Category: What is in the Bible

41. Is Belief in Theistic Evolution a Salvation Issue?

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Theistic Evolution

Ben joins Andy to share answers to six analysis questions he wrote to accompany articles written by Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis, who is against theistic evolution, and Tyler Francke, of God of Evolution, who agrees with theistic evolution.  It’s a divisive conversation in the Church today.  Ben and Andy look forward to your feedback after listening.  Below you’ll find the articles Ben has selected for analysis. 

Articles Against Theistic Evolution:

Articles For Theistic Evolution:

Analysis Questions:

  1. What is theistic evolution?
  2. Can you be saved and go to heaven if you believe in theistic evolution?
  3. What dangers/theological problems are there in believing in theistic evolution?
  4. Is it possible that God could have used evolution to eventually create man?
  5. How does the following statement apply to the issue of theistic evolution? “Filling in where the text doesn’t speak and speculating is not interpreting Scripture. Interpretation is to give the meaning of what is written.”
  6. Is it possible to preach the message of the cross and the Gospel without a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis?

Andy Wrasman1 Comment

The Highway to Hell and the The Stairway to Heaven

I saw an image on a friend’s Facebook wall.  It was shared from a radio station’s page, presumably a rock station with the references to AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”.

highway vs. stairwayI decided to share it to my Contradict – They Can’t All Be True Facebook page.  To stick to the basic theme of the page, I typically share posts that demonstrate some sort of exclusive statement or contradiction or inconsistency within religious teachings, worldview thinking, or moral codes.  I thought that the image of a highway versus a stairway are very contrasting by nature.  One is typically flat, wide, and fast, whereas the other is typically narrow, ascending, and not fast-going.  Their destinations were also very different.  The fast tract leads to hell.  The steps lead to heaven.

Bionically speaking these places are exact opposites.  Their natures, though both eternal, are contradictory.  Hell is a place of unrest.  It’s a place of fire that cannot be quenched, yet it’s also a place of total darkness.  Agony and misery belong for eternity for those in hell, and there is no hope… just despair.  (Matthew 25:41, Matthew 8:12, Revelation 14:11, Luke 16:24, and 2 Thessalonians 1:9 to list a few verses)  Heaven is a place of eternal rest.  It’s a place of peace.  A place where we will see the Lord face to face.  There will be no hardships, no suffering, no evil, no death.  The glory of the Lord shall light heaven forever.  (Revelation 22:4, Revelation 7:16-17, and Revelation 21:23-25)

From what we know in Scripture, the only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ.  (John 14:6) Those who believe shall have eternal life and those who do not shall be eternally condemned.  (John 3:36).  There is no other name than Jesus’ by which we can be saved. (Acts 4:12)  With this in mind, all roads besides the path that Christ provides must lead to hell, that is if the Words of the Bible are true, which I most certainly do believe to be the case.

Jesus spoke of a broad road that leads to destruction. He says that many enter through it.  (Matthew 7:13)  I think the many religions of this fallen and depraved world make up the lanes of this massive highway to hell.  Jesus also spoke of a narrow road that leads to heaven. He said few find it.  (Matthew 7:14)  Elsewhere Jesus speaks of a great wedding banquet to which many are called but few are chosen.  (Matthew 22)  From Jesus’ words we can see that it does appear that many more will be in hell than those in heaven.  Simply looking at the number of Christians in the world compared to the number of non-Christians, this certainly appears to be the situation.

To further support the Biblical nature of this radio station’s image, Scripture does speak of a “Stairway to Heaven”.  It’s found in a dream that Jacob had at Bethel.  (Genesis 28:12)  Jesus later references this dream and places himself into the dream as the “Stairway to Heaven.” (John 1:51)  In other words, Jesus is the “Stairway to Heaven”.

Based on the Word of God, I take the stance that it is a fact that there’s a “Highway to Hell” and a “Stairway to Heaven” and as their descriptions imply, many more will take the highway.  Though these are song lyrics, it doesn’t mean they don’t echo the truth of Scripture in some ways.  I shared this image on Facebook and then wrote this blog post to encourage us to consider the road we are on and to note that there is still time to change the one you’re on if it’s the highway.  And if you are on the stairway, it’s time to start inviting more people to Jesus.

