In a recent YouTube poll on a channel I subscribe to, the question was asked, “Do you believe in Penal Substitutionary Atonement?” Since I wholeheartedly believe in the Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA) I answered, “Yes, I do.” In reading through the various comments I was shocked at how many people did not know what PSA was. They either had no idea about this doctrine, or, they misrepresented it. Needless to say I spent a fair amount of time trying to help people understand this essential doctrine.

While engaged in this, I came across one individual who insisted PSA did not exist until it was “developed by Anselm in 1100.” He wrote,
“PSA is an atonement theory developed 1000 years after Christ. The idea of God having to kill and punish His son in order to forgive, makes him look like a pagan deity demanding appeasement by a sacrifice. Christ willingly laid down his life as a self-giving sacrifice to take on death and defeat it for us in our place. The sinless one was not subject to death and therefore crushed Satan’s power and took the keys of death back. Christ didn’t become “impure” as some say with PSA. If God commands us to forgive someone without recompense, then why doesn’t He In this atonement theory? … substitutionary atonement was developed by Anselm in 1100. It was first thought of [as the] 'satisfaction theory' then later evolved to be penal in the reformation.”

I tried to explain that not only is PSA biblical, and that the early Church believed and taught it; but this person was having none of it. They knew what they believed and they did not care what the truth is.

I call people like these Eli’s, so named after a friend from years ago named Eli, who once said to me, “You present a good argument Bob, and you have all of the facts, but I have to say, I don’t care what the truth is, I know what I believe.” Bless his heart.

If I had to hazard a very subjective guess as to why so many are against the PSA, it would be that the 16th century Reformers and those who followed in their footsteps believed in the Penal Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ, and they taught it persistently and still do so today. But what about my claim to these people that not only did the early Church teach PSA, but it can be found clearly and explicitly set forth in the Bible? How true is that?


What is the Penal Substitutionary Atonement?
To begin with, let’s take a look at exactly what the Penal Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ is. To do this I plan to lay it out for you piece by piece.

1. We must first ask why PSA is even necessary. It is because we are sinners. As a result of the Fall of Man, every human being is born with a sin nature. Not simply an inclination toward sin, as we can always change our inclinations; but, we cannot change our nature. Sin is inherent in our nature. It is simply who we are. We are not sinners because we sin, but rather we sin because we are sinners.

God has stated time and time again throughout the Old Testament and the New, that because we violate God’s commands we deserve His wrath; and that includes an eternity in Hell with no hope of reprieve. That is the singular penalty for sin. That is what we deserve, and that is what we owe God because of our sin.

2. Jesus repeatedly stated that if we place our sincere faith and trust in Him and in what He has done for us, He will save us from our sins and grant us eternal life (Romans 10:9-10). This is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. But what about the penalty we must pay because of our sin? Nowhere in Scripture do we read that the penalty is simply waived. No. That penalty must be paid.

3. Throughout the Old Testament we see that the penalty that must be paid in order to forgive sin is death through the shedding of blood. Scripture also teaches us that the shedding of animal blood and the death of those animals is not sufficient to forgive sin. In the Old Testament (and beyond for those who live by the law) animal blood and death only postpones the inevitable. It cannot forgive sin, but rather covered it and then only for one year.

4. The only way to pay the penalty for sin is for a human being to be sacrificed for sin, and not just any human being. The sacrificial human must be completely and totally free from all sin from the moment of their conception and throughout their entire life. That excludes me and it excludes you. Now, some people balk at the idea of a sacrificial human. It sounds almost like the Mayans or Aztecs or some other pagan society. But we must remember two things. First, that it is God Almighty, our Creator, who has established that rule; and second that God automatically excluded every single human being except one.

5. Enter God. God is the only one entirely free from sin. But God is not a man, He is spirit, a non-corporeal essence. Enter Jesus, the second Person of the Triune Godhead. He is fully God, the one true God, as are God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. In order for Jesus to be become a sacrifice for our sins, He must first become a human being. Thus, we have the Incarnation where Jesus became truly human, while at the same time remaining truly God. He is the only one ever born that has two complete and distinct natures. He has a Divine nature, and He has a human nature. It’s not that Jesus as God died for our sin, God cannot die; but, Jesus as a human being can and did die for our sin. But how did that work?

