Posts by Mike Harding
The Gospel According to the Gospels
Mike Harding FrontLine • January/February 2009 The Good News of the Gospels centers on the bloody, sacrificial, vicarious death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins, evidenced by His burial and bodily resurrection. The necessary implications of these truths include that we are Hell-bound sinners, incapable of atoning for our sins,…
Read MoreStraight Cuts: “The Just Shall Live by Faith” (Habakkuk 2:4b)
Mike Harding This inspired text penned by the ancient prophet Habakkuk is quoted three times by two NT authors. In the NT, the prophet’s profound utterance comprises the “soul of Pauline theology.”1 Boice comments, “This is a great text. It could even be called the great text of the Bible. To understand it is to…
Read MoreSAME SEX “MIRAGE” (CONCLUSION)
Pastor Mike Harding1 Marriage is the first and most basic of all human institutions. Before governments, schools, and churches, God established the home, and all institutions issue from it. Family led to patriarchal and tribal systems of human government, then to monarchial systems, and now a democratic republic. Note: Special thanks to Doug Wilson for…
Read MoreSAME SEX “MIRAGE” (II. Man and Woman are joined by God to fulfill the mandate of God.)
Pastor Mike Harding1 A. Definition of Marriage Marriage is the exclusive God ordained institution between one man (husband) and one woman (wife) in a mutually consented “one-flesh” relationship, consisting of mutually supportive companionship and physical union (Gen 1:27; 2:24; 1 Cor 7:1-6; Rom 1:26-27). As such marriage is a life-long, monogamous, heterosexual, covenant relationship between…
Read MoreSAME SEX “MIRAGE” (I. Man and Woman are made by God in the image of God.)
Pastor Mike Harding1 A. Old Testament The “image of God” (imago dei) describes man in his original creation that distinguishes him from all of creation. There are profound similarities in the nature of man and God’s nature. We were created as finite replicas of the infinite God. It is what makes man human, a created…
Read MoreSAME SEX “MIRAGE” (Introduction)
Pastor Mike Harding1 Friday, June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling about same-sex marriage in the Obergefell decision: “The 14th Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex.” President Obama remarked approvingly, “It…
Read MoreWhy Dispensationalism? (3)
Pastor Michael W. Harding (M.Div., Th.M.) In part 1 we looked at how dispensationalism best dealt with Biblical truth. In part 2 we considered how dispensationalism protects against deviations from the true gospel. We turn now to the subject of national Israel. 9. Dispensationalism maintains a future for national Israel. Has the NT Church replaced…
Read MoreWhy Dispensationalism? (2)
Pastor Michael W. Harding (M.Div., Th.M.) In part 1 we looked at how dispensationalism best dealt with Biblical truth. We turn now to how dispensationalism protects against deviations from the true gospel. 6. Dispensationalism presents the best defense against heresy because of its consistent, literal-normal use of hermeneutics. Covenant systems regularly resort to allegorization, sensus…
Read MoreWhy Dispensationalism? (1)
Pastor Michael W. Harding (M.Div., Th.M.) Dispensationalism understands the Bible in terms of the unfolding revelation of God which results in different stewardships of responsibility on the part of man. Ryrie suggests a “distinguishable economy in the outworking of God’s purpose” (Dispensationalism, p. 28). A dispensational approach to Scripture emphasizes the Glory of God as…
Read MoreBiblical Sexual Ethics in Light of God’s Institution of Marriage
Mike Harding Definition of Marriage Marriage is the exclusive God-ordained institution between one man (husband) and one woman (wife) in a mutually consented “one-flesh” relationship, consisting of mutually supportive companionship and physical union (Gen. 1:27; 2:24; 1 Cor. 7:1–6; Rom. 1:26, 27). As such, marriage is a lifelong, monogamous, heterosexual, covenant relationship between the man…
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