Category: Bible Applications

Does Baptism Save you?

Spiritual Baptism Proponent: Do you believe baptism saves?

[Asking because I’m a Lutheran Christian and has heard another Lutheran say that baptism saves]

Me: Yes, 1 Peter 3:20-21 says that the waters of Noah’s day symbolize the waters of baptism that now save you, and they save you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Baptism Proponent:  I’m not familiar with that passage.

Me:  You should read it.  It’s in 1 Peter 3.  The only time the word symbolism is ever used in the same sentence as baptism is that passage and the waters of baptism are not symbolic; it’s the waters of Noah’s day that are symbolic.  Those waters symbolize the death and resurrection that we are connected to in baptism.  Baptism saves, and it saves because of Christ’s death and resurrection.  We are always saved by Christ’s death and resurrection.  So this isn’t taking away from Christ’s work.

Spiritual Baptism Proponent: I’m not familiar with that.  I’d have to read that verse.

Me:  Yea, please do.  It’s in 1 Peter 3, near the end of the chapter.  But, there are numerous times in Scripture, not just from Peter, but also Paul in which we see that baptism unites us with Christ.  For instance, wait I have a Bible, Romans 6:1-5 says, “What shall we say, Then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”

Spiritual Baptism Propoenent: Yea, but that’s spiritual baptism.  We receive all of that when we receive the Holy Spirit and faith.

Me:  I would agree with you.  If a person hears the Gospel and receives the Gospel in faith, they are saved and have life and salvation.  We are always saved by grace through faith in Christ.  But how does that grace come to us?  And is there anywhere in Scripture were we see the term “spiritual baptism”?  I know we see “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” in Acts, which is something completely different.

baptism

The conversation spun off into addressing does everyone have to be baptized to be saved and if babies should be baptized, and etc.  I want to boil this all down to two questions:

#1 – Does baptism save?
#2 – Does everyone have to be baptized to be saved?

Let’s first define baptism – based on Matthew 28:19, baptism is washing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Unless there is a clarifying word before or after baptism, such as “baptism by fire”, or “baptism of the Holy Spirit”, or “baptism of repentance”, or “John’s baptism”, we should interpret baptism to be referring to the baptism instituted by Christ, especially if we see the additional descriptors of, “Jesus’ baptism,” or “baptism into Jesus’ name”.

Now, that baptism is defined, I want to introduce a term that may not be too common in many Christian circles: MEANS OF GRACE.  Understanding MEANS OF GRACE will help answer both of these questions.

The MEANS OF GRACE are the ways in which God has promised to work salvation in our lives, to deliver the Grace that comes through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection to us. Let me explain this term the best I can and use Scripture to do it:

According to Romans 10 how does a person come to be able to declare with his mouth and believe in his his heart? Vs. 14 asks how can they call on the one who can save them if they have not heard of him? The concluding answer is that they can’t until they have heard the Gospel (vs. 17). It is through the hearing of the Gospel that faith COMES.  Faith COMES to us instead of us COMING to faith.  Here is Paul’s language on that point found in vs. 17, “Consequently, faith COMES from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Flip all the way back to the beginning of the letter to the Romans and you will see that this is how Paul starts the letter – The Gospel is the power of salvation for all who believe (Romans 1:16). The Gospel saves. We hear the Gospel and through the Gospel the Holy Spirit gives us faith (this is another point I’ll have to tackle in another post). This all fits into Ephesians 2:8 in which we are told that salvation is by grace through faith and this is not of ourselves but the gift of God. Grace is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” By his life, death, and resurrection we have been forgiven, but all people are not instantly saved. That Grace must come to us somehow. The Gospel is one MEANS OF GRACE by which Grace comes to us, though we only receive the benefits of it through faith in the Gospel promises of God.

I think all Christians would agree that Grace comes to us via the Gospel and that unless one has faith in the Gospel, there is no eternal life for that individual that has rejected the Gospel upon hearing it.

NOW… is that the only MEANS OF GRACE, is the Gospel the only way we may receive the forgiveness of sins?

