Only the Word Can Build Christians

We can tell inspiring stories, sing beautiful or peppy music, fill our calendars full of social events, professionalize our program and provide small groups for every conceivable interest, but if the Scripture is not diligently, systematically and correctly taught, Christ’s people will not be equipped and the body will not be built up, period.  There are no exceptions to this mandate. The church must proclaim the word of truth -- it must be the utmost priority.  Congregations which focus on techniques, programs and entertainment, at the expense of the centrality of the Word, may build large followings but they will not build the church of God. Programs, drama and entertainment may amuse, soothe, inspire and stir the emotions, but they will not build Christians. Only the Word can do that.

Gary E. Gilley, This Little Church Stayed Home: A faithful church in deceptive times, pg.58

Worship Music--Think About It

Personal Bible Notes: 2nd Corinthians and Galatians

(Refer to my 9/25/18 post about the margin notes in my Bible, and why I decided to share them on this blog.)

2nd Corinthians

1:1: Paul was an apostle by God’s will, not his own.

1:22:  The Christian HAS the Holy Spirit.

2:17: The words of the Apostles are as from God.

3:7: “chiseled in letters on stones” — the Ten Commandments.

3:11: The Ten Commandments (i.e. the Law) are fading away. Seventh-day Adventists think the Law is still in place.

4:2: If they are unable to come to God (i.e. as Calvinism states), then why must they be blinded?

4:6: Notice that Paul cites Genesis 1 as fact.

5:5: The Spirit is our downpayment for our new body.

5:8: Absent from the body, i.e. at death, is at home with the Lord.

10:1: Speaking of his time on earth.

10:8 Apostolic authority given by God.

11:3: “serpent deceived Eve” — Paul treats this as factual history.

12:1-5: If this is Paul, then why vs 5? To whom is he referring?

12:14: Parents are obligated to save up for their children? Is this a command? For what purpose?

13:11: “be restored” - i.e, “mend your ways.”

13:13: This is a trinitarian benediction!

Galatians

1:1: “quickly turning away… See cf Exodus 32:8

1:8: Notice that Paul does not say an “angel from God,” for God would not send an angel with a false gospel.

1:12: Paul received his teaching directly from Christ.

1:19: James is the bonafide brother of Jesus, meaning he was born of Joseph and Mary.

2:14: quotations stop at 15, but quite possibly should include all the way to vs.21.

2:21: “I do not set aside…” i.e., nullify, neglect.

4:4: “born of woman” implies Mary’s virginity in that Jesus was not born of man.

5:15: “bite” — as a snake.

5:22-26: One’s fruit if controlled by the Spirit.

6:6: Demonstrates approval of paid clergy, contrary to the teaching of some cults.

6:8: “sows to his flesh.” i.e. spending on self.

6:16: “Israel of God” — i.e. Christians.

More Wolves and False Teachings

Todd Bentley — typical behavior of a cult leader.  The man has proven over and over that he is not a Christian.

Michael Brown — sigh. AND, here is also a good exposure of this dangerous wolf’s history of supporting numerous wolves and false teachings.

This is what passes for “worship” in apostate churches.

Steven Furtick — again.  And again.

An example of why Jackie Hill Perry should be avoided like the plague. Good open letter to her — she should heed it.

This is what passes for “tongues” and “interpretation” on heretic Jim Bakker’s show.

This woman is not a Christian, but she is a priest — a priest of Satan.

Another Christian school capitulates to the homosexualists.

Kenneth Copeland is of his father, the devil. He is about as big of a fraud as it gets.

When you see this sort of nonsensical, aberrant, unbiblical teaching, you KNOW you’ve found a false teacher (and probably not even a Christian)!

The Road Away From Him — Enneagram.

The ELCA has proven again that it is NOT a Christian church.

No, Benny Hinn has not repented.  As long as his books aren’t pulled and as long as he stays filthy rich from false teachings, he isn’t repenting. After all, he’s “repented” twice before!

Bethel Church’s Jesus Culture sings blasphemy and heresy.  Go figure.

An example of how Roman Catholics behave as brainwashed cult members.

This is what happens when satan is allowed to take part in your church.

