Vivid Christianity
Teaching Christians how to live a "vivid" Christian life.


Summary of Doctrines and Issues


by Dave Root, VividChristianity.com, last modified on 04/19/2024.


Introduction

My articles tend to be long and detailed because I try to be thorough, objective, and unbiased, looking for the full picture in the Bible for each doctrine or issue (for the reasons why, see my article called How to Study the Bible).

This article provides a short summary for most of the doctrines and issues that are covered in detail in my other articles.


Doctrines and Issues

  • Alcohol

    Drunkenness is condemned in the Bible. However, it's acceptable for Christians to drink alcohol in moderation.

    Nothing edible or drinkable needs to be rejected by Christians if it's received with faith and thanksgiving. We're free to eat and drink whatever we choose to (unless it will cause concerns for any Christians around us), and we're free to abstain from any foods or drinks if we choose to. But we must not judge other Christians for their choices of food or drink.

    The sins of gluttony and drunkenness in the Bible are not based on what we eat or drink, but instead they're based on the quantity that we eat or drink. This is why the New Testament says not to indulge in "much" alcohol. To prevent gluttony, it's not necessary to abstain from all food. To prevent drunkenness, it's not necessary to abstain from all alcohol.

    Personally, I make it a practice to plan ahead before I have any alcohol. I know from experience how wine and beer affects me, so I decide ahead of time how much wine or beer I will allow myself in an evening. I tend to avoid mixed drinks because usually there's no way to know how much alcohol was added to the drink (unless I or someone I know made it).

    Each Christian who wants to drink alcohol will need to determine what works for them in order to remain at a moderate level of alcohol. But as New Testament Christians, we're never told that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol is a sin.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called Alcohol in Moderation Is Not a Sin.

  • The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

    God consists of three Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. Pastors and Bible teachers refer to this as the Trinity.

    When people receive salvation (see Salvation below), at that moment the Holy Spirit automatically comes to live in (dwell in) their hearts, connecting them to God. Pastors and Bible teachers refer to this as the "indwelling" Holy Spirit.

    Many Christians assume that receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation is the same as receiving the "baptism" of the Holy Spirit, but my series called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit explains in scriptural detail that these are always two separate and distinct events with two separate and distinct purposes. We must choose to receive the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in obedience to God (after we automatically receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation) because it empowers us by providing certain gifts of the Spirit for the assignments that God needs us to do. The ability to speak in tongues is the scriptural evidence that a person has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Also see Tongues below.

    When we speak in tongues, the words come from the Holy Spirit through our spirits and out of our mouths, bypassing our minds (1 Corinthians 14:14). Therefore, there needs to be communication between our spirits and the Holy Spirit within us.

    When we receive salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us, which pastors and Bible teachers refer to as the "indwelling" Holy Spirit. As an analogy, it's as if we have a wrapped gift inside us that contains the Spirit of God. Consider that baptism in water means immersion in water (see my series called Everything We Need to Know about Water Baptism), and in exactly the same way, baptism in the Holy Spirit means immersion in the living water of the Holy Spirit (John 4:9-14, 7:37-39).

    Using that analogy, being baptized in the Holy Spirit means that Jesus has unwrapped the package and has poured out the gift (Acts 2:17-18, 33, 10:45), which immerses our spirits in the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit (the wrapped package in that analogy) is a deposit or pledge that guarantees we will go to heaven when we die (2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 5:5, Ephesians 1:13-14), but there's no direct communication through the wrapped package.

    The specific purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is to make that communication possible by allowing Jesus to unwrap the package and immerse us in the gift. Many Christians and Bible commentaries say that at the moment we receive salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts and baptizes us into the body of Christ (which they wrongly believe is the "baptism" of the Holy Spirit).

    The New Testament does say that the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts at the moment of salvation, but when we try to be thorough, objective, and unbiased and look for the full picture in the New Testament concerning the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it's clear that we must choose to receive this gift in obedience to God (after we automatically receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation) because it empowers us by providing certain gifts of the Spirit for the assignments that God needs us to do. Then we're able to pray in the Spirit (i.e., pray in tongues) in obedience to Ephesians 6:18 and Jude 1:20.

    Praying in tongues (even for just a few moments) several times a day enables us to be open to the filling of the Spirit (see section #08 in my article called Cheat Sheet), enables us to discern God's guidance within us (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance), and enables the Holy Spirit to work through us (see chapter 5 in the free PDF of my book called "Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today").

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, and to learn how to receive this Spirit baptism and how to speak in tongues, see my series called How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

  • Cessationism vs Continuationism

    God gives spiritual gifts to every Christian, such as special gifts of faith, serving, teaching, leadership, prophesying, healing, and other gifts, and different Christians will have different gifts (Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 27-31, 14:26-29, Ephesians 4:11-12). As those passages show, no one will have all of the gifts of the Spirit.

    Many Christians believe that all spiritual gifts are still available today (including healings, miracles, prophecies, and speaking in tongues), and they're usually referred to as "charismatics." They're also sometimes referred to as "continuationists" based on their view that all gifts of the Spirit continue to be available today. All other Christians are usually referred to as "cessationists" because they believe that some spiritual gifts ceased or died out during or shortly after the first century.

    God never intended for any spiritual gifts or miraculous experiences such as dreams, visions, tongues, prophecies, miracles, or healings to ever cease or die out before Jesus returns.

    Terms such as "the apostolic age," "the age of miracles," "sign gifts," and "miraculous gifts" are unscriptural.

    If we're not using all of the spiritual gifts that God wants us to use then we're not properly obeying God. Cessationists wrongly believe that some spiritual gifts have died out, so they're not even trying to use all of the spiritual gifts that God wants to give them. This is disobedience to God, and the apostle Paul said that cessationism is a very specific sign of the "terrible times in the last days"; it's a lie from the devil and a form of last-days apostasy (a falling away from proper beliefs) (see my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today).

