The Jesus who walked this earth was in a very real sense a man. As a man, it would be incorrect to discern Jesus as being divine in some abstract manner.[i] Rather, one must “speak of His weakness, of the cradle, and of the cross.”[ii] The Incarnate Jesus is God in the flesh; therefore, He possessed the glory of God as well as fallen flesh.[iii] This unity between man and God in the person of Christ causes flesh to become a part of the God-head from that point on. But the question arises at the...

God created Adam and Eve and bestowed upon them His own image. God desires humanity to bear His image with gratitude and obedience. Though Adam and Eve fully possessed God’s image, Satan tempted them into believing that they must do something else to be like God. By choosing to disobey God, Adam and Eve chose their own way. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit on the tree of knowledge, they brought death into themselves as God had forewarned them earlier.[i] Instead of enforcing upon man the full...

According to Ephesians 2:20, prophecy is connected with the foundation of the church.Gift of apostle is no longer operative.Signs, wonders, and miracles are connected with true apostleship (2 Cor12:12); Sign gifts may not be the property of all believers.Purpose of the Tongues is to attest to new revelation (Heb 2:1-4).Tongues without attendant prophecy is absurd (1 Cor 14:6); and if there is attendant prophecy then sola scriptura is violated.

Upon salvation, 1 Corinthians 12:13 declares that the believer becomes a member of the body of Christ. Anyone who has been united with Christ is qualified to join a local expression of His body. To join, the believer must commit themselves to the biblical purposes for which the local church has gathered. These include the receiving of instruction from God’s Word (1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:2), serving and edifying one another through the proper use of spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-31; 1 ...

Throughout the Bible, the Gospel message of faith and repentance comes to the world through the special revelation revealed through the writings of God’s messengers who were empowered by God’s Spirit. Jesus Himself revealed God’s soteriological message in Scripture to the masses through the power of the Holy Spirit (John 17:6; 2 Tim 1:10). In order that the Gentile world might hear the Gospel, the Lord commissions and sends Paul to bear witness to them, once again, by the power of the Holy Spir...

Paul and Peter both declare that the Holy Spirit is the one who inspired every word written in Scripture (Eph 3:4-5; 2 Pet 1:20-21). God’s Spirit inspired the Scriptures to aid the believers in their spiritual understanding and growth (2 Tim 3:16-17). In John 16:13, Christ tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit, when he comes, will guide them into all truth (Rom 8:5, 14; Gal 5: 16-26). After Pentecost, one notices that Peter immediately understands Christ’s message and ministry and becomes em...

The sanctification process, which follows the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is also the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:11; 2 Th 2:13; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet 1:2). In 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, Paul is contrasting the difference between the believer’s old life with all of its sinfulness with his or her new life whereby the body of the believer becomes “a temple of the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5 demonstrates an unqualified exclusion of human effort in the sanctification process (cf. Rom 9:12; Eph 2:9).

Conviction of Sin. To understand the conversion work of the Holy Spirit, one may wish to separate His activities into three categories: pre-conversion, conversion, and post-conversion. In His pre-conversion work, the Holy Spirit goes before the Christian witness to prepare the hearts of non-believers so that they will turn to Christ when the gospel is delivered. In John 16:8, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit “convict[s] the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” The Hol...

In Romans 8:28-30, Paul declares, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Verse 28 makes it clear that Christians are “called” (saved) “according to...

Since the Fall of Adam and Eve, humanity has been living under the curse of death and trapped in a totally depraved state (Gen 3:16-19; Rom 3:10-18). The hearts and minds of humanity became fully defiled, utterly deceitful, full of evil, darkened in understanding, wicked in every intention, and completely without knowledge (Gen 6:5; 8:21; Eccl 9:3; Jer 17:9; Rom 1:28-31; Eph 4:17-18; Titus 1:15-16). As fallen sinners, we are all born slaves to sin (John 8:34; Rom 6; Titus 3:3). In our fleshly, ...