reformed Christian ministries

Thursday, January 27, 2011

defending the doctrines of grace.

Are people, still in a blind eye of what the word of God says? Do we fight the truth and try to make a theological jump rope, to get around the things we find in the bibie that seems to go agesnt what we have been tought? Yes many will do this, why will they because they go with that the guy behind the stand says, and they lack the know how on how to deccern the bible and what it is to exaguest and to use a bible hurmanedcis. I want to give you a expale of this from a bother in Christ, Chris Van Beekum. We has done a lot of work for the doctrines of grace on facebook this is a run in that he had and unlike others he used the bible to back him and he walked the people in the posting though all the words and means, he is a bother who I have seen from one that would need my help to defend the doctrine that we hold to, to one that no longer needs help but in fact has at times stoked me from his defense in this doctrine of God.

“Jonathan's Profile • Jonathan's Wall

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 Jonathan Whitehead What do the Calvinist and Homosexual have in common? Tuesday at 8:08pm • Like • Comment

  Ewell D Pritchett likes this.

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 Jonathan Whitehead They both believe that they were born that way.Tuesday at 8:08pm • Like • tddUIK01p63.png ¬ 1 person 

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 Brittany Martinez Dude, r we in elementry school?Tuesday at 8:29pm • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum I was nit born a Calvinist. I was born saved.Tuesday at 8:43pm • Like 

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 Laura Whitehead bahaha! sometimes it feels like we're in grade school still......Tuesday at 8:50pm • Like 

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 Jonathan Whitehead haha, I still laugh at my joke and Chris' response magnifies the comedy.Yesterday at 7:09am • Like 

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 Laura Whitehead oh, he was serious?Yesterday at 7:14am • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum when you say enough stupid things , then its impossible to discern when your trying to be funny.Yesterday at 8:01am • Like 

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 Jonathan Whitehead I wouldn't think that it was funny either if I were a Calvinist.Yesterday at 9:13am • Like 

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 Laura Whitehead That's still making me laugh. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I didn't know anyone would say something like that and be serious about it.Yesterday at 10:45am • Like 

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 Vance Marquis Ephesians 1:4

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

Ephesians 1:11

11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

Case closed. John Calvin got it right on election.Yesterday at 10:45am • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Oh Vance, you error not knowing the scripture!!

The predestination of the elect is not in reference to specific individuals, but rather the obedient! Those that chose to follow Christ.

Hebrews 5:9

and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation;

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.

1 Timothy 2:4

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 4:10

For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

2 Corinthians 5:14

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

John Calvin = FAILYesterday at 1:03pm • Like • 1__#$!@%!#__tddUIK01p63.png ¬ 2 people 

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  Chris Van Beekum charles .

again with this ?

first lets start with hebrews 5:9

because f the perfect righteousness of jesus christ and his perfect sacrifice for sin, he became the cause of salvation. true salvation evidences itself in obediance to christ , from the initial obedience to the gospel command to repent and believe to a life pattern of obedience to the word.

so in short , those who obey the elect , because not just anyone can choose to follow and obey God .

john 3:16 ( the arminians fav verse )

means that whoever believes in christ, will be saved. thats all fine and dandy but lets take an exegetical look at this .

first of all God is the one who grants belief ( phil 1:29 )

God is the one who enables the person to come to jesus ( john 6:65)

God is the one who gives us faith ( eph 2:8)

so anyone who does believe has been pre ordained by God to come to that point in their life.

also f you read vs 18, it says that those who dont believe are already condemed . ( non elect ) simple undeniable proof .

1st timothy 2:4

first of all the kjv is not a great translation for this verse , since it reads

"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."

who Will have ? that would mean that their is no reason for hell then .

the correct translation of this is who "will's" or "desires" for all men to be saved.

2:4

the word for "desires" is not that which normally expresses Gods will of decree (His eternal purpose), But Gods will of desire. there is a distinction between Gods desires and his eternal saving purpose, which must transcend his desires . god does not want men to sin. he hates sin with all his being (pss 5,45) , thus, he hates its consequences -- eternal wickedness in hell. God does not want people to remain wicked forever in eternal remorse and hatred for Himself. yet, God for his own glory , and to manifest that glory in wrath, chose to endure "vessels ... prepared for destruction " for the supreme fulfillment of his will ( romans 9:22 ). in his eternal purpose, he chose only the elect out of the world ( john 17:6-9 ) and asses over the rest, leaving them to the consequences of their sin, unbelief and rejection of christ ( romans 1:18-32 ) .

ultimately , gods choices are determined by His sovereign, eternal purpose , Not his desires .

~mcarther study bible notes

i think 4:10 is partly covered with the above response . but if you want i can write out my notes on that verse too .

in 2nd corinthians 5:14

the all are refereing to the christians ( elect )

only those who are in christ died. one died for all , therefor all died . have people who gone to hell died in christ ? the death in question is of our sin , we are dead to our sin and alive in christ. so are all the people in hell alive in christ ?22 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum charles = FAIL

Jesus Christ = WIN22 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum oh and justification is a personal selection by God.

matthew 7, john 10, romans 8, john 17, john 6, ect .

lets just say the entirety of scripture . :)22 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Chris, you stepped into it with 1 Timothy 2:4!!

Why would God have a will that all men be saved when He did'nt make it availible, or in other words, made it impossible, for all men to be saved through a predetermined election?

Calvin will always fail due to his theology making God contradict Himself!

Chris, don't love John Calvin (a hell bound soul) above the author and finisher of the saving faith of those that OBEY (the elect)!

John 3:36

He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.21 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Chris, at what point after being born saved did you become the enemy of Christ? I'll tell you.....When you chose to sin.

Now, do your best with trying to twist Romans 5:18.....

18 So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life.

This resonates 2 Corinthians 5:14

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

The death here is not a death to sin, but because of sin. Why would Christ have to die at all if all WERE (past tense) dead. There is no mention of the elect until verse 15 when the scripture reads "those that live".

