Joel Halcomb

@jacob_allee Often unnoticed: The primary reason Paul insists that justification is “by faith, not works of Torah” is that otherwise, the nations would be excluded

Paul’s affirmation in Romans that God is the God not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles is particularly interesting because he alludes the “the Shema” from Deuteronomy which faithful Jews would recite regularly as an affirmation of their faith. When you compare what Paul says in Romans with what is recorded by Moses in Deuteronomy it is clear that Paul interprets the Shema as not only an affirmation of fidelity to one God in particular but, rather, as an affirmation that there is only one true God over all the world, both for Jews and Gentiles alike. “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” (Romans 3:29-30) “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

@Romeos_burner As the old saying goes… From 150 yards, the mini tour guys hit PW but the Tour players hit 9 iron

I can’t wait for Bryson to show up to Augusta and compete for a couple days then proceed to start missing greens left because he insists on hitting PW from 190 then blaming the golf ball manufacturers. A tradition unlike any other.

@mike_reeves I believe Tolkien might have chosen March 25 because (by tradition) this is the day Jesus was conceived

On this day in Middle Earth, The One Ring was destroyed in Mt Doom and Sauron defeated.

@yesiwetmyplants Please provide me with correct interpretation I suppose you think I’m getting this one wrong too: “If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if, by the Spirit, you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

@JoelHalcomb No it’s not. You just have the wrong interpretation of that passage

Gods love for His people is unconditional. I’m sorry if anyone has told you differently

@RafHM Great post “The Rising of the Sun” whyseekthelivingamongthedead.com/?p=2108

The UN is a corrupt joke More slaves were held by Africans than were EVER sent across the Atlantic 7 in every 1000 Africans is a slave TODAY: 10 MILLION people It took 300 years for 10M slaves to cross the Atlantic 🤦‍♂️ And the Arab Slave Trade in Africans continues TODAY! So where are the protests outside the embassies & high commissions of Nigeria, Sudan, Mali, Chad etc? Utterly contemptible. This is not about slavery at all. This is an attack on Britain, America and the West. Slavery is universal and as old as man. What was unique was the Christian evangelical movement that spread across Britain, America and Western Europe that led to the West ending its BRIEF involvement in slavery. Never forget: Britain was the first country in world history to deliberately make itself poorer in the pursuit of a moral good - i.e. the vast sums it expended enforcing an end to the slave trade on land and the high seas. We must call this nonsense out. Me at Cambridge:

This tweet is badly mistaken Josephus is by far the best source for 1st century Judaism He clearly indicates that the Jews universally acknowledge 22 inspired books (same content as Protestant OT but arranged differently) Josephus is clearly aware of the Apocryphal writings which were written after the reign of Artaxerxes, but clearly states that Jews do not give these writings the status of scripture Josephus also makes it clear there has been no addition, subtraction or change in the canon over the centuries before his time

The Jews did not have a settled Old Testament canon. The Sadducees only accepted the Torah. The Pharisees accepted what became the Rabbinic Canon of 39 books. The Essenes used the Dead Sea Scrolls, which included books like 1 Enoch and Jubilees. The Hellenistic Jews used the Septuagint, which included the Deuterocanonical books that Christians used.

@JamesAHatt Put another way: you haven’t been saved from sin until you’ve been given power not to sin “Salvation & the Spirit” whyseekthelivingamongthedead.com/?p=10408

If your theology leaves no room for real transformation, it might not be as biblical as you think. Christ doesn’t just forgive, He renews.

@birdchadlouis Most of these passages are not compelling at all Example: Why would it be meaningful that plants were created on day 3 when human life was created on day 6?

