Scott Ardavanis: A Sermon from Hell

Book Review: Saved to Sin No More by Brad Wetherell

The Christian life is one of joy. We are set free from our sins, and our joyful response is to obey the Lord in everything we do. Yet there are days where we feel defeated or we are not doing enough. This is a constant battle for Christians especially in the area of holiness.

We are dead to sin, the book of Romans tells us, yet we are still prone to it. We fight the indwelling sin still in us and the temptations that come with it. It is an ongoing battle day and day out. 

We have joy in Christ knowing that we are saved by Him even as we battle the flesh. This is what Brad Wetherell communicates in his book, Saved to Sin No More: How Union with Christ Empowers a Life of Holiness.

This book is mostly based on Romans 5:12-6:23 with the exception of the last chapter and conclusion. This is book is about our union with Christ and how that union leads us to holiness. We are reminded that we are dead to sin and it is not our master because we are under grace. We are reminded that we are slaves to righteousness and that we should give our members (parts of our body) as instruments of wickedness.

We are called to remember what God has done for us in Christ and why we obey Christ which is not get saved but because we are saved. Christ has saved us from sin and the wrath of God; therefore, we must fight our sin. We also must remember why we are saved. We are saved because God sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins on the cross. 

The final chapter address our need for the body of Christ. Based on Ephesians 4:4-6 which Wetherell has titled the chapter, "Saved Together." The Christian life is not meant to be a solo ride. We need each other. We need one another to serve the Lord and each other as well growing in our Christian walk. Yes, we have been saved by God individually, but those who have been saved are brothers and sisters in the Lord. They are the family of God, the body of Christ, the Church of the Living God. They are fellow believer who struggle in their fight against sin just as you are.

A couple of things in this book that I want to mention that did not set well with me. Wetherell stated that when we are united with Christ, His story becomes our story. How is that possible? Is my story of one where I become the perfect Son of God because of my union with Christ? Do I perform miracles like Jesus did (Can anyone say New Apostolic Reformation)? 

The other place I had a problem with was when Wetherell mentioned when we have peace, we have access to him, which led him to say, "We don't need to fear that God is greater than us." Yes, we do. God is greater than us. We do come to Him in Holy reverent fear. He is greater than us because He is the one by whom "we live and move and exist" (Acts 17:28). 

Overall, this was a decent book on sanctification and holiness with the exception of the two area mentioned above. 

I received this book from Crossway in exchange for an honest review.

AI and Systematic Theology

The following is from the article: AI is Coming for Your Systematic Theology by Tim Challies:

A recent article at The American Scholar asks Who Is Blake Whiting? Whiting appears to be the most prolific scholar of our age, sometimes publishing up to 13 books a week “on a host of complex archaeological and historical subjects, ranging from the collapse of Near Eastern civilizations in 1177 BCE to the recent discovery of a huge Silk Road–era city in Central Asia.” He must be quite the individual!

But as you no doubt guessed, he is not an individual at all. Rather, Blake Whiting is fabricated, and the books under his name have been generated using AI. Andrew Lawler, who wrote the article for The American Scholar, warns that, “His fake persona is harbinger of an alarming trend threatening disaster to academics and journalists alike.” And theologians, I would add, as well as those who read books by them. 

When I read Lawler’s article, I was already working on one of my own that addresses the same phenomenon, but from the perspective of a Christian reader. If you were to visit Amazon today and search for “systematic theology,” it would not take you long to find a host of similar works. Many of them have scads of enthusiastic reviews and feature realistic-sounding author bios that say things like, he “is a Christian author and teacher of systematic theology with a passion for making biblical doctrine clear, accessible, and meaningful for today’s readers.” Yet in reality, he does not exist at all, and the books under his name have been generated through nothing more than clever prompting of a Large Language Model.

I want you to know about these books because I want you to be aware that this is happening. I want you to know it’s happening because it’s likely that things will get far worse before they get any better. I’ll first introduce you to this slop theology, then discuss the threat these books represent, and then tell you how you can identify them.

Read the entire post here.

Jeffrey Johnson: The Cause and Cure of Divisions in the Church

Manny Pereira: Recovering the Righteousness of Hell

David de Bruyn: Christian Fellowship: The Tribal and the True

God Does Not Worship Us

There are some Christians who think that worship with a transactional event where we worship God and He worships us. I would like to know what Bible they are reading from because it is clear it's not God's Word.

The idea that God worships us sound like some form of self-esteem philosophy. God does not sing about us nor are we worthy of worship. God is worthy of worship for He created us, gave us life, gave us His provisions for us to live on this earth and gave us eternal life through His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

What makes us worthy of any kind of worship? To be honest, nothing. We are not good and fall short of the glory of God according to Romans 3. In fact, if you read that whole chapter, you will see why we are not worthy of any kind of praise but deserve condemnation from a holy God.

