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Webcasting around the world from the desert metropolis of Phoenix, Arizona. This is the dividing line. The Apostle Peter commanded Christians to be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us.
Yet to give that answer with gentleness and reverence. Our host is dr. James White director of Alpha Omega Ministries and an elder at the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church. This is a live program and we invite your participation.
If you'd like to talk with dr. White call now at 602 -973 -4602 or toll-free across the United States. It's 1 -877 -753 -3341. And now with today's topic here is James White.
Paul says man is dead. He is not merely drowning. He is already sunk to the bottom of the sea. It is futile to throw a life preserver to a man who has already drowned. If I understand Paul I hear him saying that God dives into the water and pulls a dead man from the bottom of the sea and Performs a divine act of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
He breathes into the dead man new life. It is important to remember that regeneration has to do with new life. It is called the new birth or being born again. Much confusion exists about this matter. The new birth is closely linked in the Bible to the new life that is ours in Christ.
Just as in natural biology. There can be no life without birth. So in supernatural terms, there can be no new life without a new birth. Birth and life are closely connected. But they are not exactly the same thing birth.
It's the beginning of the new life. It is a decisive moment. We understand that in normal that we understand that in normal biological terms every year. We celebrate our birthdays. We are not like the Queen in Alice in Wonderland who celebrated all her unbirthdays.
Birth is a one-time experience. It may be celebrated but not repeated. It is a decisive moment of transition. A person is either born or not yet born. So it is with spiritual rebirth. Rebirth produces new life.
It is the beginning of new life, but it is not the total sum of the new life. It is the crucial point of transition from spiritual death to spiritual life. A person is never partially born again. He is either regenerate or he is not regenerate.
The clear biblical teaching of regeneration is that it is the work of God and the work of God alone. We cannot cause ourselves to be reborn. The flesh cannot produce the spirit. Regeneration is an act of creation.
God does. The creating in theology we have a technical term that may be helpful monergism. It comes from two root words. Mono means one monopoly is a business that has the market to itself. A mono plane is a single winged aircraft erg you may remember from grade school refers to a unit of work.
We get the common word energy from it putting the two parts together. We get the meaning one working. When we say that regeneration is monergistic. We mean that Only one party is doing the work. That party is God the Holy Spirit.
He regenerates us. We cannot do it ourselves or even help him with the task. Now you can tell that I'm reading from a source. Who am I reading from? Well, I am reading of course from RC Sproul and his book chosen by God a book I read over 20 years ago for the first time and it made a huge impact upon my life.
And there is a brief discussion of hit on his part of the new birth. Regeneration. Well someone like John Modine might say. That was just back then that's not now. Well, let's let's look at some of our C's more recent works.
How about his book willing to believe page 204 the monergistic regeneration reform theology? However does not violate the sinners will. Indeed it is a change of the sinners will wrought by the sovereign agency of God.
It is precisely this work of God that liberates the sinner from slavery. It is a strange thing to deem the liberation of an enslaved will as a violation of freedom. It is God's work of freeing not violating.
That is in view and Earlier in the book. There was more discussion of that Monarchism idea and in another book RC Sproul's book grace unknown the heart of reformed.
Theology.
When I pose this question my Arminian friends page 156 They readily see the lemon see it seek to avoid it by saying certainly it is not a matter of intelligence or of any inherent Superior virtue in those who respond positively they respond this way because they see their need for Christ more clearly.
With this reply they dig themselves deeper into the pit. The answer only postpones the problem one step. Why do some people see their need for Christ more clearly than do others have there have they received greater illumination from the Holy Spirit?
Are they more intelligent? Are they less prejudiced toward Christ and more open to his call? Which is itself a virtue no matter how one delays it sooner or later. We must face the question of greater or lesser inherent virtue.
Following Paul's lead in Ephesians reformed theology teaches that faith itself is a gift given to the elect. God himself creates the faith in the believers heart. God fulfills the necessary condition for salvation and he does so without condition.
Again we look to Paul's words Ephesians 2 8 through 10 for by grace you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves is The gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast for we are his workmanship create in Christ Jesus For good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Another discussion of monergism. I just simply walked into my office and I pulled three books By RC Sproul down off my shelf and I popped them open and it was very easy. It did not take a tremendous amount of time or effort on my part to discover that RC Sproul has Written for many many years about the new birth.
He has written about Monergism the fact that it is God who brings about the new birth and and in none of these books does he even begin? To present the idea That we are saved by our works that we are saved by what we do that.
We have works righteousness any person with a semblance of Integrity and honesty would be able to in a very brief amount of time Determine exactly what RC Sproul believes on these issues when a person has written as many books as RC Sproul has written.