6. Remember the penalty we owe for sin mentioned in #1? We are still required to pay that penalty because God requires it. Now back to Jesus. He agreed to take upon Himself our sin (He who knew no sin, became sin), and pay that penalty, our penalty, for sin (He became our propitiation, more on that in a minute). And that is the essence of Penal (a penalty is owed) Substitutionary (He substituted Himself for us in the payment of that penalty) Atonement (where He agreed to be our propitiatory sacrifice).


The Penal Substitutionary Atonement in Scripture and the Early Church
Here are a few of the Scriptures that teach one or more aspects of the PSA:
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. – 2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB95


Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. – Isaiah 53:4-6 NASB95


But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors. – Isaiah 53:10-12 NASB95


And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. – 1 Peter 2:24 NASB95


For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; – 1 Peter 3:18 NASB95


Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” – Galatians 3:13 NASB95


When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. – Colossians 2:13-14 NASB95


Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. – Hebrews 9:26 NASB95

You can find the doctrine of the penal substitutionary atonement in the Letter to Diognetus (c. 125AD), as well as in the writings of Clement of Rome (c.96AD), Polycarp (c.135AD), Justin Martyr (c.160AD), Irenaeus (c.180AD), Clement of Alexandria (c.195AD), Ambrose (d.c.250AD), Athanasius (AD 296-373), Eusebius of Caesarea (d.339), Augustine (354-430), Gregory the Great (d.604), and many, many others. The Christian Church has believed and taught the Penal Substitutionary Atonement of Christ since its inception, and it has done so for the simple reason that the Bible teaches it.


The Propitiation
It seems to me that most of this will be agreed upon by the majority of PSA critics. Where they stumble, however, is the idea that Christ suffered in our place (in spite of the above passages teaching this very thing). This aspect of the PSA is known as the propitiation. Here are three passages that clearly and explicitly teach the propitiation:

Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation (Greek:hilastérion) in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; – Romans 3:25 NASB95


Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation (Greek:hilaskomai) for the sins of the people. – Hebrews 2:17 NASB95


And He Himself is the propitiation (Greek:hilasmos) for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. – 1 John 2:2 NASB95

Propitiation: In the Romans 3:25 and 1 John 2:2 verses above, the word is drawn from the Greek root word hilaskomai (see Hebrews 2:17 above). Hilaskomai (and therefore both hilasmos and hilastérion) means to “placate or appease or to make atonement. In the context of the New Testament, it refers to the act of making amends or reconciling with God, often through a sacrificial offering. This term is closely associated with the concept of propitiation, where God's wrath is appeased through a substitutionary sacrifice, ultimately fulfilled in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.” (Strong’s, Thayers, Bible Hub)

So you can see by these three verses, that Jesus was the propitiation or appeasement for those who believe in Him, taking the wrath of God that we deserve for us, and in our place. And this was all done according to God’s good pleasure, His perfect will (see Isaiah 53:10).


Why is Penal Substitutionary Atonement an Essential Doctrine?
If Jesus did not die in our place, taking our sins upon Himself in our place, as a propitiation or appeasement of God’s wrath; then we are still in our sins, and we still have a penalty to pay to God. A penalty that we will never be able to pay in full, and so will be condemned to Hell for all of eternity.

Furthermore, since the Bible very clearly and explicitly teaches PSA, as we have seen, any Jesus that is not a penal substitutionary atonement for our sin is, quite simply, a Jesus that is someone other than the Jesus of the Bible, the second Person of the Triune Godhead.

If you reject the PSA, then you are rejecting the Jesus of the Bible, and replacing Him with a counterfeit Jesus, who is made in the mind of man, in man’s image rather than in God’s image.


Conclusion?
The Penal Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus, as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of all who would believe in Him, is a thoroughly biblical doctrine. It is taught throughout the Bible, and has been taught by the Christian Church throughout it’s entire history, from the Apostles to the early Church fathers to the Reformation to today. To deny it is to deny Jesus Himself. To deny it after learning what it is and seeing it in the Bible demonstrates a lack of salvation.
If you have read through to the end of this overly long blog post (and I apologize for its length), then you now have a good working knowledge of PSA. If you still deny it, I urge you to repent of that, as well as of your other sins, and place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ – the Jesus of the Bible – for the salvation of your soul.

