The Caldwell Commentaries Podcast

Genesis 1:1b and 1:2. 

We discuss the creation of the heavens and Earth, giving a serious critique of two creation theories: 1.  The Gap Theory and 2. The Unshaped Earth Theory.  Also discussed is the Holy Spirit's part in the creative work - the movement of the Spirit is extremely fascinating when we discover the meaning of the Hebrew word for "move" in Genesis 1:2.

Genesis 1:1a 

This is the first in our "Creation versus Evolution" series.  It is packed with interesting and informative vital information found in simply half a verse: Genesis 1:1a.  If we are going to understand anything else in Scripture or in the world, we need to first understand the teaching of the first sentence of the Bible, for it answers the two most basic questions of humanity: when was the universe created? and where did the universe come from?

Learn how the first of many names for God used in the Scripture is a uni-plural proper noun - the name Elohim.  Elohim is plural, but is used with a singular verb ("created"); this testifies of a Tri-une Godhead.  We discuss how there is simply one alternative to believing in a Self-existent, eternal Creator God, and it is to believe in eternal matter.  However, the concept of eternal matter cannot go "hand-in-hand" with the scientific law of cause and effect, since random particles of matter could never, by themselves, generate a complex, orderly, intelligible world and universe, much less generate living persons who are able to apply intelligence to the understanding of the complex order of the universe!  Scientifically, the concept of eternal matter is impossible.   

In this second half of our Introduction to Genesis, the book of beginnings, we discuss the three main purposes for the book: the historical purpose, the spiritual purpose, and the Christological purpose (we have an entire series of finding "Christ in Genesis" - see podcast tag).  We also discuss many special features of this unique and all-important first book of God's Word (i.e. it is the book of the Creation account, of human ancestry, of the patriarchs, of Israel's beginning - and it begins to teach us about God's grace, His covenant promises, and man's pilgrimage of faith). 

In this study, we do a fascinating comparison between the first and last books of Scripture - the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation, and that amazing comparison surely shows how the whole of Scripture has one Divine Author!

This is the first lesson in our study of the Book of Genesis, "the book of beginnings".  Genesis lays the foundation of history; it gives us the critical information needed to know about origins.  Genesis is "the seed plot of the Bible" because all "the forests" of Scripture find their beginning as "seedlings" in it.  Actually, it presents the beginning of everything in existence except God Himself (i.e. the origin of the universe, of order and complexity, of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, of life, of man, of marriage, of evil, of God's plan for salvation, of government, the nations and people groups, of the nation of Israel).

In this Part I of our Introduction to Genesis, in additional to discussing how the book is foundational to history, we talk about the author of the book (we discuss "The Documentary Hypothesis" which teaches that Moses was not the author - and why we disagree).  We also discuss the method involved in writing Genesis and the dating of the book (when it was written).

First John 5:13 is likely the most important verse in the entire epistle, for it is John’s summary statement as to the central purpose for it. He had other reasons (see Part 1 and Part II on our podcast), but his ultimate objective  is that every true believer be confident is his or her salvation.

Assurance of salvation is for the here and now; it is not something only attained when we leave this world and then find out we made it! Faith is not something we are always hoping to grasp "enough of" in order to “make it” in the end.  We can have confident faith right now. Hebrews 11:1 – “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.  As God’s children, we are to know we have been saved. The word know means absolute assurance. The words “know, knoweth, or known” appear 38 times in this short epistle.

Can a believer really know the joy (abundant life) of the Lord without being perfectly certain he has eternal life – and cannot ever lose it?  Not really, for it is to live in doubt and even fear. As the Puritan Thomas Brooks wrote, “Assurance is the believer’s ark where he sits, Noah-like, quiet and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions . . .”  Isaiah 32:17 tells us that where God imputes righteousness in a believer, the effect of that righteousness is peace (“quietness”) “and assurance forever”.

There is no reason for a genuine believer to be on his way to Heaven in a kind of mist – hoping he or something or someone else doesn’t cause “the ark” to sink into the judgment waters of God’s wrath! The ark is Christ! If you entered it, He closed the door – and what He closes is secure and no one can open! He is the Good Shepherd Who promised “He that cometh to Me, I shall in no wise cast out”.

IMPORTANT STUDY! We examine many reasons for why believers doubt their salvation - including the fact that many have been wrongly taught that they can lose it!  Many many passages of Scripture teach the exact opposite and we look at a lot of them! 

