Doctrine

Sanctification Is Not What You Think It Is

Christian Living, Doctrine / /

The Scriptural (KJV) doctrine of salvation in this Church Age is that the believer’s soul is made righteous at salvation and left to live righteously in a body still containing sin. Although it is soundly Scriptural, it is a minority view. The majority view, accepted as “orthodox” by almost all theologians, commentators, expositors, and teachers, is that salvation is mostly (or totally) positional so that the saved soul still has a sin nature.

I have set forth the Scriptural (KJV) doctrine of salvation in the slides Body, Soul, and Spirit. This view is supported in a brief commentary on Romans 6:1 to 8:18 in slides Living by Grace Not by Law, which discuss how the Christian is to fulfil the righteousness of the law by not living by laws. A brief commentary on Romans 5:12 to 5:21 in slides From Condemnation to Justification adds some background.

Opponents of the Scriptural view present various reasons, some of which are addressed in the Body, Soul, and Spirit slides. But one of the most insistent arguments against a cleansed soul is that it cannot line up with the orthodox doctrine of sanctification. I deal with that in these slides, Redemption and Sanctification. Redemption and sanctification are blessings listed in 1 Corinthians 1:30 for those in Christ Jesus.  Wisdom and righteousness, also listed there, I have commented on other slides, but I say a few words here about them as well.

It would be too large task for this set of slides to consider all verses that apply to sanctification for Church Age believers. So not only have I evaluated arguments for an orthodox view of sanctification, in these slides I have also looked at each of the verses a proponent of the orthodox view has listed in support of his view. And as we would expect, those verses fully support the Scriptural view of salvation.

The Apostle Paul has made it clear that the Christian will only be successful at continuing sanctification if his doctrine is correct concerning it. The slides Redemption and Sanctification discuss the correct doctrine for how a believer in this Church Age should practice sanctification in his life.

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In Consideration of Thought-provoking Questions by Atheists

Christian Living, Doctrine, Salvation / /

I saw these 15 Thought-Provoking Questions Atheists Often Ask The Religious on the internet. They are indeed thought-provoking questions that everyone ought to be able to answer. In writing out answers for them in my slides Consideration of Questions Atheists Often Ask, I have been stuck by how simple and how profound was of the answer Jesus gave to the Samaritan woman who wanted to talk about correct worship of God. He stated in His answer, “God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

The words “in truth” set apart true worship from all false worship and false ideas about God. God allows the devil to propagate lies for those who prefer lies to the truth.  Jesus said of the devil that “he abode not in the truth; because there is no truth in him…he is a liar and the father of it.” And of Himself Jesus said, “And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words.”

The truth is in God’s words. A person needs God’s words to know about God and true (and false) worship. So, I will attempt to answer these questions from the truth, that is from the Bible. I accept the King James Authorized Version to be God’s words. I give my reasons in the slides Identifying the Words of God. Consider my Biblical arguments there, but do not take my word for it. Ask God to show you what to believe. He is most interested that every person know the truth and believe it.

Some will surely ask, What about those who do not have a Bible? I would say to get one and read it. To those who have no access to a Bible, ask God for it. Concerning those who are too unknowing to even ask, God confronts every person with some measure of truth. To each person who accepts that truth, God gives more. My answers to these thought-provoking questions expand upon these things.

Jesus said there are many that are on the broad way that leads to destruction; and few are on the narrow way to life. Since many on the broad way think they are on the way to life, everyone should consider carefully what way they are following. Consideration of these questions will surely be useful for that. I trust my discussion of these questions in the slides Consideration of Questions Atheists Often Ask will be beneficial for everyone’s consideration.

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The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Doctrine, Eschatology / /

Although the Marriage of the Lamb will be in heaven before Jesus Christ comes to earth for his second coming, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb mentioned immediately after the marriage will not be in heaven. It will be back on earth during the Millennial Kingdom.

These slides present a fivefold argument that this supper will be during the Millennial Kingdom based upon these points: the prophetic nature of the announcement in heaven, the given order of events in Revelation 19-20, Jesus’ statements about when He would again drink the fruit of the vine, the prominence of feasts in the Millennial Kingdom, and the prophetic symbolism of the wedding feast at Cana.