While on X (Twitter) today, I came across a thread which began with a statement regarding the uniqueness of the Bible. After several people posted their own examples, an Atheist finally chimed in stating the Bible was contradictory. This is a common accusation made by Atheists, yet they have no once been able to provide a single example of an actual contradiction found in the Bible; and, I stated as such in my own posted comment.

In response to me comment, another user provided two examples of what he claimed were contractions (Matthew 27:5 vs Acts 1:18 and Matthew 1:6-16 vs Luke 3:23-38), and then challenged me to reconcile them. He then attempted to hinder my reconciliation by stating, “Reconcile these without making your own assumptions not supported in the Bible please.” In other words I was to reconcile them using only passages found in the Bible. To quote one of my former bosses, “Homie don’t play that game!” You’ll see why as I reconcile these two examples of alleged contradictions.

But first, let me explain exactly what a contradiction is

A contradiction occurs when a statement is presented as both true and false at the same time. In other words, X cannot be X and not X at the same time. A contradiction cannot be proven and logic will prove it false. Clearly then, the examples given are not actual contradictions. They are, however, paradoxes. A paradox is something that at first glance appears to be a contradiction, but logic will prove it to be true and not a contradiction.
Now, on to the examples themselves, and the reconciliation of them using both logic and common sense, as based on the historical context of the passages themselves.

In the first example of Matthew 27:5 vs Acts 1:18, there is nothing contradictory. If one stated he threw the pieces of silver into the temple, and the other stated he handed the pieces of silver to the priests, then there would be a contradiction. Logic tells us, however, that he threw the pieces of silver into the temple, then left and hanged himself.
Using Matt. 27:5 as a foundation, we then look at Acts 1:18 and see that he had acquired the field, and then fell headlong, burst open and his intestines gushed out.

Understanding the beliefs and teachings of the Jewish priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes of that time period we know they would not keep the pieces of silver because they were blood money, initially used to induce Judas to betray Jesus so they could kill Him. So they used the silver to buy the field, and in order to keep their name out of it (and thus avoid any scandal attached to their names) they would have purchased it in Judas’ name.

Although it appears that there is a kind of timeline in Acts 1:18 (he purchased the field and then fell headlong), the passage does not state such. It simply points out two specific actions; the first being that Judas purchased the field, and second that he fell headlong. It does not necessarily mean that one followed or preceded the other, just that they happened.

Logic would indicate that Judas threw the silver pieces in the temple, likely at the chief priests who paid him, then he went out and hanged himself in a field. Jewish law would prevent anyone from taking his body down. They would have left him to be fed upon by birds and wild animals. After time, the body bloated, then, either the weight broke the branch or the cords he used rotted away, and his body fell. Being bloated, he would have literally exploded upon impact with the rocks and earth beneath him. It was then they chief priests purchased that field in Judas’ name. In doing so, as noted they would have distanced themselves from the scandal, and the responsibility for the entire incident would then be placed on Judas and no one else.

Since logic explains the differences between Matthew 27:5 and Acts 1:18, it is a paradox and not a contradiction.

In the second example of Matthew 1:6-16 vs Luke 3:23-38, they are again, not contradictions. In fact, it is quite obvious that we are looking at two entirely different genealogies. Given the fact that Jesus had two parents, each with their own genealogy, this is neither unusual nor contradictory; and both figure into Jesus’ genealogy. Common sense tells us this. The vast majority of biblical scholars point to Matthew as recording the genealogy of Jesus’ earthly paternal lineage through David’s son Solomon; and, Luke as recording His maternal lineage through David’s son Nathan.

The confusion comes about when we see numerous individuals with the same name appearing in both genealogies, or, when two people are listed as being married to the same woman. Understanding Jewish customs and practices of the time resolves these issues. If a man is married, and the union produces no children, then his next oldest brother is obligated to marry his widow in order to produce an heir. As for multiple people with the same name appearing in both genealogies, this is a problem for genealogists even today. After working as a professional genealogist for several years I can attest to this!

As common sense tells us, however, there are innumerable people with the same name, whatever that name may be. There are only a limited number of names to go around, so we end up sharing our names with literally thousands of other people.

So as you can see Dear Reader, there are no contradictions given, only paradoxes, which are resolved when logic, common sense, and an understanding of the historical context are applied to the passages.

UPDATE:
After answering the above two alleged contradictions, the poster added a third alleged contradiction, that of Genesis 6:19-20 vs Genesis 7:2-3. Again, using logic and common sense, these two alleged contradictions are also easily resolved.

