Category Archives: Doctrine

Follow

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Bibleread.jpg
THIS VERY DAY, among some 300 million Americans…
The number of people identified as “nonreligious” or having “no religion” will grow by 10,337.
The number of Mormons will grow by 1,787.
The number of Jews will grow by 1,063.
The number of Muslims will grow by 414.
The number of Buddhists will grow by 406.
The number of Hindus will grow by 288.
The number of Wicca followers will grow by 115.
But how many, this very same day, will decide to follow Jesus? From Missing in America, p. 9
How will these people learn about Jesus? Who will teach them His Word?
KneEmail: “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” Luke 9.23
Bible reading for 01.20.11: Matthew 13.31-58; Genesis 49-50
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Faith

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faith_works_landscape.jpg WERE IT NOT for faith, or as Paul mentioned the law of faith (Romans 3:27), salvation could not be by grace because faith allows entrance into God’s saving grace…
The two then, grace and faith, are inseparable qualities. Works are associated with faith, for “you see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). James further commented, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (v. 26). The premier biblical example of grace, faith, and works combining to bring about salvation is found in Noah who lived in advance of the law of Moses. As God was contemplating the destruction of the world in the great flood, the Bible says, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). God told Noah to make an ark 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, fill it with animals and food as God described, and get in it with his family (Genesis 6:14-7:1). The comment, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did” (v. 22) in no way countermanded the grace of God. Regarding Noah’s faith, the Hebrews’ writer said: “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).
God’s grace coupled with His commands and Noah’s faith brought about salvation. It was not legalism then nor is it now to say God’s grace coupled with His commands and our obedient faith brings about salvation. One who so believes and practices is not a legalist but an “heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Gary McDade, “Grace,” The Doctrine of Christ–Nineteenth Annual Florida School of Preaching Lectureship, 126-127
KneEmail: “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the faith of us all.” Romans 4:15; cf., 5:1-2
Bible reading for 07.30.10: Romans 2; Psalm 51-53
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Twitter

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twitter.jpg WE ARE LIVING in the Information Age…or should it be called the Useless Information Age…
The three giant social networking Web sites…Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter allow their users to share their thoughts with friends and strangers. If you want to let people half way around the world know that you just saved $8 at Kroger, you can. You can share your deepest thoughts and your shallowest feelings. You can air your political views or cheer your favorite team. Whether or not people actually care your opinions is beside the point. It is all about sharing what is on your mind.
Twitter’s concept is the simplest of all the social sites. Users can give 140-character opinions on any and every issue. These updates are called “tweets.” The author’s subscribers are known as “followers.”
I wonder what the apostle Paul would have tweeted to his followers when he was writing his thirteen preserved epistles. He might have tweeted these thoughts:
Romans: “All have sinned. All deserve death. But there is no condemnation in Christ.”
1 Corinthians: “A divided church is a poor representative of Christ.”
2 Corinthians: “My apostleship and your benevolence are genuine.”
Galatians: “Moses’ law served its purpose. We now live by faith and walk by the Spirit.”
Philippians: “Don’t let circumstances dictate your faith. Live with joy. Be content.”
Colossians: “Human philosophy distorts the gospel. Live for Jesus.”
1 and 2 Thessalonians: “Jesus will return and many people will not be ready. Be prepared for that day.”
1 and 2 Timothy: “Ministry should protect the gospel and serve the needy. There is no better work.”
Titus: “The grace of God teaches us to live godly lives.”
Philemon: “People from all backgrounds can be useful in the church.” James Hayes, “If Paul Had A Twitter Account,” Glad Tidings of Good Things, Vol. 30/January 21, 2010
KneEmail: “How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house.” Acts 20:20
Bible reading for 05.26.10: John 9:24-41; 1 Chronicles 28, 29
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Vine

