Mike Abendroth's Blog, page 9

What Would Luther Say–Part 1

Pastor Mike discusses quotes from Martin Luther. To learn more about Luther’s life, a good book is Here I Stand by Roland Baintan.

Bulls And Papals

NoCo banter continues as the Pope’s liberal statements are examined.

 

Union In Liberty–Part 4

How did Jesus receive you as a sinner? Considering what Jesus has done for you, how should you receive others? How do you say “no” to liberties you have now that might stumble another believer? Pastor Mike addresses these questions in a recent sermon from Romans 15.

 

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Union In Liberty–Part 3

 

Union In Liberty–Part 2

 

Union In Liberty–Part 1

 

Profaning the Sacrifice of Christ–Ransom Theory

Was Christ’s ransom paid to Satan? Does Satan own sinners? Is penal substitution compatible with the Ransom or Fishhook theory?

 

 

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Profaning The Sacrifice Of Christ–Felt Needs

 

Profaning The Sacrifice Of Christ–Morality

 

Profaning The Sacrifice Of Christ–The Sin Of Presumption

 

The Need For Preaching–Part 2

Thursday, March 19th, 2015–The Need For Preaching–Part 2

 

 

 

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The Need For Preaching–Part 1

 

The Holy Ghost?

The Doxology we sing ends with, “Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” But the Holy Spirit the Scriptures reveal is not a ghost, but a Person who is God, the 3rd member of the Trinity.

The Holy Spirit is a person.

I. Possesses attributes of personality

A. Intellect(Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; Eph. 1:17)

NOTE: Holy Spirit has ability to teach(John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:13)

B. Emotions(Eph. 4:30)

C. Will(Acts 16:6-12; 1 Cor. 12:11)

II. Performs actions of personality

A. He teaches(John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:13)

B. He bears witness(John 15:26; Romans 8:16)

C. He guides into all truth(John 16:13)

D. He leads(Romans 8:14)

E. He convicts/convinces(John 16:8)

F. He forbids to preach(Acts 16:6-7)

G. He commands

1. Philip(Acts 8:29)

2. Paul & Barnabas to be set apart(Acts 13:2)

H. He intercedes for us(Rom. 8:26)

I. He searches all things(1 Cor. 2:10)

J. He comforts as He comes alongside(Comforter/Paraclete)

The Holy Spirit is God.

I. Possesses attributes of Deity

A. Omniscient(John 14:26; 16;13; 1 Cor. 2:10-11)

B. Omnipresent(Psalm 139:7)

C. Omnipotent

1. Power of Creation(Job 33:4)

2. Power of Regeneration(John 3:5-8)

3. Power of Incarnation(Luke 1:35)

D. Eternal(Hebrews 9:14)

E. Life(Rom. 8:2)

F. Truth(John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:13)

II. Performs actions of Deity

A. Creation(Gen. 1:2)

B. Incarnation(Matt. 1:20)

C. Inspiration(2 Pet. 1:21; 2 Tim. 3:16 – “breathed out by God”(theopneustos))

D. Regeneration(John 3:6; Titus 3:5)

E. Intercession(Rom. 8:26)

F. Sanctification(2 Thes. 2:13 )

G. Conviction(John 16:8)

With all the Charismatic Chaos(would make a good title for a book) and all the Strange Fire(would make another good title for a book) that has invaded evangelicalism, it is no wonder there is so much confusion as to who the Holy Spirit is. To understand the third member of the Trinity, we must understand that He is a person and that He is God.

– – Hariton Deligiannides (Head of the Elders Board at BBC)

 

Songs Not For Singing

A Wednesday with Tuesday Guy! The hosts peruse a blog article critiquing sappy love songs which are not fit for corporate worship.

How To Give And Receive Criticism

Mike and Steve discuss a 9marks blog from Deepak Reju. Criticism is unavoidable but there is a biblical way to respond to it.

 

 

Justification & Sanctification

True or False? Sanctification is when the sinner is declared righteous.

Some who took my Soteriology class that I taught at our Church’s(Bethlehem Bible Church) New England Institute for Biblical Studies in 2011 got this question wrong on the initial quiz testing their knowledge. If you answered True, so did you. Justification is when the sinner is declared righteous.

Justification is…

…the divine legal verdict in the courtroom of God…

…that changes the believer’s status and standing before God…(Rom. 2:13; Rom. 4:2)

…by declaring the believer not guilty of sin,…

…therefore freeing him from God’s wrath and condemnation,…(Rom. 1:18; 8:1)

…and by declaring the believer fully righteous,…

…not because of a righteousness inherent to the believer,…

…but because of a foreign, alien righteousness,…(Rom. 10:3; Phil. 3:9)

…namely Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to the believer’s account,…(Philemon 18; 2 Cor. 5:21)

…on the grounds of His active obedience to the Father by keeping the Law during His incarnation…

…whereby God now looks upon the believer just as righteous as Christ Himself…

…and the believer is fully acceptable in the sight of God.

On Dec. 24, 2004, Larry King Live, “Who Was Jesus?”, pastor John MacArthur said,

“That perfect life which Christ lived is credited to the account of every person who puts their trust in Him. Here is the heart of the Christian Gospel. On the cross, Jesus dies, for my sin. In other words, God treats Him as if He lived my life. Turns right around, and by my faith in Christ, God treats me as if I lived His life. He credits his life to my account. That’s the doctrine of justification and the heart of Christianity.”

So what about sanctification. If justification is when the sinner is declared righteous, sanctification is when the sinner is made righteous. If justification is righteousness imputed, sanctification is righteousness imparted. Unlike justification, sanctification is a process that takes place throughout our Christian lives until glorification.

There are two errors to avoid with justification and sanctification. One is to confuse justification with sanctification. Roman Catholicism makes this exact error. As John MacArthur wrote in his book “Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles”(p. 90-91)

“Roman Catholicism blends its doctrines of sanctification and justification. Catholic theology views justification as an infusion of grace that makes the sinner righteous. In Catholic theology, then, the ground of justification is something made good within the sinner – not the imputed righteousness of Christ. The Council of Trent, Rome’s response to the Reformation, pronounced anathema on anyone who says “that the [sinner] is justified by faith alone – if this means that nothing else is required by way of cooperation in the acquisition of the grace of justification.””

The other error to avoid is to say that there is no connection between justification and sanctification. The words of some well known Bible teachers who have gone before us testify to this.

John Calvin

“Christ justifies no man without also sanctifying him.”

B.B. Warfield

“The whole 6th chapter of Romans was written for no other purpose than to assert and demonstrate that justification and sanctification are indissolubly bound together; that we cannot have the one without having the other.”

Martin-Lloyd Jones

“You cannot receive Christ as your justification only, and then, later, decide to refuse or to accept him as your sanctification.”

Donald Grey Barnhouse

“If holiness does not start, we have the right to suspect that justification never started either.”

- – Hariton Deligiannides (Head of the Elders Board at BBC)

Union In Liberty–Part 3

Monday, March 16th, 2015–Union In Liberty–Part 3

 

 

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Union In Liberty–Part 2

 

Union In Liberty–Part 1

 

Union In Liberty–Part 4