The Scriptures Are All Sufficient by Alfred Shannon, Jr.

The Scriptures Are All Sufficient

The apostle Paul reminded a young Timothy…”And that from a child you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim 3:15). Truly, the scripture is all sufficient to save a man from all unrighteousness. Allow the scriptures prove it.
One can be saved by reading the Bible only. If he never reads the creeds or catechisms of men, he can find what he must do to be saved by reading the Scriptures. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved” (Acts 16:30,31). “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37,38).
John wrote “that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Jn. 20:30,31). Are the Scriptures sufficient to that end, or did John fail? Further, Peter said that God “Has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). So, one can be saved by taking the Bible alone. One can be saved without ever hearing of Joseph Smith or Ellen G. White. Can the same be said about the Bible?
The apostle Peter tells the Christian to add to his faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. He then commands him to “give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall (2 Pet. 1:5-10). The Scriptures, therefore, are complete; they are all that is essential for the child of God to continue in a saved condition.
The scripture can’t make you a Catholic, a Baptist, a Methodist, an Adventist, a Mormon or any other denomination. The scripture can only make you a Christian and sufficiently make you prepared to be added to the Lord’s church, the church of Christ (Acts 2:37-47). The scripture is truly all sufficient. Notice what Paul continued to say to Timothy on this subject:  “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16,17). There is nothing any preacher could or should add to this scripture to make it more plainer than that!

God does not spare the branches by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/014-branches.html

 

God does not spare the branches
“Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either” (Romans 11:20, 21).

For a balanced understanding of this warning, we must remember the teachings in Romans 1 through 8.

Both Jews and Gentiles are condemned because of their sins, and can be saved only by grace. No one can earn salvation by keeping the law because all are sinners. Salvation is a gift of God, extended to those who believe in Christ.

Nothing external can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35, 39). Misapplying this passage, some claim it is impossible for a Christian to fall away. Although no external force can tear us away from God, many passages teach that we can choose the wrong path ourselves and go astray. Prominent among them are the warnings in Romans 11, that branches on God’s tree can be removed. As we consider these warnings we must keep in mind, that because of God’s grace, there is absolutely no reason for us to be cut off. We are cut off only if we turn our back on Christ.

In Romans 9 through 11 Paul discusses the new nature of God’s chosen people and explains why most of the Jews rejected Christ.

The Jews tended to think they would be saved because they were descendents of Abraham.

John the Baptist taught otherwise: “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire’” (Matthew 3:7-10).

Paul refers to Ishmael and Esau as proof that it is not a matter of physical birth. Although offspring of Abraham, they were not included among God’s people (Romans 9:6-15). Even of Israel, only a remnant would be saved (Romans 9:27, 29). God decides who is, and who is not, included among His people, and those who rejected the Messiah would be “utterly destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:23; see Deuteronomy 18:15,18,19; Numbers 15:30, 31; Acts 7:37).

Now, anyone who believes in Christ can be saved, whether he is a Jew or a Gentile (Romans 10:8-15). Now, it depends on faith and spiritual rebirth, not on physical birth (1 Peter 1:23).

But this gospel must be obeyed, and many of the Jews refused to obey: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘LORD, who has believed our report?’So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: ‘Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.’ But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: ‘I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.’ But Isaiah is very bold and says: ‘I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.’ But to Israel he says: ‘All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people’” (Romans 10:16-21).

In Romans 11 Paul says that, although most Jews rejected the Messiah, God had not rejected His people, since all Jews still could be saved if they accepted Christ. The rejection of Christ by the Jews was part of God’s plan. This made it easier for believing Gentiles to be added to God’s people.

Paul then compares God’s people to an olive tree. The root is holy “and if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16). But dead branches are cut off. “Because of unbelief they were broken off” (Romans 11:20). Jews who do not accept Christ are removed from God’s people. Gentiles who believe in Christ are grafted onto God’s tree, although they originally came from a ‘wild’ tree.

But the Gentile believer may not be smug. “You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.’ Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” (Romans 11:19-24).

Now, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, we can be branches on God’s tree only by faith. And we are told to fear. If we are unbelieving or disobedient, we will be cut off. “For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all” (Romans 11:30-32).

Here Paul repeats the main theme of the letter to the Romans, that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are sinners and can only be saved by grace through faith in Christ. And he adds the warning that we must maintain our faith, otherwise we will be cut off. And severed branches can be grafted in again “if they do not continue in unbelief” (Romans 11:23, 24).

Jesus makes a similar comparison: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:1-8).

God does not spare the branches. A branch in Christ that does not bear fruit is taken away. Branches that bear fruit are pruned so they will bear more fruit. A pruned branch was referred to as having being ‘cleansed’. This is why Jesus says: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” (verse 3).

Jesus says: “I am the true vine.” Many religious people are branches on false vines sprouting like weeds from traditions and teachings of men.

After Jesus had made a harsh statement about religious people in His day, His disciples asked Him: “‘Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?’ But He answered and said, ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch’” (Matthew 15:12-14). Jesus had just told the Pharisees: “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Matthew 15:7-9).

These people are religious. They are praising God. But they are walking down the broad road to destruction because they blindly follow blind guides. They think they are branches on God’s tree, but they will be uprooted because in reality they are attached to a plant God has not planted. Turn your back on human denominations and serve God in the church of Christ.

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).

What a wonderful privilege that by grace we can be branches on God’s tree, that we can partake “of the rich root of the olive tree” (NASV), that we can be branches on the root that is holy (Romans 11:16, 17), that we can bear fruit because we abide in Christ and His word abides in us (John 15:1-8).

God does not spare the branches. Therefore “let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28, 29), “looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God” (Hebrews 12:15).
Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

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

It takes time to LOVE by Gary Rose

 

This picture caught my eye and the saying associated with it rings so true! If I live to be a hundred years old, I know that I will never completely comprehend human love, let alone the love that comes from God. That does NOT mean that I won't try to understand LOVE, however. And, even though I have read the following passage many, many times- still its worth reading and thinking about one more time...

1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 (World English Bible)

  ⁴  Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,  ⁵ doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;  ⁶ doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;  ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.  ⁹ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;  ¹⁰ but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.  ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.  ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love. 

Love will make you grow up and see that the world does not revolve around you. And the more I learn about how God loves, I realize that being a Christian was the very best commitment I have ever made;try it- you will love it!!

One last thing, be patient; it takes time to prove that you really love someone!!

"THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS" The Unity That Produces Joy (2:1-4) by Mark Copeland

                    "THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS"

                   The Unity That Produces Joy (2:1-4)

INTRODUCTION

1. At this point in his epistle to the Philippians, Paul is exhorting
   his brethren in regards to Christian living

2. In the previous section, we noticed that he encouraged them to
   manifest "Conduct Worthy Of The Gospel" (1:27-30)

3. In our text for this study, Paul exhorts them to manifest "The Unity
   That Produces Joy" (2:1-4)

4. In doing so, Paul describes three aspects of such unity:
   a. The MOTIVATION for having unity that produces joy (1)
   b. The NATURE of unity that produces joy (2)
   c. The ATTITUDES required for unity that produces joy (3,4)

[As we begin, let's carefully consider Paul's description of...]

I. THE "MOTIVATION" FOR HAVING UNITY THAT PRODUCES JOY (1)

   A. DO WE NOT HAVE ANY "CONSOLATION IN CHRIST"?
      1. When Paul says "if there is any consolation...", he is not
         doubting that there is
         a.  This is a common use of the conditional "if...then" where
             given the reality of the "if" clause, "then" a point should
             naturally follow
         b. For example, consider Ga 3:29...
            1) Where Paul wrote "If you are Christ's, then..."
            2) The "if" does not suggest doubt that they could be
               Christ's for in the previous verse he said that they
               were!
         c. In such cases, the "if" means the same thing as "since"
      2. Indeed, there is MUCH consolation (comfort) to be found in
         Christ!
         a. As expressed to the brethren at Thessalonica, there is
            consolation from Christ in "every good word and work"
            - 2Th 2:16-17
         b. And as written to the Corinthians, such consolation abounds
            even in the midst of tribulation - 2Co 1:3-5

   B. DO WE NOT HAVE ANY "COMFORT OF LOVE"?
      1. Do we not enjoy any comfort that comes from love?
      2. Does not the love that comes from God, Christ, the Holy Spirit,
         and even our brethren provide any comfort? - again, cf. 2 Co 1:3-5
      3. Indeed, it does to those who will receive it!

