Priests of God are most often associated with the Catholic religion. That tradition has specific qualifications to become a priest. "Catholic men who have been baptized, have undertaken their confirmation, and are practicing members of their local Parish for at least 2 straight years, can be admitted to a seminary to study and become a [more]

Recently, a public post on Facebook used Paul's statements in 1 Timothy 6:4-51 to teach a "difficult truth" about the effect of God's word. In the passage1, Paul makes a simple deductive argument (if A, then B) where "A" is false teaching and "B" is its result (“envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, and constant disagreement”). [more]

Baptism "for the forgiveness of sins" is a statement Peter makes in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38 ). The preposition "for" comes from the Greek word "eis" which is defined by Strong's to mean, "to or into (indicating the point reached or entered, of place, time, fig. purpose, result)." There are [more]

Events in the world today have many asking, "Are we entering the tribulation?"  Do events in the world around us suggest that the tribulation is beginning or about to begin? For the Christian, the "tribulation" is ongoing.  New Testament writers consistently spoke about a "then present" tribulation confronting1,2,5,9 Christians of [more]

Free will: "Whether free will exists, what it is and the implications of whether it exists or not are some of the longest-running debates of philosophy and religion." This is well-stated from Wikipedia. A search on "free will" brings all kinds of philosophical debates, opinions and definitions. For our purposes, we simply want to examine [more]

God's plan for a savior is fundamental to His plan of salvation. Messiah, or "lit. 'the anointed one,' is a saviour or liberator of a group of people". We can read about the life of this Messiah, Jesus Christ, in the four Gospels. However, looking at God's plan for a savior is another dimension all [more]

The idea of Jesus' kingdom comes from Jesus Himself, but was Jesus' kingdom established when He walked on earth in the first century? The question of "When?" regarding Jesus' kingdom is debated.  Some even say that Jesus came to establish His kingdom but he failed. What will Scripture tell us? [more]

Many believe that Jesus will reign 1000 years when He returns (the doctrine of "millennialism"). In fact, the Bible says that, "they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him [Jesus] for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:6) However, it's just one verse. Could it be a figurative way to [more]

Many today live as though they will never come before God in judgment. But Jesus said, "Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matthew 24:44) In the same context, he divulges that "concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even [more]

The idea that we will be judged according to works is a remarkably contentious one. It would seem that the thought of being "judged according to works" requires that God's grace must be denied. In other words, to say that we are judged according to works is to say that our salvation is "works-based" (instead [more]

Pastor Robert Morris says that your belief determines your behavior. From a sermon recorded in 2018: "Your belief determines your behavior. So there are people that say they believe in Jesus, but they've never lived for him. Please hear me. I don't think [they] really believe. I really don't. Because when you believe, the [more]

A Google search on the word "tribulation" yields front page results about the Tribulation (capital "T") or even the Great Tribulation. In fact, we had to go three pages deep before getting the simple definition of the word (lowercase "t"), only to be followed by several more pages of 'T'ribulation. Needless to say, there [more]

The inward call versus the outward call. Many today distinguish these as two different types of Godly or heavenly 'callings'. Dividing the spiritual callings found in scripture between an 'inward call' and an 'outward call' is perpetuated at least in part by teachings credited to John Calvin. "Calvinism", or more currently labeled Reformed or [more]

What Christian's believe and how they have come to understand what the Bible teaches isn't always shaped purely by scripture. The Ancient Greek influence of Gnosticism has had a profound and enduring effect on Christian thought. Indeed, that may be the case in needing to ask the question, "For whom did Christ die?" This question [more]

God's irresistible grace, also referred to as the 'effectual call' in the Westminster Confession of Faith. It is probably better known as "irresistible grace" as it represents the "I" in "TULIP" - a broader collection of doctrines ascribed to John Calvin (even though he existed long before the acronym). This doctrine of irresistible grace [more]

Understanding the Bible can be difficult. For many centuries, the Catholic Church taught that the Bible could only be understood by an ordained priest. In modern times, people like N.T. Wright and other well-credentialed theologians are often held up as having profound (even special or unique) insights into God's word due to their advanced degrees [more]

God's land promise was originally made to Abraham in roughly 2,000BC. The Bible first tells of the land promise in Genesis 12:1-3 and it is repeated several more times to Abraham and descendants Isaac and Jacob (aka Israel). As a result, the "Promised Land" became the great quest of the tribes of Israel. [more]

A literal return of King David is a tenant of much of the modern religious thought today. Purveyors of premillennial doctrine, such as David Jeremiah, teach that King David will return in the flesh to rule alongside Jesus during the thousand year reign on earth. The prophets have much to say about David's reign. However, [more]

Central to this question of will Elijah return is a prophecy given by Malachi. Elijah was a prophet that lived during the final days of the judges, just before the first King Saul was installed over the twelve tribes of Israel. He lived roughly seven hundred years before Malachi, yet Malachi prophesies that Elijah will [more]

God has relied on messengers throughout history, but tracking the messengers of God through Scripture reveals some interesting things about God's character and His word. It also has implications for those that make claims about their own supposed "anointing" by God to speak His words today. God hasn't always used messengers. There are several [more]

The seal of God or 'God's seal' is a term that comes up enough in Scripture to take note. In fact, based on much of the published material about God's seal, there is too often only one instance that seems to be taken as the primary or default passage. Unfortunately, forming an opinion (or worse, [more]

One of the oft debated questions about the remnant of Israel described in God's word is how many it will include. There are different ideas, but one of the most prominent beliefs about the number in God's remnant comes from Revelation. That's the first passage1 we will look at but there are others. [more]

Understanding the kingdom of God and its characteristics is fundamental to understanding much of God's revealed word. How and what one understands the kingdom of God to be will impact their understanding of such monumental events as Jesus coming to earth, His promised return and the final judgment! First published in 1896, Leo Tolstoy [more]

How we interpret Bible prophecy presents a unique challenge, at least to the extent that the question should be asked...Is Bible prophecy even something we can interpret? interpret (verb): 1-to explain or tell the meaning of : present in understandable terms. 2-to conceive in the light of individual belief, judgment, or circumstance. Merriam-Webster We ask [more]

So much is made today about the Antichrist (capital "A"). A search on YouTube for prognosticators about the person of the Antichrist - his appearing, his personality, his birthplace, etc. etc. - will garner videos with hundreds of thousands, even millions of views. We've linked one such purveyor here. The doctrine of the Antichrist [more]