We can see that much of this type of language was used to show that the Jews were sinners and worthy of hell fire just as much as the Gentiles. For instance in Romans 3.....

22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction;

23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;

24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

29 Or is God the God of Jews only? is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yea, of Gentiles also:

30 if so be that God is one, and he shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith.20 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Who does God personally select???

Mark 16

16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

John3

36 He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Acts 2

41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Romans 1

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.20 hours ago • Like 

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 Jonathan Whitehead ‎@ Vance - The elect are God's chosen people. The elect have not always been elect:

I Peter 2:9: But ye are a CHOSEN generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

I Peter 2:10: Which in time past were NOT a people, but are NOW the people of God: which had NOT obtained mercy, but NOW have obtained mercy.

No one's born elect. And individual becomes one of the elect when he obeys the gospel. The church are those who have been called out and have become the people of God. They are the ones who have obtained mercy. When one gets baptized, they're added to the elect and have become a "Member" of the "Church" or called out.

Romans 8:28-30 Those whom God predestined to be conformed to the image of his son (The elect) are those who "Love God." Since no one has loved God from birth, then no one has been elect from birth.

All spiritual blessings are in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3) and election is a spiritual blessing and there's only one way into Christ Jesus (Matthew 28:18, Gal 3:26,27, Rom 6:3). Thus no one can be elect from birth.18 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum so i guess you read nothing i wrote, and i know you feel cornered , because your lashing out with multiple posts trying to gain an edge . but it does not work .

now asking me why God would do somthing is a false question.

"why" is the outcome of the more accurate question "what is the reason? " why=reason. i cannot begin to know "why" God does things . but scripture as plain as day tells us that he desires for everyone to be saved, but thats not what he does. think of it this way. God is a judge, but because he is also perfectly loving he does not "desire" to send people to hell . but because he is a judge, he has to.

when have i ever brought up calvin in any of my debates? . you seem to like to bash on him . have i ever used his quotes? nope. my theology just happens to be his too . your attacks on john calvin mean nothing to me.

john 3:36 is almost a mirror of vs 18. those who believe , believe because they are enabled to.

now my saying born saved was a poor choice of words. i was born justified , meaning that it was in Gods plan for him to break me and bring me to repentance. i was chosen before i was created, meaning i was chosen "unconditionally" . and i was born in sin and still sin to this day , just as you do. i praise God that its not my works that save me .

again with romans 5:18 ,

the kjv fails here again . "the free gift came" is not in any manuscripts before or after the 1600s . its simply added in.

again , the all being refered here are the elect.

since justification cannot mean every single person . becaus people do go to hell . justification means saved . not savable .

God selects us before hand :eph 1

he knows exactly who he choses

matthew 7, john 10, romans 8

if you had a heard of sheep , and knew them by name , when someone says ( hows the heard ? ) do you go " oh jerry is ok , mark is ok jenny is fine , timmy is good " or would you say something like ( they are all good ) . notice how all can mean a select group and not every sheep in the world . in romans 5:12-18 all is used in both senses . one , death has spread to all men ( every person in the world ) through once sacrifice all are made alive . . elect. cant mean every person since there are people in hell .

and john . romans 8 disproves your pathetic idea .

also plenty of people are elect from birth . romans 9:11

of course the elect are too , romans 8 .

eph 1:4 .

and psalms 22:9-10 .

sooo . your wrong . again .17 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes It's time to knock the leg out from chris's one legged chair!

This is how I KNOW you are a scripture twister........you say that there are people in hell, but There is no one in hell at this moment for the judgement is still yet to come!!

Hades, yes!14 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Another reason I think you are just tripping all over the place with YOUR ideas is that you said you chose your words poorly by saying you were born saved!

You changed it up by saying you were born justified, implying there is a difference b...See More 14 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum its possible . but you know what i ment .

i like how you evaded the entire post though :)14 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Not to mention, if you were born justified or saved, Christ did not die for you! If you do believe in the perseverance of the saints, then you do not need a savior! Otherwise, you must believe one can fall from grace and require the blood of Christ for redemption!!14 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Chris, you can say 2+2=4 is wrong until you die, but that doesn't MAKE it wrong!!14 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum again . nice try at evading my post . i have already shown you how people are born beliving in God from scripture . so i think its time you repent14 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Chris, how do you KNOW you are one of Gods elect? Did you get a peek at the list? Maybe you received a revalation?13 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum because i do accept God . thats how i know im one of the elect .13 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum and i dont say 2 +2 anything . i say (Gods will > mans will)

i like how you dont have any scripture to back up your view13 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Chris, the burden is on you! You have done nothing but discredit and twist the scriptures that I posted!

Not one scripture you have posted supports your (Calvins) doctrine!!

In case you didn't know, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God!! Babies CANNOT have faith, nor can they sin!

Furthermore, you have set God against Himself by stating there is a group of people destined for hell from birth, yet it's His will that ALL might be saved!

You've called God a liar in saying Christ DID NOT die for the sins of THE WORLD!

And you've RIPPED the power from the Gospel by saying there's a people that it's power CANNOT save, even if they obeyed it!!13 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Tell me you take on 1 Peter 3:21 if you would.13 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes How does one ACCEPT God?13 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum he accepts by god enabling him to accept .

and why is every post you make , empty and void of scripture ?

your words dont line up with scripture at all .

and also why do you keep jumping from topic to topic?

..... running out of bullets? well that does not matter since you have no gun.

the fact is that every post of mine supports my doctrine .

faith comes by hearing. i know . but it is given by God . in case you didint know .