The fact that I have to make a post like this is really disturbing, but given the current church climate today, we really should not be surprised. Christians have become undiscerning and elders are not protecting their flock as they should which speaks volumes to their spiritual maturity. 

Church, if you hear your pastor that God worships you, get up and leave. Pastor, if you are preaching that nonsense, repent and/or resign. 

God is worthy of our worship. We are not worthy. We are undeserving of nothing from God except Hell. 

Book Review: Compassionate Calvinism by Sam Cole

Ever heard of cage stage? I am sure you have especially if you are engaged with social media. Cage stage is this zeal of sharing your newfound (for lack of a better term) theology and want to share it so you can prove everyone wrong.

Some people just post on social media without considering being gentle nor exercise self-control when engaging in an online debate. This is most true with Calvinists. They have a tendency to develop some form of cage stage even they have embraced their theology. Sadly, most of them have not grown out of it. 

In Compassionate Calvinism, Sam Cole dives into the doctrines of grace and how we can explain it them, as the subtitle of the book says, without being a jerk. Let's face it. Some Calvinists can be very unkind while discussing doctrine with them.

This book goes over Calvinism and the important doctrines that affirm. Those doctrines include total depravity, sovereign grace, election, the atonement, and the perseverance of the saints. This is not a systematic theology book, but just a basic introduction to Calvinism.

What makes this book unique, it does discuss doctrine, but it goes over how we can discuss it with others. Whether we are in defending what we believe or just simply sharing them with someone who is curious about Calvinism. We can discuss Calvinism without going into cage stage mode which ends up with being arrogant, or even a jerk (there's that word again). 

This book is one I would recommend for those who are new to Calvinism to help them understand the doctrines of grace and how to effectively communicate them charitably.

I received this book from G3 Press in exchange for an honest review. 

Pastoral Conversations on Spiritual Warfare

This is a 2-part discussion between the pastors of Kerrville Bible Church on the subject of spiritual warfare.

Joel Beeke: “Follow Christ in This Prayer” (John 17): Anthony Burgess on the Unity of the Church

A Discussion Exposing the Orthodox Church's False Gospel

In this episode of the Redeeming Truth Podcast, Jon Benzinger is joined by Hal Hays in exposing the false teaching of the Orthodox Church.

Recommended Resources:

I highly recommend Hal's book, Are You (Biblically) Orthodox?

Discussions Centered Around Thomas Aquinas

I am sure by now you have heard a man who once held Reformed Theology has become a Roman Catholic whom he gave credit to the writings of Thomas Aquinas, a well-known Roman Catholic scholar. There have been many Protestants who have embrace Aquinas's teachings without cross over to Roman Catholicism which is very concerning. 

There have been discussions on the matter, and I want highlight three from Iron Sharpens Iron Radio:

Dr. Jeffrey C. Waddington on “The Debate Over Retrieving Thomas Aquinas for Reformed Theology”

Jeffrey D. Johnson on “A Critical Appraisal of Thomas Aquinas”

David Reece on “One Reformed Pastor’s Critique of the Rising Alignment with the Theology of Thomas Aquinas”

Jim Osman and Justin Peters talk with Gabe Poirot

Not too long ago, I shared the video to Justin Peters and Jim Osman addressing Gabe Poirot's trip to heaven. Before their conversation, Justin mentioned that Gabe reached out to him saying they want to talk about what he said. Both Jim and Justin agree and here is the video.

Doug Geivett and Holly Pivac Discuss Francis Chan's Apology

In a blog post, Francis Chan apologized for endorsing Mike Bickle. In this video, Doug Geivett and Holly Pivac discuss this apology and other issues with Chan.

*This video is audio only.*

Jonny Ardavanis: Does the Bible Permit a Woman to Preach?

Scott Aniol: That They May All Be One—John 17

Jesus Saved Us from the Wrath of God

On this Good Friday morning, reflect on the fact that Jesus died not only to save you from your sins. Jesus died to save you from the wrath of God.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

And our sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our peace fell upon Him,

And by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Jesus took the just punishment in our place that brought us peace.

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him (Romans 5:9).

This passage is one that is not often mentioned because we do not like the idea of God being a wrathful God. Yes, God did show His love by Christ dying for us, but Christ's death saved from the wrath of God. To those who are saved, we are appointed not to received wrath, but to obtain salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Brothers and sisters, rejoice for we have been spared from the wrath of God because of the death of Christ. 

Justin Peters and Jim Osman Addressing the Latest Trip to Heaven

Gabe Poirot was in a skateboarding accident that left his in a coma for 18 days. After he recovered, he claimed he spent those days in heaven. The question is, did he really go heaven while in a coma. In video, Justin Peters and Jim Osman break down Poirot's claims.

*There is an upcoming video of Poirot speaking with Osman and Peters about this video and giving his account of what he believed he witnessed*

Tony Wood: Preaching Legalists Out Of Church

Dave Jordan: Winning the Battle of the Mind