I. ORIGIN OF MAN AND THE UNIVERSE
A.Various Views as to the Origin of Man:
1. Fiat creation:
Creation out of no existing materials (Heb 11:3)
2. Naturalistic (atheistic) evolution:
Everything can be accounted for by natural processes.
3. Theistic evolution:
God involved in the idea of creation but only at the start.
4. Progressive creation: (accepted by some
neo-evangelicals)
God involved at the beginning and then He stops in
along the way. In the meantime He lets things happen
naturally (Bernard Ramm).
5. Recent - Eden theory:
Adam and Eve were an island of creation within a sea
of evolution.
B.Evidence of Revelation for Fiat
Creation
1. The Bible is the only source of revelation, for
no one else but God was there.
2. Story of creation is presented as historical
fact not as true myth. At least 17 times in Genesis 1
God is said to be the Creator. (Ex 20:9-11; Ps 8;
104; Matt 19:4-6; Heb 11:3)
3. New Testament evidence for creation out
of nothing:
a. C.P. Hebrews 11:3
b. John 1:3 -- absolute beginning of all created
things
c. Colossians 1:16,17 -- a creation held together
by God's power
C.The Interpretation of Genesis
1 and 2
1. The Gap view or the reconstitution theory
a. Exponents: Scofield, Bible institutes
b. Explanation:
1) V.1 -- topic sentence that talks about
a perfect world -- the original creation.
2) Between V1 and V2 there is an
indefinite period of time -- within this gap
we place the geological age.
3) During this period Satan fell, this
is why the earth was without form and void.
4) After a length of time God begins to
reform the earth to make it inhabitable.
c. Defense
1) It fits with Jeremiah 4:23-26 and
Isaiah 45:18.
2) Accounts for fall of Satan.
3) Accounts for geological ages.
d. Objections
1) "Earth became" in King
James Version is "earth was" in Hebrew
language.
2) Words "waste" and "void"
do not necessarily imply a state that results
from a judgment. They mean unformed and
uninhabited.
3) Genesis 1:31 There was nothing evil at that
point. Therefore Satan could not have fallen yet.
2. Re-creation theory
a. Exponents: M.F. Unger, Wayne Young,
Moffet, Goodspeed
b. Explanation:
1) Gen 1:1,2 : Not talking about the
original creation out of nothing but is a
later refashioning of a judgment filled earth
in order to prepare the earth for man.
2) Gen 1 : Deals with God's creative activity
as it concerns man.
3) Man is a comparative late comer in God's
creative program.
c. Defense:
1) If Gen 1:1 is the original creation
then Gen 1:2 has to be the original
refashioning or a result of a judgment
implying a gap.
2) You cannot place a gap between v1 and 2
according to the Hebrew text.
3) Therefore, v1 is not the original creation
but a later fashioning.
4) The Hebrew word "to create"
"Barah" is always used of Divine
activity. It means to shape or to form or to
fashion (Gen 1:27).
5) In the Hebrew "Bershith" means
"in the beginning". This could be a
dependent clause or a construct. If a
dependent clause, it means "in the
beginning". If a construct, it means
"when God began to create."
d. Objections
1) To translate this as a construct is not
in keeping with oldest tradition and neither
the form of the verb nor the context demand
this to be a construct
2) If this is a construct then the doctrine
of original creation is not taught in Gen
1:1. Therefore the central passage on
creation in the Bible does not speak of fiat
creation.
3) "Heaven and earth" V.1 is
speaking of the entire universe.
4) Hebrew word for "create"
does not have to mean create out of nothing.
However, it is the only Hebrew word possible
to teach fiat creation.
3. The original creation view
a. Exponents: Ryrie, Barbieri
b. Explanation:
1) V.1 is a broad comprehensive statement
of the fact of creation. A topic statement of
creation.
2) V.2 describes the earth as it came from
God at the point which it was created. Was
without form and shapeless and uninhabited
and it remains this way for a period of time
until V.3.
3) V.3 the first recorded step in the process
of fashioning.
c. Defense:
1) Maintains the unity of Gen
1:1&2
2) It best fits with the grammar of the
Hebrew text.
3) Best interprets Hebrew word
"Barah".
4) Allows for long periods of times if you
have to have them.