These slides briefly discuss how Jesus’ parable about the wedding dinner as stated cannot indicate that the gospel would be taken to Gentiles as it is usually so interpreted. The parable declares that feasting will be prominent in the kingdom of heaven. Even so men will be rebellious and bring upon themselves God’s judgment.  

See slides Marriage Supper of the Lamb for arguments about why the feast will be on earth during the Millennial Kingdom.

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Body, Soul and Spirit of Man in Church Age Salvation

Doctrine, Salvation / /

Man made in the image of a triune God has three parts. As God is made up of three persons with different ministries, so man’s three parts– body, soul and spirit—have different functions within a man. Interestingly, each part can have a separate life and death. These slides, Body, Soul and Spirit, investigate the changes in each part of man that occurred as a result of Adam’s Fall and the changes that come as a result of Church Age Salvation.

Doctrine should agree with Scripture.

The Pauline Epistles have considerable information about this, but that information is not as systematic as we might hope. To put the information together in a systematic way, we must study diligently, believe God’s words, and trust Him to give us insights. For example, to exchange “sinful nature” for Paul’s use of the word “flesh” is not believing God’s words. But such is done by many commentators to produce support what they call “orthodox theology”. These slides discuss the differences between that commonly believed theology and Biblical doctrine in a section that is easily skipped over.

Some years ago a fellow asked me if I believed the Bible. When I said I did, he asked me about Ephesians 2:6, namely how we were raised up to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I was proud that I could give an answer—a standard answer that I had learned from Bible commentators. He just looked at me with a look that said, “And you think you believe the Bible.” As I thought about it, I realized the standard explanation was designed to explain away what we do not see a way to believe. In fact, much of our Bible “education” teaches us how to explain away Scripture we do not understand. God gives understanding for us to believe what the Bible says.

Implications for Christian Living

The Pauline Epistles have a considerable amount to say about Christian living after salvation. But Paul always establishes doctrinal truth before going on to say how the believer is to live in light of that truth. It is vital that we understand how salvation changes a man internally before we understand how to live practically. A common teaching that the Christian must strive to control and eliminate a sin nature from body, soul, and spirit provides a wrong basis for living righteously. Such a wrong basis makes Scripture quite confusing and makes righteous living more difficult than it need be. These slides Body, Soul, and Spirit will establish what happens inside a person when he experiences salvation. They will explain how the believer is in Christ and Christ in him; and they will also clarify what is the new man and the old man in a believer.

Later slides Living by Grace Not Law deal in more detail how to live after salvation in consideration of these truths.

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From Condemnation to Justification

Doctrine / /

Commentary on Romans 5:12-21

How Adam’s sin brought death to all men and what is the righteousness we obtained by the obedience of Jesus Christ are both surprisingly controversial.

These verses in Romans 5:12-21 declare that by one man’s sin, death came upon all men. The verses do not say how that death came upon all men, but it does say how it did not come upon all men. It did not come by imputation of sin. And yet many commentators and theologians, although they are not fully agreed on how that sin is imputed, do argue that it must come upon all men by imputation of sin. These slides, From Condemnation to Justification, will evaluate the various arguments and find a solution that is consistent with Scripture.

Then in the face of verses that say righteousness is given as a free gift unto abundance of life, many commentators and theologians argue that God gives no righteousness at all. They argue that the justification that God gives is to count the person who remains totally unrighteous as righteous through God having chosen to view them through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that He exhibited when He was obedient unto the death of the cross. These slides, From Condemnation to Justification, will evaluate arguments for such imputation and establish how God’s gift of righteousness leads to abundance of life as promised in the passage.

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The Two Raptures

Doctrine, Eschatology / /

There are plenteous arguments to support various positions concerning when the Church will be raptured to heaven. Will it be a pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, post-tribulation, pre-wrath or something else? There are a number of common misconceptions that contribute to the confusions that have propagated.

A common error is the failure to recognize the unique place the New Testament Church has in God’s program. Jesus came not only to redeem all mankind, but also to offer the kingdom to Israel. After Israel rejected His offer of kingdom after His resurrection, God called out the Apostle Paul to set forth doctrine for the Church, which presently is said to be the pillar and ground of the truth. But the Church will leave earth in a Rapture and God will go back to dealing with Israel as promised through the Old Testament promises and prophecies.

