8/27/21

Why Be An Atheist? by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

 https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=5425

 Why Be An Atheist?

by  Dave Miller, Ph.D.

Why do we believe what we believe? Answers to this question are legion. However, the most basic human motivations that lie behind belief and practice may be identified in light of Bible teaching. Here are a few:

Greed/Materialism—“I can make money by believing this viewpoint.”

Jealousy—“If I hold this viewpoint I will be held in higher esteem than others.”

Loyalty—“I believe this viewpoint because my parents did.”

Ambition—“I will advance in my career if I believe this viewpoint.”

Selfishness—“I want to believe this viewpoint because it makes me feel better.”

Sensualism—“I believe this viewpoint because I can indulge myself sexually.”

Ignorance—“I’m not sure why I believe this viewpoint, but I do.”

Bias/Prejudice—“I don’t believe that viewpoint because of who else believes it.”

Indifference—“I hold this viewpoint, but it really doesn’t matter much to me.”

Foolish Pride—“The smart people don’t believe that viewpoint.”

If God exists and the Bible is His Word, then what we believe and why we believe it are crucial and eternally significant.

Intellectuals throughout history have considered themselves superior to others based on their alleged intellectual prowess. The atheistic elite of our day ooze arrogance in their condescending dismissal of those who believe in God. They seek to give the impression that they believe what they believe due solely to a rational, unbiased, sensible analysis of facts that have, in turn, led them to the beliefs that they hold. On the other hand, those who do not consent to their infidelity are depicted as ignorant, biased, and stupid. Consider the frantic judgment leveled by prominent evolutionist Richard Dawkins of Oxford University: “It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid, or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).”1

Despite such high and holy self-righteous declarations, the fact is that the very nature of error is such that a person can continue to embrace it only by means of impure motives. If an honest atheist is willing to examine the facts, he will either cease being an atheist or he will cease being honest. Hence, those who have distinguished themselves for their ongoing vociferous defense of their infidelity most assuredly possess one or more motives deep down in their hearts that enable them to dismiss the actual evidence that disproves their viewpoint.

Interestingly, atheists occasionally divulge their inner motives without particularly intending to do so. For example, in a makeshift “debate” conducted in 2010 on the campus of Caltech between atheists Sam Harris and Michael Shermer on the one hand, and Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston on the other, Sam Harris made the following observations:

Most of our neighbors believe in…a personal God who hears our prayers and occasionally answers them…. The God that our neighbors believe in is essentially an invisible person. It’s a Creator deity who created the universe to have a relationship with one species of primates. Lucky us. And He’s got galaxy upon galaxy to attend to, but he’s especially concerned with what we do, and he’s especially concerned with what we do while naked. He almost certainly disapproves of homosexuality.2

While we humans often constitute a hodge-podge of conflicting motives and inclinations, nevertheless, in our conversations we often unwittingly expose one or more of our hidden motives for believing what we believe. To ridicule Christians for holding to an ethical framework that was authored by the Creator of the Universe (Who created human sexuality) implies that the accuser disagrees with those restrictions on sexual behavior. But notice further that Harris implied something else: his belief in atheism enables him to not be concerned about his sexual behavior. The same motives that infected pagans throughout history in which their heathenism enabled them to be released from sexual inhibitions—from the Moabites3 in 1500 B.C. to the Ephesians4 in A.D. 60—are the same for atheists. Unbelief allows a person to be free to engage in whatever sexual activity he desires, whenever and with whomever. The intellectual sophistication and academic elitism that accompanies modern atheism is nothing more than a smokescreen to indulge the flesh. The reason Hollywood hates Christianity is because they want to be able to give full vent to their illicit fleshly appetites without feeling the guilt that comes from flaunting the moral restraints given by the Creator. Christians in Ephesus in the first century fully understood these ulterior motives that underlie one’s belief system. They lived in a city that hosted one of the seven wonders of the ancient world—the Temple of Artemis—dedicated to the goddess with her vulgar adornments.5 Paul spoke right to the soul of the population when he penned the following inspired words to the church—an apt evaluation of the unbelief that grips both atheism and much of the religious error of the world:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! (Ephesians 4:17-20, ESV, emp. added).