1st peter 3:21

peter is teaching that the fact that 8 people were in an ark and went through the whole judgment , and yet were unharmed , is analogous to the christians experience in salvation by being in christ, the ark of ones salvation.

peter is not at all refering to water baptism here, but rather a figurative imersion into union with christ as an ark of safety from the judgment of God. the ressurection of christ demonstrates Gods acceptance of christs substitutionary death for the sins of those who believe ( acts 2:30-31 romans 1:4)

judgment fell on christ just as the judgment of the flood waters fell on the ark , the beliver who is in christ is thus in the ark of safety and will sail over the waters of judgment into eternal glory ( romans 6:1-4)

Not the removal os dirt from the flesh_

to be sure he is not misunderstood , peter clearly says he is not speaking of water baptism , in noahs flood , they were kept out of the water while those who went into the water were destroyed. being in the ark and thus saved from Gods judgment on the world prefigures being in christ and thus saved from eternal damnation .

~Mcar12 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes And how does God enable man? I'll go ahead and show you.....

It's through His word that we are to preach and persuade men.

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Romans 10:17

So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

2 Timothy 3:15-17

15 And that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16 Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness.

Acts 17:4

And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

Acts 18:4

And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

Acts 18:13

saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

Acts 19:26

And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands:

In John 1, if God is the word and the word God, to read and place the word in your heart is to be spirit filled.

Once a person hears and is persuaded, they must ACT.......

James 2

17 Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.

19 Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?

22 Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect;

24 Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.

26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

The gospel is something that can be obeyed or obeyed not!

2 Thessalonians 1:8

rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus:

1 Peter 4:17

For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?4 hours ago • Like • 2__#$!@%!#__tddUIK01p63.png ¬ 1 person 

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 Jonathan Whitehead Chris = Total Failure.

Chris said that he knows that he's one of the elect... The only way that Chris can know that he's one of the elect (According to his theology) is to look into the future and see that he will be faithful the day that he dies. If at any point in the future, Chris sins and forsakes the name of Christ, then that means he was never saved to begin with. Since he does not know what the future holds, he'll never be able to know if he's one of the elect.

Chris said that people are born BELIEVING from birth. Utter stupidity with absolutely no verses.

No one's born justified:

I Corinthians 6:9: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? ...

I Corinthians 6:11: And such WERE some of you: BUT ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Justifications spoken of in Future tense:

Romans 2:13 For it isn't the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified

Justified through faith: (We're not born having faith.)

Romans 3:28: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Romans 5:1: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

We're justified after working:

James 2:24 You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not by faith alone.4 hours ago • Like • 3__#$!@%!#__tddUIK01p63.png ¬ 1 person 

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 Charles Wilkes As for 1 Peter 3:21, I just wanted to let everyone see how bad you are butchering Gods word with your scripture twisting. I'll post the scripture for examination starting at verse 20.....

20 that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water:

21 which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;

The scripture is focusing in on "water" at the end of verse 20, not the ark. How do I KNOW that the baptism in verse 21 is not figurative? Well, the comparison that began in verse 20 is definately refering to a literal water, not to mention PHILIPs preaching "Jesus" included the teaching of the necessity of water baptism....

Acts 8

35 And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached unto him Jesus.

36 And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

If you say that WATER was not the medium by which baptism is administered, then you are saying that you have better knowledge of Gods word than Philip who was Holy Spirit inspired!!!

Further more, 1 Peter 3:21 is corresponding to Matthew 15 in that its not the cleansing of the outside of the physical body, but obedience to the commands of God that purifies and washes away sins......

2Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

It's not the water at work in the act of baptism, but OBEDIENCE to the command to be baptized by faith that is requesting or asking God for a clear conscience

You may ask, was it the ark or the water that saved Noah? Well, the water saved Noah from the wickedness upon the earth by "washing it away"!!! Just the same, baptism washes away our wickedness. Isn't Gods word wonderful?

There is NO WAY that the ARK is being compared to Christ in this passage because Noah had to be IN the ark BEFORE the flood. Man is does not get INTO CHRIST until he is baptized.......

Galatians 3:27

27For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Acts 2

41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Romans 6

3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:4 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes Chris, you stated......"and why is every post you make , empty and void of scripture ?

your words dont line up with scripture at all ."

EVERY POST???

World English Dictionary

every (ˈɛvrɪ)

— determiner

1. each one (of the class specified), without exception:

You are a LIAR and the truth is not in you.3 hours ago • Like 

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 Charles Wilkes My final contribution for you Chris.....

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Hebrews 4:7

Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.3 hours ago • Like 

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  Chris Van Beekum i dont even have time to respond to that much heresy . im talking to a wall , the truth is far from you and you are lost if you bleieve you have to do anything.

and james does not mean faith without working is no faith . he means that since faith brings good works , if there are no good works . then the faith is not there.

faith = good works . NOT good works = faith .

you are both lost and need to go to a real church .9 minutes ago • Like”

now let’s look at this, did he in fact back the doctrine or do more harm than help to it, I would but to you that he in fact backed it!

May God bless the ones that are here to back the doctrine that we hold dear and true to are hearts.

Soli deo Gloria.

Monday, December 27, 2010

hey facebook fan page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reformed-Christian-ministries/139912429392878?v=page_getting_started
they this is the fan page for the rcm blog.

Monday, December 13, 2010

my credo statement

Credo statement

I believe in one Holy communion of saints, one Holy communion of the cup and bread of Christ. I hold to the work of Christ on the Cross, who was killed and then went to Sheol, and was raised from the dead, for the fulfillment of Scripture that has fortold of His coming and His death. I believe that Christ came because of man's mortal sorrow and that the blessed God, shall come down, teaching His shall brings the despairing comfort. I hold myself to the entirety of the Holy Scripture, the 66 books of the canon, and the teachings of the Bible. I also hold to the creeds of the Reformed faith and the leadership of this church. I discern all that that is told to me and all that I see is, by way of the Holy Bible.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

my term paper on the book of Isaiah (chapters 52-53) short paper.

So on to the key of this whole book in my view the chatpers of 52-53. These books come as a calling of the one who is to put himself up on a tree for the ones that, have been elected before the start of time.

So what is it that we need to get out of the next 2 chapters we will be going in to grate deep on, one that will bring us to the whole, view of the cross as we know it. So for some of this I will be going to Gill and Henry and I will in fact bring in a man by the name of John Calvin.