    If God intended for miraculous experiences to continue past the first century, but over the years there were fewer and fewer Christians who had faith (recall what Jesus said about finding faith on the earth in Luke 18:8) or who were filled with the Spirit (due to wrong teaching about it), then miraculous experiences would taper off and essentially disappear because Christians were not doing what God intended. This explains why miracles, healings, and the so-called miraculous gifts of the Spirit seemed to come to an end after the first century, not because God stopped doing those things but because people stopped doing those things. This explanation is completely in line with everything we find in Scripture. There's not a shred of scriptural support for the cessationist view.

    People use certain passages to try to show that the Bible teaches sola scriptura ("Scripture alone"), but they're extrapolating beyond what the passages actually say. Just to be clear, all of our Christian doctrines, views, traditions, etc., need to be completely in line with what the Bible actually teaches (not what we think it teaches) because the Bible was written by God through human authors and it's our only infallible source of written information. Those who argue in favor of sola scriptura are completely correct in this. But people's idea of sola scriptura goes beyond what the Bible says because they fail to include the need for listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit within us. When we properly include the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then we no longer have sola scriptura ("Scripture alone").

    After the Second Coming (which might happen much sooner than we realize, if you study end-times prophecies) there will be new laws, decrees, and instructions that will come directly from Jesus and therefore will be the Word of God, sent out in some form to all peoples and nations around the world, so they will be new Scripture. The canon of Scripture is not closed.

    "Scripture" is defined as being God's written Word (i.e., the Bible). All Scripture is the Word of God, but all Words from God are not Scripture. They're only Scripture if they're included in the Bible, and nothing written or spoken after the first century and before the Second Coming will ever fit the criteria for adding to the New Testament canon, so nothing will ever be added to Scripture before the Second Coming. Therefore, no matter what messages God speaks to people today (whether by dreams, visions, personal prophecies, tongues and interpretation, impressions, signs of some kind, an audible voice, etc.), they're not Scripture, even if they're written down in books or articles.

    Messages that people believe God has given them today:

    • Will never add to Scripture.
    • Will never contradict the proper understanding of Scripture.
    • Need to be tested and carefully weighed to be sure they're actually from God, which means that messages given by pastors, popes, church leaders, or any other Christians should never automatically be treated as if they are infallible. But when messages truly are from God, then they should be treated as authoritative and should be obeyed.

    In addition, people delivering a message from God should only be listened to if they acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh.

    In 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Paul listed a number of spiritual gifts and said that they are distributed among the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. In the middle of that passage, he made an analogy of a human body, pointing out that if the whole body were an eye, then it would have no hearing, and if it were an ear, then it would have no sense of smell. Continuing the analogy, he said that the eye can't tell the hand that it's not needed, and the head can't tell the feet that they're not needed. All of the parts that Paul mentioned are useful in the human body, and in exactly the same way, all of the gifts of the Spirit need to be used in the body of Christ, even today.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today.

  • The Church

    A basic definition of "the Church" (with a capital "C") is that it's a group of people consisting of everyone who receives salvation (see Salvation below) after the cross up until the Rapture (see End-Times Prophecies below). Everyone who has not received salvation is therefore outside of the Church. When people receive salvation, at that exact moment they automatically become members of the Church. Notice that this has nothing to do with church attendance because there are people who go to church but who have not yet received salvation, so they're not members of the Church (the body of Christ).

    When the word "church" is used with a lowercase "c" it usually refers to either a local church congregation or else it refers to an entity consisting of "The Christian community..., the church worldwide of all times" (The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments, Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, ekklesia). So in essence, "the Church" (uppercase "C") is an entity consisting of all Christians (uppercase "C"), and "the church" (lowercase "c") is an entity consisting of churches (lowercase "c") or church leaders in general. For example, if we say that the Baptist church teaches this or that, we're not referring to every individual Christian who identifies as Baptist; we're referring to Baptist churches or church leaders in general. This is basically how these terms tend to be used in many Bible commentaries and Christians books and articles, although not everyone follows these conventions.

    In the New Testament, the Church is referred to as the "body" of Christ and the "bride" of Christ and the "armies" of Christ.

    At the Rapture (see End-Times Prophecies below), Jesus will be returning specifically to remove the Church (the body of Christ) from the earth and take us into heaven.

    The church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) when the Holy Spirit was first poured out onto Christians. Therefore, we usually refer to the period from Pentecost to the Rapture as "the Church Age."

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called The Rapture of the Church - Part One.

  • Discipline

    When the New Testament tells all Christians to do something, that's God telling us to do it (whether we want to or not). If we don't read and obey God's instruction manual (the New Testament), we're forcing Him to discipline us (perhaps severely) as rebellious children, using frustrating experiences or painful hardships (Hebrews 12:5-11). The painful consequences for our wrong beliefs or lack of obedience are no one's fault but our own, and they'll have a big impact in heaven. If we're not trying to be fully obedient to God in this life, we're jeopardizing our future in heaven.

    God is not playing games, so we need to take the New Testament seriously and learn what He expects of us, and then make sure we're obeying Him in all things (even when we don't want to). As Christians, we have one job here on earth: to obey everything that God tells us to do (in His written instructions and His spoken instructions). We are periodically tested and then evaluated on the basis of our obedience, and we'll be rewarded or disciplined (sometimes severely) both in this life and in heaven depending on how we choose to respond to these tests.

    In heaven, all Christians will stand before God and He will judge the things we did on earth (Romans 14:10-12). Then we'll receive what is due us, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). Some Christians will be ashamed before Him (1 John 2:28) and will suffer loss at this judgment (1 Corinthians 3:11-15), but it's their own fault for not being diligent enough to find out what God wants us to believe and do.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see section #11, #12, and #13 in my article called Cheat Sheet.

  • End-Times Prophecies

    At some point in the future, Jesus will return from heaven to the clouds above the earth, and then He will "snatch up" all Christians (alive or dead) to meet Him in the clouds and take us back with Him into heaven. All of the dead Christians will be resurrected into their physical bodies, and all of our physical bodies will instantly be made immortal. Many pastors and Bible teachers refer to that event as the pre-tribulational Rapture (see my series called The Rapture of the Church). In the Latin Vulgate Bible, the Latin word for "caught up" or "snatch up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 is where we get the English term "Rapture" for this event.

