By Mark W. Christy, PhD (This series has been adapted from several sermons that covered verses relied upon by Arminians to defend their stance. In order to properly undergird their position, the Arminians are tasked with finding clear biblical support for the human will being an active part (and therefore, completely free and beyond the control of God’s sovereign will) of the salvation process. If this can be accomplished, then they must, of necessity, engage the verses that appear to direct...

By Mark W. Christy, PhD In Romans 12:20, Paul issues this command, “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Those who have sought to correctly discern Paul’s directive have often struggled with what he means by “heap burning coals on his head.” While some have suggested Paul means that loving one’s enemy will cause the enemy to feel ashamed, this view hardly accords with the context and the usage...

By Mark W. Christy, PhD In Matthew 5:17, Jesus announces, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Some who have contemplated on His meaning sometimes believe Him to be saying that His intent was to preserve the Old Testament (OT) even while He adds to it. Others see “fulfill” to somehow be connected with an Aramaic word, qûm, that means to establish, validate, and confirm. Assuming this connection, this group of translators arg...

By Mark W. Christy, PhD In his second letter, the Apostle John directly addresses his message “to the chosen lady and her children” (v.1).[i] As to the identity of this lady, many scholars suggest that John is referring to a specific local church where he had been serving as an elder. Others believe that John is referring to a specific lady. One scholar, John MacArthur, though he affirmed the first view early on in his ministry, has now conceded to the second.[ii] To assess the merits of Mac...

By Mark W. Christy, PhD In 1 John 4:2, the Apostle offers a way to test whether or not a person should be numbered among those who are false prophets. He writes, “every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”[i] His bold assertion, however, calls into question those who label many prominent members of the evangelical community as false teachers, given that most of these teachers affirm Christ’s incarnation. To resolve this apparent dilemma, this article wi...

By Mark W. Christy In Matthew 16:16-18, the following exchange between Peter and Jesus is recorded: “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.””[i] Among Roman Catholics, these verses are viewed as cl...

By Mark W. Christy, PhD In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr (100 A.D. – 165 A.D.) attempts to argue for preincarnate appearances, known as Christophanies, of Jesus Christ so as to win over Jewish people to the faith.[i] In his discussion, he references the angel of the Lord (also called the angel of God) who appears to Jacob and Moses (cf. Gen 31:10-13; 32:24-30; Ex 3:2-4). To determine whether or not the contention of this ancient ambassador for the faith is correct, this article wil...