D.The Interpretation of "days" of Gen 1
and 2
1. Various interpretations
a. Literal 24 hour days
b. Day/Age theory
c. "Days" is a literary device. This is
found in Hebrew poetry.
d. A Babylonian myth
e. The 6 days are not days of creation but days
of revelation (Bernard Ramm).
2. Literal 24-hour day view
a. A word should be taken literally unless the
text indicates otherwise.
b. Hebrew word for day is "yom". It is
used 1,480 times in the OT in various ways.
Therefore, you cannot prove conclusively the
meaning of "yom". It must be determined
by context.
c. Most Hebrew lexicons don't allow
"yom" to be translated as a long period
of time, it is usually a 24-hour day.
d. Whenever "yom" is associated with a
definite numeral a literal 24-hour day is meant.
e. God commands and it is done immediately.
f. The 6 days are all referred to as "the
evening and the morning" -- which is the
common way in the Pentateuch of referring to a
24-hour day.
g. Arguments from later Scriptures about the
creation supports 24-hour days. (Exodus 20)
h. This view cannot give the evolutionist enough
time for his view.
E. The Problems of Evolution
1. Definition of evolution: a change,
development, or process. A complete theory which
included the idea of origins. The process of change
as a result of natural process.
2. Data from evolution
a. Mutations and natural selections
1) Explanation: a mutation is a sudden
variation which causes the offspring to be
quite different from his parents, then
natural selection comes along and sometimes
maintains this mutation. Thus you get a new form.
2) Criticisms of this view:
a) This is a circular argument. A
mutation leads to natural selection leads
to mutation.
b) Most mutations are harmful and tend to
make the species weaker. Beneficial
mutations have never been observed.
c) The scientist cannot explain where new
genes come from.
d) Natural selection does not guarantee
improvement.
e) Scientists have never observed
beneficial mutations, the production of
new genes or natural selection.
Therefore, their theory rests on faith.
b. Fossils -- Criticisms
1) Methods of dating is not as reliable as
claimed.
2) Fossil evidence has never produced any
intermediate forms (missing links).
3) Evidence for early man is a bit scanty for
the conclusions that have been drawn.
(Ex: the piltdown man was a complete fake)
c. Other factors
1) Evolution is based on faith as much as
creationism is. The evolutionist must have
faith in the eternality of matter. Something
has always existed either matter or God.
2) The evolutionist believes that mutations +
natural selection + time + change = our
present existence.
II THE MATERIAL PART OF MAN
A. Its Creation and Structure
1. Gen 2:7 -- man was a special act of God created
from dust, and returns to dust at death (Gen 2:19; I
Cor 15:48,49; II Cor 4:7)
2. He is created in God's image (Gen 1:27).
"The image of God involves man being given
dominion over the earth and his capacity for moral
action. Both of which have been disturbed by the
entrance of sin so that he lost his dominion and
corrupted his moral abilities. Nevertheless, he is
unique among all God's creatures because of being
created in His image." Ryrie
B. Its Designation
1. The main terms
a. Body: Greek "Soma" - does not
refer to the person as such; but to the shell (II
Cor 12:3)
b. Flesh: Greek "Sarx" -- 3 meanings:
1) Equal to soma - the material man (Gal
2:20)
2) The immaterial part of man (Rom 7:18)
3) The whole man (material & immaterial) (Matt 24:22)
2. Some additional terms
a. Body of sin (Rom 6:6) = body same as b.
b. Body of this death (Rom 7:24) - close to our
physical body
c. Earthen vessels (II Cor 4:7)
d. Temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor 6:19)
C. Its Descriptions
1. Unredeemed (Rom 8:23) -- until later
2. Earthen vessels (II Cor 4:7) -- emphasis on
our limitations
3. Can become the residence of the Holy Spirit (I
Cor 6:19,20)
4. Must be kept under control (I Cor 9:27)
D. Its Future (John 5:28,29)
1. The 1st resurrection unto life (Rev 20)
2. The 2nd resurrection unto death (Rev 20:11-15) --
judged according to works, after the Millennium. All
these are cast into the Lake of Fire.
III THE IMMATERIAL PART
OF MAN
A. The
Original Form
of Man
1. Words (Gen 1:26)
a. Image -- a replica
b. Likeness -- similar
2. Meaning of the words
a. Do these words speak of posture or
appearance? No!
b. What was Adam's state before the fall?
1) Innocence or passive holiness
2) Had some holiness because he could
communicate with God
3) This was untested holiness
4) Therefore had an unconfirmed creature
holiness
c. Are the two words the same?