There is a passage in 1 Corinthians 15 that puzzles many readers. Paul writes that Christ “was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4). But which Scriptures did Paul have in mind? If you search the Old Testament, you will not find a single prophecy that explicitly says the Messiah would rise on the third day. So what does Paul mean? One helpful way to understand Paul’s words is to look for a pattern in the Old Testament. Again and again, God does something decisive on the third day or after three days. These moments often involve life, deliverance, restoration, or divine revelation. Consider these examples: 1. Creation: On the third day, life springs forth from the earth in the form of plants and trees (Gen. 1:11–13). 2. Abraham and Isaac: On the third day, Abraham arrives at the mountain where Isaac is spared, and Hebrews later says that Abraham received him back “figuratively” from the dead (Gen. 22:4; Heb. 11:19). 3. Mount Sinai: God descends upon Mount Sinai on the third day to reveal himself to Israel (Exod. 19:11, 16). 4. Jonah: Jonah spends three days and three nights in the belly of the fish before being delivered (Jonah 1:17). 5. Hosea’s prophecy: The prophet says, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up” (Hos. 6:2). When we look at these passages together, a pattern begins to emerge. The third day becomes the day when God brings life from the ground, life out of death, rescue out of danger, and hope out of despair. This is likely what Paul has in mind in 1 Corinthians 15:4. He is not pointing to a single proof-text prediction but to this repeated scriptural pattern or typology. The resurrection of Jesus on the third day is the climactic fulfillment of that pattern. What God had been foreshadowing throughout the Scriptures reaches its fullest expression when Christ rises from the dead. ______ We read 1 Corinthians 15 today in Bible in One Year. To join us, visit 1517.org/oneyear

This post is rubbish “Protestants” include all kinds of rainbow flag churchgoers or even milktoast mainliners who are hardly committed Christians; same for “Catholics” a term which encompasses people of very questionable commitment Claiming Christians & atheists share common ground on this topic is dishonest

It's hard to find a topic where both Christians and Atheists basically agree. But I've found one. "Pornography is harmless to both participants and consumers." 25% of Protestants agree. 29% of Catholics. 33% of atheists.

@MargaretManto Thanks for letting me know you’re a dishonest person so I can block your account

NEWS: In a meeting with CDC staff, Jay Bhattacharya said he and RFK Jr. have disagreed on "scientific matters" and that the new CDC director nominee will be announced tomorrow: notus.org/health-science…

This is nonsense Gods people in Christ have the Holy Spirit, empowering us to live obediently “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life…” “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.”

Major takeaway from the Biblical narrative: We shouldn't expect the people of God to be very good at obeying God, even our best leaders.

@CherylSchatz Obedient vs. Faith is a false dichotomy “What Is Faith?” whyseekthelivingamongthedead.com/?p=1596

Obedience or faith? What was the angel of death looking for at the passover? Obedience is the outward expression of faith. The angel of death did not look into the hearts of the Israelites to measure their faith, rather he simply saw the blood applied to the doorpost. It was the blood alone, visibly displayed through their act of obedience, that caused him to pass over them.

@dapkus_john @DrAlanKurschner “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29 NIV bible.com/bible/111/rom.…

@JoelHalcomb @DrAlanKurschner Study the sheep and goats judgment... Hint; we are not His brethren, we're His Bride...

Looks like Jesus, after all, will find the lost tribes of Israel. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth: In the age when all things are renewed, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

@sola_chad God chose them based on his foreknowledge, that they responded in loyalty to Jesus the Messiah

Is this a biblically accurate statement?

God destroyed Noah’s generation because of their unmitigated wickedness In the same way, at the final judgement God will again destroy the wicked It’s the Calvinists who truly face a problem They insist that God has consigned most of humanity to eternal torment - not because of their choices or actions - but purely because of his sovereign decree

How do anti-Calvinists reconcile these conflicting views?

@B_A_Purtle As Paul makes clear, Israel is now all people loyal to Jesus

In Acts 1.6 the apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” John Calvin commented: “There are as many errors in this question as words.” But Calvin, otherwise rightly beloved in many respects, was himself the one who erred. For Jesus did not correct or rebuke the content of their question. Rather, he said: “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (vv. 7-8) He affirmed the restoration of the kingdom to Israel as an epoch that “the Father has fixed by his own authority.” Then He said essentially that it wasn’t their business to figure out its timing, but to pray, receive the power of the Spirit, and to bear faithful witness to Christ as messengers of the Gospel.

