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Yeshua, Our Redeemer- Mediator

I Timothy 2:5 :  For  there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man   Christ Jesus. Acts 4:12 :   And there is  salvation  in no one else, for  there is no other  name under heaven given among men [ a ]  by which we must be saved.” Acts 16:31 : And they said,  “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you  and your household.” Of these, I think the ESV is not as accurate as it could be.   It makes it sound as if someone must believe in a set of facts & rely on Yeshua directly, as in intellectually assent to who He is & His person & work at one’s personal Vox Kephale in order to be justified.   The preposition  ἐπί in the text governs the accusative case object “the Lord Jesus,” & is, in my opinion, better translated as “on” rather than “in.” Yeshua is the Redeemer-Mediator of the whole of the LORD’s covenant system.   Rather than point us to a body of doctrinal ...

The 4th Commandment (Part 3)

Let’s take a look at the 4th Commandment in Exodus 20 8  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9  Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the  Lord  your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.   11  For in six days the  Lord  made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the  Lord  blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. The 4th Commandment is part of an increasingly specific list.     God is the only Creator-Deliverer. Worship no other gods; there is only one, the I AM THAT I AM. Don’t take God’s name in vain.    Don’t say “Thus says the LORD!” when the LORD has not so said.  The Sabbath is blessed by God.    Find 1 day out of 7 t...

The 4th Commandment (Part 2)

The first clear Sabbath command appears with Israel, and Exodus 31:16-17 says it was a sign between God and the children of Israel.   Actually it first appears as an enumerated command in Exodus 20:8.  Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are New Covenant ordinances commanded by Christ and His apostles. Sabbath-keeping is not. Baptism & the Lord’s Supper correspond to circumcision & washings & the Jewish liturgical feast cycle.     They are acts of inductive-intuitive prophecy through which God speaks.   Your theology of what Sabbath regulations encompass is grossly defiecient.    Administration of ordinances is governed by the 1st Table of the Law as a whole.   Colossians 2:16 says, “Let no man therefore judge you… in respect of… the sabbath days.” So the New Covenant does not bind Sabbath law on Christians. The present administration of the Covenant of Grace most certainly does. We are still commanded to administer & obse...

The 4th Commandment (Part 1)

There are some Christians who think that the New Testament doesn’t support the administration & observance of the Sabbath.       In their minds, the 4th Commandment no longer applies whereas the other 9 do.     One way they articulate this runs through drawing a sharp distinction between what they call the Old Covenant & another covenant they call the New Covenant.  What follows comes from an interaction I myself had on social media a day or 2 ago.  The Bible itself uses “new covenant” language, not merely as a casual descriptor. Jeremiah 31:31 says, “I will make a new covenant.”  Notice that the text uses the word A not THE.     God says He will make A new covenant not THE New Covenant.   Hebrews 8:8-13 quotes that and says the first covenant became old.  Which means old is a descriptor of  A  previous covenant **The Old Covenant.** The proper name of the covenant that precedes the one you call The ...

Infinite Diversity Infinite Combinations

For the past 2 or 3 weeks, the Christian Internet/Social Media has been abuzz with chatter about the Gubbmit revealing that space aliens exist & are demons. First of all, this all comes across as yet another conspiracy theory working its way through some quarters of American Evangelicalism.     Second, why would space aliens be demons.      Maybe some are & some aren’t.    So what if some of them are.     Demons are still beings who left their positions of power & authority (Jude).   Most importantly why is a challenge for our faith as Christians?     According to the Bible, the purpose of the created order is to testify to God’s existence, attributes, & authority (Romans 1:18 - 32).    God is not tribal, territorial spirit.     God is universal.     He created everyone & everything every-when-&-where.      That means that if extr...

Tackling Tradition 77: Who Wrote Matthew?

In skeptical circles these days, it is not at all unusual to hear that the Gospels are anonymous works.  The implication is that the ascriptions are fabrications. If / When you run across this assertion, pay careful attention to the way it is often argued.   You’ll get a range of opinions, some of which argue against this Levi person being the author because nobody writes themselves into the story that way,  Others argue that the people who added the ascription “Kata Matthaion” were motivated by the need to render the text authoritative in light of competing claims of authenticity of any number of works, as if doing so means the traditional authorship is inaccurate,  Bart Ehrman has been known to assert that nobody writes in “Title according to author name” form. 1. Authors throughout history have written in 3rd person / 3rd person omniscient form .  The issue therefore isn’t whether or not an author would do such a thing.  The issue is whether or not Matth...

The Spiritual Abuse of Sam Allberry

Sam Allberry’s fall from grace has been the subject of a great deal of debate on the internet this week.       He confessed to an “inappropriate emotional attachment” that happened back in 2023/2024 & his church has seen fit to place him under church discipline.       In addition… Shawn Mathis The Gospel Coalition and others are telling themselves "we saw no signs" that a purportedly celibate gay celebrity they were promoting was up to no good. Pastor Sam Allberry was a problem from the get go.  Never forget those who endorsed him. I'll have a list soon. John William Noble I am truly saddened to read that Sam Allberry has fallen into sexual sin. Regrettably, theological compromise within evangelicalism is a significant contributor to how contemporary 'hot topics' are being tackled. This was an article written over a year ago on this subject. Rick Pidock It would be nice to be able to have an honest conversation with Sam Allberry the human, apart fr...