“Isa 52:1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.” so what is it that is being said here by God throw the words of isaiah? Well what is the context of this chapter? What is the start of the book going to lead us all to? Well the start here is saying just, God is telling his elect his people to awake, but awake from what? What is it that they have to awake form? Well God is telling them this awake from your sins that you are in, come back to me for you have left me and are not with me, you in fact hate me, repent and come back to me, I am the one who took you out of the hands of the pharo, not the gods, you now want to have for yourselves. So who is there strength in then? Well it is in the gods they themselves have made in there own mind. A god that is the one that was from the one that they had left one that could not save them from there sins. This chatper and the next will show, them and us, what will happen if we come back to God, and what the God of the bible is able to do. What the God of the word, is and who he is a part of the saving grace that he has from his elect. What is it that the last part of this verse is saying, well it is a declare form God saying trust me in and the unclean will not come in to you, the evil will not be with you, if you come to me you will be clean in my eyes, and that you are no more a evil doer. So we see from the start of all this, we have a call to repent in the start of a chatper that is pointing all of us to the cross of christ. Lets now jump to verse 7

“Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." So in this what is it that I want to show, well here is one thing that I think we need to have to see, this verse is showing us not just christ but also going back to, the exile of the elect, so were does this point to christ, well the one place we see that christ, give us all this is on the sermon of the mount. In this he talks about the things of verse 7. so as we move on in to other verses well will see the picture of christ coming out more and more. “Isa 52:15 so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.” So what is this that we see here well I would like to go to Gill on this one.

“Isa 52:15 So shall he sprinkle many nations,.... This is not to be understood of water baptism, for though this has been administered in many nations, yet not by Christ, nor done by sprinkling; rather of the grace of the Spirit, which is expressed by water, and its application by sprinkling, and is of a cleansing and sanctifying nature, and which Gentiles are made partakers of; but better of the blood of Christ, called the blood of sprinkling, by which the conscience is purged from dead works, and the heart from an evil conscience, and by which multitudes of many nations are justified and sanctified; though it seems best of all to interpret it of the doctrine of Christ, which is compared to rain and dew, and is dropped, distilled, and sprinkled, and falls gently upon the souls of men, and has been published in many nations, with good effect and success. So Kimchi and Ben Melech say the phrase is expressive of speaking. This passage is applied to the Messiah by a Jewish writer (y). The Targum is,

"he will scatter many people;''

and Aben Ezra interprets it of pouring out their blood and taking vengeance on them.

The kings shall shut their mouths at him; astonished at the glories and excellencies of his person and office, as outshining theirs; at his wonderful works of grace and salvation, and as having nothing to object to his doctrines; and if they do not profess them, yet dare not blaspheme them. It seems to denote a reverent attention to them, and a subjection to Christ and his ordinances; and must be understood of their subjects as well as of themselves.

For that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider; or "understand" (z); this is applied to Christ and his Gospel, in the times of the apostles, Rom_15:20. The Gentiles had not the oracles of God committed to them; could not be told the things of the Gospel, and what relate to Christ, by their oracles, or by their philosophers; nor could they be come at by the light of nature, or by carnal reason; such as the doctrines of a trinity of Persons in the Godhead; of the deity, sonship, and incarnation of Christ; of salvation by him; of justification by his righteousness, pardon by his blood, and atonement by his sacrifice; of the resurrection of the dead, and eternal life: but now Christ and his Gospel are seen and understood by spiritual men; who, besides having a revelation given them, and the Gospel preached unto them, have their eyes opened, and indeed new eyes and understandings given them; so that they have a sight of Christ, of the glory, beauty, and fulness of his person by faith, through the glass of the word, so as to approve of him, appropriate him, and become like unto him; and of his Gospel, and the doctrines of it, so as to like and esteem them, believe them, distinguish them, and look upon them with wonder and pleasure.” (jgc). I think that what Gill has said here has put this in the light of what is to be said here.

We now move on to chatper 53, in this we have a lot, I will want to spend more time in this one to get the whole view of the christ being told about to the elect in this part of the book, this is the key chatper to all who have come to know christ in the old testament. I want to start out by looking at some later verse and then coming back to the first two verses in the chatper of 53. I want to start by going to 53:3. “Isa 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (esv) now who is the first part talking about? It is talking about the son of God, and were do we see this at “ He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” so we see that the son will have acuainted with grief, what is this grief? Is this grief that comes to him from the father or the grief of sins that he is to bear? It is for the sins and we get this better in the next 2 verses. “Isa 53:4-5 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. .” well who are his people? We need to go back to isaiah 9:1 to find out who. “Isa 9:1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.” so we see that this is not just, the jews in this passage, and that the christ is not just for the jews, that he came to save the ones that have been given to him (see john 15:16) the jews are not the only ones given to the christ. So lets move on to the next veres in 53. we come to 53:7 “Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” what is it that this is talking about? Well the christ will not be one to clapin about the death that is for coming to him on a tree, he was like a sheep, he did not make a peep about the cross. He did it with out a fight, he did it because of the will of the father. The will of the father, is to send his son to die on a tree for the sheep (see john 3:16).

“Isa 53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?” what is being said here about the person, that is to come? Well by the oppression and the judgment of men christ was taken away, and he was taken not by men but by the father, he was not oppressed by God, but by man so we see two different things in, this one verse, we have a lot in this, we see that because of man, he was taken away. From his generation and was cut off out of the land, why was we? For the transgressions of men, what was this transgression what was made this all goes back to, the fall (see gen 3), in this we see what the transgression was that had him be cut off, From the land that the generation had in the time.

