Grant Swart
There is no grace but free and sovereign grace, no election but eternal and unconditional election, no redemption but particular and effectual redemption, no salvation but by the irresistible grace and omnipotent power of God the Holy Spirit, and no security but by the absolute preservation of God’s immutable goodness.
And any pretended gospel that does not proclaim these things is, as Paul says, “another gospel” that is damning to the souls of men.
[Unknown]
Grant Swart
Man-centered, works-based, freewill religion — call it by any name you will — is the single greatest evil in this world. . . and is the greatest cause of evil in this world.
The good works of religion without Christ are the most abominable evils imaginable. . . Man-centered, freewill works-religion robs God of His glory, tramples underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ, does despite to the Spirit Of Grace, and gradually abases society to its lowest, most contemptible state. . . ‘Evil workers,’ as Paul describes them in this context, are Arminians — freewillers, legalists — people who teach that God’s salvation depends on, or is in some way determined by, man: ‘evil workers.’
Don Fortner
Ephesians 2:8-9King James Version
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Grant Swart
Alles tevergeefs, sê die Prediker, alles tevergeefs, dit is alles tevergeefs! (Prediker 1:2). Die Hebreeuse woord vir “ydelheid” word hier vertaal as “alles tevergeefs”, en beteken letterlik “damp” of “asem”. Dit kan ook as “betekenisloos”, “leegheid” of “nutteloosheid” vertaal word. Die prediker hierin is Koning Salomo, en hy vertel ons dat, nadat hy alles wat die wereld kan aanbied ondersoek het, hy bevind het dat dit alles betekenisloos is. Dit is nutteloos om wereldse doele na te jaag, want hulle verdwyn almal met ons laaste asem. Daardie grondslag help ons om te verstaan hoe die woord ydelheid op ander wyses in die Bybel gebruik word.
In die Griekse Bybelteks is die woord vir ydelheid “kenodoxia”, wat letterlik “leë heerlikheid” beteken. Dit beliggaam die oortuiging dat ‘n mens verdien om bewonder te word as gevolg van ‘n mens se vermeende voortreflike skoonheid, krag, status, talent of voorneme.
Romeine 8:20 sê dat die hele skepping aan nietigheid onderwerp is as gevolg van God se vloek. Toe Adam gesondig het, het God alles vervloek wat Hy gemaak het (Genesis 3:17–19). Met ander woorde, perfeksie het verlore gegaan. Ydelheid bring mee dat die mens daardie perfeksie self weer wil najaag. Die hele skepping skiet nou tekort aan sy oorspronklike doel; eerder as om in harmonie met God te werk, het bewoners van die aarde op mekaar en teen God gedraai. Ons steier steeds van die gevolge van daardie vloek. Alles wat bedoel was om reg en uitstekend te wees, is onderstebo. Die chaos en waansin van die wêreld soos ons dit ken, is te wyte aan die feit dat God die skepping aan nietigheid onderwerp het (Romeine 8:21).
Continue reading
“Who first coined the saying ‘A camel is a horse designed by a committee’? I don’t know, but I expect it was the same person who said ‘An elephant is a mouse designed to government specifications’.” (1)
This bit of trivia induces laughter. However, French philosopher Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) applied this saying to truth. It developed into the creed for our culture today.
He declared that truth results as a product of a consensus of values. His declaration fostered a revolution in the nature and formulation of truth claims. Now, culture believes that all claims of truth develop within a group or culture, not from an objective standard. Ironically, no standard converted into the standard.
Cultural Truth Claims
Baudrillard’s theory developed into today’s benchmark for truth claims with far reaching effects. It brings us to the following conclusions:
Nog nooit in die geskiedenis het ‘n uitvinder of ontwerper van valse leringe hom bekeer tot die Christendom nie – ‘n sonde van daardie aard is veels te groot, want dit is die opperste vorm van godslastering en dit is ‘n sonde teen die Heilige Gees. Dit is juis waarom God toelaat dat uitvinders en ontwerpers van valse leringe se harte en sinne verhard word. Dienooreenkomstig word die woorde van Jes 6:9,10 vervul: En Hy het gespreek: Gaan sê aan hierdie volk: Hoor altyddeur, maar verstaan nie, en sien altyddeur, maar bemerk nie. Maak die hart van hierdie volk vet en maak hulle ore swaar en bestryk hulle oë, sodat hulle nie sien met hul oë en met hul ore nie hoor en hul hart nie verstaan nie, en hulle hul nie bekeer en gesond word nie.