It is reprehensible. It is sinful it is wrong. To Ignore everything he's written. Go to a single service with a deeply prejudiced mind and on the basis of that one service attack the man Excluded from the kingdom and identify him as a false teacher.
But as we saw in the last dividing line, that's exactly what John Modine has done of the believe it's the Maumee Valley Bible Baptist Church did a little looking around since last week and playing the first 20.
Actually, we skipped about seven minutes in so what about 17 minutes, I believe of a sermon that John Modine posted on sermon audio .com now he Heard that I did that I couldn't tell from his email whether he had actually listened to anything that I said.
Honestly, I wouldn't be overly surprised if he didn't listen to what I had said. But in his email to me, which also kicks me out of the kingdom of God. I also preach the false gospel of Calvin and So on and so forth.
I was also informed that one of the clear evidences of my lack of spirituality and my being a false teacher is That that we that we accept credit cards. Yeah, we on our website. I'm not sure how else you do anything on a website, but on our website we accept credit cards and so I was thinking I wonder how Consistent brother Modine actually is and so I I jumped online this morning and I I went to sermon audio .com where you can listen to brother Modine's Sermons and guess what if you look over on the left, you'll find little link.
You can you can contribute to helping sermon audio .com do what sermon audio .com does and I've certainly got a lot of stuff Sermon audio .com. I would encourage you to support the work. They do you'll get a wide variety of stuff there.
But there's some good stuff there. No, no two ways about it and Guess how you can do that. Yeah, you can you can use you can use credit cards. So the very Source from which you can listen to to John Modine actually uses credit cards.
Which demonstrates that I'm not a Christian but evidently not that he's not a Christian and and then I was looking around a little bit more and I had I had noticed that that pastor Modine had there was a recommendation from him.
For David cloud now some of you remember who David cloud is he's the King James only anti-calvinist who at least has had the integrity and the guts to stand up to Gail Ripplinger and and Criticize her and and he says some good things.
When it comes to Calvinism the King James only issue he's he's completely off base, but he said some good things on other issues and.
So I.
Found a recommendation from pastor Modine for David cloud and So I went to to way of life org to David clouds website and And guess what? Yeah, David cloud accepts credit cards, too and.
I.
Evidently for some reason that doesn't mean that David cloud is outside the kingdom, but but it is but it is Evidence that I am so we only had a few minutes left of this. So I sense it only got worse and And you repeatedly hear him say that that RC Sproul teaches works salvation here.
That's why I wanted to start off by by reading Sproul himself and Just allow that Documentation To do what it needs to do in addressing the reality of what this this gentleman has to say. Let's let's finish off his his little.
Quote-unquote sermon here. Well, they've never heard the preaching of the new birth. They're taking communion. They're getting baptized as children. They're baptizing their children. They're being told about this wonderful covenant God has for them and they're marching lockstep to hell.
They've never heard the new birth preached. It's amazing when you think about it, it's amazing. It's this foolish Fellowship with a man who preaches a false gospel this filling of a church with people who are not saved and not born again but who are saved by a covenant coverage of their mothers and fathers and their baptism as infants and their Partaken of the communion cup and bread on a weekly basis this raising up to national prominence of a false gospel preacher.
By John MacArthur and Albert Muller and others. It's it's simply shameful. It's wrong. It's wrong. Those men ought to check out RC sprawl and see if he preaches the new birth like I did.
He doesn't that's catch it. Check it out. Like I did. What did he do? Did he read a book? Did he look at any documentation? Did he? Slightly fairly represent sprawl at all not in the least. Not in the least the reason these men Don't have Modine's view is because they do know what RC sprawl teaches.
They did take the time they didn't go to one service at one time and ignore 30 or 40 years of the man's ministry beforehand and Then come up with an idiotic conclusion. That's why they continue to support him and it's not al moeller and it's not John MacArthur Who's going to answer for their quote-unquote promotion of RC sprawl?
It's going to be John Modine who's got to answer for the level of dishonesty That he is promoting. In this kind of a thing RC sprawl thinks human works safe.
You and I can dress it up with pretty words about covenants and cups and we can make lots of magazines and lots of pretty Pictures, but it still comes down to human works. Human works.
Again pure.
Complete total dishonesty. That's I mean, it's the only way you can describe it. I mean given how easy it is to obtain this information. How can this kind of thing be described in any other way then pure?
Utter.
Laziness and an unwillingness to actually. Do some kind of research to find out what on earth you're talking about. RC sprawl preaches human works roll salvation roll.
Have a message to you and the message to RC sprawl. God will not accept your work or my work. He'll only accept the work of Jesus Christ his son. He will not accept your work your baptism of my baptism your communion in my communion.
It is all sophistry. It's word games. It's a denial of Scripture. Baptism is not a means of saving grace. Rather grace is God's unmerited favor in choosing us before time began. And and grace is given to those that believe and call on the Son of God for salvation grace is Christ.
