“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.” – Augustine
Doctrine divides! It divides truth from error. It divides the true teacher from the false teacher; the spirit of truth from the spirit of error; and the true Christ from the Anti-Christ.
In the Church, Christians hold differing views about important, yet non-essential matters. Let me explain. There are doctrines in the Bible that while very important, are not essential to salvation. For instance, whether or not someone believes in the baptism of infants or whether or not the biblical gift of tongues occurs in our own day, I think are very important issues; yet, what someone believes about these are not essential to someone being included or excluded from the kingdom of God. Someone is not a “false teacher” who takes a different position on these issues. The same is true for doctrines such as whether someone is “pre-trib,” “mid-trib,” or “post-trib” in their belief about the tribulation, or for those who take different positions on the millennium – “a”, “pre” or “post.” Sincere, godly, dedicated believers believe different things about these issues, but it does not mean that one person is saved and another damned because they have a different view.
Regarding the end times, what is a shock to many is that the current dominant view of the end times in the American church is the “new kid on the block” in terms of dominance in church history. Yet for many, what someone believes about this has become the essential test of Christian orthodoxy. That is theological ignorance, to put it kindly. When none of the theological titans in church history embraced the current prevalent view, rather than merely dismissing them all as ignorant, humility should at least cause us to pause long enough to ask “why would men of this caliber believe a different view to mine?” That does not mean they were always right about everything. They were not. Nor would they claim to be. The Bible alone is infallible. However, when collectively, without a single exception among them, they come to different conclusions to us, it is good to at least ask “why would they do so? Sadly, many do not stop to ask.
As Christians, what unites us, vastly outweighs what might divide us. In the essentials, such as the Deity of Christ, the Trinity, justification by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, etc., we need to be in agreement. This is where ancient historical documents such as the creeds and confessions are so helpful to us. The Apostles’ Creed states, “He will come to judge the living and the dead.” These are words that should be affirmed by all Christians.
Hyper-preterists cannot affirm these words. They believe that Christ has already come and all prophecy has already been fulfilled and therefore cannot affirm these words of the creed. Hyper-preterism has always been rejected as heresy by the church at large, and rightly so. The Creeds and Confessions of the church serve us well in this. Truth divides, but also unites. That’s true of the Creeds and Confessions also. They unite those who hold to the essential elements of the Christian faith and express the commonality we share together as Christians.
As this quote, which historically has been attributed to Augustine states, “In essentials, unity.” We cannot compromise on these major issues of the Gospel. These are non-negotiables. In fact, to depart from these doctrines is to depart from the Christian faith itself.
Knowing the difference between the essentials and the non-essentials takes a great deal of maturity at times. Christians have been notorious for dividing over such very minor issues, and the Body of Christ has been less effective because of it. The boundary lines are drawn by the Gospel itself. We must be united in the Gospel for true Christian unity to exist. But where this does in fact exist, let us celebrate it, standing united for the cause of Christ.
Augustine went on to say, “in non-essentials, liberty.” Christians need to allow their brothers and sisters room to hold differing positions on some issues without breaking fellowship with them. This takes a great deal of maturity. Church history shows us that the Body of Christ as a whole has not been very good at this. We tend to disassociate ourselves from Christians who don’t have the exact same understanding of the spiritual gifts, the end times, Divine election, or even when a child is old enough to be baptized. These are important issues, of course. In fact, there is only one true biblical position on these issues – not everyone is right! There is a right answer and a wrong answer. In fact, there are many wrong answers. God is not confused on these issues, even if we are.
We should note too that God doesn’t ever give us the right to believe false doctrine. If there are two people with differing positions on an issue, at least one of them is grieving the Lord in terms of what they believe. Yet the point is that both people can disagree on a certain (non-essential) issue with a fellow brother or sister and yet believe the best of the other – that if the other person could be convinced by sacred scripture concerning the truth of the matter, they believe the other one would change their beliefs immediately. But disagreement on these important but non-essential things should not divide us, if we are united in the Gospel.
This is not to minimize doctrine. In a local Church it is entirely right for eldership to state in categorical terms, just what it is that they believe Scripture to be teaching. This is part of their function as elders. Yet, in doing so, we must all recognize our fellow brothers and sisters in the entire Body of Christ, and know that God embraces many who hold differing positions to us on some issues.