As with the two previous alleged contradictions, this too is not a contradiction, but a paradox. In this case, Genesis 6:19-20 is the initial requirement given by God regarding the creatures to be carried on the ark; while Genesis 7:2-3 adds to the initial requirement in order to provide enough clean animals to be sacrificed to the Lord. There are to be two of each creature to repopulate the Earth, PLUS seven of each clean animal to provide for acceptable sacrifices to the Lord; something which Noah did after leaving the ark, see Genesis 8:20-21:

“20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.” (NASB95)

There is such a place as hell. Let no one deceive you with vain words. What people do not like, they try hard not to believe. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to judge the world, He will punish all who are not His disciples with a fearful punishment:
all who are found unrepentant and unbelieving, all who have clung to sin, all who are stuck to the world, and all who have set their affections on things below. All who are without Christ shall come to an awful end. Whosoever is not written in the book of life shall be “cast into the lake of fire.” [Rev 20:15]
I call on all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their guard.

1) Some do not believe there is any hell at all. They think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil of course, rejoices in the views of such people. They help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his old favorite doctrine, “You shall not surely die.”

2) Some do not believe that hell is eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate God will punish people forever. He will surely open the prison doors at last. This also is a mighty help to the devil’s cause.

3) Some believe there is a hell, but never allow that anybody is going there. All people with them are good. As soon as they die, all were sincere, all meant well, and all, they hope, got to heaven. Alas! what a common delusion this is!

Summary: If I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was profitable, and should look on myself as an accomplice of the devil. Beware of new and strange doctrines about hell and the eternity of punishment. Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own.

What you are about to read is really nothing more than documented, easily found, actual history. It is not, however, the altered and somewhat fictional revisionist "history" put forth by the Roman Catholic Church.

Although this is technically not a “false teaching” since it doesn’t actually pertain to doctrine, I feel it is an important issue to address, as well as one that in some ways lays the foundation of what I hope will be a continuing series of articles addressing the false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Thanks to the Roman Catholic church, there is a misconception that is commonly held by almost every person. That misconception is that the Roman Catholic Church and the catholic Church are the same thing. This is untrue, as they are two very different things. The word catholic simply means universal. That’s all. Nothing less, and nothing more. When you see the phrase “Roman Catholic Church” it means the “Universal Roman Church”; and the phrase “catholic Church” means the “universal Church.”

A few things I'd like to point out. First, you may have noticed one obvious difference between the two phrases, and that is the use of a capital “C” versus a lower case “c”. The capital “C” in Roman Catholic Church is a title, a noun. “Roman Catholic Church” is the title of a particular church, one which finds it home and origin in Rome. The lower case “c” in catholic Church is an adjective, not a title or noun. As already noted, it means “universal” and it describes an attribute of the Christian Church. The term “Christian Church” is also a title of a particular church, namely the church that is made up of Christians, or followers of Jesus Christ. This means that every single believer over the past 2,000 years, belongs to the catholic, or universal Christian Church. The use of a capital “C” or a lower case “c” differentiates these two churches.

The second point is that as also already noted, the Roman Catholic Church has its origins in Rome. Not modern day Rome, but the Roman Empire, which existed in full from 753 BC to 476 AD. The Roman Catholic Church is the modern day remnant of the religious branch of the Roman Empire. Prior to 380 AD, when Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, the Christian Church existed alongside the official pagan Roman state religion. Also prior to 380 AD, this pagan Roman religion was subsidized by the state. The state paid for and built the Roman temples and places for the worship of their many gods, as well as supporting all the pagan Roman priests. In 380 AD all of that changed and Christianity became the official state religion. In short, this meant all the pagan Roman priests, and etc., were out of a job. They would no longer be subsidized and supported by the state. In order to maintain that support, the pagan priests became “Christian” priests and the pagan houses of worship became “Christian” churches, ostensibly for the worship of the Christian God, Yahweh.

Following their incursion into the Christian Church, the Romanists began to place themselves in positions of control, beginning with the leader of the Christian church in Rome. This continued on throughout the years, decades, and centuries until about 1563 by which time the professing Christian Church had become almost entirely Romanized, although, there was still a remnant of faithful Christians. Beginning in the 15th century, a reformation of the Christian Church began when men such as John Wycliffe and Jan Hus boldly stood against the Romanization of the Church. Of course, the Romanists denounced them as heretics and sought to murder them. They succeeded in murdering Hus, but failed with Wycliffe. So incensed by his efforts to bring the Church back under the leadership of Christ rather than the leadership of the Pope, that after he died of natural causes, the Romanists dug him and burned his bones and scattered the ashes in a river! Talk about vindictiveness!