Dying in our place the atonement the propitiation for our sins grace is the work of God in our hearts bringing us to saving faith. We proclaim the gospel of the grace of God and when this gospel is believed that person is Instantaneously say there's no process at all to it.
It happens immediately and God does all of the work. The man does nothing in that. Ironic that that's almost the exact citation I just read. From from chosen by God almost word for word in that amazing.
It's almost like the Lord put those words there just simply as a testimony.
But just how far off this guy really is the gospel is the message of God's kind and gracious undeserved favor. When he provided for our salvation the way Christ is received is simply by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
There's no other way to have salvation today not by baptism not by a sacrament. Faith is a matter of your heart. Oh, how serious is that error of baptismal regeneration? How serious is that error of Communion and the elements partaking of the Christ in us.
It is fatal. It is fatal. And Apostle Paul said those who worship God in spirit and rejoice in Jesus Christ have No confidence in the flesh. You better not have any confidence in what your flesh does.
It's not going to work. He goes on it. Paul says in Philippians 3 3 he suffered the loss of all things. He counts them all done. I'll tell you what that Lord's Supper communion is down there, and the baby's baptism Paul said it's done.
It's done. It's not fit to eat. God doesn't want done. Put on his altar. He said put this here do it this way. Anything else is strange fire and take the rest of it outside the camp. These are religious rituals religious exercise human works.
In order to gain Christ a person must completely Reject everything else as meritorious for salvation. You must trust in Christ alone for salvation. Do you bring your offerings of dung with you guys not going to accept you if you say well?
I accept Christ see see on all their things down there, so they say solo Christo deo. Solo script. Or they've got Latin for Christ alone scripture alone. But you know what you can say that with your mouth.
And if you've got plates and handfuls of solo Christo deo I'm gonna believe your mouth. Silly little glorious.
Here's my here's my Here's my last point. The preaching the result of preaching a false gospel. He's going to be eternal punishment no matter how many books you sell today. Leviticus 10 1 and 2. Nate ab and Abihu Took their own censors.
They put fire therein Offered strange fire before the Lord and the Lord devoured them with flame. Now please don't lie to me and tell me R .C. Sproul's God's ally and God's friend. And it's fine. It's fine to appear on the platform with him and treat him like a brother when he preaches a false gospel.
You are helping to damn millions of people.
Millions of people. Man I would not want to have to be responsible for being so far out to sea as this guy is and so Completely ignorant of what the world is talking about. Wow. What an amazing thing you know writing pulpit crimes, and I here is a glorious example of a pulpit crime.
This guy stand behind a pulpit and just filling however many people there. Few or many I'd have no idea. And it does not matter to stand behind a pulpit and be so Completely unwilling to do your homework and know what in the world you're talking about is a pulpit crime.
Don't lie to me and tell me he's God's friend. Yeah, listen. Do you want to go stand with Nadab or Abihu? That's what you're doing. It's what you're doing. You know the mixture of impure with pure is not Acceptable to God.
God has told us how we're to worship. And that's the recipe we're supposed to follow. The mixture of impure with pure is not acceptable to God and you say well. Well at Nadab's motives were pure.
Doesn't matter.
Doesn't matter how his motives were pure and you might say Abihu was taught wrong doesn't matter. You're still responsible. Your desire should be in life. And in worship to get as close to the true gospel and as far away from the false gospels you can.
No one would even argue with any of that that was said there. It's just a shame man shooting at R .C. Sproul around the people he could be shooting at because there's lots of folks that would exactly apply to.
But he's not talking about them is it. Oler and MacArthur and Falwell will each have to answer to God for what they've done. By elevating this false prophet this false teacher this person who's damning men to hell today.
Yeah, they were beautiful wonderful families down there my wife. And I almost we almost wept I think I did weep a little bit in the service I'm not a little bit we get one out of there. We were shaken shaken to our core that all these beautiful families these beautiful kids were Being fed a poison gospel and sent to hell by this man.
Oh, can you believe it? John totally Albert Muller and Jerry Falwell. They'll have to answer to Jesus Christ for what they've done. You know if you would go to Emerald's house You'd most likely get a good meal wouldn't you.
I mean you would.
In case you're wondering. Back at the beginning. Yet last time memory I Emerald Emerald was Lugosi. Is that what the name is. I don't know. I don't watch any cooking stuff. Yeah, what do I eat? Well, it's.
What does that matter. What cuisine. What's that? But he was connecting the two with RC sprawl. That was. That's in case you're just wondering did this guy just completely lose it. No, actually he's going back to his original.
Really bad illustration, but he's at least going back to it.
I had to go in Emerald's house get bad food and RC Sproul's home Church. The truth was found out and it left us with a spiritual bellyache. May God have mercy on all who have fallen for this false gospel To deliver them out of it.
