Matt Postiff's Blog

by Pastor Matthew Postiff, Ph.D., Th.M., November 17, 2021

I wrote this today in memory of a dear fellow servant who passed on Monday in South Africa. It is directed at his family and the churches there who mourn his passing.

Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. (Heb. 13:7 NKJV)

Regrettably, I am unable to be with you all today as you remember the life and ministry of Dr. S. Wilfred Matham. My name is Matt Postiff. I have been pastoring Fellowship Bible Church since 2006 and involved in its ministry prior to that time when its founding pastor, Raymond Saxe, was leading the ministry. Therefore, about 22 years ago, we became acquainted with Dr. Matham through the connection with Pastor Saxe.

Before I was married I was able to enjoy Dr. Matham’s company in my home. Afterward as well, my wife Naomi and I had the privilege of hosting Dr. Matham and his wife in our home from time to time when they came to the United States to visit their supporting churches. We supported the Mathams for many years along with a few EBC works that he told us about.

The text in Hebrews 13:7 exhorts us to remember those who taught us God’s word. Although this applies to those who are presently our teachers and preachers, it also applies to those who came before and who spoke God’s word to us. Pastor Matham is one of those key men who upheld the text of Scripture as the authoritative voice of God in the church and for the world. He exalted the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore Pastor Matham himself is worthy of our remembrance.

The Bible adds that we are to consider the outcome of the conduct of such people. Ample testimony was given during the service at EBC Eersterust in Pretoria, South Africa this evening to the conduct of our brother. And the outcome of that deportment is indeed is worthy of our consideration. We think of churches impacted in the States, first, because that is how Dr. Matham impacted us. But we also recognize his evangelistic and church planting work; his missionary work; his expositional teaching and Christian academics in the Bible colleges where he ministered. His relational warmth and his seriousness about the things of God, his leadership role in the EBC, and his personal holiness all are worthy of our consideration. These things were wrought in him by the Spirit of our God (Galatians 5:22-25), after the God the Father was shown to him by God the Son (Matt. 11:27). The outcome of his work is something that he has left as a legacy—a family, churches, saints edified, unbelief challenged, and a heritage of exalting Christ Jesus.

The third and final word of this Scripture—besides remembering such men and considering the outcome of their lives—reminds us that we have something to do. We must follow the faith of such men. Not that they are infallible guides, but such faithful servants have a lot to teach us even though they are gone. They have left foot tracks for us to observe. Men and women there in South Africa and here in the States must take up the mantle of our dear brother and follow his faith. The church will die if we do not follow the faith of our fathers, that precious truth deposited in the first century and handed down through a line of God’s servants into our care. We must follow and be the next generation’s Pastor Mathams where we are.

May God bless you and keep you, my dear Christian brothers and sisters. May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He show a smiling countenance upon you and give you peace. May the grace of our God, and the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be your portion.

Love and Prayers,

Pastor Matt Postiff

on behalf of Fellowship Bible Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan

Here is the next installment of Bible literacy in minutes:

Of serious personal importance is that at some point in the future, barring one very unique exception, each of us is going to die. As zerohedge.com says, “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” The Bible said it first: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). But what is death? What happens after you die? Many people believe in ideas like reincarnation or soul sleep or annihilation. Those things are not found in the Bible. What does the Bible say about death?

Of most personal importance is that at some point in the future, barring one very unique exception, each of us is going to die. As zerohedge.com says, “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” The Bible said it first: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). But what is death? What happens after you die? Many people believe in ideas like reincarnation or soul sleep or annihilation. Those things are not found in the Bible. What does the Bible say about death?

Death means “separation.” In physical death, the spirit leaves the body. In Genesis 35:18 it speaks of a mother who was dying in labor, and it says “as her soul was departing (for she died)…” After death, the body is buried or cremated, but the spirit departs and goes either to Heaven or Hades.

For the Christian, when the spirit leaves the body, it is immediately with God in Heaven (2 Cor. 5:8). In the future, the Christian escapes the state of death when his or her body is raised again and rejoin their spirits. After that, they will enter the glorious kingdom of God and then Heaven, and live forever.

The spirit of a non-Christian leaves the body and goes to Hades immediately. Jesus told about a man who died and was buried, and was in torment in Hades (Luke 16:22-23). Hades is like a local county jail. Non-Christians will be resurrected from this place and then will be judged according to their works (Revelation 20:13). But no one can be saved by doing good works—you cannot do enough good to outweigh the bad things you have done or thought or said (Romans 3:20, 28). Therefore, this works-based judgment will result in a negative outcome and non-Christians will be sent to the final place of the dead, which is called Hell. If Hades is like the county jail, Hell is like the state penitentiary. Such judgment is a highly unpleasant thought, but it is taught by Jesus, and after all, He does define what Christianity is.