1) Yes, in that they both refer to
different facets of our immaterial nature.
2) The image of God was retained although
severely marred (ICor 11:7; James 3:9)
d. Facts to remember in summary
1) Even fallen man still has some
semblance of the original creation.
2) The image of God in man is so marred that
only the intervention of God can overcome the damage.
B. The Perpetuation of the Immaterial
Part of Man (theories):
1. Pre-existence theory:
came from Greek philosophy
theory held by Roman Catholic
Church
God created all the souls
when He created Heaven and Earth.
2. Creationism:
a. C. Hodge gives these arguments:
1) It is Scriptural (Numbers
16:22; Heb 12:9)
2) Nature of immaterial part of man,
therefore, it should come from God.
3) How can you account for a Christ with a
sinless nature otherwise.
b. Oppose: (Shedd) Our
material nature also comes from God but it has
NOT already been created.
3. Traducianism (to draw from):
a. Arguments (Shedd)
1) Scripture: Heb 7:10 --
Levi pays tithes to Melchizedek. But Abraham
actually did it, so even before Levi was born
his material and immaterial nature was in
Abraham's loins.
2) Physiology: Gen 5:3 -- Adam passed on to
his son his own immaterial nature as well as
material nature.
3) Best explains the imputations of Adam's
sin to the rest of the race.
4) Explains the universality of sin.
5) With creationism God is either directly or
indirectly the author of sin.
b.SUMMARY: The Traducianism
theory says that Christ is an exception in every
other way in His life so why not here.
C. The Composition of Man
1. The dichotomous nature of man
a. Man can be divided into 2
essential parts:
material and immaterial.
b. Arguments:
1) The universe has 2
substances - material & immaterial
2) Scripture
a. There are only 2 substances
(Job 27:3;32:8;33:4;Gen 2:7)
b. Soul & spirit used interchangeably with
Matt 20:28 CP Matt 27:50 / Heb12:23 CP Rev 6:9 /
Jn12:37 CP Jn13:21
2. Characterizations of the
immaterial part of man
a. Soul: used in these different ways:
1) Whole immaterial part of
man (I Pet 2:11)
2) The whole man (Rom 13:1; I Thess 5:23)
b. Spirit: used in 3
various ways:
1) The wind (Gen 8:1; II
Thess 2:8)
2) The whole immaterial part of man (I Cor
5:5)
3) Manifestation of the spiritual life (Matt
5:3; I Cor 2:11)
"The spirit is usually mentioned
in the Scriptures as that part of man which is
capable of contemplating God, and the soul as that
part of man which is related to self and the various
functions of the intellect, sensibilities and
will." Chafer
c. Heart -- the seat of man's
1) Intellectual life (Matt
15:19-20)
2) Emotional life (Ps 37:4; Rom 9:2
3) Volitional life (Exodus 7:23, Heb 4:7)
4) Spiritual life (Rom 10:9-10; Eph 3:17)
d. Conscience
1) Unsaved man's
conscience
a) can be a guide (Rom
2:15)
b) can be sincerely wrong (Acts 23:1)
2) Saved man's conscience can
lead him in right relationships to his
a) government (Rom 13:5)
b) employer (I Pet 2:19)
c) brethren (I Cor 8:7-12)
d) spiritual life (Rom 9:1-3; II Cor
1:12)
e. Mind
1). Unsaved man's mind
a) Rom 1:28 -- reprobate
(depraved)
b) Eph 4:17 -- empty (futility) = devoid
of truth
c) Titus 1:15 -- defiled polute,
contaminate
d) II Cor 4:4 -- blinded
e) Eph 4:18 -- darkened
f) Rom 3:11 -- does not have the ability
to discern spiritual things (I Cor 2:14)
2. Saved man's mind
a) to understand the Word
of God (Luke 24:25; I Cor 2:15,16)
b) in loving Him (Matt 22:37)
c) in understanding His will (Eph 5:17)
a) I Pet 1:13 -- girded
up (that is serious activity)
b) II Cor 10:5 -- every thought is to be
brought into captivity
c) Rom 12:2 -- renewed
f. Flesh -- Rom 7 --
fallen, unredeemed humanness
3. Tricotomous nature of man --
Heb 4:12 -- body, soul & spirit
IV
THE FALL OF MAN -- Genesis 3 Central
Passage
A. Views of This Passage
1. Orthodox: both truth and fact in
this account
2. Neo-orthodox: truth but not fact.
3. Liberal: no truth, no fact.
B. The Place of the Perfection:
Man was in a perfect environment in a
special position with a perfect wife. Therefore man's
sin does not stem from his environment.
