BPC pastors and scholars must pray like John Calvin

A Prayer of John Calvin (1509-1564)

Lord, save us from being self-centered in our prayers and teach us to remember to pray for others. May we are so bound up in love with those for whom we pray, that we may feel their needs as acutely as our own, and interceded for them with sensitivity, with understanding, and with imagination.

Statement of Belief

I believe God preserved His Every Word perfectly!

He preserved them in all the OT and NT manuscripts.

He preserved His Word in and among all the faithful translation like KJV, NKJV, ESV, NIV, CUV....

No perfect translation.

Case Closed.

Church Theme is good, but do you love one another or not?

Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. (Philippian 2:16)

Homosexuality › Related Verses

Topic Guide | Homosexuality › Related Verses

Key Verses

Genesis 19:4–8

4 Before Lot and his guests had gone to bed, all of the men came from every part of the city of Sodom. Young and old men alike surrounded the house. 5 They called out to Lot. They said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sex with them.” 6 Lot went outside to meet them. He shut the door behind him. 7 He said, “No, my friends. Don’t do such an evil thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters. No man has ever made love to them. I’ll bring them out to you now. Then do to them what you want to. But don’t do anything to these men. I’ve brought them inside so they can be safe.”

 

Leviticus 18:22

“ ‘Do not have sex with a man as you would have sex with a woman. I hate that.

 

Romans 1:21–27

21 They knew God. But they didn’t honor him as God. They didn’t thank him. Their thinking became worthless. Their foolish hearts became dark. 22 They claimed to be wise. But they made fools of themselves. 23 They would rather have statues of gods than the glorious God who lives forever. Their statues of gods are made to look like people, birds, animals and reptiles. 24 So God let them go. He allowed them to do what their sinful hearts wanted to. He let them commit sexual sins. They polluted one another’s bodies by what they did. 25 They chose a lie instead of God’s truth. They worshiped and served created things. They didn’t worship the Creator. But he must be praised forever. Amen. 26 So God let them go. They were filled with shameful longings. Their women committed sexual acts that were not natural. 27 In the same way, the men turned away from their natural love for women. They burned with sexual longing for each other. Men did shameful things with other men. They suffered in their bodies for all the twisted things they did.

 

1 Corinthians 6:9–10

9 Don’t you know that evil people will not receive God’s kingdom? Don’t be fooled. Those who commit sexual sins will not receive the kingdom. Neither will those who worship statues of gods or commit adultery. Neither will men who are prostitutes or who commit homosexual acts. 10 Neither will thieves or those who always want more and more. Neither will those who are often drunk or tell lies or cheat. People who live like that will not receive God’s kingdom.

 

Jude 7

The people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them also did evil things. They gave themselves over to sexual sins. They committed sins of the worst possible kind. They are an example of those who are punished with fire. The fire never goes out. 

See Also

Genesis 19:5

They called out to Lot. They said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sex with them.” 

Leviticus 18:22–23

22 “ ‘Do not have sex with a man as you would have sex with a woman. I hate that. 23 “ ‘Do not have sex with an animal. Do not make yourself “unclean” by doing that. A woman must not offer herself to an animal to have sex with it. That is a twisted use of sex. 

Leviticus 20:13

“ ‘Suppose a man has sex with another man as he would have sex with a woman. I hate what they have done. They must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault. 

Deuteronomy 23:17–18

17 A man or woman in Israel must not become a temple prostitute. 18 The LORD your God hates the money that men and women get for being prostitutes. So don’t take that money into the house of the LORD to pay what you promised to give. 

1 Kings 14:24

There were even male prostitutes at the temples in the land. The people took part in all of the practices of other nations. The LORD hated those practices. He had driven those nations out to make room for the people of Israel. 

1 Kings 15:12

Asa threw out of the land the male prostitutes who were at the temples. He got rid of all of the statues of gods his people before him had made. 

1 Kings 22:46

Jehoshaphat got rid of the rest of the male prostitutes who were at the temples. They had remained in the land even after the rule of his father Asa. 

Romans 1:24–28

24 So God let them go. He allowed them to do what their sinful hearts wanted to. He let them commit sexual sins. They polluted one another’s bodies by what they did. 25 They chose a lie instead of God’s truth. They worshiped and served created things. They didn’t worship the Creator. But he must be praised forever. Amen. 26 So God let them go. They were filled with shameful longings. Their women committed sexual acts that were not natural. 27 In the same way, the men turned away from their natural love for women. They burned with sexual longing for each other. Men did shameful things with other men. They suffered in their bodies for all the twisted things they did. 28 They didn’t think it was important to know God. So God let them go. He allowed them to have dirty minds. They did things they shouldn’t do. 

1 Corinthians 6:9–11

9 Don’t you know that evil people will not receive God’s kingdom? Don’t be fooled. Those who commit sexual sins will not receive the kingdom. Neither will those who worship statues of gods or commit adultery. Neither will men who are prostitutes or who commit homosexual acts. 10 Neither will thieves or those who always want more and more. Neither will those who are often drunk or tell lies or cheat. People who live like that will not receive God’s kingdom. 11 Some of you used to do those things. But your sins were washed away. You were made holy. You were made right with God. All of that was done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 

1 Timothy 1:8–11

8 We know that the law is good if it is used properly. 9 We also know that the law isn’t made for godly people. It is made for those who break the law. It is for those who refuse to obey. It is for ungodly and sinful people. It is for those who aren’t holy and who don’t believe. It is for those who kill their fathers or mothers. It is for murderers. 10 It is for those who commit adultery. It is for those who have a twisted view of sex. It is for people who buy and sell slaves. It is for liars. It is for those who give witness to things that aren’t true. And it is for anything else that is the opposite of true teaching. 11 True teaching agrees with the glorious good news of the blessed God. He trusted me with that good news. 