EndnotES

1 Richard Dawkins (1989), “Book Review” (of Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey’s Blueprint), The New York Times, section 7, April 9, p. 3, emp. added.

2 Sam Harris (2010), “The Future of God Debate: Sam Harris and Michael Shermer vs. Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston,” Nightline Faceoff, ABC News, March 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E99BdOfxAE; See also Dan Harris and Ely Brown (2010), “‘Nightline’ ‘Face-Off’: Does God Have a Future?” March 23, http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/nightline-face-off-god-future/story?id=10170505.

3 Numbers 25:1-2.

4 Acts 19.

5 James Edwards (2016), “Archaeology Gives New Reality to Paul’s Ephesus Riot,” Biblical Archaeology Review, 42[4]:28-30, July/August.

 

Whoever Digs a Pit Will Fall Into It by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

 

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=935

Whoever Digs a Pit Will Fall Into It

by  Kyle Butt, M.Div.

One of the most outspoken atheists of the past couple of decades is a man named Dan Barker, who wrote his most recognized work, Losing Faith in Faith, after he “deconverted” from a form of evangelical Christianity to naturalistic atheism. In 1992, he was the public relations director for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. In his book, Baker uses a host of arguments to attack religious people who have attempted to “reconvert” him. In a chapter titled Why I Am An Atheist, Barker lists several reasons that religious people have offered to explain his “deconversion.” Sadly, many of those people attacked Barker’s character. The following is a brief list of some of the allegations they made against Barker.

  • “You are arrogant and hate God.”
  • “Your heart is in the wrong place.”
  • “You are cold, empty, and pessimistic.”
  • “You are an angry person.”
  • “You are too stupid, limited, or afraid to see what is obvious to everyone else.”

After denying these allegations, Barker stated: “A strong clue that a person is arguing from a position of weakness is when character, rather than content, is attacked. Bertrand Russell pointed out that ad hominem is a last-ditch defense of the losing side” (1992, p. 88). Therefore, according to Barker (who agrees with Russell), a person who uses arguments that attack character is a person who is fighting desperately on the losing side.

While the truth of Russell’s statement may be questioned (since there are many ill-informed ad hominem arguers who happen to be on the right side), it nonetheless is quite interesting that Barker falls headlong into his own pit by repeatedly attacking character rather than focusing on real evidence.

In fact, only a few pages earlier, Barker wrote an entire chapter titled “Ministers I Have Known,” in which he proceeded to attack the general character of ministers he has known. On page 78, Barker commented, “When I think of ministers I have known…I picture the overweight perspiring Foursquare preachers, waving their hankies, shouting and prancing about the stage, ruling their churches like little kingdoms.” Just one paragraph later, he included in this list the “skinny Mexican pastor in Nogales whose second wife was pregnant with his twelfth child!… And the televangelist I know who ran off with his secretary and was back on the air in less than two years.” The rest of the chapter consists of the same attack on the general character of ministers, as Barker views them. Near the end of the chapter, Barker wrote: “I have a friend who says if you were to take all the preachers in the world and lay them end to end, it would be a good idea just to leave them there.”

Now, let us apply Barker’s own reasoning to his chapter on ministers. The entire chapter attacks the character of ministers, and thus would be classified as an ad hominem argument (from the Latin meaning “to attack the man”). But, according to Barker, those who use such arguments are using “a last-ditch defense” and are on “the losing side.” In this instance, I agree wholeheartedly.

Again, in his treatment of those who are against abortion, Barker stated: “This is the real drive behind the antiabortionists: misogyny [hatred of women—KB]. I don’t believe that any one of them cares a hoot for a fetus” (p. 213, emp. added) Such a statement is definitely a bold, ad hominem attack on the motive and character of those who disagree with abortion. I, for one, can say with certainty that I do not hate women. However, I also can say with certainty that an unborn baby is innocent, and that God hates the shedding of innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17). It is on this basis that I must stand as an antiabortionist. Once again, using Barker’s own thoughts, he must be “arguing from a position of weakness.”

Please note that this article has not attacked Barker’s character. He is not referred to as a misogynist or anything of the kind; nor are any moral indiscretions alleged in an attempt to discredit his arguments. On the contrary, his own words have been used to show that, if his thinking is indeed correct about ad hominem arguments, then he is arguing from “a position of weakness rather than content,” and such an argument is a “last ditch defense of the losing side.”

[For a more in-depth refutation of Barker’s book, see: http://www.tektonics.org/JPH_BWTB.html]

REFERENCES

Barker, Dan (1992), Losing Faith In Faith—From Preacher to Atheist (Madison, WI: Freedom from Religion Foundation).

Who Makes the World’s Best Fliers? by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

 

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=2229

Who Makes the World’s Best Fliers?

by  Eric Lyons, M.Min.

For more than seven years, Dr. Robert Wood and a team of researchers from Harvard University have been studying flies and attempting to build a life-size, flying robot that can mimic the flight of living flies. The government is hopeful that robotic flies might one day be used as spies in surveillance missions, as well as to detect toxic chemicals used by terrorists. On July 19, 2007, MIT’s Technology Review announced that Wood’s “robotic fly has taken flight at Harvard University” (Ross, 2007). Dr. Ron Fearing of the University of California, Berkeley has been studying the dynamics of insect flight for years. In fact, he is Wood’s former Ph.D. advisor. He called Wood’s robotic flying insect “a major breakthrough” (as quoted in Ross).

What do brilliant scientists have to show for their seven plus years of research on flies? What was the “major project milestone” reported in Technology Review? Why was Wood joyfully “jumping up and down in the lab” (Ross)? Answer: his life-size robotic fly took off. It cannot maneuver in the air. It is unable to be controlled. It cannot avoid obstacles. It cannot slow down and land on a specific target. It does not have its own power source (and even if it did, it could provide no more than five minutes of power to fly). “At the moment, Wood’s fly is limited by a tether that keeps it moving in a straight, upward direction” (Ross). Yet, since “a lot of people thought it would never be able to take off,” such a feat is considered remarkable.

Admittedly, Woods and his colleagues have done a superb job in building a life-size robotic fly that can move upward on a tether by flapping its synthetic wings. It takes extremely intelligent individuals to develop their own fabrication process and manufacture a tiny robot that resembles and mimics (to some degree) living flies. Yet, these same men advocate that real flies, which have “long puzzled scientists and bedazzled engineers” with their “magical,” “sophisticated,” “intricate maneuvers,” are the end result of mindless time and chance, i.e., evolution (Dye, 2007). Such a proposition defies common sense!

Were Woods and his team of researchers to leave hundreds of tiny carbon-polymer pieces lying around in a lab for 100 years (or one billion years!), no reasonable person would conclude that, eventually, time and chance would assemble a robotic fly, much less one that maneuvers as well as a real fly. It has taken intelligent, hardworking scientists more than seven years just to make a robotic fly lift off the ground.

Who made the often imitated, but never duplicated living fly that can “change the direction of its flight by 90 degrees in about 50 thousandths of a second” (Dye)? Who designed the fruit fly’s “spiffy neuron-circuitry” that allows it to rotate from north to west and then zip westward “in one-fifth the blink of a human eye” (Dye)? Who made the fly, its sesame-seed size brain, and its complicated flight dynamics that scientists have been unable to “figure out” fully even after several years of study? Did mere time and chance create the common fly, which Dr. Michael Dickinson of the California Institute of Technology said has “the fastest visual system” and “most powerful muscles on the planet” (as quoted in Dye)? Should we conclude, as did Dr. Wood, that “[n]ature makes the world’s best fliers” (as quoted in Ross)? Certainly not! Only a superior Intelligence outside and above nature’s time and chance logically explains the existence of intricate design. Indeed, God is the builder and maker of all things (Hebrews 3:4).

