Biblical Separation: Isolation or Insulation
May 21, 2013
Bud Steadman
Biblical separation” is a phrase that often evokes a demonstrative response from the individual who hears it. Those who are opposed to the concept of a distinctive Christianity are prone to get their dander up when they hear the phrase. Believers who are committed to faithfulness to Christ and His Word rally around the concept with an evident zeal.
Spiritual Leadership
May 20, 2013
Jim Oesterwind
“One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren” (Matthew 23.9).
It is interesting that the Pharisees seemed to be quite accurate in their teaching. Jesus told His disciples that they should observe and do what the Pharisees told them (23.3). It’s just that the works of the Pharisees did not line up with the teaching of the Pharisees.
First, they had great expectations for others but not for themselves (23.4). Second, they did what they did in order to be seen by men not God – to be fawned over by these men (23.5-7). Third, they liked positions and titles along with places of preeminence and power. [Read More...]
A Jewish Lawyer Meets the Messiah
May 17, 2013
Craig Hartman
I was born in Manhattan and spent my childhood growing up in the Bronx and Queens. As I grew older I became more and more antagonistic toward religion because of the blatant hypocrisy I saw in religious people. This hypocrisy was not limited to the rabbis, but was prevalent among “Christians” as well. I had no desire to follow these people and therefore wholeheartedly accepted the evolutionary worldview as I set my sights on building a career in law. For the sake of tradition, however, I did make bar mitzvah when I was 13, and I observed some of the Jewish holidays.
The Credibility of the Resurrection
May 16, 2013
John Vaughn
R. A. Torrey called the resurrection of Jesus Christ “the cornerstone of Christian doctrine, the Gibraltar of Christian evidence, the Waterloo of liberalism.” And so it is. There are 11 recorded physical appearances of the risen Christ, making the Resurrection a well-established fact of history. Those who hold to the idea that He was merely a good man, martyred by jealous religious leaders who could not command His popularity, are hard pressed to explain the Resurrection. Was he raised to show how proud the Heavenly Father was of His noble martyrdom? Was it a statement that here was a man who was too good to leave in the grave? Failure to recognize the meaning of His death means failure to understand the meaning of His Resurrection. He died to pay the penalty of our sin; He was raised to prove that He did.
Let a Commentary Be Your Guide (3)
May 15, 2013
Mark Minnick
Dr. Minnick began this article by telling the story of George Whitfield’s discovery of commentaries and the training they offered him. He used this to continue a discussion of commentaries and their value. The first point he considered was the value of Contextual Analysis. The second value of commentaries was their Historical Analysis. Part threefollows.
Grammatical Analysis
This is the commenting that answers our questions as to what the text actually says. For instance, does what God breathed out actually say, “thou wilt not leave my soul in hell?” (Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:27). If it does, then exegetical honesty compels me to grapple with the almost unthinkable theological implications of the Messiah’s going to hell, but before I commit myself to trying to defend that position to my people, I want to know if the Hebrew text of Psalm 16 actually says this. Here, then, is a sample of the kind of commentating I find valuable.
[Read More...]