May God have mercy on RC Sproul to convict him of his spiritual treason and poisoning. May God have mercy on the men who support him and aid him. May God have mercy on those who are misled by this gospel that cannot save it.
Is indeed a strange fire to offer to God bread and wine and water. When he has already declared I'll only accept the blood of my only son as the payment for your sins. Don't offer him bread and wine and what don't offer him your life or your money.
Don't offer him your heart. Those things have no meaning to God. He said I'll only.
And that's where the file ended. That was all there was so. There you go. I uh. You know, so I might say yeah, this isn't important. Go back to the swan who's listening to this guy. You've given him more prominence deserves, you know.
You know, I understand all that and I understand that you know. Some people say, you know, you just should not even pay attention to these folks. You've got to have some idea of what in the world. It's specially in the light of the Internet and what the Internet allows.
You know someone like this would not have had a voice outside of a very very very very very very.
Restricted area.
Not very long ago because the vast majority of people who are serious thinkers and they they they Recognize the importance of reading and studying and knowing what you're talking about before you start talking about.
You know, he would have been rejected and and wouldn't have had any any voice but the the Internet bypasses that unfortunate unfortunately bypasses that proper filtering mechanism and This kind of stuff gets out there and People hear this kind of thing and unfortunately when you're trying to talk to others, it's just this kind of stuff.
Well, you know what that sounds like with that guy R .C. Sproles is a knight. I've heard R .C. Sproles false teacher and if you've never heard what these people are saying or how they're saying it. You can be completely blown away by that and I even know how to begin to respond to it but if you've heard it and you've gotten the you know, the chuckles out of the way and And gone.
Okay, I you know now you've heard it. So now when you hear less strident stuff, you're not gonna be blown away by it. You're not going to be just completely taken by surprise. You're gonna realize you know what they're actually people who think this way and so how can I how can I break through this this thought process and help this person to Get rid of their prejudices and start to really think about the issues that we need to be thinking about.
How can I do that? And There's you know, there's certain ways that you can do that. So anyhow, there's the rest of the sermon I fully expect in the not-too-distant future if it hasn't already happened to be the object of just such a Cannon blast of ignorance myself.
I just just get that really distinct feeling and You know, we haven't found anyone sneaking into PRBC and measuring the exact center of the pulpit in comparison to the room Quite yet, so I'm not sure, you know, what's going to happen there.
Maybe he'll just take my word for it that the the building was built off-center and that the pulpit even though it's centered You know between you know, it's centered in the archway. But but that arc there's there's like a foot more on one side than the other so it's just a little bit off and that will be taken as sure evidence sure evidence of exegetical error and false teaching and that everybody at PRBC is on a on a straight slide straight into the seventh level of hell and It's sad, I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh but it's sort of hard at times to to listen to that and just go man.
How do you put yourself out there and just you know, shoot your credibility repeatedly? Until it doesn't even twitch anymore. I mean good night. How do you mm-hmm? I did find out by the way. Oh Here let me let me give him some more for his sermon I guess who it was who read Psalm 38 because remember he said last remember we played last week.
He said that someone he said an elder read Psalm 38 as if he was God. That was Burke Parsons who's speaking at the Pope of Crimes? And that's how we know this was either May 21st or May 28th. And so I still I've got half of it's not like I have time to but I've got I've got half a desire to go Ahead and get the the sermon tapes from both those Sundays and see if I can figure out What on earth set this guy off?
Because I just get the real real feeling that there is a massive set of filters functioning here and that anything that was good or proper just got filtered right out of there so that nothing was left and It would it would be interesting to hear what was actually what was actually said.
So who knows at the very least maybe we can ask Burke about it come come November and say what was Did somebody drop the communion wine on him or just what I mean good night. Where did he come from? I just I can't even we'll have to go up there and when we run into him say.
So you've been reading the Psalms in the first person.
But there's nothing in Psalm 38 to read that way I looked at it didn't make any sense talk about changing the scripture. There you go. There you go. What that that was a real pulpit crime. Yeah, we try to do provide your own examples.
Uh-huh. Yeah, that's what we'll have to do. Oh Goodness. Well, anyway, what can I say? It it was it was interesting. Well, eight seven seven seven five three two three four I still got spong and And Lynn queued up here still got a few minutes left with them to get to but we've got a few a Few phone calls also to get to so let's run through them here real quick.
And Let's start by going out to Virginia and Jerry. Hi Jerry.
Hey, dr. White. How are you today, sir? Doing pretty good. Hey brother. Just city. Mm-hmm. And not be a hyper Calvin. Yes. Uh-huh. Yeah, that way and.
We went over that we went over that on the program by the way. Almost word-for-word we we went through the entire the entire sermon back in June as I recall.
