Bible teaching, encouragement, homiletics, exegesis, etc.

Virgin Birth of Christ Is Critical Because of Original Sin

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Apprising Ministries draws to your attention that neo-liberal Emerging Church theologian Dr. Tony Jones has a new booklet specifically denying original sin in his attack upon the penal substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

In this new piece you’re reminded that Jones, “theologian in residence” for EC universalist Doug Pagitt, is actually a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. I also show you that as these neo-liberals attack original sin they are opening the door for the denial of Christ’s Deity. View article →

Beware of Those Who Only Say They Love Scripture

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Apprising Ministries has been warning you of the dangers associated with the spread of Counter Reformation contemplative spirituality within the mainstream of the visible church.

Just like the long apostate Roman Catholic Church, it leads one into religious superstitions. Here’s an important Biblical teaching to help you through one of the pious smokescreens you’ll often encounter today. View article →

John MacArthur on Expecting Verbal Insults

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Apprising Ministries has been telling you about the sad results of mainstream evangelicalism seeking to find favor with the world rather then preaching the Gospel to it.

Here, as he often does, John MacArthur hits the target dead on. While we never seek to be offensive in our presentation, the Gospel is offensive to the unregenerate. View article →

Say No To Women Pastors

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Apprising Ministries alerts you that this is an issue which is growing quickly within contemporary and increasingly sentimental evangelicalism.

Here we take a look at what the Bible actually says concerning this critical subject.  View article →

Keeping The Unity Of The Spirit

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A good friend sent me a link to an article about an analysis of true Christian Unity that used Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones 1962 speech on that topic given to British Christian leaders and how it was received to show first how Dr. Jones got it right and second, how the emergent, Purpose Driven, Elephant Room 2 folks of our day are no different than the man-centered liberals of Dr. Jones day in their rejection of the clear teaching from God’s Word that genuine Christian Unity is found not in organizations or groups or people just getting along, but in the work of God himself. The sermon below is by Geoff Thomas, a Welsh Reformed Baptist who is in full agreement with Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones on this issue. View article →

The Christian’s Victory in Christ

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What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31-39, ESV

We are preparing to work our way through Romans 8:18-39. I listened to John MacArthur preach through these verses at the Shepherd’s Conference last week and from that I learned two things. It is vital for each Christian to grasp the truths therein in order to stand firm in the midst of every conceivable attack our enemy can use against them. The second thing I learned is how these truths in this passage are like a dividing line. Those who come down on the side of God’s Sovereignty and the security of the believer within it have it right, while there are many who call themselves Christians who ignore these truths and teach the opposite leaving those who follow them in the bondage of fear and doubt and even believing in the sovereignty of Satan and his demons. There is another group of course, that would be all in the liberal camp who take the name of Christian for whatever reason, but believe in no historical Christian doctrines. No, they only believe in their own man-made “god” and “jesus” made in their own image. These magnificent truths are meant only for genuine believers not those who have never bowed the knee to the Lordship of Christ and are now walking in repentance having been saved by grace through faith as a gift from God himself.  View article →

Believers are Heirs with Christ

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16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. Romans 8:16–17, NASB

Even through as Christians we are justified and are under no condemnation (Romans 8:1) it is also clearly taught in God’s Word that Christians are to live lives of repentance from the works of the flesh. There are some, such as those who call themselves “New Calvinists” who take the Doctrines of Grace and separate them from the great teachings of the Puritans such as John Owen, John Bunyan, Thomas Watson, Jonathan Edwards, et cetera that made it clear that in this life Christians are required to “work out their salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). No, these “New Calvinists” such as Mark Driscoll and those who emulate him are antinomians in that they teach those who follow them that if they are in Christ, what they do in the flesh is merely for their enjoyment and has no eternal consequences. Really? Is that what God’s Word says? View article →

Christian Assurance

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Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1, NASB