What is it with church leaders who feel the necessity to kow-tow to the practitioners of sexual perversion — sexual behaviors which God in no ambiguous terms hotly condemned?!?!

Are You Part of the Problem or the Solution?

The evangelical church must shoulder much of the blame for the drainage of scriptural knowledge from our society, a knowledge that was commonplace only a few decades ago. Far too concerned with excellence in our musical productions, entertainment of our young people, and creation of worshipful experiences, we have all but neglected the systematic teaching of the Word. Surely our churches are still bulging with Bible studies, lectures and even sermons, but it is becoming increasingly rare to find the Word of God maintaining its centrality in the Christian community. Bible studies are often a mere sharing of ignorance, sermons are seldom expository and pastors and conference speakers work hard at keeping their audience happy and meeting their felt needs. Ministers are being trained, not to be shepherds of the flock, but presidents of a corporation. As a result, not only is the unbeliever ignorant of the Word, but often the Christian also is as well. Ignorant Christians live foolish lives as they bounce from mystical experience to entertaining programming in hopes of finding an anchor. A return to the priority of the Word is the great need of the moment.

Gary E. Gilley, This Little Church Stayed Home: A faithful church in deceptive times, pg.47-48

The Church Has Jettisoned Her Message

For two decades [as of 2006] the church-growth experts have told us that if we are to attract the unchurched, we must change the way we “do church.” We must offer them new “settings and experiences.” We must meet their perceived felt-needs. We must do away with biblical exposition and focus on stories. We must eliminate dogma and become relevant. We must do away with hymns and major on contemporary music. We must remove our Christian symbols and traditions and behave more professionally and secularly. We must train our pastors to be CEOs rather than shepherds. When we have done all of this, we have been assured, we will attract the masses. Now, after two decades of church leaders buying and implementing everything that the market-driven gurus have offered, we find far fewer people attending church services (of any kind). Their methodologies have failed, yet Barna encourages us to keep it up. If we can just change enough, if we can just offer the right experiences and become more creative, surely we will ultimately break through. …

While the evangelical church has been chasing the every changing fads and whims of our society, she has jettisoned her unique message. At the same time that the church has forgotten her purpose, she has also been infiltrated by a wide range of diluting and corrupting influences that have changed the very core of her being.

Gary E. Gilley, This Little Church Stayed Home: A faithful church in deceptive times, pg. 12-13

Emulate Paul!

Some consider it unbiblical to correct error and name the false teachers who trouble the church. Paul didn’t. Every one of Paul’s epistles corrected errors and false teachings. Several times Paul named false teachers as he warned the church about their heresies.

Gary E. Gilley, This Little Church Stayed Home: A faithful church in deceptive times, pg.9

The Blood of Christ — Does the Blood Itself Save?

Today I received a comment regarding a long ago posted article or comment string, which I am not going to try to find.  This comment is pretty much the same one as posted by this person previously (I’m not going to give his blog “handle” because I’m not sending people to false teaching KJVOs). (And it violated comment rules by being on an article which had nothing to do with the comment — 8/21/19!)

I’m going to divide the comment into the four paragraphs he wrote, and then comment on each one  separately.  The purpose of this exercise is to educate people on the weird theologies out there.

I am not going to take the time to look up the specific thread in which you falsely accused me of slandering John MacArthur, falsely claiming he does NOT agree with Mary Baker Eddy concerning the blood of Christ, so I will leave this comment here. 

The point was not that MacArthur agreed with Eddy, because he didn’t!!! There is a subtle difference in what they said, and it is an important difference.  The slander was the commenter putting MacArthur on the same level as Eddy as a teacher!

I have never even BEEN charismatic, but I was nevertheless amazed that there was actually a BAPTIST who is faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I highly recommend Dr. (Rev.) D. A. Waite's "John MacArthur's Heresy on the Blood of Christ," to enlighten you concerning this serious matter. 

Charismatics often teach that the blood of Christ had some mystical properties in and of itself, so whether or not this individual is charismatic, his theology about the blood is similar.  D.A. Waite was a rabid KJV Onlyer and called anyone who disagreed with the KJVO stance a heretic. Talk about false teachers!!!!  And it is very apparent that, if he also said MacArthur agreed with Eddy, then Waite really didn’t notice the difference either!