The upshot of all this is that every human being has an eternal future. The destination depends on whether you are a follower of Jesus by faith—or not. Where will you be?

Here is the fifth installment of Bible literacy in minutes:

At some future point, God has said in the Bible that there will be an event called the rapture. This word simply means “to be taken away” or snatched up. According to the Scripture, people who believe in Jesus will be taken immediately to heaven if they are alive. This is the one exception to the rule that everyone dies. Or, if they have died before the return of Jesus begins to unfold, their bodies will be raised up to life, and they will go back to heaven.

Following this event will occur a time of great difficulty on the earth. This period is called the Tribulation. The Bible presents it as lasting for 7 years. It is the subject of much of the last book in the Bible called Revelation.

At the end of the great time of trial, Jesus will return at what is called His “second coming.” It is “second” because He already came once, at which time He died for sinners and rose again from the dead. At the second coming, He will invade the earth and intervene in world affairs by setting up His kingdom. His kingdom will be worldwide and will be governed out of Jerusalem. This kingdom will be the true “golden age” of world history, and will last 1,000 years.

Then there will be a resurrection of all the rest of those who have died, and each one will be judged. Those who do not trust in Jesus Christ will be cast into Hell.

In the end, God will re-make the heaven and earth. The current earth will be burned up and everything on it will be gone. God’s people will forever dwell with Him on the new earth—which is what we normally think of as heaven. There, God’s people will enjoy His good gifts, and serve God amid a perfect society. This is the answer to the global pain and suffering that we see all around us in the world today.

Here is a brief listing of the few papers I have published. I had to consolidate these into one place for another purpose, so I figured it would be good to keep a record here as well.

Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth: A Review Article, DBSJ Vol. 14, 2009, 31-58.

God and Counterfactuals, DBSJ Vol. 15, 2010, 23-73.

From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective: A Review Article, DBSJ Vol. 19, 2014, 95-103.

Cherry Picking Theology?, Inside Sources, July 31, 2015.

Essential Elements of Young Earth Creationism and Their Importance to Christian Theology, DBSJ Vol. 21, 2016, 31-58. This was cross-posted at SharperIron.

Today's question from an email:

Are elements of race/ethnicity etc. a result of sin?

It is an important question today. I will give you a quick outline of what I see Scripture to teach on this matter.

1. There is a single human race, not multiple races (Acts 17:26). We all descend from Adam and Eve.

2. There are different nationalities, ethnicities, people groups, cultures, etc. The Scripture uses the phrase tribe, tongue, people, nation to refer to this concept (Revelation 5:9, 13:7, 14:6). Other words are used, such as clan and families (Gen. 12:3).

3. Two main points of Babel: a) it was the event that brought different languages into the world; b) God designed it to induce the people to spread out and fill the earth. They had stuck together generally and were not obedient to God's command. So God scattered them (Gen. 11:9).

4. Babel is not firstly about the creation of different ethnicities. However, as people with the same language congregated into small groups and then scattered over the face of the earth and became isolated from one another, they began to become specialized in not only language, but culture and appearance as they intrabred mainly with those in the same group. Thus we have different people groups, and within each group common characteristics like skin color, shape of face and eyes, etc. Cultural differences developed at the same time.

5. God designed this variation into the human DNA from the beginning so that there would be a glorious variety among the human race, even as there are among the various kinds of creatures--so many dogs and cats and fish and horses and so on. Among humans, this variety would have come out without Babel--and even without the fall of Adam and Eve--but it would not have then been found in such pronounced groupings as the language barriers have helped to create. Without sin, the world would be full of all people living together with no negative thought associated with their wide variation in appearance.

Two parents have a child and the child looks similar to them but also different than each one. A child may have blue eyes but have two brown-eyed parents (like in my case, due to recessive genes from the grandparent generation). Even today, a single set of parents can have a white baby and a black baby. See here and here for examples.

6. As for the "Ham curse" as some call it, I wrote about that several years ago. Let me be clear that it is unsupportable from Scripture to suggest that dark skin color is a curse from God. See also this post from Answers in Genesis that touches on the same topic.

7. Bottom line: elements of race/ethnicity etc are NOT a result of sin. They ARE a result of God's creative design of the human race. How humans use those things, and twist them, and criticize them, and exalt them, and so on, THAT is a result of sin in the heart of mankind.

Here is a new installment of Bible literacy in minutes:

According to secular belief, world history started over 4 billion years ago, and the plant and animal creation came about because of evolution—time, chance, and random mutations. The Bible’s record of earth history is very different, although with regard to the last 4,000 to 6,000 years of human history the secular account and the Biblical account overlap very neatly.

