Call To Die

Then [Jesus] said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. (Luke 9:23-24, HCSB)

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Location: Louisville, Kentucky, United States

follower of Christ, husband of Abby, father of Christian, Georgia Grace, and Rory Faith, deacon at Kosmosdale Baptist Church, tutor with Scholé Christian Tradition and Scholé Academy

Saturday, March 09, 2024

How many types of Jesus are in the Old Testament? - Dr. Mitchell Chase

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Saturday, March 02, 2024

Genesis 37:2-11 Introduction

Tomorrow (3/3/24) at Kosmosdale Baptist Church, my Sunday school class will begin a study of Genesis 37:2-50:26. A few students have expressed their love for this section of Scripture. Below are a couple of paragraphs from my introductory notes. 

The last part of Genesis, “the generations of Jacob” (Gen 37:2), focuses on Joseph with some attention given to his brothers as well. This section begins on an unhappy note, as the covenant family lacks peace, with Joseph’s brothers seriously mistreating him and dishonoring their father. By the end of Genesis, Joseph and his brothers’ relationship becomes healed through Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers, and Jacob’s family is kept safe even in Egypt.

God uses Joseph, who is godly, but who is rejected by his brothers, to save the covenant family and to heal broken relationships (Gen 45:5-8; 50:24). The Christian church has traditionally viewed Joseph as a type of Christ. (That is, many Christians have seen Joseph as one who, through God’s ability to foresee the future and to order the events of life, had a life that was–in many ways–a picture of what God would later do in saving the world through Christ.) Godly Joseph, beloved by his father (Gen 37:3; Mark 1:11), was sent to his brothers, but was then sold for twenty pieces of silver (Gen 37:38; Matt 26:15). After suffering and temptation (Gen 37:18-36; 39:17-20; Matt 4:1-11), righteous Joseph was exalted as a lord over his brothers.


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Thursday, February 22, 2024

Open Communion: A Move Toward the Subjective

[This post was originally published on this blog 9/26/16.]

Along with considering the proper subjects of baptism, re-establishing (we believe) the apostolic practice of baptism being a church ordinance reserved for believers [those demonstrating credible evidence of repentance and faith], Baptists through the ages have also had to consider the proper subjects of the second ordinance. That is: in our worship services, whom should we invite to partake of the Lord's Supper with us? As I mentioned in a previous post: some Baptist congregations practice open communion, inviting anyone who is a believer to the table. (I've heard that some liberal churches invite all people to the table regardless of faith, but according to Dr. Greg Wills, all Baptist congregations have historically seen faith as a prerequisite to the table.) Some congregations practice close communion, inviting any baptized believer to the table. A few congregations (including the famous Metropolitan Tabernacle in London) practice closed [or strict] communion, only inviting their own members to the table. 

I was raised in the close communion tradition, and I believe that this tradition is best reflective of biblical teaching. I have been surprised to find some Baptist brothers recently arguing for the open communion position. I believe that the practice of open communion is attended by a number of problems: biblically, historically, and practically. In this post, I would like to consider one problem with open communion: namely, the move toward subjectivism.

Our culture is characterized by a focus on the subjective. By subjective, I mean the personal (individual), opinion and experience-based aspect of perceived reality; rather than the objective: the universal (communal), facts-based aspect of reality, focused on what takes place regardless of the individual's perception. The practice of open communion elevates the subjective in two ways: 1. regarding the definition and nature of baptism; 2. regarding the presence of faith.

First: based on New Testament evidence, Baptists agree that "baptism" is properly defined as "the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" [BF&M 2000]. We also agree, based on the Great Commission, Peter's Pentecost sermon, and other New Testament texts, that baptism is to be an initiating ordinance into the church. By inviting the unbaptized to the Lord's Table, even if (according to their own understanding) the individuals involved have been "baptized" as infants, those who advocate open communion are making the definition and nature of baptism a matter of opinion rather than of fact.

Second: as mentioned in the first paragraph above, Baptists who affirm open communion typically invite believers alone to the Lord's Table. But here is an important question: how does a person know if he or she is a believer? In a healthy church situation, a person who comes to faith in Christ will be interviewed by the pastors/elders of the church. Upon finding that the person gives reasonable evidence of conversion, that person will then be baptized before the congregation. Baptism, then, is both a public witness for the one being baptized and to the one being baptized. In baptism, part of what is happening is that the congregation (through the church officer administering the baptism) is confirming that the one receiving baptism has given evidence of true conversion. Apart from baptism, properly administered, the question of whether a person is a believer is entirely subjective. In an open communion scenario, each individual in the congregation, without the confirming testimony of any local church, is invited to determine whether he or she has come to faith. Due the deceitfulness of our hearts, I believe that we need the formal counsel of our brothers and sisters in this matter. Whereas no congregational act is absolutely fool-proof, the close communion tradition, properly articulated, places an additional check upon individual self-deception.

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Thursday, February 08, 2024

Death and the Intermediate State

[Over the years, I've had occasion to speak with friends, co-workers, and students concerning questions about what the Bible says regarding what a person experiences when he or she dies, before the Final Judgment.]


Introduction


The Final Judgment

At the end of this present age (before God establishes the new heavens and new earth) all who have died will be raised from the grave. God will miraculously restore the body of each person, and all people will be judged before His throne. (See Revelation 20.)


The Intermediate State

But before the Final Judgment mentioned above, what will a person experience after death? (To re-state the question in theological terms: what will a person experience in the intermediate statethe mode of existence that occurs immediately after a person dies up until the time of the Final Judgment?)

The Importance of Scripture in Answering This Question

Our source for knowledge concerning what happens after we die must come from God. This knowledge lies outside of any normal human experience, and so we must seek answers from the LORD, who is the Giver of life, and who is Sovereign over life and death. Thankfully, God has given us certain knowledge about the intermediate state in His written Word, the Bible.

Sheol/Hades
As with some other important subjects—such as the Trinity, the nature of Satan, etc.—the state of souls after death is a matter that is much more clearly explained in the New Testament than the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the common term for the realm of the dead is "Sheol." This word seems to simply mean, "realm of the dead." The references to Sheol in the Old Testament do not give readers much indication of the nature of the realm of the dead, but are indicative of the idea that personality does not cease at death: that identity carries on into an afterlife. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, "Sheol" is rendered as "Hades". In certain New Testament passages quoting the Old Testament (as in Acts 2:27-31), this idea of "Hades" as the general realm of the dead is found.

Jesus’ Teaching Concerning the Intermediate State

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus says:

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers— so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (ESV)

In the above passage, Jesus gives His listeners some important information about what they may expect immediately after they die.


Sheol Is Divided 
In this New Testament account, we get some important information in terms of the state of affairs regarding the afterlife in the Old Testament era (the New Testament era not being inaugurated until the passion of Christ: see Luke 22:20). In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus pictures the afterlife as being divided between a place of joyful rest and a place of sorrowful torment, with a wide gulf set between these realms.


The Humble Will Receive the Loving Fellowship of “Abraham”

In Jesus’ account, Lazarus—the humble poor man—is taken away to Abraham as soon as he dies. The text above says that Lazarus was at “Abraham’s side”—the older translations say “in Abraham’s bosom”—the idea is not just that Lazarus is situated close to Abraham, but that he is (in a sense) embraced by Abraham: he is brought near to Abraham’s heart. Lazarus, who was ignored in life by the rich man and, it seems, by everyone else except the filthy dogs, is now given a place of great honor and he has fellowship with Abraham.


Abraham” is mentioned because he was a greatly respected example of faith, one who was known as God’s friend (see, for example, Genesis 15:6, 2 Chronicles 20:7, and Isaiah 41:8). When we who trust in Jesus die, we will have the opportunity to have fellowship with heroes like Abraham, but the Bible also indicates that we will find ourselves in the presence of all faithful people who have died before us; this is one reason why the Old Testament frequently speaks of people who die being ‘gathered to their people’ (see, for example, Genesis 25:8; 49:33). When the person who humbly trusts in Jesus dies, he is immediately taken into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is able to fellowship with heroes of the faith that we read about in the Bible, he is reunited with all his faithful departed loved ones—the Bible’s picture of the intermediate state is joyful indeed!


