In-Depth Studies Blog

In these days of economic uncertainty and suffering it is good for the believer to have a biblical perspective on what is happening to him. What we are talking about is having a biblical attitude about all of life. What does Scripture say about how we are to view what is happening to us?  Well…. I am glad that you asked that question for Scripture is quite clear on this issue. In Romans 8:28 we are told that everything will work out for our good if we are a believer.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)

The reason that everything works out for our good is because our Father in heaven is controlling everything that happens to us and he is motivated in what he does to us by this love for us and his perfect wisdom. (more…)

Category : Author: Geoff Volker, Theology Applied

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I was doing some reading in Scripture and I came across Numbers 28. This is the chapter that describes the various offerings that must be done in the nation of Israel. There are the daily offerings, the Sabbath offerings, the monthly offerings, etc. Now, to be honest I normally do not find this portion of Scripture very stimulating. I typically race through it to get to something that it is more interesting or relevant. The detailed descriptions of the various offerings that were to be done by Israelites seem not only to be tedious reading but also a tedious way to live. So… how do we make sense of this section of Scripture. It is the word of God and therefore it is profitable for us to study (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The challenge is to find out how we are to view this passage so that we can find a proper application for our lives. (more…)

Category : Author: Geoff Volker, New Covenant Theology, The Bible, Theology Applied

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In Romans 9:22-29 the apostle Paul seems to be giving an explanation to the question of why did God make the non-elect if he had no intention of saving them. His answer is that the non-elect have a part to play in the salvation of the elect. When their role is over then hell will begin. As tough as this answer is my concern is not with Paul’s anwer but with his use of Old Testament scripture to make his point. He quotes Hosea 2:23 and Hosea 1:10 to show that God’s plan has all along been to populate the real people of God with mostly Gentiles. When one looks at the context of both passages from Hosea it is easy to see that the prophet is only talking about ethnic Israel. The Gentiles are not mentioned in the book. But, Paul seems, at least on the surface, to disregard the original context and give the passages a whole new meaning. How are we to understand Paul’s use of the Old Testament? (more…)

Category : Author: Geoff Volker, New Covenant Theology

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At the end of the 6th day of creation God made the statement that Moses recorded, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31 NIV) The goodness of our God’s creation is under attack and it is necessary that we understand our Father’s creation from the point of view of the new covenant era and the law of Christ. (more…)

Category : Author: Geoff Volker, Theology Applied

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All believers in Jesus Christ are ambassadors.  We are representatives for Jesus and have the awesome responsibility and privilege of declaring the gospel message to a fallen world.  The apostle Paul is a great example to us of a bold and loving ambassador who brings the message of  reconciliation to all those he comes in contact with (2 Cor. 5:16-21;  1 Cor. 9:19-23).  However, most of us are not the apostle Paul when it comes to doing faithful evangelism!  For many believers the task of evangelism is one filled with fear, guilt and apathy.  It does not seem to be the joyful privilege that it should be.  My observation is that most believers struggle with doing faithful biblical evangelism to one degree or another. (more…)

Category : Author: Bill Knaub, Evangelism

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I left Phoenix on Thursday morning, March 6 and arrived in Minsk, Belarus on Friday at about 1:00 pm. This portion of the trip I was not accompanied by anyone. I haven’t traveled alone overseas for quite some time. The weekend of my arrival was greeted with unusually warm weather, but then it turned to its customary cold ways. On Saturday afternoon I met with Slava Viazovsky and we had lunch together and talked about his ideas for a Doctoral Dissertation at a school in Scotland where he hopes to work on his degree. In the evening I went to the New Covenant Reformed Baptist Church in Gatava (about 30 minutes south of Minsk) to teach the youth of the church. It was a full house and we discussed the new heart. Oleg leads the group and he is in his early 20’s and definitely has a new heart.

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Category : Author: Geoff Volker, Misc

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Those with appetite for “solid food” are brought to understanding via in-depth study beginning with the last half of Hebrews 6 that “hope [is] like a sure and firm anchor of the soul” [v. 19 (HCSB)] if it rests in the “high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek” (v. 20) — Jesus — and that hope is illusory if it rests in other than Him, the Priest-King.  As Dr. John MacArthur advocated via Hard To Believe:  The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus, the wide gate and broad road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13) is prevalently marked “Jesus”; alas, it’s not Jesus the Priest-King which interests the unregenerate.  Astonishingly, even among the regenerate elect, Truth regarding the Priest-King is quenched; evisceration of the church via concomitant woeful beliefs and practices has been and continues to be the result.

At Hebrews 5:6, remember, the Writer quoted Psalm 110:4:  “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek”.  At 5:12, the Writer lamented:  “You need milk, not solid food”.  At 6:4 – 8, the Writer solemnly warns those satisfied with “milk” of their inevitable curse and burning; faith without appetite is dead (assuming mental capacity).

[Then], the author [] related his readers’ condition to the purpose of God, as evidenced especially in his dealings with Abraham.  In [6:20], the author completes his careful preparaton for the ‘teaching difficult to explain’ (5:11).  He does this by a skilful combination of motifs:  (1) traditional teaching about the resurrection or exaltation of Christ is re-expressed in terms of the entry of a high priest into the inner sanctuary; and (2) the contrast between Jesus’ ministry and that of the OT priesthood is expressed by use of the Melchizedek motif.  This comparison and contrast, both based on exegesis of OT texts, will prove to be the heart of the epistle.

