by Ed Allen | Sep 10, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” (Romans 1:21-23). “A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm. The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts” (Revelation 9:18-21). Even after seeing all these things and the results of their hands, they did not repent! Nor did they did not honor God in their foolishness. We do not know why. Could it be that they did not understand the warning and hope that is offered by Jesus Christ in the gospel? “He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have...
by Jonathan Koehler | Aug 26, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Of the five warnings in the book of Hebrews, warning #3, found in chapters 5:11-6:8, is one of the most controversial and severe passages in the entire Bible. It is important to remember that eternal security for the possessor *of salvation is a given and therefore loss of salvation is not the issue in this warning. The corollary is also essential for correct understanding: certainty of salvation is not compatible with faith and therefore not in play this side of the grave. However, chapter 6 teaches that legitimate assurance is important, encouraged by God, and hinges on a heart for obedience. The Hebrews referenced in this letter are professors of salvation but are criticized for their immaturity. They have continued holding onto the old and comfortable Judaistic ways as well as not maturing in their new faith in Christ. Chapters 6, vv. 1-2 include practices associated with life under the Mosaic Law. But verses 4 and 5 are marks associated with those who profess new life in Christ. Thus, the author is indicting those Hebrews who are attempting to live under both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The crux of most controversy is the warning embodied in the term “fall away” in v. 6. It carries the idea of “abandonment”. Consider vs 4-6: “…those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they...
by Micah Olson | Aug 12, 2024 | Articles
“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3). In Part 1 we traced the importance of warfare in the economy of God, looking at being a warrior through the lens of the Old Testament saints, angels, and Jesus Christ. This leads to an obvious question for Christians in the New Testament age: Does this apply to us? And if so, what does being a warrior look like? There are two fundamental passages in the New Testament on being a soldier: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 and Ephesians 6:10-17. Both passages teach that the New Testament Christian is to be a soldier and fight wars; however the realm of our warfare is not physical but spiritual. This is not to say that Christians cannot or should not fight physical wars (i.e. serve in the military). There is no New Testament command for or against participating in physical wars. But irrespective of whether a Christian fights in physical wars, his true warfare is spiritual. All of us live in two realities, the physical and the spiritual. The physical world is the one we experience on an everyday basis. It is the one we can see and hear and touch and smell. Our earthly bodies and every other material thing that we experience in this life are part of the physical world. The spiritual world, on the other hand, is not something that we experience in a material sense. But that does not mean it is any less real. The bible teaches us that the spiritual world is more “real” than the physical, in the sense that the...
by Micah Olson | Jul 28, 2024 | Articles
“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13). The Apostle Paul commands us to act like men. What does it look like to obey this command? Do men need to be commanded to act like men? Apparently we do. Because I think on some level all of us understand that there are men, and then there are men. A study of all the things that it means to be a godly man is worthy of your time. In this article I would like to consider one important aspect of being a godly man: that men fight wars. And if you are going to fight wars successfully, you have to be strong and courageous. Which is to say, being a godly man means being a valiant warrior. I am not suggesting that this is the totality of what it means to be a man. Being a man involves more than that. But I want to make the argument that fighting wars is one fundamental way that men are to act like men. Let’s take a brief survey of the Old Testament, thinking through all the Old Testament saints who fought military battles. Start with Abraham, who fought successfully against King Chedorlaomer and the other kings after they took his nephew Lot captive (Genesis Ch 14). This was an important event which preceded Abraham meeting Melchizedek the king and priest. Moses, by my count, fought in 4 battles (Exodus 17:8-16, Numbers 21:1-5, 21:21-35, and 31:1-24). Joshua’s life purpose was to lead the Israelites in their military conquest of the Promised Land. Gideon...
by Jonathan Koehler | Jul 15, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Warning #2 in Hebrews encompasses 3:7-4:13 and is multi-faceted. The passage examines three perspectives of “rest”: The rest of God on the seventh day after the six days of Creation The rest promised to the nation of Israel after their Exodus from Egyptian captivity The Sabbath rest for the believer. The first “rest” was not because God was tired or needed a break but merely denoted a cessation from His creative activity (4:3). The second rest was found in the land of Canaan, a secure, fertile, and productive land. Except for two, Joshua and Caleb, this promise was not enjoyed by the Israelites who left captivity in Egypt and were older than age 20. This exclusion was due to unbelief, leading to disobedience: the nation’s refusal to engage the inhabitants of Canaan despite the urging and confidence of Joshua and Caleb and, more significantly, the promise of God that the land was theirs to take. The third rest contains the modifier “Sabbath”. The kernel of the second warning is to avoid the example of disobedience of the Israelites in order to enter the Sabbath rest (4:1-3,6,9-11). What are the characteristics of this third (believer’s) rest? It is eternal but available to all, to enjoy today. The Sabbath rest is likened to God’s Creation rest in that His rest started on the seventh day and has not ended; so it is with the Sabbath rest for the possessing* believer. There remains an opportunity for the individual to enter, but the window is limited, its time of closing known only to God. It requires acts of faith in effort and diligence...
by Brent Parker | Jul 2, 2024 | Articles
“For I consider the sufferings of this present time as unworthy of comparison to the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). There is a scene in the classic comedy “Monte Python and the Holy Grail” where the Black Knight must prevent anyone from crossing a certain bridge by engaging them in battle. Unfortunately, this is the very bridge that King Arthur must cross to continue in his quest for the Holy Grail. The sword fight begins, and it’s soon clear that the Knight is outmatched as he loses an arm to a mighty blow from the king. The Knight, however, is unfazed, and continues the fight. The king expresses amazement to the Knight, telling him he’s lost, he’s missing an arm. The Knight responds to the king with the now timeless words, “’Tis but a scratch.” King Arthur reluctantly continues the fight, systematically dismembering the knight. With each lost limb, the knight responds with another dismissive phrase. This scene of absurdist British comedy is seen from the perspective of King Arthur: this foolish knight was delusional to keep fighting. The viewer’s perspective show’s further pointlessness in this battle. The “bridge” is little more than a wooden plank over a rivulet of water around a foot wide and an inch or so deep. King Arthur could have easily avoided the confrontation, simply bypassing the knight’s bridge, going a little way up or downstream, and stepping over the water. From Arthur’s perspective, the knight was absurd. From the viewer’s perspective, both men were absurd; the battle was unnecessary. From Monty Python’s perspective, the absurdity was the point. ...
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