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Pastor John MacArthur has been preaching God’s Word for more than 50 years at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. And while most of his teaching is sound, a couple ideas he promotes are rejected by many discerning followers of Christ. MacArthur's controversial teaching on Lordship Salvation has been addressed by numerous people over the years, myself included. The prominent pastor also espouses the disturbing theory of limited atonement, which states that Jesus did not die on the cross for everyone, but only for believers. During a Q&A three years ago, a woman asked Pastor MacArthur, “Did Jesus die...

When it comes to which of the five points of Calvinism that irk non-reformed Christians the most, my money is on limited atonement. The doctrine of limited atonement teaches that Christ's redeeming work on the cross secured an actual salvation for only the elect of God.If this causes you to grind your teeth in irritation, stop. I’m going to show you why you probably already believe in limited atonement and then provide what I believe to be the definitive argument that puts the issue to bed once and for all.Welcome to the clubUnless you’re a universalist, you already believe in...

The Baptism of Jesus is an event that, in many Churches, is passed over in relative silence. At most, they treat it as an act of obedience or humility. Christ is clearly not in need of repentance (He has no sin), and yet He insists that John should baptize Him. The Holy Spirit is seen to descend and rest upon Him at the completion of this act. That, in sum, is almost everything said about His Baptism throughout much of the Christian world. Not so, in Orthodoxy. The feast of Christ’s Baptism (known as Theophany), is one of the three...

‘“Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of ]tradition learned by rote,( Isaiah 29)The Neo Pharisees make a great pretense of honoring and observing the Torah, but in truth, they lead those who are wrongly impressed with their “piety” into the pit. These are the blind guides Jesus warned us of; the blind leading the blind into the eternal pit of perdition. For example let us look at the subject of atonement by Blood sacrifice. The Perushim, (Pharisees)...

I explore Surah 78, and point out the fatal flaw in Muhammad's eschatology. I describe how the lack of Original Sin-and the lack of substitutionary atonement-doom the Islamic narrative of resurrection/judgment.

Nearly three-quarters of the world’s population adherents of one of the five most influential religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. What disturbs is that most Americans who profess themselves Christ followers disbelieve the pronouncement of Jesus: “I am the way the truth, and the life. No one comes through the Father except through me.” According to a 2014 “Religious Landscape Report” by Pew Research Center, two-thirds of avowed Christians are theological pluralists. They reject the idea that Christ alone is the way to salvation. They believe that “many religions can lead to eternal life.” Including Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism...

This was addressed to the priests and deacons in my parish. Dear Fathers, Here is a video of a good homily by Fr. John Lankeit of the Diocese of Phoenix. It brought tears to my eyes --- anyway I thought you would find it valuable. I have it wound up to the place where the sermon starts, at 18.58 Sermon of Fr. John Lankeit, Diocese of Phoenix We have seen a lot in the news about various bishops talking about new programs,policies, protocols, yadda-yadda but many of us are thinking what we need first is to ponder Sin, Judgment, Atonement....

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth....

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens,...

On His “Glory to God for All Things” blog last week, Orthodox priest Fr. Stephen Freeman posted on the Orthodox perspective on Jesus’ atonement in contrast to the theory of penal substitution (penal substitution is the theory that Jesus died instead of you to take on the punishment due to you from God for your sins). Fr. Stephen argues that even the passages that seem to directly imply “penal substitution” atonement, or at least some form of “satisfaction theory” (i.e. Jesus died as a substitution in place of us to satisfy some demand of God), actually do not inherently suggest...

On this episode, Richard, Sarah, and Jordan discuss different theories of the atonement, comparing mainstream Christian views to the Mormon view.

IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE.--Ephesians 1:11. THE doctrine of the forgiveness of sins is a capital doctrine of the gospel, and is much insisted on by the writers of the New Testament; above all, by the author of this epistle. In our text he asserts that we are forgiven according to the riches of grace; not merely in the exercise of grace, as the very term forgiveness implies; but in the exercise of the riches of grace; importing that forgiveness is an act of the most...

Well, we had 9 degrees this morning, but warming up to 32 degrees later today. Everyone be safe out there on this Sabbath day, and take time to warm your souls and feed your spirits by remembering and worshiping God in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, this day. Drink of the living water. John 4:14 "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

Rosa Brooks serves as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy. In May 2010 she also became Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and then Special Coordinator for Rule of Law and Humanitarian Policy. She is running a new Pentagon office dedicated to those issues. She is on leave from her job as a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. Brooks is known as a columnist (most recently with the LA Times) and at the Pentagon her portfolio has included both human rights issues and global engagement and strategic communication. Her mother, Barbara Ehrenreich, is...

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.(Genesis 4:5-8)Cain offered...

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.( I John 2:10-12)Cain and Abel were brothers. Both of them were strict Monotheistic worshippers also. But that is where the similarity ended. Abel...

Each spring millions of Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of their Lord. In light of the fact that this is one of the most important events within the Christian tradition, it is important for us to examine and understand the spiritual significance of Christ's sacrifice in light of the teachings of past LDS leaders. Philippians 2:7 tells us that Christ made Himself of no reputation and took "the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." Hebrews 2:17 tells us this was done in order that He might make "reconciliation for the sins of the...

… we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (I John 2:1-2)In my previous article, I mentioned that certain evangelicals are currently denying the very heart of the christian gospel, that is, the death of Jesus as our substitute in judgment. The only gospel I have ever known is that Jesus died in our place to pay the price for our sin. On the cross he bore the full penalty under the law of God, and suffered...

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:( I Peter 3:18)Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (1 Timothy 4:1)We are warned in more than one place, that the last days would be accompanied by a defection from the faith delivered “once and for all” to the church by the apostles. It is impossible to defect from that...