John W Shaffer

IMPORTANT QUESTION: Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?

“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemned the wicked are both alike an abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 17:15 There are a lot of politicians in Washington DC especially that need to hear and heed this verse.

"Evangelicals are partly to blame for the collapse of Middle Eastern Christianity. They are the biggest supporter of wars which destroy Christians."

We used to have members driving 1:45 to be with us Sundays and Wednesdays until they could move closer. There is just something about a healthy church that is hard to explain to people who have not experienced it.

The 2LBCF (1689) is an example of faithful men carrying the principles they learned from pedobaptists to continue reforming according to Scripture. Sola Scriptura carried all the way to its consistent conclusion results in becoming a reformed baptist.

Joel complains, oddly like the unrepentant Jews. It’s clear Joel has no understanding of the gospel, as we indeed have peace with God through Christ Jesus our Lord in all things temporal and spiritual. John Owen addresses the same error in his exposition of the Jews’ objection to the Messiah. The Jews insisted that the Messiah’s coming must bring universal, earthly peace. From the Talmud: “Men are so far from beating their swords into ploughshares, that within a few hundreds of years, new instruments of war, never heard of before, have been invented among them who pretend to believe in the Messiah.” You see, they judged the fulfillment of prophecy by outward circumstances, expecting the world to be perfectly tranquil as proof of the Messiah. Joel, in his tweet, echoes this logic. Courage in worldly conflict is treated as the measure of spiritual reality, and anyone not meeting his eisegetical standard is deemed cowardly or unwise. It’s idiocy. Owen refutes this by drawing the true line of the gospel. 1) *Peace with God is primary*. Temporal, worldly peace is only accessory. The Messiah has already wrought perfect peace between God and man, slaying enmity caused by sin. This alone is the absolute, true peace. Not merely reconciling peace through man and God, but by extension cultivating peace with man and man, as we are one body in Christ. 2) *Spiritual reality over outward appearance*. Even amid wars, persecution, and earthly turmoil, believers enjoy peace with God and among themselves. The promise is fulfilled in the soul through Christ, not in the headlines. Joel’s “theology” is the newspaper exegesis error he [rightly] condemns the dispies of. 3) *God’s timing is sovereign*. Outward, general peace will be accomplished in God’s appointed season. Immediate and literal, universal compliance is not required. Not mentioned by Owen, but see also the wheat and the chaff. (Matt 3:12) And yet Owen presses the inconsistency further. The Jews themselves expect great and terrible wars under their Messiah, even the conflict of Gog and Magog. They do not truly believe in universal peace either, only in a peace on their own terms. Joel seems to operate under this same pretense, demanding a peace he does not consistently believe. And then he condemns cowardice as if faith were measured by worldly boldness. Owen shows that the Jews erred in this same way. They judged the Messiah by outward circumstances rather than the spiritual work already accomplished through Christ. But true peace is not a sword beaten into a ploughshare. Instead it’s the reconciled soul resting in Christ from regeneration through eternity. Indeed repent! Not in fear of men, but from the folly of measuring the kingdom of God by human standards. Joel Webbon is a wolf, and a true coward. His condemnation from long ago is not idle. Matt 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 2 Peter 2:3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.