Search — Theology Explorer

1 John 2:16 Prosperity gospel Lust of the eyes Lust of the flesh

Prosperity gospel critique: misappropriates OT promises to Israel, ignores Jesus's teachings on suffering and cross-bearing.

Continuing the prosperity gospel discussion.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Sexual immorality 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Homosexuality

1 Corinthians 6:9 lists sins (including homosexual practice) that preclude inheriting the kingdom; false teaching on these sins subverts the gospel.

Leanne Waters asks whether those who teach homosexual relations are okay are rejecting the true Jesus and true gospel.

1 Corinthians 6:9 1 Corinthians 6:9 Easy believism Gospel

Easy believism: allowing people to remain in lifestyle sin while claiming salvation is a false gospel.

Mike argues that teaching sexual sins are acceptable amounts to leading people to hell.

1 Timothy 2:11-12 1 Timothy 2:11-12 Women in ministry Teaching elder role

1 Timothy 2:11-12 — women learning quietly with submission refers to the teaching context, not a prohibition on speaking at all.

Exegeting 1 Timothy 2:11-12.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 1 Timothy 3:1-7 Complementarianism Overseer

1 Timothy 3 qualifications for overseers (bishops/pastors/elders — synonymous terms) flow directly from 2:11-12 and use masculine language.

Mike shows the literary connection between 1 Timothy 2 and 3.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 Women in ministry Complementarianism

1 Timothy 2:12 — "teach" and "exercise authority" may be two aspects of the same role, not two separate prohibitions.

Exegeting the grammar of 1 Timothy 2:12.

1 Timothy 2 Acts 1 Timothy 2 Acts Women in ministry

Women speaking in Acts and prophesying in church shows 1 Timothy 2 is not a ban on women speaking at all.

Clarifying the scope of the women/quietness prohibition.

Bill Johnson False teachers Bethel Music

Using materials from false teachers: distinction between promoting a false teacher's work vs. using theologically sound songs/content from a problematic source.

Question about whether to stay in a church that uses materials from false teachers.

1 Timothy 2 1 Timothy 2 Women in ministry Complementarianism

Women teaching men in a pastoral/leadership role: Mike reiterates his complementarian position.

Emily Espinal asks the biblical view on women teaching men in a pastoral role.

1 Corinthians 11 1 Corinthians 11 Head coverings Women in worship

Head coverings for women: Mike holds tentatively that they are not necessary today, but acknowledges he wants to study the passage more.

Riatoon asks whether Christian head coverings are biblical.

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-03

Additional sources confirming James's martyrdom: First Apocalypse of James, Second Apocalypse of James, Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions (c. 280 AD)

Multiple independent streams of tradition confirming James's martyrdom

James the brother of Jesus apostolic martyrdom James the brother of Jesus Stephen the martyr

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-10

Disciples' failure to cast out demons vs. faith as a mustard seed — two distinct teachings not to conflate

Q&A: Haggar Vid asks about the disciples having little faith and the mustard-seed faith saying

mustard seed faith disciples casting out demons little faith (oligopistia)

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-10

Mike is undecided on once-saved-always-saved (eternal security) and declines to teach on it until he has biblical clarity

Q&A: Fabio asks about once saved always saved

perseverance of the saints once saved always saved eternal security

youth ministry apologetics J. Warner Wallace

J. Warner Wallace's youth ministry lesson: teaching content vs. training for engagement — and the failure of candles-and-experience ministry

McDowell recounts how J. Warner Wallace transformed his youth ministry approach

Mormonism youth ministry Trinity

Apologetic mission trips: exposing youth to real intellectual and religious conflict as a discipleship strategy

McDowell describes the mission trip model developed with Brett Kunkle and J. Warner Wallace

apologetics Sam Harris parenting

Q&A: Advice for a homeschool mom — expose kids to real-world ideas rather than sheltering them; the principle of strategic exposure

Audience question from a homeschooling mother

Romans Paul youth ministry Romans

Q&A: Rooting youth in the person and work of Christ — requires both good theology (who Jesus is) and practical application (how to live it out)

Audience question about how churches can help youth be rooted in Christ

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-01

Q&A: Tips for young first-time pastor doing outreach to youth/college-age in a congregation of older saints

Pastoral question from a viewer.

Youth ministry Discipleship Pastoral ministry

Scripture authority spiritual discernment near-death experiences

Near-death experience books should be tested against Scripture and not used to supplement or replace it; the danger is NDE narrators becoming gurus with insider knowledge

Response to a question about the theological accuracy of books like 23 Minutes in Hell and 90 Minutes in Heaven

Luke apostolic authority apostolos Barnabas

Modern-day apostles: the original apostles were unique authoritative founders whose authority is now held in the NT canon; the movement claiming ongoing apostolic offices is unbiblical, though the lowercase term can refer to missionaries

Response to question about whether modern-day apostles are biblical

Genesis 1 hermeneutics Genesis 1 demythologization

Biblical cosmology should not be assumed to match ancient Near Eastern flat-earth cosmology just because surrounding cultures believed it; Genesis radically demythologizes creation compared to the Enuma Elish

Response to question about Hebraic cosmology and the flat-earth interpretation

Romans 14 Romans 6 1 Corinthians 10:13 Romans 14 temptation sanctification

Multi-step biblical strategy for overcoming lust: believe 1 Cor 10:13, make no provision for the flesh, remove high-value stumbling blocks, and fight temptation at its earliest stage not its peak

Response to question about being enslaved to the sin of lust

Matthew Hebrew Roots movement Matthew Law of Moses

Central question: Does Jesus want Gentile Christians to obey the Law of Moses today?