The Biblical account of history starts somewhere around 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. In the span of just under a week’s time, God created the world and filled it with plant and animal life. The creation had an appearance of age after God’s work was done, but in reality, creation jump-started world history. God created two human beings to be managers over his creation. They were named Adam and Eve. They lived in an ideal, brand-new world.

Very soon, however, sin entered the world, and with it came death. Over 1600 years passed and a catastrophic flood enveloped the entire earth’s surface as a judgment from God. Out of that devastation one family remained intact—Noah and his three sons, and their wives. From them the earth is now populated.

The first 39 books of the Bible focus on a single people group—the Semite people, starting with Abraham. Later, God used Moses to organize a growing group of Abraham’s descendants into a nation. This nation resided in what we know as Palestine, or Israel. It has existed from around 1440 B.C. to the present. During the 700s B.C., a world power named Assyria harassed the northern tribes of Israel. After them arose the Babylonians, followed soon after by the Medo-Persians. In the fourth century B.C., Alexander the Great raised the Greek empire to prominence, and after that the Roman empire dominated the region.

A rabbi named Jesus was born and lived during the opening years of the first century A.D. He was more than a rabbi, however, and died on a cross at the hands of the occupying Roman government. He was buried, but then many witnesses saw him alive again. He started the church, which has spread worldwide since the first century until the present day.

These are some of the events that the Bible highlights for us as significant in world history. In another video we will consider what the Bible says about the future of our world.

Today's question came in the email and had to do with whether the mentions of David in Jeremiah and Ezekiel refer to resurrected King David, or to the Messiah.

Jer. 30:9 "And David their king, Whom I will raise up for them."

Ezek. 34:23-24 "I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them--My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken."

Ezek. 37:24-25 "David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statues, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where you fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever."

Hosea 3:5 "Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days."

MacArthur consistently takes David to refer to the greater David = Messiah Jesus in all the cases above.

My problem with that interpretation is that there are other easy ways to refer to God's anointed, and I wonder why the prophets say "David" if they meant "Messiah."

David, like all OT saints, will be resurrected and enjoy the millennial kingdom (Dan. 12:2-3). It is very plausible that he will hold a significant place of rule over the kingdom as a prince under the Messiah. Perhaps Solomon will as well. After that, there are only a few historical kings who were "good." Maybe they all will have some sort of role in the millennial kingdom. Obviously Jesus will outshine them all by a large margin!

My Bible outlines are now available on Kindle.

Another installment of literacy in the Bible:

We mentioned in the video about God’s role for government and the video about abortion that God did—and still does—permit society to exercise capital punishment. This is clear from Genesis 9:6. But does this run afoul of another well-known text of the Bible in the Ten Commandments? Look at Exodus 20:13, where the sixth commandment says “You shall not murder.” In saying this, does God contradict himself? Or does Moses contradict God when he wrote “You shall not murder”?

The key to resolving this question is the difference between murder and killing. The old King James version says “You shall not kill.” But that is a bad translation. Murder and killing are two different things. Granted, they have a similar outcome for the person who is dead, but morally they are entirely different. In a just war, for example, people are killed, but the soldiers are not guilty of murder. A policeman who kills a gun-wielding perpetrator at a crime scene is not guilty of murder either. When a home invasion ends in the death of the homeowner, this is murder. When the same home invasion ends with the death of the invader, that is justifiable homicide, meaning that the homeowner is not guilty of murder because he was simply defending himself and his family.

So, the answer to our question is NO—capital punishment is not murder. Instead, it is a justifiable penalty assigned for certain horrific crimes. Otherwise, God himself would be guilty of murder for allowing and even predetermining the death of certain individuals. Even Jesus himself was killed—was God at fault? No indeed. According to 1 Peter 3:18, Jesus died in the place of unjust people so that He might bring us to God. He voluntarily came to the earth to do that. Certain humans were guilty of putting Him on the cross, to be sure. But in effect it was our sins that killed him. So are we guilty of murder?

Here is a short "Bible Literacy" video about abortion and capital punishment.

Many people who are in favor of capital punishment are opposed to abortion, including a good number of Christian people. But, isn’t this inconsistent? It is about the same as someone being for abortion but against capital punishment! Those who are opposed to both abortion and capital punishment, or who are in favor of both, seem more consistent from the standpoint of preserving life.

But our interest is not in who is more or less consistent on the basis of a single metric—that is too limited of a view. We are trying to increase our basic Bible literacy by understanding what the Bible teaches about these matters.