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vine.jpg SOME HAVE SAID all the various denominations are part of Christ’s “one church,” but this belief cannot be harmonized with the Bible…
In John 15:5, Jesus said He is the vine and His people are the branches. Since a single vine does not produce different fruits, the one church built by Christ cannot consist of different beliefs and practices. This point is also demonstrated by the parable of the sower (Mark 4:3-20). When the seed (the word of God) is sown, it cannot produce a variety of religious plants (i.e., denominations).
A principle from the earliest of time (Genesis 1:25) is “everything brings forth after its kind” (KJV). If truth and only truth is sown, the church of the New Testament will always be the result. If some truth and some error are sown, the result will not be a local congregation that models the models the church Jesus built. When some truth and human tradition or make-made councils or earthy headquarters are combined, we will have the result that is now throughout the world: thousands of different denominations.
If the modern concept of denominationalism is right (God accepts nearly any religious group designated as Christian), why did Paul dedicate so much energy to correcting the division at Corinth (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2, 13)? If religious division is good (and this is what modern denominationalism says), Paul should have left the Corinthians alone in this regard. He should have congratulated them on their diversity and encouraged it. Paul refused to leave the problem of religious division alone. He also promised to address the lack of unity, if the Corinthians refused to correct this problem themselves (2 Corinthians 1:1-6, 8-11).
There is only “one faith” (Ephesians 4:5), and this faith is practiced in every congregation of Christ’s church. When we become a Christian as the Bible describes, we are members of “the church of the Lord” (Acts 20:28) and the “temple of God” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). The church consists of those who are “in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:2). People enter into Christ through baptism (Galatians 3:27). Brad Price
KneEmail: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” 1 Corinthians 1:10; cf. 1:11-17; 3:1-4
Bible reading for 04.21.10: Luke 16; 2 Samuel 12,13
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Lie

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lion2.jpg AT FIRST WE feel pity for the unnamed “man of God” described in 1 Kings 13…
After all, he accepted a potentially dangerous mission from God by confronting evil King Jeroboam about the unauthorized altar he had built in Bethel. This prophet was faithful and courageous in carrying out his assignment.
But he never made it home alive. As he traveled back to Judah, a lion killed him, and the obvious inference from the text is that God sent the lion. Why would God do such a thing to a man who had been faithful to His mission?
The man of God had not been completely faithful to his mission. One part of God’s orders was that he not eat or drink while in Bethel. At first, he was obedient and refused Jeroboam’s invitation to dine with him.
But an old prophet caught up with him on his way home, and told him that God had changed the orders. God now wanted the man of God to come dine in Bethel, according to the older prophet. The text tells us, however, that the old prophet “was lying to him” (1 Kings 13:18, NKJV).
In most respects, the man of God did well. As long as he listened only to the Lord and did His will, he would be blessed. But when he chose to believe a different message instead of the one God gave him, tragedy followed. He was sincere in what he did, but he was sincerely wrong.
Centuries later, Paul warned Christians about falling into the same trap: “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11,12).
To put it simply, here is the choice we face: Will we believe God, or will we put our trust in what others tell us about God and His will? There are many religious people who speak things that are not found in the Bible. They sound so warm and sincere; how could we believe for a moment that they’re in error?
But if their message doesn’t match the message God has given us in His word, they are in error, and we would be foolish to follow their teachings instead of the Lord’s.
Why have we been given this account about the man of God who believed a lie? Because it’s a perennial problem, one that God’s people continually face.
Let us follow two simple admonitions: “Buy the truth, and do not sell it …” (Proverbs 23:23), and “… Your word is truth” (John 17:17). When we walk only in the light of God’s truth, we’ll be safe. Tim Hall at http://www.forthright.net/heavenly_connections/he_believed_a_lie.html
KneEmail: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32
Bible reading for 03.26.10: Luke 3; Joshua 22-24
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Truth

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books.jpg WHEN I WAS considering completing a doctoral degree in theology, the representative of the graduate program at the college looked over my transcripts and concluded I had too much Bible and theology in my undergraduate work…
So he gave me a list of two hundred books of preparatory reading before I could be admitted to the program. I checked out the list with someone who know the various titles and learned that none of them contained anything but liberal theology and humanistic philosophy–they were full of profane old wives’ fables passed off as scholorship! The college also required me to take a course called “Jesus and Cinema.” That involved watching contemporary movies and evaluating them on whether they were antagonistic to or supportive of the Jesus ethic. The divine Jesus had been reduced to an ethic! I met with the representative again and said, “I just want to let you know that I have spent all my life to this point learning the truth, and I can’t see any value in spending the next couple of years learning error.” John MacArthur in Qualities of an Excellent Servant
KneEmail: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18; cf. Colossians 2:3
Bible reading for 03.25.10: Luke 2:25-52; Joshua 19-21
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Plagues

