Zion Primitive Baptist Church

by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on September 1, 2024)

In today’s sermon, we continue looking at the doctrine of total depravity in Romans 3. First of all, we review the definition of depravity that we discussed in the last sermon. Then we begin looking at why we need to know about our own depravity. When we forget the fact that we were dead in trespasses and sins, we cannot fully comprehend the glory of grace, and we will not be giving God all the glory to which He is due! Moreover, when we forget our old depraved Adam nature, we risk slipping back into our old sinful ways. Join us today as we continue looking at the doctrine of total depravity.

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on August 25, 2024)

Today we get to the crux of Paul’s argument regarding the condition of man. The theological term that we use to describe the condition of man without God in nature is “total depravity.” This term describes the fact that ALL of Adam’s descendants are dead in trespasses and sins by nature, and unable to extricate themselves from the desperate situation they are in. Join us today as we begin looking at the topic of total depravity.

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on August 25, 2024)

As we continue in our series on Romans, we are dealing with several questions asked by Paul in chapter 3. Today, we come to a question that implicates the false doctrine of “absolutism”, which is the belief that God has predestinated – or at least is “orchestrating” – all things that occur, including sinful acts of men. If this is the case, Paul asks, how could God righteously judge the world? Paul uses this argument to debunk this heresy. Join us today as we look into this important question.

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on August 18, 2024)

In the first half of this sermon, we learned that the only advantage the Old Testament Jews had was that God had given them His word. Today, we deal with the question, “What if some did not believe?” The answer to this question given by the religious world is, “The unbelievers die and go to hell.” But is that the answer Paul gives us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? In Paul’s words, “God forbid!” Join us as we see the glorious answer to this question, that God Almighty will always be true to His covenant of grace, regardless of the unfaithfulness of men!

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on August 18, 2024)

As we move on into chapter three of Romans, we come to some questions asked by Paul concerning the Jews. In this sermon, we begin dealing with the first two of these questions: (1) What advantage has the Jew? and (2) What if some did not believe? In the first half of the message, we see that there were no inherent advantages to being a Jew, but the fact that God gave them His oracles was a GREAT advantage! And that’s the same advantage we have today: the glorious word of God.

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on August 4, 2024)

As we began to see yesterday, the Jews had received the sign of circumcision, which set them apart from all other peoples on the earth. But the sign of circumcision was supposed to be the mark of an inward spiritual work. Today, we are looking at the way in which circumcision points us to the new birth in the life of a child of God. And we learn that the TRUE Jew is one who is circumcised in the heart and not the flesh!

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on August 4, 2024)

As we continue in the second chapter of Romans, we are looking at the fact that, contrary to their belief, the Jews are guilty before God. One of the reasons is that they had received the sign of circumcision, which set them apart as special people unto God. Today we begin examining this sign of circumcision, and we see that, contrary to the teaching of some denominations, it was NOT pointing us to New Testament baptism but rather to the new birth. It was supposed to be an outward sign of God’s inward work. Join us as we begin to look at circumcision and the Jewish people.

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on July 28, 2024)

As we have seen, the Jews – who thought themselves to be more righteous than the Gentiles – were actually just as culpable in the sight of God as other nations. This was because they had received the special blessings of God, and had been shown the goodness of God. Today we see that the Jews were guilty before God because they had received the Law from His hands. Join us as we examine this important principle, that both Jew and Gentile are guilty before God.

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on July 28, 2024)

In today’s sermon, we continue looking at the fact that the Jews – who thought themselves to be more righteous and holy than the Gentiles – were actually just as guilty in the sight of God. We start off seeing that the Jews were guilty before God because they had been shown that God’s goodness is what leads us to repentance, not the threats of legalism! The Jews had been shown this basis for true repentance, and yet they were still legalistic. We continue by looking at the fact that the Jews were guilty before God because they had been given the Law, unlike any other nation on earth. Join us as we continue looking at this idea of the guilt of the Jews before God.

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by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on July 21, 2024)

In the first half of this sermon, we learned the difference between exercising proper godly judgment and being self-righteously judgmental. The Jews were looking down on Gentiles, believing themselves to be more holy and righteous, and deserving of God’s favor. However, Paul tells them plainly that they are not holier than others, but in many ways MORE guilty than the Gentiles because of all the blessings they had received from God. Join us as we continue this sermon, and see more of the judgmentalism and the guilt of the Jews before the Lord.

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