We turn to Exodus 21:22-23, where a matter of case law is given in which a pregnant woman is struck by someone. If she gives birth prematurely but the baby lives, it is a civil infraction with a monetary penalty. But if the baby dies, the Law of God in the Jewish theocracy stated that it was to be punished by the lex talionis, “life for life.” The law stated that if the baby died, the perpetrator was to be punished with death. That is how seriously God takes human life. It is precious in His sight, even in the mother’s womb. Abortion is just a “decorated” word for what amounts to exactly the same thing—murder of an innocent human.

The reason that some people take the “inconsistent” position for capital punishment and against abortion is that the Scripture teaches so. Consistency comes to view when you look at the issue through the lens of justice—it is unjust for an innocent baby to be killed, but it is perfectly just for a murderer to forfeit his life. The opposite view—that capital punishment is wrong and abortion is OK is actually inconsistent from this justice perspective—why does an innocent baby deserve to die, but a criminal guilty of a horrific crime deserve to live? Abortion basically is capital punishment…done to an innocent child.

The Bible has three important sections that explain what God wants government to do.

First is Romans 13:1-7. It says that there is no governmental authority except those appointed by God. The government’s rulers are to oppose evil. The governmental authority (police officer, president, governor) does not bear the sword in vain, because he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

Because of this, God has permitted governments to exercise the authority of capital punishment. Now this has been in place for thousands of years. In the first book of the Bible, for example, Genesis 9:6 says “whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed.” There is only one punishment that fits the crime of murder, and that is to forfeit the murderer’s life. Our society exercises a great amount of mercy toward such offenders by assigning them life in prison, but this can leave the victim’s family feeling as if justice has not fully been done for their loved one. By the way, the idea is that the corporate body of society as a whole exercises that authority—not individual vigilantes.

The third passage is 1 Peter 2:13-14. It explains that the king and governors are sent by God to punish evildoers and to praise those who do good. There are whole departments of government—like the FBI, department of justice, state attorneys general, and the like which are focused on punishing evildoers. And we are thankful for that because it helps keep law and order in our society so that we can live peacefully. There are no governmental departments I am aware of which are dedicated to praising those who do good! But I am thankful for the recognition that is afforded to good and heroic citizens.

Summarize: the basic role of government is to punish evil and praise those who do good.

In the medical community, "SOAP" is an acronym that is a helpful guide for a doctor-patient interaction. The letters stand for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan. The patient comes in with some complaint, the subjective. The doctor looks him or her over very well and makes observations for the objective part. Then the doctor makes an assessment and sets out a plan of treatment. All of this is documented in summary fashion in the SOAP note retained in the patient's chart.

The SOAP Bible study method uses the same acronym, which in this case means Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer. An example can be seen here. Basically, you determine the Scripture passage that you will study. It would be good to even write it out. Then you can write down everything you observe about the passage, including questions and relevant leads to other portions of Scripture. Then you can think about how to apply the passage to your own life situation, and pray to ask God for help in following His word.

I think the SOAP method can be very helpful. However, it often leads to superficial Bibles study, as pointed out in this article.

To remedy this deficiency, we should think about the SOAP method as the sOap method, with an emphasis on the letter O. The observation part needs to be much more careful and deep than the example linked above. Without proper observation--in other words, exegesis--you cannot arrive at correct interpretation. And you need a correct interpretation before you can determine the appropriate application.

We have previously discussed the Swedish Method and the COMA Method of Bible study.

I taught some recently about the Hebrew Roots Movement--what it is, and why we do not believe it. The following messages were delivered in December of 2020: December 2 December 6 December 13

I received a couple of negative comments on the message. Here is the first:

Moses didn't ever make up his own law. Who's finger do you think wrote the 10 commandments?

I replied:

Hello Mike, the statement and question you write in your comment are not a point of difference between us. That is, we never said or even implied that Moses made up his own law. It was obviously the Law of God; it is called the Mosaic Law for short because God gave it through Moses. And, of course God wrote the tablets (twice--Deut. 9:10/10:2 and Exodus 31:18/34:1). But Moses wrote them again in the manuscripts of Exodus and Deuteronomy which have passed down to us through preservation and translation.

Now, perhaps your question is meant to suggest that GOD wrote the Law, therefore it is eternally binding. That is, it is not man's law, but God's law, and therefore must be followed by all men of all ethnicities at all times. We differ with you very firmly if that is your point. Illustrations: Have you had a son and had him circumcised? Did you do it on the eighth day? If not, you broke the Law of God (Lev. 12:3)--if you believe that God has made it still binding, even upon Gentiles. And if you broke the law in one point, you have broken all of it. The Apostle Paul commanded the Gentiles in Colosse that they were not to accept a man's judgment against them if they did not observe days such as Sabbath, and months, and other sorts of external religious rites. Those rites do nothing to restrain the appetites of the sinful nature of man (Col. 2:16-23). The book of Galatians is clear, as is Acts 15, that circumcision is not necessary for Gentiles to practice. Only if you believe that God's law is like the Law of the Medes and Persians (which cannot be revoked, book of Daniel), could you believe that once God sets an instruction in place that He can never change it again. He is the boss, and can change the terms and conditions whenever He pleases. A great example is found in Ezekiel 40-48 where the temple and its operation have quite a number of differences compared to that given under Moses.

