Ritual Immursion (The Origin of Christian Baptism) Many thousands of people have died over the issue of water baptism. It is not my intent to further such strife within the Church. With great reluctance I wish to consider baptism as it was formerly known as 'ritual immersion'.
The Innovation for Novation (the Origin of 'Clinical Baptism')
Pope Cornelius I wrote that as Novatian was about to ...read
Sanctification in Shoe Leather (Is 'death' the savior?) Some Final Observations 1 The Total Sanctification defense of doctrine teachings, I found, were long ramblings of philosophical rhetoric that answered few questions from scripture and have done very little to make me any holier. Repentance teachings based upon the premise that men ought to live holy and get right with God have served to change my heart over the years and es ...read
SARX (the "flesh") SARX (Various senses of the word commonly translated as "Flesh")
Strongs Definition:
NT:4561 sarx (sarx); probably from the base of NT:4563; flesh (as stripped of the skin), i.e. (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body (as opposed to the soul [or spirit], or as the symbol of what is external, or as the means of ...read
SEVEN MYTHS OF REPENTANCE (Myth #1 & #2) THE REPENTANCE GOD REQUIRES
By Robert Wurtz II
(Part I)
A) DEFINING REPENTANCE
1) Walking With God
The concept of repentance is found throughout scripture as God's commandment to man to turn back to the path of walking with Him and in His ways. We read of the voice of God walking in the cool of the day Genesis 3:8 as the first example of ...read
SEVEN MYTHS OF REPENTANCE (Myth #3, #4, & #5) 7 Myths of Repentance'
(Part III)
By Robert Wurtz II
C) MYTH #3 PENANCE IS REPENTANCE
1) Penance
Penance is voluntary self-punishment to show repentance. Penance is not something generally found in Protestant circles in the west. Some may ‘afflict' themselves for a time hoping to gain God's approval through some type of ‘work', but th ...read
SEVEN MYTHS OF REPENTANCE (MYTH #6 & 7) MYTH #6 REPENTANCE CAN BE SELECTIVE
In Richard Owens Roberts section on 'Seven myths of Repentance' he states, 'When anyone resorts to selective repentance, the tendency is to repent of the glaring matters, the things of which everyone knows he is guilty. There is no potential for selectivity in genuine repentance. Even if someone in your chur ...read
Sowing to the Flesh When it comes to having the Jews understand the reality of the Gospel, it is important to realize that the 'light' of the law that would be their schoolmaster and lead them to Christ has been veiled by the Oral Law and the Talmud. What light may have seeped out is then governed by the Rabbi's who are in authority in Rabbinic Judaism. So the issue b ...read
Talmudic Revisionism And The Struggle For Authority Because of 'Talmudic Revisionism,' little is left to be known of the various competing sects of Pharisees that struggled and ultimately lost to that elite group of Pharisees within the Pharisees under Yohannan ben Zakkai. Little is ever told about the many 'Judaisms' that existed before the destruction of the Temple. History is often told through t ...read
TEN KEYS TO TOTAL VICTORY (Introduction) TEN KEYS TO TOTAL VICTORY
(By Robert Wurtz II)
INTRODUCTION
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
(I John 5:4-5)
It is God's will that Believers walk and live in victor ...read
TEN KEYS TO TOTAL VICTORY (Key #1 LAY ASIDE YOUR WEIGHTS!) TEN KEYS TO TOTAL VICTORY
(Key #1)
The Key to Laying Aside Your Weights...
Hebrews 12:1 teaches us that there are weights that serve as an encumbrance in our spiritual lives, and sins also that easily beset us. The word beset could have been translated as compete. The Scripture would then read...the sin that does easily compete against ...read
THE "ROBBERS" The "Robbers" (Gk. les-tes) as we touched on in the previous study was the preferred term to describe participants in the Jewish Freedom Movement by Josephus. This sheds much light on the Gospels and the crucifixion of Jesus. When the temple guards came to get Jesus He asked them the question "48 "Am I leading a rebellion," said Jesus, "that you ha ...read
The 613 Laws of the Old Testament Paul said that if righteousness could have come by the law it would have; but it cannot. As it is written... Galatians 3:21 "Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." All the law can do is lead us to Christ and teach us a ...read
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious (Galatians 5:19 NIV). Obvious? Wherein could they not be known?
In response to your question as to who I am referring to with the issue of pride and resistance by God- it is for ANY reader who may think they stand, or pretend to stand, and yet have secret sin in their life. Only you know if this is true; but knowing the word of God as I do I understand full well what ...read
THE ASSASSINS (Sacarii) In Matthew 24:2 Jesus asked... "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." (NIV) Jesus knew what was coming and it was total devastation. After the death and resurrection of Christ- the Zealots and the Pharisees were still at work. The Church in Jerusale ...read
The Birkat ha Minim According to the Encyclopedia Judaica there were 7 different types of Pharisees (Perushim). Two of them were after the order of Abraham and Job and the other 5 were hypocrites (?). The Pharisee's that fled to Yavneh would likely have included no Nazarenes as they were deemed a heretical sect within Judaism along with many others.
Note some thin ...read
The Church Heads West An Introduction to the Issues (Part I) Hellenism (A Few Issues)
When Alexander the Great conquered the then known world the language of Greek spread throughout. This was convenient for the spread of the Gospel and was prophesied through Nebuchadnezars dream centuries before. Jews from the Diaspora were living in a Greek culture and were speaking the Greek language. This gave rise to ...read
The Church Heads West An Introduction To the Issues (Part II) PHILO JUDAEUS 'Philo of Alexandria' (20 BCE - 50CE)
Philo Judaues was a Jew and a contemporary of both Jesus and Paul. He was a native of Alexandria, Egypt. He received the best Jewish education, and was trained also in gentile learning-grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, geometry, poetry, music. Having been wealthy he was enabled to devote his car ...read
The Conviction We Need! The Necessity of Holy Ghost Conviction
In order for any person to be genuinely CONVERTED they must first be genuinely CONVICTED of their sin by the Spirit of God. I personally believe that the lack of genuine conversions in our day can be traced directly back to a lack of genuine conviction of sin. The lack of conviction is the result of Christi ...read
The Cross as a Sword In 312, the Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great was in Trier,
Germany where he had a vision of a cross (X) that appeared in the sky with the words, "In hoc signum vinces" ("By this You Will Conquer"). The Emperor was greatly influenced by the apparition and encouraged his 20,000 troops for the upcoming bloody battle against Maxentius and his 10 ...read
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE (70 CE) It is hard to imagine how beautiful and awesome that the Temple actually was in the first century. So many times we think the "upper room" may have been in someones attic, etc. The Temple was quite a site to behold for those who were there. We, some 2000 years later only have the detailed models and 3D animations to go on. Just seeing them is awe i ...read
