Sunday, April 28, 2019
What Christ gives to His elect is better than what Boaz gives
Matthew 19:29 - the point is not about forsaking house, family or lands but rather in Christ we have eternal life. Whereas Boaz Ruth 2:11 gives earthly goods Christ gives heavenly goods.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Bart Ehrman's arguments are nothing
Bart Ehrman is known for his anti-biblical attacks against Christianity. There are many who 'respond' according to his level of expertise. However, only those who do not believe that the Bible alone is the word of God will attempt to discredit it as the sole infallible and authoritative word that it is. What is Bart Ehrman really saying? He isn't saying that we have no autograph copies of the ancient writings. No. He is saying that he does not believe the Bible and therefore does not believe God. If one believes that the Bible alone is the word of God then where is the argument against such notions? Only the skeptic and the evidentialist will run in circles trying to prove what they cannot adequately prove.
Against Free Will
Clark writes in his commentary Philippians 2:13 against the notion of free will.
He says, "The two kai's contribute an emphasis. 'Both . . . and' is stronger than 'and' alone. The idea is that God not only gives us physical strength to engage in Christian activity, but he first controls our will so that as a result of his control we decide or will to do our duty. It is strange, it is incomprehensible, that some commentators use this verse to attack Calvinism: 'the Cavlinistic writers are exceedingly embarrassed with it.' The gentleman mentions Doddridge, though how the verse can embarrass Calvinists remains unexplained. The verse is among the strongest supports for Calvinism. Nobody, at least I do not see how anybody, could miss the statement that God controls a man's will as well as his actions. Ellicott notes, 'the thelein no less than the energein is a direct result of the divine energeia' (64, col. 2). This is correct, even though Ellicott then tries to avoid the full force of his own words.
The idea that man has free will, an idea sponsored by Pelagius, adapted by the Council of Trent, and emphasized by Arminius and Wesley, is totally inconsistent with the Biblical plan of salvation. It is also inconsistent with the sovereignty of God, with divine omniscience and omnipotence, with the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and of course with the pervasive Scriptural teaching of predestination." - Gordon H. Clark, Philippians, Pg. 71 - 72
Notice that Clark states that God controls our wills. Those who teach that Man has a free will teach that God does not control Mans wills. Compatibilist teach that Man has free will and still claim that God is sovereign. However, to teach this is to disregard and to contradict what Scripture teaches. The Bible says that God controls the will and actions of man. There is no mystery as to how these things are done. Man has a will, a choice, a volition, but his will, choice, volition is not free from the controlling hand of God.
Further those who teach compatibilism also want to say that free will and sovereignty are compatible to one another. How they can say such things is beyond me to understand. Many of todays 'calvinist' rather than revealing what the word of God teaches seem to want to make the word of God of no known affect by teaching mystery. It is a mystery. The question is does the Bible teach that man has a will free from God's control? No. It states everywhere that man is dependent upon God in life, and in salvation. We do what he so pleases for us to do.
He says, "The two kai's contribute an emphasis. 'Both . . . and' is stronger than 'and' alone. The idea is that God not only gives us physical strength to engage in Christian activity, but he first controls our will so that as a result of his control we decide or will to do our duty. It is strange, it is incomprehensible, that some commentators use this verse to attack Calvinism: 'the Cavlinistic writers are exceedingly embarrassed with it.' The gentleman mentions Doddridge, though how the verse can embarrass Calvinists remains unexplained. The verse is among the strongest supports for Calvinism. Nobody, at least I do not see how anybody, could miss the statement that God controls a man's will as well as his actions. Ellicott notes, 'the thelein no less than the energein is a direct result of the divine energeia' (64, col. 2). This is correct, even though Ellicott then tries to avoid the full force of his own words.
The idea that man has free will, an idea sponsored by Pelagius, adapted by the Council of Trent, and emphasized by Arminius and Wesley, is totally inconsistent with the Biblical plan of salvation. It is also inconsistent with the sovereignty of God, with divine omniscience and omnipotence, with the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and of course with the pervasive Scriptural teaching of predestination." - Gordon H. Clark, Philippians, Pg. 71 - 72
Notice that Clark states that God controls our wills. Those who teach that Man has a free will teach that God does not control Mans wills. Compatibilist teach that Man has free will and still claim that God is sovereign. However, to teach this is to disregard and to contradict what Scripture teaches. The Bible says that God controls the will and actions of man. There is no mystery as to how these things are done. Man has a will, a choice, a volition, but his will, choice, volition is not free from the controlling hand of God.
Further those who teach compatibilism also want to say that free will and sovereignty are compatible to one another. How they can say such things is beyond me to understand. Many of todays 'calvinist' rather than revealing what the word of God teaches seem to want to make the word of God of no known affect by teaching mystery. It is a mystery. The question is does the Bible teach that man has a will free from God's control? No. It states everywhere that man is dependent upon God in life, and in salvation. We do what he so pleases for us to do.
Sunday, April 7, 2019
The only authority for the Christian is Christ alone
"The Christian is independent of human authority, because he acknowledges God's authority alone. His law, revealed by Christ, he recognizes in himself, and voluntarily obeys it." - Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You, pg. 127
There is a difference between the Revolutionist Anarchist and the Christian Anarchist
"But what are governments to do against men who show the uselessness, superfluous, and perniciousness of all governments, and do not contend against them, but simply do not need them and do without them, and therefore are unwilling to take any part in them? The revolutionists say: The form of government is bad in this respect and that respect; we must overturn it and substitute this or that form of government. The Christian says: I know nothing about the form of government, I don't know whether it is good or bad, and I don't want to overturn it precisely because I don't know whether it is good or bad, but for the very same reason I don't want to support it either. And I not only don't want to, but I can't, because what it demands of me is against my conscience." - Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You, pg. 137
Pain is an Experience for those with a great mind
"Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Gospel is not about me, but what Christ accomplished for His elect alone
"The Gospel is not about me gaining membership in some institutional church, but it is about the expiation Christ made for our sins. The Gospel is about how Christ propitiated the wrath of God for us. The Gospel is about how Christ satisfied the Law of God for us. The Gospel is about our sins being laid to Christ's account, while His perfect righteousness is imputed to us!" - Monty L. Collier, Papist Whores & Their Theology, pg 142
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