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Is Your Salvation Secure?

Grace to You – John MacArthur

Is Your Salvation Secure?
Scripture: Romans 8:28-30
Code: P07

For many years people have debated the issue of whether a Christian can lose his salvation. Some within Christendom believe you can lose your salvation; others say you can’t. That, perhaps more than any other single doctrine, has been a dividing issue in the church. How sad that is, because the Bible is clear about the matter. It is surprising that many Christians would deny or ignore the straightforward presentation of the doctrine of security in Romans chapter 8. There are other texts in the Bible that discuss the security of the believer, but none are as pointed as Romans 8:28-30.We find in those verses that everyone who has been redeemed by Jesus Christ, without exception, will be glorified.

The key phrase in this trilogy of verses is at the end of verse 28: “called according to His [God’s] purpose.” We are forever secure because that was God’s purpose. The Son of God and the Holy Spirit intercede for us so that the plan of God might come to pass. So our security is guaranteed not only by the purpose of God, but also by the outworking of that purpose through the intercessory ministries of the Son and the Spirit.

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There’s Only 2 Religions

The Way to Heaven

Grace to You – John MacArthur

July 09, 1995

As we look together to the Word of God in this very special session together in the gospel of Matthew, our attention falls on two very important verses that are the high point of the great Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is recorded in chapter 5, 6 and 7 and the high point comes in chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. And these are the words with which our Lord brings that sermon to its climax. “Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it, for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it.”

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The Modern Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

John MacArthur – Grace to You

October 23, 2011

Selected Scriptures

Well now that I don’t have to preach on anything but what I want to preach on since I finished the New Testament, I find myself all over the place trying to decide what to preach on in sequence…a new kind of experience for me and I’m working on some kind of sequence that makes sense over the future. But I am sort of at the liberty point of my life where whatever is on my heart is where I can go, and this is a wonderful opportunity for me. And there is a subject that has concerned me for a long time and I have wanted to address this subject but it hasn’t been a part of preaching through the gospels in the way that it can be now and that is the subject of the Holy Spirit…the Holy Spirit.

After all the emphasis of so many years, 25 years of preaching through the four gospels, and much emphasis, of course, on the person of Christ as it should be, much emphasis on the character of God, and the nature of God as manifest in Christ and is seen elsewhere in Scripture, it is time now to give honor to the third member of the Trinity, namely the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the most forgotten, the most misrepresented, the most dishonored, the most grieved, the most abused and I might even say the most blasphemed of the members of the Trinity. That’s a sad thing.

When our Lord cleansed the temple in John 2, He said that He was, in a sense, fulfilling the attitude of David from Psalm 69, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up, the reproaches that fall on you are fallen on Me.” And what our Lord was saying was when God is dishonored, I feel the pain. “You have taken My Father’s house, which is to be a house of prayer, and turned it into a den of robbers. You’ve corrupted My Father’s house. You’ve blasphemed My Father’s name. You’ve dishonored My Father.”

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The Call of Christ

 

A W Tozer –

Man – The Dwelling Place of God

Chapter 4

TO BE CALLED TO FOLLOW CHRIST is a high honor; higher indeed than any honor men can bestow upon each other.

Were all the nations of the earth to unite in one great federation and call a man to head that federation, that man would be honored above any other man that ever lived. Yet the humblest man who heeds the call to follow Christ has an honor far above such a man; for the nations of the earth can bestow only such honor as they possess, while the honor of Christ is supreme over all. God has given Him a name that is above every name.

This being true and being known to the heavenly intelligences, the methods we use to persuade men to follow Christ must seem to them extremely illogical if not downright wrong.

Evangelical Christians commonly offer Christ to mankind as a nostrum to cure their ills, a way out of their troubles, a quick and easy means to the achievement of personal ends. They use the right words, but their emphasis is awry. The message is so presented as to leave the hearer with the impression that he is being asked to give up much to gain more. And that is not good, however well intentioned it may be.

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Spurgeon – Devotional

Charles Haddon Spurgeon – Devotionals

Morning

“I have chosen you out of the world.”
– Joh_15:19

Here is distinguishing grace and discriminating regard; for some are made the special objects of divine affection. Do not be afraid to dwell upon this high doctrine of election. When your mind is most heavy and depressed, you will find it to be a bottle of richest cordial.