   C. DO WE NOT HAVE ANY "FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT"?
      1. Indeed, all who have been baptized into Christ has received the
         gift of the Holy Spirit - Ac 2:38-39; 5:32
      2. As the church (the temple of God), the Spirit dwells in us 
         - 1Co 3:16
      3. Even our individual bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit 
         - 1Co 6:19
      4. Not only by the Spirit have we all been baptized into one body,
         but have all been made to drink of the one Spirit - 1Co 12:13
         cf. Jn 7:37-39
      5. Indeed there is a true "communion of the Holy Spirit" available
         for Christians - 2Co 13:14

   D. DO WE NOT HAVE ANY "AFFECTION AND MERCY"?
      1. There is the "affection" that comes from Jesus and from other
         brethren - e.g., Php 1:8
      2. There is the "mercy" that comes from our loving Father in
         heaven - Ep 2:4-7

[Enjoying all these benefits, should they not serve to encourage us to 
have "The Unity That Produces Joy"?  It certainly moved Paul to write 
and encourage the Philippians toward this "unity"!

But exactly what kind of unity is it that produces joy...?]

II. THE "NATURE" OF THE UNITY THAT PRODUCES JOY (2)
 
   A. IT INVOLVES "BEING LIKE-MINDED"...
      1. Which means to "think the same thing"
      2. That this is a necessary quality of unity is evident from
         Paul's comments in 1Co 1:10

   B. IT INVOLVES "HAVING THE SAME LOVE"...
      1. This is a natural consequence if we are first "like-minded"
      2. Having the same love, we will love:
         a. The same things, in matters pertaining to Christ and His
            church!
         b. One another with the same kind of love
            1) Our love for one another will be of the same kind: 
               sincere, fervert, and from a pure heart - 1Pe 1:23
            2) Our love for one another will be mutual, not one-sided,
               as is often the case

   C. IT INVOLVES "BEING OF ONE ACCORD"...
      1. Literally, "of one soul; having your souls joined together"
      2. It suggests acting together as if ONE soul is driving them
      3. Therefore, working together in complete harmony, not as
         separate entities going our separate ways

   D. IT INVOLVES BEING "OF ONE MIND"...
      1. The NASV says "intent on one purpose"
      2. Not only working together outwardly, but inwardly, having the
         same purpose and intentions

[When such conditions exist in a local congregation, then "The Unity 
That Produces Joy" will be fully experienced!

But what are the attitudes required for having such unity?]

III. THE "ATTITUDES" REQUIRED FOR THE UNITY THAT PRODUCES JOY (3,4)
         
   A. "LET NOTHING BE DONE THROUGH SELFISH AMBITION OR CONCEIT"...
      1. First, it is necessary to point out those attitudes we should
         NOT have!
      2. Possessing these attitudes will destroy unity
         a. For both involve "self-centered" attitude
         b. Rather than a "Christ-centered" attitude
      3. Therefore, it is required that we rid ourselves of:
         a. The DESIRE FOR EXALTING SELF ("selfish ambition")
         b. The IMPROPER ESTIMATION OF SELF ("conceit")
      4. In place of these, we should substitute...

   B. "LOWLINESS OF MIND"...
      1. In other words, humility
      2. This will effectively replace the problem of "conceit"
      3. Humility should be easy to maintain if we remember our own
         faults

   C. "LET EACH ESTEEM OTHERS BETTER THAN HIMSELF"...
      1. This should be easy for us to do...
         a. For we are aware of our own defects, but we do not have the
            same clear view of the defects of others
         b. We can only see their OUTWARD conduct; in our case,  we can
            look WITHIN
         c. We see our own hearts, with all its faults; we cannot so
            look into the hearts of others
      2. In writing to the brethren at Rome, Paul exhorted them to outdo
         one another in this regard - "in honor giving preference to one
         another" - Ro 12:10b

   D. "LOOK OUT...FOR THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS"...
      1. This attitude eliminates the problem of "selfish ambition"
      2. It is the attitude of MATURITY, and was the attitude of Christ!
         - Ro 15:1-3
      3. So it should be the attitude of every Christian!

CONCLUSION

1. These attitudes are essential if we are going to have "The Unity That
   Produces Joy"!

2. This is not to suggest that these attitudes ALONE will bring about
   such unity...
   a. For "The Unity That Produces Joy" comes only when it it is unity
      based upon the truths Jesus taught
   b. These attitudes without that truth will only produce a false sense
      of joy
   c. But without these attitudes, holding to the truth itself will not
      give us the joy we seek!

Therefore, let us "fulfill our joy" by making sure that we manifest
these attitudes as we attempt to live according to the truth that is in
Jesus!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

Fact—The New Testament is the Most Historically Accurate Book Ever Written by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=524

Fact—The New Testament is the Most Historically Accurate Book Ever Written

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

Dismissing the miracles documented in the New Testament is a favorite pastime of many skeptics, and even some liberal-thinking religious leaders. However, this “dismissal” game gets extremely complicated because the miracles are so closely blended with historical facts that separating the two soon becomes like trying to separate two different colors of Play-Doh.^® Take, for instance, the plight of Sir William Ramsay. His extensive education had engrained within him the keenest sense of scholarship. Along with that sense of scholarship came a built-in prejudice about the supposed inaccuracy of the Bible (especially the book of Acts). Ramsay noted: “…[A]bout 1880 to 1890 the book of the Acts was regarded as the weakest part of the New Testament. No one that had any regard for his reputation as a scholar cared to say a word in its defence [sic]. The most conservative of theological scholars, as a rule, thought the wisest plan of defence [sic] for the New Testament as a whole was to say as little as possible about the Acts” (1915, p. 38).
As could be expect of a person trained by such “scholars,” Ramsay held the same view—for a while. He held the view only for a brief time, however, because he did what few people of his time dared to do. He decided to explore the actual Bible lands with an open Bible—with the intention of proving the inaccuracy of Luke’s history as found in the book of Acts. However, much to his surprise, the book of Acts passed every test that any historical narrative could be asked to pass. After his investigation of the Bible lands, he was forced to conclude:
The more I have studied the narrative of the Acts, and the more I have learned year after year about Graeco-Roman society and thoughts and fashions, and organization in those provinces, the more I admire and the better I understand. I set out to look for truth on the borderland where Greece and Asia meet, and found it here [in the Book of Acts—KB]. You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian’s, and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment, provided always that the critic knows the subject and does not go beyond the limits of science and of justice (1915, p. 89).
The renowned archaeologist Nelson Glueck put it like this:
It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which conform in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible (1959, p. 31).
Considering the fact that the land of Palestine in the days of the New Testament writers tossed and turned on a sea of political, economical, and social unrest, I would say that its historical accuracy is pretty amazing. Travel to the Holy Lands and see for yourself if you doubt New Testament accuracy. Carry with you an honest, open mind and a New Testament, and I assure you that you will respect the New Testament writers as accurate historians by the end of your journey.

REFERENCES

Glueck, Nelson (1959), Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Cudahy).
Ramsay, William (1915), The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1975 reprint).

Which Law Was Abolished? by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=531

Which Law Was Abolished?

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

A great deal of confusion exists in the religious world concerning what spiritual law man is under today. Some say the old law still is binding—all of it. Others say that most of it has been abolished, but that some of it still is in effect. Many simply pick and choose laws out of both testaments and abide only by those that are appealing to them. Much of the confusion today about the old law and the new law is a result of the false teachings of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. This intensely evangelistic group teaches that the Ten Commandments still are binding in the present age. Although most Christians readily agree that nine of the Ten Commandments either are stated explicitly or are implied in the New Testament (and thus binding today because they are part of the new law), Seventh-Day Adventists actively teach that the Ten Commandments (including and especially the command to observe the Sabbath day—Exodus 20:8) are part of “God’s unchangeable law” (from the Seventh-Day Adventist’s official Web site—www.adventist.org/beliefs). Whereas certain parts of the Old Testament have been abolished, they insist that God intended for the Ten Commandments to be an eternal covenant that all of His children must follow.
In response to such teachings, some Christians (like myself) quickly cite passages of Scripture that indicate the old law has been taken away. For example, the writer of Hebrews plainly stated that “if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second” (8:7). Then, quoting the prophet Jeremiah, he wrote: “Because finding fault with them, He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt’ ” (8:8-9; cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34). Elsewhere, the apostle Paul stated that Christ has “wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14, emp. added). The old law has become “obsolete” (Hebrews 8:13; cf. 7:12; Ephesians 2:14-16). Although we still can learn numerous valuable lessons and principles about how to live godly lives from the old law (cf. Romans 15:4), we are bound by it no longer.
What some like the Seventh-Day Adventists teach, however, is that that God gave two laws on Mt. Sinai. They differentiate between the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial laws, saying that one (the Ten Commandments) is the Law of God and the other (the ceremonial laws) is the Law of Moses. Moreover, they assert that all of the passages in the Bible that refer to the old law being abolished are speaking of the ceremonial laws and not the Ten Commandments, which (they stress) were written with the very finger of God (Exodus 31:18).
Those who separate the “the Law of God” and “the Law of Moses” (in an attempt to find approval for continuing to follow portions of the old law) fail to realize that the Bible does not make such distinctions. Ezra read from “the Book of the Law of Moses,” which also was called “the Book of the Law of God” (Nehemiah 8:1,18). Luke recorded that after Mary gave birth to Jesus “when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons’ ” (Luke 2:22-24, emp. added). The Law of Moses and the Law of the Lord were the same thing and still are. When writing to the brethren in Rome, the apostle Paul quoted from the Ten Commandments and taught that it was part of the old law to which they had “become dead…through the body of Christ” (Romans 7:4,7). In his second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul wrote:

[C]learly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart…. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious…. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious (3:3-11, emp. added).