C. The Responsibility of Man:
Obedience to the will of God: was
involved in dressing and keeping of the garden, not
to eat of the tree.
D. Nature of Man:
Untested creature holiness "This
implies no more than that they were innocent, which
is a negative term and suggests that they had not
committed sin. Holiness, which is the primary
attribute of God, is a positive term and indicates
that He is incapable of sinning." Chafer
E. The Serpent:
Was a creature made by God, but used
by Satan.
F. The Process of the Temptation:
4 Steps
1. Eve doubts the goodness of
God because of Satan (3:1)
"Satan was evidently
trying to get Eve to believe that God was not
good if He withheld anything from them....by
contrast Satan's plan allowed them to do the very
thing God would not permit. This was Satan's
counterfeit." Ryrie
2. Satan outright denies the
truth of the Word of God (3:4).
3. Eve begins to rationalize
the wrong she was about to do (3:6)
4. They sin (3:7).
G. Result of the Fall
1. The serpent was condemned to crawl
(3:14).
2. Satan was set at enmity with the
seed of the woman and permitted to give Christ a
painful but not deadly wound (3:15). However, Satan
was condemned to a deadly wound.
3. Eve and women were assigned pain
in childbirth and submission to their husbands
(3:16).
4. Adam and men were assigned to
unpleasant labor because of the cursing of the ground
(3:17-19).
5. The race experienced broken
fellowship with God or spiritual death, physical
death, and exclusion from the benefits of Eden. Adam
and Eve's sin changed the course of history and the
lives of all their descendants (Rom 5:12-21).
V. PERSONAL SIN
A. Origin of Sin
1. In relation to God: God is
not the responsible author of sin
(Isaiah 45:7;James 1:13), yet God
allowed for the entrance of sin.
2. In relation to angels: First
to sin (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28)
3. In relation to man: Sin
began for man with Adam (Gen 3:6; I Tim 2:14)
B. Definition of Sin
1. Erroneous or incomplete definitions:
a. Sin is an illusion -- it
doesn't really exist; this is the view of
Christian Science.
b. Sin is an eternal
principle of evil outside of God and independent
of Him (Zoroaster).
c. Sin is selfishness --
not inclusive enough
2. The theological definition
of sin
a. "Sin is any want of
conformity to the character of God, whether it be
in act, disposition, or state." Chafer
b. "Anything that does not
conform to the glory of God." Ryrie
C. The Remedy for Personal Sin
1. Forgiveness (negative) God
removes sin (Eph 1:7)
2. Justification (positive) We are
declared righteous (Rom 5:1)
VI THE SIN NATURE
A. Meaning:
1. It is the capacity to do
that which is contrary to God (Eph 2:3)
2. Man is totally depraved.
This "does not mean
that everyone is as thoroughly depraved in his
actions as he could possibly be, nor that
everyone will indulge in every form of sin, nor
that a person cannot appreciate and even do acts
of goodness; but it does mean that the corruption
of sin extends to all men and to all parts of all
men so that there is nothing within the natural
man that can give him merit in God's sight."
Ryrie
3. The following HAS become
corrupt
a. Man's intellect (II Cor 4:4;
Rom 1:28)
b. Man's conscience (I Tim 4:2)
c. Man's will (Rom 1:28)
d. Man's heart (Eph 4:18)
e. Man's total being (Rom 1:18-3:20)
B.The Result of the Sin Nature
1. Depravity
2. Spiritual death (Eph 2:1-3; Eph
4:18,19). This can be corrected by new birth which
leads to new life.
C. The Transmission of the Sin Nature
Passed on immediately through our
parents
D. The Remedy of the Sin Nature
1. Redemption
2. The gift of the Holy Spirit -- Our
old nature is dead positionally (Rom 6). "We
realize victory over the old nature through the power
of the Holy Spirit." Ryrie
"It is never said to be removed
or eradicated in this life, but for the Christian
there is overcoming power provided through the
indwelling Spirit (Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16,17)."
Chafer
VII
IMPUTED SIN
A. Meaning: to put on someone's
account
B. Fact: We all sinned in Adam
(Rom 5:12).
