"Baptists do not baptize converts scripturally 'for the remission of sins,'" complains a preacher who is not of that denomination. "The Baptists I know baptize only to join their local church." * * * I don't know what your Baptist neighbors do, but Baptist brethren of my acquaintance (whether Southern, American, National, Conservative, General Association, Free-Will, Missionary, Hard-shell, Seventh-day or Reformed) baptize for various biblical reasons, including: (1) Baptism follows Jesus' own example. (2) Baptism obeys Jesus' command for his disciples to baptize new converts. (3) … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
BAPTISTS & CHURCHES OF CHRIST (3)
I beg the indulgence of readers who are not associated with Baptist churches or Churches of Christ, as we look in three gracEmails at those two groups of Christians, both particularly populous and highly competitive throughout the southern United States. * * * In the light of the gospel, we must say that both Baptists and Church of Christ people have often missed the real point by focusing on something we do, rather than focusing on what God had done for us in Jesus Christ. Baptists have often talked as though the saving event occurs when we believe ("accept Christ"), while Church of Christ … [Read more...]
BAPTISTS & CHURCHES OF CHRIST (2)
I beg the indulgence of readers who are not associated with Baptist churches or Churches of Christ, as we look in three gracEmails at those two groups of Christians, both particularly populous and highly competitive throughout the southern United States. * * * The Baptist flock provided many converts to Campbell's movement, particularly throughout the South. When Campbell preached in Nashville, Tennessee in the mid-1800's, a majority of the city's First Baptist Church membership was persuaded to join his reformation. Little wonder that the Southern Baptist Encyclopedia labels "Campbellism" … [Read more...]
BAPTISTS & CHURCHES OF CHRIST (1)
I beg the indulgence of readers who are not associated with Baptist churches or Churches of Christ, as we look in three gracEmails at those two groups of Christians, both particularly populous and highly competitive throughout the southern United States. * * * Baptists and Church of Christ folk have far more in common than either of them sometimes acknowledges. Right-thinking people in both places know that we must trust Christ's work on the cross for salvation. Neither group attaches any significance or value to baptism apart from faith-trust in Jesus Christ. Both groups baptize converts in … [Read more...]
A GOOD WORD ABOUT ANGLICAN CHRISTIANITY (2)
"How can you feel kindly toward the Episcopalians?" one asks. "Don't you know that the Anglican Church started when King Henry VIII wanted another wife and the Pope wouldn't agree, so KH-8 started his own Church of England?" * * * Most Protestant churches would be greatly enriched by a hearty dose of Anglican eucharistic liturgy (the Communion service) -- and few Protestants have a better statement of Reformation principles at their disposal than those reflected in the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Catechism found in the Book of Common Prayer. Nor do I know of any church which regularly reads … [Read more...]
A GOOD WORD ABOUT ANGLICAN CHRISTIANITY (1)
"How can you feel kindly toward the Episcopalians?" one asks. "Don't you know that the Anglican Church started when King Henry VIII wanted another wife and the Pope wouldn't agree, so KH-8 started his own Church of England?" * * * Although I was born and reared in the Churches of Christ, where God now has me placed for service, I find Anglicanism very appealing. Not because of the popular caricature stated above, but in spite of it. The truth is that Henry did "kick out" the Pope -- but the English kings had tried to do that for 500 years before he came along. My roots run deep into … [Read more...]
A GOOD WORD ABOUT ADVENT CHRISTIANS
"I understand that you are an elder and preacher in the Churches of Christ, but you have mentioned the Advent Christian Churches several times. I have never heard of that group. Would you please tell us something about them?" * * * I first met the Advent Christians after the 1982 publication of my book titled The Fire That Consumes, a painstakingly-thorough investigation of the biblical doctrine of final punishment. My conclusion there that the wicked will be destroyed both body and soul in the Second Death (hell) happened to confirm what Advent Christians have taught for 125+ years, and … [Read more...]
SPECIAL GRACEMAIL ESSAY
Robertson's comment on Haiti earthquake reveals bad manners, embellished history and poor theology: The ground had hardly stopped shaking in Haiti when Pat Robertson, the affable but loose-lipped founder of Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and President of Regent University, started a rumble of his own by saying that the stricken nation was "cursed" because of a 200-year-old "pact with the devil" supposedly made by rebellious slaves to obtain freedom from their occupying French masters. Robertson's off-the-cuff remarks, easily accessible in a video clip now gone viral on internet's … [Read more...]
DEVIL, BEAST & FALSE PROPHET (2)
A gracEmail subscriber asks for an explanation of Revelation 20:10, in which John sees the devil, the Beast and the False Prophet thrown into a lake of fire where they are "tormented day and night forever." A few verses later, "anyone not found written in the Book of Life" is cast into the same lake of fire (20:15). * * * It is significant that every time John mentions human beings in the Lake of Fire, he is careful to add the explanatory phrase, "which is the second death" (Rev. 20:15; 21:8). He seems to go out of his way to ensure that we do not make a mistake on that point. This symbol of … [Read more...]
DEVIL, BEAST & FALSE PROPHET (1)
A gracEmail subscriber asks for an explanation of Revelation 20:10, in which John sees the devil, the Beast and the False Prophet thrown into a lake of fire where they are "tormented day and night forever." A few verses later, "anyone not found written in the Book of Life" is cast into the same lake of fire (20:15). * * * The Book of Revelation is written in a kind of prophetic code drawn from certain Old Testament books and some nonbiblical Jewish writings between the Testaments. Writings that use this code-language are known as "apocalyptic" literature. (The Book of Revelation is known as … [Read more...]
