Category: Kingdom Theology

When You Believed

Published on by Christopher C. ChapmanLeave a comment

There is a common teaching in evangelical circles that a person receives the Holy Spirit the very first moment they believe in Christ. Many have never questioned this belief. But when asked for a verse that teaches such a doctrine, Ephesians 1:13 is usually the first mentioned. I am sure there are others, but this verse is the strongest proof text I know of for the doctrine. So let’s briefly consider what it is teaching.

Eph 1:13

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 

Many think that this verse teaches that the moment one believes they automatically receive the Holy Spirit. But actually it does not, as other verses show.

Acts 11:17

If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

In this verse Peter says the Apostles received the Holy Spirit “when they believed.” But we know that though they believed in the Gospels, they didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until Pentecost. So the term “when we believe” does not mean the moment we believed, but as a result of our faith.

Continue reading “When You Believed” →

Convinced of Righteousness (Conviction – 3)

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John 16:8-11

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Lost souls are captivated by sin, so God uses the fear of hell to shift their focus from this world and the pleasures of sin to their need for salvation. It give the sinner the opportunity to put his eyes on eternal things so that he might choose life instead of wrath. But the fear of wrath is not enough to set the soul free from the love of sin. A person who only fears the consequences of sin will not leave sin because it is evil, but simply because it is not worth it. The sinner will begin to hate sin because of its ultimate outcome, but he will still love sin itself. The only way for a heart to be truly freed from sin’s hold on him is by glimpsing the goodness of the One Whom he has sinned against. When a lost soul faces the consequences of sin he realizes his danger, but when he sees to beauty, love and grace of the God he has rebelled against, he begins to see the evil of his sin. Continue reading “Convinced of Righteousness (Conviction – 3)” →

Convinced of Judgment (Conviction – 2)

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Isaiah 66:2b

But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

John 16:8

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment

God by His Spirit destroys people’s self-deception so they can see their sin for what it is. But seeing ourselves is not enough to break the powerful grip sin has on our souls. In order for the allure of sin to be broken people need a glimpse of the eternal consequences of sin. It is one thing to be humbled by realizing we are wicked people. It is quite another to find out that our sin is so offensive to God that He is going to send us to a place of eternal torment because of it. Continue reading “Convinced of Judgment (Conviction – 2)” →

Convinced of Guilt (Conviction – 1)

Published on by Christopher C. ChapmanLeave a comment

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Isaiah 66:2b

But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

Though mankind is corrupted by sin, God has given each person a conscience that alerts them to the sinful things they do in thought, word and deed. Because people are not able to escape this ever-present warning system they spend their lives debating with it and rejecting its testimony against their sin. They prefer to think of themselves as good people, and so they diligently throw out all the testimony to the contrary. They accuse their conscience of bearing false witness and are thus able to prop up their fabricated dignity. In duping themselves they mistakenly imagine that they deceive God as well. And so they are able to live day to day in rebellion against God, all the while imagining that they are more upright than their neighbor. Continue reading “Convinced of Guilt (Conviction – 1)” →

Not by Marketing, Not by Manipulation (Human Sinfulness – 4)

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Acts 18:27

And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace

Acts 16:14

Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.

John 6:44

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

The sinful hearts of men will never consent to leave their sin and follow Christ unless God convinces them of their need for salvation and gives them a desire for it. Mankind is by nature rebellious and at enmity with God, but God is able to make the unwilling willing, and cause the stiff-necked to bow their hearts before His goodness and authority. We can seek to entice people with all the blessings God offers, try to alarm them with warnings of the wrath He promises, or plead with them until our hearts break, our eyes fill with tears and our voice wears out, but without God’s convincing grace, they will remain uninterested, unalarmed and unconvinced. God commands, “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet,” therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord we should seek to persuade men (Isaiah 58:1, 2 Corinthians 5:11). But we must never imagine that our appeals and exhortations have any power apart from the grace of God’s Spirit. We must place all of our hope for success in “the demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). Continue reading “Not by Marketing, Not by Manipulation (Human Sinfulness – 4)” →

Religious Ambition is Worldly Ambition

Published on by Christopher C. ChapmanLeave a comment
Judges 9:54-55
Then he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, ‘A woman killed him.'” So his young man thrust him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his place.
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Men of this world live for this world all the way until the end. Abimelech wanted to guard his reputation after his death. What would his reputation matter while he was burning in hell?! And the reality is that when so-called “great” men perish, people just return to their daily business like those who heard that Abimelech had died.
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Psalm 49:11-12
Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,
Their dwelling places to all generations;
They call their lands after their own names.
Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain;
He is like the beasts that perish.
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The wealthy worldlings of Psalm 49:11 named lands after themselves in hopes that future generations would honor them after their demise. Of course these wicked souls wouldn’t be able to hear the praises of the living while they themselves were weeping & gnashing their teeth in the lake of fire. And in their ambitious insanity they failed to realize that such human praise would soon cease anyway when their admirers died and faced the same judgment they received.
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1 John 2:15-16
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
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This filthy ambition is alive and well in the hearts of worldly ministers in our day. Such men strive to build vast religious organizations as monuments to their own worth & so-called megachurches which they fill up with goats to promote their own glory. Men of this world who use the name of Christ to establish a legacy for themselves in this world will soon awake in hell to find out that they & the world they loved so much are perishing together under God’s wrath.
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Philippians 2:3
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
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Be warned Christian, those who love this world do not have the love of the Father in them. Do not allow yourself to stumble into the same sin of ambition or you will perish with them! Seek the praises of the unseen and eternal God, and despise the praises of seen and perishing men. Don’t be ambitious for this world or your own name, but deny yourself and take up your cross daily; renounce everything that you are, and that you hope to be, & follow Christ wherever He leads!