C. Penalty: We have a sin nature
and we die (Rom 5:12-14).
D. Remedy: imputed righteousness
(Rom 5:17).
Three imputations are set forth in Scriptures:
1. The sin of Adam is imputed to his
posterity (Rom 5:12-14)
2. The sin of man is imputed to Christ (II Cor 5:21)
3. The righteousness of God is imputed to those who
believe (II Cor 5:21)
VIII THE
CHRISTIAN'S SIN
A. Introduction: God's standard is
perfection. But complete holiness is unattainable in this
life (I Jn 1:7-10)
B. The enemies of the Christian
1. The world (I Jn 2:15-17)
2. The devil (counterfeiting) (Eph 6:10-18)
3. The flesh/old nature (Gal 5:16-21)
C. The Preventives of Sin in the
Christian Life
1. The Word (Ps 119:11)
2. The constant intercession of Christ (Jn 17:15 Heb
7:25)
3. The work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life
a. Teacher (Jn 16:13)
b. Intercessor in prayer life (Rom 8:26-27)
c. Guidance into service (I Cor 12:7)
d. Helper (Jn 14:26 & 15:26)
D. The Penalties Connected with
the Believer's Sin
1. Grieves the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30)
2. Loses his joy/peace (Gal 5:22)
3. Makes the Christian a stumbling block (I Jn 2:10)
4. Loses confidence in prayer (I Jn 3:19-22)
5. Has a sense of shame at the Lord's coming (I Jn
2:28)
6. Loses fellowship with God and fellow believers (I
Jn 1:6)
7. Receives chastisement from God for persistent sin
(Heb 12:6)
8. Receives church discipline for certain persistent
sin(ICor 5:4-5)
9. May receive physical death (I Cor 11:30)
E. The Remedy of the Christian's
Sin
Confession (I Jn 1:9). Meaning:
to say the same thing as
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AN EXAMINATION OF
LIFE AFTER DEATH EXPERIENCES
Woody Allen expressed the
sentiments of many when he stated, "Who cares about
achieving immortality through achievements? I'm
interested in achieving immortality through not
dying." Mankind has always feared death (Heb 2:15),
and rightly so. Death is one of the great motivators
towards the consideration of our need for a relationship
with God. However, in recent years new hope has emerged
for those desiring heaven without the bother of a
commitment to Christ.
In the 1970's a book by Raymond
Moody, Life after Life, made a tremendous impact with
numerous and believable stories of people coming back
from the dead. Those returning to life often reported
similar experiences. A composite experience includes
moving through a long, dark tunnel (after being
pronounced dead), watching resuscitation efforts from
"outside" one's body, being greeted by
relatives or friends who had died earlier, encountering a
being of light who evaluated the life and who forgives,
then being asked to return to this life, and, in every
case, returning to this life.
Many Christians jumped on the
"life after life" bandwagon thinking that these
experience where adding much information about the
afterlife that the Bible had neglected. Most Christians
cooled their enthusiasm a bit when more careful analysis
of these events proved to contradict the Scriptures. For
example, Moody said, "Through all my research I have
not heard a single reference to a heaven or a hell
anything like the customary picture to which we are
exposed in this society. Indeed, many persons have
stressed how unlike their experiences were to what they
had been lead to experience in their religious
training.... In most cases, the reward punishment model
of the afterlife is abandoned and disavowed, even by many
who had been accustomed to thinking in these terms. They
found, much to their amazement, that even when their most
apparently awful sinful deeds were made manifest before
the being of light, the being responded not with anger or
rage, but rather only with understanding and even with
humor." In other words one of the neat hat-tricks
was to remove man's fear of the judgment contrary to Heb
9:27. For example, Dr. George Ritchie, a psychiatrist and
a Presbyterian who had an out-of-body experience reported
that it changed his conventional views on heaven and
hell: "I saw no hell-fire, no heads rolling in the
streets. I know beyond a doubt that the Christ I saw will
accept everyone, good or bad, even those who didn't
believe in Him." An interesting sideline to all of
this is the cultural stamp that the experiences had. Most
American saw religious figures and religion determined
the identity of the figure: no Christian patient saw a
Hindu deity, and no Hindu saw Jesus.