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Christians and Halloween

Travis Allen 

Grace to you website

Halloween. It’s a time of year when the air gets crisper, the days get shorter, and for many young Americans the excitement grows in anticipation of the darkest, spookiest holiday of the year. Retailers also rejoice as they warm up their cash registers to receive an average of $41.77 per household in decorations, costumes, candy, and greeting cards. Halloween will bring in approximately $3.3 billion this year.

It’s a good bet retailers won’t entertain high expectations of getting $41.77 per household from the Christian market. Many Christians refuse to participate in Halloween. Some are wary of its pagan origins; others of its dark, ghoulish imagery; still others are concerned for the safety of their children. But other Christians choose to partake of the festivities, whether participating in school activities, neighborhood trick-or-treating, or a Halloween alternative at their church.

The question is, How should Christians respond to Halloween? Is it irresponsible for parents to let their children trick-or-treat? What about Christians who refuse any kind of celebration during the season–are they overreacting?

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Bible Verses About Friendship: 20 Good Scripture Quotes

Pro 18:24  A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

What does the Bible say about Friendship? How are we to choose our friends? How should friends treat one another? All of these are good questions and the Bible has some good Scriptures to study to answer them. I am sure you came to this article looking for some great Bible Verses so I will leave you to them and let them do the speaking on the important subject of friendship.

Check out Alan Jackson singing the classic Christian song ” What a friend we have in Jesus” to the right or check it out directly on You Tube.

Jesus on Friendship

John 15:12-15 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

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Discernment: Detecting the Voice of the Enemy

By

on Oct 12, 2011

A shepherd protects his sheep from their enemies. Wolves enter in among the sheep. The wolves which harass the church of God are emissaries of false doctrine and of evil practice. Satan is never out of his diocese and his specialty is to destroy the pure witness and the fellowship of the church of God.

Perhaps there is no more ominous feature of members of the church than the lack of discernment; they can listen to what is good and true, and to what is bad and false, without discrimination.

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What Is The New Apostolic Reformation? (And Why Should We Be Concerned About It?)


By Christine Pack

A Personal Note: Please-please-please send this article to your loved ones so that they can be on the look-out for this dangerous movement sweeping through Christianity. I consider this to be one of the most important articles I have ever written, and I regret not having written it sooner. And please understand that I have only scratched the surface in this article. Unfortunately, the NAR is such a massive movement, with so many tentacles, and so many people involved, that it was almost impossible to talk about it concisely. It is almost unfathomable to me how many people have been affected by this dangerous movement. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear from at least one person who has personally had to flee a once solid church because this teaching has suddenly swept in, or someone who has watched a loved one be seduced by it, or someone who has even been unwittingly swept up in this movement themselves.

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Why is The Message (Bible) not safe ?

By Justin Peters

A Brief (and by no means exhaustive) Summary of Passages Contained Within “The Message” by Eugene Peterson Which Directly Compromise Fundamental Tenets of Orthodox Christianity.

What follows is a comparison/contrast and analysis of several well – known passages as found in major translations such as the KJV, NASB, and NIV as well as these same passages as found in The Message authored by Eugene Peterson. Any intellectually honest assessment of the following notes leads to the inescapable conclusion that The Message compromises some of the fundamental doctrines of orthodox Christianity.

I began this study when I was made aware that the high school seniors of a nearby church were given copies of The Message as graduation gifts. I did not at the time own a copy of The Message nor had I read it. My exposure to it at that point was seeing it cited in other works. I purchased a copy and began to read and study this paraphrase more in depth. What I discovered stunned me. The Message is not only a poor paraphrase, but it is, in fact,heretical.

Matthew 6:9

New American
Standard Bible : 1995
Update

9 “Pray, then, in this
way: ‘Our Father who is
in heaven, Hallowed be
Your name.

The King James Version

9 After this manner
therefore pray ye: Our
Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.

The New International
Version

9 “This, then, is how you
should pray: “‘Our Father in
heaven, hallowed be your
name,

The Message

9 With a God like this loving
you, you can pray very
simply. Like this: Our Father
in heaven, Reveal who you
are.

This is a passage from what is commonly referred to as “the Lord’s Prayer.” There are two problems with Peterson’s rendering of this familiar passage. The first is that Peterson includes an imperative from Jesus to the Father that is not in the text. The second, and much more serious, problem is the nature of His imperative – Reveal who you are. Why would Jesus Christ who is the revelation of God (Heb. 1:1-3) ask God to reveal  Himself? The Revelation of God is the One Who is praying the prayer! This imperative by Jesus certainly strongly implies that Godhas yet to reveal Himself. I beg to differ. Also, notice the room which is implicitly provided for a later revelation of the antichrist who will, of course, claim to be the revelation of God.

