The Gift Of Faith

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He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” – Luke 23:42 Here is a thief with great faith. This sinner admitted he deserved what he suffered. At the same time, he knew Jesus, suffering next to him, was innocent. He also recognized the Lordship of Jesus. He recognized Jesus had the compassion and authority to overlook his sins. And he knew that this death would not stop Jesus from returning in power and great glory to reward those who trust in Him. What a contrast with the disciples, whose hope died when their Lord died (Luke 24:21). They didn’t believe when told He was risen from the dead. They didn’t remember what He had told … Continue reading →

Passing On God’s Mercy

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And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God to him? … – 2 Samuel 9:3 David was a nobody, a tender of sheep, the youngest of eight children. But God raised him up to become the king of Israel. God showered grace and mercy on David throughout his life. With God’s help he defeated a lion and a bear. He gave him victory over Goliath and the Philistines. He protected him from the evil intentions of king Saul (and later his own son, Absalom). God’s presence was with David from the beginning. David was most thankful to be a recipent of God’s mercy, and he wanted … Continue reading →

On Being Saved

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I believe God at times grants the temporal requests of unbelievers, just as Jesus healed all those who came to Him. But just because God helps unbelievers does not mean they have a close, saving relationship with God. They are still spiritually dead, lost in sin, and condemned before God. They may feel they have a spiritual connection with God, but that connection is a lie. (See Matthew 7:22-23.) A true spiritual relationship with God requires two prerequisite things on our part, and two saving things on God’s part: Our part consists of: Repentance: We must repent of our sin. This is not a requirement to live a perfectly sinless life, for that is impossible. It is a heart thing: … Continue reading →

“Why did Noah curse Canaan?”

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And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he uncovered himself in his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren outside. And Shem and Japheth took the upper garment and both laid it upon their shoulders, and went backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were turned away, that they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and learned what his youngest son had done to him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; Let him be a bondman of bondmen to his brethren. – Genesis 9:20-25 On reading … Continue reading →

Who Is The Israel Of God? – Part 5

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So why all the fuss over who Israel is today? Isn’t this just quibbling over a minor doctrinal understanding? Does it really make any difference what position you take? I said at the beginning that the doctrine of supersessionism has profoundly affected much of the church’s view of the Jews, end-times prophecy, and theology. Here are some of the effects of the Church taking on itself the role of the new Israel: When the Church called itself the new Israel, it started following the patterns of Israel’s worship in the Old Testament. Israel was divided into twelve tribes, of which only one had rights to temple service, of which only a part had the priesthood, of which only one was … Continue reading →

Who Is The Israel Of God? – Part 4

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We’ve seen the evidence to know God is not done with Israel. Now let’s look at the scriptures used to promote replacement theology to see how they’ve been misinterpreted. I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, … – Jeremiah 3:8 Taken by itself, this verse appears to say that God was done with the northern ten tribes of Israel. Once you’re divorced, you’ve cut all ties with your spouse. However, God did not cut all ties… “They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and become another man’s, will he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that … Continue reading →

Who Is The Israel Of God? – Part 3

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Now let’s see what the New Testament says about the people of Israel. All of the epistles were written after Jesus was rejected by His people. Yet, even that was not enough for God to reject them. Paul writes in his epistle to the Romans: I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God didn’t reject his people, which he foreknew. … Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. … I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has … Continue reading →

Who Is The Israel Of God? – Part 2

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One of the most important foundations of Bible interpretation is: No scripture contradicts other scripture. If it’s all inspired by God, it must all agree with itself. This means you cannot set one set of verses against another set of verses to see which wins out because all of the Bible agrees with itself. If one passage seems to contradict another passage, you can be sure you have a wrong understanding of one or both passages. If something does not make sense, you must be open to the possibility that a doctrine you believe in may be wrong. It’s not enough to have select proof-texts to support what you believe. You must look at all of scripture to determine if … Continue reading →

Who Is the Israel of God? – Part 1

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If you lived five-hundred years ago, you would have thought the earth to be at the center of the universe. It would have been hard to convince you otherwise, for we don’t sense the earth moving beneath our feet, but we do see the sun, moon, stars and planets spin across the sky. While various cultures around the world followed the geocentric model, it was Claudius Ptolemy (100 – 170 A.D.) who formally explained the motion of the planets as a combination of their orbit around the earth, plus a mysterious epicycle to explain why the planets backtracked at times in the sky. His theory prevailed for over 1200 years, not just because it felt true, but because it worked: … Continue reading →

Act Out Of Character

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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23 If I were to define the most recognizable trait of someone who walks in the Spirit, it is this: Those who walk in the Spirit act out of character. Someone can be very unloving in nature, but when she walks in the spirit, she truly loves in an unconditional way. Someone can be of a melancholy disposition, or in a depressing situation, but he can have joy in his heart in spite of circumstances when he walks in the Spirit. A naturally impatient person puts up uncomplainingly to delays when he walks in the Spirit. … Continue reading →