From 1545 to 1563 the Romanists held the infamous Council of Trent, which they used to officially establish many of the unbiblical doctrines they sought to impose upon the Christian Church. Of these, one of the most heretical is the doctrine of salvation by faith plus works, which is a direct contradiction of Biblical teaching. In fact, they went so far as to curse anyone who taught justification was only by faith. Of course, since God Himself teaches justification by faith in His Holy Word, the Romanists effectively cursed God with their decree. At this point the Roman Catholic Church, as a separate church from the catholic Christian Church, was born. Just as before 380 AD, there are now two separate and distinct churches, one Christian and one Roman. Removing the word “Roman” from the title of their church, the Romanists have blurred the line of distinction between the catholic Church and the now called Catholic Church. This is the same tactic later used by the Mormons when they changed the name of their church from “The Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-Day Saints”, to simply “The Church of Jesus Christ.” Both groups are attempting to make themselves appear to be Christians; but the reality is, they are not. They are false religions. I will admit, however, that simply changing the name of their church in order to deceive people into thinking they are Christian is far better than their previous methods. These previous methods included theft, torture, slavery, rape, sexual and physical abuse, other forms of intense oppression, war, and even murder. All used by the non-Christian Roman Catholic Church at various times over the past 1,000 years in their ongoing effort to force people to convert to Roman Catholicism.

Please understand the difference between these two different churches, and do not allow yourself to be deceived by the Roman Catholic Church. It is decidedly NOT Christian. Please do not mistake them for Christian. The Roman Catholic Church teaches a different gospel, one of salvation by faith PLUS works; a different god, one who demands people pay at least partially for their own sins in purgatory -- both financially, as well as through physical suffering; and a false Jesus, one who did not die once for the sins of many as God stated in His Word (Heb.9:26-28; 10:10; 1Pet.3:18; Rom.6:10), but who must be re-sacrificed virtually daily by Roman priests around the world (CCC 1367, 1376, 1382).*




*Note: The Roman Catholic Church teaches, via both tradition and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), the Mass is a true propitiatory sacrifice. Though semantically not a second sacrifice, not a re-sacrifice, it is, nonetheless, a perpetual sacrifice. In other words, for the Roman Catholic Church, Jesus Christ is continually on the cross shedding His blood as a perpetual sacrifice for sin. And though they claim in their teaching that it is an unbloody sacrifice, the fact that they believe the cup holds the actual physical blood of Jesus refutes that claim.

Gaslighting is a serious form of psychological abuse, manipulation that is concentrated on making someone doubt reality, and thus making them easier to control. It is based on the plot of the film Gaslight (1940 and 1944 remake). The ten factors of gaslighting are:

1. The person will deny they said or did something, even when you have proof that they have.
2. The person will accuse you of doing things that you know they themselves have done.
3. The person will turn others against you in order to take away your support system.
4. The person will repeatedly tell you that you are crazy, in an effort to get you to doubt your sanity.
5. When talking with the person, you are never right, and they always are (according to them)
6. The person will says things that cause you to always feel like you have to defend reality.
7. The person will cause your trust in yourself and your intuition to begin to erode.
8. The person will cause you to always feel uncertain about whether you’re on good terms with them.
9. The person will always call your feelings and emotions into question, so that you begin to doubt your own feelings.
10. You find yourself collecting “proof” that things actually happened so you can reassure yourself.

H/t Dominee @BlessingManifested [note, although I wrote this, it is based on her original meme]

How Can This Happen In America – Part 2

by Robert Tuttle, III

There are three very important key phrases in these two verses that must be understood. The first is, “confess with your mouth.” This means you fully, unquestioningly, and unhesitatingly verbally agree, with the implication that in verbally agreeing one is also agreeing in their spirit. The second is “Jesus as Lord.” Some translations read, “the Lord Jesus.” Either way it is translated, the meaning is the same, Jesus IS Lord. The meaning is clear. In order to gain salvation, one must verbally agree that Jesus is Lord.

