Articles (Page 36)
Understanding the Death of Christ (Part 1) – "Basic Truth" series, #8
Faith and Grace in Relation to the Death of Christ As important as faith is in salvation, when a person believes and is justified, it is not faith that saves him—not even partially. Faith cannot appease God’s wrath. Only the blood of the perfect sacrifice can accomplish that. Nor does faith prompt God to save. A person is granted the ability and inclination to believe, through regeneration, precisely because God has chosen him for salvation (cf. Phil. 1:29; 2 Thess…
A Cathartic Sickness
NOTE: I wrote this in 2005 when I was going through a series of minor health issues. They were nothing really, but did do some good for me. I did not publish this article at the time, but believe it still has meaning. I hope you can share it with those who might benefit from it. JE One of my longtime friends died recently, and another is extremely sick. I have also had some uncomfortable physical challenges myself, the latest…
Understanding the Death of Christ (Part 2) – "Basic Truth" series, #8 (cont.)
A Finished Work As we learned in the last issue of Basic Truth, Jesus did not come to merely make men savable. He came to “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). As Jesus said of Himself, “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10, cf. Ezek. 34:11-15). It is necessary here to distinguish between secured salvation and applied salvation. On the cross, Jesus secured the salvation that is applied…
A Different Style of Evangelist: Laborers on the Loose
The disparity between what Christ and Paul did in evangelism and what we do, at least in the West, is dramatic. Let me explain a few of those differences: 1. The first radical departure from Jesus and Paul is our concept of time-specific, meeting-oriented evangelism. You will read in vain in the New Testament to find so many days of evangelistic preaching scheduled for Jesus or Paul and conducted at 7 p.m. in a certain location. You do not find…
What Do You Do With Immorality?
When the apostle Paul heard that there was immorality in the Corinthian church, he was shocked. The brand of immorality was of such a kind that the sensibilities of the pagan world would even be offended—”a man has his father’s wife”. But his amazement was mostly because the church tolerated it as a badge of honor. The church had so distorted the meaning of love that it was proud of its acceptance of such persons. “And you are arrogant. Ought…
Better Prayer Meetings and Prayer Groups: Less Confusion, More Communion
Most of us have experienced both “good” and “bad” prayer meetings. Eventually we may find out that the “good prayer meeting” which seemed to go very well was actually tainted. Those who prayed sounded spiritual, but they were full of pride. And Peter tells us, “God is opposed to the proud” (1 Pet. 5:5). Alternatively, a seemingly “bad prayer meeting” which felt totally flat might one day be revealed as the time when God heard the prayers of a meek…
Statement of Purpose
Christ Fellowship Statement of Purpose We exist to love God with our warmest affection and highest devotion to love one another as Christ has loved us, and to love others as we desire to be loved ourselves. Why love? What about worship, teaching, preaching, personal holiness, and evangelism? Should our focus really be so narrow when the Christian life involves so many other necessary things? In the New Testament, love is consistently viewed as the highest of Christian virtues-the…
Thinking and Speaking Biblically About the Death of Christ, Part 1
Part 1: Thinking Biblically The Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century rightly claimed that justification comes through faith alone, in the person and work of Christ alone—not through works of righteousness done by the individual. Their claim, however, was not well received by the professing Christian leaders of the time, men who held that in addition to faith, there remained other requirements for final salvation. They held that various forms of religious activity, such as baptism, confession, participation in the…
Thinking and Speaking Biblically About the Death of Christ, Part 2
The Unambiguous and Unified Teaching of Scripture The Bible makes it clear that Jesus did not intend to merely make all men savable. His purpose was to actually "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Jesus described His own mission on earth, saying, "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10, also see Ezekiel 34:11-15). And the saving of all of His people, God’s elect, is consistently said not only…
Thinking and Speaking Biblically About the Death of Christ: Appendix 1
Appendix 1: Passages that Seem to Say God Wants to Save Everyone (1 Timothy 2:4; Ezekiel 18:23, 30-32; 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9) 1 Timothy 2:4 In 1 Timothy 2, Paul says to Timothy that it is desirable for Christians to "lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (vv.…
Thinking and Speaking Biblically About the Death of Christ: Appendix 2
Appendix 2: Passages that Seem to Say Christ Died for Everyone (1 Timothy 4:10; Hebrews 2:9; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19) Since the Bible is the Word of God it is self-consistent. Consequently if we find a passage which in itself is capable of two interpretations, one of which harmonizes with the rest of the Scriptures while the other does not, we are duty bound to accept the former. (Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination) …
Thinking and Speaking Biblically About the Death of Christ: Appendix 3
Appendix 3: The Redemptive Love of God and the Meaning of “the World” in John 3:16 All that are within the circle of Christ’s love must be within the circle of our love, and to contend for doctrine in a manner which ignores this truth is a rending of the unity of the true church, which is His body. Nevertheless it is equally evident that no man’s beliefs or preaching are above the need of testing, and it is the duty of…