To Question #1, I would say YES – Baptism saves! God has promised to work forgiveness of sins through baptism. That means that Grace comes to us in baptism (water applied to a person in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit). To support that baptism saves, I point people to 1 Peter 3:20-21. Here the waters of Noah’s day are said to symbolize the waters of baptism that now SAVE YOU. How does it save? Look at verse 21 – “It saves you be the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Baptism is not symbolic here, the waters of Noah’s day are symbolic. Baptism saves by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 6 clearly explains how in baptism we are buried and raised with Christ. It’s not just Peter that says this, but Paul too!

To Question #1, YES – Baptism saves! Baptism is not our work, but it is God’s work to save us! To illustrate this beyond the 1 Peter 3:20-21 example, I like to point people to Colossians 2:9-12. Again we see that in baptism we are buried with Christ and raised with Christ, but there is the additional detail that we aren’t doing ANYTHING in this process because Paul says that baptism is like circumcision. Instead of cutting of the flesh, it is cutting off the sinful nature (i.e washing us of our sins – oh, and so much more!). WE don’t cut off this sinful nature – JESUS DOES! Verse 11 – “not with circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by CHRIST!”

TO Question #2 – NO – We don’t have to baptized to be saved! Grace comes to us through the MEANS OF GRACE – the Gospel and Baptism (and communion, but that’s another topic). If a person hears the Gospel and believes, faith and salvation has COME to him. He is saved. If that person is never baptized, he still has received grace through faith. If a person is baptized and believes, faith and salvation has COME to him.

So is everyone saved who is baptized? NO! Just as the benefits of hearing the Gospel are received through faith, so TOO the benefits of the promises of baptism are received through faith alone.

Technically, everyone receives the forgiveness of sins in baptism, just as everyone receives the forgiveness of sins through hearing the Gospel, YET, the benefits of God’s Grace are only received through faith in his promises. Hence it is so crucial to stick to Paul’s phrase, “by grace through faith”. Just grace and no faith – NO salvation. Just faith – NO salvation. It is when we have faith in a trustworthy object of salvation we are saved. The object in this case is a person and his work that for his sake, we have an all sufficient Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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New Age and Gnostic Chatter – 2 Timothy 2:14-26

The following are my notes from reading 2 Timothy 2:14-26:

Vs. 14 – Keep reminding them of what is found in verses 11-13. The focus should always be on Christ dead, buried, and raised for the forgiveness of sins. Oh… and these things too. Don’t quarrel about the meaning of words. What’s he talking about there. Keep reading.

Vs. 15-18 – Godless chatter. Don’t indulge in it. The teaching will spread like gangrene. He names two of these Godless teachers – Hymenaeus and Philetus. In vs. 18 Paul shares that they have butchered the teaching of the resurrection of not only Christ but of the dead at the end of the age. Footnotes say that these two were Gnostics and that Gnostics taught that the resurrection to not be literal – just spiritual. Hymenaues is mentioned in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, along with Alexander.

Vs. 19 – Despite their false teaching God’s solid foundation stands firm. Two inscriptions. The footnote in NIV says that the first inscription is a quote of Numbers 16:5 in the Septuagint.   The first inscription pertains to the security of the church and the second to human responsibility in the church.

Vs. 20-21 – Noble and ignoble. Godly and ungodly items within the house. Physical and spiritual (porn mags, godless chatter). Harkens back to 2 Cor. 9:28, Ephesians 2:10, and forward to 2 Timothy 3:17.

Vs. 22 – Connected back to vs. 20-21.

Vs. 23-25 – Don’t argue over foolish and stupid arguments. Kind, gentle with those he instructs – not quarrelsome.

Vs. 26 – Come to their senses. The phrase is used with the Prodigal Son. He came to his senses. Apart from Christ we are deaf, dumb, and blind enemies of God. When we come to our senses, we can see, hear, and speak of God. We must view those opposed to God as trapped by the devil. This should help us to be gentle with them as we present the Gospel and lead them to the knowledge of the truth.

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Who is your Paul? Who is your Timothy? 2 Timothy 2:1-13

Chapter 2:1-13

Vs. 1 – Be strong in the grace of Christ. That is where our strength ultimately lies.