“Isa 53:9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” when they made his grave in the tum of a rich man, the ones that are not rich, did not have the right to a [tum. In the time of the christ, the rich were the ones that were put in the tums, the poor did not get to be in the [tum.] Now we need to know why, christ was not “rich”. It is based on what the family does, christ's dad was a wood worker. Who did not make much in the way of money. So in this, we see that not only was he killed but he was not to be put in a tomb with the wealthy, and that they did not have any respect for him[btw Joseph of Aramathia was indeed a rich man and Christ's body was laid in his tomb]. Yet he did not show them any hate or wicked acts unto them when they were doing all this.

“Isa 53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” now what is it that is being said here in this. Who is was it that the lord crushed by his will? There are two main things that are said here, the jews hold that this is isaiah that is being talked about in this, but the only problem with it is that the verses before hand and the verese to come after, the Hermeneutics that they are using are way off, as we having seen in this whole thing it all points to the christ, this is a expile of ieseguess, this si taking the words of the writer out of what is being said and is out of the context, the other view in what most chritans will hold to is that it is christ that is crushed, not isiaha.. the Hermeneutics for the chritian view is one that is right on and that is true, to what the writer wanted the book to be pointing to, the christ on the cross, with just the first part of the first sentence, we have a lot, so who has put who to grief? Well if I were to go throw both the view of the jews and the christians, it would be to long to do so I will pick the one that is sound it the Hermeneutics, christ had the grief of the elect put on him, he became sin, to save us from the wrath, but what does that have to do with the grief? Well the grief, is not grief, that is of man, but it is in fact part of the fullment of the law of the killing of a ram, to give to God. This comes from the fulfillment. So who shall see his offspring, well, what is a offspring? “ A child of particular parentage” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/offspring ). so if a offspring is a child of particular parentage, then how can isaiah be that offspring? Lets go back to the very firat verse of this book, “Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” so he is the son of amoz, and so, then who is the offspring? Well it says that he made the offspring for gulit, and who is the one that took the gulit, for the elect? Well we see that christ be came sin for are own wrath that was paid for on the cross, so is he the offspring that was made for gulit? It was christ, and the context of the next two verse will show us that.

For the last two verse I would like to go to Gill to finsh off 53. “Isa 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”Isa 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied,.... "The travail of his soul" is the toil and labour he endured, in working out the salvation of his people; his obedience and death, his sorrows and sufferings; particularly those birth throes of his soul, under a sense of divine wrath, for the allusion is to women in travail; and all the agonies and pains of death which he went through. Now the fruit of all this he sees with inexpressible pleasure, and which gives him an infinite satisfaction; namely, the complete redemption of all the chosen ones, and the glory of the divine perfections displayed therein, as well as his own glory, which follows upon it; particularly this will be true of him as man and Mediator, when he shall have all his children with him in glory; see Heb_12:2. The words are by some rendered, "seeing himself or his soul freed from trouble, he shall be satisfied" (c); so he saw it, and found it, when he rose from the dead, and was justified in the Spirit; ascended to his God and Father, was set down at his right hand, and was made glad with his countenance, enjoying to the full eternal glory and happiness with him: and by others this, "after the travail (d) of his soul, he shall see a seed, and shall be satisfied"; as a woman, after her travail and sharp pains are over, having brought forth a son, looks upon it with joy and pleasure, and is satisfied, and forgets her former pain and anguish; so Christ, after all his sorrows and sufferings, sees a large number of souls regenerated, sanctified, justified, and brought to heaven, in consequence of them, which is a most pleasing and satisfactory sight unto him,

By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; Christ is the servant of the Lord; See Gill on Isa_53:1, Isa_49:3, Isa_52:13. He is said to be "righteous", because of the holiness of his nature, and the righteousness of his life as a man; and because of his faithful discharge of his work and office as Mediator; and because he is the author and bringer in of an everlasting righteousness, by which he justifies his people; that is, acquits and absolves them, pronounces them righteous, and frees them from condemnation and death; he is the procuring and meritorious cause of their justification; his righteousness is the matter of it; in him, as their Head, are they justified, and by him the sentence is pronounced: for this is to be understood not of making men holy and righteous inherently, that is sanctification; nor of a teaching men doctrinally the way and method of justifying men, which is no other than ministers do; but it is a forensic act, a pronouncing and declaring men righteous, as opposed to condemnation: and they are many who are so justified; the many who were ordained to eternal life; the many whose sins Christ bore, and gave his life a ransom for; the many sons that are brought by him to glory. This shows that they are not a few, which serves to magnify the grace of God, exalt the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ, and encourage distressed sinners to look to him for justification of life; and yet they are not all men, for all men have not faith, nor are they saved; though all Christ's spiritual seed and offspring shall be justified, and shall glory: and this is "by" or "through his knowledge"; the knowledge of him, of Christ, which is no other than faith in him, by which a man sees and knows him, and believes in him, as the Lord his righteousness; and this agrees with the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith; which is no other than the manifestation, knowledge, sense, and perception of it by faith.

For he shall bear their iniquities; this is the reason of Christ's justifying many, the ground and foundation of it; he undertook to satisfy for their sins; these, as before observed, were laid on him; being laid on him, he bore them, the whole of them, and all the punishment due to them; whereby he made satisfaction for them, and bore them away, so as they are to be seen no more; and upon this justification proceeds.

(c) מעמל נפשו יראה ישבע "exemptum a molestia se ipsum (vel animam suam, Jun.); videns, satiabitur", Junius & Tremellius. (d) "Post laborem", Forerius.

“Isa 53:12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” “Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,.... The great ones of the earth, the kings and princes of the earth: these are the words of God the Father, promising Christ that he shall have as great a part or portion assigned him as any of the mighty monarchs of the world, nay, one much more large and ample; that he would make him higher than the kings of the earth, and give him a name above every name in this world, or that to come; and all this in consequence of his sufferings, and as a reward of them; see Phi_2:8 and whereas the Lord's people are his portion, and with which Christ is well pleased, and greatly delighted, Deu_32:9, they may be intended here, at least as a part of the portion which Christ has assigned him. For the words may be rendered (e), "therefore will I divide, assign, or give many to him": so the Vulgate Latin version; and which is favoured by the Targum,

"therefore will I divide to him the prey of many people;''

and by the Septuagint version, therefore he shall inherit many, or possess many as his inheritance; so the Arabic version. The elect of God were given to Christ, previous to his sufferings and death, in the everlasting council of peace and covenant of grace, to be redeemed and saved by him; and they are given to him, in consequence of them, to believe in him, to be subject to him, and serve him; and so it denotes a great multitude of persons, both among Jews and Gentiles, that should be converted to Christ, embrace him, profess his Gospel, and submit to his ordinances; and which has been true in fact, and took place quickly after his resurrection and ascension.

