BiblicalQuestions.net

The question of whether Pharaoh hardened his own heart or if God was the one who hardened it has been discussed for centuries in the Christian world. The answer to this question is simple, but it calls for a thorough review of the scriptures which address it. In scripture we find places where it tells us "Pharaoh  hardened his heart" and other places where it tells us "God hardened Pharaoh's heart." So the simple answer to this question is, "both Pharaoh and God played a role in the process." In this article I will seek to unravel the way that this process happened and how it testifies to God's patience and sovereignty as well as the free will that He has given to us as human beings. Let's begin with looking Chronologically at the hardening of Pharaoh's heart: 1.) Exodus 7:13- "Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said." 2.) Exodus 8:15- "But when Pharaoh saw that

Acts 2:37-38- "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." So the first question that comes to my mind is which component provides the remission of sins "repentance" or "baptism" or "both?" In order to avoid conjecturing I begin to research other parts of God's Word that my shed some light because Peter doesn't take time to specify the full meaning in his discourse. I want the Biblical answer not the personally formulated answer. So I begin to study the word regarding the phrase "remission of sins" and find many scriptures: Matt. 26:28- For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Acts 10:43- To him gi

Every year as we make our way toward Easter many people wonder what day of the week Jesus actually died on. The reason being is that Jesus said that He would spend three days & three nights in the grave before rising (Matt. 12:40) but we celebrate His crucifixion on Friday and His resurrection on Sunday, which adds up to only 1 and 1/2 days. People who support the view that says Jesus was crucified on Friday cite Mark 15:42 which says that Jesus was crucified on "the day before the Sabbath," and the Jewish Sabbath has always been on Saturday. But this still leaves the problem of Jesus saying He would spend 3 days and 3 nights in the grave. The key to understanding what day Jesus was crucified on is to understand that "High Holy Days" were considered Sabbath days also. John 19:31 tells us that Jesus was crucified on the day leading up to Passover which was a "High Holy Day (Sabbath)." Based on the 3 days and 3 nights time table that Jesus gave us we

It has always seemed a bit odd to me that the Evangelical church has become so divided and contentious over something that the scripture speaks so clearly about. It could be that people think speaking in tongues sounds weird, or they were taught by somebody that it was of the devil, or they were so perplexed by it that they just assumed it was nonsense. Either way, I will begin this article by stating that speaking in tongues is certainly Biblical. Why? Because it's in the Bible, was clearly practiced by the early church including by the Apostle Paul, and we find no evidence in scripture that it's use in the local church body has ceased. Many questions surrounding the topic of speaking in tongues are often discussed: Is it still for today? What about pagan cultures that "speak in tongues" during their demonic rituals? What types of tongues are there? What does speaking in tongues do? When is it appropriate to speak in tongues? How is speaking in tongues related t

I've noticed a trend among Calvinists in which they appealed to Romans chapter 9 as their foundational reason for accepting Calvinism, I also noticed that they interpreted all of the "problem texts" for Calvinism in light of their misinterpretation of Romans 9. My question would be, "is it possible that this so-called proof text (Romans 9) for Calvinism is being misinterpreted by Calvinists and therefore causing them to err in their overall interpretation of God and His Word?" I think the answer to this question is yes and I intend on showing why in this post. Let's begin with the first 5 verses: I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the gl

There are two bottles of juice in your refrigerator. One was recently purchased from the grocery store; the other has expired by several months and remained in the refrigerator unnoticed due to other items blocking it from view. All the common dishes are currently in the dishwasher washing, so you are forced to use the delicate "special occasion" glasses stored on the top shelf of your kitchen cabinets to have a glass of juice. The first glass you pour is from the newly purchased bottle of juice. You carefully pour the juice into the glass handling it with care, you also slowly set it down on the table as you recline and consume the flavorful beverage. It was so refreshing that you went back to the refrigerator for another glass. This time you accidently used the expired juice to pour a glass to drink. With the same caution as last time you sit down at the table ready to have another refreshing glass. You pick up the delicate vessel of juice, you take a large gulp.... Uu

A few months ago myself and three other pastors from my church were meeting to decide on the wording for a brief statement of faith that we wanted to start reciting at the beginning of our Sunday morning services. At one point I suggested that we use the word "justification" in one of the sentences, another pastor quickly looked at me and said, "do you know how many people don't even know what that word means?" What he said caught me by surprise, but as I thought about it I began to realize that he was probably right. This dilemma began to roll around in my thoughts for the next couple months until I finally decided that I needed to write this blog. So here it is, I am going to take some time to explain what justification is, it's repercussions, and why it is so crucial to understand as believers. Justification is the declaring of a person to be just or righteous. It is a legal term signifying acquittal (Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical The