With regards to the historical and scientific reliability of the Bible, Dr. Norman Geisler is a very able Christian apologist. Here he lectures on that theme (approx. 45 minutes):
Is the Bible Reliable?
Reply
Monthly Archives: June 2014
Genesis 1:1
Millions of Years?
Concerning Ephesians 1:13
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…” – Eph. 1:13
At the monergism.com blog:
Visitor: If regeneration precedes faith, how can we explain Ephesians 1:13? This verse lists hearing, believing and sealing with the Holy Spirit in that order. If being sealed with the Holy Spirit is the same thing as being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, or if this happens when the heart is changed (ie., with regeneration, as per Ezekiel 36:26-27), doesn’t that mean that regeneration follows belief rather than precedes it?
Response: Hi and thank you for your question. Are you suggesting that because the Spirit comes to indwell the believer AFTER he believes and is justified, that the Spirit does no work whatsoever in people prior to and during his conversion? That the Spirit is dormant and is waiting for a natural, graceless person to take the first step to believe, before He will do anything? Consider that if we as regenerate believers need the Spirit daily to believe, obey and persevere in the faith, how much more does the unbeliever need Him to understand and believe the things of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:12,14)? The Biblical evidence is so overwhelming that the Spirit also works prior to belief (1 Thess 1:4,5) that this should not even be a debate in the church. The sinner hears and comes to Christ only because the Holy Spirit opens his ears, eyes and understanding to the gospel (Deut 29:4, 30:6; John 6:63-65). As in creation, the Spirit broods over us, so to speak, before He gives the birth to us. It is important that we do not limit the Spirit’s work but understand that He has a full array of ministries:
In fact, there are seven major distinct ministries of the Holy Spirit:
Convicts unbelievers of sin, righteousness and judgment: John 16:8-11.
Calls and Regenerates (causing us to believe): 1 Cor 1:24; John 1:13, 3:1-8, 6:63-65; Titus 3:5, I Peter 1:23-25; James 1:18.
Indwells and baptizes the believer: I Corinthians 6:19; Romans 8:9; John 14:16; I Corinthians 12:13.
Seals us: Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30.
Imparts gifts: I Corinthians 12:7-11.
Fills the believer: Ephesians 5:15-21; Galatians 5:16.
Causes us to bear fruit: Galatians 5:22-23.— conforming us to the character of Jesus Christ.
I would encourage you to also consider that you thank God for your conversion because you know your repenting and believing cannot be ascribed to your own wisdom, sound judgment, or good sense (even partly). Jesus Christ gets ALL the glory (1 Cor 1:20-31). Even the very humility you have to believe is a gift of grace… “for what do you have that you did not receive.”
Lastly, take the time to read Ephesians 1:13 in light of the first 12 verses in the chapter. Reading texts in isolation is a sure way to produce unsound
theology. Read in context God predestined and adopted us as sons, according to the good pleasure of His will, not ours.
Death Before Sin?
Biblically, Could Death Have Existed before Sin? (Satan, the Fall, and a Look at Good and Evil) by Bodie Hodge. A big picture of sin and death and how they are related in the Bible.
Introduction
Death and sin—these are two things today’s society seems to want to avoid in a conversation! In today’s secular society, kids have been taught for generations that death goes back for millions of years. But there is a huge contrast when you open the pages of Scripture beginning in Genesis.
The Bible is the authority on the past (as well as the authority on scientific and theological aspects), and it is logical that the Bible should be the authority on the issue of death and its relationship with sin. Getting a big picture of sin and death and how they are related in the Bible can make us better witnesses to today’s culture.
Everything Was Originally Perfect
Genesis 1:31 – God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Deuteronomy 32:4 – He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
When God finished creating at the end of Day 6, He declared everything “very good”—it was perfect. God’s work of creation is perfect. We expect nothing less of a perfect God.
What was this “perfect” or “very good” creation like? Were animals dying? Was man dying? Let’s look closer at what the Bible teaches. Continue reading
The Key to Spiritual Growth
Do you want to grow spiritually? Really? Do you? If God told you exactly what to do, would you do it?
The fact is that God has told us exactly how to achieve spiritual growth in His word. What may surprise us is that this growth is not achieved by some dramatic “mountain top” experience with God, but by the regular, consistent, on-going, non-spectacular but extremely supernatural MEANS OF GRACE. These means are THE PREACHED WORD, PRAYER AND THE LORD’S SUPPER.
Does that sound in any way boring to you? Not flashy enough? If that is the case, then quite frankly, your thinking has been shaped by something other than the word of God.
I am sure you have noticed that when a baby wants milk, everyone in the house knows about it! There is no way anyone will get any sleep at night until baby has his way. He wants milk and he wants it now! His cry is unrelenting until he can taste milk.
The Bible tells us that in the exact same way babies crave milk, Christians are to desire the spiritual milk of the word of God for spiritual growth. 1 Peter 2:2 tells us, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation…”
Spiritual growth is not automatic. God uses MEANS to grow His people spiritually. These are what we call “means of grace” which one theologian defined as the “objective channels which Christ has instituted in the Church to which He ordinarily binds Himself in communicating His grace.” The means of grace are “his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer, and all these are made effective in the salvation of the elect” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q&A 88).
Biblically, these means of grace include the regular preaching of the word of God in the gathered assembly of the saints (the local Church), prayer and the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper).