Die Here Jesus het geen hoe priester ooit omskep en tot bekering gebring nie, maar hulle dissipels is wel omskep – mense soos Nikodemus, Josef, Paulus en ander soos hulle. Die profete van ouds het geen valse profeet ooit omskep na die Christendom nie. Selfs kon Paulus nooit enige valse profeet na die waarheid en lig van die Here Jesus Christus toe lei nie, maar hy het toepaslike aanwysings gegee: Aan ‘n man wat partyskap verwek, moet jy jou onttrek ná die eerste en tweede vermaning, wetende dat so iemand op ‘n verkeerde pad is en sonde doen en selfveroordeeld staan (Titus 3:10,11).
Dus kon selfs die heilige dokters nooit ‘n meester van kettery omskep het nie, nie omdat hulle Continue reading
Ek het groot waardering en respek vir God se kinders wat radikaal heilig wil lewe en in alle dinge die wil van God eerste probeer stel. Dis immers in ooreenstemming met die duidelike opdrag in 1 Petrus 1:16 “Wees heilig, want Ek is heilig!” Aan die anderkant is daar wel ook Christene wat ‘n behae daarin skep om hare te kloof en andere skuldig te laat voel oor nietige randsake. (moontlik as gevolg van onkunde)
Een so ‘n saak is die vraag : “Mag ‘n Christen Kersfees vier?”
VASTE FEITE
Kom ons begin met die nugtere stel van ‘n paar feite wat vas staan en waaroor almal behoort saam te stem :
Feit nommer een is : Jesus is nie op 25 Desember gebore nie.
Verder:
Uit bogenoemde is dit klaar duidelik dat Christene verdeeld is oor hierdie saak. Selfs onder Christene Continue reading
As the years have passed, the “festive” or holiday season, which includes Christmas day, has become a commercialized farce, along with other similar secular celebrations such as Mothers Day and Valentines Day. The original meaning and “reason for the season” has been replaced with lavish parties, extreme festivities, entertainment and expensive gifts. While there is nothing wrong with any of those things, they certainly do not represent Christmas. No longer is it “the thought that counts”, rather the value of the gift which apparently demonstrates the level of affection one has for the recipient. Rarely is the birth of our Saviour brought into the picture on Christmas.
There is a war being waged on the traditional Christmas by the secular world, atheists, legalists and followers of false religions. “Merry Christmas” is being replaced with “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays”. This, of course, is being done in an attempt to promote a religiously tolerant society with the will, values and rights of man as the central focus. All the while, the battle for your bucks in the countdown of shopping days to Christmas rages on.
It was Santa Claus did it!
Back to the controversial issue among many Christians, which is the partaking or avoidance of Christmas celebrations. Continue reading
About a letter of concern from a brother in Ireland.
From far beyond South African shores, the adopted country of self-styled superstar and cowboy preacher of iniquity, Angus Buchan (2 Co 11:13), and where he first hatched plans for his evil and blasphemous road-show, a brother in Ireland has sent us thought-provoking and concerned correspondence.
Adam’s letter serves to further illustrate the alarming rate at which the vile deception of the false gospel is expanding, under the guise of Christianity and in the hands of unscrupulous religious fraudsters. Buchan employs his particular version of deceitful gospel to masquerade as Christianity, exploit the desperately religious world (2 Cor 4:4) and to glorify secular humanism and false spirituality at the expense of God’s Word and Truth.
With his charismatic personality, his magnetic appeal to the unbelieving masses in the religious world and his strategically choreographed stage performance, which always seems to involve the weather in one way or another (Mat 24:24), Buchan has been able to deceive tens of thousands of “seekers” into believing abominable lies about the Lord God. In South Africa, as well as on a rapidly expanding international stage, Buchan and his Mighty Men franchise has been able to gather a fanatical cult Continue reading
If our forgiveness was dependent on what we as sinners could do (or refrain from doing), in order to repent, who would be so bold as to claim that they could achieve it sufficiently as to gain recognition by a perfectly Holy God? Is repentance something we can and should do in order to be saved, or is repentance a gift granted to those who are saved by God?