Vs. 2 – Be strong in my witness! Again Timothy seems to be timid. Paul is saying, get encouragement from my boldness and example. I think we can not only look to Christ, but look to other believers for our support. And I love how Paul who is bold doesn’t forsake Timothy but works to build him up. Iron sharpens iron!

Vs. 3-4 – Solider – please your officer. Don’t be involved in civilian affairs. What does that mean?

Vs. 5 – Athlete. Play by the rules. Don’t cut corners; do all things as if working for the Lord. Good reminder for athletes. 1 Cor. 9:25 – Our crown will last forever. 1 Cor. 9:26 Don’t run aimlessly, don’t fight the air.

Vs. 6 – Farmer should be first to receive a share of the crops. Dedication is the key to these three illustrations – Solider, athlete, and farmer. The farmer works hard but receives the fruit of his labors in season. Our fruit will be fruit of seeing people blessed by the Lord.

Vs. 7-10 – Paul’s sharing his example of dedication. He might suspect Timothy will share a similar fate, and Paul is encouraging Timothy to not worry about it, because Christ was raised from the dead. It’s worth all suffering so that others might receive salvation.

Vs. 11-13 – Maybe an early hymn. We died with Christ in the past, when he died on the cross (so says the Greek). We therefore are also raised with Christ. Ephesians 2:6 – God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. He is faithful even when we are not. That is where our salvation lies.

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Where is the Gospel Application?

dailyhope-header-1920Rick Warren has a daily devotion that is free online!  The devotion is called Daily Hope with Rick Warren. I haven’t looked at it much, but every Rick Warren message I have heard has a lot of Bible passages used through out and they are always well structured and delivered in a way that is easy to receive and comprehend.  He’s a great communicator!

A recent devotion was entitled, “How Can I Overcome Discouragement?”  It was based on the verse Nehemiah 4:10.  You can find it on Rick’s Purpose Driven site, here.  Rick provides 4 action items that we can do or practice to overcome discouragement.  I was asked if I liked the devotion?  I said that I did like it and that I thought it was all good advice, but I was curious if most of the devotions were of this nature, and I was told that they were.  I said, yea, I think this devotion was good advice and very practical, but that if this was what I heard every day, or every week as a church sermon, it would drive me inward to myself.  I say this because it was all commands that I should follow.  Even the “Talk About It” section was questions to guide me towards what I should do.  None of the devotion talked about what God is doing in me and through me and for me during my times of discouragement.  I was told that every message doesn’t need to say, “Jesus died for you,” and that to do such would be only giving spiritual milk and not solid food!

I disagree.  I think God’s actions to save and help lead us through this life go way beyond Christ’s work of salvation.  The Trinity’s work to not only justify us (declare us holy) but sanctify us (make us holy) involve law proclamations and Gospel proclamations.  I think what Rick called us to do in the devotion was all good, sound advice and he was drawing the implications from Scripture!  So Amen.  But it was only commands and demands put upon myself. If that’s all I hear everyday from pastors and teachers preaching God’s Word, that would be all I’d be trained to hear in my personal studies of God’s Word.  This would lead to a state of despair when I constantly fall short of those commands, or it would lead to a state of self-righteousness in which I think I am DOING it, and doing it well without God, because nothing about God’s work in me was ever mentioned, not once.

To demonstrate what I would add to Rick’s devotion, I decided to keep his devotion exactly as it was given, but add Gospel proclamations (statements of God’s work in the situation to lead us through this life to him as he is transforming us into the image and likeness of his son, our Lord, Jesus Christ).

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Here is Rick’s devotion and I have put in bold all the times we are the subject and all the actions we are called to do in the devotion are put in bold with itallics:

“How Can I Overcome Discouragement?”
By Rick Warren (With emphasis added)

“Then the people of Judah said, ‘The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can’t continue to rebuild the wall.’” (Nehemiah 4:10 GWT)

Discouragement is curable. Whenever I get discouraged, I head straight to Nehemiah. This great leader of ancient Israel understood there were four reasons for discouragement.

First, you get fatigued. You simply get tired as the laborers did in Nehemiah 4:10. We’re human beings, and we wear out. You cannot burn the candle at both ends. So if you’re discouraged, it may be you don’t have to change anything. You just need a vacation! Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to bed.