John has clearly indicated that the 144k arranged in military formation as the Army of Israel are now a great multitude from every nation Just as John “hears” the Messianic titles but “sees” the lamb who was slain In the same way, he “hears” the number of the 144k but “sees” the reality of the great multitude “The Army of the Messiah” whyseekthelivingamongthedead.com/?p=11011

A question for supersessionists. If God wanted to mean that the 144,000 would be from the 12 literal tribes, how would he have communicated that in the book of Revelation?

@CherylSchatz The woman is the covenant people of God, now composed of all those who are loyal to Jesus the Messiah They’re not just ethnic Jews but also the Gentiles

What do the two Signs of Revelation 12 mean that were revealed in Heaven and given to the apostle John to see? In a vision, John is shown two signs that together span the entire sweep of redemptive history, from the Garden of Eden to the end of the age. The First Sign (Revelation 12:1–2) appears in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. This imagery deliberately echoes the dream God gave to Joseph, in which the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him, representing his father, mother, and brothers. Here, the woman adorned with these same celestial signs represents Israel, and the child she carries is Israel's long-awaited Messiah. The Second Sign also appears in heaven: a great red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems. His tail sweeps a third of the stars from the sky and hurls them to the earth. This is the ancient serpent who deceived Eve in the garden, the one who drew a third of God's angels into rebellion against Him. This is Satan, God's adversary, who sought to destroy the child Jesus at His birth. Yet his scheme failed. Jesus, the rightful ruler of all creation, was caught up to God and to His throne. The seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems of the dragon represent the antichrist world system Satan will erect in the last days, and the stars swept from heaven are the angels who defected from God to follow him. Two Compressed Visions This passage is a dramatic compression of history. It reaches back to Genesis, to the serpent in the garden and God's promise that the seed of the woman would one day crush the serpent's head, and sweeps forward without pausing over the life, death, or resurrection of Jesus, landing directly at His ascension to the throne of God. From there, the vision leaps to the end of the age, where the woman, Israel, must flee from the serpent's seed, the Antichrist. God has prepared a place for her in the wilderness, where she will be sheltered for 1,260 days. The Whole Story in Two Signs Just as the serpent failed to destroy the infant Jesus, who was carried away to safety in the night, so too the woman will flee into the wilderness, protected while the dragon unleashes his fury against God, against His people, and against the world. These two signs carry us from Eden to the final end: from the serpent's first strike in the garden, to his strike at the heel of Jesus on the cross, to the moment Jesus sets His feet on the Mount of Olives; to Satan bound and cast into the Abyss for a thousand years, released one final time, and at last thrown into the Lake of Fire, his head crushed for good. Understood this way, these signs are not about the church. They are about Jesus the Messiah, and about how God has preserved and protected Israel across the ages. The seed of the woman, the Kinsman Redeemer promised in the garden, is fulfilled in Christ, who will reign in the coming kingdom seated on the throne of David. The vision given to John compresses and overlays multiple historical events, stretching from creation to the close of this age. It is entirely about Jesus, the Savior of the world, brought forth through Israel, the woman whom God will shelter and protect from Satan until the end. So why, in this vision, is the child caught up to heaven immediately after His birth? Because the sign is a highly compressed account of two kingdoms: the kingdom of Jesus, the rightful ruler of the world, and the kingdom of darkness, belonging to the serpent of old. Birth and ascension are placed side by side not because nothing happened between them, but because the sign is telling a completed story, one whose ending is already certain, even though it is still to come.

@tradershon31 @TomHicks2LCF The Greek word pistis, often translated as faith also means fidelity, loyalty or allegiance

@JoelHalcomb @TomHicks2LCF Loyalty is not Faith Loyalty is a fruit of faith Loyalty is imperfect Christ is perfect. We trust Him Faith is Believing or Trusting Christ Faith & Grace go together Faith receives Gods free gift of salvation which He gives not to the loyal but to the undeserving.

Faith is part of the salvation we receive. Faith is itself one of Christ’s merits. This should not be controversial among the Reformed.