Replacement Theology (Part 4)

(Written by James A. Showers)
When the reformers separated from the Roman Catholic Church, they brought with them Replacement Theology. Furthermore, they built their eschatology (doctrine of future things) and ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) on the idea the church has replaced Israel in the plan of God.

If you were to remove Replacement Theology from these churches today, their entire system of eschatology would collapse. Why? Because if God has not replaced Israel (as we believe), then you must handle all the passages dealing with the Tribulation and Millennial Kingdom as being literal with a future fulfillment. Suddenly the primary justification for developing Amillennialism or Postmillennialism is eliminated.

Replacement Theology allowed the church to believe it is the fulfillment of the Messianic Kingdom. Over time, it fomented widespread hatred and violence against the Jewish people; and, unfortunately, its consequences are still with us today.

Replacement Theology (Part 3)

(Written by James A. Showers)
Until the fourth century, Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire. Although Replacement Theology had overtaken the church and metastasized into Anti-Semitism, the church had no authority to do anything other than speak against the Jewish people. All that changed in a.d. 313, and the catalyst was a ruler named Constantine.

Young Constantine, a member of Emperor Diocletian’s court, was preparing to lead his troops at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in a.d. 312 when he claimed to have a vision of a cross in the sun. So he prayed to the Christian God, put Christian symbols on his banners, and won an astounding victory over an older, more experienced general.

Replacement Theology (Part 2)

(Written by James A. Showers)
The church is not Israel, and Israel is not the church. However, more and more Christians today fail to see the distinction. They have been so indoctrinated into Replacement Theology that they see themselves as the “new Israel” and the Jewish people as forsaken.

How did this belief become so deeply established in the church, particularly when it was not the theology of the apostles or the first-or second-generation church leaders? Because it justified prejudice against the Jewish people.

Replacement Theology began developing in the second and third centuries of the church, becoming established about 200 years after the church began. It did not arise from a careful study of Scripture. In fact, the position was formulated first, and then Scripture was located to support it. This is the wrong way to devise a theology. Theology should result from a thorough study of God’s Word. People should not define their theology first and then go on a Scripture hunt to find justification for it.

Replacement Theology (Part 1)

(Written by James Showers)
If you watch the news headlines, you may have read these: “Episcopal Church Is the Next to Shun Israel,” “Presbyterian Church to Justify Israel Divestment,” and “Methodist Church Renews Drive for Divestment From Israel.”

Divestment involves withdrawing investments from companies doing business with a particular nation in order to put economic pressure on the government. It was a technique used against South Africa to break apartheid. Over the years, some Protestant churches have asked people to stop investing in companies doing business with Israel based on their claim that Israel is a racist nation. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Israel is a democracy that freely gives the vote to both Jews and Arabs. Apartheid occurs when a minority race uses its power to take economic advantage of the majority of another race. Such is not the case in Israel.

Are Roman Catholics Christians?

(Written by Matt Slick)

Are Roman Catholics Christians? They are if they have trusted in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins. However, if they believe they are saved by God's grace and their works, then they are not saved--even if they believe their works are done by God's grace--since they then deny the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice.

Being a Christian does not mean being a member of the Roman Catholic Church. It means being a member of the body of Christ, which is accomplished by faith and trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins. It means you do not add your works to His work. Sincerity doesn't forgive sins. Membership in a church doesn't forgive sins. Doing works of penance doesn't forgive sins. Praying to Mary doesn't forgive sins. Forgiveness is received in the faithful trust and acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. You must trust Jesus, God in flesh, for the forgiveness of sins--not a man-made ritual and certainly not the catholic saints. Even though the Roman Catholic Church affirms the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and His physical resurrection, it greatly errors in its doctrine of salvation by adding works to salvation.

What Does The Bible Say? Part 3

Everything is permissible – but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible – but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others (1 Cor. 10:23-24)

Having shown the Lord’s clear promise that once we became a believer all the sins of our life were forgiven, we now turn to the logical follow up question.  How should we respond to such an incredible gift? How shall we live?

Paul devoted much time to describing the appropriate response to the free gift of eternal life and it’s summed up in his admonition to “Only let us live up to what we’ve already attained” (Phil 3:16). By the wording he used we know this is not something we do to achieve or maintain our salvation. He said we’ve already attained that.  We do this as an expression of our heart felt gratitude for having been given this gift.  Because there’s no doubt it, before receiving it we were “dead in our transgressions and sins” and “objects of God’s wrath” (Ephes. 2:1-3).