Yeah, right after it was delivered. Uh-huh. Well, you know, it's funny the first time I met dr. Can't preach now. It was for me the first why you should vote Republican. Uh-huh. I was waiting for lightning to strike then.
You mean it was as bad as what you get in certain african-american churches when Jesse Jackson shows up.
Jesse Jackson. Oh, I mean I am serious. Oh, I is an exegetical nightmare. And I mean I did I mean, I you know I have two masters degree. And as I listen to this guy because I love logic I mean I sat there and I was creating was when he said.
Yeah, you know that was. Not now is that which know which sermon you talking about. Because then that is in why I am predestined.
Right.
Yeah, I I pointed out the fact that it seemed and I I wanted to be fair because you know the debate is going on on October 16th, so.
Basically made the comments because see Jerry this is where you and I Differ a little bit is that that I go. Well, you know that might indicate a less than orthodox view of Of original sin and you just use the the 45 caliber response that says that's a radical see and.
If I may I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna reread because I'm gonna read so well, uh-huh. Not to be a hyper Calvin. He demonstrates that he has a clue. What costs formal and informal logical fallacy known to logicians.
Now Jerry Jerry, hold on a second. I'm gonna have to ask you now not to go to my blog and read the exchanges between Myself and Ergon Kanner which have addressed the issue of hyper Calvinism and how one defines it which have addressed the issue of systematic theology and Stating that he's a he's a Biblicist and so on and so forth because if if just the sermon got you going this much.
Reading these huge files might not be good for your health. Okay. I mean, I'm very concerned for you Jerry. I really am because if you read the exchanges you're gonna you're not going to bother with the letter.
You're gonna you're just gonna drive to Lynchburg and camp out on somebody's doorstep. So, so just make a promise you're not going to go to my blog and search for the PDFs that have all.
Liberty has quite a few Calvinist. Yes. Yes. Yes. I do know that Roger Schultz is a very good friend of. Yeah, I understand him and I. I spoke.
In fact, we'll be speaking there the weekend beforehand before the debate in October On the subject of reformed theology and evangelism and I spoke at a founders conference meeting there in Lynchburg a number of years ago with Bruce Ware and some other people and Mark Devere was there and and a number of students talked to us at the time but they also indicated that there was a lot of not only resistance but You know denigration of reformed theology.
So I know it's I know it's a it's a mixed bag. But certainly, dr Canors arrival there and his elevation to the to the dean of students and now the president of the seminary right of Liberty Seminary has brought the issue really to the fore and That's why it really does need to be addressed and needs to be addressed in a in a full way, I would obviously I've said more than once that I would be more than willing to Go to each one of Ergin Canors classes with nothing but my Greek text to discuss the sovereignty of God straight from the the text of Scripture in regards to that great act of self-glorification called called salvation, but The chances that I'm gonna get to do something like that are fairly slim, but at least you know right now On October 16th that that debate is going to be taking place and I'm thankful for that Right opportunities, especially since it'll be in the new Thomas Road Baptist Church, which from the pictures I saw in the Liberty Journal that somebody was kind enough to send the PR BC Is pretty big place.
So we'll have the opportunity hopefully of modeling.
Clear presentation a biblical grounded presentation and let the Lord work from there. Hey, let me ask you honestly. I.
Haven't even given consideration to it. That doesn't even cross cross my mind Mike and my biggest concern is making sure that a high-quality DVD and and mp3 recordings are available of the actual exchange and that they are made available to folks afterwards because.
Well, that's just it we're not 100 certain that's the next thing we need to start working on. Obviously given.
Given I'm sorry. Well given the location.
There isn't a question of the of the installed facilities.
To do an excellent recording of it. Well, then we you know the apologetics group. Of course, that's our fouries. We got three high-quality high-definition Cameras. Yeah, I'm talking about these are you know, six seven thousand dollars apiece.
Yeah to talk with Richard if y 'all would like us to come out and film it. We'll give you the DVD. Y 'all can own it. We'll just come out and do it for you.
Well, like I said, this is Thomas Road Baptist Church. Is Falwell's Church. So it's not an issue of the quality of what can be there. We just need to make sure that both sides get a a good recording so we can make it available.
I'm I. My only concern has been from the beginning that there have been a few debates. I've been in that we don't have available because we weren't the ones doing the actual recording and and the tapes went poof and.
We don't want that to happen in any way shape or form.
So well you you and Richard talk about it. If there's any way we can help us give us. Well, I understand.
Well, I appreciate the fact that you That that was that was preached. What was that preach as early June late May something along those lines, right? Yeah, I responded to it and if you do what I told you not to do and look up the Correspondence you'll see that I even wrote to them and said, you know, here's where I have Responded to the sermons and I would I would enjoy your interaction.