Hope that is helpful. If not, please try to formulate your follow-up question in a way that is a bit more clear, and less adversarial sounding. Thanks, and may God bless you with a clear understanding of His Word!

The writer responded:

OK, brother, at about 10:50, you begin to say that 1 John is not speaking about the law of Moses, but about the "law of Christ" and your own words, "the law of God." It is manipulative. (I don't say you were intentionally trying to mislead). Over time, a little twisting of words and phrases will tend to establish one's viewpoint, but it can be misleading. We can discuss more over email if you prefer.

And I reply again:

Hello again Mike, Thank you for recognizing there is no intent to mislead here. In using the phrase "Law of Christ," I am following the apostle Paul in Galatians 6:2 and 1 Cor. 9:21. I understand this law to be precisely the same as the law of liberty in James 1:25 and 2:12. It is the code given by Christ through His teaching and the writings of His apostles (the New Testament). It is summarized by the law of love for God and neighbor. Indeed, it looks very similar to the Law given through Moses because it comes from the same God. But it is different--circumcision is not required; Sabbath observance is not required; kosher diet is not required; observance of the three major Jewish holidays is not required; animal sacrifice is not required. All these things are abundantly clear in New Testament teaching.

I would offer this rebuttal to the HRM viewpoint: The words I used were not twisting or manipulating the text of Scripture. Rather, something has become twisted in the teaching of the Hebrew Roots Movement. It appears to be going back to something substantially similar to the Galatian error that Paul wrote so strongly against.

There is a certain romantic idea of going back to the early church, but the church had a lot of problems as evidenced in Paul's letters and in the book of Acts. It was not the pristine thing that we might like it to be. Furthermore, we have the benefit of completed written revelation which in the first decades of the church, the believers did not. Finally, in those early years, there was a lot of going back and forth on the Jew/Gentile issue. Acts 15 made clear that the church is not primarily Jewish in flavor. Of course it arises from the Jewish faith in the Old Testament; but it includes the Gentiles as Gentiles.

Here is today's question:

I was listening to your "God forgives sinners" message and at the end before communion you mentioned that people shouldn’t take communion unless they were baptized or intended to be baptized. I was not at the service and only listening to audio so it’s hard to know how the church functions by one audio message but it kind of came off as baptism was a work. Is that what you meant or was that said for possible visitors so they don’t take communion lightly?

Thanks for your inquiry. Your impression that we believe baptism to be a work is not right--if by "work" you mean "a deed necessary to acquire salvation." No works are required, or even able, to save anyone's soul, except for the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. On the other hand, baptism is a "work" in that it is something Jesus tells us to do, and it is a "good work," and it should be done by all true believers. But let me be clear: baptism saves no one.

What I was illustrating with my statement about baptism is this point: if you are refusing to obey the commands of Christ, such as baptism, then you are living in sin and need to deal with that first, before taking communion. I add the exception "or intend to be baptized" because we do not have baptism services every month, so maybe someone has newly realized they need to be baptized, or just become a Christian so they have not had the opportunity yet to be baptized because of the church schedule. I have no problem with offering communion in that case. Other churches believe differently on that, but that is where I'm at on it.

Strange things are going on these days with COVID and the recent election. On a broader scale, the troubles in the world, the evil and lawlessness that abounds, and the like, may get you down. But do not forget, dear friends, God is still working:

1. To teach us more about Himself, that He is sovereign and administers His Universe as He sees fit, not as we see fit! Just like He taught Job, he instructs us.
2. To guide us to trust more in God, like He taught Paul. 2 Cor. 1:9.
3. To equip us to comfort others, as He did for the Corinthians. 2 Cor. 1:3-4.
4. To help us to strengthen our fellow believers, like Peter. Luke 22:32.
5. To bring honor to Himself, as He has appointed the wicked for the day of judgment and to rescue the godly from wickedness. Rom 9:21-23. 2 Peter 2:9.
6. To point us to a heavenly country, that is, a world with a heavenly origin, like Abraham and Sarah and their forefathers. Heb. 11:16.
7. To prove our faith and love for God is genuine—to us and to others. 1 Peter 1:7. Like Jesus in His temptation (Mat. 4, Luke 4). Or like Abraham in his test with Isaac (Heb. 11:17).
8. To increase our endurance, patience, perseverance, like the believers from the 12 tribes scattered through the world. James 1:3.
9. To redirect our hope, as the Romans learned. Romans 5:3-5.
10. To remind us of the end of things, like Asaph. Psalm 73:17.
11. To keep us humble, like He did for Paul. 2 Cor. 12:2, 4, 7-10.
12. To make us more holy, like the Hebrew Christians. Hebrews 12:10-11.
13. To bring a good outcome for His children. God is working all things together for good. Rom. 8:28.