What Does The Bible Say? Part 2

(Written by Jack Kelley)

In this series we’re taking a look at the most important issues relating to our relationship with our Creator.  In each case we begin from the perspective that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and as such cannot be self-contradictory.  So if we think we see a contradiction, the problem is with our understanding, not God’s Word.  Our topic in this study is the durability of our salvation.  What does the Bible say about our security in Christ?  Is it conditional based on our post salvation behaviour, or is it guaranteed from the beginning.  And could we give it back even if we wanted to?

What School Did You Attend?

Among those Christians who even consider the issue (tragically many don’t, but just accept what they’ve been taught) there are essentially two schools of thought, commonly called Election and Agency.

What Does The Bible Say?

(Written by Jack Kelley)

I appeal to you brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and in thought (1 Cor. 1:10).

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Tim 4:3). 

I don't believe there's ever been a time in history when we've been subjected to a wider variety of opinions on what the Bible says. Some of these opinions have actually been around for a long time,  while others are new to the scene.  But all are now gaining a wider audience due to the advent of mass communications, especially the internet.

The Doctrine of Election

The Doctrine of Election is a misapplication of Scripture that began by confusing Israel and the Church. It’s clear that Israel was chosen by a sovereign act of God. There was nothing to commend Abraham and his descendants above the other nations. In Deut. 7:7-8 Moses told the Israelites: “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

But when it comes to the Church, the Bible has this to say,

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7-8)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40)

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

The Old Rabbi’s Vision

(Written by Cynthia Nuara)

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There is a buzz in the Christian world concerning a rabbi who died almost eight years ago. He claimed to have seen the Messiah in a vision, and what the Messiah supposedly had to say to him.

A book and video documentary were released in November about this Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri and his vision, which Kaduri said would come to pass after the (then) prime minister of Israel’s death. That prime minister was Ariel Sharon, who was just pronounced to be close to death on January 1, 2014 after kidney failure and given no more than a few days to live. Sharon has been in a comatose state for eight years, as long as the rabbi has been dead.

The Bible does say in Acts 2:17, “And in the last days it shall be,” ‘God declares,’ “ that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.'"

It Doesn’t Matter WHAT You “Think!”

(Written by Donna Wasson)
None of us are infallible. Not even Pope Frances. Obviously. We all hear people say things that we know are incorrect, but we’re able to pass it off as a verbal gaffe and not worry about it. After all, we’re human and make mistakes, right? But when a couple of renowned Bible teachers make a statement that is not only, in my humble opinion heretical but dangerous, we are obligated to stand up and say something.                

On September 27, 2013, radio talk-show host Brannon Howse of Worldview Weekend, a Biblically based talk show, had Dr. Jimmy DeYoung as his guest. In part of the interview, Howse asked Dr. DeYoung if he remembered a huge controversy some time ago, involving a statement made by John MacArthur, Pastor of Grace Community Church in California.

Stupid or Just Plain Evil?

(Written by Donna Wasson)

I want you to pay very close attention to what I have to say in this article.  It is VITAL that you open your eyes and the eyes of your loved ones to the heretical teaching that is SO prevalent in the church today. I am utilizing information from an excellent video produced by Reformed Apologetics Ministries called, Joel Osteen: Satanist? His occult/witchcraft/New Age teachings.

               

Time to spread the gospel to those who are blind and lost is running out, therefore I’m not going to mince words. There is a group of very successful, high-profile so called ‘preachers’ who teach falsehoods and twist scripture to make it fit their teachings;  people such as Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Robert Schuler (retired), T.D. Jakes, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Rick Warren and others. Quite frankly, and this is fact—NOT my opinion: they are leading millions of followers straight to hell!  Is that clear enough?

The Truth about Roman Catholicism

There are approximately 1 Billion Catholics worldwide. Catholicism claims to be Christian, and Catholics will always say they are "Christians".

It is strange however, that most professing Catholics, while being devout and sincere in their faith, are completely in the dark as to what the official standpoints of the Catholic Church are; and more alarmingly, what the Bible says. The Laws of Catholicism include the Catechisms and Canons of the Church; laws fabricated and written by men that deny the pure and simple Gospel of Jesus Christ. These catechisms and canons are the laws governing the Catholic church, under which ALL Catholics fall and are subject to. What many don't realize is that by following this Church and it's traditions, they are committing a very serious offence in the light of what Scripture says. The purpose of this article is to turn the spotlight of truth upon Roman Catholicism and show conclusively that Roman Catholicism is NOT Christianity.