I would like to know what you think, you know I tried to get communication going but like I said If you have any blood pressure issues anything like that, I just wouldn't do it if I were you, you know, I don't mind.
Well on this.
Yeah.
Tried to point that out to folks and in fact if you listen to the mp3 of my review of his his sermons When I went over his child who dies in infancy scenario I once again raised the issue that look this is not a simplistic thing.
It's very easy to preach it as a simplistic thing however there are questions that must be asked and Here are some of the questions and that was one of the issues that I brought up at that time. But I I honestly think that it's not a lack of ability for for either. Dr. Kanner or Dave Hunt it is for both and certainly for Dave Hunt.
I've documented this over the years. It is a enslavement to tradition. Coupled with a denial that they have any traditions. To begin with the very first thing I ever said to Dave Hunt When he said to me on the radio James, I have no traditions as I said to him Dave.
No one is more enslaved to traditions than the man who thinks he has no traditions and that I think is what you've got going on here and. And it does have an incredible response. Incredible result to it and on this program I play these folks.
I play their sermons and we have to deal with the question all the time. Why don't we find these folks accurately representing the position that they are attempting to critique? Why are we the ones who play their words?
Let them set their own context. We are bending over backwards to make sure that we're accurately representing them. But we do not get that kind of response from the other side. What does that say? Well, I think it says a lot and we sort of let it speak for itself as far as that goes.
But like I said, yeah, Jerry, if you look up those that correspondence, you just got to be careful now.
Okay, I will one more thing and then I'll let you go because I know you got other calls.
Yes, sir.
When I first became about a year and just the letter Church of God Cleveland, Tennessee, we considered the assemblies of God liberal. And I say that was reading a Spurgeon sermon that somebody had given me.
I didn't know who. Spurgeon a man to admitting wiser today. Hmm, and I can remember reading that I can remember just I'm unteachable. Because if somebody can prove me wrong Praise the Lord. They set me on the right path since I wrote the amazing grace history in five years with a Baptist for 25 I tried to or he saves us.
He saves us in spot people. I would have to admit I was wrong, right and and that more than anything else and I see that with Dave Hunt. Because I haven't read in fact he borrowed actually used it to dummy.
Well, my books would be wrong. Yeah. Well.
Shortly after I entered into conflict with Dave Hunt Someone who else who had debated him on a completely different subject wrote to me and said there is one thing I've never ever ever heard Dave Hunt say and that is I was wrong.
And given that Dave has been proven just to be grossly wrong in his statement that Charles hadn't Spurgeon.
Unequivocally.
Denied limited atonement and he said that on the basis of a sermon that was actually defensive limited. Um, I mean you just couldn't be more wrong than hunt was but he has yet to admit his error. He will not admit his error.
And in fact, he just has to pawn it off on on Spurgeon being unclear contradicting himself or anything else. And and that kind of an attitude does demonstrate someone who has gotten to the point where they cannot be corrected.
I mean his that what he's tried to do on acts 1348 his current book where he says the first 15 chapters of acts were written in Hebrew. And that if you if you read the original Hebrew that it doesn't present a Calvinist perspective and all the rest is we've documented all This and and Dave just simply closes his eyes.
He won't deal with it. He won't debate he when that when my book with him came out. He would not and you know as a person who does advertising and promotion how weird this was. He would not appear with me on any radio station.
That was giving free advertising to the book if they wanted to interview the authors this book. Interview one the two of us first and then the other person but not together. Of course, I was willing to go with him.
He wasn't willing to be on with me. So, you know that that demonstrates that he knows he knows he could not debate me he knows he he would not stand a chance in that in that context and. That he knows he can't answer these questions, but he refuses To to even consider what the possibility might be that he's that far wrong about what he's been saying all this time.
So anyway, well, thank you.
One other thing. Can I tell you real quick? We're working on. Yes, sir. I get it. Yeah, if you don't mind just let your audience know. It's gonna be for the love being popular, don't you? Our second one is global warming.
What you haven't been told. Oh, and I was up in D or Cal Beisner and the interface to on not only the American public. Warman Rick Warren's not going to carry that in his in his. I doubt he will but I gotta tell you this real quick.
Eric Holmberg called me up yesterday. He goes man. You won't believe what I found. I said what memory done in 1917 ice age. Oh. And so needless to say that's gonna be real cute on the documentary now.
That one's only going to be about 50 minutes long. We do have a new one coming out titled that we're going to try to get wrapped up this year.
All right. Well, you're a busy man then.
We are not settling idly by brother. Thank you. God bless you.
As rich just said the bill is in the mail for the advertising. All right, let's.
We we.
Press on here and let's go to California with Aaron. Hi Aaron. Well, they sound clear, oh, thank you.