Now, before anyone jumps up and yells “Jesus is Lord!” and think they have salvation, remember that one must also agree in their spirit, their inner person, where truly and sincerely held beliefs are found. And one cannot agree that Jesus is Lord unless they first understand what Lord means. Hint: It doesn’t simply mean “boss of my life” as many people believe it does. The word is translated from the Greek word Kurios (koo'-ree-os), which means “lord,” as in one exercising full and sovereign authority over. It also means “master,” as in one who has complete and absolute ownership rights. Think both sovereign monarch, and also slave owner. Yes, I agree that “slave owner” sounds like a very harsh, cruel, and unloving thing to say about Jesus; however, given that He literally purchased every single person who biblically believes in Him and their redemption with His very blood, it isn’t too much of a stretch to realize that yes, He owns each and every true biblical Christian.

The third key phrase that must be understood is “believe in your heart.” This phrase in the Greek is “pisteusēs en tē kardia” which is literally translated as “believe in the heart.” The word believe, and I want you all to understand this as it is very important to gaining salvation, the word believe is used in the New Testament of “the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher perogative and law of his soul.”1 Therefore, what Romans 10:9 is referring to with this word, is the absolute conviction that what follows in the text (namely the gospel) is completely and unquestioningly true, that God really and truly raised Jesus Christ bodily from the dead.

The word translated as “heart” is “kardia” from which we get our word cardiology as well as a number of heart related terms beginning with the prefix cardi. In English, the term most often refers to the powerful chambered organ in the center of our chest that pumps life sustaining blood throughout our bodies. But not so in the New Testament. Of the some 800 or so times it is used in the New Testament the word kardia never refers to the human organ. Instead it always refers to the center of who we are as a person. That unseen part of us that contains our beliefs, preferences, desires, opinions, ability to make decisions, and so forth. Our mind, our soul if you will. It is who we are beyond the physical body we inhabit. It is therefore absolutely necessary, as in a mandatory, non-negotiable requirement to salvation, that we “pisteusēs en tē kardia,” believe in the heart, our soul, that God raised Jesus Christ bodily from the dead – essentially believe the gospel as absolutely and completely true.

This is a lot to take in! Clearly though, the Bible obviously refutes the commonly held belief among most people that if we say some little pray where we intellectually acknowledge that we are a sinner, and say the words “Jesus forgive me” (or some iteration of that) and ask Him “into your heart” (whatever that means, as it is nowhere in the Bible) then the person will be saved. That is a false gospel that inevitably leads people into believing they say that little “repeat-a-prayer” and then live however they might want to live, in whatever sin they might desire, and still enter heaven. That is the heresy of antinomianism by the way.

No, we must remember the very words of Almighty God, who very plainly and bluntly stated, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the WRATH of God abides on him.” (John 3:36 NASB77, emphasis mine).

Obedience to God, to Jesus, while not necessary to receive salvation, it is the natural and biblically guaranteed result of having salvation from immoral sin and the wrath of God coming upon all immoral sinners. Obedience is the evidence of salvation. As God points out in John 3:36, if there is not obedience to Jesus, then there is no salvation; and, if there is no salvation then those who continue in their sinful immorality have nothing to look forward to other than spending the remainder of eternity in hell, the lake of fire, where the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies. A place of eternal torment, of weeping and gnashing teeth, where the unregenerate are punished eternally for their sins against the eternal God. (see Matthew 25:41,46; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 13:24-28; Matthew 13:40-43; Revelation 19:20; 20:10,14,15; and 21:8). I think the absolute horror of it is simply not grasped by a lot of people.

I sincerely applaud you if you have held on to the end of this rather long (and long winded) second half of this two-part “How Can This Happen in America?” article series. I apologize for being long winded, but I wanted to make sure that you, Dear Reader, have a full and complete understanding of this eternally important subject.




1. THAYER'S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.; Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.; All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

How can this happen in America? IN AMERICA!?!? I mean, I knew things were bad and getting worse. All it takes is ten minutes watching and/or reading the news to tell us that! But Holy Cow! I popped open the news this morning and what do I find? Total and complete insanity! How could this happen? HOW?! Let me share with you the three incidents that slapped me square in the face this morning. I am not going to go into a full blown investigative reporting on each of them, just a brief summary, but as I write about them it is only after several hours (most of the day) confirming that each of them are actually true. That’s how crazy they seem to me. Here we go.

