By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery The most common question, or challenge, I receive from Christians who are unfamiliar with tongues, is to explain the term “prayer language,” and to prove its existence from Scripture. Somewhere in the last two thousand years, someone coined the term “Prayer Language” to differentiate private speaking in tongues from the … Continue reading Tongues: Prayer Language Versus Public Gift
Acts 2:38 can be interpreted just as it is worded without implying in any way that salvation is caused by works. Water baptism is the outward symbol of the act of rebirth that God accomplishes on the inside at the time of our baptism. Our obedience to the Gospel, through submitting to water baptism, results in God’s regenerating the inner man. Hence, we are born again IN the water, but not BY the water.
As Jesus would never have told someone not to bury their father (a violation of the commandment to honor your father and mother), the only conclusion is that the man was referring to this "second burial" and why Jesus told him to "let the dead bury their dead."
Many Christians find it difficult to understand Jesus' parable about the rich man and Lazarus. Some believe that it is not a parable but a literal story. It is also supposed to support life after death. The one obvious issue is that the rich man has been judged and sent to Hades. The scriptures state … Continue reading Detailed look at Lazarus and the Rich man
Immortality of the Soul: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8092-immortality-of-the-soul “The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture. As long as the soul was conceived to be merely a breath,1 and inseparably … Continue reading Jewish Encyclopedia statement on Immortality Soul
By Michael R. Burch How often does the word "hell" appear in the original Hebrew Bible, which constitutes the Old Testament of the Christian Bible? As the table below demonstrates, according to the consensus opinion of modern Bible scholars, the word "hell" as a place of eternal suffering was never mentioned, not even a single … Continue reading How many times is “Hell” mentioned in the Bible?
By Jeff A. Benner A filter, such as the air filter in your car, is used to block unwanted debris, yet allow air to continue through to the engine. A theological filter works in much the same way, it is a mental filter that blocks unwanted information, yet allows the desired information to continue through to … Continue reading We all have Theological Filters
A chiasm (also called a chiasmus) is a literary device in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. The result is a “mirror” effect as the ideas are “reflected” back in a passage. Each idea is connected to its “reflection” by a repeated word, often in a related form. The … Continue reading What is Hebrew chiasm / chiastic / chiasmus structure in the Bible?
Were Samuel, Moses & Elijah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - Alive Before the Resurrection? Three passages of Scripture are sometimes advanced in support of the view that the dead are alive before the resurrection. 1. The episode related in 1 Samuel 28 concerns a so-called appearance of Samuel after his death. There are good reasons … Continue reading Were Samuel, Moses & Elijah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Alive Before the Resurrection?
1. The Rapture/Resurrection event will occur at the last trumpet. Scripture knows of only one last trumpet, the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15. This trumpet sounds after or “post”-tribulation (Matthew 24:29-31). This is “the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14), when all the faithful will be rewarded. 2. Jesus spoke of the “elect,” whom he equates with the disciples and their successors in the church. Matthew, who is his own best interpreter, elsewhere means “believers” when he uses the term “elect” (Matthew 22:14): “Many are called, but few are elect” (Gr. eklectos). It is a basic rule of good exegesis that a writer must be allowed to interpret himself.
Living as a Christian in this World 