Big Bang that began the universe? They will say no. There are things the skeptic believes that the skeptic has never seen. There are things the follower of Christ believes they have never seen. Was anyone present at the creation and formation of the world? No. Just because we have never seen God create the universe does that mean God could never do that? Certainly not. Once the skeptic denies the existence of God, then he says miracles are impossible. But denying the existence of God is honestly impossible and illogical if you look at all the historical evidence we have today. If you can prove that God exists and we can, then you would understand that God would use miracles on occasion to communicate a message to people that He wanted them to understand. If God exists and he wanted to show the world that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, what would you expect Him to use? Miracles. Why are we dealing with the resurrection? How important is it that Jesus came back from the dead? What would be the best way for God to show the message was coming from something to provide supernatural, superhuman intervention so that you could see this isn't a human message? That is, a message from God and not fellow humans? A miracle. So then if you can prove God exists then miracles make perfect sense.

1 Corinthians 15:14-17 "And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!"

Paul said if Christ didn't come back from the dead, everything you Christians do is useless! But if Christ did come back from the dead and you are following Christ, you will come back from the dead.


Some of the Historical Facts:

FACT #1: After his crucifixion, Jesus was buried in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea. This fact is highly significant because it means, contrary to radical critics like John Dominic Crossan of the Jesus Seminar, that the location of Jesus’ burial site was known to Jews and Christians alike. In that case, the disciples could never have proclaimed his resurrection in Jerusalem if the tomb had not been empty. New Testament researchers have established this first fact on the basis of evidence such as the following:

1. Jesus’ burial is attested in the very old tradition quoted by Paul in I Cor. 15:3-5:

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: . . . that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

Paul not only uses the typical rabbinical terms “received” and “delivered” with regard to the information he is passing on to the Corinthians, but vv. 3-5 are a highly stylized four-line formula filled with non-Pauline characteristics. This has convinced all scholars that Paul is, as he says, quoting from an old tradition which he himself received after becoming a Christian. This tradition probably goes back at least to Paul’s fact-finding visit to Jerusalem around AD 36, when he spent two weeks with Cephas and James (Gal. 1:18). It thus dates to within five years after Jesus’ death. So short a time span and such personal contact make it idle to talk of legend in this case.

2. The burial story is part of very old source material used by Mark in writing his gospel. The gospels tend to consist of brief snapshots of Jesus’ life which are loosely connected and not always chronologically arranged. But when we come to the passion story we do have one, smooth, continuously-running narrative. This suggests that the passion story was one of Mark’s sources of information in writing his gospel. Now most scholars think Mark is already the earliest gospel, and Mark’s source for Jesus’ passion is, of course, even older. Comparison of the narratives of the four gospels shows that their accounts do not diverge from one another until after the burial. This implies that the burial account was part of the passion story. Again, its great age militates against its being legendary.

3. As a member of the Jewish court that condemned Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea is unlikely to be a Christian invention. There was strong resentment against the Jewish leadership for their role in the condemnation of Jesus (I Thess. 21:5). It is therefore highly improbable that Christians would invent a member of the court that condemned Jesus who honors Jesus by giving him a proper burial instead of allowing him to be dispatched as a common criminal.

4. No other competing burial story exists. If the burial by Joseph were fictitious, then we would expect to find either some historical trace of what actually happened to Jesus’ corpse or at least some competing legends. But all our sources are unanimous on Jesus’ honorable interment by Joseph.

For these and other reasons, the majority of New Testament critics concur that Jesus was buried in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea. According to the late John A. T. Robinson of Cambridge University, the burial of Jesus in the tomb is “one of the earliest and best-attested facts about Jesus.”


FACT #2: On the Sunday following the crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by a group of his women followers. Among the reasons which have led most scholars to this conclusion are the following:

1. The empty tomb story is also part of the old passion source used by Mark. The passion source used by Mark did not end in death and defeat, but with the empty tomb story, which is grammatically of one piece with the burial story.