And he shall divide the spoil with the strong; or "the strong as a spoil"; that is, he shall spoil principalities and powers, destroy Satan and his angels, and make an entire conquest of all his mighty and powerful enemies. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render the words, "he shall divide the spoil of the strong"; of Satan and his principalities; those they make a spoil of he shall take out of their hands, and possess them as his own. The best comment on this version is Luk_11:22. Or rather the words may be rendered, "he shall have or possess for a spoil or prey very many" (f); for the word for "strong" has the signification of a multitude; and so the sense is the same as before, that a great multitude of souls should be taken by Christ, as a prey out of the hands of the mighty, and become his subjects; and so his kingdom would be very large, and he have great honour and glory, which is the thing promised as a reward of his sufferings. Some understand, by the "great" and "strong", the apostles of Christ, to whom he divided the gifts he received when he led captivity captive; to some apostles, some prophets, &c. Eph_4:10, and others the soldiers, among whom his garments were parted; but they are senses foreign from the text.

Because he hath poured out his soul unto death; as water is poured out, Psa_22:14 or rather as the wine was poured out in the libations or drink offerings; for Christ's soul was made an offering for sin, as before; and it may be said with respect to his blood, in which is the life, that was shed or poured out for the remission of sin; of which he was emptied,

and made bare, as the word (g) signifies, when his hands, feet, and side, were pierced. The phrase denotes the voluntariness of Christ's death, that he freely and willingly laid down his life for his people.

And he was numbered with the transgressors; he never was guilty of any one transgression of the law; he indeed appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was calumniated and traduced as a sinner, and a friend of the worst of them; he was ranked among them, and charged as one of them, yet falsely; though, having all the sins of his people upon him, he was treated, even by the justice and law of God, as if he had been the transgressor, and suffered as if he had been one; of which his being crucified between two thieves was a symbolical representation, and whereby this Scripture was fulfilled, Mar_15:28.

and he bore the sin on many; everyone of their sins, even the sins of all those whose iniquity was laid on him, of the many chosen in him, and justified by him; See Gill on Isa_53:11 where this is given as the reason for their justification; and here repeated as if done, to show the certainty of it; to raise the attention of it, as being a matter of great importance; see 1Pe_2:24.

And made intercession for the transgressors; as he did upon the cross, even for those that were the instruments of his death, Luk_23:34 and as he now does, in heaven, for all those sinners for whom he died; not merely in a petitionary way, but by presenting himself, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; pleading the merits of these, and calling for, in a way of justice and legal demand, all those blessings which were stipulated in an everlasting covenant between him and his Father, to be given to his people, in consequence of his sufferings and death; see Rom_8:33.

(e) לכן אחלק לו ברבים "ideo dispertiam ei plurimos", V. L. "propterea ipsi attribuam (vel addicam) permultos", Bootius, Animadv. I. 4. c. 12. sect. 20. p. 251. "idcirco dispertiam ei sortem, multitudinem Gentium", Vitringa. (f) את עצומים יחלק שלל "et plurimos (seu innumeros) habebit loco praedae, vel plurimi obtingent ipsi pro praeda", Bootius, ibid. (g) הערה למות נפשו "denudavit morti animam suam", Forerius”

With a walk-through of this book, that in the light of fact and good hermeneutics and the right context we have come to see that not only is this a book to christology but also, SOTERIOLOGY, and we see that all this is what bring the [doctrinally sound theologal doctrains][redundant statement} to light and what he hold to, the theology of the jews is one that lacks the salvtion, that is need to be with God.

p.s. if you would like the long paper let me know i will email it to you. ]

God bless

Sunday, November 7, 2010

rob bell's nooma 002 flam

this is video 002 flam, now in the video, he talks about three words for love in the, Hebrew
1. Hebrew word ahab
2. Hebrew word hesed
3. Hebrew word raham. now this is what rob says they mean,
ahab=friend, hesed= mind and heart beats towards you lover and also love of the will. raham= to root found o. but this is what they mean in the true root of the words, Hebrew words
1. Hebrew word ahab - spontaneous, impulsive love (250 times in OT)
2. Hebrew word hesed - deliberate choice of affection and kindness
3. Hebrew word raham - to have compassion, brotherly love
so what we see here is that rob miss the point from just the root words of his very own video. and he not only does not know them in the root of the word. and the one thing he should have done is to, give us verses he says many times in the video, song of songs says this, or the woman in song of songs says this, but yet he does not give us a point of refines to go. why is this so impotent to us to know were to go in the bible, to find things men and "woman" who say they are a pastor, say are there, well this is why we must be able to tell if what is coming for the pastor is from the word or the word of a man. if i give you a verse to go to, when talking about a doctrine, like for example, lets say i want to talk about limited atonement with you, and i give you a blog on it that takes you 10 mins to read it, but know verses to back what i say, who is it that you know i am not just saying that the bible says it, to make it seem like i know the bible? you don't, i could be a no buddy who is a lost person just talking from my behind, ( not saying that rob is doing this at all this is all just a example) how is it then that i can, say i know the word when i lack the scripture to back what i say i hold to be the word of God, now if i do a blog on the atonement and i give you verses like john 15:16, Isaiah 53:3-9 and so on, i will now have to be answering to God and his sheep for the words i have put as his own, and if i am wrong i now have others to show me were i am not in line with the word of God. so we see why rob, not give us any verses for his clams in the video, is going to hurt many, and have lead many down a road that, is with out a sound, teaching of the word of God

may God bless this blog post.

soli deo gloria

Friday, November 5, 2010

nooma video review part one.

i want to start by giving you guys rob bell's church state of there theology, and i will be doing this in order not to miss repernst him or this church, but will show you what he is teaching and why it is a heresy, i will be going throw the videos, and will be posting them here on the blog for you to see as well. and i dont want you to, take what i have to say about him as the final word, but look in to rob, yourself and see if he is a heretic

(We believe God inspired the authors of Scripture by his Spirit to speak to all generations of believers, including us today. God calls us to immerse ourselves in this authoritative narrative communally and individually to faithfully interpret and live out that story today as we are led by the Spirit of God.