EMBRACED BY THE LIGHT
Now, twenty years later a new book
dealing with the same type of experiences has taken the
United States by storm. The book entitled Embraced by the
Light witten by Betty Eadie has been at the top of the
New York best seller's list for over a year. Eadie has
appeared on 20-20 and, as with Raymond Moody years
before, many in the Christian community have been
influenced by her experience. It must be kept in mind
that many have claimed to return from the dead during the
past twenty years, but for the most part, little
attention has been paid to these people. For some reason
Embraced by the Light has caught the attention of
the public once again.
Mrs Eadie's experience is similar to
those reported in Moody's book. She also teaches the same
nonjudgmental Saviour of light, "It was the most
unconditional love I have ever felt, and as I saw his
arms open to receive me I went to him and received his
complete embrace and said over and over, 'I'm home. I'm
home'" (p41). And while Eadie admits that Jesus is
the only door by which anyone ever reaches heaven, she
assures us that all will eventually surrender to Him and
move into His presence. Some, especially atheists and
great sinners will spend considerable time in a black
mass of love and warmth until they recognize Him, but
they will all "eventually learn to move on to accept
the greater warmth and security of God" (p84,85).
Concerning this error of
universalism the Scriptures have much to say:
OTHER DOCTRINAL ERRORS:
Eadie's book goes beyond the
earlier teachings of Moody and others to teach a more New
Age agenda. In several important areas we catch the New
Age influence in what she claims to have experienced:
Eternal existence of the human
spirit
Throughout her book Eadie asserts
that our human spirit has eternally existed (p31). We
were with God at creation, we have always been in His
presence (p44). Some spirits however have chosen to go to
earth, either to fulfill some mission (pp47-49), or to
learn lessons that would help them mature. When we come
to earth we often come as friends or family of those
spirits that we were close to in heaven (p92). Spirits in
heaven can have at least some influence over the affairs
of mankind on earth (p92). At death the body decays but
the spirit returns to heaven. Since this is true,
receiving Christ as Savior is a non-issue since all human
spirits are simply on a temporary mission on earth
anyway.
A false view of Jesus Christ
Not only is He viewed as a
nonjudgmental, totally accepting grandfather image, but
He is also a totally separate being God, "I
understood, to my surprise, that Jesus was a separate
being from God, with his own divine purpose" (p47).
"I understood that he was the Son of God, though he
himself was also a God" (p44).
The link between the spirit
world and the human world
The following are some examples:
Spirits often inspire humans for there is a dynamic link
between our world and theirs (p48). There exists positive
and negative energies in the universe that can be
controlled by our thoughts and words (pp55-58). This
includes power over illness though the spirit and the
mind (p62) -- yet verbalization is needed for healing
(pp64-65). There is a oneness between us and the plant
world, as well as with God, "I felt God in the
plant, in me, his love pouring into us. We were all
one!" (p81).
THE SATANIC CONNECTION
It is possible that many of these
experiences may have a physical explanation, (e.g. drug
induced, or the normal process of a dying brain) and yet
there is a sameness about the experiences that gives
pause to think that something supernatural is going on.
Since the experiences of these people are out of line
with Scripture, we can be certain that they are not being
given a true glimpse of eternity. Therefore, the
possibility exists that Satan is involved in many of
these episodes. Many researchers reject this idea on the
grounds that those who "come back" always
spread the message of love and forgiveness rather than
hate and destruction, and they conclude that Satan would
not do this. However, they are ignorant of Satan's
schemes.
II Cor 11:14 informs us that Satan
can disguise himself as an angel of light. Could
the being of light that people claim to meet at death be
Satan rather than Christ as supposed? In Heb 2:14,15 we
find that Christ died to deliver us from the fear of
death. How clever it would be of him to counterfeit even
this work by telling people that at death we have nothing
to fear, for there is no judgment. And yet, those without
Christ have much to fear.
The Bible speaks of two opposite
approaches to death. The first is to deny its
seriousness. This was Satan's approach in the garden (Gen
3:1-5). Undoubtedly, he is still up to his old tricks.
The other approach is to take death seriously, and to
recognize that it can only be overcome through faith in
Jesus Christ.
In Isaiah 8:19-20 we find
that God is angry at a people who consulted occultists to
find out about life instead of consulting Him. He is
saying that they had better and more reliable information
than what witches, mediums and voices from the grave
could provide. They had the written testimony of God
Himself -- go read and believe it.
(retorne à página ÍNDICE de Sola Scriptura TT / AntropologiaEHamartologia )
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