Volume II

For this Second Edition of this Workbook, all of the studies have been reviewed and expanded, with much new material and new studies added. This book is Volume II of a two volume set. The first volume covered the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. This second volume covers controversial theologies, cultic and aberrant doctrines, and ethics and the Christian life.

Controversial theologies are areas of theology in which conservative (a.k.a. evangelical) Christians disagree. Cultic doctrines are teachings of groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons that are outside of the norm for evangelical Christianity. Aberrant doctrines are false teaching that are taught not by one specific group but are widely circulated on places like the Internet. Ethics are moral issues in which there is a specific conservative Christian stance. The Christian life refers to lifestyle issues and decisions that many Christians struggle over.

The author’s viewpoint is best described as evangelical Protestant, with a Reformed-Baptist perspective. The format for most of these studies is to present both the Scriptural evidence for the author’s viewpoint and the evidence cited by those who promote “opposing viewpoints.” Then rebuttals to these opposing viewpoints are given.

Included in each study are hundreds of Scripture references, so there will be no lack of material from which to conduct your studies.

An extensive list of resources consulted in developing these studies is included in an appendix. These resources can then be pursued if the reader wishes to study a subject in even more depth.

Note that the Scripture Study count in this volume continues from Volume I. That volume had 20 Scripture Studies, so the first study in this book is #21. But the page numbering starts with page 1 as normal.

The sovereignty of God refers to “God’s rule and authority over all things” (Erickson, Concise, p. 157). On this general point all evangelical Christians are in agreement.

God can and does control the human will. As such, God is absolute Lord over human history in general and individual destinies.

God could control the human will but chooses not to do so. God is Lord over human history in general, but the destiny of any particular person is determined by the exercise of that person’s own “free will.”

God is incapable of controlling the human will. As such, He is not Lord over human history or over personal destinies. Human “free-will” or “chance” are the ultimate determinate factors. But God is doing the best He can to bring about good in the world.

The author of this book agrees with the Calvinist position and believes the following passages support this view. These verses also demonstrate God’s absolute sovereignty in other areas. Studying these verses will help the reader to decide if this is the Biblical position. Whatever position is taken, one thing should become clear—the concept of the sovereignty of God pervades the Scriptures.

Elsewhere in the Torah:

Genesis 20:1-6; 30:27; 31:1-16,42; 35:5 (cp. 34:30); 38:7-10.

Exodus 4:11; 21:12f; 23:27; 31:3-6; 34:23f; 35:30-36:2.

Leviticus 14:34.

Numbers 5:21; 11:31; 23:19; 26:3-45.

Deuteronomy 2:24-36 (cp. Numb 21:21-24); 3:1-3,18-22; 4:34; 8:18; 9:3; 11:25 (cp. Josh 6:1); 12:10; 20:1-4 (cp. Exod 17:8-11); 28:1-68; 29:2-4; 32:39.

[Hundreds of additional verses from the rest of the Bible on the sovereignty of God are listed in the study.]

The previous study addressed various differences between Catholicism and Evangelical Protestantism. This study will look at one specific area of difference, the attitudes and teachings about Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Note that Catholics generally capitalize tittles for Mary, including capitalizing the word “mother” (i.e., Mary, Mother of Jesus), but Protestants normally only capitalize her actual name (i.e. Mary, mother of Jesus). This Study follows these conventions for each viewpoint.

Mary is to be venerated and can be invoked to pray for us to God.

Mary is to be honored for being faithful to the Lord, but she should not be venerated and cannot be invoked to pray for us.

Of all the women in Israel, Mary was chosen to be the Mother of Jesus. Since God so highly honored Mary, so should we.

Yes it was a great honor for Mary to be chosen to be the mother of the Lord. But this was due to pure grace on God’s part, not due to anything special about Mary.

Mary is declared by the angel to be “full of grace” that “the Lord is with” her and to be “blessed among women.” These accolades show how very special she is. They are also examples of praise being given to Mary.

