Antipas

Our most high calling

NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT for the individual believer, the church, or theology, than true knowledge of the Triune God.
On the one hand it is true that unworthy and inferior opinions about God lie at the root of most failings and errors in the church. On the other hand it is equally true that there has never been a real revival in the church in which the fear of God – and therefore high and holy convictions about God – did not play a central role.
It is therefore true that nothing gives a deeper insight into a church, a person or a preacher, than the inner beliefs concerning God. And, let us remember, these beliefs inevitably come to expression – either in words and deeds, or in silence and omissions.

The great gift to believers of the new covenant?

There are many views about what the baptism with the Holy Spirit is. These views are often based on all kinds of strange experiences and the simplistic handling of Biblical statements. Confusion reigns!
This confusion is tragic, especially since the baptism with the Spirit lies at the heart of Christ's reign. And it is unnecessary, because God's revelation is quite clear on this subject.

A few perspectives and implications

Someone once said, "My son, the day you understand the relationship between the Old and the New Covenant, you can call yourself a theologian!"
Wise words indeed, for many of the most serious errors in theology and the church through the ages have arisen from an inadequate understanding of the relationship between the two stages of the Covenant of Grace. footnote1 This unhappy state of affairs continues to this day - and the result is untold misery in the church.
This study makes no claim to completeness. On the contrary, it simply offers a few fundamental perspectives.

Some fundamental truths

No one can understand the Biblical doctrine of reconciliation and God’s plan of redemption if he does not grasp the truth of Jesus Christ’s mediation properly. This concept lies at the heart of God's revelation and is therefore one of the keys that unlock the gospel, in fact the whole Word of God.
The Bible bears witness to Christ. In the Old Testament it is a prophetic expectation that looks forward. And in the New Testament it is an apostolic testimony that looks back. And central to this is the fact of Christ's mediatorship.

An essential perspective on the world in which we live

THE PROBLEM

No one can look through the spectacles of God's standards at himself, the world around him, or the course of history, and fail to be deeply impressed by the universal and disastrous fact of sin.
Of course, the believer should not be surprised, because this is exactly what the Bible teaches. Look at passages like Romans 3:9-20 and Ephesians 2:1-3. In fact, the Bible contains so much revelation about this that original sin and the total depravity of man are among the most basic doctrines of the Christian faith. They are truths without which the Bible cannot be understood.
This leads, however, to all kinds of questions in the minds of thinking Christians. Believers often struggle to make things tally. Why is it that people who live in blasphemous rebellion against God are still tolerated by Him? Why is it that those who live under God's wrath and are on the way to everlasting damnation still receive so many good gifts from His hand? How is it that millions who have not been renewed by the Holy Spirit can have so many wonderful gifts and qualities? What about man's achievements in science, technology and art? What about the dignity and compassion that can still be found everywhere among unbelievers?
Thus: how can a sin-rotten and hell-doomed humanity enjoy so much favour and goodness from the hand of a holy and just Creator?

Some basic principles

When the New Testament speaks about the sanctification of Christians, it does so in two ways. Firstly, it speaks of sanctification as a completed matter (see AH 10). Secondly, it speaks about a continuing, progressive process. This is what we now focus on.   

Continuing sanctification is the process in which a believer, between new birth and death, as a justified sinner, is increasingly redeemed from the depravity of sin and is further renewed in heart, thought, will and behaviour according to the image of God and in conformity with the nature of Christ.   

Actually, we should keep speaking of continuing or progressive sanctification – to distinguish it from sanctification’s completed component. But, for the sake of convenience, we will, from now on, speak only of sanctification.

Part 1 : Its inception and perfection

Sanctification is the process whereby God transforms His elect from their natural, sin-depraved condition into conformity with the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ.

In both Old and New Testaments the concept holy bears the idea of separation - to be, or to be placed, on one side for special use or privilege. From this flows the further idea of moral purity.

A few perspectives on the letters of Revelation 2-3

IT IS STAGGERING to see how many Christians pay little or no attention to the New Testament revelation concerning the church. How few really understand what the local church footnote1 is all about. How few grasp the role she is playing in the outworking of God's eternal plan. O, what has happened to the passion for the church truly to be the church?
There must be few passages of Scripture that are both more well-known and more neglected than the seven letters in Revelation 2-3. Each letter justifies an in-depth study, but there is also value in an overall approach in order to examine the message of the letters as a whole – as we will now undertake.
The truths which this study deals with have made an indelible and life-changing impression on the author, and he believes that many thoughtful readers will experience the same.

A discussion of Ephesians 6:15 and Philippians 4:1-9

IT IS WITHOUT DOUBT AN INEXPRESSIBLE PRIVILEGE TO LIVE IN THIS WORLD AS A CHILD OF GOD. Yet, genuine Christianity always has a component of struggle – against the flesh, the world and the devil. Those whom God has saved, live to the end in this world as strangers in enemy territory.
The well-known Ephesians 6:10-20, which deals with the Christian's armour, is of the utmost importance if one is to remain victorious in this struggle. Unfortunately, there is hardly a passage of Scripture about which more nonsense is taught, with the result that there is much confusion over these vitally important truths. One verse in particular about which there is uncertainty is verse 15, which deals with the Christian soldier's shoes. These uncertainties are mainly due to the fact that the text lends itself to two equally correct but totally divergent possible translations.
So let us take a closer look at this verse. It is important to interpret it correctly. What, after all, is more useless than a barefoot soldier?

Personal, Historical, Physical

A BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTAL

"He has risen! He is not here," is the triumphant announcement of the angel beside the empty grave of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 16:6). If there is one truth that the New Testament seeks to engrave upon the reader's heart, it is that Christ has risen - personally, physically and historically.
The resurrection is dealt with at some length in all four Gospels. And in the Acts of the Apostles it is constantly the focal point of their preaching (e.g. Acts 2:29-32; 3:15; 5:30). This is no wonder, because they had been instructed specifically to do so (Luke 24:46-48) and clearly understood it to be of top priority. Thus, the man to take Judas Iscariot's place had to have been one of their company during Jesus Christ's entire ministry - and his task would be to "... become a witness with us of his resurrection" (Acts 1:22). It is therefore no surprise to find the resurrection as a recurrent theme in the apostolic epistles, where its role in the doctrine of salvation is carefully worked out. Without a doubt the apostles witnessed of a personal, physical and historical resurrection - and regarded it, together with the cross and Pentecost, as the essence of the gospel.