John 10:30

New American Standard Bible
: 1995 Update

30 “I and the Father are one.”

The King James
Version

30 I and my Father
are one.

The New International
Version

30 I and the Father are
one.”

The Message

30 I and the Father are one
heart and mind.”

This is another familiar passage. The NASB, NIV, and KJV are all practically identical, save for the insertion of a personal pronoun found in the latter. Not so The Message’s rendering. The Message denigrates the uniqueness and deity of Jesus. Let us remember that David was a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22) but he was not God.

1 Timothy 4:1-5

New American Standard
Bible : 1995 Update

1 But the Spirit explicitly
says that in later times
some will fall away from
the faith, paying attention
to deceitful spirits and
doctrines of demons,

The King James Version

1 Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed
to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils;

The New International
Version

1 The Spirit clearly says
that in later times some will
abandon the faith and
follow deceiving spirits and
things taught by demons

The Message

1 The Spirit makes it clear
that as time goes on, some
are going to give up on the
faith and chase after
demonic illusions put forth
by professional liars.

Of the passages which I have cited in this letter, this is the least worrisome but is worrisome nonetheless. Paul is clearly referring to demonic powers but note the unmistakable human spin which Peterson employs. He diminishes the demonic powers by referring to them as mere “illusions” which are forwarded not by demons but by “professional liars.” Such a reference could encapsulate a carnival barker.

Matthew 5:5

New American Standard
Bible : 1995 Update

5 Blessed are the gentle, for
they shall inherit the earth

The King James
Version

5 Blessed are the
meek, for they shall
inherit the earth

The New International
Version

5 Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the
earth

The Message

5 You are truly blessed when
you are content with just who
you are – no more, no less.

Not only does this not have anything to do with the passage at hand, it is stunningly un-biblical. What if a homosexual is reading this? Should he be content with “just who he is?” What about an agnostic? A Hindu? What about one who believes himself to be a “Christian” but is living in sin? This is not even true for a Biblebelieving, committed Christian! There should never be a time when we are “content with just who we are.” This is a profoundly unbiblical statement.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

New American Standard
Bible : 1995 Update

9 Or do you not know that
the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived;
neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals,

10 nor thieves, nor the
covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor swindlers,
will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 Such were some of you;
but you were washed, but
you were sanctified, but
you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and in the Spirit of
our God.

The King James Version

9 Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of
God? Be not deceived:
neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves
with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit
the kingdom of God.

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.

The New International
Version

9 Do you not know that the
wicked will not inherit the
kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: Neither the
sexually immoral nor
idolaters nor adulterers nor
male prostitutes nor
homosexual offenders

10 nor thieves nor the
greedy nor drunkards nor
slanderers nor swindlers
will inherit the kingdom of
God.

11 And that is what some of
you were. But you were
washed, you were
sanctified, you were
justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and by
the Spirit of our God.

The Message

9 Don’t you realize that this
is not the way to live? Unjust
people who don’t care about
God will not be joining in his
kingdom. Those who use
and abuse each other, use
and abuse sex,
(Guess what’s missing!)

10 use and abuse the earth
and everything in it, don’t
qualify as citizens in God’s
kingdom.

11 A number of you know
from experience what I’m
talking about, for not so long
ago you were on that list.
Since then, you’ve been
cleaned up and given a
fresh start by Jesus, our
Master, our Messiah, and by
our God present in us, the
Spirit.

This one is serious. One of the sins to which the Apostle Paul is clearly referring is that of homosexuality. Notice that The Message completely omits the word. In its stead, Peterson inserts the phrase “those who use and abuse the earth.” The earth? From where in the world (or the text as the case may be) did he get the earth? There seems to be an environmental agenda at work here. One could not read this passage in a real Bible and come away believing that homosexuality was permissible under any circumstances. One would never know from reading The Message, however, that it was a problem in any sense.

