Tag Archives: Galatians

Church health: be a part of the recovery and protection

Posted on February 20, 2017 by | Comments Off on Church health: be a part of the recovery and protection

church

Church attendance was low yesterday. Maybe it’s been low for a while but you’ve just noticed it. The church where I attend also had low attendance. We had a couple of Sunday School classes where no members were even there – not even the teacher! Maybe you really noticed it in the Sunday morning worship service. The local church is diseased; already it is showing several symptoms that should concern us greatly. While living in Louisiana, I heard an old country preacher describe this as “church rot.”

Church rot: the dangerous progression

Church rot begins slowly. Normally we are unaware of it starting. We can see the final results of church rot  – church buildings sit empty, its doors closed forever. The building remains as a testimony of what was once an important part of the community. Maybe your church isn’t to that point yet.  Maybe yours is experiencing low attendance for Sunday School and Sunday morning worship. It seems like the excitement and energy has gone out of the worship time. These are all signs of the onset of church rot.

I am convinced that church rot begins so slowly that many are unaware of what is going on. Every church has its occasional Sunday where things seem a bit off. When these types of Sundays become the normal, rot has set in.

Warning about the impact of unscriptural teachings

Within the New Testament, there are several warnings about false teachers and teachings. Jesus taught, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15). Paul wrote: As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:9). Well-meaning members can be influenced by those having opinions or teachings contrary to sound doctrine. All a false doctrine needs is little space to grow and fester.

Peter warned of this: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction (2 Peter 2:1). There’s a lot of effort by the apostles warning about those who bring these into the church.  The destructive potential is too great to ignore. Paul wrote to the Galatians: Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (Galatians 5:7-9).

Continued on the next page.

Pages: 1 2

Comments Off on Church health: be a part of the recovery and protection

Posted in Christian Living, Discipleship, Our place within the local church

Tagged , , , ,

Having compassion that makes a difference

Posted on December 28, 2015 by | Comments Off on Having compassion that makes a difference

bible1Having compassion is an important part of our daily walk with Jesus. All it takes is a look around our society to notice the lack of genuine compassion. But what is compassion? How can we be a compassionate people when we do not even know the real meaning of the word? Compassion, according to the Miriam Webster’s Dictionary is a  sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. In the book of Jude, the Holy Spirit led the author to write, And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh (Jude 22-23). There is nothing more compassionate within the Christian faith than sharing the gospel of Jesus with those who are lost.

Having compassion without notice of men

True biblical compassion is not driven by a wish to be recognized or rewarded by others. Even in Jesus’ day there were those who were willing to show great compassion on others as long as they believed someone would notice their efforts. Jesus spoke openly to his disciples and all who were around listening:  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward (Matthew 6:1-2). Just what is the reward of those whose compassion is solely driven by their love of the Lord? Jesus taught on this very topic and used this example: Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:12-14).

What Jesus is teaching here is that our compassion should not be limited to those who could do something for us in return. This is not true compassion as in the biblical sense. Jesus tells us to focus our compassion on those who don’t have the ability to do anything for us. Jesus tells us that our rewards will not come now, but will happen when we arrive in Heaven. If our having compassion was driven by our love for Jesus and for our fellow-man as a creation of God, then our reward will be reflective of the pureness of our hearts: For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works (Matthew 16:27) and I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17:10). No matter what we may say to others what our motivation for demonstrating compassion may be, the Lord knows the real intent of our efforts.

Having compassion that will be acceptable to the Lord

Modern society has a dangerous, unhealthy, and unbiblical understanding of what compassion is. Biblical compassion is simply not writing a check and sending money to whatever charity is being promoted at the time. Television and the Internet are full of promotions by various stars and other famous people asking for financial contributions ranging from animal care to orphaned children in faraway lands. While it is noble to want to help, the scriptures are very clear where the demonstration of our having compassion must start: But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:8) and As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). Additionally, if we include the order specified for the sharing and spreading of the gospel, Jesus told the crowd of believers: And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:7-8).

Continued on the next page –>

Pages: 1 2

Comments Off on Having compassion that makes a difference

Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Responsibility

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Calvinism – A biblical rejection

Posted on November 5, 2015 by | Comments Off on Calvinism – A biblical rejection

EasterCalvinism is the teaching that God already has predetermined those who will be saved and those who will suffer eternal damnation. Those that believe in this doctrine will normally use a handful of verses from the New Testament as proof that this is how salvation is given to mankind. The verses most commonly associated with this concept of predetermination read: Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness (Titus 1:1), Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (2 Timothy 2:10), and For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).

Calvinism, the theological debate, has been a long running one that began in the early Enlightenment era around the middle of the Sixteenth Century. It was defined by John Calvin, a French theologian and minister. The focal point of his teachings, what would later become defined as Calvinism, was in the absolute sovereignty of God in man’s salvation and the belief that God has already predestined the eternal destination for all who have been born or yet to be born. His teachings became incorporated within the Puritan variety of the Church of England, the French Huguenots, and the Anabaptists. It is still widely held as a scriptural doctrine by many, but it can easily be discredited and exposed as a false doctrine through a careful use of scripture.

A commonsense approach to predestination and free will

The idea that everyone is predestined to either spend an eternity in Heaven or Hell before they are born is a very dangerous doctrine. It holds no scriptural basis other than what many read into Romans 8:29, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Jesus explained in his late-night conversation with Nicodemus where this predestination comes in: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18). What Jesus was telling Nicodemus is a fairly common sense explanation – right now, at this moment, if you have complete faith and believe in Jesus you are not condemned but are saved. If you do not believe in Jesus and you were to die at this moment, you are condemned – and the sole reason is because you have rejected the Lord Christ Jesus. God has already predestined the destination of souls based not on deed or personal achievement, but solely on the question of whether you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior.

The foreknowing of God lies in the understanding of what the Bible clearly teaches us about salvation being based on mankind’s free will. Free will salvation has always been God’s plan for mankind; there are two passages of scripture within the Old Testament that clearly teach this biblical doctrine. The first reads: See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;  I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:  That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). There are a number of teachings within this passage that refute the false doctrine of Calvinism.

The most obvious is the invitation that the Lord extends to the Jewish people identified as life and death. God’s foreknowledge is that if they choose life, then He has an abundant supply of blessings for their obedience to His divine will. If they choose to reject the Lord and His plan, He also knows what this choice will mean. In their choice of disobedience, they will not receive blessings, but will incur the wrath of the Lord. It is the same choice that all mankind has through Christ Jesus our Lord. You can accept His gift of salvation and choose eternal life or you can reject Him and choose eternal separation from God in an eternal Hell – the Second Death – as the book of Revelation refers to it as. Right now, the Lord can see the consequences of whichever choice you make. In fact, God’s knowledge about you is so extensive that every decision you make, He can see the results of every single possible outcome. 

Continued on the next page.

Pages: 1 2 3

Comments Off on Calvinism – A biblical rejection

Posted in Bible Study, Christian Doctrine, Christian Living, Discipleship, Our relationship with God

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,