Category: legalism

What does Abstain from the Appearance of Evil mean?

We must however, make a dividing line that what is ‘evil’ is not a grab bag of inventions, ideas and opinions. In this study we’ve looked closely at what Scripture declares evil. As the late R.C. Sproul said in a video titled The Idolatry of Legalism, he succinctly said that when you add anything to God’s commandments, you are ultimately taking away from them.

Convinced, or Convicted?

I recall a woman telling me about taking her son to a football game for the first time who had to leave early in a panic attack, because she had been convinced for so long that if Jesus came back for his Bride, and you were at a ball game, you would be left behind! “For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power, and love and self control.”

Book Review: Facial Hair, A Christian Perspective

Clearly, the theme is to superimpose the man-made commandments and principles of the Oneness Pentecostal Church/Holiness movement over Scripture, blatantly admitting this isn’t something God dealt with personally. Knowing that Scripture is the more sure word of prophecy, I tend to believe if God meant for this to be an issue, He would have been wise enough to deal with it.

Justified by Faith, Alone

And how eye-opening it is, not as a freedom to skip obedience, but as a reason to be obedient, when we read, “of the righteousness he had by faith, while he was still uncircumcised.” His obedience is not what merited grace, or righteousness, the grace he received is what motivated Abraham’s, and now our, obedience!

What is Biblical Modesty?

And to them, modesty had nothing to do with trimming an inch of split ends, or short vs. long sleeve shirts, or pants vs. dresses (pants and dresses weren’t even invented then…) Modesty was decorum – it was having controlled and honorable character and behavior, and where that really matters, is in the public eye.

The Commandments Of Man – Vain Worship

Isaiah 29 is nearly verbatim to the condition of Israel in Jesus’ day. The people were hypocrites, doing lip-service to God but in truth, they were creating a system of fear-based on their own traditions, as if they were the commandment of men. 

Please stop talking about Jezebel…

What I actually want to stop talking about, so I’m going to talk about it, is the efforts to use Jezebel as the foundation for the house of cards within the Holiness movement as the anti-makeup and jewelry monument (idol). A statue erected and constantly glorified across pulpits to disparage and to dissuade the usage of such things.

Should your Denomination Tear Apart Your Family?

That would make God very contradictory and, as Christians, we do not believe He contradicts himself. So – we realize our understanding must be wrong. So what did Jesus really mean? It may honestly require another study to fully dissect this passage completely, but the very basic sense, knowing Jesus was a Jew and the entirety of His audience were Jews, was that Jews who converted to Christianity would be hated by those who rejected Christ.

Being Led by the Spirit

For those of us in this walk of Faith, being led by the Spirit of Christ is important. It’s a central point of our spiritual/Christian journey. In fact, it’s a central theme of the New Testament and the highlight of the Gospel message. In His humanity, Christ prayed, “Not my […]

Is Malachi 3 after the New Testament Church? Are we misusing it?

To me, it has become abundantly clear, that the use of Malachi 3 to teach and propel a message of Tithing into the New Testament church is a misappropriation of Scripture. While Paul taught clearly in II Corinthians 9:6-7 that God loves a cheerful giver, and that our reaping will be commensurate with our sowing, he equally taught that our giving was no longer obligatory (tax, tithe) and that we were to give as we felt led to in our heart.