Seventy percent of the world’s population today is non-Christian, and even among the 30% who label themselves under the broad umbrella of “Christendom,” only 7.9% are evangelical.  The Lord Jesus said, “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14).  The tragic truth is that many who think they are “Christian” will one day hear Him say, “I never knew you; depart from Me” (7:23). This is why the Apostle Paul tells us in II Corinthians 13:5 we are to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. He says we are to prove or to test our own selves – if we are in Christ. That is likewise exactly what John essentially invites us to do in his first epistle.  He presents us with a kind of series of self-examination “tests” by which we may know that our salvation is genuine; whether it is authentic and not artificial; whether we truly "possess" the indwelling Holy Spirit or merely "profess" to know Christ. 

Presented from the epistle of First John are such self-examination "tests" as the 1. Belief in the Full Deity and Full Humanity of Christ Test, 2. The Life Test, 3. Fellowship Test, 4. The Sensitive to Sin Test, 5. The Obedience Test, 6. Reject Evil World Test, 7. The Maranatha Mindset Test, 8. Ministry of the Holy Spirit Test, 9. Love the Brethren Test, 10. Answered Prayer Test, and 11. Suffer Rejection Test. 

This self-examination series of tests may well be the most important introspection of yourself you ever make! Be absolutely sure you have eternal life through faith in the one way Divinely provided for man to be forgiven and thoroughly cleansed of sin, and that "Way" is Jesus Christ, the God/Man, our Kinsman-Redeemer Saviour Who laid down His life and shed His sin-atoning blood for our sake.

In this lesson, we discuss many interesting subjects regarding the first epistle of the Apostle John, including why he was called both a "Son of Thunder" and "The Apostle of Love," and how both titles are evident in his writing. We discuss why boldness for truth and compassionate love need to go "hand-in-hand" in every believer's life and testimony for Christ.

We take a jet-tour look at John's life before, during, and after his physical time spent with "the Word of life" - Jesus. We also speculate on the reason John outlived the other Apostles - as well as how each of those other men was so horrifically martyred for their rock-solid faith in the Gospel Truth of Christ's sin-atoning death, His burial, and third-day bodily resurrection!

We spend time explaining the various lies that false teachers had begun infiltrating into the Early Church, and why John was so intense in his warnings against such "antichrists". Included, also, is our discussion about having full-joy fellowship with God, His Son, and one another in spite of difficult circumstances. 

To explain up-front, this is not an exegetical (verse-by-verse) look at the Apostle John's first epistle; rather, it is an overview of the main purposes of the book (full-joy fellowship, holiness, discernment, salvation assurance). This study was done in a setting that was inter-active - meaning with questions and answers from the attendee/participants. Since their readings of Bible passages, answers to my questions, and other comments could not be heard on our audio recording, we had to make some "cuts" and "pastes," which accounts for the rougher places in this audio.  Sorry,  

Since Israel's return to her land, the Book of Ruth is now seen with even deeper prophetic significance than ever before.  It is far more than a picture of Christ and His redemptive love for His mostly-Gentile "Bride," the Church.  There are two additional "love stories" in this account; they are between Naomi and Ruth (i.e., Israel and the Church) and Boaz and Naomi (Christ's love and eventual restoration of Israel).  Find out the importance of Leviticus 23:22 - a verse that does not seem to belong in the middle of God's instructions regarding the seven Jewish feast days; yet it does fit - plus it connects us to the Book of Ruth!  SO MUCH NEW INSIGHT TO AN OLD, FAMILIAR STORY - YOU WILL LOVE THIS STUDY!

Although you may be very familiar with the small Old Testament Book of Ruth, you will come away from this two-part study of it with a brand-new understanding of its prophetical significance.  There is so much more to be "gleaned" than a romantic, redemptive "love story" between Boaz and Ruth and how their relationship pictures Christ and the Church!  As history has progressed, new revelation from an old book has come to light! 

Stephen's message of Acts 7 was the masterpiece of a skilled artist painting pictures of Jesus Christ from Old Testament characters; it was the discourse of a Scriptural scholar, the keenly selective historical dissertation of a Spirit-filled prophet, and the work of a lethally skilled warrior using the two-edged sword of truth!  It was also Stephen's death warrant.  He had lived like Jesus, he had spoken like Jesus, and he was to die for Jesus.

Stephen, whose face glowed like that of an angel, was bound for Heaven.  There are causes worth dying for, and Stephen found the best.  He died for the sake of the only message on earth that saves the eternal souls of men, the Gospel of Christ.  Stephen was the first person to die for the truth of Jesus' atonement work.  When his spirit was about to depart from his body, he looked up to see the resurrected Lord standing on the right hand of God!  He was not in His seated "finished-work of redemption" position!  It was the body language of the Redeemer saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant"!  Stephen finished his course; he ran the race to the finish line and was the first to cross - and the Lord gave him a standing ovation!