The translation “full of grace” is questionable. Most Protestant versions say something like “highly favored.” The ALT renders it as, “having been bestowed grace” with the alternative translation of “having been shown kindness.” Either way, the “grace” or the “kindness” is something that is shown to Mary. The verse is not teaching she is inherently endowed with some kind of special grace. This can be seen in that the only other time the Greek word used here occurs is in Ephesians 1:6, where all believers are said to have grace bestowed upon us.

“The charismata” are spiritual gifts given to Christians. The term comes from the Greek word for “gifts.” Some of these gifts are seemingly “natural” such as teaching or leadership, while others are more supernatural or miraculous in their nature. In regards to these latter types of charismata there is a difference of opinion as to whether they were just for the Apostolic Age or if they are still operating today.

Three lists of the charismata are given in Scripture. Duplicates and related gifts will be addressed together.

These two gifts will be addressed first as they seem to be related. “Wisdom” is defined as: “the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.”

Here Jesus promises the gift of the word wisdom to those undergoing persecution as to how to respond to them.

Possibly true, but the miraculously given wisdom is just for that specific situation of dealing with persecution.

Jesus knew that Nathaniel had been sitting under a fig tree before his brother called him to come meet Jesus, an example of the gift of the word of knowledge.

Jesus tells a woman He has just met that she has been married four times and is currently living with a man she is not married to, another example of the gift of the word of knowledge.

Both of these examples are of Jesus. As such, they are examples of His omniscience as God in the flesh and not of any spiritual gift given to believers.

Ananias and Sapphira had apparently promised to donate the full proceeds of the sale of their house to the Church. But they lied about how much it was sold for and kept back some of the money. Peter knew about the deception via the gift of the word of knowledge.

The first deacons chosen to serve in the Church were to be “full of wisdom.” Stephen then demonstrated the use of this gift of wisdom in his sermon (7:1-53). Stephen’s knowledge of the OT was probably natural, from his study of them. But the God-given gift of wisdom enabled him to apply this knowledge to his listeners’ situation as Stephen obviously did not have time to prepare a sermon. His sermon was so effective that his listeners “were cut through to their hearts” (7:54).

These two passages probably are examples of the gift of knowledge and of wisdom, respectively. But this was an apostle and a direct apostolic delegate. They do not prove such gifts still operate today.

James tells us to pray for wisdom. He then gives the characteristics of this “wisdom from above.”

There is no indication the wisdom here is the specific gift of the “word of wisdom.” But James’ description is a good way to test if someone’s claimed spiritual wisdom is really from God.

Paul exercised the gift of the word of wisdom in his writings.

Paul was writing under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That is why his writings are “Scripture” (v.16). Everyone who claims to have the gift of the word of wisdom is not writing new Scripture.

The God-given gift of wisdom is necessary to correctly understand Biblical symbolism.

It is true we need the Holy Spirit’s leading in understanding Scripture, but this is not a special gift given to just some Christians.

There is little direct information on these gifts, thus it is difficult to be dogmatic about the exact nature of them and if anyone possesses such gifts today.

[This evaluation of the charismata is divided into two parts as it took two chapters to fully cover all of the spiritual gifts.]

This study will look at what the Bible has to say on sexual types of relationships and related issues. By this is meant: dating, pre-martial sex, marriage, martial sex, extra-martial sex, homosexuality, polygamy, incest, abortion, and birth control. But divorce and remarriage will be addressed separately in the next chapter.

God creates both “male and female” as equals (1:27). But we see in Genesis 2 that the Lord actually created Adam first, then Eve as “a helper comparable to him” (2:18).

In these verses, we see Adam and Eve fulfilling God’s command to be “fruitful and multiply.” Adam has sex with Eve, and she bears, Cain, Abel, Seth, and other “sons and daughters.” The text does not specifically say so, but it appears that throughout their long lives (Gen 5:5), Adam and Eve remained faithful to each other. Thus God’ original couple gives us the example of one man and one woman together for a lifetime, having sex with only each other.

Cain has sex with his wife, and she bears a son, Enoch. Seth also has a son, although the text does not specifically mention a wife. But to this point in history it appears that one man having sex with one woman for their entire lives appears to be the norm.