Dan Chapa

Martin Luther was well aware that 1st century Judaism had aspects of grace and forgiveness in their theology. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22).  This is a most important addition, and is directed against the rebellious mind of arrogant objectors who say: "Very well, then, we know of ourselves that we are unrighteous; we also know that we are inclined to evil and that inwardly we are enemies of God.  We believe therefore that we must be justified before God, but this we desire to achieve by our prayers, repentance and confession.  We do not want Christ, for God can give us His righteousness even without Christ."  To this the Apostle replies: Such a wicked demand God neither will nor can fulfill, for Christ is God; righteousness for justification is given us only through faith in Jesus Christ.  So God has willed it, and so God is pleased to do, and this He will never change.  And who is there to resist His will?  Now, however, if t

Brian Flemming's independent documentary, the God who wasn't there, was recently added to Netflix's instant viewing, so I watched it to see what atheists are up to these days. The movie is filled to the brim with blaspemous lies, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone exept perhaps mature Christians who know their bibles well and are interested in defending their faith. One of the many lies that caught my attention was that Paul did not know the historical details about Christ's life, and he doesn't even view Christ as a human being. This is absurd, given Saul dedicated his life to killing Christians, and Paul knew the apostles, traveled with Mark and even met Christ. And while his letters are not focused on giving a historical account of Christ's life, Paul does show he knows many of the details of Christ life. Paul knew Christ was the descendant of Abraham and David (2 Timothy 2:8, Romans 1:3, Galatians 3:16). Cross reference Matthew 1:1. Paul kn

Summary of the Passage The passage comes at a time when Judah has lost it's freedom and possession of the promised land; Ezekiel himself being among the Babylonian exiles 1 .  This presents a new question for God's people; why don't we have the land?   2 Kings 23:25-26 and 2 Kings 24:3-4 attribute Judah's suffering at the hands of the Babylonians several generations back to the heinous sins of King Manasseh. God's judgement should have lead the Jews to look to their own sins but instead, they blamed their parents using the saying " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge ". 2   This complains of sons suffering for their fathers sins and may even refer back to Adam and Eve's eating the forbidden fruit, with it's consequences on mankind. God rejects the notion that blame can be shifted to parents, claiming His rule ( all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine )  a

Homosexuality is sin and supporting gay marriage leads to it's spread throughout the world.  This week we saw this first hand with the influence of other nations on President Obama and next will be the influence of his support of gay marriage on the state governments and public opinion.  This spread reminds me of Proverbs 4:14-19, especially the part about not sleeping until someone else joins in their ways and not knowing over what they stumble. Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.  For they eat the bread of wickedness And drink the wine of violence.   But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.  The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.    As Christians, we may be 

Many Christians object to the idea that we are condemned in Adam.  But the same objectors often hold we receive a sin nature from Adam and that due to the fall we will physically die.  Richard Watson highlights the logical inconsistency with this objection:   The justice of this is objected to, a point which will be immediately considered; but it is now sufficient to say, that in the making the descendants of Adam liable to eternal death, because of his offence, be unjust, the infliction of temporal death is so also; the duration of the punishment making no difference in the simple question of justice. If punishment, 'whether of loss or of pain, be unjust, its measure and duration may be a greater or a less injustice; but it is unjust in every degree. If, then, we only confine the hurt we have received from Adam to bodily death; if this legal result of his transgression only be imputed to us, and we are so constituted sinners as to become liable to it, we are in precisely the s

I was recently pointed to Dr. DeHaan’s teaching on Christ’s blood.   ( link )   Laced into his views of original sin, the virgin birth and the incarnation are the ideas that human blood is sinful and Christ’s blood was not human. Dr. DeHaan states:   While all men from Adam to this day are born with Adam’s sinful nature, and, therefore, are subject to the curse and eternal death, the Man Jesus was without sin and, therefore, DEATHLESS until He took the sin of others upon Himself and died THEIR death. Now while Jesus was of Adam's race according to the flesh yet He did not inherit Adam's nature. This alone will prove that sin is not transmitted through the flesh. It is transmitted through the blood and not the flesh, and even though Jesus was of the "Seed of David according to the flesh" this could not make him a sinner. Jesus Christ died.  He died others death in the sense of the death they deserved, not in the sense of their physical death.  Further, sin is not

In James White’s book, The Potter’s Freedom 1 , he objects to Norman Geisler’s use of 2 Peter 3:9 in his book Chosen But Free 2 . Here's the passage. 1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day

Clement of Rome: (Knew Peter and Paul personally. He was the third or fourth bishop of Rome. Tradition has identified him with the Clement who is mentioned in Philippians 4:3) "For no other reason does God punish the sinner either in the present or future world, except because He knows that the sinner was able to conquer but neglected to gain the victory." Recognitions of Clement of Rome. 111. 23, V. 8, IX. 30.  Clement of Alexandria: (153-217 AD) "Neither praise nor condemnation, neither rewards nor punishments, are right if the soul does not have the power of choice and avoidance, if evil is involuntary." Miscellanies bk. 1, chap. 17  To these prophecy says, If you be willing and hear me, you shall eat the good things of the land; Isaiah 1:19 proving that choice or refusal depends on ourselves. The Stromata (Clement of Alexandria)  1.18 ( link ) Epiphanius: (310-403) ‘if ye be willing and obedient’; “whence, it is plainly manifest and indubitable, that God