Ronnie W. Rogers
Although the clearest meaning of baptism or baptize is to dip or immerse, several Christian traditions sprinkle or pour, normally associated with traditions that practice pedobaptism (infant baptism). This seems to be done by marginalizing or even ignoring the grammatical, historical, and metaphorical meaning of the terms. David Allen writes, “After noting most translators…
See Pt I before delving into this deeper discussion on this subject. There are two aspects of God’s will. One is his objective will, which is for everyone, all the time. The Scripture is the objective will of God. It is the revealed will of God for everyone, everywhere, and everywhen. The second is the…
All of what we talk about, both conditional prayers, the condition (if you ask) and the consequence (I will do), along with events that are determined, are included in what is called praying in the will of God (Eph 1:11; 1 John 5:14–15; 3:22). In Pt I, I give two examples of conditional praying, and…
Calvinists are deterministic in the compatible style.[1] All determinists argue that events happen because they were determined to happen in the way they happened. Events, including salvation, result from God’s determined plan; therefore, salvation cannot be conditioned on a person’s exercising libertarian faith. In this article, I use Calvinism to refer specifically to Calvinists, and…
The Jews are the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom God chose to make everlasting promises (covenants) including an everlasting land covenant (Gen 12:1–7;13:14 –17; 15:7; 17:1–10; 26:1–5; 28:13–15; 35:10–12; 1 Chron 16:16–18; Num 34:7–12). God called Abram to leave his country and “go to the land which I will show you” (Gen…
We are often reminded how blessed we are to be Americans, and indeed we are. Sadly, we often hear many who are aware of this blessing but express disdain for preachers being involved in politics or for Christians mixing their faith with politics. Samuel Adams (1172-1803), called by his contemporaries “The Father of the American…
As the Ottomans advanced into Europe, Pope Pius II said, “Can we expect peace from a nation which thirsts for our blood . . . Mahomet will never lay down his arms until he is either wholly victorious or completely vanquished. Each success will be only a stepping-stone to the next until he has mastered…
Mark 11:22–24 Jesus called the disciples to faith in God through him for salvation, service, and the advancement of his kingdom rather than Judaism. He called them to lives of robust faith (Mark 11:22–24). They would especially need faith to serve Christ during and after the crucifixion, when he was no longer with them, and…
A good place to start when witnessing to Jews is the Old Covenant. While that certainly plays a part in the grand scheme of witnessing to pagan Gentiles, it may not always be the best place to start since they may not know or even care that there is an Old Covenant made with Israel.…
Commenting on Paul’s words in Romans 9, John Calvin candidly explains, “He concludes that God has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth (Rom 9:18). You see how he refers both to the mere pleasure of God. Therefore, if we cannot assign any reason for his bestowing mercy on…