This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, a listener writes that 1 John 2:26 and 27 seem to imply that we do not need someone formally educated to teach us the Bible. The listener then writes and asks does someone need to have a formal education to teach the Bible? Should men be required to have formal education, such as theological education, or have gone to seminary before they can minister or serve as a pastor? Dr. Josh Philpot, our host, presents Dr. Richard Caldwell with these questions and asks him to help us think through them as they may or may not relate to the verses shared.

Pastor Caldwell starts by telling us that the same Spirit of God who has given these verses in 1 John 2 has also given us verses and passages that speak of spiritual gifts given to the church. The spiritual gifts given include men, teaching, and preaching. So if the church didn’t, and doesn’t need, to be formally taught and instructed, and the men who would provide these things, why would the Spirit distribute gifts like that? So these verses in 1 John 2 are not teaching us that we don’t need teachers; that isn’t what they refer to.

The message that our pastors, preachers, and teachers share with us is the Word of God; it is not their opinions nor their ideas. These men have a weighty responsibility. They are to take God’s Word and deliver it accurately and are to convey it in the manner it is meant to be conveyed. They have a responsibility and duty to strive to rightly divide the Word of Truth that they do not have to be ashamed. To do this requires serious study and training; no one should be teaching the Word of God who doesn’t have training. This training may be formally available through a seminary at a church or elsewhere at an institutional seminary. Pastor Caldwell shares that there have been a few instances where it has not been formal training or instruction. But he confirms that in both cases, whether it is formal training or not, it is still training that gets done. There is always training or mentorship that takes place before someone is ready to do ministry. The thought or idea that men are not trained before beginning to pastor, preach, and teach is not a New Testament concept. Pastor Caldwell shares a few examples from the Scriptures that we may see and understand the importance of the training and instruction required.

To learn more about these things, consider listening to sermons exposited from the Word of God by Pastor Caldwell. These sermons will help give a deeper insight into the role and responsibilities of those who shepherd us under the authority of the Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus.

Selecting & Training Men For Ministry

A Noble Work

The Temperament of A Godly Leader

The Ministers of The Word In The Life of The Church

Our View of Spiritual Leadership

A Leadership Perspective That Pleases God

The post Does One Need A Formal Education To Teach In The Church? appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

What does spiritual leadership in the home entail? How can a woman biblically submit to her husband when his regard for biblical things is lacking? What if a husband continues to show no desire to grow even after a wife encourages him to lead?

In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot discuss spiritual leadership in the home. When a wife’s desire and zeal for the things of the Lord seem to be stronger and more evident than that of her husband’s there can be difficulties in a home. Dr. Caldwell seeks to help us think through the biblical responses women should have in these challenging circumstances. He hopes to encourage godly women to walk according to the Scriptures and remind them that God is sovereignly working in all the difficulties and hardships they might face.

Dr. Caldwell shares that an important thing a wife can do is pray for her husband. He stresses that the place, and practice of prayer should not be diminished. The Lord has a way of bringing about circumstances through prayer that can drive a man to a new place of devotion that he has never known before. Another thing she can do is appeal to him by sharing her concerns and desires. The wife should seek to communicate the burden she has and the seriousness which she sees the situation. There is a way to do this that is appropriate and loving.

Dr. Caldwell also points out the importance and helpfulness of the local church congregation. If the family is a part of a local, healthy congregation, it is not wrong for the wife to reach out for guidance. She can speak to a leader in the church asking for help and encouragement for her husband. She should do this in a way that is not disrespectful nor demeaning of her husband. Conversely, the wife can also ask her husband to reach out to a leader or another godly man in the church for discipleship.

Dr. Caldwell tells us that the wife will want to encourage her husband when he seeks to lead. She should let him take the initiative in things even if she sees and knows ways it could be done better. It is not wrong for a wife to point out and offer correction, but encouragement should always come first. She should give him time, space, and room to grow into the role.

