6 Misconceptions About The New Testament
Answers to challenges against the truthfulness of the New Testament.
Christianity is a primitive religion that the apostles made up to fit the needs of the community. The argument goes that Christianity is no longer suited to the modern world, that the apostles supposedly edited, adapted, and transformed Jesus to fit the needs of their community. However, this is very unlikely. The apostles wrote their... Continue Reading
6 Misconceptions About the New Testament
Biblical revelation unfolds in an organic step-by-step way, rather than all at once.
Christ inaugurated what the apostles built upon through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Additionally, a concept may be present despite the lack of specific vocabulary naming the concept. Christ clearly indicated that salvation could only come through him (Jn. 3:16-17; Jn. 14:6) despite never using the word justification. Likewise, Paul also taught that Christians... Continue Reading
5 Misconceptions about Wealth
The struggle for many Christians is that our thinking about wealth is often shaped by influences outside the Bible.
Some people have no wealth because they’ve devoured it for selfish ends (Prov 21:20). But when a person wisely sees their wealth as not “mine” but the Lord’s, there is a strong motivation to collect more of it and put it to good use in service of others. The Bible does not lay a guilt... Continue Reading
Misconceptions About Homosexuality in the PCA
Some have argued the PCA is on a slippery slope toward sexual perversion. I hope that this article will demonstrate that this is not the case.
I will address the most important of these misconceptions section by section. In doing so, my earnest desire is to preserve and promote the purity, peace, and unity of the PCA. I have dialogued both in public and in private with several individuals and groups on the issues I am about to report on. The... Continue Reading
5 Common Misconceptions about Heaven and the Afterlife
Here are five things that the Bible doesn’t teach about heaven and the afterlife.
Revelation 21 even mentions the “glory and honor” of the nations being brought into the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:26), suggesting that some of the best of what human beings have produced will find a place in the new creation. So our present lives can impact the new creation. Likewise, how we live now is a testimony to... Continue Reading
Misconceptions about Justification and Sanctification
Five Key Points to help the understanding an important issue
In light of these passages we see that to downplay sanctification is to undercut a large portion of the biblical basis of assurance. I hope these remarks are helpful in clearing up what I think are misconceptions about justification and sanctification.
An Excerpt From Stephen Wellum’s Systematic Theology, Volume 1
From canon to concept.
The good news of Jesus Christ—who he is and what he accomplished by his death, resurrection, and exaltation—is simply incoherent unless certain structures are already in place. You cannot make heads or tails of the real Jesus unless you have categories for the personal/transcendent God of the Bible; the nature of human beings made in... Continue Reading
Why Did Jesus Compare God’s Kingdom to a Mustard Seed and Leaven?
Jesus anticipated the misconceptions people would have about the type of kingdom He was bringing upon them.
The present form and working of the kingdom is mysterious and humble. A mustard seed and a pinch of yeast—no one would expect the kingdom out of these. No one notices a mustard plant growing; we cannot see yeast at work. This is the paradox of Christ’s kingdom, and it is both wisdom and comfort... Continue Reading
“The Beauty of a Gentle and Quiet Spirit” – (1 Peter 3:1-7) – Words from Peter to the Pilgrim Church (Part Six)
In the thoroughly secularized America in which we live, we are not persecuted so much as we are pressured to conform to non-Christian ways of thinking and doing.
One of the places we must challenge the unbelief around us is by reminding ourselves that God’s standards of conduct are often not those of modern America. Despite everything our culture tells us, a woman’s beauty is not external, it is inward–the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. A man’s greater strength is not... Continue Reading
The Essentials – Part 2
So, what are the fundamental characteristics of the biblical God?
Any position that attempts to add or subtract from this Gospel is a false gospel that cannot save. Many heresies are such because they claim that something additional is required. For example, there are some that say that, in addition to faith in Christ, one must be baptized in water in order to be saved. But water... Continue Reading