    The Bible describes a future seven-year period of unprecedented suffering and distress during which God will pour out His wrath on the earth. It will begin almost immediately after the Rapture when Israel signs a seven-year treaty or contract agreement of some kind with the Antichrist, and it will end at the Second Coming. This seven-year period of time is often referred to as "the Tribulation" by pastors and Bible teachers (see my series above for the very specific details we're given about the Tribulation period). God is not pouring out His wrath during the Church Age (e.g., through hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.).

    Seven years after the Rapture, Jesus will return from heaven all the way down to the earth, and everyone in heaven will return to earth with Him. Pastors and Bible teachers refer to that event as the Second Coming (see my article called The Second Coming for the very specific details we're given about the Second Coming and what will happen immediately after Jesus returns to the earth). We will not spend eternity in heaven as most Christians seem to think.

    After the Second Coming, Jesus will reign on earth for one thousand years, and all of the righteous people throughout history will reign with Him. Pastors and Bible teachers refer to that as the Millennium and the Millennial kingdom (see my article called What Will Happen after the Second Coming? for the very specific details we're given about what will happen during the 75 days after Jesus returns to the earth and what life and government will be like during the Millennium and on into eternity).

    There are no Bible prophecies that need to be fulfilled before the Rapture happens, so the Rapture could happen at any moment, perhaps before you finish reading this article. In fact, end-times prophecies in the Bible are being fulfilled at an unprecedented rate, right in front of our eyes. Bit by bit, step by step, the world is shaping itself into an exact picture of the end-times world described throughout the Bible (see my article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes for the very specific end-times prophecies that have been fulfilled since early in the twentieth century or are currently being fulfilled).

    More end-times prophecies have been fulfilled in the last 80 years or so than in the previous 1900 years all put together, which indicates that the Rapture is very near. Jesus is returning soon. Are you ready?

  • Healing

    As my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today shows, none of the gifts of the Spirit or activities of the Spirit such as divine healing have ever ceased or died out.

    Part 1 of the free PDF of my book called "Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today" demonstrates that virtually all Christians have wrong assumptions about how healing works, which is why they never see anyone healed no matter how much they pray. It shows divine healing in a new light, creating a shift in our perspective by clearing up the wrong assumptions. Part 2 of my book explains how to see miracles of healing. Every Christian is authorized to heal the sick, the problem is that they don't know how. My book provides the knowledge they need.

  • Homosexuality

    We have no scriptural reason to say that it's a sin for two men or two women to be in love with each other or sexually attracted to each other.

    One of the dictionary definitions of homosexuality is being attracted to members of one's own sex. This is not a sin in the Bible, so it's wrong to make the blanket statement that homosexuality is a sin.

    We have no scriptural reason to say that it's a sin for two men or two women to hold hands romantically, kiss romantically, or engage in other non-sexual romantic behaviors together.

    We have no scriptural reason to believe that God recognizes gay marriages. However, we also have no scriptural reason to believe that loving, monogamous gay relationships (or legal gay marriages) are sinful, especially in light of the previous points. The sin is specifically in certain forms of gay sexual activity.

    If we look closely at the wording in each passage on homosexuality and dig deeper than just a surface understanding, it turns out that there's a consistent pattern. Throughout the entire Bible, every passage that refers to homosexuality has a clear association with anal intercourse. There are no exceptions. Throughout the entire Bible, every passage that refers to homosexuality never describes any other forms of gay sexual activity. There are no exceptions. God clearly tells us that any form of anal penetration for pleasure or other sexual purposes is a sin (for both heterosexuals and homosexuals), and He never tells us that any other forms of gay sexual activity are a sin. Again, it's wrong to make the blanket statement that homosexuality is a sin because the New Testament never condemns homosexuality in general.

    Notice that the female vagina is naturally able to lubricate itself (as is a person's mouth) for male penetration. In contrast, a person's anus and rectum have no natural way to lubricate themselves for being penetrated from the outside. Anal penetration is not a natural design of the body, so Paul said that it's "unnatural" or "against nature."

    My personal conclusion is that the consistent pattern in all of the relevant passages, based on digging deeper to discern the actual intended meaning, demonstrates that homosexuality is not always a sin. Gay sex is only a sin if it involves any form of anal penetration for pleasure or other sexual purposes, with the understanding that gay sex would be sinful in similar ways that heterosexual sex would be sinful, including prostitution, adultery, rape, and sleeping around.

    No matter what we each believe concerning homosexuality, it's very important to keep in mind that God loves everyone (John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4, 5:2, Titus 3:3-4, 1 John 4:8, 11, 16). When Paul listed numerous sins of people who will not make it into heaven (e.g., 1 Timothy 1:9-11, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and Romans 1:25-32), this does not mean that anyone who commits those sins will be prevented from entering heaven. If it did, then we would all be in trouble because all of us do some of those things at times, such as envying, causing strife, lying or being deceitful, feeling or acting with malice, gossiping, slandering, or being arrogant or boastful. The Bible is very clear that we all do sinful things (Romans 7:15-25, James 3:2, 1 John 1:8, 2:1), and we will be disciplined for our sins if we don't ask for forgiveness, but our sins will not keep us out of heaven because the only requirement for receiving salvation and being allowed into heaven is to have the proper faith in Jesus (see Salvation below). People who repeatedly commit the sins listed in passages such as 1 Timothy 1:9-11, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and Romans 1:25-32 are demonstrating that they do not have the proper faith in Jesus (i.e., obedient faith), and that's why they will not be allowed into heaven. Therefore, heterosexuals and gays alike (and people who use other terms for themselves) all need to be certain that the things we do are acceptable to the Lord, and the best way to do this is to make a diligent effort to learn how to discern His guidance throughout the day, every day (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance).