2. The old tradition cited by Paul in I Cor. 15:3-5 implies the fact of the empty tomb. For any first century Jew, to say that of a dead man “that he was buried and that he was raised” is to imply that a vacant grave was left behind. Moreover, the expression “on the third day” probably derives from the women’s visit to the tomb on the third day, in Jewish reckoning, after the crucifixion. The four-line tradition cited by Paul summarizes both the gospel accounts and the early apostolic preaching (Acts 13: 28-31); significantly, the third line of the tradition corresponds to the empty tomb story.

3. The story is simple and lacks signs of legendary embellishment. All one has to do to appreciate this point is to compare Mark’s account with the wild legendary stories found in the second-century apocryphal gospels, in which Jesus is seen coming out of the tomb with his head reaching up above the clouds and followed by a talking cross!

4. The fact that women’s testimony was discounted in first century Palestine stands in favor of the women’s role in discovering the empty tomb. According to Josephus, the testimony of women was regarded as so worthless that it could not even be admitted into a Jewish court of law. Any later legendary story would certainly have made male disciples discover the empty tomb.

5. The earliest Jewish Sanhedrin allegation that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body (Matt: 28:15) shows that the body was in fact missing from the tomb. The earliest Jewish response to the disciples’ proclamation, “He is risen from the dead!” was not to point to his occupied tomb and to laugh them off as fanatics, but to claim that they had taken away Jesus’ body. Thus, we have evidence of the empty tomb from the very opponents of the early Christians.

Matthew 28:11-15, Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

One could go on, but I think that enough has been said to indicate why, in the words of Jacob Kremer, an Austrian specialist in the resurrection, “By far most exegetes hold firmly to the reliability of the biblical statements concerning the empty tomb.”


FACT #3: On multiple occasions and under various circumstances, different individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive from the dead.

This is a fact which is almost universally acknowledged among Christian and secular New Testament scholars, for the following reasons:

1. The list of eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection appearances which is quoted by Paul in I Cor. 15: 5-7 guarantees that such appearances occurred. These included appearances to Peter (Cephas), the Twelve, the 500 brethren, and James.

2. The appearance traditions in the gospels provide multiple, independent attestation of these appearances. This is one of the most important marks of historicity. The appearance to Peter is independently attested by Luke, and the appearance to the Twelve by Luke and John. We also have independent witness to Galilean appearances in Mark, Matthew, and John, as well as to the women in Matthew and John.

3. Certain appearances have earmarks of historicity. For example, we have good evidence from the gospels that neither James nor any of Jesus’ younger brothers believed in him during his lifetime. There is no reason to think that the early church would generate fictitious stories concerning the unbelief of Jesus’ family had they been faithful followers all along. But it is indisputable that James and his brothers did become active Christian believers following Jesus’ death. James was considered an apostle and eventually rose to the position of leadership of the Jerusalem church. According to the first century Jewish historian Josephus, James was martyred for his faith in Christ in the late AD 60's. Now most of us have brothers. What would it take to convince you that your brother is the Lord, such that you would be ready to die for that belief? Can there be any doubt that this remarkable transformation in Jesus’ younger brother took place because, in Paul’s words, “then he appeared to James?”

Even Gerd Ludemann, the leading German critic of the resurrection, himself admits, “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus’ death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.”


FACT #4: The original disciples believed that Jesus was risen from the dead despite their having every predisposition to the contrary. Think of the situation the disciples faced after Jesus’ crucifixion:

1. Their leader was dead. And Jews had no belief in a dying, much less rising, Messiah. The Messiah was supposed to throw off Israel’s enemies (= Rome) and re-establish a Davidic reign—not suffer the ignominious death of a criminal.

2. According to Jewish law, Jesus’ execution as a criminal showed him out to be a heretic, a man literally under the curse of God (Deut. 21:23). The catastrophe of the crucifixion for the disciples was not simply that their Master was gone, but that the crucifixion showed, in effect, that the Pharisees had been right all along, that for three years they had been following a heretic, a man accursed by God!