In the beginning God created all things good. He was and always will be in a communal relationship with himself-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created us to be relational as well and marked us with an identity as his image bearers and a missional calling to serve, care for, and cultivate the earth. God created humans in his image to live in fellowship with him, one another, our inner self, and creation. The enemy tempted the first humans, and darkness and evil entered the story through human sin and are now a part of the world. This devastating event resulted in our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and creation being fractured and in desperate need of redeeming.

We believe God did not abandon his creation to destruction and decay; rather he promised to restore this broken world. As part of this purpose, God chose a people, Abraham and his descendants, to represent him in the world. God promised to bless them as a nation so that through them all nations would be blessed. In time they became enslaved in Egypt and cried out to God because of their oppression. God heard their cry, liberated them from their oppressor, and brought them to Sinai where he gave them an identity and a mission as his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy people. Throughout the story of Israel, God refused to give up on his people despite their frequent acts of unfaithfulness to him.

God brought his people into the Promised Land. Their state of blessing from God was intimately bound to their calling to embody the living God to other nations. They made movement toward this missional calling, yet they disobeyed and allowed foreign gods into the land, overlooked the poor, and mistreated the foreigner. The prophetic voices that emerge from the Scriptures held the calling of Israel to the mirror of how they treated the oppressed and marginalized. Through the prophets, God’s heart for the poor was made known, and we believe that God cares deeply for the marginalized and oppressed among us today.

In Israel’s disobedience, they became indifferent and in turn irrelevant to the purposes to which God had called them. For a time, they were sent into exile; yet a hopeful remnant was always looking ahead with longing and hope to a renewed reign of God, where peace and justice would prevail.

We believe these longings found their fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, mysteriously God having become flesh. Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted and set captives free, proclaiming a new arrival of the kingdom of God, bringing about a new exodus, and restoring our fractured world. He and his message were rejected by many as he confronted the oppressive nature of the religious elite and the empire of Rome. Yet his path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection has brought hope to all creation. Jesus is our only hope for bringing peace and reconciliation between God and humans. Through Jesus we have been forgiven and brought into right relationship with God. God is now reconciling us to each other, ourselves, and creation. The Spirit of God affirms as children of God all those who trust Jesus. The Spirit empowers us with gifts, convicts, guides, comforts, counsels, and leads us into truth through a communal life of worship and a missional expression of our faith. The church is rooted and grounded in Christ, practicing spiritual disciplines and celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The church is a global and local expression of living out the way of Jesus through love, peace, sacrifice, and healing as we embody the resurrected Christ, who lives in and through us, to a broken and hurting world.

We believe the day is coming when Jesus will return to judge the world, bringing an end to injustice and restoring all things to God’s original intent. God will reclaim this world and rule forever. The earth’s groaning will cease and God will dwell with us here in a restored creation. On that day we will beat swords into tools for cultivating the earth, the wolf will lie down with the lamb, there will be no more death, and God will wipe away all our tears. Our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and creation will be whole. All will flourish as God intends. This is what we long for. This is what we hope for. And we are giving our lives to living out that future reality now. http://marshill.org/believe/) now is this just a start OT his heresy that rob teaches every sunday, this is the first video he has done 001 rain, i would like you to see his first video, i will be going and posting all of them starting at 002 with my review of them, this one is to just start you off to see what it is he is going to be goning on and on about. i would like after i start doing my review of the videos that you would give your veiw on the video as well.

thank you,
God bless
sloi deo gloria!

Monday, November 1, 2010

The Work of Christ for the Infantile

i would like to start out by saying that this is not my work but the work of a brother in christ by the name of D. Matthew Brown, he has a blog and there is the link to this blog. http://faithforfaith.org/. i hope you guys, find this a nice read.

(This piece was originally titled “On the Scope of Adam’s Universal Condemnation and Its Implications on the Doctrine of “The Age of Accountability” and can be found here. I believe its content is pertinent to the subject at hand.

Though Romans 7:14-25 does not deal directly with original sin and the imputation of Adam’s guilt to his offspring, it does offer clarification as to the scope of Adam’s sin and its punishment. Romans 5:12-21, like our present text, is a very difficult passage of Scripture with regard to its subject and its complexity. In it, the Apostle deals with the very difficult subject of original sin and the universal condemnation afforded by that sin. The Apostle complicates the passage exponentially by introducing Jesus Christ as the Second Adam and by comparing and contrasting the two God-ordained heads of the human race. The passage is complicated further by the Apostle’s seemingly free use of universal and particular language, making it seem at one point that Christ is the universal head of the human race and at another, the head of a particular race. Thus the passage reads:

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:15-21, emphasis mine).

There are several terms to note when trying to understand this passage. First is the persons over whom Christ is head. At some points in the passage, Christ is said to be the head of “the many” and at other points, “all men.” Second is the grace afforded to those over whom Christ is head. For the many is the “abundance of grace” (vv. 5:15, 17, 20), and for all men, the “grace of God” (v. 5:15). Third is the state of those over whom Christ is head. For the many, is the state of “righteousness” (v. 5:17, 19, 21), and for all men, “justification” (v.
5:16, 18). Fourth is the life granted to those over whom Christ is head. For the many is “eternal life” (v. 5:21), and for all men, “life” (v. 5:18).

