Overcoming Sin through Hope of the Resurrection

Posted on 9 July 2017 by

OVERCOME SIN BY HOPE

Can hope of eternal life change believers to live holy lives? That depends on the hope of the eternal life and the source. Have you ever wondered why many who essentially believe are yet unfaithful? Many have a very shallow concept of the Christian faith. Many believe that “good people go to heaven,” and that shallow hope does nothing to help anyone but to subtly deny hope of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. Many cannot see past Jesus’s death to why the Gospel message includes Jesus rising from the dead. Many churches are struggling with hopelessness, and the world can see themselves reflected in these groups.

Why has the Christian hope of eternal life through Jesus rising from the dead changed those entrust their whole heart to loving God and others through Jesus’s sacrifice and new life? The apostle John revealed, “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). This scripture and more have application to all sins. However, those who read these scriptures will see the emphasis upon the holiness of the body. The appeal to the resurrection of the body for holy living is throughout the New Testament Scriptures.

The Hopeful Purify Themselves

John revealed, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2–3 ESV). The hope that saves is the hope of the redemption of the body (Rom 8:23–24). The mortal body will rise and put on immortality (1 Cor 15:53). Continue reading →

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Why Jesus’s Resurrection is Essential

Posted on 30 May 2017 by

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The Resurrection of the Body

Posted on 24 May 2017 by

Raised on the Last Day - Resurrection

The resurrection of the dead is an elementary teaching of Christ (Heb 6:2). An in-depth study can reveal more or even uncover holes in understanding this biblical teaching. Many have rejected the resurrection of bodies on the last day for a belief in immortality of bodiless spirits as eternal life. According to Paul, those who reject the resurrection reject the resurrection of Christ (1 Cor 15:12–19). The resurrection is so essential to faith that Paul proclaimed, “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain” (1 Cor 15:13–14 NASB).

The Greek word anastasis, αναστασις, means “resurrection,” and this word is central to this study. There are forty occurrences of the word anastasis in the NT and three in the Greek OT (LXX). The biblical texts exclusively used the word anastasis for resurrection — a new life from death. The final resurrection consists of bodies rising from death to life. The apostle Paul defended and defined the resurrection as the body rising from death to life (1 Cor 15:12, 13, 21, 42). Death is the separation of the spirit from the body, and resurrection is the reunion of spirit to the body. The spirit is immortal, and the body is mortal.

How will the dead come forth from the tombs at the last day? Jesus declared, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28–29 NASB; 5:19–29). Because Jesus has authority to  Continue reading →

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All Sins Are NOT Equal

Posted on 14 May 2017 by

Are All Sins Equal

Jesus’s trial revealed whether all sins are equal. Seeing Jesus bearing a crown thorns and a scarlet robe, the Jews cried, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” pleading to crucify Jesus making himself the Son of God (John 19:6). When Pontius Pilate heard that Jesus was the Son of God, he became afraid yet having found no guilt in him. In his headquarters, Pilate questioned Jesus, “Where are you from?” When Jesus did not answer, Pilate asked again, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” (John 19:10). Jesus revealed, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin” (John 19:11 ESV). Jesus revealed that some sins are greater than others.

Some Sins are Greater than Other Sins

Jesus confirmed that some sins are greater than other sins. Are all sins equal? No. The one who delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate had the greater sin than Pilate condemning Jesus to crucifixion. How is one sin greater than another is? Continue reading →

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Did the Apocrypha Influence Jesus and Paul?

Posted on 9 May 2017 by

Introducing the Apocrypha - deSilva

David. A. deSilva is a very well educated and intelligent scholar. This writer appreciates his contributions, but this reader was disappointed in this end with his introduction to the Apocrypha. I am critical of critical scholarship. I wrote a short and inadequate review of his text on Amazon, because Amazon offered and its Amazon not JBL or JETS. DeSilva responded with humor that I “returned disappointment for disappointment” (Amazon Review).

I was disappointed when I read deSilva’s text, Introducing the Apocrypha, to inform evangelicals (39–41). In deSilva’s intro to the chapter “Additions to Daniel,” he spoke of the legends and tales of Daniel in Daniel 1–12 (deSilva, 222 ). That is an appropriate position for a critical scholar, but not really evangelical. I must stand by Jesus’s attribution of the prophet Daniel to the book of Daniel (Matt 24:15).

In “Third Isaiah” of the Anchor Bible Dictionary, Christopher Seitz noted that critical analysis is speculation. He revealed, “It is one of the ironies of historical analysis in biblical studies that while skepticism over historical veracity rules in one part of the canon, other literary witnesses are accorded absolute historical reliability; the nature and dosage of selectivity is what produces different results” (3:502).

Are There Strengths to deSilva’s Introductions?

DeSilva’s introductions are very useful for presenting the author, date, and setting of each apocryphal writing. DeSilva provided more than simple dates. He explained how scholars date each document. He did not avoid admitting the limitations and difficulties of scholarship to date texts. A strength of deSilva’s book is that he provided the breadth of academic positions to become familiar. For instance, deSilva noted that the Jewish writer believed in the cessation of prophecy (1 Macc 4:46; 9:27; 14:41). Josephus also understood that prophecy ceased (Ag. Ap. 1.40–41).

Disappointment in deSilva’s Rejection of Biblical Inerrancy

What is so disappointing about deSilva’s introductions? DeSilva wrote to inform evangelicals (40). However, many of deSilva’s points appear to disregard

 

Continue reading →

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A Brief Defense for the Cause of the Universe — the Cosmological Argument

Posted on 6 May 2017 by

Intelligent Design Cosmology

This post can serve as a brief presentation of the cosmological argument for the cause of the universe. While reading over some WordPress posts about apologetics, I am often find some peculiar rejections of academic arguments for theism. In this case, the author of De Intellectus addressed the cause of the universe to some vague conclusion. The cosmological argument is that everything that begins has a cause, the universe began, and thus the universe has a cause. The author redefines “everything that begins” in the cosmological argument to mean everything including a presumption of God creating His own dwelling.

This atheistic writer also struggled with God having created the universe out of non-being, ex nihilo. The biblical account is that Continue reading →

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Six Actions of Churches that Grow

Posted on 3 May 2017 by

Church Growth Bible Study

From my perspective, churches in the Bible die for a lack togetherness and sharing God’s Word with one another, a lack of works from a lack of love, and compromising the truth for immorality (Rev 2–3). In the Scriptures, sound healthy churches live by sharing God’s Word with one another, working from love for Christ, and upholding truth in the face of error.

Actions of Growing Churches

Growing together in God’s Word helped churches to grow from the beginning and does so today. From my reading, churches must do at least six essential actions for which God gives them growth: Continue reading →

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