The Spirit of Anti-Christ

(Written by Jack Kelley)

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. (1 John 2:18-19)

These days, any kind of teaching about the coming anti-Christ is very popular. But less than 60 years after the cross John was already writing about the spirit of anti-Christ being evidenced in the false teaching that would later come to be known as “gnosticism”. The fact that those false teachers had come from among believers gave them a certain credibility in the growing church, but in John’s view the error of their doctrine proved that they had never been true believers. “For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19)

The Powerful Delusion

(Written by Jack Kelley)
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thes. 2:9-12)

It’s no secret that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preoccupied with the coming of a Shiite Islamic messiah figure, al Mahdi. This continues to raise concern that a nuclear-armed Iran would create the kind of global chaos he believes will be necessary to set the stage for the Mahdi’s return. Recent events seem to confirm this. For example, after years of promising that their nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful, Iran just announced their intention to test a 1 kiloton nuclear warhead this year. Iran’s Supreme Leader is thought to favor announcing Iran’s nuclear capability as an accomplished fact as soon as possible.

The Myth of “Global Warming”

(Written by Dr. Ron J. Bigalke, Eternal Ministries)
“The Evangelical Climate Initiative is a group of senior evangelical leaders in the United States who are convinced it is time for our country to help solve the problem of global warming.” [1] The Initiative seeks to accomplish their stated goal by creating jobs, cleaning the environment, and enhancing national security by reducing dependence upon foreign oil. The Initiative’s goal is to help create a safe and healthy environment for future generations. The first of four “urgent claims” by the Evangelical Climate Initiative is the assertion that “human-induced climate change is real.”

The problem with the Initiative is that global warming is a myth. Global warming is nothing more than a political agenda that has infiltrated evangelicalism. The church, therefore, should be concerned with regard to the global lukewarming of churchianity. Jesus warned the church,

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Rev 3:15-16).The concern of this writer is that those who are involved in the Evangelical Climate Initiative are becoming “cold” to proclaiming the Gospel and are seeking to make “disciples” by proclaiming temporal, planetary issues to be more important - which are actually fabrications - than eternal issues such as the destiny of the souls of human beings. The majority of environmental policies are based upon myths. Only four of the most common will be addressed in this article.

Catholicism & Islam: Ties That Bind

(Written by T.A. McMahon)
The above title became a source of controversy when I used it for a talk given at a recent prophecy conference. What I found curious about the commotion was that it came from Catholics (and some evangelicals) who had yet to hear my presentation. Furthermore, the title reflects the hope and prayers of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Rome has been tilling this "common ground" with Islam for decades, as evidenced by the 1994 Vatican publication, Recognize the Spiritual Bonds Which Unite Us: 16 Years of Christian-Muslim Dialogue. Why, therefore, would anyone be upset by my simply repeating what the Roman Catholic Church very much desires?

Actually, the real controversy stems from confusion created by the Church of Rome herself. In her zeal to be the spiritual voice of the world's religions, she talks out of both sides of her ecumenical mouth. Regarding her relationship to Islam, not only has she made to those of the Muslim faith some theological overtures which contradict Christian orthodoxy, but even worse, there are ties between the two religions which go a lot deeper than most people realize. Let's first consider some commonalities between the two faiths.

Starting with the number of adherents, Catholicism and Islam each exceed one billion, nearly all of whom enter their respective faiths as infants. More than 16 million babies are baptized into the Roman Catholic Church each year. It's a family thing. My sisters and I were baptized as Catholics because our parents were Catholics, and they and their siblings were baptized into the Church because their parents were Catholics. That's the primary way the faith is propagated.

Practically speaking, although baptism is not part of Islam, all children born into a Muslim family are Muslims. Their official "confirmation" follows as soon as they are able to confess the shahada ("There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger"). This baby-oriented process for increasing their ranks has been a motivating factor in the Vatican/Saudi-sponsored lobby against UN endeavors to introduce contraception and other methods of population control, especially in third-world countries.

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today; Catholicism is the largest religious body among those professing to be Christian. If the number of followers was a good measure for selecting a religion, then Islam and Catholicism would definitely be the way to go. However, the Bible has no such yardstick. Rather, Jesus said, "[W]ide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Mt 7:13,14).

