Before the beginning of time, God existed – completely invisible and sufficient in and of Himself. Then He created, and heaven and earth came into existence. Then He spoke, and light brought visibility to God’s creation. For the first time, God manifested something of Himself by physical means. It was this action which began a process of revelation which […]
» Read morePreconditions to Studying When establishing a method of theology, one needs to understand first and foremost that there is no such thing as “theological instant coffee.” In other words, there is no fail-proof method that guarantees 100% correct doctrine in one step. There is no place for presumption when studying doctrine. This does not mean we cannot confidently assert […]
» Read moreEvery good theological position – every well-formulated doctrine – begins on a solid foundation. Imagine a scientist proposing a new theory without any knowledge of scientific formulas. Imagine a single trying to give marriage counseling. Imagine a grammarian writing a dictionary without training in linguistics. What is wrong with these pictures? In each of them, there is an inadequate […]
» Read moreBelievers are facing a tremendous battle in Western culture, namely over tolerance, relativism, and subjectivity. The media, Hollywood, mainstream “Christianity,” education, and any other outlet of information all bombard us with the message that respect toward every belief is the highest virtue. We know in our minds that this doesn’t align with reality, but with such a massive force of […]
» Read moreWe are faced with two options for a wake up call from God: revival or persecution. Both cause God’s people to take their Christianity more seriously. Though they take different forms, the resolve necessary is basically the same when facing either: to hold Scripture as sufficient and Christ as supreme. It is a high view of God and a radical […]
» Read moreIn examining revival lessons from Acts 19, the first thing we notice is that only Paul and not Apollos had the privilege in God’s sovereign purposes to see revival in Ephesus. Apollos had his work in Corinth. Paul had his in Ephesus, and it was there that the Word spread like wildfire. Was the work in Corinth of less dignity? […]
» Read moreThe Word of God is always the means of the Spirit of God to bring conviction of sin and restoration to the Christian community. Apart from the Word of God, there will be no work from God. And as long as we have the idea that we can somehow separate the power of God from the clear, consistent teachings of […]
» Read moreFor I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner […]
» Read more“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts is the second volume of Luke’s two-part treatise to Theophilus on the beginnings of Christianity. The first book, the […]
» Read moreComing to from understanding (1) that assembly truth exists and (2) that it is extremely important to understand, we now need to ask ourselves: on what basis must we study assembly doctrine in Scripture? The reason so many denominational differences exist today is because many have built their local church doctrine on the wrong foundation. This is where presuppositions come […]
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