Browsing Tag:

Salvation

In Bible Study, Blog, John on
April 10, 2023

The Door

Back in 2019, I traveled to Romania on a mission trip, and while I was there, our team had the opportunity to visit a Romanian Orthodox church in Bucharest. It was a rather small church, but its distinct beauty made up for its humble size. The front doors were made of solid wood, carved with an ornate floral design. Chandeliers and metallic lanterns hung from above. The walls were trimmed with gold and covered from floor to ceiling with brightly painted icons of saints who’ve passed on to glory.

Yet, despite its beautiful architecture and design, our group felt a spiritual heaviness as we walked through the doors. At the front of the room, a white-haired woman in a long coat kneeled on her knees before a priest, presumably confessing her sins to the man. The eyes of the icons stared down at us with glowing halos around their heads, reminding us of the common practice of venerating the saints. Our entire team felt a sense that it was a place of works-based religion and a place where many worshippers sought out a human mediator rather than going straight to God.

The Romanian Orthodox Church is certainly not the only church that practices these things. There are several different denominations and sects of Christianity that practice confession and veneration of the saints, that seek out mediators between them and God. However, the reality is that we have no need for an earthly mediator. We have no need to confess all our sins to a priest or honor the saints of old in a particular way. Why? Because we have Jesus. And Jesus is the Door.

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In Blog, Common Questions, Theology on
March 13, 2023

Does God Choose Who Will Be Saved?

The topic of predestination has been a controversial subject in Christian circles for many years. Some Christians believe that God chose everyone who would be saved before He even created the world. Others, however, believe that human beings have free will and the ability to choose to come to Christ. While the former may have been the prominent view of the American church at one time, it appears the latter has risen in popularity. According to Ligonier Ministries’ 2022 State of Theology survey, forty-five percent of Evangelicals do not believe “God chose the people he would save before he created the world,” and seventeen percent were unsure if they agreed or disagreed with the statement.[1]

But like I’ve often said before on this blog—we must determine our beliefs from Scripture, not from the culture or our own personal feelings. After all, the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God. It is God’s revelation of Himself and His will to mankind, and it is a far more reliable source of truth than our culture or our feelings.

So, what exactly does the Bible say about predestination? Does God choose who will be saved?

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In Blog, Common Questions, Theology on
February 14, 2023

Are Humans Good by Nature?

Are most human beings inherently good? Most people would say yes. Of course, there are evil people out there: dictators, terrorists, rapists and serial killers. There is no doubt that these kinds of people are sinners, and very few, if any, would argue that they are “good” in any sense of the word. However, they would likely argue that the majority of humans are good by nature, and while we all have our shares of failures and foibles, most of us do not reach this level of evil in our lifetimes.

According to The State of Theology survey done by Ligonier Ministries in 2022, seventy percent of Americans believe that everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God, and sixty-six percent agree with the statement, “Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.” Perhaps these are not surprising numbers when we consider our secular culture and its atrophied sense of what sin is. However, the survey also shows that professing Evangelicals share these beliefs. Sixty-six percent of Evangelicals agree that humans are born innocent in God’s eyes, and fifty-seven percent believe that most humans are good by nature.[1]

Like with everything else, Christians ought to root their beliefs and understandings of the world in the infallible truths of Scripture. What is the Bible’s take on this question? Are humans good by nature? To answer this, we must go back to the beginning.

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In Blog, Book Reviews, Jesus on
November 14, 2022

Confronting Jesus

Every two years, Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research partner together to survey Americans about their theological beliefs. They recently released their 2022 findings, and some of the results are troubling.[1] Fifty-five percent of Americans believe that Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God, and fifty-three percent believe that Jesus was just a good teacher, not God. Thirty-six percent of American adults do not believe Jesus’s death is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of sin, and forty percent do not believe that trusting in Jesus is the only way to eternal life.

Now, these kinds of beliefs are not all that surprising in the secular world. But according to this survey, they were professing Evangelicals who agreed with the sentiments above. Sixty-one percent—nearly two thirds—of professing Evangelicals agree that Jesus was not God, but simply a creation of God. This is absolutely stunning and not in a good way.

The American Church, and American culture in general, do not have an accurate view of Jesus, who He was and what He did on this earth for us. It’s time for us to know the real Jesus. It’s time for us to confront what the Scriptures really teach about Him. And Rebecca McLaughlin’s newest book helps us to do exactly that.

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In Bible Study, Blog, Genesis on
November 6, 2022

The Better Adam

It’s no secret that we live in a cruel and sinful world. You just have to turn on the news or take a scroll down Twitter to catch a glimpse of the terrible events and horrific headlines that are happening every single day. Countries are being demolished by war, natural disasters, and political tensions. Inflation rises as people can no longer afford their basic necessities, like food, housing, and baby formula. Criminals are going virtually unpunished while everyday citizens are being targeted and attacked for what they believe in. Our children are being inundated with godless ideologies at every turn, and the evangelical church is moving farther and farther away from biblical Christianity.

Our world is a dark place, full of wicked men and evil schemes. Sin abounds in every corner and crevice of the earth. And all this death and destruction we see on a daily basis stems from the actions of one man: a man named Adam.

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