The scripture commands us to “maintain the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3) “until we all come to the unity of the faith.” (Eph. 4:13). For God to tell us to maintain something, it shows clearly that we already have possession of it. For instance, we cannot maintain a photocopier unless we first have the photocopier in our care. Christians are united and we are called to maintain this unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This we are to do “until we all come to the unity of the faith.”
Augustine’s quote ends by saying, “in all things, charity (or love).” Let love be chief amongst us, His people. May we unite for the sake of the Gospel, while God, the Holy Spirit continues to lead all of His people into all of His truth.
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonid=123019443216783
By Tim Chaffey – (original source – https://answersingenesis.org/is-the-bible-true/can-we-trust-bible-true/)
Tim Chaffey holds a master of divinity degree specializing in apologetics and theology and a ThM in church history and theology from Liberty University School of Divinity. He is content manager for Answers in Genesis’ attractions division.
From archaeology to astronomy, evidence from many fields points to the veracity of God’s Word.
Though written in several genres and three languages by approximately 40 authors with various backgrounds, writing styles, and purposes, the Bible maintains a consistent message without contradicting itself. At Answers in Genesis—the parent ministry of Answers magazine—our statement of faith declares, “The 66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant throughout. Its assertions are factually true in all the original autographs.” Those are bold claims, but how can we be so confident?
Some people claim that the Bible is riddled with errors. Their charges against Scripture generally center on scientific and historical matters, such as the age of the earth, the origin of man, and the evidence for the flood and other major events described in the Bible.
We cannot use the scientific method to prove whether certain conversations took place, such as God instructing Noah to build an ark. Nor can we use it to demonstrate whether a historical event resulted in a spiritual truth, such as Jesus’ death on the cross paying for our sins.
But while we can’t examine all the Bible’s details by scientific or historical inquiry, we can investigate plenty of evidence that corroborates biblical details.
Archaeologists have located scores of buried cities located precisely where the Bible describes. Excavations have also uncovered an abundance of evidence for events and individuals mentioned in the Bible. For example, several seals (or bullae) belonging to King Hezekiah have been found, and in the past decade, another one was unearthed just 10 feet (3 cm) from a seal that may well have belonged to the prophet Isaiah, one of the king’s advisors. Furthermore, consistent with the biblical accounts, ancient war records from Assyria detail Sennacherib’s conquest of Judean cities and cryptically imply his unsuccessful siege of Jerusalem. Critics challenge the historicity of certain biblical accounts, but their arguments are often silenced by new finds.
Scientific evidence for the Genesis creation and flood accounts abound within other disciplines as well. Astronomical research on short-period comets in the solar system yields data consistent with the biblical timeline. Because they break down relatively fast, these comets cannot survive for millions, let alone billions, of years, as evolutionists imagine.
The biblical flood account is corroborated by geological evidence around the globe. The violently eroded rock surface called the “Great Unconformity,” caused by the initial rising of the floodwaters to cover the pre-flood land, is found across every continent. And only above this “Great Unconformity” do we find all the rapidly buried and preserved graveyards of megascopic fossilized animals and plants, representing the destruction of all pre-flood animals and plants outside the ark, as described in the biblical account. We find also the same rock layers spanning several continents, indicating that they were deposited on a global scale at the same time.
Anthropological investigations among ancient cultures have revealed hundreds of flood legends sharing an uncanny number of details with the biblical record. Similar legends correspond with the Bible’s account of man’s creation and fall and of Babel.
Biological research, particularly in the field of genetics, has shown that one “kind” of animal (such as the dog kind or cat kind) can never be transformed into another kind of animal over time because it does not possess any mechanism to acquire the necessary new genetic information to evolve into another kind. This observation that one kind does not change into a different kind and that variation is only produced within a kind matches Genesis 1, which repeatedly states that God made the animals as distinct kinds, to reproduce “after their kind.”
Paleontologists have uncovered dinosaur remains containing soft tissue and blood cells, which could not exist in fossils that are millions of years old, as evolutionists assume. But these finds are consistent with the biblical account of those bones being buried thousands of years ago during the flood.