The Self-Centered Will Receive Torment

But notice the words from Luke 16:23-31 that are used to describe what the proud, compassionless rich man experiences when he dies: words like “thirst,” “anguish,” and “flame.” This wicked man experiences extreme discomfort and pain, he experiences frustration in that he can apparently see Abraham and Lazarus, but he can take no part in their joy, and when he addresses Abraham, he receives only righteous rejection. This is the fearful future that can be expected for all who fail to follow Jesus.

What has changed in the New Testament era?
Old Testament/New Testament: what's the difference for souls in the afterlife? Certainly, the saints on earth in the New Testament era—even into the present day—have a clearer view of our hope for life after death. We have heard and read the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43 ESV). We have read the Apostle's words that: "[T]o be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord" (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:8) and that if he were to die he would “depart and be with Christ” (see Philippians 1:21-23). Even the saints who had been in the afterlife from Old Testament times may have received a clearer view of God's redemptive plan upon the completion of Christ's work of salvation. At very least, saints who had been in the afterlife from ancient days would certainly have experienced great joy and celebration as Jesus faithfully endured the Cross, rose from the dead as the conqueror of sin, death and Hell, and then took His rightful place "at the right hand of the throne of God" (cf. Hebrews 12:2). It seems reasonable to suppose that those who died in the Old Testament era came either into an experience of increasing joy or increasing sorrow following the work of Christ.

A Future Hope and Warning
One day, the full number of God's elect sheep will have been gathered into the fold by the Good Shepherd (see John 10:16). One day, all of those "who have been predestined to be conformed to the image of [God's] Son" (cf. Romans 8:29) will have come to trust in Him. On that day, the Author of history will again step back onto the stage, descending in the way He ascended (see Acts 1:11). All of the dead will be resurrected and judged: those who are righteous in Christ—who have their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life—will experience the unparalleled joy of the "New Heaven and New Earth"; those who are outside of Christ—who are yet dead in their sins—will be condemned by their wicked deeds and will experience the unimaginable torment of the Lake of Fire (see Revelation 20-21).

The following chart which was created by my friend Jerry Dorris, helpfully systematizes the Bible's presentation of the afterlife:

What Makes the Difference in How We Experience the Intermediate State?

Jesus’ teaching indicates that, immediately after death, a person will experience either joy or anguish. What makes the difference: is it simply whether a person is poor or rich? Is it whether a person is humble or proud? Is it whether a person is charitable or selfish?


Jesus expected His hearers to do more than simply agree with His teaching. Simply nodding your head as you read passages like Luke 16:19-31 is not enough.


Jesus expected His hearers to do more than just try to follow His teaching as if it were a list of rules: after all, how could you “obey” a passage like Luke 16:19-31 in this sense? Would you try to become like Lazarus by making yourself poor, then having dogs lick your sores?


Jesus expected His hearers to follow Him. In Luke 9:23-24 Jesus said, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it.” (HCSB)


The first step to following Jesus is to confess that you have sinned against God. In some ways, each one of us has been like the rich man in Luke 16:19, seeking our own pleasure and enjoyment in the things of this world, while giving little to no thought to God or to others. Due to our sin, each one of us deserves the exact same kind of torment—the thirst, anguish, flame, frustration, and rejection—that the rich man received after death. On the Cross, Jesus took the torment that sinners deserve, as seen by the words He spoke from the Cross: “I thirst!” (John 19:28), “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34), etc. Jesus died the death that we deserve, He was buried, and He rose from the grave on the third day. Jesus now lives and offers eternal life to anyone who follows Him.

The Christian’s Great Hope in Death: Experiencing the Presence of the Lord

The Christian can have absolute confidence that if he dies—though his body will be placed in the ground awaiting the resurrection—his soul will immediately be ushered into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, who saves His people from their sins (see Matthew 1:21), as well as from death, which is the consequence of sin (see Romans 6:23).