The idea of a rapture was not new. It is prophesied in the Old Testament and by Jesus Christ in His earthly teachings. But Paul claims that the rapture of the Church was a mystery; that is, it was not known until God revealed it through him. Thus, the prophecies of a rapture before the Pauline Epistles must be speaking of a different rapture.

There is strong evidence that that rapture will be near the end of Daniel’s seventieth week. Jesus says there will be strong tribulation in the last half of that week. The second rapture will occur during that time, so it will be a tribulation rapture. And it will surely include a resurrection of Old Testament saints.

It is not my purpose to go through arguments for the various Rapture positions. There is extensive documentation on the internet, magazine articles, and even books for that. But I have seen hardly any consideration for the possibility for two raptures. So in these slides, The Two Raptures, it is my purpose set forth the Scriptural evidence for the two raptures, why there must be two, when they will be, and what will be the nature of each one.

This should help sort out the arguments concerning the time of the Church rapture. But what does need further study, is the nature and times of the various resurrections.

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Living by Grace Not Law

Christian Living, Doctrine / /

Living by grace is amazingly poorly understood, probably because what happens to a person at salvation is so poorly believed. If we do not understand the changes God makes within a person when He saves him, then we have poor doctrine to build on to understand how to live after salvation.

In Romans chapter 6 where Paul tells us how to live by grace, he says we need to know some things, reckon some things true, and yield to righteousness. If we do not believe the things we are to know, we can hardly reckon them so, and steps to follow are then quite beyond understanding. Although he states specifically that we are free from following the law; yet commentators still find ways to keep us trying to live by laws.

One of the methods to deny the Scripture is to define terms so they fit cherished (false) doctrines. For example, the word flesh is defined to not mean a part of the body. It can be defined conveniently as sinful nature, man’s carnality, a power sphere in which a person lives, human nature considered apart from divine influences, etc.  Other words are multiply defined are well.

Another problem is that Bible scholars are determined to assign everyone the same salvation whatever dispensation they live in. Trying to mash together things that are different only leads to confusion for everyone. Or some just mash together some select dispensations, like trying to say the New Testament Church is under the New Covenant for Israel.

Then with essentially one complete Pauline Epistle dedicated to arguing that the Christian who has been justified by faith without works cannot then be sanctified by works of the law, commentators go right on arguing that a person must be sanctified by works after salvation. Essentially all good works are fulfilling the righteousness of the law. Good works do not sanctify anyone in this age.

Scripture says we are to reckon ourselves resurrected in Jesus Christ so that we are new men created in righteousness and true holiness. Commentators evade such truth to argue that we are to try to improve what God has already made fully righteous. And/or they argue we should try to improve a body that will only be changed by physical resurrection.

Another way to undermine the truth of what Paul tells us is by assigning Paul’s description of his Christian life to the time before he was saved. Then the argument is that what bought failure in Paul’s life, we can now overcome because we are saved. This leads to lives of frustration.

This set of slides Living by Grace Not Law presents a Scriptural view to straighten out these mistaken views.  The discussion will consider all verses from Romans 6:1 to 8:17 and various other pertinent verses. The word “flesh” will be consistently defined as part of the human body.

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Why is there Unbelief?

Christian Living, Doctrine / /

God, who by His very nature cannot lie, has written to us words of truth. Those who believe His words get great blessings from God, while those who do not believe, not only miss out on those blessings, but suffer God’s wrath. So why is there unbelief at all? Why wouldn’t people believe the truth for the blessings involved. Why is unbelief so very prevalent?

Actually the very Bible that many find hard to believe has much to say about unbelief. Without a doubt, the main reason people do not believe God’s truth is that they choose not to believe. For various reasons many would rather believe what is false. Then are many who partially believe God’s words. But failure to believe parts of it is still a manifestation of unbelief.

Those who do not believe the Bible are unlikely to admit the reason for their unbelief is that they simply choose not to believe. They are much more likely to give a ”logical” reason to justify their unbelief. The Scripture calls such reasons “stumbling blocks”. A stumbling block is minor hindrance to the appropriate path. One could get around it or over if he really wanted to. The person who does not really wish to go down the path of truth will claim a stumbling block as an excuse not to proceed.