In addition to evidence from scientific disciplines, the Bible is filled with unique proofs of being inspired by the Holy Spirit. Hundreds of detailed prophecies were written centuries before the events they accurately described. For example, just as the Old Testament foretold, the Messiah Jesus was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), as a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3), Isaac (Genesis 17:19), and Jacob (Genesis 28:14). He was betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9) for 30 pieces of silver that were used to purchase the potter’s field (Zechariah 11:13). Then he was mocked and ridiculed, pierced in his hands and feet, and lots were cast for his clothing (Psalm 22:7, 16, 18). He died (Daniel 9:26) as a sacrifice for our sins and was buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:8–10). After a short time in the grave, he lived again (Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53:10).
In addition, the central events described in Scripture—the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ—have as strong historical support as any event in ancient history.
All these reasons and many others provide compelling evidence that the Bible is true. However, even without these supporting evidences, we should believe the Bible primarily because it is the Word of God. Since it is impossible for God to lie (Titus 1:2), the Bible must be true in all that it affirms. In fact, it is the Bible that reveals to us the proper grounding for knowledge: God made us in his image with the ability to learn about him and his world. And unless we base our thinking on the truths revealed by God, we couldn’t prove anything at all.
Significantly, the Lord Jesus Christ treated Scripture as being authoritative and without error, stating that it cannot be broken (John 10:35) and citing it frequently to correct those in error and respond to their questions (Matthew 12:1–8). Since he is the Son of God, we must follow his example.
Though historical and scientific investigations offer strong evidence of the Bible’s authenticity and reliability, they cannot prove the Bible to be true in its entirety. But the Holy Spirit, given to all believers (2 Corinthians 5:5), grants us the ability to recognize his Word (1 Corinthians 2:10–14), instilling in us a steadfast confidence that the Scriptures he inspired are true.
Steven Bancarz writes:
The Law of Attraction is a teaching that blew up with a book called “The Secret” which has sold about 30 million copies. From Oprah to Tony Robbins, it’s taught by countless influencers, especially those within New Age circles. It teaches that people can manifest whatever they want into their life if their mind, emotions, and energy are aligned with the result they want, because “like attracts like” in this reality. In this video, we debunk this idea, give four explanations for Law of attraction success stories, analyze what the Bible has to say about this idea, and refute misinterpretations of common verses used to promoted this philosophy.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:1, 14
“The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation.” – J. I. Packer
“The baby Mary carried was not a Caesar, a man who would become a god, but a far greater wonder – the true God who had become a man!” – Kent Hughes
“The glory of the incarnation is that it presents to our adoring gaze not a humanized God or a deified man, but a true God-man.” – B.B. Warfield
“We must always remember that union with Christ is possible because of the Son’s descent to earth, not because of our ascent into heaven. The basis of our union with Christ is Christ’s union with us in the incarnation. He became one with us so that we might become one with Him.” – Kevin DeYoung
“God’s being does not consist of material substance, which is created. As uncreated, He is pure spirit. No human eye can hope to ‘see’ Him except to the degree that He chooses to reveal Himself in some mediated form compatible with the finitude of man or in the incarnation of His Son. The glorious good news is that the invisible God became visible in the person of Jesus (John 1:18).
1. The doctrine of the Incarnation means that two distinct natures (divine and human) are united in one Person: Jesus. Jesus is not two people (God and man). He is one person: the God-man. Jesus is not schizophrenic. 2. When the Word became flesh He did not cease to be the Word. The Word veiled, hid, and voluntarily restricted the use of certain divine powers and prerogatives. But God cannot cease to be God. In other words, when the Word became flesh He did not commit divine suicide. 3. When the Word once became flesh He became flesh forever. After His earthly life, death, and resurrection, Jesus did not divest Himself of the flesh or cease to be a man. He is a man even now at the right hand of God the Father. He is also God. He will always be the God-man. See 1 Cor. 15:28; Col. 2:9; 1 Jn. 2:7 (note use of present tense). 4. Thus, we might envision Jesus saying: “I am now what I always was: God (or Word). I am now what I once was not: man (or flesh). I am now and forever will be both: the God-man.
