Faith

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What the Bible Says about The DOCTRINES OF GRACE

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Romans 9:20-24

(20) 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?”  (21)  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?  (22)  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,  (23)  in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory–  (24)  even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Nathan Pitchford

“Ever since the Serpent first tempted Eve in the garden by casting doubt on God’s word and his character as he had revealed himself to her, mankind has always been engaged in the idolatrous pursuit of fashioning a god after his own imagination…There is no cure for this, but to cast off all our prior ideas of who we think God should be, or what we think he should mean when he speaks of his love, his grace, his justice, and his salvation, and to go to His Word for all our answers.” (from the Introduction)

DOCTRINES OF GRACE – CATEGORIZED SCRIPTURE LIST

God has recently given us the opportunity to discuss some theological issues with other Christians who believe differently than we do on a number of points, most notably the doctrines of grace. In such a circumstance, given the overwhelming supply of scriptural evidence that comes to bear on the topic, it seemed to me that the best approach would be a simple categorized scripture list: the fact that the entire paper would be scriptures, with the exception of a few brief explanatory notes, would underscore the truth that this is God’s own word and teaching; and the fact that it would be categorized would facilitate the ready comparison of scripture with scripture so as to lead one to a full-orbed understanding of the biblical teaching. Although I found a few good scripture lists of that nature available online, none of them was laid out in quite the progression that I was looking for, and so I developed my own. I’m posting it

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Altar Calls: Why you should refuse to “walk the aisle” (Part 1 of 3)

Grant Swart

In all likelihood, Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) can be attributed with being the “father” of the altar call. Years before our Lord effectually called me to repentance and salvation, I was once also duped into responding to an altar call which promised elaborate, but false, assurances of salvation. Wonderfully though, the Lord placed severe doubts in my mind at the time, regarding the possible validity of the ritual. What I regarded, back then as being my reliance on simple common sense, led me to distrust the embarrassing proceedings of the altar call I had responded to.

Needless to say, not much changed in my life as a result, in the days, weeks and months subsequent to that day. Great was and is the Grace of our Lord and true Saviour. I also now know that it was not only common sense which led me to doubt the honesty and biblical integrity of the altar call. I never responded to a single one again, praise be to the Lord. Continue reading →

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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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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 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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Prof. Johan Malan’s Book – Jesus Christ and our Life in Him (English)

Prof. Johan Malan has released the English version for free on For the Love of His Truth  to download.  The Afrikaans version will be published by Lux Verbi next year (2012).

Contents

1. God Incarnate
2. The Sonship and Deity of the Lord Jesus
3. The Atoning Death of the Lamb of God
4. The Centre of our Existence
5. Love as a Principle of Life
6. Commands and Promises
7. Our Life in Christ
8. The King who Comes Again
9. Marriage of the Lamb
10. Excellence of the Messiah

FOR FREE DOWNLOAD !! READ MORE…………………

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Should You Stay and Fight?

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Part 9 of a series. Read part 8.

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?”

Scripture tells us that to “stay and fight” in a church that has become apostate is itself an act of schism that God condemns. He declares, “You are separating yourself from Me.”1

Can the Battle Be Won From Within?

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Sprinkled afresh

When Christ is with us we are safe, for what wolf can rend a sheep when it is close to the shepherd’s hand? When we are away from Jesus, we are not only in peril, but are already despoiled; to lose fellowship with Jesus is loss enough in itself, even if no further calamity occur. Ships without a pilot, cities without watchmen, babes without a nurse, are we without Jesus. We cannot do without him, the less we attempt it the better. Samson without his locks is the sad type of a believer out of fellowship.
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Confronting Apostasy: The Biblical Steps

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Part eight of a series. Read part seven.

You need to understand the Biblical steps in confronting apostasy — and how apostates’ allies and enablers may try to block, complicate, or circumvent the process.

We have now come to the fifth and final key to a Biblically loving response to apostasy: You need to understand the steps that God’s Word tells you to follow when you find apostasy in the church. We shall see that the Bible is very clear about this. There is no guesswork involved. God’s Word sets forth a clear process; it tells you exactly and precisely what to do.

Implementing Key 5: Three Vital Principles

Now before we consider the process itself, I believe it is important to emphasize three very important principles once again. We have discussed them before, but I want to stress them because they relate directly to this process.