Trusting the judgments and decisions of a husband who is not leading spiritually well can be difficult. But, as long as we are not being asked to sin, we can know that God is at work in ways that transcend those over us and the things that are unpleasant and disagreeable to us. God is not limited to the abilities and capacities of the person in authority over us. Having said this, Dr. Caldwell also says, this does not mean that the wife is unable to appeal, sharing her view and wisdom in the decision-making process.

So then, even if situations or circumstances do not turn out for what was thought best and hardships come because mistakes are made, we can go on trusting God. We can know God is sovereignly at work in the outcome of these situations for our good, the good of our family, and for His glory. We can survive these difficult times, and the Lord can grow us through them.

To learn more about the things discussed in this podcast, consider listening to the following sermons exposited from the Word of God by Dr. Richard Caldwell:

A Believer’s Relationship To The Church

The Church – Part 1 & 2

The Supernatural Nature Of The Church

The Ministers Of The Word In The Life Of The Church

Meaningful Introductions

A Noble Work

Qualification For Deacons

Nine Marks Of Church Discipline Done Right – Parts 1 & 2

The post Spiritual Leadership In The Home appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, the subject discussed by Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot regards church membership. Searching for the words church membership in the New Testament of the Bible will not yield an answer, much like searching for the word Trinity. So though the New Testament does not explicitly use the words: church membership, the concept is very much implied. For evidence of church government and leadership, there is more than just the concept. There are specific texts that speak of these things. Dr. Caldwell believes that there is much evidence for both church membership and church government. He will take us to the New Testament Scriptures to present some of this evidence.

Dr. Caldwell tells us that the processes for joining a church in the days of the New Testament may not exactly match what we do today in terms of becoming a member of a local church. Conceptually, however, you do find all the same things you find in church membership today. He shares some examples from 1 Corinthians 16, the letter written to the Philippian church, and one from 3rd John. These congregations, and others like them that received these letters, were made up of individual believers.

These examples speak of church congregations that gather, that are known to themselves, and known to others; they can be identified. These congregations have individual people identified who are trustworthy to carry out ministry. They have those identified in leadership who are called elders/overseers and deacons. There is also a church membership identifiable enough to be able to identify those who are put out of the fellowship or congregation. Dr. Caldwell reminds us as well of Matthew 18, which speaks of the process of church discipline. He tells us that the church would not be able to carry out discipline if the members are not identifiable. If you don’t know who is in and who is out, how would discipline be done?

So the concepts that belong to the membership processes that we practice today are all found in the New Testament. Yet how each local church goes about the membership process will be slightly different. For example, how someone becomes a member of Founders Baptist Church where Dr. Caldwell serves will not be identical to becoming a member of a Presbyterian church, or even of another Baptist church for that matter. To better help us understand this, Dr. Caldwell gives a brief explanation of what church membership looks like for anyone who expresses interest in joining the congregation at Founders.

Dr. Caldwell shares that someone does not have to be a member of Founders Baptist Church to participate in communion (the Lord’s Supper) with them. He tells us that Founders practices an open communion (the Lord’s Supper). Open communion is available to those who have professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, have been scripturally baptized, and are not out of fellowship with their local congregation. These individuals are invited to participate in communion with our congregation. So at Founders, you do not have to be a member to participate, but you do need to be a Christian to do so.

Individuals professing Christ as Savior and Lord ought to be able to identify with a particular body of believers and be identified by that body. Followers of Christ should be in a church where they are submitted to biblical church leadership, accountable to that local body of believers where church discipline can be, and is, practiced for our good and for God’s glory. Not walking according to these standards is living contrary to the pattern and teaching of the New Testament.

To learn more about the things discussed in this podcast, consider listening to the following sermons exposited from the Word of God by Dr. Richard Caldwell:

A Believer’s Relationship To The Church

The Church – Part 1 & 2

The Supernatural Nature Of The Church

The Ministers Of The Word In The Life Of The Church

Meaningful Introductions

A Noble Work

Qualification For Deacons

Nine Marks Of Church Discipline Done Right – Parts 1 & 2

The post Is Church Membership Biblical? appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

Would it be compromising for a Christian to refer to someone by their desired pronouns? Is it sinful to go along with someone out of kindness when the pronoun they ask us to use does not match who they are? How should Christians handle themselves when faced with this way of thinking?

