So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.[Romans 10:17 NASB]

Much is contained in this one verse. I personally believe this verse proves beyond a shadow of doubt that faith is a gift of God. Notice that it says where faith comes from..."and by hearing the word of Christ." Seeing that God's word is a gift to us, and faith comes by hearing it, faith is a gift of God. There is no way of escaping this fact.

Big sigh. The ongoing Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate: there is a third option, it called Confessional Lutheranism, which is the correct biblical option.

Lutherans, like Calvinist adhere to divine monergism. Calvinist are correct to teach divine monergism (Amen) but they are wrong to teach “limited atonement” and “preservation of the saints”. The “Five Points” (TULP) is only 1.5 correct, sigh then you have Arminianism.

As a confessional Lutheran I’ll just grab myself a bucket of...

I was sitting at my desk thinking deep thoughts when a new one crept into my mind. Luke has Mary, who at the time was engaged to Joseph, being told by an angel that she will (future tense) conceive and give birth to a son. She replies by asking how that would be possible since she hasn't had any activity necessary to bring that about. I wonder why she would say that unless she also didn't plan on ever having that activity in the future after she was married? If, so, that might seem to be...

Is Saving Faith A Gift?

There are some, especially from the “Reformed/Calvinist”, who say that Saving Faith is a Gift from God, which is given only to the “Elect”, so that they can believe, and be saved.

They use Ephesians 2:8-9, which says:

“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast”

Contextually, Paul is speaking of Salvation as the Gift here. He repeats what he has just said in verse 5, “by...

Luke 22:19-21, ". . . And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. . . ."

How do you handle this in your churches?
Enforce it? Ignore it? Try to explain it away using the cultural argument?

I did a look-see of words that have been disappearing in a number of Bible translations, or at any rate, have reduced usage. I am not listing Bible versions that do not contain these words. You can guess.
I will not be putting these versions in any order. I will not list the same ones each time. I am interested in Bible versions that use these words less than 50 times. This is not comprehensive. It will be a mishmash. There will be times in which I don't enumerate some items to your...

I have seen it argued in other places that Jesus died for all including Judas. To support this theory they have used the scenes of the Last Supper.

Typically they point to Luke 22:19-20 and point out that Jesus says, “This is my body which is broken for you” (emphasis mine). They point out the same for the cup. The argument goes that since Judas was still in the room Jesus included him in the atonement. But this is a gross mishandling of Scripture and taking things way out of context....

@1689Dave :
"Why preach if only the born-again can discern the truth in it?" [here]

Feed My lambs...tend My sheep...feed My sheep... Jn 21:15-17

28 Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood. Acts 20

1 The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Tend the...

Scripture reveals much to us about worship that is unacceptable to God. Here are some things that I would think that all Bible-believers should be agreed about what renders worship unacceptable to God:

1. Worshiping the wrong object--anyone or anything other than the one and only "living and true God" (1 Thess. 1:9)

2. Worshiping that attempts to come to the Father in any other name than Jesus' name and through the work of anyone else other than the Lord Jesus Christ

3. Worshiping without...