Throughout Scripture there are instances where God’s people celebrate the destruction of their enemies, not out of personal vindictiveness, but in recognition of God’s righteous judgment and saving power. When Israel was delivered from Egypt, Moses and the people sang, “The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea” (Ex 15:3-4). This song exalted God’s power and justice in overthrowing those who opposed His people. Similarly, Deborah and Barak sang after the defeat of Sisera and the Canaanite forces, praising God for granting victory (Judg 5:1-31). The psalms also contain imprecatory elements where God’s servants rejoice at His judgment on the wicked. One psalmist wrote, “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth!’” (Psa 58:10-11).
Category: Apologetics
The Word, Not Wonders, Produces Maturity
Throughout Scripture, God has revealed Himself in ways both dramatic and ordinary. Mighty acts, visible glory, audible voice, and miraculous signs all testify to His reality and power. Yet the consistent testimony of the biblical record is sobering: supernatural experience, no matter how powerful, does not produce faithful obedience. The problem is not with the clarity of God’s revelation but with the condition of the human heart. Negative volition resists divine truth, explains it away, or substitutes human viewpoint in its place. From Israel’s wilderness generation to Christ’s own ministry, from the apostolic witness to the judgments of the Tribulation, the pattern repeats. Miracles may astonish, experiences may terrify or thrill, but apart from faith in God’s Word, they leave no lasting spiritual change.
A Biblical Critique of Roman Catholic Doctrine
Though the Roman Catholic Church claims to uphold the grace of God in salvation, its official doctrines—particularly regarding justification, authority, the papacy, purgatory, the sacraments, priesthood, and Marian devotion—introduce theological errors that fundamentally distort the gospel message, adding human works, tradition, and ecclesiastical authority to what Scripture declares is received by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Rom 3:28; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8-9).
Repentance for Unbelievers and Believers
Repentance (Greek metanoeō) always refers to a change of mind. It is a mental shift—a reorientation of one’s thinking in response to divine truth. This change of mind may produce emotion or lead to action, but its essence is internal and volitional. Scripture uses the concept of repentance for both unbelievers (Acts 17:30; 20:21) and believers (Rev 2:5, 16; 3:3, 19), though the object and outcome of the change differ depending on context.
The Importance of Jesus’ Resurrection
The resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as an indispensable feature of the Christian faith—historically grounded, theologically essential, and personally transformative. It is the Father’s validation of the Son’s work and the believer’s assurance of eternal life, power for daily living, and hope beyond the grave. To deny it is to unravel the very fabric of the gospel; to believe it is to stand firmly in the truth of God’s Word, secured by grace, and anchored in a living Savior who conquered death and lives forevermore. Because He lives, so shall we.
Why Volition Matters: Belief in Jesus and Eternal Life
Salvation through Jesus Christ is available to all, irrespective of background or prior belief. It is a universal invitation to eternal life, based on grace and faith, not works. Human volition plays a crucial role, with negative volition leading to rejection of God, and positive volition involving seeking and accepting salvation.
Faith Without Works is Dead
The debate over James 2:14-26 centers on faith, works, and salvation. Arminians and Catholics see faith and works as essential for salvation, while Reformed theologians view works as evidence of genuine faith. What James emphasizes is a faith that is useful to others and saves believers from divine discipline. For James, a dead faith is a useless faith that fails to glorify God and edify others.
Justified in God’s Sight
The process of divine justification is a one-time event, not to be confused with ongoing sanctification. Faith in Christ results in the gift of righteousness and a declaration of righteousness before God, not by human works. Justification is a judicial act of God, pardoning and accepting the believer as just through Christ's righteousness. This righteousness is imputed, not imparted, and believers are simultaneously righteous and sinners.
Reconciliation with God
To talk about reconciliation is to assume there are two or more persons who need to be reconciled because of a fractured relationship, because at least one person has been offended by the actions of another. Biblically, God is the one who has been offended by His sinful creatures. Because of our offensive sin, our relationship with God was broken. God loves us, but not our sin. We are quite apt to produce sin, but are powerless to deal with it. God initiated the restoration of the relationship by dealing with our sin. This is why the cross was necessary, for “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).
Jesus Died Twice on the Cross
This article discusses the significance of Jesus experiencing spiritual and physical death on the cross to atone for humanity's sins. It explains that spiritual death means separation from God in time, and how Jesus bore both types of death to fully represent and redeem humanity. The separation from God was temporary and necessary for atonement.
What Jesus Suffered in the Hours Prior to His Crucifixion
Jesus loved the Father (John 14:31) and submitted Himself to do the Father’s will (Matt 26:39-44; cf. Rom 5:19; Phil 2:5-8), which included enduring the illegal trials of His accusers, as well as the eventual mockings, beatings, and crucifixion. All that Jesus suffered was prophesied in Scripture (Gen 3:15; Psa 22:16-18; Isa 50:4-7; 52:14; 53:3-12; Matt 26:67-68; Mark 10:32-34). God the Father was in complete control of the circumstances surrounding the trials and crucifixion of Jesus (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). Though unjustly attacked, Jesus knew He was doing the Father’s will (John 6:38; 10:14-18; 12:27; 18:11) and did not retaliate against His attackers (1 Pet 2:21-23).
