I really respect Dr Michael Brown. He is a scholar of the first rank and consistently witnesses for Jesus to Jews, Atheists, and to our culture regarding homosexuality and sex ethics. The only thing I have ever heard from him that I can agree with him 100% on is his views of Calvinism and Free will. Below is his video of Dr Brown's explanation of what Romans 9 says.
Here is video where Michael Brown appeared on Dr Leighton Flowers' podcast. They discussed how they both disagree with Calvinism. They both seem to reject that the scriptures teach that all humans are so utterly captivated by sin that we are unable to choose to give Jesus our lives on our own by our free will. They also said that we need to be free to choose or reject Jesus or it really isn't about God's love. While they did talk about scriptures and tried to explain why they support their views and do not support Calvinism, they did not convince me. Jesus said that no one is able to come to him unless the father draws (the Greek word actually mean "dragged") him or her. See John 6:44. Check out their discussion below.
I see the underlying issue comes from trying to answer the question about what why some people reject Christ after they hear the Gospel while some people accept it. All Christians are fine with agreeing that when a person gives their lives to Christ, their sins are propitiated and they are going to heaven and they have true peace and relationship with God. We receive eternal life in the future and a full life and relationship with God in the here and now. Although we all who are born in sin and shaped in iniquity, some turn to Jesus and some say no. Why? Is there something different in the man or woman who understands and accepts what Jesus did from the people who don't. Calvinists and Anti-Calvinists answer these questions differently. Given what Jesus said when Peter wanted to know what would happen to John after Jesus told Peter what he was supposed to do. Maybe we should follow that.
20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved
was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus
at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”)21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” - John 21:20-23
Dr Brown did debate his friend and well-known Calvinist, Dr James White.
This Debate with Smith and Gino Jennings shows us what happens when your pastor tell you not to go somewhere and you go anyway. Smith went on his own without his Church's blessing and he lost badly. Not because Jennings is right to reject the Trinity, but because Smith was not prepared.
From 1994, there was a much better debate on the trinity vs oneness doctrine on the nature of God with Gino Jennings than the one I posted earlier. Pastor Reginald Young was so much better. I wish the debate was much more scholarly but it is worth seeing.
Above is a video with serious problem. The presupposition is that at best the Biblical texts that we have have been edited or at worst whole books have been left out. I totally disagree. The thought that there is edited and redacted versions of the 66 books that now make up the Bible is borne out of not knowing or understanding how the Bible has been transmitted and translated through time. I'd suggest reading The King James Only Controversy by James R White as a start. As for the apocryphal Old and New Testament texts, we know that they are forgeries and often conflict with the cannon that we do have. For those who think that this point is not important, please pray-tell, what you think is a contradiction in the 66 books? Good luck with finding one. There aren't any. Are there discrepancies between books that cannot easily be understood from a surface level? Yes. But they don't equal contradictions with history, facts, or logic. Disagree? Go ahead and cite some things you think are issues and we can examine them. A good rule of thumb to see if an ancient manuscript should be considered scripture is to see if it fits the criteria:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, - 2 Timothy 3:16
Every one of the 66 books in the cannon fit in these criteria.
Above is a video from a channel from someone who clearly used to be a Christian and is now an Atheist. I think that this video is important because he points out some true points. If you judge others' sanctity by how much they know or understand about theology, doctrine, or history you will invariably be in the position of being lonely just like the video suggests. If you judge yourself in any way by any metric you will find yourself in this horrible place. This isn't a problem with being a Christian or following the Bible. It's a problem with pride and stupidity of people. If you find out that your Christian life looks like this, you must realize: YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!! You are not looking at other people the way God wants you to look at other people. For example
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. - Philippians 2:3
This means that God does not want you to think of anyone as being better than other people for any reason.
Good afternoon! Today we are going to look at the Gospel – the good news – that despite our failing, our evil desires and deeds – God has chosen to heal and restore the broken relationship between Himself and Humanity. Yes, you too can know God for yourself. You don’t need anyone to make intercession for you when you can go to God for yourself. How did God do this? That is what we are going to explore today.
Truth is that we are going to skim the surface and some of you already know these things and some of you don’t. If you can’t articulate and explain salvation, you have to learn how – and I don’t mean the way I do it. I mean the way that God has given it to you for your mission field and must reflect what the scripture actually says. Here is a way.
