Sinners & Saints

7 comments so far

1. Jul 14, 2006Cliffton Towne   #

   Regarding your argument from Numbers, who are the individuals being numbered?

   or asked in another way…

   Regarding your statement that “if you don’t have the church as a mother, you don’t have God as your father”, who defines who? Does the “father” define the “mother” or, does the church define God?

2. Jul 17, 2006Rev. Movses Janbazian   #

   The individuals numbered are not only the soldiers, the group which is prominent, but all the people. This is seen from the fact that Moses places judges/rulers over the people based on a census. (Ex 18; Dt 1) From this we glean a principle which we see present in the New Testament, that the members of the covenant community are known to the Elders, and are cared for by the church. (Act 6; 1 Tim 5)

   Regarding “the church for a mother”: this phrase is based on calling God Father. God defines himself as Father. The church then understood herself as the instrument in the hands of God which would continue to call in and minister to the covenant community, the children whom God has chosen and adopted through Jesus Christ. The issue of hypocrites and apostates in the church is not addressed in this formulation.

   Here, the concern is with those outside the church who will not be numbered with the church, who will not submit to the Elders who are called by God to serve. and yet go around calling themselves Christians, and leading others astray. They are being warned that they have no part of God as their Father, if they continue to deny the role of the church, the bride of Christ, as the instrument through which God chooses to nourish his people.

3. Aug 18, 2006Alexandra Fantini   #

   What is the meaning of Salvation? If I was to find one verse in the Bible on this question where would I find it?

4. Aug 19, 2006Rev. Tom Morrison   #

   Salvation, according to the Bible, means that a person is saved from God’s anger and reconciled to Him (made friends with Him) through Jesus Christ. There are many passages in the Old and the New Testaments, which speak to salvation. We may look at Romans chapter 5 to understand salvation in terms of the word, “justification.”

   Paul, who wrote Romans, argues in chapter 5 that all people in this world are born sinners. A sinner who is not reconciled to God will suffer eternity in hell. All people in this world are sinners for two reasons. First, they are sinners because the first man, Adam, represents them (Rom. 5:12-17,19). When he sinned, we all sinned and this is true even when we are in the womb. Second, all people are sinners because they have broken God’s Law (Rom. 3:20,23; 5:20). We know God’s Law as it is outlined in the Bible in such places as Exodus 20 (The Ten Commandments).

   Because God is perfect, He cannot tolerate sin. He can tolerate only perfection from people. Therefore, God is angry with sinners and will punish them in hell (Rom. 1:18, 6:23). But some people are saved from hell and God’s anger. God is merciful and just through Jesus Christ, His only dear Son. God the Father punished Jesus on the cross in the place of His people even while they were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). For those who have faith in Jesus alone, they are justified (seen as perfectly righteous – perfect – in God’s eyes) by the shed blood of Jesus, which turned away God’s anger from them (Rom. 5). Furthermore, the Father imputes (credits objectively) Jesus’ perfect life and obedience to the Law to those who have faith in Jesus (Rom. 5:18,19; 2 Cor. 5:21).

   A person is saved who confesses that they are a sinner and has faith in Jesus’ death, which washes away sin. Also, the person has faith that the Father has imputed the righteousness of Christ to them and receives him on the basis of Christ’s work to do the Law and not their own works. The saved person will join a true church in which salvation is described and confessed faithfully. Please see the Three Forms of Unity where salvation is described more fully.

5. Sep 21, 2006Augusto Ancheta   #

   I’ve been listening to Sinners & Saints program through the internet and I would like to support Sinners & Saints. Could you please send me information.

6. Sep 23, 2006Admin   #

   Thanks for the encouraging note, and for your offer to support the show–we’re always excited to hear that people are listening!

   Since we’re sponsored by three local churches, we don’t accept money directly.

   We strongly encourage you to pursue membership in one of these sponsoring churches and give your offerings to the Lord there.

   If you are not in the local area, let us know, and we will help you find a church, or place your contact information in our database which we use to plan future church plants.

   If you are a member of a confessional, Reformed church that is faithfully bearing a true church’s three marks, and you already generously support its local ministry, but you still have a burning desire to support us… then feel free to use the links on our site to get the mailing address of any of our churches.

7. Feb 1, 2007Jeff   #

   I used to attend an Arminian charismatic hocus-pocus church. However, the Holy Spirit kept revealing to me how screwy their beliefs truly are. The more I learned God’s Word the more I was being convicted to leave. An example, the salvation statement for the church stated: “We are saved by the renewal of the spirit, which changes our lives.” Jesus, his blood atonement, his sacrifice and deeds are not even mentioned. The salvation of the elect is spoke against, saying Jesus died for all. According to Arminians, Jesus died for Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin?? I don’t think so. To top it off I actually witnessed an assistant pastor(self-appointed with no real training) pour two containers of water over a drunk man’s head and to declare this man free from sin!!!!!! I thought salvation belong to God? . . .

   Here is my point. In some states, the true believers of the doctrines of grace do not have a reform church to attend. I fully believe every bit of TULIP with my heart. So, where or what church do we attend?. . .