I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand. –Micah 5:12 (KJV)–
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. –Ephesians 4:31 (KJV)–
A heart that devises wicked schemes. –Proverbs 6:18 (NIV)–
Many of them depended much upon the conduct and advice of their conjurors, diviners, and fortune-tellers; and those God will cut off, not only as weak things, and insufficient to relieve them, but as wicked things, and sufficient to ruin them (Micah 5:12): “I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand, that thou shalt no more take hold of them, and stay thyself upon them, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers, for thou shalt be convinced that all their pretensions are a cheat.” The justice of the nation shall cut them off according to law, Leviticus 20:27. The preaching of the Gospel brought men off from using curious arts, Acts 19:19. —MATTHEW HENRY’S COMMENTARY ON MICAH 5:12
I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’ 16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 YOU SHALL TEACH THEM TO YOUR CHILDREN, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. –Deuteronomy 11:15-20 (NKJV)
Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth. –John 17:17 (NRSV)–
As for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death. –Revelation 21:8 (NRSV)–
Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. –Hebrews 3:12 (NRSV)–
Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? –2 Corinthians 6:14 (NRSV)–
Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. –James 4:4 (NRSV)–
Rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you. –1 Samuel 15:23 (NRSV)–
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Roger Olson, Against Liberal Theology (Zondervan, 2022).
J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Eerdmans, 2009).
Picture of Dorian Gray. A good idea of what the soul of liberal Christianity looks like.
Satellites and, pair of mirrors and, and a man without a home With a horse, and a rider, and a clever, cunning killer Silent in error and vocal in spotlights Lying always sucking on a bottle of, that sweet, indulgent fluid Oh greed oh yes oh greed oh yes! Oh greed oh yes Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Your friendship is a fog That disappears when the wind redirects You! Yes you!
Father’s expectations, soul soaked in, spit and urine And you gotta make it where? To a sanctuary that’s a fragile American hell An empty dream A selfish, horrific vision Passed on like the deadliest of viruses Crushing you and your naive profession Have no illusions boy Vomit all ideals and serve Sleep and wake and serve And don’t just think just wake and serve Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Your friendship is a fog That disappears when the wind redirects You! Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you, interested in you Interested in you –Rage Against the Machine, “Snakecharmer”–
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ. –Colossians 2:8 (AMP)
6 Therefore let us go on towards perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith towards God, 2 instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. 3 And we will do this, if God permits. 4 For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt. 7 Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over. 9 Even though we speak in this way, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we want each one of you to show the same diligence, so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, 12 so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. –HEBREWS 6:1-12 (NRSV)
A Call to Persevere
19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 For if we wilfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful prospect of judgement, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy ‘on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32 But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting. 35 Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. 36 For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet
‘in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.’
39 But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved. –HEBREWS 10:19-39 (NRSV)
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