Through this passage alone, we can deduce that Christ’s headship and the grace that God gives through Christ is universal in one respect and particular in another. What is not so clear however is the scope of the condemnation (whether it be temporal or eternal death) of Adam’s sin imputed to all of his offspring. For this, Romans 7 offers a clearer insight. In v. 7:9, the Apostle writes, “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” In this verse, the Apostle clarifies what can be deduced in Romans 5:12-21, viz. that the death afforded by Adam is strictly temporal in nature, viz. that the punishment afforded to all men through Adam is physical death. For in v. 7:9, the speaker, being a descendent of Adam, is already condemned to physical death and yet is said to die when he encounters the law and transgresses it. Therefore, it can be said that spiritual death comes to the speaker when he first comprehends the law of God and transgresses against that law (cf. v. 1:20). The experience of the speaker of Romans 7 is identical to the experience of Adam, for God said to Adam, “On the day that you eat of the tree, you shall surely die,” and yet Adam remained physically alive after he ate. God’s word did not fail, for Adam, like the speaker of Romans 7, died spiritually the moment that he transgressed the commandment though he did not die physically until much later.

Was not the sin of Adam sufficient for both the physical and spiritual death of his offspring? It was indeed, but we see even from Genesis 3 the promised coming of the second Adam who would crush the head of the serpent and who granted Adam and his offspring, even prior to his coming, the grace of physical life though they deserved immediate, physical death. Paul puts it this way in Romans 3:23-25, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” This divine forbearance that allowed God to pass over the sins of the human race and not to commit the race immediately to the judgment of physical death did not come without a price, but it came through the very blood of his Son, Jesus Christ. Here we see clearly how Christ is the universal head of all men and is also the particular head of the many. Christ is head of all men insofar as God through his death grants to all men a measure of physical life. Christ was offered up as a propitiation for the human race—a temporal turning aside of the wrath of God so that all men are temporarily justified in the sight of God so that they will not immediately bear the physical condemnation of Adam’s sin or their own transgressions. This is indeed a grace of God afforded by Christ for all men, for apart from this universal grace no man would live.

This grace of physical life that God grants to all men through Christ, the second Adam, has an even greater purpose, of which the Apostle speaks in Romans 9:20-24 when objections are made against the purpose of God:

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

In this weighty passage of Scripture we see that God not only withholds his wrath from all men so that those who would believe in Christ would come to him in faith but also so that those who would be vessels of the abundance of God’s mercy would comprehend the riches of the grace of God granted to them through Christ. Christ’s universal headship that withholds the hand of God’s judgment exists ultimately to bring glory to his name through the realization of his great and particular mercy that he has shown to those over whom Christ is their particular head in the abundance of grace. Of this abundance of grace, the saints of God will sing forever, witnessing how God has sovereignly called them out of the world of common grace and into the fold of particular and abundant grace.

Going back to the testimony of Romans 7:9, the justification that Christ grants to all men is justification of the original sin of Adam that brings eternal condemnation. Though those who have not sinned after the likeness of the offense of Adam might fall under the physical curse and die without comprehending and volitionally transgressing a law (e.g. infants, mentally handicapped, etc.), their condemnation is not eternal death, for where there is no comprehension of the law there is no imputation of sin (v. 5:13). Thus it can be said that those who are children of Adam who have not comprehended the law of God, be it the Mosaic law or Natural law, are spiritually alive until they reach a point of comprehension of God’s law. This fact is clearly seen in v. 7:9 where the speaker says, “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive, and I died.” The sin that came alive in the speaker, viz. covetousness from the command, “You shall not covet,” was sufficient enough to kill the speaker spiritually thereby affording him enslavement to sin and eternal damnation. And though Christ is the speaker’s universal head, who relieves him from original sin’s eternal condemnation, the curse of original sin, that which indwells the speaker and remains dormant until cognition of the law of God, is such that it is certain to kill the speaker the very moment that recognition of the law of God occurs.

All this is to say that Christ’s universal headship is such that it justifies eternally those who have died apart from comprehension of the law of God, be it the Mosaic law or Natural law. This doctrine is commonly expressed as the “age of accountability,” but until studying Romans 5:12-21 in light of Romans 7:9, I have never encountered Scriptural warrant for the doctrine. Indeed, I was quite on the fence, as it were, with regard to the salvation of those who died apart from volitionally transgressing the law, for I have always heard it argued from texts that were never meant to express that truth. This doctrine, expressed from Romans 5:12-21 and Romans 7:9, places the salvation of those who have not sinned in the likeness of Adam’s offense in its proper light, viz. in the grace of God afforded by the work of Christ. For apart from Christ even those who have never comprehended the law of God are under the condemnation of Adam which is both temporal and eternal death. However, Christ’s work as the Second Adam has placed all men under his headship, justifying them from the eternal condemnation of Adam sin. All men are relieved of this judgment of eternal condemnation until they comprehend the law of God, which brings with it certain rebellion and death because of the sin that indwells all men and remains dead until the time of that cognition.

Therefore, the doctrine that is known as the “age of accountability” would be better named the “state of accountability,” for it is not a certain age that makes one accountable to God, but it is a state of comprehension. For the very moment that a person, no matter his age, comprehends a command of God and by his sinful nature rebels against it and thereby rebels against God, he dies spiritually, becomes enslaved to sin, and is condemned in the sight of God. This rebellion against the commandments of God can indeed come at a young age, therefore making the declaration of the Gospel to children of great import. No parent should withhold from his child the teaching of the Gospel, especially if he sees in his child the evidences of rebellion. The first thing that a child should learn from his parent is that his rebellion has a much weightier consequence than a rod on the back—condemnation in the sight of a holy God. Every spanking of a child for his rebellion must then be used as an opportunity for the Gospel, so that through that discipline a parent might save his child from eternal damnation (cf. Proverbs 23:14).)