Posts Tagged ‘Doctrine’
He’s Not an It: Understanding the Person of the Holy Spirit
A Misunderstood Person There’s quite a bit of confusion in the church today about the person of the Holy Spirit. People may know a lot about God the Father and Jesus Christ, but few seem to have a Biblical understanding of who the Spirit is or what He does. Some think that the Spirit is…
Read MoreWhat Are We Missing in Our Bibles?
In a Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) article,1 Ben Witherington III says, “First, we know that Pharisees — including Paul, as a former Pharisee — did indeed believe in a bodily resurrection as the form of future afterlife. This was based in part on a certain understanding of Daniel 12.1-3 and the development of thought that…
Read MoreMisunderstanding God: Greg Boyd’s non-evangelical approach to spiritual warfare
In “What’s War? The Existential Question of Spiritual Warfare,” pastor Matt Walker introduced the subject of spiritual warfare. In today’s piece he describes an approach to the topic which all Christians ought to reject. We offer it today as something of a respite to the “all virus all the time” coverage we are getting on…
Read MoreDoes Spirit Baptism Occur After Conversion?
Some charismatic teaching indicates that a person must undergo a separate experience of receiving (or being baptized with) the Holy Spirit sometime after conversion. To arrive at this perspective, they lean heavily and sincerely upon instances in Acts when this either did happen (Acts 2:4ff, Acts 8:14-17, Acts 19:1-7) or merely appeared to happen (Acts…
Read MoreThe Believer’s Certainty that the Scriptures Are the Final Authority for Belief and Behavior (Part 1)
Paul declares that all Scripture is “profitable” or “useful” (ὠφέλιμος; 2 Tim 3:16) in the sense of yielding a practical benefit (1 Tim 4:8; Titus 3:8). This benefit is delineated in four phrases.1 These phrases are arranged in two pairs, each with a negative and positive aspect. The first pair of words deals with belief…
Read MoreNew vs. Old – why updating doctrinal statements does not represent change
I have no aversion to new things. In my lifetime, microwave ovens, personal computers, cell phones, and a list of other innovations have made life easier. I am glad for that. However, when it comes to religion and morality I am firmly opposed to innovation. Christianity is an ancient faith, founded by Jesus Christ, the…
Read MoreThe Holy Spirit and the Apostles Together
When you buy a house, it is very important to inspect the foundation. Before my wife and I purchased a home for the first time, we enlisted the help of a building inspector to examine the foundation of the house were considering. We also asked for some feedback from friends who had building and construction…
Read MoreDoes the Bible Emphasize Doctrine?
An Important Question to Consider I put the theme of this article in question form: does the Bible emphasize doctrine? If you have read the Bible carefully, and especially if you have read it carefully many times, you know that it does emphasize doctrine. In fact, the word “doctrine” occurs many times in the Bible.…
Read MoreAround the Web–9/19/12
Schaap charged, signs plea agreement: Former Indiana pastor charged, signs federal plea deal in relationship with teen (HT: Sharper Iron) Middle East Tension: An Unserious President In Seriously Perilous Times Newsweek: Muslim Rage & The Last Gasp of Islamic Hate Der Spiegel gives extensive background information: Muslim Protests Show Limits of Free Speech Spiritual Life:…
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