So here is what John MacArthur says concerning the blood of Christ (which DOES indeed save us, cleanse us and justify us, according to SCRIPTURE): "We don't want to get caught in the BIZARRE NOTION that there's any saving efficacy in the FLUID that ran from his body" (And what does GOD SAY? "For the life of the flesh is in the BLOOD, and I have given it to you on the altar FOR THE ATONEMENT OF YOUR SOULS. For it is THE BLOOD that makes atonement by the life" Lev. 17:11). And here is what Eddy says "The material blood of Christ was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed on 'the accursed tree,' than when it was flowing in his veins as he went about his Father's business." 

Note there is a difference between what MacArthur said and what Eddy said. MacArthur said there was no “saving efficacy” while Eddy said it was not “efficacious to cleanse from sin.”

Here’s the point. If Jesus had cut himself while working as a carpenter, and spilled his blood on the ground or smeared it on lumber, that blood had no saving power, nor did it cleanse from sin. Jesus’ blood in and of itself was not miraculous, nor special in any other way.  And that is the point MacArthur was making.

In the Old Testament animals were sacrificed to pay for sin; not that the blood was efficacious in and of itself, but was symbolic as a covering — it covered over the sin of the people. In the same way, when Jesus was offered as a sacrifice, his blood symbolically covered over sin — which is where Eddy went wrong in denying this aspect.  But the blood itself had no saving power — just as MacArthur stated.  The saving power was in the actual sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Christ; if Christ had not raised from the dead there would be no salvation!

You defended JMac, agreeing it wouldn't have done any good if He'd bled and lived, yet SCRIPTURE says "Without the shedding of BLOOD there IS no remission of sin" (Hebrews 9:22). And here's a warning from God as well: "How much severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated the BLOOD OF THE COVENANT that SANCTIFIED them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. 10:29). This is a serious enough issue to break fellowship over. 

The point is that if Jesus had lived, then he wouldn’t have died for our sin, so if all his wounds left trails of blood and yet didn’t kill him, then a sacrifice would not have been made! And yet this commenter thinks it is wrong to say this!

I’m sorry, fella, but Jesus’ blood alone, in and of itself, was no different than that of any other man.  What made it different was that only HIS blood, during HIS sacrifice, atoned for — covered over — our sins. But if he had not died and risen from the dead, that blood would not save anyone.  And that is the Biblical truth!

This is what KJVO legalism, and KJVO twisting of Scripture, and KJOV cultic beliefs lead to — a total misunderstanding of the Gospel. 

I may have the exact details of the theology not quite precise, but it is a FACT that Jesus’ blood had no miraculous qualities, and in and of itself did not save us. What saved us was the sacrifice of Christ with the blood atonement covering sin, his actual death as a sacrifice, and his resurrection proving the sacrifice was acceptable to God for the salvation of those who place their faith in Christ and his death and resurrection.

UPDATE 9/10/19:

The following links were sent to me by James Kieferdorf, proving that James MacArthur has never taught heretically regarding the blood of Jesus, nor has he taught anything near what Mary Baker Eddy taught.

The Blood of Christ. By John MacArthur

What's All the Controversy About John MacArthur and the Blood of Christ? By Phillip R. Johnson.

The World Hates God and Christians

The world is unrelenting in its hostility to us, and determined to wipe out every divine principle for which we stand. It seeks to supplant creationism with evolution. It denies the sacredness of human life by abortion. It achieves the breakdown of the family unit by divorce for any reason. The purity of the marriage relationship is denied by premarital sex. Homosexuality and lesbianism are looked on as acceptable alternative lifestyles. God’s chain of command in the home and in the church is ridiculed by militant feminism. Church and state are so separated as to ban the mention of God and Christ from public life entirely. Obscenity, pornography, nakedness, filth, and violence are treated with amiable tolerance.  And so, drugged and insensate, the world defies every law of God and hurtles on to its fiery doom.

William MacDonald, Worlds Apart. Cited in The Berean Call newsletter, August 2019, pg.4