This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot tackle this new cultural issue of pronoun use in personhood identity. They address this issue based on the Biblical understanding of who God made us to be and how God reveals this in His Word. The specific question asked, is can and should a Christian compromise when faced with this new way of thinking and believing?

Dr. Caldwell says that this is a difficult question and is an issue that will be unavoidable for all of us sooner or later. He tells us, speaking for himself, he cannot violate what God has done, what God has made. He does not see how we can honor the God of the Bible and compromise in ways where we would have to act as if we believe something that we absolutely do not believe.

To respond to this cultural idea of preferred pronouns will require graciousness and courage. What we do not want to do is insult someone on purpose. We want to try to avoid offense in every way that we can. We can try to think about other ways to refer to a person and not violate the Truth. But if forced into a situation where an individual’s pronoun preference does not match reality, Dr. Caldwell says, he would refuse to refer to them by such.

He would make every attempt to be clear that it is not a personal animus at work and that he is not out to attack the person as an individual. Dr. Caldwell would explain that his refusal to compromise and comply is due to his fidelity to the Truth, his loyalty to the living God and His Word. To speak against reality, to not speak the Truth amounts to a lie.

So then, what if refusing to call someone by their preferred pronoun could result in a person losing their job? Dr. Caldwell tells us that we better be prepared for suffering, that we need to arm ourselves for persecution. Faithfulness to Christ is costly. The Lord Jesus charged us that we must love Him more than anybody, even more than our own lives. Standing firm and contending for the Truth will eventually impact us economically, vocationally, and relationally.

Dr. Philpot asks about James 3:13-17, and the wisdom that is earthly, and the wisdom that comes from above. How does this text apply to this situation and others we might face? Dr. Caldwell shares that the wisdom that comes down from above is full of peace and gentle in nature, but it is also truthful and sincere at the same time. So to engage in any form of hypocrisy would not be exercising the wisdom of God. Yet, even if we approach this discussion in a peaceful, kind, and gentle manner, it can still be absolutely offensive to the culture. But we cannot measure our kindness by the standard of the world; we have to measure it by God’s standard.

Dr. Caldwell speaks of 1 Corinthians 13. He shares how it teaches us about love, how the Christian life is a life of love. This love includes how we are to love a world full of hostility. But it is not a love that rejoices in iniquity. Christian love rejoices in the Truth. Therefore, it never affirms evil, and it always speaks the Truth in love. It’s not loving to affirm a lie. It’s not loving to affirm a perspective that belongs to a lostness that will, in the final sense, lead to damnation. We must speak the Truth, demonstrating and reflecting the character and conduct of God Himself.

So if we take this issue, as we must do with many others, if we take the whole of Scripture as it teaches and informs us how to respond, then our message will be matched by a manner that belongs to it. Doing this is beyond our own capacity, and it is why we need what the Spirit of God produces in us. We want to share our Lord’s Truth, in the power of His Spirit, in the character of Christ.

We want Him to work in our life so that what people meet with is the Lord Jesus Christ through us. That should be our desire.

Our desire ought to be to speak and share the Truth of God in love, remembering His love for us while we were still sinners, His enemies, actual haters of God. We should endeavor to love those well with whom we disagree and cannot compromise or capitulate by being peaceful, kind, and gentle in our approaches with them.

The following sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell will help to further our understanding and application of these things:

Qualities Of Love – Is Discerning

The Goal Of Our Ministry – Pts. 1, 2, & 3

A Christian Vision For Engaging The World – Pts. 1 & 2

Love That Makes Enemies

Without Excuse

Biblical Manhood and Womanhood – Finding Our Way Forward From The Past

Biblical Manhood and Womanhood – God’s Image For God’s Glory

The post Should Christians Refer To People By Their Preferred Pronouns? appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

As Christians should we categorize or identify ourselves by our ongoing propensity toward a particular sin? What about identifying ourselves by our previous sinful lifestyle choices? How should Christians rightly think of their identity?

In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast, host Dr. Josh Philpot asks Dr. Richard Caldwell what would he say to someone who calls themselves a “gay Christian”. What would he say to someone who identifies themselves this way? Dr. Caldwell says that if a person is indeed born again, if indeed a person is regenerate and are calling themselves a “gay Christian”, they have misidentified their identity. They are not a “gay Christian”. Dr. Caldwell and D. Philpot’s discussion moves from a simple answer to this question to a more detailed discussion of why this is an unbiblical way to describe ourselves as believers.

Dr. Caldwell says that if someone is a homosexual, they are not a Christian. Conversely, if they are a Christian, they are not a homosexual. To think of ourselves any other way is not a New Testament concept. Dr. Caldwell explains that if we indeed are born again, we are new creations in Christ Jesus. We have new loves, new hatreds, and new capacities that we never had before. We once were in the flesh and slaves to our fleshly desires. Now, we are in the Spirit and slaves to Christ. We are to put off the old self and live as the new creation that we are, putting to death the sins of the flesh.

Dr. Caldwell next gives us a clear biblical example of what this looks like from 1 Corinthians 6. Paul reminds the believers in Corinth that those who go on living in unrighteousness will not inherit the kingdom of God. Afterward, he gives a list of sins that once described some of the Corinthian believers, saying, such were some of you. Paul makes clear that these believers are not to go on thinking of themselves in these ways. He reminds them that they have been washed, sanctified, and justified.

They were people who once lived categorized by these particular sins in the past. But now as believers, they no longer belong to those categories because they have been saved by the Lord Jesus. Dr. Caldwell then explains that we all deal with predispositions, bents, with respect to sin that reflects our fallenness. He takes a moment to share some examples of this. Yet, as he explains, we should not labor to label ourselves by these categories of sin. We must not label or define ourselves by our sins. Doing this causes us to misidentify our identity.

Dr. Philpot mentions that this reminds him of what Paul teaches in Romans 6. We are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ in God. The word consider, calls us as believers to know who we are, to know our identity. Dr. Caldwell says this is what the Christian life involves. It involves the ongoing consideration of things that are true. We are to go about preaching the truth to ourselves, the way things really are.

We are alive to Christ Jesus and are now in an entirely new relationship to sin. We must go on thinking in terms of these realities. What we feel is not that which defines us. What we know is what defines us. So we need to be reminded of what we know is true. So then, as this pertains to the question of identifying one’s self as a “gay Christian”, Dr. Caldwell reminds us that our identity is not rooted and grounded in how we feel about ourselves. Our identity is in what God says about us, and that is where we need to set our attention. We must not embrace a view of ourselves from the culture but embrace our view of ourselves from the Scriptures.

To learn about our identity as believers in Christ Jesus, we must look at how the New Testament Scriptures speak about us. The culture will continue to create categories, labels, and identities as they group and class people but, what matters for the Christian is what God says. To learn more about what God says about us as new creations in Christ Jesus, consider listening to the following sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell:

Such Were Some Of You

The Certainty Of New Life

The Application Of Doctrine

Marvel At Your Salvation

The Outcome Of Our New Slavery

New Fruit

No Condemnation

The Biblical View Of Homosexual Behavior

The post Can Someone Rightly Identify As A Gay Christian? appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

How should Christians respond biblically to those who seek to force us to get vaccinated for COVID-19? Shouldn’t an individual’s choice to be vaccinated belong to the freedom of conscience issue? If we choose not to be vaccinated, it is sinful, is it an act of not loving our neighbor? What is the biblically right thing to do?

This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot discuss the battle of thoughts that continue to go on surrounding COVID-19. Their topic today is specifically on whether individuals should be forced to receive a vaccination against COVID-19. They seek to answer this and other questions from a biblical perspective with wisdom and principles derived from the Bible.

Firstly, Dr. Caldwell says that whether we take vaccines or not, really becomes a matter of individual choice, a matter of individual conscience decisions. Currently, in the U.S., there is not a country or nationwide mandate requiring every individual to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, under U.S. law, both government authorities and employers have the power to issue such orders. Mandates do not mean forced vaccinations. Mandates are requirements that carry penalties or denial of services for those who do not want to comply. So says Dr. Caldwell, if you are not required to take the COVID-19 vaccination, you do not have to. But if you are in a position where those in authority over you have required it for you to continue in the position you are in, then you must choose. You still have a choice.

You can take the vaccine and continue in your position, or you can choose not to. In both cases, it is still your choice to make. You are not sinning if you get vaccinated, and you are not sinning if you do not. There are vaccine exemption laws in every state, and they will vary from state to state. Individuals can often opt-out of one or more vaccines for medical, religious, or personal reasons. Although these options are available but not guaranteed, Dr. Caldwell says he does not see a biblical basis for refusing to take the vaccine.

Secondly, Dr. Caldwell addresses the issue raised of loving our neighbor regarding being vaccinated against COVID-19. Some call for Christians to love their neighbors well by aiming for the common good by getting vaccinated. Dr. Caldwell says yes, Christians are to love their neighbors, but there are times where this hand is over-played. There are times when some want to enforce on others what they want to have done.

They will quote this biblical truth and others, telling us that we are unloving if we do not do such and such. Dr. Caldwell says that sometimes this is just overplayed, and we have to be careful. He says there is no doubt that there is an element of loving our neighbors that must go into all our decision-making. Here though, being vaccinated is an issue of liberty and freedom. What we must not do is judge one another over it. We should be rightly informed and have all the evidence for and against the issue. In this way, we are able to make decisions with consciences that are fully informed.

Lastly, Dr. Caldwell tells us that some of us are just going to see this differently than others. We need to love each other throughout but not seek to exercise lordship over someone else’s choice in the matter. It is not for us to change each other’s views on vaccines. We can teach and share truths about the issue, and we can give reasons why we agree or disagree with each other. But it isn’t for us to lord over another’s conscience. Each person ought to be fully convinced in their own mind.

To gain more insight into matters of conscience and how we are to go about rightly informing our consciences, consider listening to the following sermons from the Scriptures that speak directly about this:

Matters Of Conscience

Loving Those With Whom We Differ

The Mindset For Magnifying God In Our Differences

Unity In Christ’s Lordship

Letting Judgement Guide Our Love

Love’s Good Judgement

Kingdom Minded Freedom

The post Should Christians Be Forced To Get The COVID-19 Vaccine? appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

Before sinning in the garden, did Adam have free will; could he have made a different choice than the one he made? What difference is there for those who are justified and saved by grace through faith in Christ? The New Testament tells us that Abel, Adam and Eve’s son, had faith; did Adam have faith?

This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, the topic that will be discussed by Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot is free will. The question did Adam have free will, pertains to Adam choosing one way or the other in the garden of Eden. Was Adam of his own volition able to freely choose to do good or do evil? What did Adam lose when he sinned, how does it relate to our freedom to make choices? These questions and others will be discussed and answered.

Dr. Caldwell tells us that before the fall, Adam had the ability to obey God and the ability to disobey God. Adam could have chosen to obey and could have chosen not to obey. He had the capacity, and he chose not to obey. So then, before making this choice, Adam possessed a free moral agency. Immediately after choosing to sin(disobey), Adam lost the ability to obey God. But also lost was the ability to not sin. Adam was now a sinner. He became unable to please God in all that he would do. He would violate the laws of God, the commandments of God, and the desires of God. Thus, by choosing to disobey and sin against God, Adam plunged himself and all mankind after him into the bondage of sin and death.

What about a believer, someone who has been saved in Christ? What is the state of a Christian as compared to Adam? How is it different? Dr. Caldwell explains that salvation in Christ not only brings forgiveness of our sins but, we are also made new. We are new creations with new natures and new hearts. We now have the freedom to obey. However, because we still live in bodies of flesh, there is unredeemed humanness – there’s indwelling sin. While we gain back the ability to obey, the ability to sin remains. But thanks be to God, we will not stay in this condition, it is not our final state.

We will not be left in these bodies of death. By Christ, and through His resurrection, we are promised a resurrected body prepared for eternal life. A glorious state of being where we will have new bodies that match our new spiritual natures. This state, says Dr. Caldwell, will be superior to what Adam knew in the garden. The Apostle Paul points out that as we have borne the image of Adam so, with the coming glorification, we will bear the image of Jesus. This glorification brings with it the ability to only obey. We will no longer sin in our eternal state. Not only are we are saved, but secure forever and ever, with no possibility of a fall.

The New testament flushes these things out for us. It helps us to gain a better understanding of what took place in the garden of Eden and the ensuing condemnation and consequences. More than that, it brings the hope that was promised in Genesis 3:15, in the garden after the fall. It brings the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul shines some light on these things in the books of Romans and 1 Corinthians. In these passages of Scripture, Paul gives us a deeper understanding of the first man, Adam, and the last Adam, Jesus Christ, the God-man. Beyond these texts and those we read in Genesis 3-5, we are not told much about Adam after the fall. We may wonder what became of Adam, did he have faith before he died physically? Dr. Caldwell and Dr. Philpot discuss these things and give us thoughtful insights from the Scriptures. Dr. Caldwell says the Scriptures aren’t explicit whether Adam had faith or not. Yet, he believes some indicators do point to the presence of faith in Adam.

Scripture separates humanity into two groups: those in Adam and those in Christ. Before grace is given, everyone who has ever lived (except Jesus) is in Adam and thus is in bondage to sin and death. Without salvation in Christ, we will remain in this state, condemned to a second and eternal death. But if we know Christ and have been justified, we are not subject to this condemnation; we are new creatures and have a hope that is sure, eternal life.

To learn more about this hope and the things discussed in today’s podcast, consider listening to the following sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell:

The Certainty of Salvation – Pts. 1 & 2

What Adam’s Failure Meant For Mankind

Justification & Federal Union

Glorious Contrasts & Comparisons

A New Creation Perspective

No Condemnation

The Believer’s Privilege, Hope & Power

The Certainty of Resurrection

Understanding Faith

Driven To Paradise

The post Did Adam Have Free Will? appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

Does God view all sin the same? Are there some sins that are worse than others? Are the consequences and punishment the same for all sins?

This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot discuss these questions about sin. Dr. Caldwell tells us that there are definitely indications that there are some sins worse than others. Yet, regarding the consequence and punishment for sin, all sin is equally damnable. All sin falls short of God’s glory. All sin is worthy of God’s wrath. In this sense, it is all the same. Where sin differs is in regards to its weightiness, its effects, and repercussions in the human realm.

Dr. Caldwell reads Matthew 23:23-24. He walks us through how Jesus reveals the weightiness of particular sins in these verses of Scripture. Dr. Caldwell also shares the difference that Jesus makes clear between the physical act of adultery and the lustful thoughts of the mind. This reveals a difference. No one would argue that the immediate repercussions of the lustful sin that takes place in the mind are equal to that of committing physical adultery. So there are some sins worse than others.

Dr. Caldwell goes on to discuss the two greatest commandments as mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament. He helps us look at how the sin of not loving God as we should, is the sin that gives birth to all other sins. Not loving God as we should carries forward and is reflected in our mistreatment of people. Dr. Caldwell says when we understand these commandments rightly, we’ve gotten to the core, to the root of the sinfulness of sin in terms of its effects.

Therefore all sin deserves to be damned eternally. However, if we speak in terms of the punishment for sins, there does appear to be a difference. The New Testament does indicate that there are gradations in the realm of eternal punishments. There is a weightiness of what we have been exposed to, what we are responsible for. The more light we have received, the more responsibility we have before God. The Scriptures appear to indicate this by the way they speak of both rewards and punishments.

Dr. Philpot and Dr. Caldwell discuss a text from the Old Testament that speaks of sins committed with a high hand. Dr. Philpot understands the text to speak of some kind of greater sins; he likens it to what Dr. Caldwell has explained about the difference between lust and adultery. Dr. Caldwell says this is a great point because there are times where we sin like this. Some sins we commit are sort of without forethought. These sins seem to come about momentarily.

Yet, there are other sins that people commit that they have given great thought to. These other sins often involve people planning for them to come to pass or to be accomplished. These sins involve forethought, premeditation, and presumption. Dr. Caldwell says surely, there is a difference between this kind of sin and that of someone just caught up in a moment.

All sin is serious, and every sin is deadly because all sin transgresses the law of God. Every sin is equally damning in terms of its consequence – death. But as Dr. Caldwell and Dr. Philpot have discussed, the Bible reveals that there are some sins worse than others when it comes to the impact and effect they have here in the human realm. If sin is not dealt with here in this temporal realm, those living in unrepented sin will be dealt with, fully and finally, when Christ returns. The punishment that results for those who are not saved will be eternal damnation. The degree that will be suffered by those in hell for sins may be greater or lesser in terms of the judgment they warrant.

To learn more about these things discussed in this podcast, consider listening to the following sermons:

God’s Greatest Commandment – Man’s Greatest Need

Life’s Most Important Question – Part 1 & 2

The Sin Of Partiality – Part 4

The Sin Of Slander – Part 1 & 2

A Christian’s View Of The Body

God’s Abandoning Judgement

Watching & Waiting

The Seriousness Of Easter

The post Are Some Sins Worse Than Others? appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

Wasn’t Satan created good? If God knew that Satan would rebel, why did He create Him? What possible purpose does Satan serve since all he does is destructive and not good?

This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot will discuss Satan, the Devil, the enemy of God whom we read and learn about in the Word of God. Before beginning the discussion, Dr. Caldwell says we need to approach questions that ask why carefully. We want to discuss and answer based on the revelation of what God has told us, not from the realm of human thought and opinions. So as we think about this question and others like it, we need to know there are things we want to know that God has not chosen to reveal to us. Our God has told us that the things He has revealed belong to us, but the secret things belong to the Lord (Deut. 29:29). Those things that are secret He has chosen to keep to Himself. Therefore when we seek to answer why God made Satan, all the reasons why God allowed sin, and these sorts of questions, we must keep in mind that we do not have access to all of this.

Nevertheless, Dr. Caldwell says, looking at the Bible as a whole, he believes there is an answer. He says what seems clear is that what is most important to God is His own glory. Everything that God has done, and worked out according to His will, is ultimately for His glory.

When questions like why did something originate, why is something the way it is right now, where is it all headed, how is it all going to end, are asked – the answer will be the glory of God. So then, why did God create Satan, knowing in advance what Satan would be, knowing what Satan would bring about and produce? The answer, as unsatisfactory as it will be to some minds, is for God’s glory. There is something about God that is being put on display because things are the way that they are. All this is good in the final analysis, or else God would not have ordained it because our God is perfectly good and perfectly wise.

Dr. Philpot brings up that Dr. Caldwell has used the word ordained. He says that this sort of moves the discussion into a broader discussion of God allowing these things to happen and why God does allow these things to happen. Dr. Philpot shares some verses from Ephesians 1. From these verses and what Dr. Caldwell has shared, the logic he sees then is that God, in doing these things, has ordained that evil would exist. That God would use it to bring about the death of His Son, to redeem a people, which ultimately is to the praise of His glory. Dr. Caldwell affirms this and says he couldn’t say it better.

He does however add, that what God desires and what God decrees do not always match up. In speaking of what God desires, he means that in which God takes pleasure, in which He rejoices. Dr. Caldwell explains that God has decreed certain things that involve things that do not please Him. He believes this includes the existence of evil and everything else. So we don’t want to say that God had nothing to do with it. That isn’t true because there is nothing that exists that God did not, nor does not, have sovereignty over.