    Since God loves everyone as we just saw, and since God wants everyone to be saved (see my article called Our Lives Are Not Predestined), the proper way to treat those who identify as being in the LGBTQIA+ community (and everyone else) is to show them God's love and welcome them into churches. Then teach them how to discern God's guidance (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance), and let God be the One to show them any changes that He wants them to make. It might not be the changes that you think they should make, and He might allow them to do things that you think are wrong. He is God and we are not; it's His decision, not ours. He probably wants you to make changes in your life because no one is without sin (Romans 7:15-25, James 3:2, 1 John 1:8, 2:1).

    In addition, the New Testament never forbids gays from being pastors or leaders in church or ministry. The scriptural qualifications for the offices in the local church are described in detail in my series called New Testament Passages Concerning Women, so anyone who identifies as being in the LGBTQIA+ community (or anyone else) and meets the scriptural qualifications should not be forbidden from serving in any roles in church or ministry based on being LGBTQIA+ (or any other unscriptural reasons).

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called Homosexuality Is Not Always a Sin.

  • Jesus

    Jesus talks to us, guides us, and teaches us.

    Jesus is our King and we are part of His kingdom. He's also our Savior, our brother, and our friend (if we do what He commanded by loving each other).

    Jesus is the one and only Son of God, who humbled Himself and was born on earth as a human. He never sinned during His life on earth, and one of the reasons why He died on the cross was to atone for all of our sins. In other words, His death reconciled us to God through our proper faith in Jesus, so we have peace with God in spite of the fact that we have all sinned against God.

    He is (and always has been and always will be) one with God, and pastors and Bible teachers sometimes refer to Him as the second Person of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).

    He did not give up any of His divinity during His incarnation (His life on earth), but instead He was fully God the entire time that He lived on the earth.

    At some point in the future, Jesus will return from heaven to the clouds above the earth, and then He will snatch up all Christians (alive or dead) to meet Him in the clouds and take us back with Him into heaven. All of the dead Christians will be resurrected into their physical bodies, and all of our physical bodies will instantly be made immortal. Many pastors and Bible teachers refer to that event as the pre-tribulational Rapture (see End-Times Prophecies above). In the Latin Vulgate Bible, the Latin word for "caught up" or "snatch up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 is where we get the English term "Rapture" for this event. Seven years after the Rapture, Jesus will return from heaven all the way down to the earth, and everyone in heaven will return to earth with Him. Pastors and Bible teachers refer to that event as the Second Coming (see End-Times Prophecies above).

    Jesus offered His life to the devil as a ransom so that humans would be set free from the devil's domain. God was not holding humans captive so God did not want or need a ransom. The devil is the one who held us captive and agreed to accept Jesus' life as a ransom payment and allowed the human race to be freed from captivity, but he didn't understand or foresee that Jesus' death would have such drastic consequences.

    In the Atonement (when Jesus was humiliated and brutally tortured and executed and resurrected), Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Testament sacrifices for sin. When animals were killed as sin offerings, sin was not punished, it was put to death. In exactly the same way, when Jesus was killed as a sin offering, sin was not punished, it was put to death. Jesus did not receive the punishment that we deserved as our Substitute on the cross, and He did not pay the penalty for sin, as most Christians seem to believe. Throughout the New Testament, when it mentions the cross and its effect on sin it does not speak of punishment, it speaks of death.

    Sin was put to death in Jesus when He died, which atoned for all of the sins of the world throughout all time. We become a part of His body at the moment we receive salvation, and since His body is dead to sin then we become dead to sin as well. Everyone who is not in the body of Christ is still in their sins, and this is why God's wrath remains on them. Jesus atoned for the sins of humans, He did not atone for the sins of the devil or his demons.

    During His life on earth before the cross, He was an Old Covenant Jew living under the Law of Moses (see The Old and New Covenants below).

    Jesus has two completely separate and distinct natures, a human nature and a divine nature, that are united in one person with no mixture and no loss of any of their attributes. Jesus is 100% human and 100% God, both at the same time. His divine nature was veiled or hidden (but not emptied in any way) while He was on the earth before the cross, and He did not access or use any of His divine nature or divine power during that time. Instead, He operated in the power of the Holy Spirit just as we're meant to do. He was the perfect human and our perfect role model. Pastors and Bible teachers sometimes refer to His two separate natures as the Hypostatic Union.

    At some point after Jesus died, He went up to heaven in order to purify and cleanse and consecrate the heavenly sanctuary. Then He went down to hades and took the spirits of all of the righteous dead people throughout history up to heaven. Both of these trips to heaven took place before the evening of the day He was resurrected. After that, He possibly made other short-term trips to heaven and back in between His appearances during the forty days before the Ascension (when He physically ascended up to heaven).

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my series called Understanding Jesus.

  • Jews and Gentiles

    a Jew is a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which is why God is sometimes referred to as "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (e.g., Matthew 22:32, Luke 13:28, 20:37, Acts 3:13, 7:32). Jewish-ness is based on a person's physical ancestry, and therefore a Jew can never become a non-Jew. A Gentile is a person who is not a Jew. Gentile-ness is based on a person's physical ancestry, and therefore a Gentile can never become a non-Gentile. Gentiles who converted to Judaism are never called "Jews" in the Bible, but instead they're called "converts" or "proselytes" (e.g., Matthew 23:15, Acts 2:10-11, 6:5, 13:43).

    The Jews are the chosen people of God, and the New Covenant was specifically promised to them (Jeremiah 31:31-34). During the Church Age (see The Church above), Gentiles are allowed to share in many of the spiritual blessings of the New Covenant, such as the forgiveness of sins and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

    The New Testament makes a clear distinction between Israel and the church, and it makes a clear distinction between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians within the church, and there are entire books (or portions of books) in the New Testament that were specifically addressed either to Jewish Christians or to Gentile Christians. Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians are two separate groups of people.