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plagues4.jpg EFFORTS HAVE SOMETIMES been made to explain away the plagues as natural phenomena in Egypt…
It is quite true that unusual quantities of frogs and lice, unexpected darkness and the other serious heightenings of natural phenomena have been known in Egypt. An examination of the plagues shows, however, that they were miraculous in at least five ways:
1) Intensification — frogs, insects, plagues on cattle, hail, and darkness were all known in Egypt, but now they are intensified far beyond the ordinary occurrences.
2) Prediction — the time was set for the comings of the flies (“tomorrow,” 8:23), the death of cattle (9:5), the hail (9:18), and the locusts (10:4). The removal time was also set: e.g., frogs (8:10) and thunder (9:29). Modern science cannot accurately predict the cessation of natural phenomena such as hail.
3) Discrimination — in Goshen there were no flies (8:22), no death of cattle (9:4), no hail (9:26), and so forth.
4) Orderliness — the severity of the plagues increased until they ended with the death of Pharaoh’s firstborn.
5) Moral purpose — the plagues were not just freaks of nature, but carried a moral purpose in these ways:
a) The gods of Egypt were discredited, a purpose indicated in Exodus 12:12; the Nile-god, frog-god, and sun-god were all shown to be
powerless before God.
b) Pharaoh was made to know that the Lord is God, and to acknowledge Him (9:27; 10:16).
c) God was revealed as Savior, in rescuing Israel from the hands of the Egyptians (14:30). Joseph Free, Archaeology and Bible History
KneEmail: “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.” Exodus 12:12
Bible reading for 03.22.10: Luke 1:39-56; Joshua 13-15
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Test

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astudy.jpg DID YOU KNOW…?
That the Bible nowhere says, “Accept Jesus as your personal Savior?”
That the “Rapture” is not once mentioned in the Bible?
That no one was ever told to “Ask Jesus into your heart” in answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?”
That every verse in the New Testament in which baptism and salvation appear together lists baptism prior to salvation?
That nowhere in the New Testament is there a command or example for a baby to be baptized?
That “faith only” is mentioned just once in the Bible, and then it says, “not by faith only” (James 2:24)?
That Peter was not a pope and that he had a wife (Matthew 8:14)?
That there is no example or command in the Bible for preachers to wear special robes, clothes, etc.?
That everyone that has put Christ on in baptism is a “saint” (Ephesians 3:8; 4:12; 5:3; 6:16; Philippians 1:1; 4:2)?
That there is nothing in the Bible mentioning or even suggesting that you can be brought out of or prayed out of purgatory?
That denominational churches did not exist in the first century?
That you can be saved without ever “joining” a denominational church? (Doug Smith)
KneEmail: “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Bible reading for 02.15.10: Matthew 27:27-66; Leviticus 17-19
Recommended web site: www.christiancourier.com/
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Beware

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images.jpgTHE VERB “BEWARE” is used in the New Testament 31 times…
That in itself shows that there is constant danger in living the Christian life.
The prophet Ezekiel warns of the same danger mentioned here. God’s people were in danger of being over run by physical enemies because of their sins. God informs the prophet He is calling Ezekiel to the task of warning people. They needed to repent and return their commitment to God.
The same spiritual danger is confronting every child of God. It is true that false teachers often present themselves as being very faithful to God and His Word, but–as Jesus Himself said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).
Each of us must be on guard lest we led astray by what may sound good and appealing, but we must constantly be aware of what is being said. We must carefully study what is being said in light of the written word of God which is only found in the Bible. Leon Crouch
KneEmail: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Matthew 7:15
Bible reading for 01.13.10: Matthew 9:18-38; Genesis 31, 32
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How

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bn302086.jpgA SENIOR HAD backed a meek little freshman into a corner and was bombarding him with an impressive string of scientific facts…
He said, “Did you know that…? Are you aware of…? Does it interest you…?”
Finally, the beleaguered freshman got a word in edgewise. “Well, there is one thing you don’t know,” he said, half-crying.
The senior snapped back, “And just what is that…?”
“You don’t know,” sobbed the freshman, “that you are standing on my sore foot…”
THOUGHT: People will turn away from the gospel if we are insensitive and harsh. (Bob Barnes) It is not enough that we have the truth…, we must also have the touch.
KneEmail: “Let your speeech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.” Colossians 4:6
Bible reading for 01.11.10: Matthew 8:18-34; Genesis 27, 28
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