REFERENCES

Dye, Lee (2007), “Scientists Study the Amazing Flight of Flies,” ABC News, [On-line], URL: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97651&page=1.

Ross, Rachel (2007), “Robotic Insect Takes Off for the First Time,” Technology Review, [On-line], URL: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19068/.

"THE GOSPEL OF JOHN" The Greatest Prayer Ever Prayed (17:1-26) by Mark Copeland

 








"THE GOSPEL OF JOHN"

The Greatest Prayer Ever Prayed (17:1-26)

 

INTRODUCTION
  1. "Some brethren pray by the yard; but true prayer is measured by weight, and not by length." - Charles Spurgeon
  2. This statement is true, for the greatest prayer ever prayed is recorded in Jn 17...
    1. It takes about six minutes to reverently read it aloud
    2. There may not be much length, but there is certainly a great depth and weight!
  3. Though there are approximately 650 prayers recorded in the Bible...
    1. Not one of them can match our Lord's "High Priestly Prayer" in Jn 17
    2. Nor can any prayer recorded outside the Bible

[What is it about this prayer that makes it so great? At least four reasons can be given. From Jn 17:1 we learn it is great because of...]

  1. THE PERSON WHO OFFERED THE PRAYER
    1. JESUS, REVEALED IN THIS GOSPEL AS...
      1. He who was with God in the beginning - Jn 1:1
      2. He who was God - Jn 1:1
      3. He who was in the beginning with God - Jn 1:2
      4. He who was the Creator of all things - Jn 1:3
      5. He was the light of men - Jn 1:4
      6. He who became flesh and dwelt among men - Jn 1:14
    2. JESUS, PROCLAIMED IN THIS GOSPEL AS...
      1. The Word - Jn 1:1,14
      2. The Lamb of God - Jn 1:29
      3. The Son of God - Jn 1:34
      4. The King of Israel - Jn 1:49
      5. The promised Messiah - Jn 4:25-26
      6. The Bread of Life - Jn 6:35
      7. The Light Of the World - Jn 8:12
      8. The Great "I Am" - Jn 8:56-58
      9. The Good Shepherd - Jn 10:11
      10. The Resurrection and The Life - Jn 11:25

      [The prayer in Jn 17 is great because the greatest Person who ever lived is the One who offered it! It is also great because of...]

  2. THE OCCASION THAT DEMANDED THE PRAYER
    1. OCCASIONS PROVIDE WEIGHT TO WORDS...
      1. Neil Armstrong said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
        1. If he had made the statement while playing hopscotch with the neighborhood children, nobody would have paid him attention
        2. He made it as he stepped down from his spacecraft, the first man to walk on the moon
      2. The situation helped give weight to his words!
    2. THE OCCASION SURROUNDING THIS PRAYER...
      1. Notice His first words: "Father, the hour has come" - Jn 17:1
      2. What 'hour' is that?
        1. His appointment with the cross - cf. Jn 16:31-32
        2. A time of separation, betrayal, suffering, and crucifixion
        3. A time in which God's eternal purpose is about to be carried out
        4. A time in which Jesus is about to bear the sins of the world on the cross!

        [The occasion, in which Jesus knows His crucifixion is imminent, gives great weight to the words of His prayer. Whatever preoccupied the mind of Jesus at this time must be very important! The prayer was also great because of...]