A person I do not know asked through this website for help to find a free grace church in the area. This gave me an opportunity to write a little warning that free grace theology undercuts the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For example, free grace theology eliminates the call to repentance over sin. It wrongly teaches that salvation by faith alone means that repentance is not part of the saving response to the gospel. Yet the Scriptures are clear that true saving faith is repentant faith.

• Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17
• Repent, and believe in the gospel Mark 1:15
• Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out Acts 3:19
• Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life Acts 11:18
• God...now commands all men everywhere to repent Acts 17:30
• Paul "declared...that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance" Acts 26:20
• Not knowing the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4
• n humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth. 2 Timothy 2:25
• The foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God Hebrews 6:1
• The Lord...not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance 2 Peter 3:9

Free grace downplays the transformation that happens after faith, which always results in some fruit such as sound doctrine and good works. The idea of faith in Free Grace theology emphasizes facts and information (the intellect) and de-emphasizes the decision and trust aspects of faith (assent, will and trust). This can give believers in the free grace churches a false assurance of salvation, which is very dangerous. How does it do this? It comforts people who are living in habitual sin, that if they have made a profession of faith in Christ, "believing" the facts that He died and rose again, they are saved. Yet the evidence in their life points in the direction that they have not truly experienced the saving grace of God. Even the demons believe...(James 2:19).

Finally, free grace theology gives very strained interpretations of some passages of the Bible. I wrote about one such interpretation, in which the author proposes that some Christians will enter the kingdom of heaven but not actually "inherit" the kingdom of heaven. This is wrong. I write about it here.

I hope this is helpful to you. May the Lord richly bless you.

I have enjoyed auditing a class on the doctrine of Israel at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary with Dr. Mark Snoeberger and Dr. Sam Dawson. Just now I am reading Forsaking Israel: How it Happened and Why It Matters by Larry Pettegrew and company at Shepherds Seminary.

The thought occurred to me that God has had a people from ancient times in order to glorify His name. Said another way, God must have a people to bring honor to himself. Should the people He chose (Deut. 7:6-8) disappear from the earth, it would appear to the peoples of the world that that people's God was no more significant than all the other deities of extinct people groups. But the Triune God is no temporal phenom. He is eternal and thus must have a people for all eternity to show forth His glory. That people, Israel, will be re-constituted as a glorious nation in order to bring glory to God (Ezekiel 36:22-23). God will be vindicated through the means of the existence of a human people group.

Contained in the paragraph above is an argument as to why Israel cannot disappear or be "replaced." So what is the place then of the church? God's keeping of the people of Israel is, in the words of Isaiah 49:6, too small a thing to proclaim the glories of our God and His Messiah. Therefore, God will choose out from the entire world another people—the church— to further glorify the Messiah. The benefit of this to people will be not only "salvation to the ends of the earth" but also an expanded understanding of the infinite glory of God. The benefit to God will be an expanded base from which His excellencies may be known by the angelic and human realms.

It is not enough that God should have one people. He deserves more glory. He will have two peoples, one from the past age and one from the present. And then, there will be an expansion of both groups in the millennial kingdom, to the praise of the glory of God's grace.

How are these two peoples related to God? The only way possible: through Jesus Christ! Are they forever distinct? YES, in the sense that a Gentile is never a Jew and a Jew is never a Gentile. Physical lineage is what it is. But this distinctness does not undercut the completely harmonious, happy existence of saved Israel and the saved Church throughout the upcoming millennial kingdom. Different, yet united. Distinct, yet without discrimination.

Christians believe that we can alleviate but not eliminate poverty. Why? The Bible tells us that there will always be poor people.

For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good. —Jesus in Mark 14:7, also recorded in Matthew 26:11 and John 12:8.

For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.' —Moses in Deut. 15:11.

You might wonder why this is. The pandemic reality of sin, the sin nature in every human, total depravity, and the fallenness of the world make some level of poverty inevitable. Natural disaster can bring poverty. Your own sin can cause you to become poor. Or, the oppressive sins of others can cause you to become or remain poor. These effects can carry on across generations. This is harsh, but it is reality.

To assert that humanity can solve the problem entirely—whether through change in government structure, improvement in government policy, or benevolence—is to set yourself against the words of God.

On the other hand, to make efforts to help the poor in substantial ways, not enabling ways, is pleasing to God.