Opening framing of the video

Hebrew Roots movement Sabbath Torah observance

Hebrew Roots movement defined: a scattered, loosely organized group seeking to practice the Law of Moses

Background on the movement being critiqued

Hebrew Roots movement sola fide grace alone

119 Ministries praised for affirming grace-alone salvation while still holding Torah-observant views

Winger acknowledges 119 Ministries responded to his previous video

Acts 15 Matthew 5 Matthew 28 Acts 15 Hebrew Roots movement Matthew 5

Series structure announced: Matthew teachings today, then Acts, then Epistles

Winger lays out his multi-part teaching plan

Matthew 10:5 Matthew 15:24 Matthew 6:32 Matthew 10:5 Matthew 15:24 Jewish audience of Jesus

Jesus's ministry was exclusively to Jews (Matt 15:24; Matt 10:5)—the Sermon on the Mount is a Jewish address, not a Gentile one

Contextual argument that Matthew 5 cannot be applied directly to Gentiles

Romans 1:16 Gentile mission Romans 1:16 to the Jew first

Romans 1:16 — "To the Jew first and also to the Greek" reflects a sequential gospel mission, not simultaneous Law-imposition

Connecting the Jewish-first mission to the broader outreach pattern

Matthew 28:20 Hebrew Roots movement Great Commission Gentiles and the Law

Three problems with the Hebrew Roots use of Matthew 28: it misreads Matthew 5, ignores everything Jesus commanded, and contradicts how the Apostles actually applied it

Winger's three-pronged critique of the Matthew 28 argument

Acts 10 Acts 15 Acts 10 Acts 15 Gentile mission

Preview: Book of Acts will be examined next to show how the Apostles actually applied Jesus's commands regarding the Law

Transition to future installments of the series

Christian living modesty New Testament ethics

Q&A: Modesty in dress is a New Testament command—not law-keeping—and our culture is distorted about it

Pastoral application question about dress standards

Matthew 7:14 Matthew 7:14 universalism unevangelized

Q&A: Those who never hear the gospel — Winger says the way is narrow but defers to his dedicated teaching on the topic

Classic theological question about the unevangelized

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-16

Extra-biblical corroboration: Mark 10 — why Jesus taught about divorce in that context

McLatchie uses Mark 10's divorce passage to show Josephus provides context explaining why the teaching is historically plausible.

John the Baptist Mark 10:2-12 Josephus John the Baptist Herod Antipas

Torah observance Hebrew Roots movement progressive revelation

Hebrew Roots movement defined: diverse group united by belief that all believers must obey Mosaic Law including dietary restrictions, Sabbath, and feast days

Series introduction and definition of the Hebrew Roots movement

Matthew 28 Paul the Apostle Gentiles Law of Moses

Three expectations if Jesus wanted obedience to Mosaic Law: (1) clear extension to Gentiles in his teaching, (2) Apostles teaching it to Gentiles in Acts, (3) Paul explicitly commanding it

Methodological framework for evaluating Acts

Acts 6:10-14 Stephen Law of Moses Acts 6:10-14

Stephen is falsely accused of speaking against Moses and the law -- the witnesses are explicitly called false (Acts 6:13), meaning Stephen is not actually teaching against the law

Survey of Acts 6, Stephen controversy

argument from silence Torah observance Jewish believers

Key principle: those already observing the law simply continued; there was no teaching to stop -- and no teaching to start for those who were not observing it

Summary principle from Acts 1-9

Acts 11:22-26 discipleship Barnabas Torah observance

Barnabas and Saul spend a full year discipling the Antioch church; disciples are first called Christians there. This extended discipleship with no mention of Torah observance is a key data point.

Survey of Acts 11:22-26, Antioch discipleship

Law of Moses dietary laws feast days

Preaching against idolatry is not the same as imposing the law of Moses -- idolatry is condemned universally, not only in the law. Specific Mosaic laws (Sabbath, tithe to Levites, feast attendance) are never mentioned to Gentiles.

Response to Hebrew Roots claim that preaching against idolatry equals teaching Torah

Acts 15:1-2 Barnabas false gospel Paul the Apostle

Acts 15:1 -- men from Judea teach that circumcision according to Moses is required for salvation, triggering the Jerusalem Council

Survey of Acts 15:1-2, the Judaizers

Acts 15 Acts 15 Torah observance salvation vs. sanctification

Three arguments that Acts 15 addresses sanctification, not just salvation: (1) text never limits it to salvation; (2) if future Torah teaching was expected, why not clarify here; (3) they gave four specific sanctification commands, not the whole law

Winger's three-part argument that Acts 15 covers sanctification as well

Acts 15 Acts 13 discipleship Acts 15 Torah observance

Hebrew Roots response to Acts 15: it was only temporary, with full Torah teaching coming later. Winger demolishes this by pointing to the years of prior discipleship at Antioch.

Response to the Hebrew Roots 'temporary decree' argument for Acts 15

Torah observance Jewish believers fulfillment theology

Summary: Gentiles who get saved in Acts never receive Torah instructions; Jews are never asked to stop. Both groups are united by Jesus, not by the law.

Summary of Acts survey to this point

Acts 18:13 Paul the Apostle Law of Moses fulfillment theology

Acts 18:13 -- Paul accused of persuading men to worship God contrary to the law. Again just an accusation, paralleling the pattern with Jesus: fulfillment misread as abolishment.

Survey of Acts 18:13