1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 1 John 4:1-6 (LSB) Read verses 4-6 on the site.

It is one thing to confess Christ or profess to be a Christian and quite another to live and walk before the face of God within that confession or profession in obedience to God and His Word. There are so many in our time who claim to be Christians, but whose lives are marked by them speaking and living according to the world and its ways…. Continue reading →

23 And on that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. John 16:23

In our journey these past several weeks we have looked at the nature of faith, the veracity of the Bible as the Word of God, and the deity of Christ. Much of this has been done as the result of or in response to attacks by liberals, Christian and otherwise. I often ponder what could possibly be their goal…. Continue reading →

57 Yahweh is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words. 58 I have sought to please Your face with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word. 59 I thought upon my ways And I turned my feet to Your testimonies. 60 I hastened and did not delay To keep Your commandments. 61 The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law. 62 At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You Because of Your righteous judgments. 63 I am a companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts. 64 The earth, O Yahweh, is full of Your lovingkindness; Teach me Your statutes. Psalms 119:56-64 (LSB) 

God does not need us. God is holy; therefore, He is fully fulfilled in Himself. His holy attributes show us His perfection and infinite power. At the fall of man, found in Genesis 3, God would have been perfectly justified in wiping out Adam and Eve then starting over. However, He did not. Praise the Lord He did not! God was merciful to Man whom He loves. He still is. Continue reading →

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us,  5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive with Christ — by grace you have  been saved — 6 and he raised us with him and seated us with him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,  7 that he might display in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

Let us this day focus on our wonderful God with worshipful, grateful hearts. Back several years ago when I was confronted with Reformation Theology, I was amazed that the passages that the Holy Spirit used to “nail it” firmly in my heart that it was what best lined up with the Bible in all areas of doctrine were many if not all of the same passages that I had taught from, memorized in Evangelism Explosion training, and read every day during my devotions…. Continue reading →

14 What use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:14-18 (LSB)

The passage I placed at the beginning of this article is one the most abused and misunderstood passages that I know of. If it is read casually, it can be easily misunderstood. If it is exposited by someone possessing a faulty hermeneutic, it can be twisted to say what no other part of the Bible teaches, that faith plus works is required for salvation. Continue reading →

41 May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O Yahweh, Your salvation according to Your word; 42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word.43 And do not take away the word of truth utterly from my mouth, For I wait for Your judgments. 44 So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. 45 And I will walk in a wide place, For I seek Your precepts. 46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And I shall not be ashamed. 47 I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will muse on Your statutes. Psalms 119:40-48 (LSB) 

The more I study doctrine and research the incredible variances of those held by theologians and denominations the more I realize there are really only two types. One type is focused solely on God’s Glory and is dynamically linked to His sovereignty. The other type (which includes all but God-focused Christianity) is Man based…. Continue reading →

1 And six days later Jesus *brought with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three booths here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Matthew 17:1-8 (LSB)  Read verses 5-8 on the site.

From what I have observed, and please correct me if I am wrong, it seems that telling a false prophet or false teacher from those who are true is not as difficult as we may think. Those who are true understand and teach the centrality of our Lord Jesus Christ in all things. It really is all about Him and His glory…. Continue reading →

17 Deal bountifully with Your slave, That I may live and keep Your word. 18 Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. 19 I am a sojourner in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. 20 My soul is crushed with longing For Your judgments at all times. 21 You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed, Who stray from Your commandments. 22 Take away reproach and contempt from me, For I observe Your testimonies. 23 Even though princes sit and talk against me, Your slave muses on Your statutes. 24 Your testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors.Psalms 119:16-24 (LSB) 

I am convinced most believer’s concept of God’s grace is not as high as it should be. Sadly, most of us walk through this life with the attitude we somehow deserve salvation and blessings. We treat God as if He is the interloper with His commands to live Holy and obedient lives. Why? Our focus is on self. Continue reading →

3 Do nothing according to rivalry nor empty conceit, but in humility esteem others more significant than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

One of the main contentions of the Christian deconstructionists in our time such as Andy Stanley is that it is an arrogant thing to teach from the Bible as if it is absolute truth. They say that the truly humble are those who confess to know nothing precisely, but only in a nebulous sort of way. This is primarily an attempt to appear humble to the world by seeking common ground with everyone, which is only possible if truth is held loosely so there is room for compromise…. Continue reading →

11 It is a trustworthy saying: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we will deny Him, He also will deny us; 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.2 Timothy 2:11-13 (LSB) 

My favorite book outside of the Bible is John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. Bunyan, a Puritan, spent seven years in prison because he was a preacher, but a nonconformist in the eyes of the Anglican Church. He preached the pure gospel unencumbered by the empty religiosity of The Church of England at that time…. Continue reading →

Back in 2004 God took me through a year long renewal/revival with Him. By the end of that I found that I no longer cared anything about becoming “seen” or “known” through “religiosity.” No, all I cared about was being where God wanted me to be, doing what He wanted me to be doing. However, I still had some learning experiences to work through.  I naively assumed that other believers I knew would automatically see the truths God was revealing to my heart and rejoice in their own revival. However, that was not the case. In fact, most of them quit talking with me…. Continue reading →

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that  we no longer should serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.  (Romans 6:6-7 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