Many have wondered what is the key to Christian sanctification. One answer that is often given is "obedience to the Bible." While alone it is not enough--for obedience must be by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit--it is crucial to the Christian life.

I say that while setting aside the currently popular "anti-legalism" philosophy that decries any call for obedience as a legalistic approach to earn merit with God. Christians understand intuitively that obeying God's word is a good thing, and that you cannot earn merit by doing so: it is the work of Christ that washes our sin away and provides ALL the merit God requires to be saved from eternal punishment.

Supporting the emphasis on obeying God are the following texts that I collected in a recent reading of the New Testament text:

Matthew 7:24-27 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Luke 6:46-49 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."

Luke 8:21 "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

John 13:17 "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."

James 1:22-25 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

1 John 3:10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Remember, before you can embark on a life of obedience regarding the works God has ordained for you to do, you need to "do" the work of belief:

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

For a very similar topic see this blog post from a few years ago.

Just an observation:

Matt. 13:39 "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

Matt. 13:40 "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

Matt. 13:49 "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just...

Matt. 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

Matt. 28:20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

The Bible's teaching in these contexts is clear: we are in an age or time period, and the end of that age will bring some significant events--a separation followed by a judgment, and Christ's second coming. The Lord promises to be with His people throughout the age until its end--at which point He will come back. We are not in the kingdom yet, but we do await the beginning of that kingdom, when Christ will consolidate His rule by removing all rebels at the end of the age, and blessing His people with entrance into His glorious society with its perfect government.

"Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" Job 2:10

Job had received good from God, and now was facing adversity. His point is that if we accept the good, we should also accept the trials, since both are the design and purpose of God for our lives.

But a "reverse thought" came to my attention because of a couple of circumstances that I observe people are facing. This reverse thought is not the normal way to look at the verse in its context. Normally the challenge is to accept adversity because it is hard. Accepting good is usually easy. But that is not always the case.

On occasion, we may hesitate to accept a good thing from God, as if we do not deserve it, or it is too good, or it is better than someone else has, or we have a false humility about ourselves, or whatever. Have you ever had that feeling? "This situation is too good for me; it is too good to be true; I don't deserve it; God is too kind; etc." Certainly we must guard against covetousness and a focus on worldly prosperity and materialism. But at the same time, God delights also to give good gifts to His children. The best of these gifts awaits us in the heavenly dwelling. Meanwhile...God gives some nice things along the way in this life.

Job thankfully accepted the good things from God. "Shall we indeed accept good from God?" YES, we should. Be thankful for whatever good that God designs for your life right now. Remember, "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17). Learn in whatever state -- whether you abound or are in need -- to be gratefully content (Phil. 4:12).

So, application: if God seems to be providing some good thing for you, thank Him, take it, and make the best use of it you can. Use it to serve the Lord and serve your brothers and sisters around you. But at the same time, work on discerning whether the "good" is truly from the hand of God, or from somewhere else, in which case you should not take it!

I asked our deacon if he could do me a favor and expand upon this paragraph in the prior post:

By claiming that thoughts and feelings are autonomous, mindfulness excuses guilt, and convolutes the idea of identity and personhood (similar to the way atheism does by denying free will).

The reason I say that mindfulness meditations teaches that thoughts are autonomous (not intentional) is because of their analogy of watching your thoughts go by like you would watch cars go by. They do not acknowledge that when you observe those "cars", your actually driving each and every one of them. They imply that the thoughts are driving themselves.

Atheists have a similar view. Atheists deny free will. (By "free will" they mean being free of nature's dictate, not what we mean by "free will." God's sovereignty is not even a factor in their thinking.) Atheists teach that everything we are and do is a product of our natural environment. Everything is just time, chance, and material reactions.

This materialistic world view can lead to confusion about what a person even is. Your molecules weren't you before you existed, so what is you after the molecules come together to form you? Furthermore, your matter and energy are in a different state at any point in time, and so there is a question as to whether you are really the same person at any point in time. That may sound ridiculous, but these are the kinds of things I have seen the atheist philosophers pontificate about.

By the way, the book I read on meditation is "The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day." This book made it into Bill Gates' recommended reading list and seems to be an authoritative book on the subject. For the Christian who wants to learn more about the falsehood of mindfulness, this is a good resource, as long as he watches out for the leaven in the book. The lies are presented in such an attractive way I fear it could beguile baby Christians.

In our area in the past few years, it has become a thing for schools to promote "mindfulness." Immediately upon hearing what the students do during their "mindfulness" times in class, it sounded suspect. I was disturbed by the thinly veiled attempt to get a religious position into the secular classroom while the school system rejects Christianity and makes every attempt to get God out of the schools.