Second, you get frustrated. Nehemiah says there was rubble all around, so much that it was getting in the way of rebuilding the wall. Do you have rubble in your life? Have you noticed that anytime you start doing something new, the trash starts piling up?

If you don’t clean it out periodically, it’s going to stop your progress. You can’t avoid it, so you need to learn to recognize it and dispose of it quickly so you don’t lose focus on your original intention.

Third, you think you’ve failed. Nehemiah’s people were unable to finish their task as quickly as originally planned and, as a result, their confidence collapsed. They were thinking, “We were stupid to think we could ever rebuild this wall.”

But you know what I do when I don’t reach a goal on time? I just set a new goal. I don’t give up. Everybody fails. Everybody does foolish things. So the issue is not that you failed; it’s how you respond to your failure.

Do you give in to self-pity? Do you start blaming other people? Do you start complaining that it’s impossible? Or, do you refocus on God’s intentions and start moving again?

Finally, when you give in to fear, you get discouraged. Nehemiah 4 suggests the people most affected by fear are those who hang around negative people. If you’re going to control the negative thoughts in your life, you’ve got to get away from negative people as much as you can.

Maybe you’re discouraged because of fear. You’re dealing with fears like, “I can’t handle this. It’s too much responsibility.” Maybe it’s the fear that you don’t deserve it or the fear of criticism. Fear will destroy your life if you let it. But you can choose to resist the discouragement. Say, “God, help me get my eyes off the problem and the circumstance and keep my eyes on you.” [This statement is simply a law, telling you what you are supposed to SAY!]

Talk It Over

  • Rubble is the trivial things that waste your time and energy and prevent you from accomplishing what God has called you to do. What is the rubble in your life?
  • How can you reduce negativity in your life that is keeping you discouraged?
  • On what abandoned goal do you need to refocus so that you can accomplish something God has called you to do? 

When you look through this devotion, the only two times that God is the subject is when he is calling you to do something. Otherwise, all the action is inner focused!  It’s turned towards you and what you need to do.  However, God’s relationship is two ways.  Yes, God calls us to action, but Scripture shows that we always fall short of those actions and that brings condemnation upon us.  Therefore, God acts to save us and through our lives he works to make us more like him and he blesses us to be  a blessing to others.

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Here is Rick’s devotion with my additions.  I added God’s work in the situation, not just what God calls us to do, but how he acts in our lives.  I think by adding these additions, I am not watering down the message, and I am not somehow turning solid food into some sort of liquid mash that would be called giving spiritual milk.  What I have done from my understanding of Scripture is delivered the Gospel.  I have shown God’s actions to save us and sanctify us (bring us through this life into the next as he works in our lives to make us holy).  Therefore, I see what I have done is take a devotion that was all law and make it a proper balance of law and gospel.  Again, I haven’t changed any of Rick’s words.  They are all still present.  I have added emphasis on God’s actions this time, now that they are present.

“How Can I Overcome Discouragement [And How Does God Provide Encouragement in my Discouragement]?” By Rick Warren and Andy Wrasman

“Then the people of Judah said, ‘The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can’t continue to rebuild the wall.’” (Nehemiah 4:10 GWT)

Discouragement is curable. Whenever I get discouraged, I head straight to Nehemiah. This great leader of ancient Israel understood there were four reasons for discouragement.

First, you get fatigued. You simply get tired as the laborers did in Nehemiah 4:10. We’re human beings, and we wear out. You cannot burn the candle at both ends. So if you’re discouraged, it may be you don’t have to change anything. You just need a vacation! Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to bed.

Sometimes you might feel guilty for taking a break when more work needs to be done, but it’s not God’s desire or plan for any of us to work ourselves to death.  This is seen most evidently through God’s design of creation, by taking six days to create all things, and a seventh day to rest.  We learn that God took six days to create to serve as a pattern of work for us.  Exodus 20:9-11 clearly shows this for us, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God ; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day ; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”  God even built in special days of rest into each year as well as an entire year’s worth of rest every seventy years.  All of these times or rest given by God, served as signs of encouragement to the Israelites who were the only nation at the time to have days of rest to see that when they stopped working, God still provided and had everything under control.  [Rest is a gift!]