My Plea to Anyone Reading These Words

Confess that you are a sinner. Turn away from your sin. Trust in Jesus and in His work on the Cross to save you from your sin and from the agony of death. Follow Jesus today.

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Saturday, February 03, 2024

Afterlife and Resurrection: Biblical Beliefs from the Beginning, According to Jesus

Leading "Jesus Seminar" member John Dominic Crossan argues that Jewish belief in an afterlife originated after the close of what we know as the Old Testament canon, concluding, “So belief in life after death has certainly not always been a part of biblical faith” [Crossan. Who Is Jesus? (Westminster: John Knox Press, 1996), 131].

But this statement is clearly seen as false when one examines the actual biblical text.

For in the second book of the Bible we read the recorded words of God to Moses, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6 KJV). God here uses the present tense “I am” when speaking of men whom Moses knows to be long deceased. And so, if God is presently the God of these men when speaking to Moses, it is clear that these men are yet, in an entirely real sense, still alive, for God is not claiming to be a god over now-inanimate matter, but over living individuals.

This is not my argument, but rather the argument of Jesus Himself, as seen in the following passage:

On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Him and questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, Moses said, `If a man dies, having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up an offspring to his brother.'
"Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother; so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. And last of all, the woman died.
"In the resurrection therefore whose wife of the seven shall she be? For they all had her."
But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures, or the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
"But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, `I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
But when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together. (Matthew 22:23-34 NASB)

The Pharisees were silenced at Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection. The question is, will Crossan display this same kind of common sense in light of the authority of Jesus, or will he persist in railing against the plain teaching of God’s Word, continuing to attack the doctrine of the resurrection with charges that have already been sufficiently answered by our Lord?

[This blogpost was originally published on 8/24/05 under the title, "A Simple Contradiction."]

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Thursday, January 18, 2024

The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace

The following are some notes from Richard Barcellos, “The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace,” ARBCA General Assembly, 2011.

“The Lord’s Supper is a means of grace at which Christ is present by His divine nature and during which the Holy Spirit nourishes the souls of believers with the benefits wrought for us in Christ’s humanity, which is now glorified and in heaven at the right hand of the Father.”

I. The Biblical Data

A. 1 Cor 10:14-22

1. Emphasis on the “vertical” communion in the Lord’s Supper, as expressed in the contrast against fellowship with demons.

2. This passage speaks of a present communion with the body and blood of the living Christ.

B. Ephesians 1:3

1. The Spirit is the one Mediator between Christ and men. 

2. We have already begun to experience God’s blessings in the heavenly realm through the Spirit bringing treasures from the age to come to our souls. 

II. The Confessional Formulation

A. Bases for the Confessional Witness

1. The words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel accounts .

2. The words of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 10-11.

3. The grace of faith, and how it grows and develops through the use of means.

4. Union with Christ;

5. The mediatorial work of the Spirit in bringing the benefits of Christ to believers.

B. The Confessional Witness (2LBCF 30:7)

1. “The Supper confirms the faith of believers in the benefits of Christ’s death.”

2. “The Supper is a means through which spiritual nourishment and growth in Christ occurs.”

3. “The Supper is a bond and pledge of communion with Christ.”

III. Final Thoughts

A. The Supper is not ONLY a memorial meal.

        B. In taking the Supper, our focus should be less introspective and more Christ-focused.

        C. The Lord’s Supper is directly connected with Lord’s Day worship in the Bible and sub-apostolic            tradition.

        D. We must highlight the past, present, and future work of Christ in taking the Supper.

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Thursday, January 11, 2024

Some Reasons to Deny the Physical Presence of Jesus' Body in the Elements of the Lord's Supper

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Luke 22:19-20 NASB)

In general, the faithful Christian should be cautious about taking any kind of "just me and my Bible"
approach to forming convictions concerning the Faith. The Lord Jesus established a community of believers and He appointed teachers within that community. We should have humility to learn from the past generations of the faithful.