One of our deacons helped me by writing the following after he read a book by a Buddhist monk on the topic.

Mindfulness is a new word for meditation that was invented to help get meditation accepted in more places. It is a less religious, hippy sounding word.

Even though mindfulness is claimed to be non-religious, it smells a lot of Buddhism, and not surprisingly, Buddhists tend to be the topic experts on it.

The main idea of mindfulness is to become aware of your own thoughts. On the surface this idea of self awareness looks similar to the truth of introspection. This similarity to a good mental exercise sweetens the underlying poison of mindfulness. The Bible talks about introspection: 2 Corinthians 13:5—"examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith," Psalm 19:12—believers want to be aware of secret faults, Ephesians 5:15 speaks about walking circumspectly, which includes turning our eyes on ourselves, Prov 4:23—"keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life," and 1 Peter 1:13—"be sober minded."

However, mindfulness differs fundamentally from biblical introspection in that it is non-judgmental, detached, and OK with all thoughts, whether good or bad. The mindfulness book likens meditation to sitting beside a road and watching cars drive by, where the cars are your thoughts. You let the cars go by (the good and the bad ones) and don't try to chase the good ones or stop the bad ones. You just sit and watch your thoughts and study them to become more aware of them. Over time, the busy traffic gets less busy and you enjoy more peace and quiet. Eventually there are times when no cars drive by.

Mindfulness claims there exists an underlying peace and joy that is always present for us to enjoy. We just have to clear our thoughts to find it. Mindfulness thereby replaces the idea of ultimate peace and joy that comes from our relationship with God.

By claiming that thoughts and feelings are autonomous, mindfulness excuses guilt, and convolutes the idea of identity and personhood (similar to the way atheism does by denying free will).

Mindfulness strives to create a perception that things are OK, whether they are good or bad or nothing at all. This sounds a lot like the Buddhist effort to numb the fear of death and to numb the craving for meaning in life. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has put eternity in our heart, yet no one can find out the work of God from beginning to end. In other words, God has put in our hearts a yearning for eternity and meaningfulness. Buddhism deceives by numbing that yearning in the heart.

It occurs to me that there is a likeness between these two ideas:

1. Splitting the Mosaic Law into components and pulling forward (from the past) the moral component into the church age.

Left behind are the ceremonial and civil parts of the law, as well as the curses for disobedience.

2. Splitting the New Covenant into components and pulling back (from the future) the spiritual component into the church age.

Left "ahead" are the physical, agricultural, economic, and political parts of the New Covenant. Also left "ahead" are spiritual components that find no fulfillment in the present era (all will know the Lord, universal forgiveness for Israel).

It seems inconsistent to criticize #1 at the same time to accept #2.

It seems more consistent to accept both #1 and #2 or reject them both.

The problem with accepting both it puts Christians today under parts of two covenants--the Mosaic and the New. This has a somewhat suspect basis. I say this about the Law covenant because Paul writes:

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law (Galatians 5:18).

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? (Galatians 4:21)

But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." (Galatians 3:11)

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

So, Christians are not under "the law," nor are they under "part of the law." This is no major loss, for we have the Law of Christ as our directive, a law operational on the basis of grace and the indwelling ministry of the Spirit.

As far as splitting the New Covenant, the New Covenant is specifically directed to Israel, not the church. This is clear from a review of the primary passage:

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:33)

Note the phrase "I will make with the house of Israel."

Finally, it does not appear to me that the New Covenant has actually been made yet. Certainly, its sacrificial basis is complete in the work of Christ. Certainly massive spiritual benefits come out of that work into Christians today. But those are not necessarily direct fulfillments of the New Covenant. They do not constitute the "making" of a covenant, where the people group to be covenanted has offered no agreement to the terms of the covenant. In fact, most of the terms of the covenant (and some could argue all of its terms) remain unfulfilled.

The prophet above says that the time of the making of the covenant is "after those days." Jeremiah is clear that those days were "coming" future to his writing.

"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-- (Jeremiah 31:31)

According to Ezekiel 20:35-37, this will happen during the eschaton:

"And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face...I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant (Ezekiel 20:35, 37)

This has not happened yet.

The most accurate viewpoint, as I understand it, is to keep both the Law and New Covenants whole, not splitting them such that some terms of one or the other, or both, fall upon the church.

Several of the Biblical covenants have "signs" associated with them.

The Covenant with Noah was given the sign of the rainbow (Gen. 9:16-17).

The Covenant with Abraham has as a sign male circumcision (Gen. 17:11, Rom. 4:11).

The Covenant with Moses is signified by the Sabbath (Exodus 31:13, Ezek 20:12, 20).

What about the Covenant with David? And the New Covenant? Can you think of a sign for each of them?