About 500 years ago, the protestant reformers wanted a term to summarize their understanding and convey what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross based on what they understood from the Old and New Testaments. In a nutshell, what the Bible teaches and what we affirm today is that Jesus Christ offered himself as a propitiatory sacrifice on the behalf of his people to atone of our sins. He took our place and the full wrath and suffering we deserve for our sins – past, present, and future – was poured out on him. The church calls this idea – this truth – “Penal Substitutionary Atonement”. Because of what Jesus did, I have peace with God. I get to know God. I get to communicate with God. I get to become everything God had purposed in His good and perfect will for me to become! And if you turn your life over to God and serve him, you get all of that too!
I’m not going to stand here and tell you that every saved person in the kingdom looks at how salvation works and is actualized the way I am going to convey it today. Not everyone agrees that Penal Substitutionary Atonement accurately explains how God’s salvation works. They agree that Jesus’ sacrifice saves us and is sufficient for salvation but they do not agree the Jesus took our place as individuals or that his sacrifice satisfies a debt we owe. At some point, I will address this and some other objections, but for now I will be talking about how scripture teaches Penal Substitutionary. Atonement.
1.We are all born into this world as sinners.
Incapable living up to God’s standards on our own.
22 This
righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to
all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,23 for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,24 and
all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by
Christ Jesus. –Romans 3:22-24
5 Those
who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires;
but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what
the Spirit desires.6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the
mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.7 The
mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law,
nor can it do so.8 Those who are in
the realm of the flesh cannot please God. – Romans 8:5-8
These passages gives us an idea of not just what God thinks
about us and our capabilities to be moral and kind and live up to the standards
that we agree is how we should live.
2.Yes, Sin is really so bad that it takes blood to
mend what it breaks
In fact, the law
requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. - Hebrews 9:22
3.The Laws given to ancient Israel was given with
the idea in mind that no one keep them. That is why they were given a
sacrificial system to atone for their sins. And God promises them a better
covenant.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when
I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and
with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I
made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to
lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though
I was a husband to[d] them,[e]” declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the
people of Israel after
that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and
write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and
they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or
say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from
the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and
will remember their sins no more.”-
Jeremiah 31:31-34
5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what
is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the
tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown
you on the mountain.”[a]6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has
received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is
superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better
promises.
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant,
no place would have been sought for another. – Romans 8:5-7
4. Break one commandment is the same as breaking
them all.
10 For
whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of
breaking all of it. – James 2:10
10 For
all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written:
“Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book
of the Law.”[e]11 Clearly
no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous
will live by faith.”[f]12 The
law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these
things will live by them.”[g]13 Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is
written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”[h]14 He
redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the
Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of
the Spirit. – Galatians 3:10-14
5.There is no more sacrificial system because
Jesus’ voluntary sacrifice was for once and for all.
He did not enter by
means of the blood of goats and
calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place onceforall by his own blood, thus obtaining
eternal redemption. – Hebrews 9:12
6.The sacrificial system symbolizes what Jesus
Christ ultimately did.The idea of substitution
was built-in from the start. The innocent sacrificed for the guilty.
26 Such
a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart
from sinners, exalted above the heavens.27 Unlike the other high priests, he
does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and
then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when
he offered himself.28 For the law
appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came
after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. - Hebrews
7:26-28
7.Jesus sacrifice was indeed voluntary
Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us,2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
– Hebrews 12:1-2
8.Worship the true God not some idealized version
that you have based on what makes you comfortable. It pleased to God to crush
him.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and
though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and
the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he
will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e]; by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many, and
he will bear their iniquities. – Isaiah 53:10-11
9.Deep down, no matter what anyone says, we want
sins and wrong doing to be addressed and made right. For example: Think of the
worst thing anyone has ever perpetrated against you. (Don’t stay there too
long). Was it made right? Did they get away with it? If there is no hell and If
there is no God to administer justice, a lot of people will get off free – no
obvious consequence to everyone for the evil done against you and the people
you love. Think of it this way: without God, Hitler got away with the evil he
did. He wasn’t arrested. He didn’t stand trial. He committed suicide before he
was captured (most likely).I just
recently heard Oprah, in her Golden Globe speech bring up a woman she knew who
has recently died. When this black woman was young some white men grabbed her
while she was walking home from church. They brutalized and raped her and
threatened her to not tell anyone. Although she tried to turn them over to the
authorities, none her attackers spent a day in jail nor were they punished in
the legal system. This isn’t right. She died seemingly without Justice. I
cannot imagine a just and loving God allowing things like that from being
punished. Someone(s) should pay for that.God has promised to do exactly that no matter what we think we see and
understand in the here and now.