All too often one hears the instruction issuing forth from religious zealots: “You must repent, you must turn from your sin, you must turn to God, or…!”. In my country, as I suppose it is in many others, many will-worshipping churches have coined a new favourite phrase: “Turn or burn!”, and in some Afrikaans congregations the translated phrase, “Draai of braai”, is bandied about with even more self-righteous enthusiasm. As if it were simply up to the listener to do the turning, and God will have no choice but to accept those who turn!
Those who do not have Christ, hear these warnings and are left terrified by their own inability to do what the preacher expects of them. They have heard the stern instructions, but have no understanding of it, no idea of where to start, or how to go about this seemingly impossible task. How can they turn to God when they do not know Him, do not know where He is, or who He is? How could they possibly repent without God’s help and without the guidance of His Holy Spirit? Continue reading
I have re-posted this from Bill’s blog. It has very particular relevance to all my people in South Africa, especially to those who are embroiled in their own witch-hunts and who live to fuel the fires of the exhausted war on racism. By continuing to partake in a war against racism, one wars against oneself, because there really is only one race.
This is a column of sheer Wisdom and insight from Daniel Greendfield,aka Sultan Knish, of Frontpagemag.com- Pas Bill
We’ve all but given up on the War on Drugs and the War on Terror has been scaled down to a few drones occasionally taking out a gang of Jihadis in Pakistan or Yemen.
Even the original kind of non-metaphorical war has been slashed to the bone with the military barely having enough metal left to scare off a flock of crows.
But the War on Racism has never ended. And it will never end.
The left has claimed that the War on Terror and the War on Drugs and even every real war were pretexts by the military-industrial complex, the prison industry and all the other industries to seize power by manufacturing a crisis.
But they are the ones who maintain a state of racial emergency long after the crisis has…
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“Will worship” and “will worshippers”. Terms I use on occasion when I write on certain aspects concerning the subject of the salvation of the sinner. It is imperative that followers of Jesus Christ understand Biblical teaching of how salvation of the sinner is accomplished, in order for them to impart the truth of the Gospel to all who would believe in Him and have everlasting life. It is our duty, and it is so because the Word of God instructs us in that matter.
Salvation can either be brought about by the effort of the sinner, or by means of a co-operation between the sinner and God, or it can be by the will and grace of God alone.
Eternal life, or eternal damnation. The biblical comprehension of this matter is ultimately important, because the means by which the sinner attains salvation (eternal life / spiritual life beyond physical death), could be determined either by a subservient God who is reliant upon the actions and decisions of the sinner, or by a sovereign God who acts independently from the eternally damned sinner whom He saves. Theological expressions for these two opposing viewpoints are “synergism” and “monergism”, but I will leave that to remain of academic interest for now, as there are other factors which would need to be included, were we to proceed along that route.
My employment of the terms “will worship” and “will worshipper”, is of course by no means unique to my writing, as there are other esteemed writers who made use of the same terms long before I did. I use the terms with specific intent, because they accurately describe the belief system of those who oppose the biblical doctrine of salvation by the grace of God alone, and who uphold the heresy that salvation is in part or in totality, reliant upon human will, works or values.
I use the terms to describe those who cling to and proclaim the pride-filled heretical and impossible notion, that salvation of the spiritually dead sinner is dependent upon a decision made by that same spiritually dead sinner, powered by his own over-valued understanding of free will and imaginary ability. Continue reading
We live in a generation which is certainly under God’s judgement, if you care to pause for a few moments and ponder the general state of the society in which we now live, I’m sure that much will become quite evident. Of course, those who are of the world, who are happy to be embroiled in pursuing wealth, health and prosperity and all kinds of ways to proving their own self-righteousness and personal value before God, will not recognize the fact that they are under that very same judgement.
Never before have materialism, humanism, pride and self-worth been so prominently at the forefront of man’s thinking and priorities. Almost every marketing strategy, campaign and advert appeals directly to the will, over-inflated importance and vain pride of man. No other singular concepts have ever been as sharply focused on, as human rights, vanity and the deceitful ideology of human democracy are, in our generation.