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Why All Other Reponses to Apostasy Are Wrong

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Part five of a series. Read part four.

Christ commended the church at Ephesus for its stand against apostasy, but warned them about the danger of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

We have come now to the third of the five keys to a Biblically loving response to apostasy: You need to understand why other responses to apostasy in the church are wrong responses. Once again, this has to do with the Biblical definition of Christian love. What many people call Christian love is really a counterfeit. It is not agape love at all.

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Enjoying God’s Creation — Charles Spurgeon

 

“Where the birds make their nests; The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high hills are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.” — Psalm 104:17-18.

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)


Psalm 104 is all through a song of nature, the adoration of God in the great outward temple of the universe. Some in these modern times have thought it to be a mark of high spirituality never to observe nature; and I remember sorrowfully reading the expressions of a godly person, who, in sailing down one of the most famous rivers in the world closed his eyes, lest the picturesque beauties of the scene should divert his mind from scriptural topics. This may be regarded by some as profound spirituality; to me it seems to savor of absurdity. There may be persons who think they have grown in grace when they have attained to this; it seems to me that they are growing out of their senses. To despise the creating work of God—what is it but, in a measure, to despise God Himself? “Whoso mocketh the poor despiseth his Maker.”

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Do Not Meddle With God’s Word

 
Quoting Charles Spurgeon . . .

Take care my dear friends, how any of you meddle with God’s Word.I have heard of folks altering passages they did not like. It will not do, you know, you cannot alter them; they are really just the same.Our only power with the Word of God is simply to let it stand as it is, and to endeavour by God’s grace to accommodate ourselves to that.

We must never try to make the Bible bow to us, in fact we cannot, for the truths of divine revelation are as sure and fast as the throne of God.If a man wants to enjoy a delightful prospect, and a mighty mountain lies in his path, does he commence cutting away at its base, in the vain hope that ultimately it will become a level plain before him? No, on the contrary, he diligently uses it for the accomplishment of his purpose by ascending it, well knowing this to be the only means of obtaining the end in view.

So must we do; we cannot bring down the truths of God to our poor finite understandings; the mountain will never fall before us, but we can seek strength to rise higher and higher in our perception of divine things, and in this way only may we hope to obtain the blessing. (Sermon 241)

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Source :    http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.504

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Fellowship or Fight?

By Phil Johnson

One thing you’ll quickly notice if you make even a casual study of historical theology is this: the history of the church is a long chronicle of doctrinal development that runs from one profound controversy to the next.

In one sense it is sad that the history of the church is so marred by doctrinal conflicts, but in another sense that is precisely what the apostles anticipated. Even while the New Testament was still being written, the church was contending with serious heresies and dangerous false teachers who seemed to spring up everywhere. This was so much a universal problem that Paul made it one of the qualifications of every elder that he be strong in doctrine and able to refute those who contradict (Titus 1:9). So the church has always been beset by heretics and false teachings, and church history is full of the evidence of this.

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A Biblical Response to the Catholic-Evangelical Accord

John MacArthur – Grace to You

I want to take this opportunity to let you know about a document that you perhaps have heard of that’s called The Evangelicals and Catholics Together document, the Christian mission in the third millennium. And it’s something that was put together by Charles Colson and Richard John Neuhaus as a way to conciliate Roman Catholics and Evangelicals for basically purposes of evangelical mission in the world and purposes of the betterment of human life in America, by their definition. It’s being spread far and wide, quite remarkably it has shown up in one form or another in the major newspapers here in California and I’m sure all over the United States.

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Do not reject His righteousness

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

entitled “The Lord Is Risen Indeed,” delivered April 13, 1873.

Men think that they are to be saved by keeping God’s commandments. They are to do their best, and they conceive that their sincere endeavors will be accepted, and they will thus save themselves. This self-righteous idea is diametrically opposed to the whole spirit of the gospel. The gospel is not for you who can save yourselves, but for those who are lost. If you can save yourselves, go and do it, and do not mock the Savior with your hypocritical prayers. Go and stumble among the tombs of ancient Israel, and perish as they did in the wilderness, for into rest Moses and the law can never lead you.

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