Support me through seminary – Place an order with question that I’ll answer via a Youtube video. 

Andy Wrasman1 Comment

Is it OK for Christians to Have Doubts?

A student of mine wanted to write an apologetics paper on the role or place of doubts in the life of a Christian.  He wanted to find an answer to the question, “Is it OK for Christians to have Doubts?”

His conclusion after reading non-Christian and Christian sources was that one will still be saved even if that person doubts his or her salvation in Christ.

Here were his arguments:

1. Doubting your salvation is actually good!  Doubting leads one to grow spiritually and intellectually, because a doubter will want to know the answer for the doubt, and through the research can increase trust or connection with the subject he or she had doubt.  For Scriptural support, he cited 2 Cor. 13:5.

2.  There is no reason to doubt your salvation.  Doubts show a lack of understanding, but God has revealed all that we need to know for our salvation.  “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).

3.  Salvation is important to any religion and every religion includes doubts as an important step to reach their goals.  Overcoming doubt in Hinduism is an important step to reaching moksha.  Buddhism calls for believers to overcome their religious doubts.  His conclusion here was, “It is important to know how other religions take care of this problem because by knowing those religions, one can increase interactions with other religious believers and convince them to become Christian since it is easier for people to move towards Christ if they know that they can still have doubts and be a Christian.”  It thought this was an interesting point.  Other religions require a person to overcome doubts for salvation.  Christianity allows a believer to still have doubts.  It’s a more inviting offer.

4.  God will always love you and tries to save you even if you are unfaithful to Him.  2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he [God] remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.”  Luke 11:10 says, “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.”  The student concluding this point by quoting John 3:16 and saying, “Even though we have sinned too much that we should be eternally separated from Him and put to death, He still saved us and took our punishment upon himself.”

The final conclusion was “you will still be saved even if you doubt your salvation as doubting is an integral part of growing faith in God and trust in the Bible, which is the only source that answers questions beyond our natural knowledge.  This student also stated that this research has “made it easier for me to invite more people to Christ because Christianity is the only religion that only requires faith for salvation, while still allowing a person to be saved even if they have doubts.”

I’ll keep the student’s name anonymous, but I’d also like to share that he is a Japanese international student.

Andy Wrasman2 Comments

Reconnect 19. How Do I Know I Am A Christian?

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Reconnect Episode 19

Who is a Christian?  How do you become a Christian?  And how do you know for sure that you are a Christian?

If one is really a Christian, that person is really saved!

But how would you know for sure that you really are a Christian and that you really are saved?

In other words, where do you look for assurance that you are a Christian, that you are saved from eternal death?

Kevin DeYoung wrote an article for The Gospel Coalition entitled, “How Do I Know That I’m A Christian?”  He gave three signs that a person can use to have confidence that he or she is saved:

1. The first sign is theological. You should have confidence if you believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God.

2.  The second sign is moral. You should have confidence if you live a righteous life.

3.  The third sign is social. You should have confidence if you love other Christians.

Andy, George, and Wes discuss these three signs that DeYoung offers by using verses from 1 John that should serve to give us confidence and not condemnation.

All three of us disagree with DeYoung on the moral and social signs.  We say that using such signs will only lead us to despair and utter lack of assurance of salvation.  Turning inwards to our own morality and not outwards to the work of Christ for assurance of salvation can dangerously strip Christians of certainty that they are saved, lead to a distortion of the Gospel, and lead many into Christian legalism.  This is a dangerous road and we do our best to explain why we should not use these as signs that we are saved by looking at the Scripture verses DeYoung cites in his article.

Additional Show Link: “Sola Fide: Luther and Calvin” by Philip Cary

Andy Wrasman6 Comments

Reconnect Episode 13: God Is Too Big To Fit Into One Religion!

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Reconnect Episode 13
Do you want to have this conversation with your friends, small group Bible study, or class?  Here is the discussion guide that was used in this episode, free for your use: “No Religion Can Contain God!”. Please consider giving a shout out to Reconnect, andywrasman.com, and contradictmovement.org if you choose to use this discussion guide.  Thanks.

Andy Wrasman1 Comment