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.

Early Church Fathers Sampler

In my discussions with other professing Christians, I often encounter those who employ quotes from the early church fathers as a means of establishing the truth of some doctrine or practice. It seems as though a great many Christians believe that if you can demonstrate that some first or second century, post-apostolic Christian believed some particular thing, and documented it outside the canon of scripture, that this somehow establishes that this particular belief is correct beyond any further dispute. But let me say this very, very clearly so that there can be no misunderstanding on the matter:

The early church fathers were a cornucopia of error and confusion that are often at great variance with the word of God, which alone is able to throughly furnish us with respect to matters of doctrine and practice. (TETH)

Was Every Man Given to Jesus?

The bible establishes that the Father gave a people to Jesus Christ (John 6:37) and that Jesus Christ covenanted to save those people (John 17:2,11, 24). It follows that we stand to gain a great deal of understanding about the covenant of salvation by answering one simple question - Was every man given to Jesus? (wherein "every man" = "all of humanity") Based on the aforementioned covenant promises that Jesus Christ has entered into regarding this given people we should start with two observations.