  3. THE CONTENTS OF THE PRAYER
    1. THIS PRAYER DEALS WITH GREAT THEMES...
      1. It takes us back and forward in time
        1. Back to eternity past - Jn 17:5
        2. Forward into the future glory in heaven - Jn 17:24
      2. It deals with glory
        1. The glory of the Father and the Son - Jn 17:1
        2. The disciples glorifying God on earth - Jn 17:10
        3. The Son giving glory to His disciples - Jn 17:22
        4. The disciples beholding the glory of the Son - Jn 17:24
      3. It discusses love
        1. The Father's love for believers - Jn 17:23
        2. The Father's love for Jesus - Jn 17:23-24
    2. THIS PRAYER CONTAINS GREAT PETITIONS...
      1. "Glorify Me" - Jn 17:1-5
      2. "Keep them" - Jn 17:6-12
      3. "Sanctify them" - Jn 17:13-19
      4. "That they all might be one" - Jn 17:20-23
      5. "That they may behold My glory" - Jn 17:24-26
    3. THIS PRAYER HAS THREE GREAT DIVISIONS...
      1. Jesus prays for Himself - Jn 17:1-5
      2. Jesus prays for His apostles - Jn 17:6-19
      3. Jesus prays for all believers - Jn 17:20-26

      [Even a brief examination of its contents reveal the greatness of this prayer, and why it is worthy of careful study. Finally, a fourth reason why this is the greatest prayer: because of...]

  4. THE VICTORY REVEALED IN THE PRAYER
    1. THE CONCERN OF JESUS IS EVIDENT...
      1. Pertaining to "the world" (used 19 times!) and the effect it can have on believers
      2. A justifiable concern, for we live in a world which is:
        1. Deceived (blinded by Satan) - cf. 2Co 4:3-4
        2. Dangerous (promises fulfillment, but will pass away) - cf. 1Jn 2:15-17
        3. Defiled (defiling those who accept it) - cf. Jm 1:27
        4. Divided (this is self-evident, especially in regards to religion)
    2. YET JESUS HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD...
      1. As He told His apostles prior to this prayer - cf. Jn 16:33
      2. In this prayer, the victory in Jesus is revealed! The world may be:
        1. Deceived, but Jesus has shown us reality, in revealing the only true God - Jn 17:3
        2. Dangerous, but Jesus provides security as we are kept in God's name - Jn 17:11-12
        3. Defiled, but Jesus provides sanctification through God's word - Jn 17:17
        4. Divided, but Jesus offers unity through His glory - Jn 17:22
CONCLUSION
  1. These four reasons help us appreciate why Jesus' prayer in Jn 17 has been called...
    1. "The Greatest Prayer Ever Prayed"
    2. "The High Priestly Prayer"
    3. "The Lord's Prayer" (not just that taught by Jesus in Mt 6 and Lk 11)
  2. It is indeed a great prayer...
    1. But it is a prayer in behalf of those who are Jesus' disciples
    2. If you are not a disciple, Jesus' prayer is that you first become one! - cf. Mt 28:18-20

Then as disciples of Jesus Christ, we should do all that we can to see that "The Greatest Prayer Ever Prayed" be fulfilled in our lives...!

Note: The main idea and many points for this outline came from a book by Warren Wiersbe which I believe is now out of print.

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2021
eXTReMe Tracker

Don’t Undermine Your Message by Ken Weliever, The Preacherman

 

 

 https://thepreachersword.com/2017/06/30/dont-undermine-your-message/#more-10905

Don’t Undermine Your Message

My time this week has been consumed with our Vacation Bible School and enjoying a visit from our son, Kenny, and playing with our grandchildren, Miles and Katherine. As a result, I’ve not been watching very much news.

However, I noticed on facebook when I was posting ThePreachersWord that President Trump has set off another Twitter firestorm with some insulting comments about some news anchors. I checked the news last night and heard a little bit about it.

So, what’s new?

I suspect that such tweets and battles with the media will continue for at least the next four years.

For the record, I was not a supporter of Mr. Trump, either in the primaries or general election. Oh, and before I’m accused of supporting “the other side,” I didn’t support them (or her) either.

