D. OSAS

Thanks for the interesting facts. It only shows that Israel is the "apple of God's eye!" Dr. OSAS

Hi Here is how I describe them in my next wanna-be book. This section is a critique of their "Statement of Faith." I found the EFCA web site very user friendly with ready links to their Statement of Faith. From their Statement of Faith they believe the following: God’s Word is inspired, without error, and complete. The Trinity. God exists in three persons. Jesus is true God and true man. The shed blood of Jesus and His Resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus Christ are born of the Holy Spirit and, thus become children of God. Water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances and not a means of salvation. The personal premillennial and imminent second coming of Jesus. For all this good, there is a slight negative. The EFCA confuses the issue by using the word "salvation." "Salvation" is the overarching umbrella term that describes all aspects of the Christian life from the new birth, through sanctification and ending in glorification. It is dangerous to mix such generic terms with a technical term like justification. Only justification deals with the new birth. Sanctification is spiritual growth that comes after the new birth. Furthermore, the EFCA has no statement on eternal security (better than a statement that says one can lose the gift of Eternal Life). Regardless of these omissions, this denomination endorses justification as the event of faith in Jesus Christ apart from human works and water baptism. They also get the interpretive framework correct as is seen in their statement on eschatology. I assign them a grade of B-plus. Dr. OSAS

Excellent answer! Specifically, it happened to the foolish believer of 1 Cor 3:11-15. He wasted his entire life - BUT WAS STILL SAVED. In general, we are all depraved. The best things we do are called "vanity" (Ps 39:5) and "filthy rags" (Isa 64:6). Peter's foibles are relatively small and minor when compared to the rest of us! Dr. OSAS

Greetings Three days and three nights eliminates any Friday consideration. Modern research into the ebla tablets reveals that there were two calendars at work. The Herodians used the luni-solar calendar. The Essenes used a strictly solar calendar. This is the same sort of thing that happens with us with some of our USA holidays (President's day, Thanksgiving). The observance of Passover night, by the rules of calculation as disclosed by Patriarch Hillel II, could occur on a Monday night, a Wednesday night, a Friday night, or a Saturday night but never on a Sunday night, a Tuesday night, or a Thursday night. The rabbinic calculated calendar, the Hillel II calendar, provides us with a means for determining an approximation of the priestly calendar that functioned in Temple times. Accordingly, by calculation the Passover Sabbath in CE 30 began, as it did in CE 31 as well, on Wednesday evening making Wednesday, at first glance, the most probable candidate for the day of the Crucifixion. However, some argue that in the year of the Crucifixion that a calendar fixed by observation could result in the Passover Sabbath occurring on a Thursday, a Friday, or a Saturday. That remains to be seen. The Essenes, on the other hand, who followed a solar calendar, always observed the Passover on a Tuesday night. The Essenes fixed Nisan 14 on their calendar as the third day of the week, sunset Monday night to sunset Tuesday night or simply Tuesday as we reckon time. In their community the Passover Sabbath, the annual Sabbath known as the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, always began at sunset Tuesday night and ended at sunset Wednesday night. This means of marking time differs from our Gregorian calendar wherein specific weekdays are not preset to exact dates. In the United States, for example, President's day always falls on a Monday in January but it can come on different days of the month. Nisan 15 was always a Wednesday on the Essene calendar. I can go into deeper details if anyone is interested. In summary, the double calendar gives the inescapable conclusion is that Jesus and his followers likely observed a Tuesday night Last Supper at the Essene Guesthouse, which requires, in context, the Jews in the year of the Crucifixion to have kept their traditional Passover early Wednesday evening, Nisan 15, as the new day began. Dr. OSAS

Hey Gary In general, you have made a valid point. But in the specifics of theology you have overlooked the crucial distinction between justification and sanctification. Justification is the new birth; sanctification is spiritual growth. They are two parallel yet mutually exclusive (distinct) concepts. God is pleased with us when we believe in Jesus. At that moment we are justified. We areborn from above, forgiven, adopted into God's family, and transferred into Jesus' kingdom (Col 1:12-14). At that same identical moment we are sanctified. We begin a process of spiritual growth. We can be carnal. I don't endorse that. But given that our best state is vanity (Psalm 39:5) and that the best of righteous deeds is "filthy rags" (Isa 64:6), then we are constantly carnal. The differences betweeen us are only relative. You may be less carnal than me - but we are both always consistently carnal. The foolish believer of 1 cor 3:11-15 illustrates this quite nicely. He was justified in unquestionable possession of eternal life. He was a zero in terms of sanctificaiton. All of his works were consumed in the fires of judgement. YET HE WAS STILL SAVED (V 15). So I don't endorse foolish sin. But I praise God for His merciful gracious disposition toward us in Jesus Christ. Dr. OSAS

A simple denial of the obvious is not valid theology. If God determines everything, then God determines sin and evil. God's Word is logical and we CAN understand it if we lay down our errant man-made assumptions. God elects but ONE - Jesus Christ. We all can freely choose to enter into Him. This is the real teaching of Ephesians chapter 1. God's election is "in Christ." That phrase is stated some 12 times. Calvinists usually miss every one of them. The Bible is quite clear. So is your unsubstantiated denial. Dr. OSAS God's sovereignty in no way make God the author of sin. We cannot understand this as long as we hold to a finite understanding of scripture and of who God is as He reveals Himself. The natural mine cannot grasp this as it thinks in terms of duality. Good & Evil, light & dark, positive & negative, hot & cold. Question: Is there such a thing as heat? 2nd question: Is there such a thing as cold? LT

Pastoring is far more than a public sermon or Sunday School lesson. Pastoring requires God's special gifting to meet the needs of others. You'll have to deal with death, spiritual warfare, fellowship relations, political hot topics (like green versus red carpet), time management, business management, computer offices, special temptations and more. Make your decision on far more than human praise for a wonderful moving public message. Dr. OSAS

Gasp! Where is the option to denounce both foolish extremes? Calvinism is errant in that it makes our Sovereign God the author of sin and evil. Arminisim is wrong in that it denies the faithfulness of God to preserve eternal life even in the face of wilfull rebellion. While one can be totally Calvinistic or totally Arminian, it is impossible to be somewhere in between. Dr. OSAS

Greetings The sin to death for the believer is certainly NOT a condemnation to hell. But there is a sin that displeases God such that your physical life is terminated. God will bring you home rather than let you profane His holy name through some perversion. I'm really surprised He doesn't do this more often than He does. Dr. OSAS

Hi Theology is crucial but it just takes us so far. You are right to note that Christianity is more than answers to a theology test. A critical aspect of Christianity is fellowship with God. There will be many in heaven with bad theologies. Dr. OSAS