Who Crucified Jesus?
Who crucified Jesus? According to the testimony of Scripture, Jesus’ death on the cross was the result of: 1) God the Father who sent Him, 2) Jesus who willingly went to the cross, 3), Satan who worked through others to help crucify Him, 4) unbelieving Jews, and 5) unbelieving Gentiles.
Theological Implications of Jesus’ Resurrection for Salvation
Jesus’ resurrection is an essential element in soteriology. In fact, every writer of the NT assumes that Jesus was resurrected from the grave and treat it as an event that took place in time and space. Paul wrote that Jesus “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4), that He was “the first fruits of those who are asleep” (1 Cor 15:20), and that “having been raised from the dead, is never to die again” (Rom 6:9).
The God-Man: Understanding the Deity and Humanity of Jesus
At a point in time, the eternal Son of God added humanity to Himself, simultaneously becoming God and man, Creator and creature, the unique theanthropic person (John 1:1, 14, 18; 8:58; 10:33; 20:28; Col 2:9; Heb 1:8). Jesus is the God-man and exists in hypostatic union, as a single Person with a divine and human nature (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 4:2-3), both natures being distinct and preserved, not mixed or confused, fully God and fully man.
Who is the One Who Saves?
The article discusses four views on salvation. Autosoterism believes in self-saving through good works, failing to understand God's righteousness and human depravity. Syntheosoterism adds human works to faith in Christ, nullifying the gospel. Posttheosoterism starts with faith and later adds works for salvation, like the Galatian Christians. Solatheosoterism teaches salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, without human works.
Defining Salvation in the Bible
Soteriology is the study of salvation. The word soteriology is derived from the Greek words "soter" (σωτήρ), which means savior, and "logos" (λόγος), which means a word about, or the study of something. Soteriology is the sphere of systematic theology that speaks to the nature, means, scope, and purpose of salvation. It is an important theme that runs throughout Scripture and reveals the God who saves.
Two Fathers, Two Kingdoms: Understanding Spiritual Identity in a Divided World
Everyone we meet has two fathers. Everyone. They have a biological father and a spiritual father. Biblically, their spiritual father is either God or Satan. The Pharisees incorrectly thought they were children of God, and said to Jesus, “The only Father we have is God himself” (John 8:41). Here’s an example were perception was not equal to reality. Jesus refuted them, saying, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world” (John 8:23), and “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father” (John 8:44a). According to William Hendriksen, “Identity of inner passions and desires establishes spiritual descent: they are constantly desiring to carry out the wishes of the devil; so he must be their father. The devil desires to kill and to lie, and so do they.”[2] We live in a divided world where “the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one” (Matt 13:38; cf., 1 John 3:10).
Quick Facts About Revival
Biblically, four things are true about revivals: 1) they start with the positive reception of God’s Word, 2) they can be personal or corporate, 3) they lead to regeneration of the lost and godly reforms among the saved, and 4) they often don’t last beyond one generation. For revival to be true according to Scripture, whether personal or corporate, it must start with the communication and positive reception of God’s Word.
There’s Only One Human Race
Biblically, there is only one human race. The Bible reveals, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27; cf., Gen 9:18-19). The apostle Paul said that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). The idea of multiple races confuses and divides people in harmful ways, allowing for racist ideologies to flourish. Certainly, there are different tribes, ethnic groups, languages, and cultures, but all humanity constitutes only one race.
Is Self Defense Biblical?
Should Christians defend themselves when being attacked? The subject is hotly debated, and there are godly Christians on either side of the issue. Biblically, we see examples of believers who used lethal force as a means of protecting themselves and others from unjustified attacks. However, there were times when believers did not defend themselves, and these suffered a martyr’s death. Today, I believe law-abiding Christians in America have the biblical and constitutional right to keep and bear arms as a means of self-defense and protecting others.
The Despair of Atheism and the Hope of Christianity
The atheist’s worldview denies the existence of God and believes the universe and earth happened by a chance explosion billions of years ago. Rather than intelligent design, he believes in unintelligent chaos, that the earth, with all its complexity of life, is merely the product of accidental evolutionary processes over millions of years. His worldview believes everything is merely the product of matter, motion, time and chance; that we are the accidental collection of molecules; that we are nothing more than evolving bags of protoplasm who happen to be able to think, feel, and act. The conclusion is that we came from nothing significant, that we are nothing significant, and we go to nothing significant. Ultimately, there’s no reason for us to exist, and no given purpose to assign meaning to our lives. We are a zero. Some have thought through the logical implications of their atheism and understand this well.