“What Makes a good Biblical Scholar or Theologian?”

“Humility, faith, faithfulness, worship.”

~Jeanette Hagen, Assistant Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered—to Satan?

Throughout the New Testament, “family language” is used to describe the relationship of believers to God and Jesus. The Lord’s prayer instructs us to address God as “our Father” (Matt 6:9). Hebrews 2:11–12 reveals that Jesus considers believers his own siblings. Paul says Christians comprise “the household of faith” (Gal 6:10). How is it, then, that Paul tells Christians living in Corinth that believers unrepentantly living in sin should not only be put out of the Church (1 Cor 5:9–13) but also “delivered to Satan” (1 Cor 5:5)?

If a person is given over to Satan, does that mean they then belong to Satan? Does the person lose salvation and have to be re-converted to Christ? Nowhere in the passage does Paul suggest that the believer in question becomes an unbeliever or is without hope of salvation.

After demanding the unrepentant believer be delivered to Satan, Paul notes the goal of such a decision is “for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor 5:5). What does Paul mean by “destruction of the flesh?” Paul often uses the word “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) to refer to the physical body, but sometimes he uses it to refer to self-sufficiency, worldliness, or manner of life. Since someone expelled from a church is not going to die as a result, the second possibility is best. Paul is insisting that the unrepentant person be dismissed from the church to live in his or her sin and endure the consequences of their behavior.

Paul’s explanation in verse six helps answer what he means by “destruction of the flesh,” but it does not explain what the phrase “delivered to Satan” means. For that, we need to look to the Old Testament. The Israelites viewed their land as holy ground and the territory of the non-Israelite nations as controlled by demonic gods. Israel was holy ground because that was where the presence of God resided. The opposite was true everywhere else.

This perspective shifted after the formation of the Church. God’s presence was no longer in the Jerusalem temple, but in the temple which is the body of believers (1 Cor 3:16–17). Where a church was, the Lord was present. Therefore, the church was considered “holy ground”; anywhere outside the church was the demonic realm. Hence Paul’s thinking: to be expelled from the church—the local manifestation of the place God lives—was to be thrust into the realm of Satan.

***

Dr. Michael S. Heiser is a scholar-in-residence for Faithlife, the makers of Logos Bible Software. He is the author of The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible and has taught many Mobile Ed courses, including Problems in Biblical Interpretation: Difficult Passages I.

This article is excerpted from Dr. Heiser’s book I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.

CONSISTENCY IN ALL (James 2:10–13)

CONSISTENCY IN ALL (2:10–13)

2:10–11. James was aware there would be some who would tend to dismiss their offense of prejudice as a trivial fault. They would hardly consider themselves as lawbreakers. James went on to make it clear that this was no small offense. Whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. There are no special indulgences. Utilizing the extreme instances of adultery and murder, James showed the absurdity of inconsistent obedience.

2:12–13. Total obedience is the key. One must both habitually speak and act (Gr. pres. tense imper.) as those to be judged by the Law. God’s Law, because of its wise constraints, brings true freedom (cf. 1:25). Disobedience to God’s Law brings bondage; and to those who have not been merciful, God’s judgment is without mercy. Just as love triumphs over prejudice, mercy triumphs over judgment. The verb “triumphs” or “exults over” (katakauchatai) appears only here, in 3:14, and in Romans 11:18.

God has ordained unalterable laws. Complete and consistent obedience is required if spiritual maturity is to be attained. The believer is commanded to accept his brother with courtesy, compassion, and consistency.

J. Ronald Blue, “James,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 825.

A copyist’s mistake

Lindsell makes a sound point that “a copyist’s mistake is something entirely different from an error in Scripture. A misspelled or a misplaced word is a far cry from error, by which is meant a misstatement or something contrary to fact” (The Battle for the Bible, p. 36), although the latter statement overlooks the possibility that a misplaced word could in fact yield a misstatement and contradiction of fact. Likewise, the addition of questionable vowel pointings by the Massoretic texts does not “mean there are errors in Scripture.” Lindsell insists, however, that textual reconstruction by lower criticism has “produced a product” that can unqualifiedly be said to be “the Word of God.… We can say honestly that the Bible we have today is the Word of God” (p. 37). It is, of course, the case that evangelical Christianity insists that both the ancient originals and the copies of those originals give us the revealed truth of God in propositionally reliable form, and that in popular parlance we speak not only of the inspired Hebrew and Greek originals but even of our contemporary Bible translations as “the Word of God,” but surely in the latter case not unconditionally so.

Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, vol. 4 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 230–231.

Scripture is not sufficient to convince an infidel

Book I

On the Knowledge of God the Creator

Chapter VIII

Rational Proofs to Establish the Belief of the Scripture

John Calvin wrote: 

Now, all these rational proofs, that have been advanced for the Divine origin of Scripture, are still not sufficient to produce firm faith in it. The Scripture will only be effectual to produce the saving knowledge of God, when the Holy Spirit also acts to produce that internal persuasion. Without faith, which is the Holy Spirit’s work, no amount of rational proofs of the Scripture will convince an infidel.

Original Text Is Without Errors, Not the Copies

Original Text Is Without Errors, Not the Copies. As noted in the article Bible, Alleged Errors in, this does not mean that every copy and translation of the Bible is perfect. God breathed out the originals, not the copies, so inerrancy applies to the original text, not to every copy. God in his providence preserved the copies from substantial error. In fact, the degree of accuracy is greater than that of any other book from the ancient world, exceeding 99 percent (see NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS; OLD TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS).

Norman L. Geisler, “Bible, Evidence For,” Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 92–93.