On 29 February, I posted The Conflict of Two Natures, which was based on Romans 7. In this post, after looking at some of the major points of the Doctrines of Grace and who we really are in Christ over the last few weeks, we now return to Romans 8 and pick up Paul’s reasoning. Romans 8:1 from the Greek text reads, “Οὐδὲν ἄρα νῦν κατάκριμα τοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.” Or, “Therefore there is no condemnation to the ones in Christ Jesus.” The “therefore” translates ἄρα (ara), “as a result, then, so, therefore, possible.” Normally a “therefore” marks the conclusion of the verses immediately preceding it, but here it introduces the staggering results of the Apostle’s teaching in the first seven chapters, which states that justification is by faith alone on the basis of God’s overwhelming grace. For those in Christ, there is “no condemnation.” What does that mean? View article →

Original Sin and Total Depravity

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8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to 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 1:8-10, NASB

Sacred Scripture’s diagnosis of sin is as a universal deformity of human nature found at every point in every person (1 Kings 8:46; Romans 3:9-23; 7:18; 1 John 1:8-10 see above). Both the Old Testament and the New Testament describe sin as rebellion against God’s rule, missing the mark God set for us to aim at, transgressing God’s law, offending God’s purity by defiling oneself, and incurring guilt before God the Judge. The moral deformity is dynamic: sin is an energy of irrational, negative, and rebellious reaction to God. It is a spirit of fighting God in order to play God. The root of sin is pride and enmity against God, the spirit seen in Adam’s first transgression, and sinful acts always have behind them thoughts and desires that one way or another express the willful opposition of the fallen heart to God’s claims on our lives.  View article →

John MacArthur Debunks Vision Casting

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Apprising Ministries reminds you that occultic vision casting is the rage within contemporary evangelicalism. A practice of divination where a prophet-pastor, e.g. Steven Furtick, receives an extra biblical revelation allegedly from God.

Well, in this video clip you’ll see what real pastor sent by Christ has to say in the subject on  this critical subject.  View article →

Election and Reprobation

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13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14, NASB

We have come to the Doctrine of Unconditional Election in our exposition of the Doctrines of Grace. A few years ago before I began working from home fulltime and was still working from an office outside of our data center, a fellow from another department who I was working with on an issue made a comment about some of my devotional stuff and my small ESV Bible that I carried in my computer bag, which were laying on my desk. I knew that he had at one time been a Methodist pastor, but had left the ministry. I have no idea what the history of that was. The comment he made was an incredulous statement in which he questioned how I would ever find the time to spend “doing that” as busy as I was. I told him that I did that when I first got to work in the morning before anyone else was there after I had done all my server checkups. At that time I was working my way through R. C. Sproul’s book Chosen By God and it was lying there as well. He asked when I read that. I told him I did that as I ate lunch. He picked it up and read the back cover and then put it down quickly like it burned his hand then made another incredulous statement, “You’re a Calvinist!” View article →

Effectual Calling and Conversion

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3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

John 10:3–4, NASB

All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter X: Of Effectual Calling

As many of you know, I was born in 1951 and grew up as a Southern Baptist in Oklahoma. I never heard of the Westminster Confession of Faith until 2006 or so. That article above is entirely biblical and I had read those passages from where they were drawn, but I had never heard Christian Conversion described that way. No, what I heard continually in church services, Sunday School, Youth Groups, and Revival Services was all about us making a decision. It was all about what we did, not what God did. View article →

Celestial Love

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No doubt there are many disheartening things going on within the church visible for the genuine Christian.

