English Articles

Cain's Wife

Barry — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:08:46 -0400

The Bible makes it clear that all humans have come from Adam and Eve. Eve is called the mother of all the living (Gen. 3:20).

God's mandate to Adam and Eve was that they would be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Obviously this meant their offspring would marry one another.

While Cain and Abel were the first two of Adam and Eve's children, there no doubt were many more. We have no idea how old Cain was when he slew Abel. There may have been many generations of offspring already thriving on the earth at that time. » Leer más

Did the gifts of the Spirit pass away with the New Testament apostles?

Barry — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:30:30 -0400

Mark 16:15-18
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.(KJV)

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Does God chastise us?

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:04:11 -0400

Chastisement is often misunderstood because of our wrong concepts of God. When we study Hebrews, Chapter 12 in its context (the context begins in verse 1, not verse 5), we see that the author of Hebrews is not talking about sending bad things our way, but rather he is comparing our resistance of sin to the unpleasantness of the discipline of our earthly fathers.

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Faith for Healing

Barry — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:20:13 -0400

God always heals. He has already provided healing for every person on the earth, just as He has provided forgiveness of sins and redemption.

Our faith is the result of a loving, trusting relationship with God. That relationship is the key to receiving all that He has given us, including healing. We often neglect our relationship with God until we are sick, and then we try to 'do' things, even good things, in order to get something from God.

We need to understand that God has already provided what we need. He is not holding back. It is we who have not come into the 'rest' of faith. We are still striving with our own efforts and 'faith formulas' rather than simply receiving from Someone who loves us and whom we trust. » Leer más

Forgiveness and the Lord's Prayer

Barry — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:03:39 -0400

To understand Mark 11:26 or the 'Lord's Prayer,' in Matthew 6:9-15, we need to understand the context in which it was given. Jesus was speaking to His disciples while still under the Old Covenant, and He was teaching them to pray before He had ascended into heaven and poured out the Holy Spirit, and before the new birth was possible.

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God's Love

Barry — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:21:47 -0400

Accepting God's love is a perpetual struggle for mankind. Man by nature (sinful, fallen nature) assumes a position of unworthiness and guilt. All of man's religions are built on the concept of fear, ignorance and guilt.

That is why Christianity is so unique. Rather than a fearful, guilt ridden man reaching up to a mysterious, angry god, Jesus came down to us to show us the Father. He reconciled Himself to us, took all of our sins and their judgment on Himself, and freely offers us His life!

Natural man has a hard time dealing with this. He feels he must do something in order to be accepted by God. But the love of God declares that He did it all for us. Love gives and Love forgives. » Leer más

Healing is God's Will

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:25:14 -0400

God has revealed His will concerning healing just as He has revealed His will concerning salvation. He is not willing that any should perish and that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). God so loved the world that He gave His Son (Jn. 3:16). All who call upon His Name shall be saved (Acts 2:21).

It is impossible to have faith if we don't know God's will. As one man of God has said, "Faith begins when God's will is known." As long as there is doubt, there is double mindedness, and we will receive nothing from the Lord (James 1:6-8). » Leer más

Is God Sovereign?

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:27:04 -0400

The subject of God's sovereignty can be confusing for some. The problem begins with the definition of 'sovereign.' A dictionary definition includes the words; supreme, superlative in quality, undisputed ascendancy, unlimited, enjoying autonomy, freedom from external control. There is no implication of active control over all events.

We understand God's sovereignty to mean that God, not man, is responsible for creating and sustaining all things, and that God had the privilege of establishing the laws and boundaries of his creation. However, once created and established, God Himself is bound to what His word has decreed. This is where many are confused. » Leer más

Job

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:29:00 -0400

The book of Job is often misunderstood as it relates to the Christian life. When reading Job we need to understand what are some of the fundamental differences between Job and a Christian believer.

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Must we confess our sins to stay saved?

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:40:03 -0400

We have found that most Christians misunderstand what John was saying in 1 John 1:9 by assuming that John is speaking of the confession of our sins one at a time as they occur. Let us look at what John was saying in 1 John 1:

5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. » Leer más

Progressive Revelation

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:51:32 -0400

There is an important difference in revelation that exists between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The inferior revelation we find in the Old Testament has been surpassed by the maximum revelation of God to man, Jesus, in the New. When Jesus was standing on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the prophets), God spoke from heaven and declared, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” (Matt. 17:1-5) » Leer más

Revelation Knowledge

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:26:19 -0400

Releasing the Life that is within us is not so much a product of what we do, but rather of what we 'know.' There are two kinds of knowledge in the world: natural knowledge and spiritual knowledge. Most of what we live by is natural in nature; even Bible knowledge can be accumulated with no real impact on our lives.

We know what we believe, but many times what we believe does not manifest the way we think that it should.

We believe that Paul touched upon this in his writings. The key to victory with signs following can be summed up in the word 'revelation.' » Leer más

Spiritual Trespassing

Barry — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:43:30 -0400

“Please pray for me! I have been diagnosed with cancer, my husband has left me and the bank is about to foreclose on my house! I am under a spiritual attack.” The woman on the other end of the phone was desperate. As we talked I learned that she was a long time believer. Further questioning revealed that she felt she had been called to do spiritual warfare for her city in general and for a person, an unbeliever, in particular. Her prayer life was devoted to binding and rebuking the devil over people and areas. The fact that she was losing everything only served to make her more dedicated toward her task. This was not the first time I had heard a similar story. Why would a dedicated Christian be suffering such loss? » Leer más

Suffering According to God's Will

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:21:05 -0400

To understand 1 Peter and the phrase, 'suffer according to the will of God,' we need to look at the entire letter and its context for clues. The phrase, 'the will of God,' first appears in 1 Pet. 2:15.

1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

Here Peter establishes that the will of God is that we through 'well doing' put to silence foolish men. This is speaking of our testimony in the face of those who might oppose us. This would establish the basis for the phrase in its subsequent appearances in the letter. » Leer más

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:32:06 -0400

Every Christian is born of the Spirit (Jn. 3:5) and if he does not have the Spirit, he is not of God (Rom. 8:9). At the moment of the new birth, the believer is baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). However, being baptized BY the Spirit INTO the body is not the same as being baptized in or with the Spirit by Jesus. In the first case, it is the Spirit who immerses us into the body of Christ. In the second case it is Jesus who fills us or immerses us into the Spirit. These are two different events. » Leer más

The Measure of Faith

Barry — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:12:52 -0400

The faith that we have received is not human faith based on reason or experience. We have received the gift of faith, Jesus' own faith!

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Gal. 2:20 and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God

The faith we have is the same that the apostles had:

2Pe 1:1 ¶ Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us . . .

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What about Ananias and Saphira?

Barry — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:53:36 -0400

We believe that the case of Ananias and Saphira could be understood in two ways. The first would be as a case of church discipline under the authority of Peter.

Jesus had given Peter the authority to bind and loose (Matt 16:17-19) and this subject is more fully developed in Matt 18:15-20. This authority can be seen when Paul turned a man over to Satan due to an adulterous relationship with his father's wife while the church did nothing. (1 Cor. 5:1-5) In this case the man repented and was restored to fellowship (2 Cor. 2:6-8) In the case of Ananias and Saphira, apparently Peter was indignant at their duplicity and lying to the Holy Spirit and chose to not show mercy. » Leer más