    The scriptural evidence shows that:

    • The church has not "replaced" Israel.
    • The church has not "taken over" the promises from Israel.
    • The church is not the "new" Israel.
    • The church is not the "true" Israel.
    • The church is not the "spiritual" Israel.
    • The church is not "the Israel of God."
    • Gentile Christians are not "spiritual Jews."

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called Gentile Christians Are Not Spiritual Jews.

    To see the different plans that God has for Israel and for the church, take a look at my series called The Rapture of the Church.

  • Masturbation

    The Bible never says or implies or even hints that masturbation is a sin. It's neither condemned nor condoned in the Bible.

    When I studied the Christian arguments against masturbation and compared them with the Bible, what I discovered is that all of the arguments against masturbation are flawed because of the assumptions that people are making.

    However, we need to make sure that our masturbation isn't causing any negative impact or harm to us or to anyone else.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called Masturbation Is Not a Sin.

  • The Old and New Covenants

    A "covenant" is a contract or an agreement between two parties, such as between God and humans. Throughout human history, God made nine different covenants between Himself and various groups of people. Some of these covenants are still in effect, so we need to understand how they affect us today.

    The Old Covenant contained 613 commandments (including the Ten Commandments), which are collectively referred to as the Law of Moses throughout the Bible. The Law of Moses was the code of conduct for all Jews from the time of Moses until the cross. The Gentiles (non-Jews) during that time were not under the Old Covenant and therefore they were never required to obey the Law of Moses or the Ten Commandments.

    God wanted us to know certain things about Himself, His ways, His commands, etc., so He prompted a number of people to write things down (apparently in their own words since the styles are different throughout Scripture) and then to assemble those writings into a book that we call the Bible. God had the motive, the power, and the omniscience to ensure that the original manuscripts of the Bible all taught the truths that He wants us to know, and to ensure that the New Testament (the Christian instruction manual) would be relevant and binding even in modern times. Shortly after the exodus from Egypt around 1446 BC Offsite Link, God initiated the Old Covenant between Himself and the Israelites, which contained the code of conduct (starting in Exodus 19) for all Jews for the next 1,500 years (approximately) until Jesus died on the cross. It was their written and binding instruction manual. At the cross, Jesus initiated the New Covenant, which contains the code of conduct (the New Testament) for all Christians for the next 2,000 years (approximately) until Jesus returns for us at the Rapture (see End-Times Prophecies above). It's our written and binding instruction manual.

    Before the cross, Jesus (see Jesus above) lived His entire life under the Law of Moses. When He died on the cross, He fulfilled and completely canceled the Old Covenant and initiated the New Covenant.

    The Old Covenant and the Law of Moses were completely canceled when Jesus died, so after the cross, no one is required to obey any of the 613 commands in the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses, and no one is able to sin by breaking or violating any of those 613 commands (such as the Ten Commandments, the tithing laws, the kosher dietary laws, or the Sabbath laws).

    However, the New Covenant includes the essentials of nine of the Ten Commandments (there's no Sabbath under the New Covenant). Therefore, we must still obey the requirements of the Ten Commandments (except for the Sabbath), but we do it by obeying the New Covenant.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my series called Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments.

  • Predestination

    God knows the end from the beginning (e.g., Isaiah 41:4, 45:21, 46:10), so from His perspective, all our futures are already set in stone.

    From a human perspective, however, we're able to make certain choices that help to create the future that God foresees. This is why the New Testament repeatedly warns us not to sin, because we're able to make certain choices about what to do and what not to do.

    If you search online for "Calvinism," you'll find numerous articles that support "5 Point Calvinism" (also known as "the Reformed Faith") as well as numerous articles that refute those 5 points. This debate has raged for centuries. The 5 points are referred to as Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Preservation (or Persistence or Perseverance) of the Saints, which form the acronym "TULIP." All 5 points are completely unscriptural and completely wrong.

    After trying to thoroughly and objectively study the Greek words for concepts such as choosing, election, selection, calling, determining or decreeing something beforehand, foreknowledge, foreordination, etc., and studying all of the verses that use those Greek words, these are my conclusions:

    • Salvation is available to every human.

    • God foreknew from the beginning of time who would or would not make the choice to receive salvation. In His omniscience, He always sees all of the past, present, and future of the world.

    • God does not choose or predestine or force anyone to receive salvation (or not to receive salvation).

    • Christians are referred to as the "elect" or the "chosen," but they're only the elect and the chosen because of their choice to receive salvation. God chose (elected) that everyone who is in Christ (saved) will be adopted as His children, which is why we're called the "elect" or the "chosen."

    • God knows in advance who will choose to receive salvation and at the appropriate times He calls and invites and draws them to Jesus. He opens their heart and provides the faith they need, but they must make the choice whether or not to receive salvation through proper faith in Jesus.

    • God prompts people to go in a certain direction or do certain things (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance), but it's up to them to make the decision to go in that direction or do those things.


    Everything that happens to you is because God wanted it to happen or allowed it to happen. Everything. For example, God allows people to bring suffering on other people even when that's not what He wants. The way to avoid unnecessary pain and suffering due to your own sins or the actions of others is to always stay on the individual path that God has for you. God is aware of and involved in every aspect of your life, no matter how big or how small, and if you listen to Him all day, every day, and obey Him then He will keep you on the best and safest path for your life (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance).

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called Our Lives Are Not Predestined.

  • Salvation

    Throughout the New Testament, we are told that these events take place immediately and automatically the moment we have proper faith in Jesus:

    • We receive salvation, which means that we are rescued and saved from God's wrath for our sins (Romans 5:9).

    • Our sins have been forgiven and pardoned (also referred to as the remission or expiation of sins) (Acts 10:43). The guilt and penalty are removed, and we are purified and cleansed from all past, present, and future sins (1 John 1:7).

    • We receive eternal life. Jesus defined eternal life as knowing the Father and the Son (John 17:3). Eternal spiritual life does not simply mean eternal existence; it means eternally being connected with God, so spiritual death is eternally not being connected with God.