Romans 1:26-27

New American Standard
Bible : 1995 Update

26 For this reason God
gave them over to
degrading passions; for
their women exchanged
the natural function for that
which is unnatural,

27 and in the same way
also the men abandoned
the natural function of the
woman and burned in their
desire toward one another,
men with men committing
indecent acts and receiving
in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

The King James Version

26 For this cause God gave
them up unto vile affections:
for even their women did
change the natural use into
that which is against nature:

27 And likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use
of the woman, burned in
their lust one toward
another; men with men
working that which is
unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompence of their error
which was meet.

The New International
Version

26 Because of this, God
gave them over to shameful
lusts. Even their women
exchanged natural relations
for unnatural ones.

27 In the same way the men
also abandoned natural
relations with women and
were inflamed with lust for
one another. Men committed
indecent acts with other men,
and received in themselves
the due penalty for their perversion.

The Message

26 Worse followed.
Refusing to know God,
they soon didn’t know
how to be human
either—women didn’t
know how to be women,
men didn’t know how to
be men.

27 Sexually confused,
they abused and defiled
one another, women with
women, men with men—
all lust, no love. And
then they paid for it, oh,
how they paid for it—
emptied of God and love, godless and loveless
wretches.

This passage dealing with homosexuality is quite a bit more problematic for Peterson. In 1 Cor. 6:9-11, he had only to omit one word. Here, he has two entire verses with which to wrestle. What to do here? Well, Peterson provides a loophole: all lust, no love. The not-so-subtle insinuation is that ‘Well, if these people had just done this out of love, then it would have been ok.’ There is clearly in The Message room for a ‘committed, loving’ homosexual relationship. In Peterson’s rendering of the Bible, it is not the nature of homosexuality in and of itself that is the grievous sin, it is simply the absence of love.

1 Timothy 1:10

New American Standard
Bible : 1995 Update

10 and immoral men and
homosexuals and kidnappers
and liars and perjurers…

The King James
Version

10 For
whoremongers, for
them that defile
themselves with
mankind, for
menstealers, for
liars…

The New International
Version

10 for adulterers and
perverts, for slave
traders and liars and
perjurers…

The Message

10 but for the irresponsible, who
defy all authority, riding
roughshod over God, life, sex,
truth, whatever!

The Message again simply leaves out the reference to homosexuality and replaces it instead with the generic “sex.” Inexplicably, the NIV appears to do the same. There are 3 passages in the N.T. that deal with homosexuality and The Message utterly fails on all three.

Note: The Message does, in fairness, appear to be relatively on track in regards to Leviticus 18:22. This, though, does not excuse its abject failure in the N.T. Let’s be honest, how many people (teenagers especially) are realistically going to do devotional reading from Leviticus? They are far more likely to spend their time in the New Testament

Romans 8:35

New American
Standard Bible : 1995
Update

35 Who will separate us
from the love of Christ?
Will tribulation, or
distress, or persecution,
or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or
sword?

The King James
Version

35 Who shall separate
us from the love of
Christ? shall tribulation,
or distress, or
persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril,
or sword?

The New International
Version

35 Who shall separate
us from the love of
Christ? Shall trouble or
hardship or persecution
or famine or nakedness
or danger or sword?

The Message

35 Do you think anyone is going to
be able to drive a wedge between us
and Christ’s love for us? There is no
way! Not trouble, not hard times, not
hatred, not hunger, not
homelessness, not bullying threats,
not backstabbing, not even the
worst sins listed in Scripture:

This one really is troublesome. Notice that all of the elements which Paul rightly asserts will never separate us from Christ are very earthly and temporal (tribulation, persecution, famine, etc.). Paul is basically talking about hard times. Eugene Peterson brazenly inserts into the passage: not even the worst sins listed in Scripture. Wow. This should trouble any clear thinking believer. Sin IS what separates us from God! That is why we need a Savior! For the one who is lost, sin separates from God positionally. For the believer, sin separates from God relationally. Sin is not even remotely in view in this passage. This is heresy.