Paul Ellingworth, The New International Greek Testament Commentary ~ The Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 347 – 348 (link previously provided).  The “heart of the epistle” is, indeed, the expostion of its central theme:  The New Covenant.  The Writer

argues powerfully that a new priesthood signals a new covenant.  You cannot graft Christ’s high-priesthood onto that of the Mosaic order.  Nor can the Mosaic priesthood survive under the ‘better covenant’ established in Christ’s atoning blood.  There is a new covenant and a new priesthood, and former things have passed away.

Edgar Andrews, A Glorious High Throne, p. 189 (emphasis sic) (link previously provided).  John MacArthur astutely observed:

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Category : Author: Jim McDermott, The Book of Hebrews

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For the promise to Abraham or to his decendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith [Romans 4:13 (HCSB)].

Was (were) Abraham(’s decendants) promised that (t)he(y) would “inherit the world”?!  Yes … according to the Holy Spirit (!).  Romans 4:13 is the source of such information; nowhere within the Old Covenant Scriptures is any such indication to be found.  Despite progressive revelation, multitudes today confine the promises by YHVH [to Abraham (and his seed)] to the physical land of Canaan [disregarding, of course, Joshua 21:43 ("So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it")].  Jesus’ declaration that “[y]our father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it, and rejoiced[]” is relegated to a “hard saying of Jesus”.

The Holy Spirit, again via Paul (via his letter to the churches of Galatia), informs us – unequivocally — as to the identity of the beneficiaries of the promises by YHVH [to Abraham (and his seed)]; to wit:

Just as Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, so understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons.  Now the Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and foretold the good news to Abraham, saying ‘All the nations will be blessed in you’.  So those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith [Galatians 3:6 - 9 (HCSB)].

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.  He does not say ‘and to his seeds,’  as though referring to many, but ‘and to your seed,’ referring to one, who is Christ (v. 16).

And if you are Christ’s, then your are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise (v. 29).

Lamentably, multitudes today insist that we “make God a liar”, simply/ironically because we believe Him (!); their system-driven theology blinds them to crucial Truth.  Their Israel-centered hermeneutic has wrought/wreaks church-eviscerating doctrines which Dr. John MacArthur rightly recognized as woeful error and, concomitantly, wrote (decades ago) The Gospel According to Jesus.  In response, classical dispensationalists (Dr. Charles Ryrie led the charge), rightly recognizing that doctines such as Jesus’ Lordship are antithetical to dispensationalism, besieged Dr. MacArthur, who then wrote Faith Works/The Gospel According to the Apostles, and proclaimed himself a “leaky dispensationalist”.  Dr. MacArthur, of course, adhered and adheres to the Israel-centered hermeneutic — satisfied to be “leaky” — and is today a champion of those who insist that we “make God a liar”.  Discouraged but undeterred, we pursue Truth.

We’ve seen that the Writer of Hebrews “sets the table” for the “solid food” (5:12) about to be fed to those with appetite for “solid food” {those upon whom the warning (6:4 - 8 ) is not operative [such warning being operative upon those self-satisfied with "milk" (5:12)]} with “God['s ... ] promise to Abraham” (v. 13).  We’ve also seen that we’re to be “imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance[]” and that the key to that clause — which ends the sentence which comprises v v. 11 – 12 — is “the promises”. (more…)

Category : Author: Jim McDermott, The Book of Hebrews

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“Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see my day; he saw it, and rejoiced”.  John 8:56 (HCSB).

“For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by himself”.  Hebrews 6:13 (HCSB).

[The Writer] is saying, ‘Not only can you look around you at the true believers as examples; even Abraham, who lived a thousand years before Christ came to earth, is a model for your trusting in Him.  Look back in your own history and see a man who totally trusted God.’

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary ~ Hebrews at 161.

We’ll “see” next week (Deo volente) how Hebrews 6:13 ff. transitions from table-setting to the “solid food”.  First, though, we must briefly consider the preceding few verses, for they give rise to some crucial considerations.

Hebrews 6:10 is “tailor-made” for Thank You cards and the like given to Christians.  Of course, it’s only the regenerate elect whose past and ongoing service TO THE SAINTS is “remembered” by God; He is no one’s debtor!  Furthermore, such service is “remembered” only when the labor of love is for His name (His merits, His glory, and advancement of His kingdom).  Verse 10 is, of course, compatible with Galatians 6:10; that is, ministry to those outside “the household of faith” is indeed encouraged, but, such is not contemplated via Hebrews 6:10. (more…)

Category : Author: Jim McDermott, The Book of Hebrews

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Here is the critical basis for understanding the epistle [to the Hebrews]; and here is where people often get mixed up, especialy in interpreting chapters 6 and 10.  * * *  The key to interpreting any part of Hebrews is to understand which group is being addressed.  If we do not understand that, we are bound to confuse the issues.  … .  We must always understand what group it is to whom He speaks .  … .  The primary message is addressed to believers.  Periodically, there are interspersed warnings to the [ ] unbelieving groups.  In a masterful way, in a way that could only be divine, the Holy Spirit speaks to all [ ].  He meets every one of their particular needs and their specific questions in this one supernatural masterpiece.

None other than Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr., wrote what you’ve just read [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary ~ Hebrews (pp. xi, xv)]! (more…)

Category : Author: Jim McDermott, The Book of Hebrews

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