John D. Chitty
“The Misadventures of Captain Headknowledge” -- Rescuing victims of villainous theology since 2006. "I'm from Geneva, and I'm here to help!"
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Mid Cities OPC Sermon Podcast
- Ascribe Ye Strength unto God (Psalm 68:34a) January 22, 2023On Sunday, January 22, 2023, Rev. Robert Mossotti preached, "Ascribe Ye Strength unto God" from Psalm 68:34a. mcopc.org/podcast
- The Son Who Did Learn Obedience (1 Kings 2:1-12) January 20, 2023On Sunday, January 15, 2023, Pastor Joe Troutman preached, "The Son Who Did Learn Obedience" from 1 Kings 2:1-12. "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, co-equal in power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, learned obedience to his Father in order to save sinners." 1. Commands He Couldn't Keep (vs. 1-4) 1 When David's time to die drew […]
- The Horns of a Dilemma (1 Kings 1:41-53) January 19, 2023On Sunday, January 8, 2023, Pastor Joe Troutman preached "The Horns of a Dilemma" from 1 Kings 1:41-53. "The Lord's King sits on the Throne and even his enemies pay homage to him." 1. Jonathan's Report (vs. 41-47) 41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound o […]
- The Long-Awaited King (Matthew 1:1-17) January 16, 2023On Sunday, December 18, 2022, Pastor Joe Troutman preached "The Long-Awaited King" from Matthew 1:1-17. 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tama […]
- The True King Has Come! (Matthew 2:1-12) January 1, 2023On Sunday, January 1, 2023, Pastor Joe Troutman preached, "The True King Has Come!" from Matthew 2:1-12. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship […]
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A Question of Chicken and Egg from John’s First Epistle
First John 5:1 reads “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” Most contemporary fundamentalist and evangelical Christians miss the implication of the apostle John’s wording “has been born of God” as it relates to those who believe. Does this text imply that those who believe were first born of God? Does it therefore imply that regeneration precedes faith? Or must we deny this implication based on our preconceived notion that regeneration is not possible until after we make the right decision to choose to believe?
Reformed Baptist apologist, Dr. James White, has posted a short video explaining this passage in the light of the apostle John’s repeated use of the language “everyone who _____ has been born of God.” He explains that all agree that in the case of two other texts from the same epistle, 1 John 2:29 and 4:7, the apostle’s clear implication is that the action of the believer is the result, and therefore logically follows, the fact of his having been born of God. In these two passages, the actions are “practicing righteousness” (2:29), and “loving” (4:7). In other words, it’s easy to accept the idea that “everyone who practices righteousness has been born of God” at face value, and it is easy to agree that everyone who loves God and his neighbor is one who has been born of God. No one’s tradition teaches the contrary. However, when it comes to the exact same grammatical structure in the first verse of chapter five, we are told by many that we must not make the same inference that being born of God is the prerequisite of saving faith. Dr. White attempts to make the case that this is no more than reading one’s tradition into the text, rather than basing one’s interpretation of the verse on what the text demonstrably means. I agree with him. Watch the following video, and see if you, too, can agree with the apostle John that “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”
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