Articles
– …and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph. 6:17 NRS) –
Making jewelry/charms out of human ashes
Is there any Biblical basis for forbidding the use of human ashes in making and wearing jewelry? The answer is yes. Before looking at the argument, let me state a few things. There is nothing wrong with cremation, but the ashes should be disposed of properly. (Some...
Understanding John 6:44 – the drawing of the Father
οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐλθεῖν πρός με ἐὰν μὴ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ πέμψας με ἑλκύσῃ αὐτόν, κἀγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ. (John 6:44; Greek) No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise that person up on the last day. (John 6:44,...
Jacob have I loved
"Jacob have I loved" In the discussion of predestination, you will quickly hear the oft quoted verse from Romans 9:13. As it is written, "I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau." This text is used to suggest that God had particularly chosen the man Jacob for...
Predestination – Part 2
Part 2 – Romans 8:28-39 A second passage where we find “predestined” (PROORIZŌ) is found in Romans 8:29-30 where we see it used twice in what is often called the “golden chain of salvation” and is used by some to demonstrate a case for God’s pretemporal predestining...
Predestination – Part 1
Understanding Predestination The following quote from R. C. Sproul was posted on Facebook recently: “We talk about predestination because the Bible talks about predestination. If we desire to build our theology on the Bible we run head on into this concept. We soon...
Communion Meditation – John 1
12/16/2018 - A meditation from John 1. When I was 18 years old, I attended Nyack College and took my first Greek class. The very first two verses my instructor taught me was: Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. (John 1:1 - Greek)...
Corporate Election in Ephesians 1:4 – Judge’s Question and Answer
At the end of the debate, I was asked the following by one of the judges: "For Bob, you said "It is a particularly Jewish blessing" when discussing the blessings in chapter one and later said that "Paul is saying that the blessings that are found in the Jewish...
Corporate Election in Ephesians 1:4 – Argument 2 – Part 2
Continued from Argument 2, Part 1 - When did the choosing take place? Corporate election does not suggest that the choosing is not before creation. What it argues is that it is gnomic, a principle that those who will be “in Christ” will be holy and blameless. The...