On the other hand, Christians who self-consciously hold to the principles of the Protestant Reformation must declare that the Bible is necessary, authoritative, sufficient and clear: Scripture alone is the final authority regarding matters of faith and practice. Other authorities are composed of men who are fallible and subject to error, while God's Word is perfect (cf. Psa 19:7): infallible and inerrant.

And so, though major streams of religious tradition that self-identify as "Christian"–and, indeed, perhaps the majority of actual followers of Christ throughout the ages–have believed that the physical body and blood of the glorified Christ are somehow present in the elements of the Lord's Supper, the first and foremost examination regarding this issue should not take place on the basis of human history books or opinion polls, but on the basis of the biblical data.

In regard to the words from Jesus, quoted above, one must note:

1. Jesus does not use the verb "become," but the simple verb "to be" [in this case, "is"].
2. In other passages, Jesus uses the verb "to be"in ways that are clearly metaphorical–ways in which "become" clearly cannot be supplemented to it–no one, for example, argues that Jesus became a literal door when He declared "I am the door" (John 10:9).
3. Likewise, in Luke 22:20 (repeated in 1 Corinthians 11:25), the words “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” cannot be taken literally, “for clearly the cup itself is not actually the new covenant;” “Paul means, rather, that the cup represents the new covenant inaugurated by Christ’s blood. Similarly, when Jesus says that the bread 'is My body,' it likely means that it represents what Christ has done on behalf of the church through his sacrifice." (Schreiner, New Testament Theology)
4. In reviewing Jesus' institution of the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, the Apostle Paul quotes Jesus as twice saying: "Do this in remembrance of Me." This seems to point to the character of the Lord's Supper, not as a partaking in ingesting the physical body and blood of Jesus, but as a memorial feast, antitypical of the Passover (see below).
5. The Lord's Supper clearly has its background in the Passover: in the Passover there is no thought of the bread and wine becoming the body and blood of the sacrificial lamb.
6. In the cultures to whom the Gospels and Epistles were addressed (note Paul's comparison between the Lord's Supper and idol feasts, 1 Cor 10:21), there was no thought of the elements in religious feasts becoming the physical body and blood of a deity/religious figure.
7. If the Lord's Supper was meant to involve the physical presence of the body of Jesus in the elements, therefore, this aspect of the Lord's Supper would be a point of explicit contrast to both the Passover and to idol feasts; in order to make this point of contrast clear to the earliest church, more explicit instruction would be required from the apostolic writings.

Traditions that teach the physical presence of Jesus' body in the elements invariably neglect the implications of the fact that the glorified Christ is currently seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, having completed His gospel work once and for all (cf. Psa 110:1; Heb 1:3; 7:27; 10:10-14), and they make the Lord's Supper not just a crucial corporate proclamation of the gospel, but a part of a gospel-obscuring (at very best) sacerdotal system.

[See:

Peter Gentry, “The Lord’s Supper BF&M Article 7b,” An Exposition from the Faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (Louisville: The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2001), 25-28.

Thomas Schreiner, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 730-734.]

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Wednesday, January 10, 2024

My Personal Testimony

Christians have always told the Good News of Jesus to people who are not Christians in two different but connected ways. Christians have focused on: 1. telling others about the teaching of the Bible; 2. speaking about their own personal relationship with Jesus.

We see examples of how the very first Christians told the Good News of Jesus through the teaching of the Apostle Paul. In Acts 17:22-31, we read how Paul told the Good News of Jesus by explaining teaching based on the Bible. In Acts 22:6-21 and 26:4-23 we read how Paul also told about his personal relationship with Jesus in order to share the Good News about who Jesus is and what He has done.

Recently, I was re-visiting the story of my personal relationship with Jesus. I would like to once again recount that story below:

From the time when I was a small child, I have always gone to church meetings with my grandmother or my parents and most people thought that I was a good person. When I was nine years old, I came to understand that I was not a good person: that I had broken God’s Law and my life needed to be changed or I would face God’s wrath forever. I had heard that if God was angry with me and I died, my soul would go to place of pain and fire called Hell. I talked to the preacher at the church I went to about what I needed to do to stay out of Hell. The preacher asked me some questions about Jesus and I gave him all the answers that he wanted to hear because I knew many facts about Jesus from having gone to church for so long. The preacher told me to repeat a prayer after him and to completely believe what I prayed. I prayed this prayer and wanted to believe what I prayed. Still, there was no basic change in my life. It was difficult to be certain in my mind that I had completely believed the prayer that I had prayed, so it was difficult to be certain that I was not headed for Hell when I died.