3. Jewish beliefs about the afterlife precluded anyone’s rising from the dead to glory and immortality before the general resurrection at the end of the world. All the disciples could do was to preserve their Master’s tomb as a shrine where his bones could reside until that day when all of Israel’s righteous dead would be raised by God to glory.

Despite all this, the original disciples believed in and were willing to go to their deaths for the fact of Jesus’ resurrection. Luke Johnson, a New Testament scholar from Emory University, muses, “some sort of powerful, transformative experience is required to generate the sort of movement earliest Christianity was . . . .” N.T. Wright, an eminent British scholar, concludes, “that is why, as a historian, I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again, leaving an empty tomb behind him.”

In summary, there are four facts agreed upon by the majority of secular scholars who have written on these subjects which any adequate historical hypothesis must account for: Jesus’ entombment by Joseph of Arimathea, the discovery of his empty tomb, his post-mortem appearances, and the origin of the disciples’ belief in his resurrection.

Now the question is: what is the best explanation of these four facts? Most scholars probably remain agnostic about this question. But the Christian can maintain that the hypothesis that best explains these facts is “God raised Jesus from the dead.”

In his book Justifying Historical Descriptions, historian C.B. McCullagh lists six tests which historians use in determining what is the best explanation for given historical facts. The hypothesis “God raised Jesus from the dead” passes all these tests:

1. It has great explanatory scope: it explains why the tomb was found empty, why the disciples saw post-mortem appearances of Jesus, and why the Christian faith came into being.

2. It has great explanatory power: it explains why the body of Jesus was gone, why people repeatedly saw Jesus alive despite his earlier public execution, and so forth.

3. It is plausible: given the historical context of Jesus’ own unparalleled life and claims, the resurrection serves as divine confirmation of those radical claims.

4. It is not ad hoc or contrived: it requires only one additional hypothesis: that God exists. And even that needn’t be an additional hypothesis if one already believes that God exists.

5. It is in accord with accepted beliefs. The hypothesis: “God raised Jesus from the dead” doesn’t in any way conflict with the accepted belief that people don’t rise naturally from the dead. The Christian accepts that belief as wholeheartedly as he accepts the hypothesis that God raised Jesus from the dead.

6. It far outstrips any of its rival hypotheses in meeting conditions (1)-(5). Down through history various alternative explanations of the facts have been offered, for example, the conspiracy hypothesis, the apparent death hypothesis, the hallucination hypothesis, and so forth. Such hypotheses have been almost universally rejected by contemporary scholarship. None of these naturalistic hypotheses succeeds in meeting the conditions as well as the resurrection hypothesis.

Now this puts the skeptical critic in a rather desperate situation. A few years ago I participated in a debate on the resurrection of Jesus with a professor at the University of California, Irvine. He had written his doctoral dissertation on the resurrection, and he was thoroughly familiar with the evidence. He could not deny the facts of Jesus’ honorable burial, empty tomb, post-mortem appearances, and the origin of the disciples’ belief in the resurrection. So his only recourse was to come up with some alternate explanation of those facts. And so he argued that Jesus of Nazareth had an unknown, identical twin brother, who was separated from him as an infant and grew up independently, but who came back to Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion, stole Jesus’ body out of the tomb, and presented himself to the disciples, who mistakenly inferred that Jesus was risen from the dead! Now I won’t bother to go into how I went about refuting this theory. But I think the example is illustrative of the desperate lengths to which skepticism must go in order to refute the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, the evidence is so powerful that one of the world’s leading Jewish theologians, the late Pinchas Lapide, who taught at Hebrew University in Israel, declared himself convinced on the basis of the evidence that the God of Israel raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead!

