(Note: The same principles expressed in this article apply to knowing Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, as well.)
“Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding”—Proverbs 4:7 NIV
“By studying Biblical Greek, you can gain a deeper understanding of the original text and the cultural context in which it was written”—Quora, February 6, 2023
Some Bible teachers and preachers are big on the idea that knowing Biblical Greek (Koine’) is important, even vital, in getting the best understanding of the Bible. While this may have a lot to do with their ego, we must grant that some are very sincere in holding and promoting this belief. It is certainly fine for anyone who has the inclination, the time, the resources and the opportunity to do so, to learn Biblical Greek. It is a good thing that some have become scholars in Biblical Greek, and have been active in Bible translation and written Biblical commentaries. But it takes many years of intensive study to become proficient in Biblical Greek.read more
“Wisdom is a shelter the same as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.” (Eccl 7:12 NIV) Money certainly has some value. It is a protection, to an extent, and a gift from God also, in a way. Proper use of knowledge and wisdom is even more valuable, however. The folk saying ‘A fool and his money are soon parted’ certainly backs up this Bible proverb.
We need a balanced view of money. “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” (Pr 30:8-9) Both wealth and poverty have their potential pitfalls. A person is usually much better off to be somewhere in the middle. The problem with always desiring more? “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income, this too is meaningless.” (Eccl 5:10 NIV) Such a person is never satisfied. The greater a person’s desire for money, the worse it gets. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Tim 6:10 NIV) Even a rich person without an inordinate desire for more money usually has problems that “come with the territory,” so to speak. “The sleep of the laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.” (Eccl 5:12 NIV) A rich person has a lot of material things to think and worry about, unlike the average person who doesn’t have so much to worry about.read more
The purpose of this article, and indeed this website, is not to get involved in any partisan politics, but to advocate for God’s Word, the Bible. As the late Billy Graham said late in life, he wished he’d stayed out of politics. Yet, the Bible is very “useful for . . . correction” (2 Tim 3:16 NIV). read more
We live in a world today where xenophobia (fear of strangers) has taken hold. Many people have a negative view of immigrants. But if we want to follow Bible principles, how should we view immigrants?
“Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith” (Rom 4:11 NLT). Did you know that “a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner” (Gen 12:10 NLT)? How would God view someone who would refuse to help, or even attempt to deport Abram? The Mosaic Law included this principle: “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE FOREIGNERS, because you were foreigners in Egypt” (Ex 23:9 NLT). The entire nation of Israel lived in Egypt as foreigners for many years, and was not treated well during the final years. Instructive for us is: “Yahweh then said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt’” (Ex 4:7 NJB). Yahweh sees all. Did you know that young Jesus and his parents lived for a while as refugees in Egypt (Mt 2:13-15)?
The Bible has a number of principles we can apply as to our viewpoint and attitude toward immigrants. Number one, of course, are the two greatest commandments:
1.”Love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . soul . . . mind”—Mt 22:37 NIV
a.How does this apply? “Love your enemies . . . that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous . . . And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?”—Mt 5:44-47 NIV. To really apply this greatest commandment, we should welcome immigrants.
b.“Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you”—Rom 15:7 GNBread more
“Those who contend with you shall be as nothing and will perish . . . Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent”—Isaiah 41:11,12 NASB
The Bible teaches that death is non-existence. Purgatory is a Catholic doctrine which teaches there is an intermediate state after physical death in which some of those ultimately destined for heaven must first undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven, holding that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come. But what does the Bible teach? Let’s compare some Catholic claims about the doctrine of Purgatory to the Scriptures.
Is the doctrine of Purgatory a true Biblical teaching?
Catholics claim:
Those that build their foundations on wood, grass or straw will be burned when we are purified to go to purgatory. Yet they will saved though only as men are saved by passing through fire. All people who go to purgatory will be saved though suffering (fire).
Paul was using word pictures, such as metaphors, in the account at 1 Corinthians 3:10-17. He uses simile in verse 15 saying “the person will be saved, but ONLY AS THROUGH FIRE.” (Catholic New American Bible [NAB])
The fire is figurative for spiritual cleansing and difficulty prior to death, not after! Even the Catholic New American Bible (NAB) footnote on this verse admits: “THE TEXT OF V 15 HAS SOMETIMES BEEN USED TO SUPPORT THE NOTION OF PURGATORY, THOUGH IT DOES NOT ENVISAGE THIS.”
