Ecclesiology

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Popular posts from this blog

Do false gods answer prayer?

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I was recently asked the following question;  Do other "gods" answer prayers too? The reason I ask, is because I personally know people from different faiths who are convinced that they have had their prayers answered by the god whom they worship. This makes it difficult for me to make a case for Jesus in front of them, because they are being delivered from their difficulties without Jesus' help. This is a great question, and a scenario that many of us will have to face at some point in time, if we are to be faithful in sharing the gospel with others. A central truth found throughout all of Scripture is that there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). In fact, this is the first of all the commandments. Meaning, when we approach the Bible in an attempt to know God, the very first thing He reveals about Himself to us, is that there are no other gods but Him. When speaking through His prophet Isaiah, the Lord says, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; ther...
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What is godless chatter?

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What is godless chatter? The term godless chatter is used by the apostle Paul when he exhorts Timothy to, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:16-18, NIV). In context, this passage of Scripture is dealing with the godless chatter of false teachers who were sneaking into the church and trying to corrupt the truth of God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:14-3:9). Paul clearly warns Timothy about them when he points them out by saying, “Their teaching will spread like gangrene” (2:17). Paul likens the godless chatter of false teachers to gangrene, which was a deadly disease that spread rapidly and ate away at a persons flesh. This Greek idiom truly emphasizes the repulsiveness of the ministry of the false...
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Do Demons Die?

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I was recently asked by someone if demons die. Specifically, " When Jesus cast the demons in the swine & the swine went into the sea, did the demons die?" I think this is a great question, and one that the Bible clearly addresses for us. Demons are actually fallen angels (Revelation 12:7-9), who were created by God (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3) as spiritual beings (Ephesians 6:12; Hebrews 1:14) and therefore are not subject to death, at least in earthly terms. It might be helpful to remember that before the particular demons in question possessed the pigs, they possessed the man from Gadarene (Mark 5:7-9). When Jesus came near, they confronted Him and asked if He was there to “torment” them before the time (Matthew 8:29). After this they begged and pleaded for Jesus not to send them out of that particular “country” (Mark 5:10), or into “the abyss” (Luke 8:35), but into the herd of swine (Mark 5:12). Jesus consented (Matthew 8:32), and they went into the...
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