On one Sunday morning when I was thirteen years old, my Sunday school teacher, Russell Jones, spoke about how Jesus is Lord: how He is completely good and He is King over everything. The teacher said that if we had not called out to Jesus to take control of our lives and to take away our badness– and give us His goodness– then God was still angry with us for our sins and we would go to Hell for breaking His Law.

I then understood that I was someone who lived only for my wants and that I had not submitted to the Lord Jesus. I called out to Jesus to take control of my life. I asked Him to take away my badness and to give me His goodness.

Since that day, it has often been difficult to live for the Lord Jesus. I have often wanted to follow plans that I have made for myself rather than the plans that Jesus has for me, as found in His book, the Bible. Every day, I call out to Jesus to give me understanding from the Bible of how to live in a way that pleases Him. I believe that Jesus is in control of everything that happens in the world. I believe that Jesus became my friend when I called out to Him. I believe that everything that happens in the lives of Jesus’ friends is for our good, even if some things seem bad at first. I believe that anyone who calls out to Jesus to take control of his or her life, trusting in Him alone, can be certain that God will never be angry with him or her, that he or she will never go to Hell, and that he or she will live as Jesus’ friend forever.

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Thursday, January 04, 2024

Sermon Notes on "Why Am I Baptist?" by Tray Earnhart

[The were taken on February 20, 2011, at Kosmosdale Baptist Church.]

I. Introductory Question/Observations:
A. Question: in 1 Cor 3:1-9 is Paul prohibiting labels like "Baptist?"
B. Observations:
1. Many people define "Baptist" by what we do (or what we do not do).
2. Our first allegiance is to be to Christ and His gospel.
3. Denominations can be good and can help a local church to avoid confusion in worship.
4. If we believe another denomination is more biblical, we should leave Baptist life and join with that other denomination.

II. 8 Reasons Why I'm Baptist:
[Tray noted that these reasons are not original to him, but are drawn from a variety of sources. The first reason is foundational, and the second is what most easily distinguishes Baptists, but otherwise Tray said these are not presented in any particular order.]
1. Our view of Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
2. Believers' baptism by immersion: Acts 18:8, belief precedes baptism.
3. Regenerate church membership: because the purity of the church is at stake (Ephesians 5:25-27).
4. The priesthood of believers.
5. Local church autonomy.
6. Evangelism and missions.
7. Confessions.
8. Religious liberty.

III. Additional Notes:
A. The above reasons focus on who we are, not just what we do, though who we are impacts what we do.
B. It is important to note that you can be a Christian and not be a Baptist; likewise, you can be a Baptist and not be a Christian.

-Turn to Christ today.

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Thursday, December 21, 2023

R.C. Sproul on the History of Christmas Celebration

On December 22, 2011, the Renewing Your Mind radio broadcast aired a presentation from R.C. Sproul on the history of Christmas. I found this presentation to be very informative.

A few notes from the presentation:
  • In the first few centuries A.D., the Church established the celebration of Christ's birth on January 6th, a date which is still honored as Christmas in some Eastern communions. January 6th was originally celebrated to commemorate the day of Jesus' baptism, but the Church began to honor His birth on this day as well, and over time the celebration of His birth took precedence.
  • December 25th was established as the day to celebrate Christmas by a decree of Emperor Constantine, and he set Christmas on this day for the specific purpose of replacing existing pagan celebrations on the same day.
  • Sproul seems to view Christmas celebration not as an example of syncretism (a blending of pagan and Christian practices), but as an appropriate repudiation of the original pagan celebrations, based on mythology, in favor of honoring Christ, based on the saving work of God in history.
The entire presentation may be heard HERE.