Bible/Theology
The Baptist Faith and Message (BFM) says of the pastor’s office, “The office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”[1] The meaning of the term pastor in the 2000 BFM is not in question, though some try to make it unclear. However, three of those who served on the 2000 BFM committee…
Read MoreAll people belong to the human race. Because all people are created in the image of God (Gen 1:26–28), they are essentially equal. Bearing God’s image is an essential and uniquely human property, which is the irreplaceable principal locus of our human identity. Other identifying qualities drawn from experience or development do not and cannot…
Read MoreFrequently, it seems, we think of the New Testament as demonstrative of God’s salvific love for all and the Old Testament as demonstrative of God’s holiness. While the Old Testament does demonstrate God’s holiness, it also demonstrates his heart for all to come to know him as the one true God before it is everlastingly…
Read MoreWe can safely say, prior to the death of Christ on the cross, one was still saved by faith, and God was righteous to forgive one’s sin based upon the merits of the gospel that Christ would die for the sins of the world (even though one could not as yet hear and believe in…
Read MoreThese are the two pillars upon which the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN) stands. While I am not providing formal definitions for the CBN, I am defining the terms for those who have asked because they know I am a part of the CBN. The two pillars provide the product and provision that result from divinely…
Read MoreThe Grammatical Historical Method (GHM) approaches the Bible as the holy word of God and therefore strives to discover the biblical author’s initially intended meaning in the verse and passage under consideration. In other words, the interpreter asks, what did the author (like Matthew, Paul, or Peter) mean by what he said, and how did…
Read MoreThis passage gives insight into the very nature of the gospel encounter. We see the genuine offer of the gospel, and the need and urgency to accept it, which the listeners can do; or they can reject it with full knowledge and remain in their sin. “So Jesus said to them, For a little while…
Read More“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and…
Read MoreI gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able (1 Corinthians 3:2) Note the past tense verb, gave milk, referring to times in the past when Paul taught the Corinthians milk because they were not ready for meat and that…
Read MoreSome propose that it is unusually cruel of God to punish man for eternity, regardless of what man did. This perspective is erroneous for four reasons. First, it is based on an inadequate view of the heinousness of sin. Because man is sinful, he is utterly incapable of apprehending or appreciating the sinfulness of sin.…
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