Catholics claim:
1 John 5:16 gives us the idea that there are sins “unto death” and sins that “are not unto death.” Sins that are unto death are those sins committed that kill the soul. Those sins that are not unto death are those sins that injure the soul but do not kill it. These are the sins that are forgiven in purgatory. We see purgatory all over the Old Testament sometimes called the bosom of Abraham or Sheol.
When you actually look at the scriptures, such as 1 John 5:16, you’ll see that it says: “IF ANYONE SEES HIS BROTHER SINNING, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God.” (NAB) This is obviously talking about a brother that is sinning who is still alive, not someone who is dead in “purgatory.”
Purgatory is a “myth” that “does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 6:3 NAB) There are ZERO OCCURENCES OF PURGATORY IN THE BIBLE. Sheol is the Hebrew word, meaning the symbolic common grave of mankind. It is not literal, so there is no literal fire, or burning, there.
Catholics claim:
These are places where the Old Testament Fathers await Christ to come and preach to them to set them free.
Not according to the Bible — “For Sheol cannot praise you, nor Death celebrate you; those who go down to the pit can hope no longer in your constancy. The Living, the living are the ones who praise you as I do today.” (Isaiah 38:18 Catholic NJB)
Catholics claim:
What possible reason would Christ have to go to Hell to preach to the damned? The Damned will not get any consolation from it. It would be more likely that he went to the righteous to show them that He was the messiah and that it was time for them to follow Him to heaven.
The Bible says that Jesus: “WENT TO PREACH TO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON, WHO HAD ONCE BEEN DISOBEDIENT WHILE GOD PATIENTLY WAITED IN THE DAYS OF NOAH.” (1 Peter 3:19-20 NAB) This, along with Genesis 6:4; 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 7 makes clear that these “spirits” Jesus preached to were demons.
Catholics claim:
You are saying that Jesus went to the underworld to preach to demons. Because of this, the Demons could be saved? Was Jesus just telling them, “Ha! Ha! You guys are going to fry here in hell for all time?”
No, he simply preached a message of judgment. As the demons asked Jesus at Luke 4:34 (NAB), “Have you come to destroy us?” Jesus confirmed that he would indeed eventually “destroy” or obliterate them – not “fry” them in a hot roasting hell for eternity.
Catholics claim:
Hades and Purgatory are the same thing. Hades is Greek and Purgatory is Latin.
Hades is in the New Testament 22 times. So-called “Purgatory” is in the New Testament zero times. The New Testament was written originally in Greek, not Latin. The meaning Catholics assert for their myth “Purgatory” is in stark contradiction to the meaning the Bible attaches to Hades.
Catholics claim:
There is a problem with the Greek because Hades means both a temporal place of punishment or a permanent place of torment, Hell.
It means neither.
The New Testament Greek uses Hades in place of the Old Testament Hebrew, Sheol. The Bible uses these words to mean one thing only, that is, the symbolic common grave of mankind, or nonexistence, until resurrection.
“For you will not abandon me to Sheol, you cannot allow your faithful servant to see the abyss.” (Psalm 16:10 Catholic NJB)
“He spoke with foreknowledge about the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not see corruption.” (Acts 2:31 Catholic NJB)
You can see from the verses above that the terms Sheol and Hades are interchangeable – they mean the same thing in the Bible. People who will receive a resurrection are said to go there, even righteous people, such as Jesus when he died.
Catholics claim:
Purgatory will be emptied in the final days. That means it exists now. Remember, you are saved if you are in Purgatory.
You’d better read it again. It says Hades will be emptied. It says nothing about Purgatory.
“The sea gave up its dead; then Death and Hades gave up their dead. All the dead were judged according to their deeds”—Revelation 20:13 NABread more
The official title: The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, speaks volumes. Does the Bible reference The Book of Mormon? Mormons, or Latter Day Saints (LDS, as they prefer to be called), proudly proclaim that it does. The main scripture they use to support this claim is Ezekiel 37:15-19, which reads:
Does the Bible reference the Book of Mormon?
“The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘Judah and those Israelites loyal to him.’ Take another stick and write on it, ‘Joseph (Ephraim’s wood) and all the House of Israel loyal to him.’ ‘Join one to the other to make a single piece of wood, a single stick in your hand. And when the members of your nation say, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean?’ say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: I am taking the stick of Joseph (now in Ephraim’s hand) and those tribes of Israel loyal to him and shall join them to the stick of Judah. I shall make one stick out of the two, a single stick in my hand'” (NJB).