On March 27, 2023 a transgender man (woman to man) entered a private Christian elementary school and began opening fire on the Christians inside the school. When it was all over (are things like this ever really “over”?), three 9-year old little children had been murdered in cold-blood along with 3 adults. The shooter was killed by police. She had also fired on the police as well. A majority of the most vocal among the far-left have been shouting from the roof-tops that while it’s sad children died, the real victim was the transgender shooter, and the transgender community at large.1

On January 6, 2021, a group of people stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to stop legislators from affirming the election (no, I don’t want to argue this here), and the far-left media lost it’s mind. On March 29, 2023, a group of far-left people stormed the Kentucky State Capitol in an attempt to stop legislators from passing a bill, and the far-left media is conspicuously silent. Not one word has been said about it. Not. One. Word.2

In December 2022, a New Jersey mother attended a “Math Night” at her 7-year old daughters elementary school. While there this mother saw several posters, seemingly drawn by small children at the school, that taught and promoted such topics as pansexuality, polysexuality, bisexuality, etc. This mother was shocked that her 7-year old little girl was being taught these things, and subsequently commented about it in her Facebook parent’s group. The post contained nothing threatening, nothing negative about anyone, but simply that she didn’t think such things should be taught and promoted in an elementary school to such young children. Almost immediately the United States military became involved, opening a multi-agency law enforcement investigation into this mother, painting her as a threat. To date, there has been no response from the military regarding the Lt. Colonel who began this investigation which included United States military security forces, state and local law enforcement agencies, other than to confirm that the investigation was being undertaken.3

How can this happen in America? I can only answer, why not in America? As with the larger Western World – i.e. Canada, and the United Kingdom, America has insisted upon, and finally achieved, the almost total elimination of objective morality in our society. And by the way, it’s actually worse in Canada and the U.K. where in both countries you can be arrested and charged for simply reading the Bible out loud4, or even just praying silently in your own mind.5 In America, because we, as a nation, have almost completely eliminated objective morality from the public square (i.e. schools, public areas, government, the home, social media, etc), and replaced with the ever-changing subjective morality of the individual, we have now become a nation, a society of people who reject the concept of thou shalt do no evil, in favor of the concept of “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” This, by the way, was the motto of the satanist Aliester Crowley. Congratulations, America. You have gone from a nation based on Judeo-Christian morality, to an all-in satanic nation.

I guess I can understand why America (and the wider Western World) has abandoned objective morality. It has because it wants, desires, can’t live without the cruelty, wickedness, gossip, slander, lies, and all manner of sexual perversion known to man that it absolutely loves to wrap itself up in, and wallow in. Smearing the filth of it all over themselves like a small toddler with a handful of poop. If you think I am wrong, go back to the beginning of this article and re-read the three incidents mentioned there, and understand that they are less than 1/10 of 1% of similar incidents happening around America and the wider Western World (i.e. Canada and the U.K.).

It has gone on for so long – at least since the beginning of the 19th century and the spawning of liberalism, communism, rationalism, and a re-birth of atheism (at the very end of the 18th century). These movements (for lack of a better term) have from their beginning pushed for the eradication of objective morality in society. Their continual push for what essentially amounts to the destruction of mankind has been long and relentless. From the early 19th century, their forced march through manipulation has taken us all on an incremental journey to the continually degrading chaos we now live in. It has been a kind of “frog-in-a-frying-pan” death that we are now seeing come to fruition.

I am not going to entertain any back and forth on the possible responsibility of any particular political party as I firmly believe both parties are responsible to one degree or another. I believe it is very simply a case of there being a vast number of people in our society, including teachers and professors from kindergarten on up through college and university; politicians, and others right down to the average man and woman who have rejected God in favor of Satan. It’s as simple as that. And because we, as a nation, have rejected God and embraced Satan in a big corporate bear hug we are now suffering the collapse of our nation. In other words, how can this happen in America? Easy. We brought it on ourselves.

Part Two is coming soon, probably tomorrow. Hope to see you there as we learn how to reverse this whole nightmare and hopefully save western civilization!