So what purpose does Satan serve? Was he created for dishonorable use? Dr. Caldwell says there is no doubt that God had a purpose for Satan when He made him, and Satan is fulfilling that purpose. He tells us that the same is true in the human realm using Judas Iscariot to explain. He shares that what Judas did with the Lord Jesus was foreordained, yet God took no pleasure in it. It was hateful to Him. God could have taken Judas out of existence before the betrayal, but, He didn’t because even that wicked act was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

Is the Devil an angel? Is the serpent in the garden of Genesis 3 the Devil? What is the Devil’s ultimate end, and how will it come about? These questions and more are answered in this episode. As Dr. Caldwell mentions in the podcast, there is much that is not is not revealed to us in the Scriptures. The answers we seek and get to some of our questions may never fully satisfy us. However, what the Lord God has revealed to us is for us, and we can let it occupy our minds and hearts that we might be a people who live to declare His praise, honor, and glory above all.

Following are sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell that will help us gain a better grasp of these truths:

The Marvelous Mind of God – Pts. 1 & 2

Future Glory – Pts. 1, 2, & 3

After Glory

The Road To Emmaus

Seated In The Heavens

Glory To Jesus

The post Why Did God Create Satan? appeared first on Straight Truth Podcast.

This season on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot are before a live audience seeking to answer questions that are on the hearts and minds of those in attendance. The question this week is why did God allow sin in the world. The questioner asks, believing that God could have stopped it from the outset. But, He didn’t, so the question remains, why did God allow sin?

Dr. Caldwell says this is a really good question. It is one that people have been asking for a very long time and will continue to ask. He tells us the short answer is that God has allowed sin for His glory. That is, there is something that is going to be known about God, something that otherwise would not have been on display if God had not decreed or purposed sin.

Dr. Caldwell explains that we don’t want to approach the question nor the answer philosophically. We want to come at this biblically. We want to take the straightforward statements of Scripture and hold on to them. Dr. Caldwell walks us through how he does this in his thinking and helps us to reflect on some of the things that God reveals about Himself in the Scriptures. He helps us think about these truths and process them in our thinking as we seek to know and understand why God allowed sin. He explains that one of the most important things that we have to know is who God is.

We have to know His character, His attributes. We need to know something about how they all work together, not separate or independent of each other. Scripture reveals that God is absolutely holy, good, and upright. He is perfectly good in all that He does and allows, and it is good because He is Good. For God to allow, permit, decree, or will sin does not make Him the author of it. So while God is not the author of sin, in that He delights in it or agrees with it, He has a plan and a purpose for it. And we know God is committed to the judgment of sin and the justice that will follow for it.

Dr. Caldwell tells us there are things that we would not know about God if we didn’t have the sin problem. We would not know Him to be gracious, forgiving, merciful, and compassionate. We would not know what it is for God to love His enemies if there are no enemies. We would not know something of the wisdom of God. So in this world, God is making a demonstration of Himself in ways that we would not have known otherwise.

He alone is worthy of all glory, honor, majesty, and praise. God cannot be committed to anything higher than Himself because He is most worthy of His own commitment. So He is committed to the manifestation, the glorification of His own holy character. In some way, evil and its existence have figured into this display of that which is true of God. In that sense, it is good that He allowed it.

Dr. Philpot and Dr. Caldwell discuss how working through the Scriptures, knowing God’s character, and taking Him at His Word are most helpful in this endeavor. The process also helps us see that God is just and that we would know something of His justice. Dr. Philpot says it’s in all that God is, that God is. We cannot remove justice from God. Doing so would ungod Him, just as if we were to remove His mercy and His compassion. Dr. Caldwell tells us this is important to see sharing that he focused mainly on those things we regard to be positive about God. But the Scriptures are equally clear that God will punish evil and deal justly with sin and sinners. Therefore, even with respect to how God deals with sin, there is something of His holy nature on display.

In the end, what we can say, is that there will be something on display about God that we would not have known, had the world not taken place the way that it has. We need to acknowledge our finiteness, the limitations that come with our human reasoning, ability to explain, and even understand. We are not going to be able to get our minds fully around the question of sin and evil. Dr. Caldwell reminds us that we have to let the Bible say what it says about God. We need to get our minds centered on these things and keep them there, humbly acknowledging what God has revealed about Himself and believe it with all our hearts; this is the best we can do.

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