Resisting the Holy Ghost - Elder James Oliphant

"So the circumcision of heart referred to must be performed while they resist the Holy Ghost.
In this we see a strong statement of the doctrine of Primitive Baptists."

"You do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." (Acts 7:51) They did not so resist the Holy Ghost as to hinder the Holy Ghost from carrying out his designs. If we remember that the Holy Ghost is God the maker of all things and these that Stephen addressed were men. It is plain that so feeble a being as man could not hinder God in any of his works. I cannot conceive of a sinner resisting the act of God in regeneration. This is a creative work and I cannot think of a matter refusing to be created nor is there room to think of a sin or refusing to be created by Christ Jesus regeneration is a life giving work. I cannot think of Lazarus refusing to be made alive. Nor can I think of a sinner refusing to be created in Christ or of refusing to be made alive or of his refusing to receive eternal life. The text cannot mean that sinners refuse to be regenerated. The new birth is "not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man" (John 1:13) and as it does not depend on the will of the sinner, it is plain the resistance here does not mean that sinners refuse to be quickened by the Holy Ghost.

Our Idea of Grace - Elder James Oliphant

"To the praise of the glory of His Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:6) Our ideas of grace correspond with our ideas sin. One who thinks himself good and deserving will have diminutive ideas of God's grace in his salvation and one who regards himself as a poor unworthy sinner will have the highest ideas of grace. The Savior said he to whom most is forgiven will love most. So he that sees himself as most unworthy will love most and he will have the most exalted ideas of grace.

Pantheism - Elder James Oliphant

Pantheism is the doctrine that the universe is God a system of theology which maintains that matter is God. Ingersoll said, "Nature is God." Christianity maintains that the universe is a creature. "The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead." (Romans 1:20) The invisible things are not God nor a part of God. The Bible distinguishes between God and the universe. God is the creator and to all else it assigns the place of a creature. Elder Lemuel potter once asked, "Where did the Lord get his children?" He answered, "God made or created them." This view a scriptural. The Creator is infinitely above the creature. We are so far below God that our worship is due to him.

Salvation by Grace a Bible Doctrine - Elder James Oliphant

When I first joined the church I found I was not able to understand the Scriptures. I believe that all men are born with bias to conditionalism. This was "the first liquor put in the pot" and "the odor of it is often hard to get entirely rid of." It was so with me. "Choose this day whom ye will serve." (Joshua 25:15) It was some time before I saw that this text could be harmonized with the views we hold. Also "Work out your own salvation." (Philippians 2:12) I applied this to all men and it was hard for me to see that this text did not support the conditional theory. "Whosoever will" (Mark 8:34) was hard for me to see. I studied hard and things came right to me. I believe that the idea that there are two salvations helped me much to harmonize the Scriptures. "Give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you shall never fall." (II Peter 1:10) When I saw that these words applied to the children of God and not to the world it was all plain to me. I saw how it agrees with the doctrine of salvation by grace. "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered his son Isaac upon the altar?" (James 2:21) Had Abraham done this while unconverted it would teach different to what it does. "We see how then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only." (James 2:24) In some sense the people of God are justified by works. It took me some time to fully get this distinction but when I did get it, it served as a key to many texts.

The Kingdom of Smiths

Mr. Smith was born into the Kingdom of Smiths. He did not do anything to become a Smith. His father was a Smith and thus he was a Smith from conception. This aspect of the Kingdom of Smiths was passively conferred upon him apart from anything he ever did or any action he ever took. It is the result of his father's actions, not his own. He can never lose this aspect of the Kingdom.

The Founders Movement and Billy Graham

Primitive Baptists identify themselves as adhering to the original or “primitive” faith once delivered to the saints both in doctrine and in practice. As such we remain committed to the notion of defining and defending our beliefs solely on the foundation of scripture. So when we hear of our brothers and sisters in Christ among the Southern Baptists promoting a notion they call the Founders Movement - it gets our attention, because Primitive Baptists have long contended that the doctrine and practice of modern-missionary-style-Baptists is very much the result of their departure from the doctrine and practice of the first century church described in the New Testament. Having examined their writings, however, I find that their well-meaning efforts at reforming the SBC are fundamentally flawed and contradictory. Let's take a look at what I mean by that.

Paul Washer on the Importance of Seminary EXAMINED

This video endorsement of The Master’s Seminary by Paul Washer was recently called to my attention. I must admit that I have mixed feelings about Washer. While his preaching on the subject of depravity is among the best I’ve ever heard, I have found that this is radically offset by numerous instabilities and doctrinal errors found elsewhere in the popular brand of Calvinism he promotes, the foremost being the suggestion that though Jesus Christ only died for the elect, that the is nonetheless sincerely offering eternal life to all of humanity, including those for whom he did not die. In the following video, Washer goes on to reveal a host of other instabilities lurking in his particular flavor of “reformed” theology.