Romans 6:6 clearly shows us that true believers become holy in Christ. However, there is confusion because many do not look correctly at the Greek verb tenses in this passage. If they simply read it in English or some other translation it is easy to not see that the all the verb tenses here are past tenses (aorist or perfect)…. Continue reading →

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29-32 ESV)

Steel is made through the smelting of iron ore. Iron becomes steel as carbon is added while the iron is very hot. What makes steel much harder than iron was not really understood by the ancients who created it. All they knew was that at a certain point in the shaping of a sword they would lay the red-hot blade into the coals for a few minutes then resume the process of hammering, cooling in water, re-heating, hammering, cooling in water, et cetera…. Continue reading →

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And Yahweh said to Satan, “Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand delivered from the fire?” Zechariah 3:1-2 (LSB) 

I have had a rough couple of days. For a while I could not figure out what was wrong. Then early this morning, not being able to sleep, I asked God for help. Things began to become clear. I was being accused by the enemy. I do not pretend to be righteous by my own merit. If I was I would have lost it a long time ago. However, our enemy loves to attack us, especially when we attack him and his strongholds…. Continue reading →

⁵ And this is the message, which we have heard from him and we proclaim to you, that God is light and there is not any darkness in him. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from every sin. ⁸ If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, that he may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10 Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1) 

The following definition for the word “esoteric” is from the New Oxford American Dictionary: (See the definition on the site)

Not long after God had mercy on me in January 1986, saving me, I remember seeing a newspaper ad with the title “Esoteric Christianity” in bold letters. Below that in nearly as large bold letters was one word, “Gnosticism.” There was a phone number below that. I was a new believer, but I had heard in a Bible study about Gnosticism and how it was a heresy. What is a heresy? Continue reading →

18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. Proverbs 16:18 (LSB) 

8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ, Ephesians 3:8 (LSB) 

At the root of hypocrisy is, of course, pride. Pride is the antithesis of humility, which is exemplified for us by Paul’s attitude to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 3:8 (above). On the other hand, pride is absolutely never portrayed in the Bible in a positive way. Never is pride tolerated. Never is it praised as it is today…. Continue reading →

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous ones will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Be not deceived;  neither fornicators nor idolators nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals 10 nor thieves nor greedy ones nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ n the Spirit of of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Translated from the NA28 Greek text)

We heard a very good sermon this morning at church. The Gospel was presented fully and that meant we heard Law and Gospel and that meant that there was no soft-sell on how one comes to Christ. We heard a great deal about repentance being a necessary part of the Christian walk. Even through the evangelist never came to the passage above, it kept running through my head the entire time. after our Small Group prayer time tonight I knew I had to post this. Continue reading →

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider these things. Philippians 4:8 (LSB)

Philippians 4:8 is one of the most profound statements in the New Testament. This is part of the Apostle Paul’s closing statements to the church at Philippi. His epistle to the Philippians is a wonderful letter, full of encouragement and deep spiritual truth about how to live this Christian life no matter what fiery trials we are going through…. Continue reading →

3His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. (2 Peter 1:3-10 ESV) Read verses 8-10 on the site.

In the visible church in our time one of the key terms that we are hearing and seeing everywhere is rooted in the word “transform.” Rick Warren likes to say that his church is responsible for thousands of transformed lives for instance. In the incarnation/missional/dominionistic push right now we are seeing some call their particular flavor of that “transformational.” Continue reading →

15 Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 On account of this, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:15-18 (LSB) 

As we saw in my post Are You Being Filled With the Spirit or Something Else?, the Apostle Paul was making a very deep contrast in v18 (above) between the people being controlled by evil as they seek ecstatic spiritual experiences in any way other than the only way God has prescribed for His people. That way is to be filled with the Spirit, which is to be controlled by Him in the sense of having one’s life permeated with Him…. Continue reading →

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works Titus 2:11-14 (LSB)

The following is a quote from a sermon by John MacArthur titled ‘The Undying Faith of Christians Facing Death’ in the context of Matthew 24. Continue reading →

1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own heart, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh! 3 Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the wickedly foolish prophets who are walking after their own spirit and have seen nothing. 4 O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among waste places. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of Yahweh. Ezekiel 13:1-7 (LSB) Read verses 6-7 on the site.

A false prophet is one who claims to teach the truth from God and His Word, but who actually teaches from the counsel of his or her own heart. God is forever unchanging. He is immutable. His ways never change. His standards never change…. Continue reading →

12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 (LSB) 

God is Sovereign. He has not surrendered any of His sovereignty to any of His creatures, and that includes Man. My Pastor has been preaching through the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis for the last several weeks. It is obvious to all that God was in complete control of all of those things that happened to Joseph that culminated in his becoming Prime Minister of Egypt during one of the worst famines to ever hit that area…. Continue reading →

6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”John 3:6-8 (LSB) 

I grew up as a Southern Baptist. Much of the memories from my childhood have something to do with being at church each and every Sunday morning and evening. One thing I remember was an annual event in our church called a ‘Revival.’ The Pastor and his staff would plan it for a certain date, put that date in every church bulletin leading up to it, put signs up in front of the church advertising it, and make announcement after announcement from the pulpit to remember the upcoming ‘Revival.’… Continue reading →

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:22-23 (LSB) 

Since I began this blog and became involved with discernment ministries such as Christian Research Network, I have become aware of a disturbing phenomenon in the Church in America. Perhaps you have noticed it as well. The phenomenon I am writing about is willful ignorance in our spiritual leaders…. Continue reading →