    • We receive a spiritual birth, and therefore we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). In various Bible translations, this is referred to as being born again or born from above (John 3:3, 7), born of God (John 1:12-13), born of the Spirit (John 3:6, 8), and begotten again, regenerated, or new birth (1 Peter 1:3).

    • We have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (Romans 5:10-11), so we have peace with Him (Romans 5:1).

    • We have been ransomed and redeemed (Hebrews 9:12, 15). God was not holding humans captive, so He did not want or need a ransom; the devil is the one who held us captive and agreed to a ransom (see my article called Understanding Jesus - Part Two).

    • We have been justified (Romans 5:9), which means we have been declared righteous (Romans 4:5). Righteousness refers to being blameless or free from guilt (Luke 1:6).

    • We begin the process of sanctification through which we're separated from sin and made holy (Romans 6:16-22).

    • We are adopted into God's family, becoming children of God and co-heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:15-17).

    • We receive certain spiritual gifts (Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 28-30).

    • We receive the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

    • God puts His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing our promised future inheritance (e.g., 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit lives in our spirits, making us connected with God and spiritually alive.


    These are the scriptural requirements for being certain that you've received salvation:

    1. First, you must have a physical birth. It might seem obvious that we can't receive salvation unless we've been born physically, but remember that we're not the only conscious, intelligent beings here on earth. The devil and his demons do not meet the requirement of having a physical birth, and Scripture is clear that salvation is not available to them (e.g., Matthew 25:41, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6). Jesus did not die for demons, Jesus only died for humans. As Jesus said, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he or she first has a flesh birth and then has a spirit birth (John 3:5, which is explained in detail in my article called Everything We Need to Know about Water Baptism - Part Three).

    2. Believe that Jesus died to atone for our sins (meaning that His death made peace between us and God), and that He was resurrected from the dead. If you are willing to be obedient to Him (see the next bullet point), then this is the moment you receive salvation, and the Spirit of God comes to live in your heart (which pastors and Bible teachers refer to as the "indwelling" Holy Spirit) to connect you to God.

    3. Be willing to confess out loud in the presence of a witness that Jesus is the Son of God or that Jesus is the Lord (which means that He's our Master). If you're not willing to confess this in front of anyone then Jesus might view it as denying Him:

      "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33 NKJV)
      For example, if you've ever been talking to someone about a Christian topic and you referred to Jesus as "the Lord" then you've accomplished this step.


    By fulfilling these three requirements and maintaining your obedient faith in Jesus, not only do you have salvation (and you will go to heaven) but you also have the assurance of your salvation.

    When unsaved people do these things, it shows that they've changed their minds about Jesus, which is the definition of repentance. By doing these things they've received the forgiveness of sins, and they're justified (declared righteous), and they're reconciled to God (which means that they now have peace with God).

    Some people believe that we must have faith in Jesus and be baptized in water to receive salvation and be allowed into heaven. However, my series called Everything We Need to Know about Water Baptism shows that baptism is very important because it was commanded by Jesus, but it's not a requirement for receiving salvation. Some people might be trusting in the Virgin Mary, praying to saints, going to confession, doing penance, or doing something else for receiving salvation. If you're relying on anything other than proper faith in Jesus to receive the forgiveness of sins then you might not actually be saved and be allowed into heaven.

    In a nutshell, the proper understanding of salvation is that it's a transaction. Jesus died on the cross to atone for the sins of all people, purchasing our salvation, which was God's part in the transaction (God did not predestine certain people to receive salvation - see my article called Our Lives Are Not Predestined for the reasons why "5 Point Calvinism" is completely unscriptural and completely wrong). At the appropriate times, God calls people by opening their hearts and drawing them to Jesus. When we respond to this call by choosing to have the proper faith in Jesus, then we have done our part in the transaction. As a result, we immediately and automatically receive salvation and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence on how to receive salvation and be allowed into heaven, and how to have the assurance of your salvation, see my article called How to Receive Salvation.

  • Seasons and Suffering

    One of the most important things to know and understand about the Christian life is that we will all go through seasons of testing in order to bring us to maturity.

    These seasons are painful and frustrating and confusing and frightening at times. They're intended to stretch our faith and our patience, and they will make us wonder if God loves us, and sometimes they will even make us wonder if God is really out there somewhere.

    If you're going through a testing season, or a wilderness season, or a dry season, or a valley season, or a night season, or the dark night of the spirit (or soul), or whatever you choose to call it, trust the Lord and know that there's a purpose for it.

    All living things (plants, animals, people, and other creatures) need to go through struggles in order to grow stronger and become more mature. This is why we have expressions such as:

    • No pain, no gain.
    • What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
    • It's always darkest just before the dawn.

    When you're experiencing painful, frustrating, confusing, or frightening events in your life, keep in mind that God has not forgotten about you or abandoned you. He's either molding you (as a potter molds the clay) in order to strengthen and prepare you to be a useful vessel in His hands, or else He's disciplining you (which is explained in section #11 in my article called Cheat Sheet). In order to determine if you're being disciplined by God, and the reason for it, and how to make it stop, it's important to know how to discern His guidance within you (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance).

    God describes Himself in the Bible as a potter, and He says that we are the clay. In order for us to become useful vessels, He has to take us through difficult seasons of being molded and strengthened and refined and purified and tested. When we go through difficult seasons, it puts us in a battle between our human nature (our intellect, reasoning, feelings, desires, etc.) vs our spiritual nature (which connects us with God). Sometimes the devil whispers to us through our human nature. When we focus on the peace that God is giving us in our spiritual nature and we resist giving in to the confusion, frustration, fear, and so on, that our human nature is experiencing, we're doing just what the Bible says to do:
    "Submit yourselves then, to God [in this case, by focusing on the peace that God is giving you in your spiritual nature]. Resist the devil [who is trying to influence you in your human nature], and he will flee from you" (James 4:7, comments added).
    To put it a different way, God sometimes allows us to go through trials and tribulations in order to purify our hearts like gold. When we're "in the fire," it causes some of the impurities in our hearts (anger, impatience, unforgiveness, etc.) to rise to the surface. When God turns up the heat in my life and I find myself experiencing wrong attitudes, I try to acknowledge them and ask the Lord to "scoop" those impurities off of my heart. When I remember to do this, those wrong attitudes usually evaporate immediately, which is pretty amazing to experience.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called Why Do Christians Experience Hard Times and Suffering?.

