Alan

Reincarnation is originally from the Hindus in India. On Taiwan, most of the Buddhist religious sects, and the Taoist sects, have some sort of reincarnation tenets. All of the various sects that believe in reincarnation differ in several respects. All of the various religious sects offer different aspects of reincarnation, when it occurs, how it occurs, why it occurs, and how the cycle of reincarnation ends. The study of reincarnation, and the symbols, and the ceremonies, and the type of reincarnation, is a very involved study. Here is a Wikipedia article that gives you some basic beliefs of reincarnation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation A true believer in reincarnation, and not like most causal believers here in America, usually have various religious ceremonies, pictures in there homes of various Buddhist or Hindu symbols and religious observances that they would normally do. If your friend does not claim a Buddhist or Hindu belief system, and if your friend does not have Eastern symbols or pictures on the walls of her house, than, quite frankly, she has just a passing, or an insincere, or a notion, that she believes in reincarnation. Like Dave said, she is just giving an excuse or she just kinda thinks it may happen. If your friend continues to claim she is a true believer in reincarnation, I would suggest reading to her Luke 16:19-31 and let her know plainly that after death the soul either is in hell or in heaven. I do have a tract, in Chinese, that I use for Buddhists and it gives the story in enough detail so that a true believer in reincarnation knows that the belief is false. I do not specifically mention reincarnation due to space limitations in a tract, but the story speaks for itself. Here is a link to the English pdf copy of that tract. http://taiwanvbc.com/john3.16&1corinthians15.1-6englishtheloveofgod.pdf If your friend is a devout believer in reincarnation, and she gives you any Buddhist, or Hindu, material, let me know and I can help further in some of the terminology that they use. May the Lord bless your efforts in reaching your friend for Christ.

"By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life." Proverbs 22:4

Brethren, The Lord Jesus clearly stated that there is only one sin that is unpardonable, "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." Matthew 12:31-32 "All manner" includes Sodomy, idolatry, a reprobate mind, lying, stealing, blasphemy, adultery, fornication, and of the the other sins listed in Romans 1:18-32. The teaching of John R. Rice, and, "The Unpardonable sin," as written in the July 2, 1948 issue of, "The Sword of the Lord," is also found in the "A Verse-by-Verse Commentary on Matthew," by John R. Rice on pages 181-183. Pastor Joe Major is distorting the very words of John R. Rice to try and prove that Rice taught, "The Reprobate Doctrine." Please take notice that pastor Joe Major will not quote John R. Rice, in either the July 2, 1948 issue nor his Matthew Commentary. Not one time in either article does John R. Rice mention the following words or characteristics: (1) the word reprobate is not even mentioned. (2) Homosexuals, or any derivative of the word, is not mentioned. (3) The sin of homosexuality is not even hinted at. Among his fine exposition of Matthew 12:22-32, concerning 31-32, John R. Rice states, "The unpardonable sin is a complete and final rejection of Christ so definite and blasphemous that it insults and drives away the Holy Spirit forever. Then He no longer moves the heart, brings conviction or arouses desire for salvation." John R. Rice is very clear and Pastor Joe Major, and the other NewIFB brethren who use Pastor Major's video, is purposely deceiving all those folks who watch the video. Paul Christian, pastor Joe Major, and the other NewIFB followers, are trying to tie John R. Rice into their heretical teaching and are trying to slander and distort men of God who are passed away and cannot speak for themselves. Shame unto them.

That John R. Rice, and other fine IFB men of God, taught that a person could commit unpardonable sins is correct. But, Paul Christian, and pastor Joe Major, twist John R. Rice's words, and teachings, to fit Pastor Anderson's "Reprobate Doctrine." John R. Rice's "unpardonable sin" teaching, Hebrew 6:4-6, and other passages listed in the John R. Rice issue of "The Sword of Lord," on July 2, 1948, is not, nor was never, the "Reprobate Doctrine" that is taught by Steven Anderson and his followers. I am not surprised at all of this deceit by Paul Christian and Joe Major. The John R. Video was produced by Pastor Joe Major, Faith Baptist Church; Baton Rouge, LA, and he is an Andersonite, the NewIFB, to the core. https://www.thenewifb.com/church-directory https://faithbaptistchalmette.com/ Paul Christian, can you answer the following questions? 1. Are you pastor Joe Major? 2. If not, what church do you attend? 3. Are you in the ministry? As I said before, Paul Christian is twisting the teaching of John R. Rice. Paul Christian, as with Steven Anderson and his followers, are false teachers, full of hate, and will twist the fine teaching of old-time IFB men of God anyway that that fits their twisted beliefs on Romans chapter one and other passages of scripture.

I did not call John R. Rice a reprobate and you know it. You are the one who is crossing the line with your false interpretation of Romans chapter one and the other associated passages of scripture.

Steven Anderson is not a man of God. Anderson is a false teacher, a man full of hate, and is not qualified to be in the ministry: especially to be a pastor of a church. As I said before, as with Steven Anderson, you cannot 'rightly divide the scriptures. Just because you, and Anderson, can quote the Bible does not mean you are correct. You wrote that John R. Rice "taught" reprobate doctrine. To teach a reprobate doctrine is to be a reprobate.

I know what you said. Paul, You are the one who is teaching reprobate doctrine. You cannot 'rightly divide' Romans chapter one and the other passages you listed.

John R. Rice, may be a reprobate in your eyes, but in the eyes of many strong IFB saints, he was a man of God, filled with the Holy Spirit of God, a winner on countless souls, a writer of many excellent books & tracts & pamphlets, and walked close to the Lord Jesus Christ. John R. Rice boldly stood against evolution, Calvinists, liberals, moral wickedness in society, moral wickedness in Hollywood, and was a staunch defender of the faith. In our perverted day and age, many false teachers, liberals, Pastor Steven Anderson and his followers in the NewIFB Movement, find fault, nit-pickers I call them, with John R. Rice, Charles H. Spurgeon, and other men of God, who walked with God in every aspect of the word. To call John R. Rice a reprobate is not of the Lord. And, to call out his name in a thread called, "What are Your Thoughts on Effeminate Men in the Name of Christ," and insinuate that John R. Rice is an effeminate man of God is a lie, deceitful, and a shame.

Welcome to the forum Jim. Hope we can get to know one another better.

Jim, Thank you for reading my 7/29/17 post. Wow! It has been over two years since I wrote that testimony. My 7/29/17 post was just a personal testimony on how we started two churches on Taiwan. For your information, we are missionaries to Taiwan and are sent by our home church to start churches on the field that God has called us to. I did not write that post to take sides in this issue and if you notice I have not commented on the "home church movement" here in the Sates issue for my own personal reasons. Also, I rarely answer "what if" type questions nor do I answer for other people and what they think. If you want my thoughts on ordination you may want to visit this thread: I will not probably discuss much more on this thread. Alan

I do hope that you will not be an outsider very long. Welcome to Online Baptist.

Throughout this series of lessons on the local church, it is my contention that a lot of what goes on, including the ordination of men and women that are not qualified, in the denominational headquarters is not, repeat, is not, according to what is written in the New Testament. So, in the sight of God, the ordinations, the baptisms, the methodology, "bishops", false doctrine, religious hierarchy, ecumenism, etc... by the denominational headquarters, are not valid and will not stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

We will be looking at James 2:1-4 in our next lesson.

May the Lord bless all of the veterans this Veterans Day. If there is anybody that would like to give a public testimony on your Veteran spouse, yourself as a veteran, or photos of a Veterans Day parade, or special Veterans Day service, please do so.

“The End Note on Second Timothy – The First Bishop of Rome” The end note on the book of Second Timothy, on the Authorized Version of the Bible, commonly called the King James Version of 1611, says, “The second epistle unto Timotheus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians, was written from Rome, when Paul was brought before Nero the second time.” Considered by most saints, the book of Second Timothy, is the last book of the New Testament written by Paul the Apostle. The Apostle Paul is in prison, he is about to be beheaded by the Roman Government, and is giving his son in the faith, Timothy, some last instructions, doctrinal information, admonitions, encouragement, and a final farewell. The author of the end note is not known and it is not considered written by Paul in the Epistle nor is it considered inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is though, considered an historical fact noted by someone in the history of time to actual events and of whose name will be revealed in the courts of heaven. “The second epistle unto Timotheus ...” the Apostle Paul wrote two epistles to Timothy. “… ordained ...” Timothy was ordained into the ministry. The Apostle Paul had previously wrote to Timothy to be very careful in ordaining a man into the ministry. Paul wrote, “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins, keep thyself pure.” 1 Timothy 5:22 The context of 1 Timothy 5:22 is of an elder, or the pastor, of a church (1 Timothy 5:17-21). Furthermore, in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 (along with Titus 1:5-9), the context is that a man who is ordained into the ministry needs to meet the qualifications of the pastor. Only the Local Church has the Authority to Ordain The apostle Paul stated, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.” 1 Timothy 4:14 The Bible Hub gives us the definition of presbytery - greek πρεσβυτερίου. “4244. presbuterion. Strong's Concordance presbuterion: a body of elders Original Word: πρεσβυτέριον, ου, τό Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: presbuterion Phonetic Spelling: (pres-boo-ter'-ee-on) Definition: a body of elders Usage: an assembly of elders, the Sanhedrin, officers of the church assembly, presbytery.” 1 Therefore, the meaning of “the presbytery,” in the context of 1 Timothy 4:14, is clearly pastors, or elders, of local churches. As instituted by the Apostle Paul, only the pastors of local churches can ordain another man into the ministry. Writing to Titus, Paul stated, “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I appointed thee.” Titus 1:5 1 Corinthians 7:17 states, “But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all churches.” The apostle Paul never gave any instruction, commandment, or ordinance, to any organization outside the local church. The modern practice of ordaining a man intro the ministry at the conclusion of his graduating from a seminary is not found in scriptures. In fact, the modern practice of ordaining a man by any denomination is not found in scripture. The authority of ordaining a man in the ministry is as the practice of Paul the apostle. As an apostle, and as the example given to Timothy, and the express command to Titus, only the pastors of a New Testament, local, independent church has the authority to ordain a man into the ministry. “… the first bishop ...” The bishop, or overseer, or pastor, or elder, is the overseer of only one church. Starting with the Roman Catholic Church, the various religious denominations have changed the meaning, and practice, of a bishop being the head of one church into the overseer, or head, of numerous churches within a region. This practice is not scriptural. “… of the church of the Ephesians ...” In this case, Timothy was clearly only the overseer, or head, of the church at Ephesus. Timothy was not the overseer, or head, or bishop, over numerous churches in a given region. “… was written from Rome ...” This epistle was written by Paul the apostle in a jail cell in Rome while he was waiting for his execution. “… when Paul was brought before Nero the second time.” The first time that Paul the apostle was brought before the Roman authorities for trial is found in Acts 28:16-31. In that trial, obviously, Paul was not put to death. The second time that the Apostle Paul appeared before the Roman government, Nero had him sentenced to death. According to tradition, because Paul was a Roman citizen, the Apostle Paul was beheaded. 1https://biblehub.com/greek/4244.htm