I'll try and cut this up quick as usual. There is a very I'm in the FTC and there is a really high High attack on the sovereignty of God going on and although I I call our minions. And you know, we'd love as long as they preach the grace not work we I know we all call people who preach the grace of God our brothers, but.
But at the expense of sounding hyper Calvinistic and especially with you know with the treatment you've received in her and stuff. Is there is there self physically in Europe? I just want to hear your opinion on this.
I haven't come to my conclusion yet. Selfishly could there be something wrong with someone who? Professes. A profound hatred of one of the defining aspects of God and that being in sovereignty.
Well, obviously no one is going to say that a person who expresses a fundamental detestation of a part of God's truth is by so doing Ensuring that person's calling an election. The question has to be When they do so what first of all is their level of knowledge?
Do they do they recognize that do they have they ever been even challenged? To consider what the Word of God says here and Is that joined with other aspects in their life in regards to a a general malaise?
Concerning the deep things of God concerning spirituality concerning consistent Christian life is there a general mark of worldliness that can be observed or is there are we looking at a situation where again a person has a tradition and that tradition is causing them to have a deep inconsistency in their beliefs and Yet for example in their prayers.
Do we see? Inconsistency there to where when they pray they are recognizing the sovereignty of God even though they don't see the the inherent contradiction that exists between what they state and and how they pray, so I think it's always best to especially given the the The fact that the harshest words the Lord Jesus had were for the Pharisees who were very quick to judge.
Very quick to proclaim themselves to be the sole possessors of truth I think it for reformed folks. There is a real need to be Slow to judge quick to hear quick to allow.
For.
God's Spirit to have a wide realm of movement and we should be just as quick in those areas as we are to defend the truth and to point out the necessity of of being not only good biblical exegetes. But recognizing that once you compromise on the centrality of God in salvation you you're on a slippery slope that has no logical stopping place into Pelagian ism and into Universalism and every other form of heresy that's out there.
And so I personally in speaking with for example Ergon Kanner referred to him as brother Kanner, and I attempted to extend every kind of Grace there and I want wanted and continue to want this to be a intramural conversation between people who are Committed to the authority of the Word of God.
I cannot in any way control anybody else's actions along those lines. I can only try to on my own part be very consistent when you talk about someone. For example in a Southern Baptist Church You're going to find a wide variety of Viewpoints expressed within that context someone who is a a willful knowing Acknowledging Arminian and is consistent in that is going to have to deny a lot of things not only the sovereign decree of God, but also the nature of substitutionary atonement the very nature of atonement itself and That's that starts getting into some very very problematic areas no question about it.
But the vast majority of the people that I know don't know those things. They don't know anything about historic Arminian ism. They they don't go there. They they continue to hold to a substitutionary atonement perspective.
They continue to hold to Perseverance of the Saints that their their systematic theology is just simply incoherent.
I definitely was referring to people who are in the know who are basically been a Christian for a long time to study the issues. Have you all at least have claimed to study Calvinism and they they are openly.
They are openly teachers like Hopefully Congress and Dr. Rogers.
Let's let's use him let's use him as as an example because especially because he is declared an open hatred of a God who would.
Deny free will I. I've heard this term, but I think it's not along the lines of if he would he would openly hate a God.
Who would send an unborn a baby to hell something like that? Yeah. Well, okay. Now there's there's two different things there. There's the the the baby issue again is 99 emotion and and 1 thought on the part of the vast majority of folks who use it as a as a.
I would call it a nerf bat to try to Beat people over the head with it. It has no substance to it. Once you can calm the emotions down actually begin to discuss the subject meaningfully. But that's the whole point.
It is behind it is you're trying to keep people from doing that. But let's look at Adrian Rogers when I reviewed his sermons on on the golden chain of redemption in Romans chapter 8. And then his comments in Romans chapter 9.
I demonstrated a consistent pattern of eisegesis. But I also demonstrated it was a consistent pattern that was inconsistent for him because when he was doing the golden chain of redemption and he went through the the the link of justification.
Everything he said on justification was spot-on. He he used a completely different form of exegesis for discussing justification. Then he did in addressing all these other issues. So what does that tell us?
Well, I've said many times when you see a person's exegesis changing when you when you see.
The.
The the hermeneutic Varying on the part of an individual what you've just encountered What you've just found out in their theology is an element of their tradition where their tradition doesn't have A a solid biblical foundation.
It is what they've been raised with there can be all sorts of reasons why That sometimes are not even known to us in their history, but you've encountered their tradition. And when you encounter someone's tradition, you cannot just assume and I think it is I think charity demands at this point That we be very slow to to make any other decision at this point.