The following is what the LDS Church says these verses mean:
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What Sincere Beliefs Must a Person Hold To Be a Christian?
Many people in the world today call themselves “Christian,” but there are so many conflicting beliefs and doctrines taught among these people. So what beliefs must a person hold in order to be a true Christian? In order to answer this question, we need to look to God’s Word. Let’s see what the Bible has to say.
Christians view the Bible as God’s revelation to humanity
“Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) So the first point is that one must believe that God exists, and becomes the rewarder of those sincerely seeking him.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The sincere Christian would believe the Bible (the 66 books from Genesis to Malachi) is the word of God.
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God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.read more
The Bible Completely Equips Us and Does Not Need to Be Supplemented
Many people professing to be Christians today believe the Bible is useful but incomplete and needs to be supplemented by their own teachings and writings. But is this the case?
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17) The Bible completely equips Christians because it is the only divinely inspired writing.
“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” (Prov 30:5-6) The Bible is perfect because it is God’s Word and does not need to be supplemented.
“Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ” (1 Jn 4:1)
“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” (Rev 22:18-19) Adding to or subtracting anything from the Bible is condemned by God.
“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (Jn 17:17)The Bible is God’s Word.
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. ” (Jude 3) This body of truth, or faith, contained in the Bible was delivered once for all time, being completed by around 100 CE.
“Remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.” (Jude 17) The word of the apostles was authoritative. The New Testament was written by four apostles directly chosen by Jesus, namely, Matthew, John, Peter and Paul. Four other close associates of the apostles also wrote the New Testament.
1 Cor 15:7 – “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” Jesus appeared to James.
We continue our series about what is stated concerning God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, in the various books of the New Testament. We will examine the four chapter book of Philippians. Notice the distinctive relationship between God and Jesus throughout this book of Philippians, especially the superior role of God compared to Jesus. What does it say about the holy Spirit?
The superior role of God compared to Jesus is evident from the Bible book of Philippians
“To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi.” (Philippians 1:1) God is always the one in control, and using Christ to gather his people.
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:2) God and Jesus are separate and distinct. The holy Spirit, since it is not a person, does not give greetings. Neither does the Trinity, since it doesn’t exist.
“God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:8) God and Jesus are spoken of as separate and distinct.
“Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:11) Fruitage from God flows through Jesus and brings glory and praise to God.
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” (Philippians 2:5-6 NASB) Someone who already has something does not need to ‘grasp’ for it. Jesus would not even think about trying to be equal to God. Christians are to have the same attitude of humility. Obviously, Jesus is separate from and inferior to God.
“He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted him.” (Philippians 2:8-9 NASB) Jesus’ obedience bespeaks of his submission to his Father. His death means he is not God, and not eternal, since he was not in existence while he was dead. The makes clear that “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB). God, the superior one, highly exalted Jesus, not the other way around.
“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10,11a NIV). Trinitarians often stop their quote of the scripture at this point, and use this to “prove” that Jesus is God. However, when we actually look at the rest of the scripture, we find that it is “to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11b NIV). By reading the full scripture, we find that the scripture actually proves that Jesus is inferior to God, contradicting the Trinity doctrine.
“It is we who are in the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3 NRSV). Christians serve God and worship him, not Christ. Notice, though, that they do it “in the Spirit of God.” “In the Spirit,” and “of God,” are evidences that the holy Spirit is not a person.
“But that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 3:9) The righteousness from God comes through faith in Christ. God and Christ are separate individuals, with God as superior.
“The prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14) God calls Paul heavenward through Jesus. Same point as above.
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7) Same point as above.
“My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) “My God” is obviously the Father. His gift “Christ Jesus.”
Throughout the book of Philippians, we find the distinctive relationship between God and Jesus. The superior role of God compared to Jesus is evident upon examination of the above verses. The holy Spirit is shown to not be a person.
All scriptures quoted from New International Version (NIV) unless noted otherwise.
There is no explicit evidence of infant baptism in the Bible. The earliest historical reference to infant baptism is in the third century, by Origen.Do infants have the capacity to comprehend the seriousness of baptism or to undertake the needed changes?
More importantly, what do we learn from the Bible?
“You must therefore go and make disciples of people of all nations my disciples. You must baptize them.” (Matthew 28:19 Barclay) People would have to become disciples of Christ prior to qualifying for baptism. A disciple is a taught one, a believer, a follower, in this case, of Jesus Christ.read more