Actually, I agree with several policy issues proposed and instituted by our President. Sadly, however, his message is being muddled by petty fights with talking heads, rival politicians, and basically, anyone who attacks him.

It has often been repeated, both by the President and his spokespersons, that if he’s attacked he will “punch back 10 times harder.” Too bad. Because it diminishes some good things he’s trying to accomplish.

However, the point of this post is not really about President Trump or politics. It’s about undermining OUR message. I’m talking about the message of the cross. The message of the gospel. The message that all Christians should be proclaiming either in word or in deed.

Unfortunately, Christians have not been exempt from the political polarization in the USA. The divide is apparent when a respected gospel preacher posts on facebook a condemnation of the ugly rhetoric of the President and the thread turns into a debate.

Let’s be reminded of what the Bible says about our actions, attitudes, and speech.

Eph 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Eph 4:31-32
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Matt 12:36-37
“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Col 4:6
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Rom 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Eph 4:1-4
I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Observations:

(1) Christians, called by God, ought to be living, talking, and acting in a way that’s compatible with our Faith.

(2) Christians must rise above the pettiness, coarseness, and carnality of the world. We must be transformed. Not conformed.

(3) Christians need to renounce the vulgarity, crudeness, and crassness of our culture. Instead, let’s exhibit qualities of kindness, gentleness, geniality, graciousness, patience, peacefulness, and love. Love to all men. And to each other, so the world may know that we belong to Christ.

(4) Christians are citizens of a heavenly kingdom. A spiritual Body. And a holy Temple. The kingdoms of earth will eventually fall. All of them. Someday. Let’s be numbered among the redeemed.

Brethren, let’s not undermine our message, with conduct that distracts from who we are, who our Master is, and what we are to be doing. With so many worldly distractions, let’s remember “‘the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Amen?

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman


BEWARE WHEN ALL MEN SPEAK WELL OF YOU BY STEVE FINNELL

 

http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com/2016/09/beware-when-all-men-speak-well-of-you.html

BEWARE WHEN ALL MEN SPEAK WELL OF YOU BY STEVE FINNELL


If all men are speaking well of you, a self examination might be in order. You might find room for improvement.

Luke 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their father used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

Jesus was speaking to His disciples. The disciples passed the woe test. All the apostles except John were executed or murdered for preaching the truth. All men did not speak well of them.

Mark 3:22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and He casts out demons by the ruler of demons."

Jesus passed His own woe test. All men did not speak well of Him.

Acts 7:1-59....59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Stephen passed the woe test with flying colors. Stephen could have just as easily been a "Seeker Friendly Preacher," however, he chose to preach the truth and it cost him his life. All men did not speak well of him.

Secular society, as well as many religious people, will not speak well of men who preach and teach the truth.

BEWARE WHEN ALL MEN SPEAK WELL OF YOU.



(All Scripture quotes from:NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)    

Calvinism book Chapter 11 BAPTISM by C.A. Feenstra

 

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Feenstra/C/A/1931/ch11.html

Chapter 11

BAPTISM

Q. Does GOD'S WORD teach that man is saved by the grace of God?

"For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men..." Titus 2:11

"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Rom. 3:24

"But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as they." Acts 15:11

"But by the grace of God I am what I am..." I Cor. 15:10

"For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory." Eph. 2:8-9

Q. According to GOD'S WORD, how is a man saved by grace?

"For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory." Eph. 2:8-9

"Not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit..." Titus 3:5

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God ... Ye must be born anew." John 3:5, 7

"And he (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved..." Mark 16:15-16

Q.1 Does GOD'S WORD teach that baptism is for the remission of sins?

"And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38

Q.2 Does GOD'S WORD teach that all men must be baptized to be saved?

"And he (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved..." Mark 16:15-16

Q.3 Does GOD'S WORD teach that baptism washes away sins?

"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name." Acts 22:16

Q.4 Does GOD'S WORD teach that baptism puts us into Christ?

"Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" Rom. 6:3

"For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ." Gal. 3:27

Q.5 Does GOD'S WORD teach that by baptism we put on Christ?

"For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ." Gal. 3:27

"Abide in me, and I in you." John 15:4

Q.6 Does GOD'S WORD teach that God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit at baptism?

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38

"And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him." Acts 5:32

Q.7 Does GOD'S WORD teach that it is necessary for one to be baptized in order to enter the kingdom of God?

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 3:5

Q.8 Does GOD'S WORD teach that baptism saves?

"Which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ..." I Pet. 3:21

Q.9 Does GOD'S WORD teach that when we are baptized we are added to the church by the Lord?

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls...
And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2:41, 47 AV

"And he is the head of the body, the church..." Col. 1:18

"For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body..." I Cor. 12:13

Q.10 Does GOD'S WORD teach that in baptism our old man or nature is put to death and buried?

"Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death ... For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin; for he that hath died is justified from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him ... Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus." Rom. 6:3-11

Q.11 Does GOD'S WORD teach that in baptism we are raised to walk in newness of life and to be alive unto God?

"We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life ... Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus." Rom. 6:4, 11

Q.12 Does GOD'S WORD teach that baptism is a form of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and that when sinners obey this form of teaching, they are delivered and made free from their past sins?

"We who were baptized...
Our old man was crucified...
We were buried...
Like as Christ was raised … so we also might walk in newness of life ... Whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form (or pattern) of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. Rom. 6:3-8, 17-18

Q.13 Does GOD'S WORD teach that the gospel is the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for sinners, and that in baptism man obeys this gospel in order to benefit from Christ's sacrifice?

"The gospel which I preached unto you ... by which also ye are saved ... That Christ died ... and that he was buried ... and that he hath been raised..." I Cor. 15:1-4

"And he (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved..." Mark 16:15-16

"What shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?" I Pet. 4:17

"Inflaming fire, rendering vengeance ... to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might..." II Thess." 1:7-9

Q.14 Does GOD'S WORD teach that what happens at baptism causes men to rejoice?

"And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing." Acts 8:38-39

"And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God." Acts 16:33-34

Q.15 Does GOD'S WORD teach that even sinless Jesus in taking the sinner's place, had to be baptized to fulfil all righteousness?

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John would have hindered him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? But Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffereth him. And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water." Matt. 3:13-16

Q.16 Does GOD'S WORD teach that Jesus, who was given all authority, commanded baptism?

"And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matt. 28:18-19

Q.17 Does GOD'S WORD teach that the apostles of Jesus commanded men to be baptized?

"And he (Peter) commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." Acts 10:48

Q.18 Does GOD'S WORD teach that we reject the counsel of God when we refuse to have ourselves baptized?

"But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God, being not baptized of him." Luke 7:30

Q.19 Does GOD'S WORD teach that baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God?

"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." I Pet. 3:21 AV

Q.20 Does GOD'S WORD teach that baptism is the washing by which the Spirit regenerates and renews the repentant believer?

"Not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit..." Titus 3:5

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 3:5

Requirements of GOD'S WORD
BaptismImmersionSprinkling
Water - Acts 8:36YesYes
Much water - John 3:23YesNo
A going into the water - Acts 8:36YesNo
A going down into the water - Acts 8:38YesNo
Both the baptizer and the one to be baptized
going down into the water - Acts 8:38-39
YesNo
A burial - Rom. 6:4YesNo
A planting - Rom. 6:4 AVYesNo
A resurrection - Col. 2:12YesNo
A birth - John 3:5-7YesNo
Body washed - Heb. 10:22YesNo
A coming up out of the water - Matt. 3:16, Acts 8:39YesNo

Q. Does GOD'S WORD teach that believing and repenting are always to preceed baptism?

"And he (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." Mark 16:15-16

"And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38

"But when they (the Samaritans) believed Philip preaching good tidings ... they were baptized..." Acts 8:12

