Posts Categorized: Articles

Who or what is the Holy Spirit?  Is He a force, or power, or an actual person?  Is He equal with God, or merely another way of talking about God’s power?   What about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? Is that something that a believer receives subsequent to salvation, or at the moment of salvation?  How does the Spirit sanctify believers?      

What is the “calling” of God? Does the Bible use that term in more than one sense?  Can this calling be resisted?   What are elements of true conversion?  What does it mean to be justified? Adopted? Sanctified?  Will true saints persevere to the end?  What is the meaning of glorification?       

What is the Church? When was it formed?  Why does it exist?  How is it to govern itself?  What are its ordinances?  What is the mean of baptism and the Lord’s Supper?  How is the church to discipline erring members?         

We come finally to the confusing and perplexing subject of the Doctrine of Last Things?  What are the events associated with the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ?  When will the rapture take place? When does the millennium take place?  In these notes the strengths and weaknesses of 4 major millennial views are given. We hope these notes bring clarity of thought and help to you as you seek to understand the Last Things more clearly.           

How do we know we can trust the Bible?  Why do Catholics accept writings that Protestants reject?  What does it mean when we say the Bible is inspired of God?  These notes were prepared to answer questions like these. 

Who is the God of the Bible?  What is He like?  This is a huge question, and we only begin to scratch the surface in these theology notes on the Doctrine of God.   

These notes delve into the relationship between Adam’s transgression, and how it affects the human race (if at all).  Are we really held responsible for Adam’s transgression?  If so, what are the consequences of our guilt? 

Who makes the choice as to who will be in heaven — God or the sinner?  In these notes we tackle the difficult doctrine of Predestination. This one is sure to make some sparks fly!  

Who really is Jesus Christ?  Did He exist before being born into this world? What is the incarnation all about?  Is Jesus really the God who made all things?  Did He ever sin?  What offices does He function in?   

What did Christ accomplish in His death?  Was He dying merely as a martyr or an example?  For whom did Christ die, so as to secure their redemption?  Did Jesus really rise from the dead?  If so, why is it important?     

This past summer (1998) I celebrated my 20^th year as a Christian. For nearly the first ten years of my Christian life, I belonged to a charismatic church. As a young believer, I eagerly devoured the teaching I received. However, as I matured in my faith and my knowledge of Scripture increased, I found myself rethinking many of the doctrines I embraced so readily in my youth. In this article I want to describe three such doctrines, and how I came to believe differently through a careful study of God’s Word.

The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands is popularly known as the Canons of Dort. It consists of statements of doctrine adopted by the great Synod of Dort which met in the city ofDordrecht in 1618-19. Although this was a national synod of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, it had an internationalcharacter, since it was composed not only of Dutch delegates but also of twenty-six delegates from eight foreign countries.

A Puritan Catechism also known as “Spurgeon’s Catechism” compiled by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Heir of the Puritans”, “Prince of Preachers”

Though written about 200 years after the Puritan era, the work of Charles Spurgeon which we commonly refer to as “Spurgeon’s Catechism” was originally given the title by him of “A Puritan Catechism.” This was due to his great love of the Puritans and their writings and the fact that study of their catechisms and statements of faith were part of his inspiration in compiling his own catechism which was published in late 1855, when Spurgeon was only 21 years old. On October 14^th of that year, Spurgeon preached “Sermon No. 46” to several thousand who gathered to hear him at New Park Street Chapel. The text that morning was, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations” (Ps. 90:1). When the sermon was published it contained an announcement of this catechism.

To be enabled to form a clear, consistent, and comprehensive judgment of the truths revealed in the Scripture, is a great privilege; but they who possess it are exposed to the temptation of thinking too highly of themselves, and too meanly of others, especially of those who not only refuse to adopt their sentiments, but venture to oppose them.

The following notes were written to train up new leaders in the basics of sound biblical and systematic theology. I pray they might be a source of spiritual knowledge and growth in your life. Prepare yourself though– there is a lot here! But if you take the time to study through this material, you’ll have a wealth of good, sound theology. You can also find this material in smaller articles under Resource Center, Articles.  There it has been broken down to a single doctrine (e.g. The Doctrine of Scripture).  I gleaned material for these notes from many different sources, and due to a faulty memory, have not been able to footnote them in these notes. Please excuse me. 

Does God really desire the salvation of all men? Over the last two thousand years of church history there have been two major views held by Christians regarding this question. A closely related question is, “Why are certain people saved rather than others?” Calvinists claim that the deciding factor in a man’s salvation is God’s will while the Arminian just as decidedly affirms it is man’s will. The question really comes down to, “Does God’s sovereign will or man’s free will ultimately determine who will be saved?

During the summer of 1991, my mind was arrested by the truths of sovereign grace. For a full year I could think of little else. I found myself delighting in God’s unconditional election, particular redemption, effectual calling, and final preservation of His people. However, these glorious truths would have little luster, and make no sense, if it were not for the Biblical teaching on the sinner’s desperate condition. It is not until we understand how serious the bad news actually is, that we are able to adequately appreciate how wonderful the good news is!

Christ – Our Heavenly Bridegroom

Bible commentators have long seen in Genesis 2: 18-25 a picture of the union between Christ and His church. Before you brush aside that suggestion as the product of a fertile imagination, consider how the apostle Paul viewed Adam’s marriage to Eve. In Ephesians 5:22-25 Paul tells the wives to be subject to their own husbands, as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church. He goes on to tell the husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.

Christ – The Tree of Life

Out of all of God’s creation, only two trees were given special names – the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Lord God planted both of them in the midst of the garden. Evidently He wanted these two trees displayed in a very prominent position so that man might have free access to them. Notice that God gave no command that man should not eat from the Tree of Life. It would seem, rather, that He gave man every encouragement to come and partake of it, rather than the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Christ – Our Sabbath

Over the past two thousand years there has been much disagreement and controversy over the subject of the Sabbath. During the 17th century, the Puritans sought to enforce the Sabbath by having the civil magistrate fine offenders. The Seventh Day Adventists have historically taught that Sunday worship is the mark of the beast, and all that bear that mark will be cast into the lake of fire. Today, many churches will not fellowship with or partner in the spread of the gospel together with those churches that don’t hold their particular view of the Sabbath, although 99% of their doctrine is identical.

Christ – The Creator

To be sure, Christ is the focus of the gospels, epistles and Revelation, but surely not an Old Testament book like Genesis. Not so fast! Jesus Himself taught that He was the central sum and substance of the Old Testament scriptures. He stated emphatically, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me… For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me” (Jn.5:39,46).

Isaiah chapter 53 is one of the most wonderful and precious chapters in the entire Bible. Martin Luther, the great reformer, said that it ought to be written on parchment of gold and lettered in diamonds. It has been referred to as the “golden passional of the Old Testament” and the “holy of holies of Isaiah.” Nowhere in the Old Testament does the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ shine more brilliantly than in Isaiah 53.