Second, you get frustrated. Nehemiah says there was rubble all around, so much that it was getting in the way of rebuilding the wall. Do you have rubble in your life? Have you noticed that anytime you start doing something new, the trash starts piling up?

If you don’t clean it out periodically, it’s going to stop your progress. You can’t avoid it, so you need to learn to recognize it and dispose of it quickly so you don’t lose focus on your original intention.

God as a loving Father helps in this process.  As Jesus said in John 15:1-2, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away ; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”  As  good gardener, God is taking care of us and desires that we will bear much fruit, so he is actively cutting out the parts of our lives that restrict us from growing.  Will we be patient and work with God through this process?  Or will get frustrated and give up when we see all the rubble in our lives?  [Since this is sanctification and we work with God in this process, I tie in our role in this process]

Third, you think you’ve failed. Nehemiah’s people were unable to finish their task as quickly as originally planned and, as a result, their confidence collapsed. They were thinking, “We were stupid to think we could ever rebuild this wall.”

But you know what I do when I don’t reach a goal on time? I just set a new goal. I don’t give up. Everybody fails. Everybody does foolish things. So the issue is not that you failed; it’s how you respond to your failure.

Do you give in to self-pity? Do you start blaming other people? Do you start complaining that it’s impossible? Or, do you refocus on God’s intentions and start moving again?

To help you in this process, remember that this life is not a sprint, but a marathon that demands endurance and perseverance.  The author of the book of Hebrews reminds us of this when he calls us to remember the men and women of the faith who have gone before us, suffering and stumbling along the way.  Despite their failures chasing after God, they never tossed in the towel of faith and God was faithful, bringing them to heavenly glory.  By the witness of God’s faithfulness in the lives of the saints before us, we are told, “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  [I added this whole paragraph and you can see that there is plenty of Law I spoke here too]

Finally, when you give in to fear, you get discouraged. Nehemiah 4 suggests the people most affected by fear are those who hang around negative people. If you’re going to control the negative thoughts in your life, you’ve got to get away from negative people as much as you can.

Maybe you’re discouraged because of fear. You’re dealing with fears like, “I can’t handle this. It’s too much responsibility.” Maybe it’s the fear that you don’t deserve it or the fear of criticism. Fear will destroy your life if you let it. But you can choose to resist the discouragement. Say, “God, help me get my eyes off the problem and the circumstance and keep my eyes on you.”  But even when we do fear the things of this world and we stray from the path of God, Jesus as our good shepherd never leaves our side.  He is always calling to us and leading us through the valley of death that we keep walking ourselves into. 

Negativity drowns out our Savior’s words of comfort.  Clinging to the positivity of God’s promises points us to depths of which Christ humbled himself to bring us to himself through becoming human and suffering and dying though he is God and did not deserve any such pain or temptation, we are encouraged to know that there is no reason to fear that he won’t continue to work to bring his goals for us to completion [we are passive here].

Talk It Over

  • Rubble is the trivial things that waste your time and energy and prevent you from accomplishing what God has called you to do. What is the rubble in your life?  How is God helping you remove this rubble?
  • How can you reduce negativity in your life that is keeping you discouraged?  What has God given that is positively moving you closer to the goals he has for you?
  • On what abandoned goal do you need to refocus so that you can accomplish something God has called you to do?  How has God equipped you for meeting this goal, or how has God grown you and prepared you to meet this goal since the time you abandoned it?

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So there you go.  Those were my additions.  You can see I added more law, but I add Gospel statements that were never present.  Compare Rick’s devotion to the one that I added Gospel statements too.  Rick’s devotion had no statements were God was acting besides to call us to do something.  The one with my additions shows God’s active involvement in our discouragement and how he empowers us to overcome the hurdles, equips us to accomplish what we are being called to, how it might take time, but God is faithful, how the fruit may not come instantly, as God is caring for us as a Father, and how God encourages us through the Gospel and example of the life of Christ.