"And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? (And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.) And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him." Acts 8:36-38

"And he (the jailor) called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God." Acts 16:29-34

Q. Where in GOD'S WORD do we find one example of a person who was baptized before he believed and repented?

Q. Does GOD'S WORD teach that households heard the WORD, believed, were baptized, and rejoiced because they were saved?

"And brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God." Acts 16:30-34

"And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized." Acts 18:8

Q. Since babies today cannot hear, believe, and rejoice, what proof do we have from GOD'S WORD that the babies in Philippi and Corinth could hear, believe, and rejoice?

* * *

"And having found the disciples, we tarried there (at Tyre) seven days ... And when it came to pass that we had accomplished the days, we departed and went on our journey; and they all, with wives and children, brought us on our way till we were out of the city..." Acts 21:4-5

"They therefore that were scattered abroad, went about preaching the word. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ. And the multitudes gave heed with one accord unto the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard, and saw the signs which he did ... But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." Acts 8:4-6, 12

Q. Why did Luke the inspired writer mention "children" at such an unimportant event as when the Christians at Tyre brought Paul on his way, but did not mention "children" when the people in the city of Samaria heard the gospel, believed and were baptized?

Q. If small children were baptized in Samaria, why did he not refer to them with the "men and women" in Acts 8:12?

Q. According to GOD'S WORD, who only are those added to the Lord?

"And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women..." Acts 5:14

* * *

Q. Since Matt. 28:18 teaches that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, where in GOD'S WORD do we find His command to us to sprinkle babies?

Q. From GOD'S WORD, can you give the names of some apostles and others who sprinkled babies?

Q. From GOD'S WORD, can you give the names of some babies who were sprinkled?

Q. Where in GOD'S WORD is baptism ever called a "sign and seal"?

* * *

Q. According to GOD'S WORD, how many baptisms do we have in this present gospel age?

"There is... one baptism." Eph 4:4-5

* * *

"Learn not to go beyond the things which are written." I Cor. 4:6

"Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son." II John 9

"Jesus... said
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:44, 48

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

Will and our obedience to GOD by Gary Rose

 

God created everything; everything that you can see, feel, touch, taste and much, much more ( including things that you cannot see, such as air, magnetism, molecules, etc. ). For several centuries now, humans have begun to understand the basic underlying principles ( that is, the laws God put in place ) that govern how the universe works. Our understanding of these laws has led to advances that would seem like magic to the first century Christians. But, our understanding has also led to the Atom ( and later Hydrogen ) bomb. So, its up to us to use our understanding wisely and do good and not evil.


If our understanding of what is good and what is evil is based on a whim or whatever we desire it to be, then great evil can be the result. Think of the holocaust for a moment and you will see that I am correct.


God has made laws for humans to live by, beginning with the Patriarchal, then the Law given to Moses and finally that of Christ, which was inaugurated by the shedding of Christs’ own blood. Law is not always an easy thing to comply with and some people will disobey a little and others to the point that we may wonder if they are even human at all.


A good example of obeying God is that of Jesus. He knew that he was going to suffer and die for all human beings, but nevertheless, he obeyed God’s will. A passage which comes to mind is…


Luke 22 ( World English Bible )

39, He came out, and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples also followed him.

40, When he was at the place, he said to them, “Pray that you don’t enter into temptation.”

41, He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down and prayed,

42, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.

43, An angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him.

44, Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

45, When he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping because of grief,


Jesus suffered both physically and mentally. It was not easy for Jesus to submit to the Father, but he did. Personally, I think that verse 42 ( part b, [which I made blue for emphasis] ) is one of the most important verses in the Bible. Why? Because if a person will subordinate their desires ( their will ) to that of Almighty God, then ultimately, only good will come of it.


And how do I know God’s will? The Bible, of course. Forget the mirror, each and every one of is not god; only GOD is GOD. Seek God’s will, obey it – and live!