You cannot simply assume that they have in fact Examined this issue and they've examined it fully and they know what both sides are because especially someone who comes into theological training with a with a deep rooted tradition that Comes from the people who actually introduced them to the faith Tends to result in their simple inability To even begin to listen to what the other side has to say and I've experienced this myself I've talked to people I've I've I've expressed myself with as much clarity as I possibly could and now I'm sorry.
Yeah, and and and it's like I'm talking to a wall. They're they're not hearing me and if they have done that consistently then I cannot come to the conclusion. I cannot say well, you you know, and you are purposefully Rejecting what you know to be true.
I Can't come to that conclusion. I I cannot force since I know The Spirit of God had to work in my heart to Work me through these issues over a period of time. Then I cannot tell the Spirit of God when and how he's supposed to do that for everybody else and so I I honor what Adrian Rogers said about Justification and I say look if Adrian Rogers applied the same standards of hermeneutics and exegesis to the rest of the golden chain of redemption that he did the Justification he would have had to say the same things that I'm saying.
But he didn't now do I have a basis upon that to say this man was not a Christian. He's not my brother and he's going to hell.
No.
Because if I did that I'd be in the same boat as John Modine in In attacking R .C. Sproul because in many other contexts he contradicted himself. He said all sorts of things in prayers and in preaching that totally and completely contradict what he says about little babies going to hell It's far more likely that what you have here is a tradition that for dr. Rogers no longer exists.
Whatsoever you have a tradition that was getting in the way. Then you have a a willful rebellion against truth and a false prophet in sheep's clothing or anything along those lines. I think we need to be very careful as often as we are called false teachers and John Modine calls me a false teacher and R .C. Sproul a false teacher and and We're leading people to hell all the rest of that stuff.
That doesn't give us the grounds of turning around and and treating everybody else in the same way. What you do is you you demonstrate? The can the consistency of what you're saying you demonstrate the consistency of your hermeneutic your exegesis you you tell people you know what?
I don't think God is honored when we Engage in self contradictory teaching and when we engage in illogic. He gave us a brain for a reason he's given us his truth for a reason and if we in fact do not Utilize those things.
We're not honoring God. We keep speaking the truth, but but when it comes to Making that kind of final judgment about someone when when Adrian Rogers says that Jesus Christ.
So.
Sacrifice on the cross is the only means of salvation and that we are to believe in Christ and in Christ alone. And it is only in him that we can have salvation. I have a hard time sending that person Off to the pits of hell.
Okay.
God bless good luck with your debate. It was the canner. Okay. Thanks a lot. Bye. Bye. I think someone had to all of a sudden go there very quickly. Cell phone. Oh, okay. All right. I didn't didn't realize that.
Must have been watching the time there and saw that the month was about to expire. So but anyways the point the point being that I I think that when you have the truth.
And.
When you when you know what the truth is you you don't have to engage in the kind of behavior that Modine engages in and and that Dave Hunt sadly engages in these days and and and things like that. In fact, I've told the story before I was when I was speaking At a conference with Dave Hunt during one of the speakers Dinners.
Well, the only speakers dinner actually I was listening to Dave talking and he someone asked him about somebody didn't recognize the name that. Had been in ministry at some point he says, ah, yeah, it's the same he went off into heresy.
Really? What what happened to him? Yeah, I went off and denied the rapture and You know when when you can make Specific elements and I know people I know I know post trippers Who are will go so far as to make pre trippers heretics and and withdraw fellowship from them.
And I just look at that type of thing and I just shake my head and and I go. Oh my goodness. You know Lord give us the balance and the insight to be able to recognize What is core and defining and what isn't and that's not an easy thing folks and people will disagree with me on that.
Dan Wallace just posted an article that I want to read again. I read it fairly quickly the first time because I guess over on the pyromaniac blog people were going after him and Accusing him of all sorts of things and and Dan says a lot of stuff.
Dan says stuff in footnotes in his ecstatical grammar that that that make you go. Yeah. And but every time he does so if you if you just take the time if you don't just respond with the knee-jerk reaction.
But actually think about it. He does make you think there's no two ways about you know. He and I disagree on on the reading of Philippians 2, but you know, he and I stood there. In fact, the only exciting thing happened to me at the ETS conference 1998 was Dan Wallace and I standing at at a booth for an hour discussing the grammar syntax and theology of Philippians 2 5 to 11 and He makes you think you know, and he discussed that very same issue.
What's core? What's definitional? What's the next level? What's the next level beyond that what's important for the health of the church? What's the importance for the health of the individual Christian where can error exist in these things, etc, etc.
And it's it's well worth the read. I would like to have the time to respond to it. But I don't know if I can write pulpit crimes and respond to that at the same time and all sorts of other things I'd like to be doing so anyway, thanks for listening to the program today never did get back to Spong and Lin.
But we'll get back to him eventually maybe on Thursday here on the dividing line. See you then. God bless.
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