1:19 It is important to point out that it isn't the Bible that converts people. The first Christians didn't have the Bible as we know it. The New Testament hadn't been compiled, and there was no such thing as the printing press. Besides, many couldn't read. Rather, they were converted by the spoken message of the gospel. It is the gospel that is "the power of God to salvation" (Romans 1:16). Until
God gives light to His Word, it will remain a dry history book to its reader.
1:21 "The idea conveyed is that just as the wind controls the sails of a boat, so also the breath of God controlled the writers of the Bible. The end result was exactly what God intended." Josh McDowell CHAPTER 2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not.
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved to judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved
Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample to those that after should live ungodly; 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) "I believe that the most damnable thing a man can do is to preach the gospel merely as an actor and turn the worship of God into a kind of theatrical performance."
CHARLES SPURGEON 9 The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished:
10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
QUESTIONS & OBJECTIONS 3:3–6 "The number of fossils in some areas is enormous. How could earth have supported all those creatures at the same time?"
This question shows a common false assumption that many people make. They assume the earth today is the same as it has always been. Today's earth is seventy percent under water. There are scriptural and scientific indications that the pre-Flood world had greater air pressure, higher percentages of oxygen and carbon dioxide, much more land (above sea level), less water (on the earth's surface), and a canopy of water to filter out the harmful effects of the sun. This would cause there to be many times more plants and animals on the earth than there are today. The added air pressure would diffuse more gasses into the water and support a much greater fish population. Aquatic plant life per cubic mile would multiply also.
Second Peter 3 tells us that the scoffers in the last days will be willingly ignorant of how God created the heavens and the earth.
They would also be ignorant of the Flood.
These two great events must be considered before making any statements about the conditions on earth today. Only about three percent of the earth today is habitable for man. The rest is under water, ice, deserts, mountains, etc. If the earth before the Flood were, say, seventy percent habitable, it could have supported a huge population. The vast amount and worldwide distribution of fossils shows that the Flood was global and that God hates sin enough to judge the entire world."
Dr. Kent Hovind "About 85% of the rock surface around the world is made up of sedimentary rock, indicating that at some time in the past, the world was covered by water." Peter and Paul Lalonde, 301 Startling Proofs & Prophecies 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 But it is happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
2:4,5,9 Judgment Day: For verses that warn of its reality, see 2 Peter 3:7.
2:5 The Bible's fascinating facts. In Genesis 6, God gave Noah the dimensions of the 1.5 million cubic foot ark he was to build.
In 1609 at Hoorn in Holland, a ship was built after that same pattern, revolutionizing shipbuilding. By 1900 every large ship on the high seas was inclined toward the proportions of the ark (as verified by "Lloyd's Register of Shipping" in the World Almanac).
2:6–8 Witnessing to homosexuals. I had an angry lesbian heckle me one Friday night while speaking in Santa Monica in front of a large crowd. I was so pleased to have the Law of God as a weapon. When she insisted that she was born with homosexual desires, I told her that I was too. I was born with a capacity to be a homosexual, to fornicate, commit adultery, lie, and steal. I said that it was called 'sin,' and that we all had it in our nature. It diffused her intent on making me seem like a 'gay-basher.' I could see the frustration on her face when she wasn't able to take the discourse in the direction she wanted. Instead of seeming the poor victim, she found herself in the public hot-seat of having sinned against God.
The way to witness to a homosexual is simply to follow the biblical guidelines and use the Law. See Matthew 19:17–22 comment.
2:9 Using a Survey to Share Your Faith.
Begin by asking: "Do you have a moment to answer a couple of quick questions for a survey?"
1) Do you believe in the existence of any type of God or Higher Power? (Yes _____ No _____) 2) If there truly was a coming Day of Judgment when God would give every person either everlasting life or everlasting punishment, do you think it would be important for people to know what they would need to do to receive everlasting life?
(Yes _____ No _____) 3) If there truly was a coming Day of Judgment, do you think you would know how a person could receive everlasting life? (Yes
_____ No _____) If so, how?
2:14 These workers of iniquity violate God's Law by transgressing the Seventh and Tenth Commandments.
2:21 When sinners make professions of faith and refuse to have any regard for God's Moral Law, their latter end becomes worse than the first. They fall away and become hardened (inoculated) against the truth. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness (the gospel) than, after they have known it, to turn from the "holy commandment" (the Moral Law).
The Law cannot condemn the Christian (Romans 8:1), but those who are truly converted will not transgress its precepts.
Those who do, prove to be "workers of iniquity" (lawlessness). See Matthew 7:21–