God allows these stumbling blocks for people who want them. God allows the devil and his minions to promote strong deceptions–such strong deceptions that people willingly become completely blinded to truth by them. Because there are people who find advantages for themselves in deceiving others, unbelief through such deceptions is greatly multiplied.

The result is https://theologypoints.org/theology-slides-page-2/#unbeliefthat altogether there are surely more unbelievers than believers. Although there are strong warnings against unbelief and against being deceived into not believing, there are multitudes caught up in deceptions without even being aware that what they believe will bring upon themselves the God’s wrath instead of God’s blessings that they hope for. Furthermore, the constant deceptive pressures promote and establish a multitude of doubts about the truth of God’s words in those who otherwise have chosen to believe God.  

These PowerPoint slides on Unbelief emphasize God’s warning against unbelief and help people get past stumbling blocks that hinder belief.

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How to Get Wisdom

Christian Living, Doctrine / /

When God asked Solomon what He should give to him if he could have anything he wished, God was very pleased that Solomon asked for an understanding heart that he might judge God’s people. God then promised him a wise and understanding heart and gave Solomon “wisdom and understanding exceeding much” –more even than anyone else on earth.

Solomon said he wrote the book of Proverbs for the reader “To know wisdom….” In Chapter 4 he said: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom…” So the topic of how to get wisdom is surely a highly important topic. But is also seems hardly necessary after such a wise man as Solomon has already written about it so extensively. It is evident from Scripture that God gave Solomon a wise and understanding heart so he could learn wisdom by much study. Church Age saints, having the mind of Christ by salvation, have the capacity to get wisdom by the same steps through which God gave wisdom to Solomon. So why are we so lacking?

I have undertaken the challenge of commenting on the conditions for gaining wisdom that Solomon outlined in the early verses of Proverbs chapter 2 and of enhancing them by references to some other verses throughout the Bible. It will be evident that wisdom comes from God through His words. There is no way around that. We must believe God’s words above all other words. For us to do that it is necessary that we have God’s infallible, authoritative words available to us. Indeed, God has promised to make those words available to us. So we surely have them. For wisdom we must apply our hearts to identify the words to be believed, completely believe them, and then live them. See the slides on Identifying the Words of God and slides on How to Get Wisdom through those words.

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Weekday of the Crucifixion

Doctrine / /

In answer to the question: “On what day was Jesus crucified?”, the website www.GotQuestions.org has written supporting arguments and problems for Friday, Thursday and Wednesday views. Then it went on to say that the day is not as important as the fact that Jesus did die for our sins and was physically, bodily resurrected. It also says that if the day “were very important, then God’s Word would have clearly communicated the day and timeframe.”

I will argue that the day is very important. Jesus on the day of His resurrection said the Old Testament Scriptures must be fulfilled and that it was therefore necessary that Christ suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.  Every time Jesus spoke of His coming death and resurrection, He did not do so without saying three days or the third day. Jesus told the evil generation the only sign they would be given involved three days and three nights and this without even directly mentioning death and resurrection. The Apostle Paul in stating the gospel said Jesus rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And by Scriptures he surely meant the Old Testament. It is quite inconceivable that God would make such a point of three days without there being such a prophecy and without indicating exactly how it was fulfilled. But since this is stated as a part of the gospel, we could expect the enemies of the gospel to promote confusion over the matter that we would need to overcome to find the truth.

The one line of evidence for three days that Jesus gave from the Scriphttps://theologypoints.org/theology-slides-page-2/#weekdaytures was through the typology of Jonah being in the whale’s belly three days and three nights. There are no words in the Book of Jonah to relate this to Jesus’ burial. Jesus made this connection by pure typology. Since a matter is determined by two witnesses, we would expect a second witness to the three days in the Old Testament. And we should not be surprised if that is by typology. And since the Scripture directly states that the Jewish Passover is typological of Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself as the Lamb of God, we should look there concerning the three days. The PowerPoint slides, Weekday of the Crucifixion, examine the evidence there and match it to the New Testament Scriptures to establish the day of the crucifixion with certainty.

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