“What do we mean by the word ‘Incarnation?’ The idea is found in several texts which speak of Jesus as ‘coming in the flesh’ (1 Jn. 4:2; 2 Jn. 7), being ‘sent in the flesh’ (Rom. 8:3), ‘appearing in the flesh’ (1 Tim. 3:16); He also ‘suffered in the flesh’ (1 Pet. 4:1), ‘died in the flesh’ (1 Pet. 3:18), made peace by abolishing ‘in the flesh the enmity’ (Eph. 2:15), and ‘made reconciliation in the body of His flesh’ (Col. 1:21-22). In sum, ‘the Word became flesh’ (John 1:14). Thus, by the Incarnation we mean that the eternal Word or second person of the Trinity became a man or assumed human flesh at a point in time, yet without ceasing to be God.”
The doctrine of the Incarnation means that two distinct natures (divine and human) are united in one Person: Jesus. Jesus is not two people (God and man). He is one Person: the God-man. Jesus is not schizophrenic. When the Word became flesh He did not cease to be the Word. The Word veiled, hid, and voluntarily restricted the use of certain prerogatives. But God cannot cease to be God. In other words, when the Word became flesh He did not commit divine suicide.
The Word became flesh! God became human! The invisible became visible! The untouchable became touchable! Eternal life experienced temporal death! The transcendent one descended and drew near! The unlimited became limited! The infinite became finite! The immutable became mutable! The unbreakable became fragile! Spirit became matter! Eternity entered time! The independent became dependent! The almighty became weak! The loved became hated! The exalted was humbled! Glory was subjected to shame! Fame turned into obscurity! From inexpressible joy to tears of unimaginable grief! From a throne to a cross! From ruler to being ruled! From power to weakness!
“The eternal Word, God the Son, entered into this world by being born as a human being. Therefore, it isn’t correct to say that Jesus has always existed or that Jesus was in the beginning with God (v. 1). The Son of God has always existed. The Second person of the Trinity, the Word, was in the beginning with God. But Jesus is the human name given to the second person of the Trinity when he took to Himself flesh. The Word was never called Jesus until Joseph did so in obedience to the command of the angel in Matthew 1.” – Sam Storms
“It was to save sinners that Christ Jesus came into the world. He did not come to help them to save themselves, nor to induce them to save themselves, nor even to enable them to save themselves. He came to save them!” – William Hendriksen
“A gentle, pastoral, friendly reminder: If Santa gives presents because of good behavior, this in turn teaches kids a form of moralism and a works-based system of reward. This is the opposite message of the gospel. The gospel (good news) says that our works have earned judgement. But God has given us what we do not deserve in Christ. Salvation in Christ is a free gift that we did not earn. So, let’s focus this season on God’s grace to those who deserve judgement. Besides, there was only one person who made it on the nice list – He was perfect in our place, so that we could receive the reward He earned. His name was Jesus.” – Pastor Jesse Watkins
Source: https://americanvision.org/21575/the-rapture-and-the-fig-tree-generation/
The following is from the Introduction to my new book The Rapture and the Fig Tree Generation that will be available from American Vision in January 2020 by Gary DeMar
Mark Hitchcock has written a free eBook for Dallas Theological Seminary titled The Truth and Timing of the Rapture that has been promoted on Facebook. When Hitchcock writes about the “rapture,” he is referring to a pre-tribulation “rapture of the Church” prior to the start of the long-postponed 70th week of Daniel’s “70 weeks of years” prophecy found in Daniel 9:24–27. He writes:
The first view of the rapture is the pre-tribulational view, which teaches that believers are going to be caught up before the Tribulation, or the seventieth week of Daniel 9.1
The pre-tribulation rapture position requires that the 70th week of the “70 weeks of years” prophecy (490 years) be separated from the other 69 weeks (483 years). If the Bible does not teach such a separation, then the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine is false. Read the passage for yourself to see if there is any mention of anyone being “raptured” — taken to heaven — for any reason.
Hitchcock describes four rapture views but is an advocate for the pre-tribulation position. It goes like this: we are presently living in the “Church Age,” a period of time that is said to have been instituted by God when Israel rejected Jesus as its long-promised Messiah and chose Barabbas and Caesar over Jesus (John 19:1–15).