Sources:

1. The internet is chock full of news and articles concerning the “Nashville School Shooting” and the “Nashville School Shooter” just do an internet search using either term and prepare to be inundated. Fair warning: don’t watch the body cam videos, they are graphic and horrifying. If you decide to look for articles and comments such as I mention, you might try this one: https://notthebee.com/article/trans-activists-are-calling-for-more-blood-after-the-nashville-shooting-heres-how-christians-should-respond

2.https://notthebee.com/article/pro-trans-protestors-in-kentucky-took-over-the-capitol-building-yesterday-weird-how-no-one-is-reporting-it

Also, this just in as I am writing this, it looks as if it is happening in Tennessee as well: https://notthebee.com/article/insurrectionists-are-forcing-their-way-into-the-tennessee-capitol-as-we-speak

3.https://notthebee.com/article/this-mom-is-suing-because-the-military-and-police-got-involved-after-she-objected-to-lgbt-posters-in-her-kids-school

4.https://christianconcern.com/ccpressreleases/first-street-preacher-arrested-and-reported-to-counter-terrorism-for-misgendering-to-appeal-conviction/

5. https://www.foxnews.com/media/uk-woman-arrested-second-time-offense-silently-praying-outside-abortion-clinic

A letter from Divisional Leader Phlegmore to Slugwart, a demon under his supervision (with apologies to C.S. Lewis).

Greetings Slugwart!

I wanted to encourage you to continue in your earnest endeavor to turn humans away from following the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to accomplish this goal, there are three forms of attack that can be used.
The first of these is the direct attack on on God. This is something you seem to be quite proficient at. Whether it is an attack on the existence of God (providing what appear at first glance to be rational and logical arguments for His non-existence); or, an attack on the attributes and character of God. One of my favorite tactics is the over emphasis on God’s attribute of love. I am especially impressed with your use of the “God is love” attack, getting people to focus only on the love of God to the exclusion of His other attributes; and, causing them to view God as some sort of benign grandfatherly type who winks and chuckles at their sin, and automatically forgiving them with a “children will be children” attitude. They have no idea how blasphemous they are being and I love it!
The second of these is an attack on the teachings of God. I personally saw our master use this in the Garden of Eden when he approached Eve and said to her, “Hath God really said?” thus causing her to doubt that God had commanded them to not eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Of course humans have become a bit more discerning since then, and now require a more subtle approach, one that eases into the deception, taking a longer period of time to acclimate the humans to a false teaching. Often this requires the use of intellectuals who do not have a firm biblical foundation beneath them. Apostate “Christian” denominations such as the Anglican church, the Roman Catholic church, United Methodist church (UMC), Episcopal church, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), and others all have such easily manipulated “biblical scholars” (LOL!). Therefore, the introduction of unbiblical doctrines such as Critical Race Theory, Social Justice, LGBTQ+ Theory (or Queer Theory), etc.; and the twisting of biblical doctrines such as women forbidden to be in positions of authority over men, the stern prohibition against any form of homosexuality, divorce for any reason other than sexual immorality, etc., is easily advanced.
A quick note, one method you might try is having a progressive liberal pseudo-Christian group present themselves as conservative or reformed. This is a good way to throw off the true Christians, and especially those who are biblically illiterate. I absolutely love lazy pastors who try to be seeker sensitive and culturally relevant. They are so easily manipulated!
The third of these is an attack on godly pastors, preachers, and teachers. If they will frustratingly insist on soundly teaching the whole of God’s Holy Word – all 66 books, and doing so exegetically, expositionally, then this is the only attack that can work. It won’t stop them from being biblically accurate, but it will cause others, especially those immature in their faith, and biblically illiterate, to run away from them. To view them as “heretics” and “wolves” (even though they aren’t), and otherwise disparage them. I have personally found this to be a very satisfying pastime, and I am sure you will as well. This works on the well known and also the not so well known pastors, preachers, and teachers. One of the best outlets for this type of attack is the internet. Make use of social media. Find an easily manipulated internet personality such as a YouTube influencer or a blogger and use them to attack your target. Better yet, find an internet discernment ministry and use them. No not a real discernment ministry, but one of those “heresy hunters” that are eager to find heresy among the more well known pastors, preachers, and teachers so they can take then down a peg or two, yet have no real understanding of the Scripture, or even of Christianity itself. Quite often you will find they have been manipulated in the past and so are more susceptible to it now.
That’s all for now Slugwart, just be encouraged that we are all in this together, and we have no intention of stopping our attacks on the Triune God, on His Bible, and on His followers.
Your Divisional Leader,
Phlegmore