The Ultimate Anti-Semite

God loves all people (the world) so much that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). According to His plan for the nations, God chose one, the nation of Israel, to be a light for all. Ultimately, light was given through the incarnation…

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The Sin of Provoking

“Provoke not…to wrath” (Eph. 6:4). Many books have been written on forgiveness. They are definitely needed. But for all of those, it seems there ought to be a least a few written on “provoke-ness”! Bitterness is wrong, but so is provoking. Instead of focusing on someone’s negative reaction whenever our words or actions are met…

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Partial Baptists

Baptists have distinctives, and in a typical ordination council, a Baptist ministerial candidate is asked to articulate them. Though some people may include additional items, these seven elements are at the heart of Baptist distinctives: The Bible: the only rule of faith and practice Priesthood of the believer Soul liberty Autonomy of the local church…

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Thirteen Characteristics of the Holy Spirit

The Scripture provides a number of phrases that describe the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 4:6). As such, He guides us into all truth and seeks to keep us from error. He is the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4). As such, He separates…

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1 John 1:9 — Salvation or Sanctification?

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” For much of my lifetime, I heard this verse referred to as a cleansing and restoring truth for believers who in some way had stumbled into sin. Such an interpretation affects sanctification. About…

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The Error of Counterfeit Holiness

The Scripture upholds true godliness and holiness with statements like “Godliness is profitable unto all things” (I Tim. 4:8), and warns against the counterfeit, with statements like “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Tim. 3:5). While the context of 2 Timothy primarily addresses counterfeit religion among…

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Guns and Sanctification

The recent tragedy of the shooting in Florida reminds us once again of man’s depravity and his need for salvation through Jesus Christ to receive a changed heart. The wake of this egregious crime certainly has spurred debate about guns, but common sense recognizes the truth of the adage, “The only thing that stops a…

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Greatest Strength and Weakness of Independent Baptist Churches

John Van Gelderen Last week on the Revival Focus Facebook and Twitter accounts, we asked what people considered to be the greatest strength and the greatest weakness of Independent Baptist churches. Regarding the greatest strength, for the most part the responses indicated a high view of the Word of God, such as preaching, teaching, doctrine,…

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Seven Marks of Counterfeit Holiness

John Van Gelderen In a recent post we addressed the error of counterfeit holiness (see The Error of Counterfeit Holiness). The major error is in focusing primarily on applications of holiness instead of the person of holiness—the Holy One. Although there are many, following are seven marks of counterfeit holiness.

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