It is mine to avenge;
I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them." – Deuteronomy 32:35
Do not take revenge,
my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is
mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. – Romans 12:19
10.I think we all agree that rapists, murders,
thieves, genocidal despots, and other criminals deserve punishment and
retribution. What about you and me? Remember point 1? We have all sinned. God
does not consider one sin worse than another like we do. People like to mitigate
their own sins by pretending that others are worse than we are. Maybe you have
not outright killed another human being but if you have ever refused to forgive
someone you are just as likely to find yourself in hell as a murderer –
eternally separated from God. Not one of us is good enough to deserve heaven
and all of us deserve hell.
25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be
received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his
forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—26 he did
it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and
the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of
what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires
faith.28 For
we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the
law.29 Or is God the God of Jews only?
Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,30 since there is only one God, who will justify the
circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not
at all! Rather, we uphold the law. – Romans 3:25-31
11.We need an atoning sacrifice – blameless and
perfect to pay the price for our evil. None of us is pure enough to pay for our
own sin. And the other side of that is that we’d be dead but God wants us to be
living sacrifices.
Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.1 John 4:10 (KJV)
Objections
Here is a video from an Atheist completely butchering Penal
Substitutionary Atonement. Following are arguments raised in the video and my
rebuttals against it.
1 1.. It’s not fair that the innocent suffer for the
guilty
Jesus volunteered to be our propitiation. God did not force
Jesus. This isn’t child abuse. None of us was innocent enough – pure enough –
to satisfy the scales of justice. Through mercy God chose to bless us with
salvation. No it isn’t something we deserve or can be earned. Remember the
saying “Favor is not fair.”? This is not from scripture but if you are going to
understand what God considers love and justice we have to let go of what our
society says love and justice are.
10 Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. – 1 John 4:10
Eating fruit does not equate to sentencing all
of humanity to sin. Adam’s sin was not about him eating fruit. The problem was
that he disobeyed God.
12 Therefore,
just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in
this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure,
sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against
anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death
reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not
sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift
is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,
how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one
man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of
God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin
and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought
justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death
reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s
abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life
through the one man, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently,
just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one
righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For
just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so
also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20 The law was
brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace
increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in
death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 5: 12-21
22.God should be able to forgive sin without blood
4.God did not have to put the fruit in the garden
in the first place.
These last two objections can be answered at once. At
bottom, they rest on the idea that we can tell God how he should run reality. We
are not worthy. With these objections is stupid question about what gives God
the right to set the price of sin so high? And how can he hold us accountable
since we are not in control and we didn’t put the Tree in the garden? God gives
us an answer through the Apostle Paul.
19 One
of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to
resist his will?”20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to
God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me
like this?’”[h]21 Does
not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery
for special purposes and some for common use? 22 What
if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with
great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?23 What
if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his
mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—24 even
us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
– Romans 9:19-24
We must remember that God is not a human being equal to you
and me. He is not obligated or beholden to us for anything. God is not
accountable to us.
Conclusion
I thank God for choosing to save me. It’s completely
unmerited. It’s completely up to him. No credit belongs to me. If you are not
saved today, I would encourage you to reach out to God. Tell God that you want
a relationship and you want to right. Accept that God is right about us in
general and you in particular. Admit your sin and evil and ask for help to put
them aside. Agree that Jesus died on the cross in your place and thank Him for
that. Believe that He rose from the dead 3 days later with all power in his
hand. Because He arose…so will you.
Here is how Paul put it!
20 I
have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20
Want to see two Christians debate this?
Watch the debate below between Dr Michael Brown vs Pastor Brian Zahnd.
