Thoughts on A.W. Pink

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion

At Possessing the Treasure, Mike Ratliff discusses a recent article found at the Pyromaniacs blog that spoke unfavorably of Bible scholar and evangelist A.W. Pink. Ratliff also shares two introductory forwards written by Warren Wiersbe and John MacArthur from Pink’s book, The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross. View article →

The Real Gospel as Opposed to Another Gospel

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

6 Θαυμάζω ὅτι οὕτως ταχέως μετατίθεσθε ἀπὸ τοῦ καλέσαντος ὑμᾶς ἐν χάριτι [Χριστοῦ] εἰς ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον, 7 ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο, εἰ μή τινές εἰσιν οἱ ταράσσοντες ὑμᾶς καὶ θέλοντες μεταστρέψαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. 8 ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζηται [ὑμῖν] παρ᾽ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. 9 ὡς προειρήκαμεν καὶ ἄρτι πάλιν λέγω· εἴ τις ὑμᾶς εὐαγγελίζεται παρ᾽ ὃ παρελάβετε, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. 10 Ἄρτι γὰρ ἀνθρώπους πείθω ἢ τὸν θεόν; ἢ ζητῶ ἀνθρώποις ἀρέσκειν; εἰ ἔτι ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον, Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην. Gal. 1:6–10, NA27

6 I marvel that you are so quickly being turned from the one who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel; 7 which is not another; except there are some troubling you and are desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you besides that which we preached to you, let him be a curse.  9 As we have previously said, and now again I say, if anyone preaches a gospel to you besides that which you received, let him be a curse.  10 For am I now trying to convince men or God? Or am I seeking to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I would not be Christ’s slave. Gal. 1:6–10, a personal translation from the NA27

Along the lines of our last post which was from John MacArthur’s book, Ashamed of the Gospel, in which he summarized Charles Spurgeon’s struggle with the move towards Christian liberalism in England in the 19th Century. This move began earlier after the Puritan era and gained momentum as Christian leaders sought to become more appealing and less strict, more conciliatory and less divisive no matter the cost in terms of theology. While some held the high ground in terms of their own theology they saw no issue in the compromise in fellowshipping with those who held more “liberal” views than they or some of their peers did. As this trend continued the erosion led to a spiraling down that became known as the Great Down Grade. In the end, the struggle led to the ejection of from England’s Baptist Union of Spurgeon himself because he had led the defense against the Down Grade. For Spurgeon it cost him his health, but for the Baptist Union it cost it it’s spiritual life. The liberals won the leadership and led the denomination into the death throes of Christian Liberalism. Yes, it still exists today, but it stands for nothing having lost its backbone. What would Charles Spurgeon think about that? View article →

Progressive Creationism

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

Apprising Ministries showed you the other day that leading evangelicals like John Piper and Tim Keller reject the Biblical text in favor of secular science.

Keller openly admits he holds to progressive creationism where Piper’s more cagey. Here you’ll see the problems and inconsistencies surrounding this false teaching. View article →

Can We Prove Monotheism?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

Sadly, the state of the evangelical community is such today that even cardinal doctrines of the Church are under attack from within.

Apprising Ministries shares a short lay-level post from Got Questions? to bring you up to speed concerning this critical topic. View article →

Dr. John Morris Creation Happened Not Long Ago

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

Apprising Ministries shares a video lecture from the president of the Institute for Creation Research showing scientific evidence to support the biblical position of a young earth creation.

You’ll also see documentation that New Calvinist mentors John Piper and Tim Keller reject this position in favor of old earth mythology. View article →

God Is Light and Christ Is the Way

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙ , ,

1 Ὃ ἦν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς – 2 καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν – 3 ὃ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν, ἀπαγγέλλομεν καὶ ὑμῖν, ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν ἔχητε μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν. καὶ ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. 4 καὶ ταῦτα γράφομεν ἡμεῖς, ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη. 1 John 1:1–4, NA27

1 What was from the beginning—which we have heard, which we have seen, with our eyes, which we beheld and touched with our hands—with respect to the Word of Life— 2 indeed the life was manifested and we have seen it and we give testimony and we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—3 what we have seen and we have heard we proclaim also to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed fellowship with our Father and with his son, Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write that our joy may be made full. 1 John 1:1–4, a personal translation from the NA27

While there is counterfeit Christianity all around us, let us stay focused on the “real deal.” How do we do that? We look to God’s Word as his truth and from it we learn of Christ’s divinity, his incarnation as the God-man, and his saving death on the cross. We also learn about our role in God’s Kingdom while we are still on this side of eternity such as intercessory prayer ministry. The Word of God teaches us about God’s Holiness and his standard for being in his Kingdom and the ubiquity of human sin, which disqualifies all of us, but then we have our Lord’s substitutionary death on that cross that purchased a people for himself. In this “equation” we must learn that our salvation was all of God’s doing, not ours. He is the one who keeps us as well, but we do have a part to play and this is to walk in repentance for the rest of our lives. Some make the mistake of teaching that we can become perfectly holy and sinless in this life, but as we shall see, this is unbiblical and puts people in bondage for those who teach that invariably are the same ones who also teach that we earn our salvation in so doing so we can also lose it. View article →

Truth?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙ ,

καὶ ἐζήτουν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς τὸ πῶς ἀνέλωσιν αὐτόν, ἐφοβοῦντο γὰρ τὸν λαόν. Luke 22:2, NA27

And the Chief Priests and the Scribes were seeking how they might destroy him for they were afraid of the people. Luke 22:2, a personal translation from the NA27

Even though it is not exactly new, we live in a day when the concept of truth is seen as something that is relative. I was listening to Dr. Al Mohler’s The Briefing podcast a couple of days ago in which he read part of an editorial from a major newspaper that was written to defend the intellectual concept of “Abortion on demand” as being right if the mother considered it in her best interest to exercise her “right to choose.” Her rights outweighed those of the unborn baby she was carrying in her womb. On the other hand, the writer of the editorial, a woman, celebrated with her friends who had babies and wept with others who had miscarriages. What was the difference? It was the value placed by the parents and those around them on the “fetus” that gave it “rights” that demanded sacrifice on the part of the woman. If the woman felt like the pregnancy was a burden in any way then an abortion should be the next step. That was her “truth.”  View article →