petra1000

I am a born again christian who loves the Lord and I am taking bible classes online

Feb

2022

Col 3:22 – Does the Bible support slavery?

Does the Bible support slavery? Skeptics of the Bible often claim that it does. For instance, in their book What the Bible Really Says, skeptics Morton Smith and R. Joseph Hoffman write,

There is no reasonable doubt that the New Testament, like the Old, not only tolerated chattel slavery (the form prevalent in the Greco-Roman world of Paul’s time) but helped to perpetuate it by making the slaves’ obedience to their masters a religious duty. This biblical morality was one of the greatest handicaps that the emancipation movement in the United States had to overcome.[1]
How should believers respond to such claims? Does the Bible support slavery?
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Feb

2022

Col 3:20—Does Paul contradict Jesus when he exhorts children, “obey your parents in all things”?

Problem: While Paul told children to obey their parents in everything, Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37). Surely children should not obey a parent who commands them to curse God, or hate Jesus, or kill their brother.
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Feb

2022

Col 2:16 – Should we keep the Sabbath or not?

Problem: It was the custom of the Jews to come together on the Saturday Sabbath, cease work, and worship God. Of the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20:1-17, only nine of them were reinstituted in the New Testament. (Six in Matthew 19:18, murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; Romans 13:9, coveting. Worshiping God properly covers the first three commandments). The one that was not reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus said that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8).
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Feb

2022

Col 2:11-13 – Does this passage support infant baptism?

Problem: Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong writes,

Paul in Colossians 2:11-13 makes a connection between Baptism and circumcision. Israel was the church before Christ [Acts 7:38; Rom. 9:4]. Circumcision, given to eight-day-old boys, was the seal of the covenant God made with Abraham, which applies to us also [Gal. 3:14, 29]. It was a sign of repentance and future faith [Rom. 4:11]… Likewise, Baptism is the seal of the New Covenant in Christ.’[1]
The Protestant Heidelberg Catechism (Question 74) states:

(Question) Should infants, too, be baptized?

(Answer) Yes. For they as well as adults belong to God’s covenant and community (Gen. 17:7) and no less than adults are promised forgiveness of sin through Christ’s blood (Matt. 19:14) and the Holy Spirit, who produces faith (Ps. 22:10; Is. 44:1–3; Luke 1:15; Acts 2:39; 16:31). Therefore, they, too, ought to be incorporated into the Christian church by baptism, the sign of the covenant, and distinguished from the children of unbelievers (Acts 10:47; 1 Cor. 7:14). This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision (Gen. 17:9–14), in whose place baptism was instituted in the New Testament (Col. 2:11–13).

Does circumcision prefigure infant baptism for believers today?
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Feb

2022

Col 2:8 – Is it wrong for Christians to study philosophy?

Problem: Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception.” This is the only use of the term “philosophy” in the entire Bible, and here, philosophy is given negative connotations. Some fideistic interpreters argue that this implies that reason should not be pursued alongside faith. Does this mean that it is wrong for Christians to study philosophy?

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Feb

2022

Col 2:8 – Does this verse mean Christians should not study philosophy?

Problem: Paul warned here, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit.” Does this mean that Christians should not study philosophy? If so, then why did God give us a mind and command us to think (Matt. 22:37) and reason (1 Peter 3:15)?
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Feb

2022

Col. 1:24 – Was the Cross insufficient?

Problem: Paul writes, “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church” (Col. 1:24). Do believers need to finish the work of Christ on Earth?

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Spurgeon Devotional: