Yearly Archives: 2014

THE ATONEMENT AND PHYSICAL HEALING

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

QUESTION: I have friends who believe that the healing of physical diseases is one of the results of the atonement. They believe that Jesus died to bring us healing of our bodies. Thus if we are Christians, we should receive physical healing and should not be sick. What does the Bible say? ANSWER: This view is found in a variation of the modern Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. It is sometimes called the Word of Faith (or Word Faith) Movement, or the Health and Wealth Movement (or Prosperity Gospel). Worldwide, it is one of the largest and fastest-growing forms of Christendom. … Continue reading →

Does God’s Foreknowledge Negate Man’s Free Will?

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

QUESTION. It seems to me that divine foreknowledge does not eliminate human free will, but several people that I know believe that it does. They say that if God knows what will happen tomorrow, that means it is an established fact, removing any free will choices one might make tomorrow. What do you say about this? ANSWER. This objection to divine foreknowledge today comes especially from the recent theological movement known as “open (or openness) theology,” or “open theism.” It has been picking up steam since the 1980s; some of its major representatives are Richard Rice, Clark Pinnock, John Sanders, … Continue reading →

God’s Foreknowledge in the Bible

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

QUESTION: Does the Bible teach that God knows the future? ANSWER: This is the question of divine foreknowledge. One of the main attributes of God is called “omniscience,” which literally means the knowledge of everything. As usually applied, to say that God is omniscient means that he knows everything. This means he knows all possibilities as well as all actualities. In the category of actualities, this means he has complete knowledge of the actual past, the actual present, and the actual future. His knowledge of the future is his foreknowledge. Divine foreknowledge has always been accepted by most Bible-believers. There … Continue reading →

Is the Human Soul Inherently Eternal?

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

QUESTION. I heard an elder of a local church make the comment that he believed that our spirits are eternal, that they were in heaven before we were born and were given to us at conception. Does the Bible have anything to say about this? ANSWER. The first text that comes to mind is 1 Tim. 6:16, which says that God alone “has immortality.” To be eternal is to be inherently immortal, and only God possesses this quality. Thus to be eternal is to be God, or equal with God. This elder’s view is absolutely false. That the human spirit … Continue reading →

SAY YES! TO THE BIBLE

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

[NOTE: The following is a version of my commencement address, given to the graduating class of 2014 at the Mid-Atlantic Christian University in Elizabeth City, NC, on May 10, 2014.] The Protestant Reformation commenced with a commitment to sola Scriptura, “the Bible alone.” The Restoration Movement commenced with this slogan (among others): “The Bible, and the Bible alone, is our only rule of faith and practice.” Today is another kind of commencement. You are commencing your career of ministry with a similar commitment to Biblical authority, after many hours and years of studying the Bible in a faithful school under … Continue reading →

David and the Holy Spirit in Psalm 51:11

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

QUESTION: How did King David receive the Holy Spirit? ANSWER: This question is probably suggested by Psalm 51:11, where David as king prays to God, “Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” This indicates that when he is saying this prayer, he does have the Holy Spirit in some way. How did he receive the Spirit in the first place? We must understand that in the Bible people can “have the Holy Spirit” in two very different ways. On the one hand, we may speak of the EQUIPPING presence of the Holy Spirit. This means that some people have … Continue reading →

The Righteousness of God in the Gospel

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

QUESTION: In Romans 1:16-17 Paul says that the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel. The word “gospel” means “good news.” In what sense can the righteousness of God be good news for sinners? ANSWER: That God is righteous means that he must always be true to himself; he must always be true to every aspect of his nature. This is his consistency of character. It means that he must be true BOTH to his holy nature (his perfect moral purity) AND to his loving nature. In reference to the former, “righteousness” includes seeing that the requirements of his … Continue reading →

What’s Supposed To Change in the Lord’s Supper? A Communion Meditation

Jack Cottrell Posted on by

I was baptized when I was ten years old, and began taking the Lord’s Supper the very next Sunday. Shortly thereafter, one Sunday I noticed that the juice in my communion cup tasted – very different! It was not good and not sweet, like normal grape juice. Rather, it was much more bitter, and quite sharp to the taste. Being an inquisitive child, I began to wonder: what does this mean? Why does this taste different? I was just a kid, but I knew that the Lord’s Supper involved some very sacred realities. I thought to myself, maybe we are … Continue reading →