Tag Archives: Creation

Is Genesis One a Poem?

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Is Genesis One a Poem? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 3:13pm QUESTION: I showed a video by Rob Bell to my youth group. In the video Bell says that Genesis 1 is a poem written to set up the Sabbath. Some parents objected to my showing the video. They assume that since Bell says Genesis 1 is a poem, he must be saying that it is not an actual historical account of creation. What do you think? Could this crucial passage be poetry? And if it is, how does this affect our interpretation of it? … Continue reading →

Salvation and “the Church of Christ”

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Salvation and “the Church of Christ” by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, October 1, 2010 at 10:12am QUESTION: Is it true that only members of the Church of Christ will be saved? ANSWER: The answer to this question depends on what is meant by “the Church of Christ.” To clarify what I mean, I will first distinguish between the “church universal” and local congregations. The church universal is the worldwide body of Christ, the total number of people who are under the saving blood of Jesus. Paul often uses the word “church” in this sense, especially in Ephesians 5:22-32. Here … Continue reading →

Is Everything “the Will of God”?

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Is Everything “the Will of God”? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 7:05pm QUESTION: Our pastor says that everything is God’s will. Is this true? How can we understand “God’s will”? ANSWER: To know what your “pastor” means when he says that “everything is God’s will,” I would have to know if he is a Calvinist or not. Let me explain. The NT words for “will,” as used in the context of “God’s will,” can mean one of three things: desire, purpose, or permission. In view of this variety of connotations, it is indeed correct to … Continue reading →

Describing God

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Describing God by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 2:09pm QUESTION: How would you describe God? ANSWER: I appreciate the questioner’s wanting me to “describe God,” but I must confess that a thorough answer to this question requires an answer that would be much too large for a brief piece like this. In the early 1980s I set out to answer this question by writing a book on “What the Bible Says About God.” Before I finished, I had three large volumes totaling 1,500 pages. Originally published by College Press, they are still available from Wipf and … Continue reading →

Why Was Jesus Filled with the Holy Spirit?

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Why Was Jesus Filled with the Holy Spirit? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 2:55pm QUESTION: Why was Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22; 4:18; John 3:34)? Is it possible that Jesus received the Holy Spirit at His baptism in much the same way WE receive the Holy Spirit at our baptism (Acts 2:38), for the same reason? ANSWER: The relation between Jesus and the Holy Spirit is an interesting but somewhat elusive subject. I have discussed it in quite some detail in my book, “Power from on High: What the Bible Says About … Continue reading →

What Is the Nature of Free Will?

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What Is the Nature of Free Will? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 9:08am QUESTION: Many (usually Arminians) argue that without free will in a significant (libertarian) sense, i.e., the ability to choose between good and evil, human actions would not be worthy of praise or blame. Thus in order to preserve moral responsibility, human beings must have free will in the libertarian sense—the freedom of opposite moral choice. But is this consistent with the freedom of God Himself, whom we assume to be the ultimate model for freedom? The following are said to be true … Continue reading →

Are Sinners “Begotten” to New Life Before Being “Born Again” in Baptism?

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Are Sinners “Begotten” to New Life Before Being “Born Again” in Baptism? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 1:14pm QUESTION: What do you think about the analogy that the work of the Holy Spirit before baptism is similar to that of the gestation period in the birth of a baby? This is the idea that the seed of the Word of God begins to produce spiritual life as soon as the sinner believes and repents. As that seed develops and grows, and as changes begin to occur in the attitudes and actions of the individual, he … Continue reading →

Who Are the “Elect Angels” in 1 Timothy 5:21?

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Who Are the “Elect Angels” in 1 Timothy 5:21? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 2:55pm QUERY: Today I came across 1 Timothy 5:21, which refers to “the elect angels.” This seems to say that angels are elect. How does this tie in with elect humans in regards to Calvinism? Are there any verses that say that angels had/have free will and made their own decisions? ANSWER: We know relatively little about angels in general, but we do know that there is an invisible and a visible creation (Col. 1:16), which probably refer to this physical … Continue reading →

Does Col. 1:15 Say That Jesus Is a Created Being?

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Does Colossians 1:15 Say That Jesus Is a Created Being? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3:10pm QUESTION: Do NT references to Jesus as “firstborn” (e.g., Colossians 1:15) and “begotten” (e.g., Heb. 5:5) imply that he is a created being? ANSWER: It is true that the human aspect of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus the human being, Jesus of Nazareth, had his beginning (came into existence for the first time) in the womb of Mary when the angel’s promise in Luke 1:35 was fulfilled. In that same moment the divine aspect of Jesus, namely, the second … Continue reading →

Sunday: The Church’s Special Day

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Sunday: The Church’s Special Day by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 8:41pm SOMEONE HAS ASKED, “How do we get Sunday as a holy day?” I.e., why do we keep Sunday as the church’s special day, rather than Saturday? And why should the church gather for corporate worship on Sunday, rather than on Friday or Saturday? Is there something special about Sunday? MY ANSWER: Sunday is indeed the church’s special day, and has been so since Jesus arose from the dead. This is so because world history is divided into two main epochs, the dividing point being … Continue reading →