William Boekestein writes, “the (early) church grew as the believers ‘devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.’ Because devoting yourself seems to lack pizzazz, we tend to make spiritual growth more difficult than it is. But, with few exceptions, those who are growing in godliness are committed to preaching, the sacraments, and prayer. These are the ordinary means of grace. Spiritual growth doesn’t require innovation because God doesn’t work erratically and irregularly. We don’t have to “find God’s wave and ride it” until He surges elsewhere.
Still, the means of grace don’t always seem to work. Maybe we’ve said, ‘I come to church, partake of the sacraments, spend time in prayer, and I don’t seem to grow.’ Assuming that we are diligently and believingly using the means, we shouldn’t too easily dismiss the vital role they are playing in our lives. Imagine saying, ‘I eat three times a day, but I don’t get any healthier. Eating must not be the answer.’ What shape might we be in if we weren’t being fed by God through His ordinary means?”
In care for your soul I ask you not to neglect the means of grace. For me, for you and for every believer, it is the key to all spiritual growth.
Don’t Neglect the Means
In an article entitled “How to Grow Spiritually” William Boekestein the prophet Elisha promised Naaman healing if he would wash in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman was indignant. Dipping in the Jordan was too undignified an act for him, and it didn’t fit his definition of help. If not for the persistence of his servants, he would have returned to Syria unhealed (2 Kings 5:1–14).
For the same reason, many people miss God’s simple, ordinary plan for their spiritual growth—diligent attendance to the means of grace.
Means or Mystery?
Louis Berkhof defines the means of grace as the “objective channels which Christ has instituted in the Church to which He ordinarily binds Himself in communicating His grace.” The means of grace are “his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer, and all these are made effective in the salvation of the elect” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q&A 88). Believers must recognize these means of grace and trust God and His working through them. Continue reading
7 Bible Verses
As Christians, we are told to be ready to give a defense (an apologia) of our faith. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…”
In this video (starting at around the 21 minute 30 second mark), Dr. James White provides answers to questions raised by critics concerning seven Bible verses.
The “Why” Question
Dr. R. C. Sproul which comes from the Greek word for “goal” or “end” (telos), is the study of purpose. The “why” questions are purpose questions. We seek the reasons things happen as they do. Why does the rain fall? Why does the earth turn on its axis? Why did you say that?
When we raise the question of purpose, we are concerned with ends, aims, and goals. All these terms suggest intent. They assume meaning rather than meaninglessness. Despite the best attempts of nihilist philosophers to deny that anything has ultimate meaning and significance, the perennial question “Why?” shows that they haven’t been successful. In fact, even the cynic’s glib retort of “Why not?” is a thinly veiled commitment to purpose. To explain why we’re not doing something is to give a reason or purpose for not doing it. Purpose remains in the background. Human beings are creatures committed to purpose. We do things for a reason—with some kind of goal in mind.
Still, there is complexity in this quest for purpose. We distinguish between proximate and remote purposes, the proximate being what is close at hand and the remote referring to the distant and ultimate purpose. To use a sports analogy, the proximate goal for the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line is to make a first down. Making a touchdown is the more remote goal. A goal that is even further off for the team is to win the game. Finally, the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. Continue reading
Saved Through Childbearing?
Dr. John Piper with self-control”?
Henry Alford’s interpretation of this verse is not widely known. I find it compelling and would like to commend it for your consideration. Henry Alford was a British Anglican scholar who published commentary on The Greek New Testament in 1863.
The context is that Paul is arguing why men should be the authoritative leaders and teachers in the church rather than women.
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing — if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. (1 Timothy 2:12–15)
What Does Verse 15 Mean?
I have tried to explain elsewhere how Paul is arguing in verse 14. But here the question is: What is the meaning of verse 15? “Yet she will be saved through childbearing — if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”
“She” refers to “the woman” in verse 14 and probably signifies women in general. I say this because of the shift from singular to plural “they” in the next phrase: “She will be saved through childbearing — if they continue in faith.” “They” is not a pronoun in the Greek but is denoted in the plural form of the verb and therefore may be either feminine or masculine. The context calls for feminine. “Women will be saved through childbearing. . .”
Some have suggested “through childbearing” refers to the birth of Christ. But in the only other place where a form of this word occurs in the Bible (1 Timothy 5:14) it simply refers to bearing children: “So I would have younger widows marry, bear children . . .”
Henry Alford notices that being saved “through” something does not have to mean being saved “by” it, but may mean being saved through it as through a danger. He also notices that Paul does combine the two words (“being saved” and “through”) this way in 1 Corinthians 3:15. “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
Could “She will be saved through childbearing,” mean “She will be saved, not by means of, but through (that is, in spite of) the engulfing pains of childbirth”?
The Sense of Despair
Alford draws our attention to the fact that in Genesis 3:16, after the Fall, when God was appointing the devil and woman and man to their distinctive experiences of the curse, “bearing children” was the very point where God’s curse lands on the woman. “To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.’”
Pause and feel the weight of this for women in the centuries before modern medicine. No hygiene, no spinal blocks, no episiotomies, no sutures, no caesarians, no antibiotics, no pain killers, and often, no recovery. Untold numbers of women died in childbirth and countless more suffered the rest of their lives from wounds that prevented childbirth, or any kind of normal sexual life.
In other words, even more than today, there were aspects of childbearing that felt like a curse from God — and often that burden lasted a lifetime, not just in the moment of birth. How easy it would have been for women to despair and feel that God was against them. He was their curser, not their savior.
To this sense of despair Paul responds with the hope of the gospel. No to the curse! The pains of childbearing — even if they last a life-time — are not God’s final word to women. God intends to save women. He intends for her to be a “fellow-heir” with man of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7).
Henry Alford sums up his interpretation like this: Continue reading