Marbaniang, Domenic

It was not just because He was sinless; for, even the Father and the Holy Spirit are sinless. 1. It was because all things were created through Him (Jn.1:3); therefore, only through Him could all things also be redeemed (Eph.3:9; Col.1:16; Heb.1:2). 2. It was because He is the heir of all things (created for Him); therefore, He alone had the right to redeem all things (Heb.1:2,3). 3. It was because the old creation was through Him; therefore, it's end could also be through Him (1Cor.15:45; Jn.5:22) 4. It was because the old creation was through Him; therefore, the new creation could also be through Him. (Rev.21:5) 5. It is in Him that all things consist (Col.1:17); therefore, it is in Him that all things (in heaven and on earth, not below earth) can be reconciled and gathered together (Eph.1:10). 6. It is by the word of His power that all things are upheld (Heb.1:3; 2Pet.3:7); therefore, it is by the word of His power alone that all things can be preserved for immortality (Jude 1:1...

Pentecost has a number of theological implications for missions that cannot be ignored. The ethno-linguistic-geographical division that resulted at Babel was obliterated at Pentecost; and the pouring of the Holy Spirit entailed not only the transcending of linguistic barriers but also the ingathering of both Jews and Gentiles into one. "If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?"(Acts 11:17). Of course, though this doesn't mean that barriers and divisions are no more, it does certainly mean that missionary methods must honestly conform to the biblical picture of the Church. Theologically, we can recognize at least four distinctions in God’s ordering of the history of humanity: the original ordering, the divisive ordering, the in-gathering ordering, and the final ordering. 1. The Original Ordering. In the original ordering, humanity is one. Nationalities didn’t exist because plur...

"This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there." (Jas 3:15-16) The Bible talks about at least four sources of human thoughts: The World (books, images, media, friends, traditions, culture, belief-systems, etc) Our Nature or Soul (Gr. psuchikos; past experiences, inferences, memories, feelings, desires, lusts, undealt sin, immediate need, wickedness inside) The Devil (Evil spirits, occultic teachings) God (The Holy Spirit, The Word of God) Examples of Worldly Thoughts: You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. (Lev 20:23) As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. (1Kgs 11:4) Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why...

"Tell a lie, speak it loudly, repeat it often, and the majority of people will believe it." ~ Adolf Hitler Sinister as this quote appears, deliberate lying is part of propaganda and advertisement all around. And, while people recognize much of it as false (for instance, an ad that shows women swarming on a man using a particular body spray), it is held that somehow the elevated picture one paints will have a psychologically deterministic noetic effect. But, are truth and determinism compatible? That is a vital question the answer to which will decide two things: 1. Whether humans have epistemic freedom; that is the choice to know. 2. Whether knowledge entails moral responsibility. While some sort of psychological determinism exists, as evident from experiments in group conformity, Milgram's authority experiments, and Piaget's experiments on cognitive ability with children, the determinism of psychology argues in support of uniformity of experience and not diversities ...

"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." (1Pet 5:5) ~Humility before God includes humility before fellow humans as well. What matters more is not how much we know or what we have accomplished, but how much we love God. For, "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him (1Cor 8:1-3). Humility doesn't mean compromise of truth and values. There is something called a false humility that we must beware of. G.K.Chesterton said it well, "But what we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubt...

The answer is “No”. But, this is not the doctrine of eternal security as taught by Calvinism. According to Calvinism, God predestines certain individuals to damnation and certain others to salvation. Those whom God has predestined to be saved will endure to the end. Thus, it is not “those who endure to the end will be saved” but “those who are saved will endure to the end.” In other words, the elect will endure; it is not those who will endure that are the elect. We reject the Calvinist explanation of the security of the elect for several biblical reasons stated elsewhere; but, primary, is that it paints a very wrong image of God. In this post, we will try to explain why we believe that the “elect” of God will not fall. Election is not unconditional, but conditional. The elect of God are those whom God eternally knows as the ones who are His, i.e. those who have endured to the end in faith (2Tim.2:19). These who are foreknown by God as His are the elect of God according to His forekno...

"The sin of Adam," says Charles Hodge, "did not make the condemnation of all men merely possible; it was the ground of their actual condemnation. So the righteousness of Christ did not make the salvation of men merely possible, it secured the actual salvation of those for whom He wrought." The great Baptist preacher Charles H. Spurgeon said: "If Christ has died for you, you can never be lost. God will not punish twice for one thing. If God punished Christ for your sins He will not punish you. 'Payment God's justice cannot twice demand; first, at the bleeding Saviour's hand, and then again at mine.' How can God be just if he punished Christ, the substitute, and then man himself afterwards?", Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination. While God's love is unconditional, salvation is not. Therefore, it says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but h...