How is Jesus Christ the Son of God?

Doctrine / /

The doctrine of eternal generation has been a strongly believed doctrine in Christian churches since the Council of Nicaea, which was assembled by Constantine to settle controversies among church bishops. They settled on the doctrine that Jesus Christ was always the Son of God even before His birth. Eternal generation, which is not a Bible doctrine, is a necessary invention by scholars to explain how Jesus could have been a son from eternity past.

Just because a large majority of (possibly biased) Bishops came to an agreement about a doctrinal matter, does not mean the doctrine is correct. The very necessity of inventing extrabiblical doctrine to support such a far-reaching doctrine puts it in question. Furthermore, Scripture nowhere states unequivocally that Jesus was Son of God in the Trinity before he was born in Bethlehem. So, is it a doctrine that we should believe?

Surely Jesus was the Son of God (and Son of man) after His birth to the virgin Mary following her conception by action of the Holy Spirit. Scholars attempt to establish an eternal father-son relationship by reading the New Testament father-son relationship back into the time before Jesus’ birth. This is surely an effort to give structure to the Trinity beyond a perceived lack of structure set forth in Scripture.

When I set out to write about this topic, someone asked me who cares that some people believe Jesus was always Son of God? But as I have studied this, the issue has appeared far deeper than that. This doctrine of eternal generation, taught by almost everyone, is set forth as a cornerstone for understanding the Trinity and Jesus Christ. But can we really say that Jesus did not have the essence of deity unless He was Son of God by eternal generation?  Is He only to be called the Son of God even after His birth because He had been eternally generated?  Did Pharisees condemn Him to death because they believed in eternal generation and believed Jesus claimed such for Himself?  Could Jesus not be the Messiah without having been eternally generated? Was His resurrection proof that He had been eternally the Son of God? Can He inherit rule over the nations of the world only because He was Son of God by eternal generation?

This doctrine of eternal sonship is indeed far-reaching. Does it help us understand Scripture, from which our knowledge of God should come? Scholars have set forth arguments from various points of view to support the doctrine of eternal sonship. To compare those arguments with Scripture, view these slides: The Son of God

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Salvation by Faith without Works Is Only for the Church Age

Doctrine, Salvation / /

The Pauline Epistles have established that God provides the gift of salvation by grace through faith apart from works in this present dispensation, the Church Age. And that salvation allows and encourages the saved person to do good works. Although God provides salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to all men from Adam on, all Scripture, including the Pauline Epistles, indicate that only in this Church Age has salvation been given through faith without works.

Yet it is commonly, almost universally argued, by those who claim to derive their doctrine of salvation from the Bible, that all salvation from Adam and into the future must have been and must be by faith without works as in this Church Age. We might overlook this error because it seems to emphasize the true nature of salvation in this Church Age. But actually it undermines true doctrine, even the doctrine of salvation.

Such doctrine denies that Scripture is profitable for doctrine by promoting false doctrine over what Scripture says. Such doctrine biases interpretation and translation of Scripture by those who claim to believe Scripture. By forcing the faith plus works passages in the Bible to agree with works after salvation passages, theologians blur the line between salvation and works. By arguing that works prove salvation, they effectively make works necessary for salvation to promote a gospel that is no longer faith apart from works even in this Church Age.

The key to understanding salvation from the penalty of sin is that God will give eternal life and the gift of righteousness to those who show continued interest in righteousness. It is doubtful that anyone before the first advent believed the coming Messiah would die for their sins and be raised from the dead. And even if it can be shown there was someone who did, that would not indicate that God gave salvation by faith without works at that time. Scriptures clearly declare how God has provided salvation in the various dispensations.

God cannot build correct doctrine on a foundation of incorrect doctrine without first reproving that false doctrine correcting it. It is time to correct the false doctrine about salvation and go on to rich doctrines the Holy Spirit wants to teach us. See the slides on Dispensational Salvation for Scriptures that establish Biblical doctrines of salvation in the various dispensations.

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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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One Day is with the Lord as a Thousand Years

Eschatology / /

Peter wrote, “Beloved, Be not ignorant of this one thing….” This sounds quite important. What is it we should avoid ignorance about? Peter went on to say, “that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” In view of this warning, we would be ignorant not to recognize that there are thousand-year periods of time on earth that easily count as days with the Lord.      

For certain the thousand years that Jesus Christ is prophesied to reign on this earth in Revelation 20 is said to be a day in various Old Testament passages. The one-thousand-year kingdom is also said to be a time (day) of rest for the earth and for Israel specifically. This will be the future rest promised to Israel corresponding to the Sabbath day by which God covenanted this rest.

With the impending second coming of Jesus Christ to set up a one-thousand-year kingdom and almost exactly six thousand years of history for this present earth since its creation in Genesis 1, we surely need to consider carefully whether that history can be divided into six thousand year periods that correspond to six days with God. To write off such a possibility as foolish thinking without careful analysis is surely the very essence of ignorance.

So see the slides Seven Thousand Years to avoid such ignorance and to see that God has indeed prophesied a seven thousand year timeline for this present earth.

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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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