Conclusion:
Pick up a copy of The Message and you will see on its front cover “The Bible in Contemporary Language.” The Message is NOT the Bible. It is one man’s commentary on the Bible, and an extraordinarily poor one at that. Some object to criticism of Peterson’s work by saying The Message is not a literal translation but rather a paraphrase. True. But even paraphrases should be an accurate thought for thought rendering of the original biblical text. We are not talking here about a paraphrase of “Green Eggs and Ham.” We are talking about the Word of God. God holds His name and His word above all things (Psalm 138:2). His Word must be rendered and handled accurately. What we believe about God is derived from what we read in His Word. If one reads an erroneous Bible, then it logically follows that what one believes about God will also be in error.

The Message is, in large part, marketed toward teenagers, young adults, and young believers – the most impressionable among us. Youth ministers are reading this to their students and teaching from it. Many preachers are, sadly, quoting it in their sermons. Hopefully, much of this is being done in ignorance. The question must be asked, ‘Would Jesus Christ approve of this rendering of His word?’ Certainly any honest intellectual assessment would have to lead one to the answer of “no.” If Christ would not approve then certainly we must not either. In a concluding thought, it is not Mr. Peterson’s intentions or sincerity which is important. In fact, they are irrelevant entirely. Peterson may well be sincere. Sincerity, though, is not the issue – Truth is the issue. Misplaced sincerity is a profoundly dangerous commodity.

In Him and for His Truth

Most respectively submitted,

Justin Peters

Source : 

http://justinpeters.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=15&Itemid=26

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PDF :  The_Message[1] beware

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What is the Meaning of Anathema? Can a Church Pronounce an Anathema Upon Me?

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Our series on the subject of how Christians should deal with false teaching in the church generated some followup questions from readers. We take up the first today: “What is the meaning of anathema? Can a church pronounce an anathema upon a person or group?”

Several Related Questions

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Is Your Church a Spiritual Titanic?

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Part 12 of a series. Read part 11

In our current series we’ve been addressing these questions: “My church is no longer true to the Word of God on essential Christian truths. What should I do? Should I leave? Should I stay and try to fight error? Will I be guilty of schism if I do either one?”

Presently we’re dealing with some of the un-Biblical responses that are common today. In this installment we focus on the untenable position of those who say that there is safety in remaining in a larger church or denomination despite its errors, rather than becoming part of the remnant that comes out and separates from apostasy. Today many Evangelical and Reformed church-goers believe it is safer to remain on a large but apostate sinking ship, rather than trust their lives to the safety of a small but sound Gospel lifeboat.1

The Safety of a Large But Sinking Ship?

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Is It Wrong to Leave a Church Because It Hasn’t Officially Endorsed the Heresy Within It?

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Part 11 of a series. Read part 10.

Our current series addresses these questions: “My church is no longer true to the Word of God on essential Christian truths. What should I do? Should I leave? Should I stay and try to fight error? Will I be guilty of schism if I do either one?”

Presently we’re dealing with some of the un-Biblical responses that are common today. In this installment we focus on the untenable position of those who say that a church doesn’t become a heretical body unless it officially endorses heresy.1

Another Fallacious Argument

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Who Has the Right to Call False Teaching Heresy?

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Part 10 of a series. Read part 9.

Our current series addresses these questions: “My church is no longer true to the Word of God on essential Christian truths. What should I do? Should I leave? Should I stay and try to fight error? Will I be guilty of schism if I do either one?”

Contrary to what many church leaders are saying today, the Bible assigns the right — and responsibility — to call false teaching by its right name, not to a handful of theological specialists, but to every believer.1

The Definition of Heresy

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Are You Really Looking for an Exit?

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Part 8 of a series. Read part 7.

Our current series addresses these questions: “My church is no longer true to the Word of God on essential Christian truths. What should I do? Should I leave? Should I stay and try to fight error? Will I be guilty of schism if I do either one?”

Some people adopt what they call an “exit strategy” attitude in the face of clear apostasy in their churches. But a recent example shows that often those who adopt this strategy aren’t really looking for an exit. Far too often, they’re looking for an excuse to disobey God.1

A Recent Example

Like the wait-and-see response we discussed in our last article, the “exit strategy” response is another proposed way to supposedly deal with apostasy that rests on the false notion that separation is somehow always premature. Perhaps I can best illustrate the foolishness of this response by recounting what happened earlier in this decade when the once-sound Orthodox Presbyterian Church (in which I was at the time an elder) demonstrated clear apostasy on the Gospel and the doctrine of Scripture.2

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