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The Conflicting, Perplexing Calvinistic Doctrine of Free Will
As I started to write this post, I thought about whether I decided to write it or whether God predetermined my writing it. After the smoke exited and cleared my ears, I started writing again. Are my fingers typing on their own?
The Calvinistic Doctrine of Free Will
Does Calvinism Square With Scripture?
Baptism & Salvation Debate Page, Douglas Jacoby
I have created a page for resources on the Douglas Jacoby-Thomas Ross debate on baptism. Both parts of the debate video, as well as links to the places where the debate is live on Rumble and on YouTube, the blog posts where the speakers answered questions from the audience that were not discussed in the debate proper, and further resources, are all on this page. I would, therefore, recommend that you visit this page in the future and make it your point of reference if you share the debate with others.
Click Here For the Page on the Douglas Jacoby / Thomas Ross Debate, “We Are Born Again Before Baptism” (part 1) and “We Are Born Again In Baptism” (part 2)
–TDR
Is the Trinity Practical? by Ryan McGraw
Some time ago I reviewed on this blog Ryan McGraw’s fine book Knowing the Trinity: Practical Thoughts for Daily Life.
I recommend the book highly; too many Christians think that the Trinity is just a doctrine that one holds that has no impact on his life, when, in fact, the Trinity is at the heart of all of the believer’s relationship with God and is thus at the core of the Christian’s new birth, sanctification, glorification, and eternal heavenly fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
If Dr. McGraw’s book (easy to read and not especially long) book is more than one wants to read, however, he has also written a short and helpful pamphlet called “Is the Trinity Practical?” which one can read quickly in just a few minutes, and which distills the truth in his longer book (which itself was a distillation of John Owen’s Christian classic Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, a great treasure which I discuss in my Trinitarianism class here for several lectures.)
I purchased a number of copies of “Is the Trinity Practical?” to share with others. While the links in this post are to Amazon as Amazon affiliate links (if you get things on Amazon, please consider using Amazon Smile as discussed here), where you can also see what other people have thought of the book in the relevant book review section at Amazon, the cheapest place that I found to get copies of McGraw’s pamphlet, at least as of writing this post, was with Reformation Heritage Books, which, at the time of my writing this, had a nice sale on McGraw’s pamphlet.
I believe McGraw’s pamphlet could be very helpful for practically all church members. Perhaps you should consider getting some copies and sharing them with others in your congregation? The only warning I would make is that as an orthodox Presbyterian with Puritan leanings McGraw uses the word “sacrament” a few times instead of the better Biblical term “ordinance.” for baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But his Trinitarianism is completely orthodox, and other than the word “sacrament” there is nothing that points to Presbyterian ecclesiology in his pamphlet. Dr. McGraw is to be commended for summarizing in short compass what far too many who have even graduated from Bible colleges do not know in our theologically loose day–that the Trinity is central to everything in the Christian life, and is therefore most eminently practical.
–TDR
Binding and Loosing–What Are They? Matthew 16:19; 18:18; Catholic, Pentecostal, Keswick, and Bible Views
Do you know what it means that the church can bind and loose? The Bible reads:
Matt. 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Matt. 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The Roman Catholic Church claims that binding and loosing are associated with an infallible power their religious organization, led by the Pope when he speaks ex cathedra, from the chair of the (alleged) first Pope, Peter, to supposedly infallibly determine doctrine. Pentecostal, charismatic, Word of Faith and Keswick proponents claim to have the authority to bind Satan. What does Scripture teach?
I discussed this question in a Greek class I taught going through William Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek, from 5:56-19:23 into the class video. Click here to watch the video on YouTube (and please feel free to subscribe to the KJB1611 YouTube channel, post a comment or “like” the video)
or watch the video embedded below:
Learn what Scripture teaches about binding and loosing!
–TDR
Sermons on the Sabbath & Lord’s Day: Old and New Testament Evidence, and Seventh-Day Adventism Examined
I have had the privilege of preaching a series on the Sabbath and its relationship to the Lord’s Day. Topics covered include the Sabbath as Israel’s sign of creation and redemption; the way the Sabbath points forward to redemptive rest in the Lord Jesus Christ; Seventh-Day Adventist, Lutheran, Puritan, and dispensational Baptist views of the Sabbath; the question of whether churches in the New Testament era need to meet for worship on the Sabbath or on the Lord’s Day; and a careful study of the heresies, not just on the Sabbath, but on the doctrines of Scripture, God, Trinitarianism, Christ, salvation, last things, and many other areas of Seventh-Day Adventism, as explained in “Bible Truths for Seventh-Day Adventist Friends.”
To listen to the sermons and/or watch the preaching, please:
Click here to watch the series on the Sabbath
and feel free to add a comment, “like” the videos, and/or subscribe to the KJB1611 YouTube channel if you have not already do so.
There is probably one more message on the Sabbath coming, so feel free to check back. You can’t end a series with six messages instead of seven anyway, can you?
–TDR
They Did Not Drive Out the Inhabitants of and from the Land
The idea of driving out anybody from almost anywhere is not acceptable in a woke world or does not work according to political correctness, the latter a softer, earlier iteration of wokeness. The act of driving out inhabitants from the land is a major theme, however, of the Old Testament. Israel is in bad shape at the beginning of Judges and a major, if not the major, reason is that the various tribes of Israel did not drive out the inhabitants of the land from the land. You could add, “and keep them out.”
A prerequisite for Israel from God was to drive out the inhabitants of the land God would give them. In fact, God would drive the inhabitants and He would use Israel to do it. It wasn’t really even their driving out the inhabitants, but God using them to do it.
It was God’s will to drive out the various Canaanities.
