Thoughts of Josh Dryer

The Bible is very clear that both of these ideas are at work in our lives. In His writings, Paul clearly uses the word “predestined” when referring to God’s actions towards the lives of men. So we must believe that God has set an order of events, a destiny if you will for His great creation. We must also accept, however, that God has created mankind with a free will. It was Adam and Eve’s choice to sin against God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). Joshua challenges the Israelites to choose who they will serve at Shechem (Joshua 24:15). All throughout the New Testament the Gospel message is preached and men and women make decisions to follow Christ. Knowing that each of these elements are present in our existence, how do we understand them? Romans 8:28-29 is perhaps on of the most debated passage in the predestination/freewill debate. Origen, an influential writer of the early church age wrote this passage about Romans 8:28-29. “Let us, then, attend to the order of these statem...

Many believers have often questioned the meaning behind what is referenced in parallel in Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10, and Matthew 12:32 which state that someone can commit an unforgivable sin by blaspheming the Holy Spirit. There is a popular movement amongst an atheist group called the Rational Response Squad who have issued the “blasphemy challenge” to encourage people to publicly state that they deny the Holy Spirit. They encourage this because they think that this means that a person can never be forgiven by Christ and thus not saved. In my opinion, it seems like they are expending a lot of energy speaking against someone who they believe does not exist! Anyway, upon a careful examination of this text we find the real meaning behind what Jesus was saying. At this particular moment, Jesus is talking to a group of men called Pharisees. They were one of the strictest sects of Judaism. He had been showing them who he was through miracles, wise teaching, and fulfillment of prophecy fo...

While I was preparing this week to be on a panel for the discussion of theological issues I came across a very difficult question that pushed me to spend some time solidifying my own doctrine on a certain issue. The question came from a student in our youth group: "How can a person who has never been exposed to the gospel (through no fault of his own) be expected to come to a saving knowledge of Christ?" This simple question has been discussed for centuries and divided denominations since the first denomination was formed. Dr. Ken Keathley, now a professor at a Southern Baptist seminary wrote an interesting work on this very question. His paper delineates the differences between the three schools of thought on the issue presented. The excerpt presented below is from his paper titled, "None Dare Call it Treason: Is an Inclusivist a Paul Revere or a Benedict Arnold?" appearing in the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry, Vol. 1 No. 2. "Exclusivism holds that...

I will be posting a topic shortly for discussion. May our discussions glorify our Lord and help each of us to better understand Him through an accurate investigation of His Word.