Do you think I watered down the message?  Do you think I took away from the message by mentioning God’s works and actions?  Do you think mine provides encouragement that wasn’t in the first devotion?  Do you feel more able to meet the commands of the first devotion or less able?  Do you now feel as if you don’t have to do any work after reading mine?  Do you think I gave you spiritual milk by telling you what God has done for you and is still doing in your and through you in your times of discouragement?

I also want you to think about Joseph in the Bible?  When he was sold into slavery and then later imprisoned innocently, do you think he was discouraged?  Do you think he would need to be told – bro, just clean out the rubble?  Bro, what are you not doing that God has called you to?  Hey bro, how can you reduce the negativity in your life?   Hey bro, I think you are just being afraid and that ‘s why you are discouraged. Joseph needed to be encouraged by the promises of God!  If someone is in a situation like that, just being told a bunch of law wouldn’t help them get closer to God or know that he cared.  They would still feel trapped in slavery or their prison cell.  We have to proclaim both Law and Gospel.  We need both.  We need to be told what God desires of us, and the Gospel, the sweet news of salvation and God’s blessings that we don’t deserve, energizes us to do good works (God’s work).

Give me your feedback on this one. I’d love to hear it!  Thanks.  Peace in Christ, Andy Wrasman.

Andy Wrasman2 Comments

Norman Geisler – Science and Scripture? Nooooooooooooo!!!!

Norman Geisler – this bright, strong advocate for the Christian faith.  One of the greatest apologists, defenders of Scripture, in our age.  I just saw an article posted on his website… entitled, “Does Believing in Inerrancy Require One to Believe in Young Earth Creationism.”

In this article, he claims numerous times that it is possible to have gaps between the days of the Genesis accounts of creation (Alternating Day-Age Theory).  He claims it is possible to have a HUGE gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 (Gap-Theory).  He claims it is possible that each day is lengthy epochs of time (Day Age Theory).  All of this is true.  Anything is possible.  He then rips all the arguments of a 24-Hour Day interpretation of Genesis 1.  He then provides arguments for all of the other theories.  He concludes by saying that the age of the earth doesn’t matter – it’s not important to salvation – it’s never been an essential doctrine or creed in church history – UNTIL NOW, of course.

What Geisler doesn’t do a great job of mentioning is that all of the views besides the “Young Earth” view have death reigning in the world before the fall of man into sin!  He also fails to mention that these other views (as of today) are arising not from Scripture Alone, but from the process of inserting prior beliefs into the reading of Scripture and performing interpretative gymnastics to pull out of Scripture the beliefs that were inserted into the text.

Please, read the article linked above, and then read my response.

I think we should note his hermeneutic – his formal principle. Norman Geisler writes near the end of this article, “If the Young Earth view is true, then so be it. Let the biblical and scientific evidence be mustered to demonstrate it.” This is not Reformation sola scriptura at work! That is my biggest complaint against the Old Earth crew. Members of this growing elite, such as Hugh Ross, claim that God has given us two books! Ross actually says “two books.” By this he means natural knowledge (general revelation) and revealed knowledge (special revelation). Since when does God’s revelation of himself through what he has created become on par with Scripture? I think that the Old Earth Creationists are starting with their conclusion that the world is very old based on their interpretation of what they see in the physical world and then interpreting Scripture in light of that presupposition.

From strictly reading the Bible, why would we suspect that there are gaps between the days in Genesis or that there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2? From strictly reading the Bible, why would I suspect that there were millions of years of death in the animal kingdom with entire species being wiped off the face of the planet before the creation of Adam and Eve and before their fall into sin?

I agree with Geisler that one does not have to believe the earth is a certain age to be a follower of Christ – to trust in the salvation that comes through Christ’s work alone, but using “science” to interpret scripture is a bad hermeneutic and teaching death before the fall does not sit well with a very good world created by God. Many of the leading Christian apologists today are making claims that death in the animal kingdom was in the world before the fall of man and that there is where the huge problem lies! Death without sin is not Scriptural. God did not create a world of death. Teaching this as the Old Earth Creationists teach can very easily lead people away from Scripture and therefore away from God.

Go to www.contradictmovement.org to find links to my book, other merchandise, my Facebook page, and my Youtube Channel.

Andy Wrasman6 Comments