What many Christians do not know is that the pre-tribulation rapture view is dependent upon the separation of the 70th week (consisting of 7 years) from the other 69 weeks (483 years) and with the insertion of a parenthesis (now nearly 2000 years long) between the 69th and 70th weeks. I suspect that most Christians who hold to the pre-tribulation rapture position could not explain its details or defend it biblically. All they’ve heard is how they will be “raptured” before a period of tribulation takes place that will bring untold hardship on billions of people. Many people are not sure how this doctrine was developed. They’ve heard about the “rapture” for so long that they believe it is a fundamental doctrine of the Church. It isn’t. The fact that there are five rapture views with no single verse supporting any one of them should make anyone who holds any of the positions to take the time to study the topic before claiming “it’s in the Bible.”
Tim LaHaye, co-author of the fictional Left Behind2 series and other books on prophecy, who shares Hitchcock’s pre-tribulation view, had this to say about the timing of the rapture and biblical support for the various rapture positions:
One objection to the pre-Tribulation Rapture is that not one passage of Scripture teaches the two aspects of His Second Coming separated by the Tribulation. This is true. But then, no one passage teaches a post-trib or mid-trib Rapture, either.3
Later in the same book LaHaye repeats his comment about there not being one Scripture passage that supports any of the rapture positions:
No single verse specifically states, “Christ will come before the Tribulation.” On the other hand, no single passage teaches He will not come before the Tribulation, or that He will come in the middle or at the end of the Tribulation. Any such explicit declaration would end the debate immediately.4
On the February 26, 1985, episode “End Times and The Great Tribulation” on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Hal Lindsey said this about biblical support for the various rapture positions:
Now I have to say, there is no specific scripture that a post-tribulationist can point to and say, “this proves my theory,” and there’s no specific scripture that a mid-tribulationist can point to either, and there’s no specific scripture that a pre-tribulationist can point to.
What needs to be found in the New Testament is a verse or series of verses that says the Church will be taken to heaven any time just before or any time during the 70th week of Daniel’s “70 weeks of years” prophecy. As LaHaye is honest enough to admit, there isn’t one, and this includes 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51–52. Read the passages for yourself. Nothing is said in either passage about a tribulation period, a discussion of the prophecy found in Daniel 9:24–27, any reference to God dealing separately with the nation of Israel (a crucial element of the pre-tribulation view), the Antichrist making and breaking a covenant with the Jews, a rebuilt temple, or Jesus returning “with His church” to set up an earthly millennial kingdom after the seven years.
Traditionally, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 has been interpreted to refer to the General Resurrection at Jesus’ Second Coming, not to a separate event where Jesus comes “for His saints” in a “rapture” and then again “with His saints” at the end of the seven-year period and then one more time after Jesus reigns on the earth for a thousand years (of which the Bible says nothing). N.T. Wright explains:
Paul’s description of Jesus’ reappearance in 1 Thessalonians 4 is a brightly colored version of what he says in two other passages, 1 Corinthians 15:51–54 and Philippians 3:20–21: At Jesus’ “coming” or “appearing,” those who are still alive will be “changed” or “transformed” so that their mortal bodies will become incorruptible, deathless. This is all that Paul intends to say in Thessalonians, but here he borrows imagery—from biblical and political sources—to enhance his message. Little did he know how his rich metaphors would be misunderstood two millennia later.5
The chart6 below shows the general time-line of the pre-tribulation rapture position.
“THE CHURCH AGE” is the manufactured addition to God’s redemptive plan that separates the 70th week (7 years) from the other previous 69 weeks (483 years). The 70th week is pushed into the future and a gap in time of undetermined length is placed between Revelation 3:22 and 4:1. There is no biblical support for doing this. The first 3.5 years of the 70th week take place before the cross and the second 3.5 years take place after the cross. The “70th weeks of years” prophecy is consecutive with no postponement or gaps. Biblical scholar Ernst Hengstenberg asked, since “exactly 70 weeks in all are to elapse,… how can anyone imagine that there is an interval between the 69 and the 1, when these together make up the 70?”7 Exactly!
The pre-tribulation rapture interpretation was developed in the early part of the nineteenth century, and was made popular by the 1909 and revised 1917 Scofield Reference Bible.8 The newness of the position does not mean it’s wrong, but it does give reason to question it.
Relevant Questions to Ask