Category: THEOLOGY
Understanding Creation
Creation Ex Nihilo Paul described God as the One “who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist” (Romans 4:17, NASB). His words are the perfect definition of the Hebrew word for “create” (bara) used in Genesis 1:1. The word...
The Worth of Warnings (Part 1)
Why do the writers of Scripture promise sure salvation for believers, but then warn those same believers not to fall away from the faith and be lost? It’s a fair question, after all, because if something cannot happen, why caution someone against allowing it to happen?...
Understanding the Fall of Man
Adam and Eve were the only two human beings (apart from Christ) to enter into life with a will that was truly free. Unlike every one of their descendants, they alone began life with the ability to reflect God’s holiness—the ability to remain sinless. But things...
Understanding the Death of Christ (Part 2)
A Finished Work As we learned in the last issue of Basic Truth, Jesus did not come to merely make men savable. He came to “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). As Jesus said of Himself, “the Son of Man has come to seek...
Understanding the Death of Christ
Faith and Grace in Relation to the Death of Christ As important as faith is in salvation, when a person believes and is justified, it is not faith that saves him—not even partially. Faith cannot appease God’s wrath. Only the blood of the perfect sacrifice can...
Understanding the Ascension
God has always held ultimate power, and Jesus is God. But Jesus is also fully man. No man (or angel for that matter, including Satan) has ever held absolute power or been the ultimate sovereign over heaven and earth—that is, until the resurrection and ascension of...
Understanding Providence (article in two parts)
Meticulous Providence “Providence” is a theological term describing God’s ruling and governing of His creation. “Meticulous” providence depicts God as ordering and directing everything—every detail in the universe. In Ephesians 1:11 we are told that God “works all things according to the counsel of His will.”...
What is the Bible?
The Bible is God’s Special Revelation Mankind is dependent upon God for all things, even for the knowledge that God exists. Though God is under no obligation to reveal Himself, He chose to reveal Himself to mankind through creation. God reveals Himself as eternal, powerful, glorious,...
What and When God Remembers
Though the concept may seem strange, the Bible occasionally declares that God “remembers” one thing or another. But we must not assume that God has “forgotten” something for a time—and then suddenly “remembers” it again. When God “remembers,” He has simply determined that the time for...
Understanding the Resurrection
The Resurrection Vindicates Christ’s Claims and Predictions What would you think of a man who, in every visible respect, appeared ordinary yet claimed to be the Son of God? What if he also claimed to be deserving of equal honor with God? What if he even...