What Is The Bible, Dr. Silas C. Nair
I was born in an orthodox Hindu family. My grandfather was a very religious practicing Hindu and I learned my spiritual lessons from him. Disparity in life, poverty, and the inability of his god to either save him from his cheating relations or to protect him from evils disillusioned me. I rejected idols as of no value. I became an atheist but still continued to be a Hindu. Towards the end of my teenage I moved to Bombay and became enchanted by communist ideologies. Then again, the exploitation of the masses was something that I could not tolerate and left communism also.
I looked for answers to the riddles of life but could find none. I was searching for truth without knowing if there was truth, because all around me I could find only the opposite. Then for the first time in my life I heard the gospel. What impressed me then was the absolute trust of the preacher on the One he was preaching. The next day I went again to hear the preaching. As the Lord opened the heart of Lydia, that “she attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul” (Acts 16.14), the Lord opened my heart also to receive the word spoken and I was gloriously converted.
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Dr. Heny M. Morris
At a time when very few among the evangelical or conservative Christian circles had the courage to defend the biblical account of creation, Dr. Morris [along with Dr. John C. Whitcomb] produced a massive book known as Genesis Flood. In this book the authors defended a 6-day recent creation, and proposed that the Universal Flood at the time of Noah caused a large number of changed in recent times which are erroneously interpreted by evolutionists as signs of old-age creation.
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We continue to be encouraged by those who write to us patronize the Biblical Expositor website www.Bible4U.Info. Some of you sent hundreds of copies to your friends as email attachment, and this has resulted in a very large number of visitors to our site. Join hand with us to see BibExpo going to at least 10,000 in 2007, as against the present figure of 5000.
In the last few months many wrote to me and spoke to me about what they loosely term as “Theological Education”. The basic question was, is formal theological education essential. And with all strength I respond, “yes, it is”.
By “formal” here I mean a teaching and training program that someone plans in advance and administers to a group of people. There is no hint of randomness or ad hoc teaching, but rather there is some system or other. If you are getting alarmed, then don’t.
Right from the time the New Testament pattern church movement started, this has been the pattern both in the church as well as in the home. Men taught of the Spirit spent considerable amount of time to study and reflect upon biblical truths and taught them in church according to a definite plan or syllabus in their minds. Fathers did the same thing in their homes. Every church and every home was a seminary. And that was the generation when young children and young believers were thorough in the Scriptures. Their friends dare not question, such was the vigor of faith and confidence in Scriptures they exhibited. And that was the time when we were known as “The People Of The Book”, true bibliophiles.
Obviously, the situation has changed and few assemblies and homes can boast of systematic teaching. But then what has been lost at the level of the foundation is also manifesting at every other levels. Weakened life and witness is the obvious result.
This should not be allowed to go on. Men motivated by the Spirit, men who have a love for the Word, and who are willing to pay any price need to stand up and become Biblical Expositors both in home as well as in Church. And that will bring in a new era when we shall be a strong witness.
Esteemed readers are invited to send us their suggestions and feedback at Calvin@satyam.net.in Questions for obtaining a Bible-based answer should be sent to silasnair@sify.com
Soli Deo Gloria
Dr. Johnson C. Philip
Managing Editor
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Resisting The World 4, Dr. Johnson C. Philip
Daniel continues to be one of the most favourite books in the Old Testament. The story part attracts the young, while the second half attracts serious students of prophecy. No wonder why many people were motivated to imitate the book of Daniel. Some of these imitations have resulted in several apocryphal stories.
Daniel stands to us as a model child of God, and no amount of description can exhaust the spiritual lessons available afresh from his life for each generation of believers. In the last article we noticed that all spiritual battle is ultimately won in the believer’s mind. Daniel won the first part of the battle when he “purposed in his heart” that he would not defile himself, come what may. His three companions stood with him in this decision. The next stage was to implement this decision, and we read:
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the Prince of the Eunuchs that he might not defile himself (Daniel 1:8).
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Silas C. Nair, silasnair@sify.com
Salvation is received in a very simple manner. Man as a sinner is doomed for destruction. But the God of love sent His Son to pay the penalty on man’s behalf. Jesus Christ died for the sinner and thus paid the penalty. God has accepted this and raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Man only needs to repent of his sin and turn to Christ for salvation. When he does this and puts his faith in Him he is saved. His sins are forgiven and he becomes a child of God. This is salvation as defined by Bible.
In salvation a repentant sinner is justified, which means he is declared as not-a-sinner. His standing before God is changed. He is also regenerated. This means a new life – life not simply of eternal duration, but life of eternal quality – is given to him. He is also adopted into the family of God. This means that he becomes an adult child of God with all the privileges of this position. He is sanctified, i.e. set apart for service to God. The blessings of salvation do not end here. In the plan of God he is already glorified and one day he will change his place to be with God forever in his glorified body.
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We thank all those who continue to write to us and also to patronize the Biblical Expositor website www.Bible4U.Info. Some of you have been sending BibExp to hundreds of your friends, and we are thankful to you. Kindly keep spreading the goodies to all and sundry. Please also remember that the site offers many other free downloads, including Ebooks and MP3 songs. We wish to see BibExp going to at least 10,000 in 2007, as against the present figure of 5000.
For two years I spent a portion of my life in front of a denominational church. And all this time I was amazed to see the eagerness with which people used to visit it as early as 5 AM.
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Dr. Johnson C. Philip
Ask students of any Sunday-school to name their favorite book in the Old Testament, and a large number of them would say “Daniel”. Here is a book that has charmed generations, and the fascination is still not dimmed. Such is the greatness of this book with a mere 12 chapters.
In the last article we noticed the way in which Nebuchadnezzar ordered the training of hostages. Almost 70 noble and royal young people meeting stringent physical and mental criteria were selected. However, the book gives us a glimpse of developments in the lives of only four of them. Perhaps there were many in the group who were more promising than these four, but what resulted in the end was determined not by their inherent abilities, nor by their training, but by what spiritual decisions they made.
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Robert Dick Wilson, Ph.D., D.D.
The late Dr. Wilson was professor of Semitic Philology in Princeton Theological Seminary.
Theological liberalism rejected supernatural miracles and prophecies. Dr. Wilson was raised up by God for the very purpose of silencing such critics. While yet in his youth, he already had a keen interest in languages. Later, sensing God’s purpose for his life, he pursued the acquisition of ancient languages so that he could study ancient historical records of nations accurately, until he mastered at least 45 languages. He was able to understand an additional 50 or so many languages..
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So Great Salvation
By Silas C. Nair, silasnair@sify.com
Man generally has an idea that all is not well with him and that he needs some help from outside source. So, for a long, time he has been trying to find out what is wrong with him. He came up with many answers at different times. A look into all this will serve as a good background to our study of salvation.
Anthropology, a study or doctrine of man, is a very interesting subject. Theological anthropology deals with man in his relation to God whereas scientific anthropology deals with his psycho-physical organism and natural history. But this scientific anthropology is no more scientific than theological anthropology, but merely deals with different aspects of the doctrine of man.
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J Gresham Machen (1881–1936)
Dr. J. Gresham Machen was one of the most articulate defenders of orthodox Christian theology against the liberalizing and rationalizing trends of the early twentieth century. He was trained at Princeton Seminary (once the center of conservative Calvinism), and authored numerous religious texts. Distressed by the forces of theological liberalism, Machen left his teaching post at Princeton to found the Westminster Theological Seminary. In his most important work on freedom, Christianity and Liberalism, he made his case for individual liberty.
He was bitterly opposed and even humiliated by the theological radicals of his time who controlled the media and the organizations of his time.
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