The significance of the resurrection of Jesus lies in the fact that it is not just any old Joe Blow who has been raised from the dead, but Jesus of Nazareth, whose crucifixion was instigated by the Jewish leadership because of his blasphemous claims to divine authority. If this man has been raised from the dead, then the God whom he allegedly blasphemed has clearly vindicated his claims. Thus, in an age of religious relativism and pluralism, the resurrection of Jesus constitutes a solid rock on which Christians can take their stand for God’s decisive self-revelation in Jesus.


by William Lane Craig


Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Jesus Doctrine - No Other!

 Gospel, Word, Truth, Seed, Doctrine

The denominational world has tried to seek unity by teaching we are to believe the Gospel and not enforce "doctrine." According to them we should not divide over baptism, the Lord's Supper, instruments of music, tithing, marriage and divorce, etc, because all of this falls into "DOCTRINE," and we have no right to bind doctrine, just bind a belief in Christ.

Many preachers and leaders in the body of Christ teach that we need to seek unity only on a belief in Jesus, the Gospel, and not be caught up in the teaching of "doctrine." According to these men and denominational preachers, all that is "doctrine" should not be taught; but the Gospel of Christ should be taught.

The reasoning of such is found in 1 Cor 15:1-4:

"Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are saved if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures;"

So, the Gospel is defined as being the "death," "burial," and "resurrection," of Christ and that is all that is in the Gospel, just a belief that he is the son of God.

When one looks at 1 Cor 15:1-4 he is impressed with the fact that Paul said he preached the Gospel in v. 1; but in v. 2 he said he preached the Word. Now we learn the Gospel and the Word are the same. In John 17:17, we note, "Sanctify them in truth: thy word is truth." From this passage we learn that the "Word" is "Truth," so, what is called the "Gospel" is called the 'Word" and what is called the "Word" is called "Truth." These are different terms to describe the same idea — the Word of God! But if you will consider a little further the thought that all of this is called the "Seed," in Luke 8:11: "The seed is the word of God." We now have another term by which the Word is described — "seed."

Can you now see that the Gospel is called the Word and the Word is called Truth and the Truth is called the Seed? All of these terms are describing the same idea — the entire Word of God, from the book of Matthew to the book of Revelation.

We cannot stop without considering the word "doctrine." In II Timothy 4:2-3,

"preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts."

In v. 2 Apostle Paul says, "preach the word." In v. 3 he says, "they will not endure the sound doctrine." The idea is that they will not endure what is preached — the Word — which is "sound doctrine." Now in this passage it is called the "word" in. v. 2 and the same thing is called "doctrine" in v. 3. The word of God is "Sound Doctrine!"

Now, connect it all together and you have the Gospel, the Word, the Truth, the Seed, and it is also called the Sound Doctrine. In Acts 17:18 Apostle Paul "preached Jesus and him crucified." But in v. 19 it is called "teaching" and this comes from the word "doctrine." The word "doctrine" is used concerning the teaching of Jesus and his resurrection!

When a man obeys the Gospel he obeys "that form of doctrine,Romans 6:17. So, when one has Faith, Repentance, Confession, and Baptism, this is obeying the Doctrine, or the Gospel of Christ. All of these terms are used to signify the same thing — that is, THE WORD OF GOD! There is no distinction between the word Gospel and Doctrine. The words Gospel and Doctrine mean the same.

"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son."This is spoken by the Holy Spirit in II John 9.

The "doctrine" is the Gospel, and is the Word of God.


By Carl A. Allen


Friday, August 21, 2015

Earthbound Perspective versus Heavenbound Perspective

A study of Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

At anytime in your lifetime, have you seriously considered your perspective about life, its meaning and purpose? Is it a perspective that includes God? We only have one life to enjoy and share with others. We encourage you to take a few minutes to watch this lesson and review your outlook to see what Gods role in your life can offer in the way of meaning and purpose, to life in the fullest...






Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Will The Unbaptized Go To Heaven?

This informational covers questions regarding the culminating act of obedience to Gods plan for sinners and their initial salvation. Here are some highlights.

  • Did Jesus teach one must be baptized in His name to be saved?
  • The blood of Christ is the saving element to forgive sins, but what is baptisms role to be saved?
  • Did Philip preach the Ethiopian eunuch baptism for remission of sins when the scripture doesn't specifically state such in his conversion?
  • Was Saul of Tarsus saved while praying 3 days before he was baptized by Ananias?
  • Does the sinner need to hear, believe and understand the gospel before he can be baptized?
  • Is it taught in the New Testament that all one needs to do is pray unto Jesus to be saved?
  • Can one truly have a relationship with Jesus without being baptized into His church?
  • Was it the water in 2 Kings 5:14 that saved Nahum or was it Gods command to be obedient dipping himself in the Jordan river? Would he have been cleansed in any other body of water?
  • Does one need to be repentant of his or his sins prior to being baptized into Christ to be saved?
  • Is there contact with the blood of Christ without being baptized unto death into Christ?
  • Is the Thief on the cross under the Mosaic law a biblical pattern of how one is saved today?
  • Can Jesus be preached without belief, faith, repentance, confession and baptism for remission of sins?
  • Is the denominational church blinded of the truth on how to be saved?
  • Is the church of Christ a denomination or is it the church of the saved that belongs to Jesus?
  • Ephesians 4:4-6 teaches there is one body, the one church. What does this mean?
  • Will people be saved who have never heard or obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ?
  • What about people who are deceased who never heard the gospel, will they be saved?
  • Is being justified by faith as stated in Romans 5:1 enough to be saved? 
  • Can one go to heaven without being baptized?

This from brother Wes McAdams,

After Jesus died on that cross, was buried in a tomb, and rose from the dead, He told His apostles to go out and spread the Good News about what He had done. He told them, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).

Faith is about trusting God. The criminal on the cross trusted Him. Do you? Jesus said, “Whoever believes AND is baptized will be saved.” The criminal on the cross wasn’t told that because Jesus had the power on earth to forgive sins however He chose. But you are told by the Apostles to obey according to His testament (Matt 28:18-19, Acts 2:38). Do you trust Jesus? Will your trust be evidenced by your actions?

Baptism is us saying to the Lord, “I believe you and I trust you. Please save me.” That’s why when you are baptized, you are “calling on His name” (Acts 22:16).




Friday, August 7, 2015

Is The Bible Just A Book?

How Do We Know The Bible Is From God?

2 Timothy 3:16-17

This podcast lesson sets the record straight on the authenticity the bible is Gods book written by the Godhead through the Holy Spirit. Thanks go to Just Christians.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Put on Christ Through the Gospel

Jesus never asks us to do anything. He commands us in John 14:15,


"If you love Me, keep My commandments."

1 Corinthians 15:1-8, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time."

"To keep His commandments and obey the gospel means to reenact the gospel by obedient faith"



Part 1 - Hear the Word -
Romans 10:14-17, Acts 18:18

Part 2 - Believe the Word-
John 3:16, Mark 16:16, Acts 8:37

Part 3 - Repent of Sins-
Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19, 2 Peter 3:9, Acts 17:30, 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

Part 4 - Confess Jesus as Savior-
Matthew 10:32-33, Acts 8:36-37, Romans 10:10

Part 6 - Be Baptized for remission of sins and to be in Christ -
Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 10:47-48, Acts 22:16, Galatians 3:27, 1 Peter 3:21

Part 7 - Live faithfully to God -
Romans 6:4, Colossians 1:22-23, 1 John 2:5-6, 2 John 1:5-6, 3 John 1:3-4

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While John 3:16 promises eternal life to him who believes, 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Hebrews 5:9 attributes salvation to such as who obey, thus demonstrating that the two are not mutually exclusive, rather, saving faith includes obedience.

"And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him."

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The act of baptism unfortunately is a most debated stumbling block among men. This Video Presentation is for those who believe baptism is a human work to earn salvation. We challenge you to have another look at your baptism.




Have more questions on baptism? click here




Monday, July 20, 2015

Gods Great Love For Us Series

An expose’ on the life of the God-man
Revised

The Love of God for mankind, His greatest creation is mind boggling once one begins to understand His devotion to draw us back to Him. Whether you are a Christian or an Atheist or somewhere in between, you have heard that old story about Gods only Son (Jesus) coming to earth in the form of man to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. This kingdom He spoke about we are told is not of this world but in the spiritual world – it is Jesus’ Father’s house not made with hands (2 Cor. 5:1). Okay I understand this is beyond comprehension among non-believers because I used to be an atheist and full well know the religion of non-belief. Yes believe it or not, atheists have religion though my earthly father being a devout atheist would never admit it, but he could never debunk it either. His and my religion at the time was just void of God but religion nonetheless.


Fortunately Christians, that is, disciples that live the life bearing their personal cross day by day walking in the light of the Spirit do not possess religion. They possess a faith that is deeply seeded in their initial grounding based upon Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, His burial and resurrection from the dead 3 days later. And they consummate their love and allegiance to the Savior by obeying the Gospel through repentance of sin, by confession of Christ as Savior, and burial in baptism by faith into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. These few have wisely met Jesus at the cross and in faith rely only on His shed blood to cleanse and save them on the day of judgement.


This 6 part series on Gods Great Love For Us is presented for the edification of the saints, and the education of seekers of God that He may grant them eternal life upon their obedience too. It covers the life of Jesus from His miraculous conception in Mary to His resurrection. I know, as I mentioned earlier, you have heard the story before. But have you heard it in a way that brings Christ to the forefront as both a human being, and God? Have you realized that under certain situations, He and His earthly parents actually had to deal with both His human and divine natures all the way to the cross 33 years later? Mom and step-Dad’s relationship with their son was truly unique.


Questions are posed in this series that we can relate to in everyday life what Jesus, the God-man faced as a human also. He shows us the way to God who is Love and Spirit. And the most interesting question – “When did Jesus realize He was God in the flesh?” This series will help you to see many aspects of His life on earth you might find very interesting and compelling. And we have added the narrated versions below for your convenience. Find a bible you can make notes in, and spend some time in Gods word to learn about the greatest story ever told, the greatest life ever lived…


With love in Christ
Scriptures Weekly



1) Gods Great Love For Us (text)

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2) Gods Great Love Among Us (text)

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3) Gods Great Love Pursues Us (text)

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4) Gods Great Love Fellowships With Us (text)

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5) Gods Great Love Breaks Bread With Us (text)

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6) Gods Great Love Dies For Us (text)

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Monday, July 6, 2015

True Gospel

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The love that results in salvation is the love that prompts obedience to Jesus’ teachings. The love comes first, and then the obedience. Thus, love is demonstrated to God as He begins to save us out of love. The following is how one initially responds to the true Gospel, first with love, then commitment to the Savior:

# Hearing the Word of God. (Mark 4:20Acts 13:47-48Romans 10:14-17)
# Believing the Word of God, the Bible. (John 3:16Mark 16:16Acts 8:37)
# Repenting of your sins and worldly ways. (Luke 13:3Acts 17:302 Peter 3:9)
# Confessing Jesus as Lord of your life. (Matthew 10:32-33Acts 8:36-37Romans 10:10)
# Be baptized into Christ for remission of all your past sins. (Mark 16:16Acts 2:381 Peter 3:21Acts 22:16Galatians 3:27)
# Live faithfully to God. (Colossians 1:22-233 John 1:3-4)

Click this link to hear a video lesson on the GospelAnd this link on the Evidence of Pardon. Both lessons are biblically informative.




Baptism in water isn’t a work of man.

OK, IT’S SETTLED, BAPTISM FOR THE CLEANSING OF SINS IS NOT A WORK OF MAN. IT'S THE WORK OF GOD! YOU’RE NOT DOING IT; IT’S DONE TO YOU. K...

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