On last Thurday I was amazed at comments being reported that were made by President Donald J. Trump. He greatly offended me. The suggestion that the continent of Africa, the Caribbean in general and Haiti in particular, and South America are called such a horrible thing implies so are the people who are from there. My wife and in-laws are from Haiti. My wife, Mitsouky, was born in Port Au Prince. I am a descendant of Africans who were brought to America against their will as life-long slaves. His comments insults me, and all those dearest to me. Here is a video from the Young Turks that discusses Trump's backpedaling trying to distance himself from what he said.
So basically Trump is saying that he didn't actually say anything bad about Haiti during the meeting only that we don't need many more in the United States. It was actually Africans that he used rough language in describing their circumstances. I'm not impressed,
Typical. Of course white supremacists would think that Trump said the right thing.
So that's a "No" on Trump admitting that he was wrong and apologizing. Following is an example of Haitians of the US commenting
There some homosexuals who want claim that they can be homosexual and a Christian Simultaneously. I have definitely never seen a black Christian debate the issue at time before I saw this. I have seen this issue debated by James White and Michael Brown on this issue. While they both see the issue as Gino Jennings does that you cannot reconcile homosexuality with living a Christian life. But Jennings argues differently. I don't agree with everything he teaches. During the debate it's clear that he rejects the Trinity, but he's right about his debate with Knox
Matthew Vines is another proponent of how one can be gay and Christian. His argument is a lot like the man, Harry Knox, in the above videos.
Here is a link to a blog post that goes over and summarizes many of the earliest heresies Christians have been dealing with since the Christian church has been founded!
Here is a great analysis of the Wonder Woman movie from 2017. I really liked the ideas being discussed.
The concept about whether or not people deserved to be saved or not. The truth is that in the movie, Ares was right. We don't deserved to be saved. None of us. What I liked about Wonder Woman is that she learned it's not that we deserve help. What makes her a hero is that she helps and protects others although they can't pay her back or deserve it. What do you think?
This was a very timely interview in the Jude3Project channel. I enjoyed listening to Dr. Neichelle Guidry and she had a lot of things to say that I had never of before from a female point of view. I had heard that the #MeToo movement was originally started by a black woman but Dr Guidry was able to put it in the context of the Church's responsibility to help men and women who are in such dire straits. On top of that she touched on the gender violence depicted in the Bible.
Here is important interview of Dr David Daniels on his work and research on the historical influence of Africa on the Protestant Reformation! I had no idea!
Okay, one of the hardest topics when witnessing to oppressed subcultures like African Americans is how do you deal with the way Christianity has been used to oppress and subjugate and control people? Simple: You tell the truth. That is what they three black pastors discuss in the following video. Things like is Christianity only for and by White people? Spoiler: No.
Here is a video from the Urban Perspective broadcast. On it, they discuss Dr James R White's Dividing Line podcast in which he talked about racism and how it affects the Church. I saw his video pretty soon after he broadcasted and because of my own experience I didn't agree with everything he said. Dr White cannot see his own privileges due to his race or how a person's race influences how they interact with society inside and outside the church. These brothers do a great job of explaining the issues and I agreed with them. Unfortunately, I don't think Dr James R White will listen to them.
This video really helped me understand what "New Apostolic Apologetics" is and why Michael Brown and James White condemned it. It truly is a heresy. Vocab Malone and his guests really bring that out. I had never heard of this movement cult before this week.
One of the big objections to Christianity from Muslims is that they do not believe the Bible teaches the Deity of Christ. Here is a video about how to reply to Islamic objections!
Here is a video from a web series that parodies superhero teams like the Avengers and the Justice League. It takes the way women are sexualized and turns it into ridiculous proportions. Very funny.
Here are interesting interview clips of the cast of Lucifer television series. Yes, they were trying to promote season 03 but they were asked an interesting question: Does the show put Satan in a too favorable light?
Yesterday there was a great program on the Dividing Line where Michael Brown was interviewed by James White regarding the lies people tell about the both of them and what they believe.
Check out the following video clip from an interview with John Lennox where he tackles the question about if its correct that unbelievers go to hell. He uses a similar argument that CS Lewis used when he answered the same question.
I don't fully agree with the argument because I think it falls on the fact each one of us can only choose hell aside from the grace of God.
Here is a great article detailing some things in the Bible that many objectors like to try to use to pretend that the Bible has contradiction. Check out this list.