Exodus 23:28, And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
Exodus 33:2, And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
Exodus 34:11, Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Numbers 32:21, And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,
Numbers 33:52, Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
Deuteronomy 4:38, To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 11:23, Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
Joshua 3:10, And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
Joshua 13:6, All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.
Joshua 17:12, Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
Joshua 17:18, But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine:: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
1 Chronicles 17:21, And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?
If they did not drive them out, this was not good — very bad.
Numbers 33:55, But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
Joshua 23:13, Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
This is still a general principle for the success of any people. The general principle is separate from people, their culture, or their way of life. Try to reach them and if they do not listen or won’t follow the scriptural way, separate from them. They won’t like this, but this is the only way to preserve a godly people and culture in order to please God. It is holiness, which is primary to the nature of God.
In the early history of Israel, one of Abraham’s family settled in Sodom and Gomorrah, and that ruined his family. God of course destroyed those cities with fire and brimstone. Just the opposite of driving out people is to join with them. Psalm 1:1, obviously the first verse of the entire Psalter, says,
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Israel failed when they did not drive out the people from the land. They disobeyed God in not doing this.
Judges 1:19, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. 27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns:: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. 29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.
This whole first chapter is about either destroying these inhabitants or not driving them out. The first good and the latter bad. Mixing with people, intermingling with them, or coexisting with them is not the will of God. The rest of Judges testifies to the failure of not driving out or not separating. They effect the people until they become more and more like the inhabitants.
The New Testament is the same. You evangelize the lost. If they won’t listen, you separate from them, especially those who call themselves brothers (1 Cor 5:11).
This principle of driving out inhabitants or separation is crucial to the preservation and practice of truth. It’s in every New Testament book. It is a principle that not only protects an individual, family, and church, but it also is crucial for a nation, like Israel.
This above principle applies to the United States, which relates to borders and immigration. If there is an American way, it won’t be preserved without some form of separation to keep out those who won’t think the same way. I’m afraid that ship has sailed or that practice won’t be able to be put back into the bottle.
Other nations might need to think about separating from the United States. Even though the Taliban is godless and pagan, they have a way of life they are protecting by ejecting the United States. They don’t want American culture to infiltrate their very specific view of the world. They know that can’t happen without separation.
As an example of what God said and the implementation of this principle, I noticed today that European nations were considering a policy for Americans visiting there to stop the spread of Covid. Quarantine is an extreme form of separation to stop disease from spreading. It is the same principle. People judge Covid to be dangerous. They don’t want it. A bubble, like the NBA bubble in 2020, was deemed necessary to continue the season.
The continuation of true doctrine and practice necessitates some kind of bubble. Young people or a youth culture in general don’t want a bubble. They want outside of it. They want amalgamation, integration, and association. They very often want to be like everyone else and be accepted by them. It is a fools errand on their part, because it won’t end in acceptance. It doesn’t work that way. The cancel culture shows this. However, it will result in their not being right with God, the most important consideration any of them should ever have.
The Detection and Correction of Doctrinal and Practical Error, pt. 2
In the first post in this series, I started with the motivation for detecting and correcting doctrinal and practical error. It needs to happen, but it won’t happen if you don’t know something’s wrong. If you know something’s wrong, it’s probably because you know what’s right, so you also know the correction. Scripture is clear that detection must occur. The Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 writes this:
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
There are three commands in these two verses and they all relate to this subject. The first part is most important, because you can’t obey the other two without obeying the first one. First you prove everything, which is to test everything, the Greek word, dokimazo, which is a metallurgical term. Metals are tested for impurity and then purified.
I like to call the “testing,” “keeping my grid up.” The grid portrays a kind of mesh that catches error. Error can’t get through. The grid represents some kind of criteria by which judgment is made. Why would I think this “proving” relates to doctrinal or practical error? The flow of the chapter indicates it, considering the previous verse, which says, “Despise not prophesyings.” Prophesying or preaching, forthtelling of the Word of God, should not be despised. It should be proved though. It presents a balance for the listening to preaching.
Once something has been proven or tested, if you don’t despise it to begin with, you will hold fast that which is good. Paul starts with the positive. True doctrine and practice should be embraced. It reminds me of the part of 1 Corinthians 13, “Love rejoiceth in the truth.” “Good” is morally good.
The second command is what someone does with doctrinal and practical error. He abstains from it. The language is “all appearance of evil,” and “appearance” is not something that looks like something or appears like it. The Greek word and the English word mean “form.” It’s simple. “Abstain from all form of evil.” “Evil” is the opposite of “good,” so morally bad or wicked.
The Apostle Paul commands the members of the church at Thessalonica to do what this series is about. Doctrinal and practical error is not good. It is evil. It first must be detected by having the grid up. The good must be embraced and the evil jettisoned.
What is the standard for detection and correction? Jesus in Matthew 22:29 said, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures.” Error comes from not knowing the scriptures, according to Jesus. The standard for detection and correction is scripture, and that is the grid that is kept up in order to prove all things. When Paul spoke about the error in Jerusalem in Acts 13:27, he said the reason was that they knew not the voices of the prophets that they read every Sabbath. In 2 Peter 3:16, Peter says that error comes when unstable and ignorant men wrest the scriptures to their own destruction.
The Detection and Correction of Doctrinal and Practical Error
Not meant as an understatement, detection and correction of the coronavirus has become serious to the whole world and the nation. I don’t remember anything treated as importantly in my lifetime. Coronavirus kills the body. It doesn’t kill everybody or even necessarily a large percentage of those who get it, but the fear of it is that it destroys the body. The importance of detecting it and correcting the coronavirus relates to its killing people’s bodies. The Lord Jesus said the following in Matthew 10:28:
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
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