What was “passing away”? The law written on the “tablets of stone.” What was the law “engraved on stones” that was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai? The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). In this passage, Paul teaches the very opposite of what Seventh-Day Adventists teach—the Ten Commandments are not an eternal covenant.
The New Testament explicitly teaches that the old law has been abolished. Whether one is talking about the Ten Commandments or the ceremonial laws, the Law of Moses or the Law of God, all are considered the old law that no longer is in effect. Jesus Christ fulfilled that law and nailed it to the cross forever (Matthew 5:17-18; Colossians 2:13-17).

Cause and Effect—Scientific Proof that God Exists by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=879

Cause and Effect—Scientific Proof that God Exists

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

The Universe exists and is real. Every rational person must admit this point. If it did not exist, we would not be here to talk about it. So the question arises, “How did the Universe get here?” Did it create itself? If it did not create itself, it must have had a cause.
Let’s look at the law of cause and effect. As far as science knows, natural laws have no exceptions. This is definitely true of the law of cause and effect, which is the most universal and most certain of all laws. Simply put, the law of cause and effect states that every material effect must have an adequate cause that existed before the effect.
Material effects without adequate causes do not exist. Also, causes never occur after the effect. In addition, the effect never is greater than the cause. That is why scientists say that every material effect must have an adequate cause. The river did not turn muddy because the frog jumped in; the book did not fall off the table because the fly landed on it. These are not adequate causes. For whatever effects we see, we must present adequate causes.
Five-year-olds are wonderful at using the law of cause and effect. We can picture a small child asking: “Mommy, where do peaches come from?” His mother says that they come from peach trees. Then the child asks where the trees come from, and his mother explains that they come from peaches. You can see the cycle. Eventually the child wants to know how the first peach tree got here. He can see very well that it must have had a cause, and he wants to know what that cause was.
One thing is for sure: the Universe did not create itself! We know this for a scientific fact, because matter cannot create matter. If we take a rock that weighs 1 pound and do 50,000 experiments on it, we never will be able to produce more than 1 pound of rock. So, whatever caused the Universe could not have been material.

FROM NOTHING COMES NOTHING

I know that it is insulting to your intelligence to have to include this paragraph, but some people today are saying that the Universe evolved from nothing. However, if there ever had been a time when absolutely nothing existed, then there would be nothing now, because it always is true that nothing produces nothing. If something exists now, then something always has existed.

THE BIBLE SPEAKS ABOUT THE CAUSE

The Bible certainly is not silent about what caused the Universe. In the very first verse of the first chapter of the first book it says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.” Acts 17:24 records: “God, who made the world and everything in it…He is Lord of heaven and earth.” Exodus 20:11 notes: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them.”

• God is undoubtedly an adequate cause, since He is all-powerful. In Genesis 17:1, God told Abraham “I am Almighty God.”
• He came before this material world, fulfilling the criteria that the cause must come before the effect. The psalmist wrote: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psalm 90:2).
• And He definitely would instill within mankind the concept of morality, since He is a God of morals. Titus 1:2 says that He cannot lie.

Only God fits the criteria of an adequate cause that came before the Universe.

WHY DOES GOD NOT HAVE A CAUSE?

Hold on just a minute! If we contend that every material effect must have a cause, and we say that only God could have caused the Universe, then the obvious question is: “What caused God?” Doesn’t the law of cause and effect apply to God, too?
There is a single word in the law of cause and effect that helps provide the answer to this question—the word material. Every material effect must have a cause that existed before it. Scientists formulated the law of cause and effect based upon what they have observed while studying this Universe, which is made out of matter. No science experiment in the world can be performed on God, because He is an eternal spirit, not matter (John 4:24). Science is far from learning everything about this material world, and it is even farther from understanding the eternal nature of God. There had to be a First Cause, and God was (and is) the only One suitable for the job.

CONCLUSION

The law of cause and effect is a well-established law that does not have any known exceptions. It was not conjured up from the creationists’ magic hat to prove the existence of God (although it does that quite well). The evidence is sufficient to show that this material Universe needs a non-material cause. That non-material Cause is God. If natural forces created the Universe, randomly selecting themselves, then morality in humans never could be explained. Why is this Universe here? Because “in the beginning, God….”