This same critique must be leveled at the marketing done by many “churches”, the bulk of which are at great pains to take their particular brand of will-worship or church tradition to the lost multitudes of the world. The grossly erroneous interpretation of true church growth, cleverly disguised as “spiritual revival”, is one which interprets that the greater the number of misguided people who respond to these highly effective sales ploys is, the greater the tacit approval of God must be for their brand of faith or for their particular efforts. It is God who adds to His church, not pastors, synods, committees, councils, conferences or the efforts of individuals or congregations. Continue reading
On 16 December 1949, the majority of Afrikaners and a few others in South Africa inaugurated the Voortrekker Monument on a hill overlooking the city of Pretoria. A group of these South Africans continue to gather there annually, in a large constructed amphitheatre, to hold a secular ceremony in celebration of a day of remembrance, which they call the Day of the Covenant or Day of the Vow. They hold the belief that, years before, on 16 December 1838, a group of Voortrekkers had made an Old Testamental type of covenant with Almighty God. They believe that this covenant had moved God to empower them to defeat a large army of black Zulu warriors at the Battle of Blood River, in what is today, Kwa-Zulu Natal.
To the contrary, man does not have the ability to influence God’s plan for history. The Voortrekkers won the battle against the odds, not as a result of the covenant they thought they had made with God, but according to the eternal will of God. God was not taken by surprise by the events of that day, He was not waiting to see what the Boers or the Zulu Impi would do, He caused the events to happen exactly as they played out, from eternity.
The 40m wide, 40m long and 40m high construction of the Voortrekker monument, which is modeled on and resembles an Egyptian monument, has a cenotaph as central focal point. Continue reading
As the years have passed, the “festive” or holiday season, which includes Christmas day, has become a commercialized farce, along with other similar secular celebrations such as Mothers Day and Valentines Day. The original meaning and “reason for the season” has been replaced with lavish parties, extreme festivities, entertainment and expensive gifts. While there is nothing wrong with any of those things, they certainly do not represent Christmas. No longer is it “the thought that counts”, rather the value of the gift which apparently demonstrates the level of affection one has for the recipient. Rarely is the birth of our Saviour brought into the picture on Christmas.
There is a war being waged on the traditional Christmas by the secular world, atheists, legalists and followers of false religions. “Merry Christmas” is being replaced with “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays”. This, of course, is being done in an attempt to promote a religiously tolerant society with the will, values and rights of man as the central focus. All the while, the battle for your bucks in the countdown of shopping days to Christmas rages on.
It was Santa Claus did it!
Back to the controversial issue among many Christians, which is the partaking or avoidance of Christmas celebrations. Continue reading
Ander name vir diegene is: die “Futuriste”, Literaliste. Hulle bevorder die teologie van Pre-millennialisme en Dispensasionalisme.
Die Basiese teologie is: Opraping of Wegraping, Die Groot Verdrukking, die wat die duisendjare vrederyk voorstaan, die wat glo die tempel gaan herbou word, die wat glo dat Israel weer sy ou Testamentiese grondgebied gaan terugkry, die wat glo dat daar twee maniere van Verlossing is – een vir die Jode en een vir die Kerk. Volgelinge van hierdie denkwyse is onderandere die dissipels van Darby, Schofield, Walvoord, Hagee, *[James H. Brookes, Dwight L. Moody, Hal Lindsay, Tim LaHaye, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Roger E. Olsen], Johan Malan, Johan Claasen, Dave Hunt en die meerderheid van oningeligte Christene.
Kom ons maak dit eenvoudig so dat die individu dit kan begryp, en nie teologiese debattering nie. Dit is ʼn redelike onlangse beweging, populêr gemaak deur die fiksie flieks van die “Rapture”. Dit was nie bekend by die vroëere Kerk nie. George Müller wat die Bybel meer as ʼn honderd keer deurgelees het, sê dat hy eerder van Darby, sy vriend, afskeid neem, as van die waarheid in sy Bybel. Die, kom ek noem hulle,: ‘Wegrapers,” lewer soveel goeie apologete en stryders teen Charismate Koningkryk-Nou Triomferende Teokratiese Postmillennialiste en Finansiële Welvaart Gesondheid en Voorspoed Teologie op, maar is openlik teenstanders van Gereformeerdheid en sy skriftuurlike sienswyses oor die wederkoms. Ongelukkig, na hulle soveel goeie werk doen, is daar een groot probleem wat nie Eer bring aan God nie, asook aan Christus se lyding op die kruis wat as nutteloos beskou sal word, gedurende hulle sogenaamde duisendjarige vrederyk soos ons sal sien.
Kerk leiers bly stil, teoloë en akademici spreek nie die Wegrapers aan nie. Hanteer hulle met handskoene. Dit is ʼn baie ernstige dwaallering met ernstige gevolge. Continue reading
For the Love of His Truth 