Most people are aware of the veneration and even worship of Mary found among Roman Catholics, but not many know that much the same deference exists among Muslims. A chapter in the Qur'an is named after Mary ("Surah Maryam"). From the outskirts of Cairo to Bombay to Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, hundreds of thousands of the Islamic faith have congregated wherever processions carry her statues and where her apparitions are said to have appeared. She is esteemed above the most revered women of the Muslim faith, including Muhammad's two favorite wives, Khadija and Aisha, and his daughter Fatima. The hadith teaches that Muhammad selected Mary as his first wife upon entrance into Paradise (for more about Mary and Islam see "Mary Who?" in TBC 10/00). One of the most popular Catholic apparitions of Mary is referred to as Our Lady of Fatima.

Catholic and Islamic prayers have many similarities. For the Muslim, praying to Allah five times a day is altogether an act of obedience, and the prayers are always repetitive. As one former Muslim puts it, "It's hardly intimate communication with Allah;...it's done more to escape the punishment due to those who neglect prayer." Most prayers prayed by Catholics are also rote and repetitive, saying the rosary being the best example. Repeating 16 "Our Father's" and 153 "Hail Mary's" is far from personal communication. Furthermore, when a Catholic goes to confession the priest assigns rosaries as severe punishment, or penance, for one's sins.

The Great Lie

(Written by Carl Worline)
On November 12, 2010, Universal Pictures will release a new movie entitled Skyline, which deals with alien spacecraft that suck up the humans who look into the bright blue light these spacecraft project, and then vanish. I believe this movie is more than just the product of the wild imaginations of some cleaver science fiction writers who seek nothing more than to entertain the public and win an academy award for themselves for best picture (but not in that order). I believe this movie may very well play an important role in end time prophecy.

Whether or not intelligent life exists on other worlds is irrelevant in this article and I will not debate the issue here. What is significant is that reports of unidentified flying objects has been around since the beginning of history with literally millions of people reporting to have seen them, yet official contact with their occupants has (supposedly) never been established. Our government, as well as governments around the world, have vehemently denied the existence of alien spacecraft. In fact, the vehemence in which governments have denied their existence builds a strong case for an official worldwide cover-up conspiracy, which makes the possibility of the existence of extra terrestrial life even more believable.

The Rapture of the Church is certain to cause a worldwide panic as an unbelieving public scrambles to explain the disappearance of hundreds of millions of people in an instant. We also know that the anti-Christ will be revealed and empowered immediately after the Rapture. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 tells us that the anti-Christ will tell a lie and that God will send a strong delusion so that all of the unbelievers who are left on the Earth after the Rapture will believe this lie:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all the powers and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness in them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. That they might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

What is this lie? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but I can certainly make an educated guess. On September 21, 1987, President Ronald Reagan made what I consider to be a very prophetic statement when he told the Forty Second Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations “How quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.” I believe this great lie will be that alien beings from another world abducted the millions of people who just vanished.

Chapter 13 of Revelation also tells us that the anti-Christ will tell a lie that will cause the entire world to willingly follow him. I am at a loss to think of any other lie which the anti-Christ could use that would cause the remaining population of the Earth to forget their differences so quickly and unite with him.

Wells without Water

(Written by Ron Graham)
“These are wells without water...” 2 Peter 2:17a. We have a well on our property which on the outside looks the same as most other wells these days. Our well is 518 feet deep, but on the outside it just looks like a pipe sticking out of the ground. Its job, of course, is the same as most other rural country wells, which is to draw water from an underground reservoir and move that water into our home. Many of you reading this commentary may have a very similar looking pipe sticking out of the ground in your yard. Though they may look the same from the outside, the question is, are they?

Our particular well has a problem down inside that deep hole where our transport pipe and pump reside. But only my wife, daughter, and I can see the problem. At times we see the water that comes from the tap as clouded and sometimes it is reddish brown in colour. Outsiders who drive by can see our well and pump house but until they live in our home they will not discover for themselves the ugly truth about our drinking, bathing, and laundry water. But the most important thing about our well is that it contains an abundance of water.

In the verse cited above, the Apostle Peter addresses a problem that is occurring more and more as we move into the last days on this planet. That problem is false teachers, he refers to them as “wells without water”. Now there are wells, and there are wells, and what must be determined by the believer is which well are you hook up to. Unless you are aware of the lack of water in a well you might just be persuaded to latch onto one that’s completely empty.

False teachers may look and even sound the same as teachers who proclaim the truth, but inside they are only dry wells. Water being a metaphor for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what Peter is speaking about. False teachers do not have the Holy Spirit of God, they are led by the enemy of God and therefore they are, as the Apostle Peter most appropriately states “wells without water”. A Holy Spirit filled teacher will not teach falsehoods. False teachers may proclaim a portion of truth in their teachings but they are all intertwined in deceptiveness, they are empty vessels.