  • Tithing

    Tithing (giving 10% of the increase of one's fields and flocks) was required for the Jews under the Old Covenant.

    Christians are under the New Covenant and are not required to tithe in any way, such as giving 10% of their income to their local church as is commonly taught. The modern form of tithing being taught in churches is a complete fiction that does not honor God because it bears absolutely no resemblance to any form of tithing found anywhere in the Bible.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called Christians Are Not Required to Pay Tithes.

  • Tongues

    There are two forms of speaking in tongues in the New Testament:

    1. A person delivers a public message in tongues from God to a church congregation or other group, which is then interpreted through the Holy Spirit either by the speaker or by someone else in the group. The Bible refers to this as the spiritual gift of tongues, and it's used in combination with the spiritual gift of interpretation. People sometimes refer to this as the "public" use of tongues.

    2. A person prays in the Spirit (in tongues) to God, which does not need to be interpreted into the local language because God always understands what the Holy Spirit is saying. The Bible refers to this with expressions such as "pray in a tongue" (1 Corinthians 14:14), "pray with my spirit" (1 Corinthians 14:15), "pray in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18), and "praying in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 1:20). People sometimes refer to this as the "private" use of tongues or a "prayer language."


    After a Christian chooses to receive the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in obedience to God (see The Baptism of the Holy Spirit above) then he or she might or might not have the gift of tongues (#1 above), but he or she will be able to pray in tongues (#2 above). Since we're commanded to pray in the Spirit (see my article below), this means that every Christian should be praying in tongues every day in obedience to God.

    So there are two purposes for tongues in the New Testament, which is something that many Christians don't seem to realize. One form of tongues is for delivering a message from God to a group of people (which must then be interpreted into the local language using the spiritual gift of interpretation), and the other form of tongues is for speaking to God (praying to Him in tongues). Each form of tongues has a different purpose and a different audience, and there's no form of tongues for communicating with foreigners in their native languages. There's not a shred of scriptural evidence that speaking in tongues is for communicating with foreigners, and there's not a single example in the entire New Testament of anyone speaking in tongues in order to communicate with foreigners.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my article called Praying in the Spirit Means Speaking in Tongues.

  • Water Baptism

    Being baptized in water is an important act of obedience, but it's not a requirement for receiving salvation (see Salvation above).

    After the cross there's a consistent pattern in which people were baptized in water immediately after they believed in Jesus (because He commanded us to baptize new believers).

    It's not the water of baptism that saves us, it's "the pledge of a good conscience" that saves us. People publicly declared or professed their faith in Jesus at the time of their baptism, fulfilling the two conditions that Paul summarized in Romans 10:9-10.

    Certain people in the New Testament received salvation before they were baptized in water, which demonstrates that baptism is not a requirement for receiving salvation.

    Baptism is a symbolic picture of our identification (through faith) in what Jesus has done for us. It's a picture of being buried with Jesus and raised to new life in Him. We know that symbolism is important to God because symbolism is found throughout the entire Bible, and therefore it should be important to us as well, which means that we need to understand and properly fulfill symbolic acts.

    Full immersion is the only proper method of baptism.

    Whether we baptize people "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," or "in the name of Jesus Christ," or "in the name of the Lord Jesus," or something similar, these all have the same effect. It's not the specific wording that's important, what's important is that we're baptized in Jesus' name.

    Whether we baptize people in a church building, a swimming pool, a lake, a river, an ocean, or some other place, the only issue is that there's enough water for a full immersion.

    Even though we usually leave the baptizing for pastors to do, all Christians are authorized to perform baptisms.

    Infant baptism is not scriptural and therefore it's not a valid Christian baptism.

    If the only baptism you've received was as an infant or by some method other than full immersion then you've never had a valid Christian baptism. If you've never had a valid Christian baptism, this won't keep you out of heaven (see Salvation above) but it means that you're living in disobedience to God and you'll be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven (see section #11, #12, and #13 in my article called Cheat Sheet). In order to get into obedience concerning baptism, find the right church and tell them that you're a Christian and you need to be baptized in water by full immersion. God wants us to go to a specific church, and if we're paying attention then He will lead us to it (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance).

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my series called Everything We Need to Know about Water Baptism.

  • Women

    Paul did not say that all women must be silent in church (for example, he described women praying and prophesying out loud in church). The Greek words that he used indicate that he was addressing a specific situation concerning some of the wives in the church at Corinth. When he said that it's disgraceful for wives to "speak" in church, the Greek word in this context specifically means, "to speak in such a way as to cause confusion." Paul was concerned about orderliness and peace in church meetings, he was not commanding wives or women to be totally silent in church.

    The weight of evidence shows that women are allowed to serve as deacons in the local church.

    The weight of evidence shows that women are allowed to hold the position of an elder, bishop, overseer, leader, pastor, preacher, or teacher in church or in ministry. There's not a shred of scriptural evidence that women are not allowed to hold any of those positions.

    There's no specific office called "pastor" in the New Testament (also called "minister" in some denominations). Instead, it was the elders/overseers who performed the functions that we think of as being a pastor's duties. The weight of evidence shows that women are allowed to be pastors (other than our unscriptural modern concept of a senior pastor who holds the ultimate authority over a local church) because all pastors are actually elders.

    Humans don't appoint or ordain apostles, prophets, or evangelists; they're appointed by God. The Bible doesn't forbid women from holding those positions, so if a woman is truly an apostle, a prophet, or an evangelist then she was appointed to that position by God.

    When we put all of the evidence together to see the full picture, it clearly shows that God has given the decision-making authority in a marriage to the husband due to Eve's original sin. The husband and wife should be a team, working together for the same goal of having a happy, thriving marriage, and the husband is essentially the team leader.