Perhaps you’re battling with the result of sin. In any event, Apprising Ministries brings you Biblical encouragement from a real preacher of God’s Word in this devotional post. View article →

Preserving Grace

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28 κἀγὼ δίδωμι αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀπόλωνται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ οὐχ ἁρπάσει τις αὐτὰ ἐκ τῆς χειρός μου. 29 ὁ πατήρ μου ὃ δέδωκέν μοι πάντων μεῖζόν ἐστιν, καὶ οὐδεὶς δύναται ἁρπάζειν ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ πατρός. 30 ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν. John 10:28-30, NA27

28 And I give to them eternal life and they will never perish into the age, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the hand of the Father. 30 I and the Father are one. John 10:28-30, Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1

I have always been puzzled why some become so angry when we declare the doctrine of eternal security of God’s people. Of course, those who do are the very same ones whose theology is man-centered and, therefore, based on the “Free-Will” of man, which is found nowhere in the Bible. When the will of man is discussed in God’s Word it talks of it being enslaved to his sinful nature and how the washing of regeneration at the working of God in man’s salvation, his will becomes free from that bondage. In any case, when we do declare the doctrine of the eternal security of God’s people, it is perhaps clearer to speak of their preservation rather than their perseverance. Perseverance means continued adherence to a belief despite discouragement and opposition. However, the reason believers persevere in faith and obedience is not the strength of their own commitment, but that Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit preserves them through Preserving Grace. View article →

Roman Catholic Church, Islam, and God

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Apprising Ministries reminds you that the King’s Way document co-authored by Saddleback Church is in the news. It certainly seems to imply that Christians and Muslims believe in same God.

So now in this well-documented article you’ll see this has been the position of the Roman Catholic Church since at least Vatican II; and worse, the RCC says Muslims “adore the one God.” View article →

Definite Redemption

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Καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἡ νύμφη λέγουσιν· ἔρχου. καὶ ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω· ἔρχου. καὶ ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω, ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν. Revelation 22:17, NA27

And the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And the one hearing let him say, “Come.” And the one thirsting let him come; let the one desiring take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17, Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1

The Reformed Doctrine of Definite Redemption is also called “The Doctrine of Particular Redemption” and, historically, “The Doctrine of Limited Atonement.” This doctrine speaks about the intention of the triune God in the death of Jesus Christ. Without questioning the infinite worth of Christ’s sacrifice or genuiness of God’s sincere invitation to all who hear the gospel (Revelation 22:17 above), this doctrine states that Christ in dying intended to accomplish exactly what he did accomplish, that is, to take away the sins of God’s elect, and to ensure that they would all be brought to faith through regeneration and preserved through faith for glory. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not intend to die in this efficacious sense for everyone. The proof of that, as Sacred Scripture and experience unite to teach us, is revealed very clearly in the fact that not all are saved. View article →

To Live is Christ

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For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21, Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1

As we have been seeing over the past several months (or is it years?) as we have dug deeper and deeper into the persons of the Holy Trinity, the doctrines of the Church, which is the Body of Christ himself, hasn’t it also been true how in our drawing closer and closer to God that in this that the disingenuousness of the man-centered elements of the visible church becomes more and more exposed to those with eyes of genuine saving faith? On the other hand, those with their self-focused, self-edifying faith in their in their own self-made religiosity simply continue to go deeper and deeper into their self-made deceptions that are based on a world view as shallow and insipid as post-modernity. Those people actually are guilty of saying that Christianity and the Church as formed by Jesus Christ is wrong and they have a better idea. View article →

The Deity of Jesus Christ

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Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. John 1:1, NA27

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word. John 1:1, Possessing the Treasure New Testament V1

Going back to Genesis 1:1, which says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” we understand that the Bible always assumes, and never argues, God’s existence. Although everything else had a beginning, God has always been (Psalm 90:2). In John 1:1-10 we see that the Apostle, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, stresses the work of Christ in creation and opens in v1 (above) with the same phrase as in Genesis 1:1. In John 1:1, the word “Word” translates λόγος (logos). Λόγος was used by the Greeks not only of the spoken word but also of the unspoken word, the word still in the mind—the reason. When they applied it to the universe, they meant the rational principle that governs all things. Jews, on the other hand, used it as a way to referring to God. John, therefore, used a term that was meaningful to both Jews and Gentiles. He goes on to say that the λόγος was with God. The λόγος is, therefore distinct from the Father. However, he then says very clearly, “καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος” or, ”God was the Word.” Jesus was God in the fullest sense. View article →