    This doesn't give him the right to boss her around or treat her badly, but it means that he's the one who will be held accountable as the team leader. The wife will be held accountable for her own decisions and actions, but the husband is doubly accountable. First for his own decisions and actions, and second for his decisions and actions as the team leader. His bad decisions as team leader will count against him when we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, but the wife will be commended for properly submitting to those decisions.

    This does not mean that a wife must submit to abuse or harm or danger from her husband. Not only are wives told to respect and submit to their husbands, but husbands are told to love and respect their wives. It's a two-way thing of mutual respect and seeking to honor God. Abuse of any kind should never happen, but if it does then it should not be tolerated.

    Ideally, a husband and wife will act as a team because they're "one flesh," and the husband is the team leader who is held accountable to God. For example, even though Eve was the one who was initially deceived and ate the forbidden fruit, the sins of the human race came through Adam. Both of them sinned, but Adam (the husband) was the one who was held accountable.

    Husbands might be tempted to think of their wives' submission as being a blessing, as if the husband gets to be the boss in the marriage. It's not a blessing. It's one of the evils with which the human race was cursed because of sin:
    "No matter how hard people try to do away with male dominion, agonizing labor, painful childbearing, and death, these evils will continue because sin is present. They are fruits of sin." (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Walvoord and Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary, Genesis 3:14-19)
    Paul was concerned about the relationship between a husband and a wife, and about proper orderliness in the church and in the home. Paul was not saying that women can never teach Christian truths because that would contradict all of the passages in which women taught Christian truths. When Paul said that a "woman" or a "wife" must not have authority over a "man" or a "husband," the context indicates that he was referring to a wife not "lording it over" or "domineering" her husband (and a husband should not "lord it over" or "domineer" his wife). Paul was not saying that women can never be in authority over men, such as a woman being in charge over a ministry in a church. The weight of evidence shows that women were allowed (and sometimes even commanded) to teach Christian truths in the New Testament, including teaching these truths to men.

    For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my series called New Testament Passages Concerning Women.


For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification.

Dave Root
home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com

"Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3)

"Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23)

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3)

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7)

"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25)
 
 
Modification History

  • 04/19/2024 - Deleted a paragraph in the section called "Cessationism vs Continuationism." Deleted a paragraph in the section called "The Church." Slightly modified the section called "End-Times Prophecies." Slightly modified the section called "Jesus." Slightly modified James 4:7 in the section called "Seasons and Suffering." Slightly modified the section called "Water Baptism."

  • 03/21/2024 - Slightly modified the section called "Cessationism vs Continuationism."

  • 02/21/2024 - Modified the third bullet point in the section called "Cessationism vs Continuationism."

  • 02/16/2024 - Slightly modified the third-to-last paragraph in the section called "Homosexuality."

  • 01/18/2024 - Modified the section called "Cessationism vs Continuationism." Slightly modified the section called "Healing." Modified the section called "The Old and New Covenants."

  • 11/28/2023 - Slightly modified the section called "Seasons and Suffering."

  • 10/14/2023 - Added some information in the section called "Cessationism vs Continuationism." Modified the section called "The Church" and updated the capitalization of "church" throughout the article for consistency, as explained in my article called The Rapture of the Church - Part One. Added more information in the section called "Homosexuality." Slightly modified the section called "Women."

  • 09/23/2023 - Removed the scare quotes from the word "pastor."

  • 06/06/2023 - Modified the definitions of words relating to salvation in the section called "Salvation."

  • 05/25/2023 - Added a section called "Discipline."

  • 05/24/2023 - Modified the section called "Salvation." Modified the section called "Water Baptism."

  • 03/02/2023 - Added a paragraph in the section called "Cessationism vs Continuationism."

  • 02/22/2023 - Modified the third requirement in the section called "Salvation."

  • 12/17/2022 - Modified the Introduction section. Modified the section called "Water Baptism."

  • 11/17/2022 - Modified the section called "Homosexuality." Modified the section called "Tithing."

  • 10/15/2022 - Modified the section called "Demons." Modified the section called "End-Times Prophecies." Modified the section called "The Old and New Covenants." Modified the section called "Women."

  • 08/29/2022 - Modified the section called "Tongues." Modified the section called "Water Baptism."

  • 08/02/2022 - Added a link to my article called "All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today" in the section called "Healing." Modified the section called "Jesus." Modified the section called "Salvation."

  • 07/23/2022 - Added a section called "Cessationism vs Continuationism." Modified my closing statement.

  • 04/24/2022 - Deleted the section on "Eternal Security" or "Once Saved Always Saved" because that information is now covered in other sections. Added a paragraph on "5 Point Calvinism" (also known as "the Reformed Faith") in the section called "Predestination."

  • 04/14/2022 - Changed the title of my book because I discovered a couple of existing books with "Healing Is for Today" in their names.

  • 03/24/2022 - Modified the section called "The Baptism of the Holy Spirit." Modified the section called "Salvation."

  • 12/06/2021 - Modified the section called "Jesus." Modified the section called "Salvation." Modified the section called "Water Baptism."

  • 11/03/2021 - Made the font size a bit bigger and added a fish symbol as a favicon (which is displayed in the browser tab).

  • 10/21/2021 - Modified the section called "Salvation."

  • 10/15/2021 - Modified the section called "Predestination."

  • 09/18/2021 - Added a section called "Alcohol."

  • 08/16/2021 - Modified the section called "The Baptism of the Holy Spirit." Modified the section called "Tongues."

  • 07/28/2021 - Added a section called "Homosexuality."

  • 01/27/2021 - Added a section called "Predestination."

  • 09/20/2020 - Added an Introduction section.

  • 07/12/2020 - Modified the section called "Jesus." Modified the section called "Salvation."

  • 04/18/2020 - Added a section called "New Testament Passages Concerning Women."

  • 03/30/2020 - Added a link to my new series called "Understanding Jesus."

  • 04/19/2019 - New article.