Adam Wilson 📖

Christ First | Proclaiming Scripture through a literal, grammatical and historical lens | Understanding current events through a biblical framework.

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

Is the God of the Old Testament the same God as the New Testament? Is Jesus Jewish?

When God calls Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3, Moses asks God “…And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” (Exod. 3:13b)

God responds by telling Moses to call Him “I AM WHO I AM” (Exod. 3:14a). Most English Bibles translate this as “LORD” instead of the correct translation, Yahweh. The reasoning behind this is that many translators followed Jewish custom and would not translate 'LORD' to 'Yahweh'. Translators know that Jews will not pronounce the divine name (YHWH), also known as the tetragrammaton. Only a small number of English translations use ‘Yahweh,’ the Legacy Standard Bible being one of them.

Using the proper name of ‘Yahweh’ is important because it points directly to ‘Jesus’ in the New Testament. The name ‘Jesus’ means ‘Yahweh Saves’ or ‘Yahweh is Salvation.’ Jesus is the One and only begotten Son of God, born of a virgin and sent to save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21; John 3:14–21).

Jesus makes seven critical “I AM” statements in John’s Gospel. This is undeniably Christ claiming His deity and referencing back to the Old Testament every single time Yahweh says, “I AM.”

1. I AM the Bread of Life. (John 6:35)
2. I AM the Light of the World (John 8:12)
3. I AM the Door (John 10:9)
4. I AM the Good Shepherd (John 10:11)
5. I AM the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
6. I AM the Way the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
7. I AM the True Vine (John 15:1)

Jesus makes a profound statement in John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” The Jewish audience of Jesus’ day knew exactly what He was saying; Christ was applying the name of Yahweh to Himself. In fact, the Jews were so enraged that John writes in John 8:59 that they “picked up stones to throw” at Jesus because they assumed He was being blasphemous.

At this point, it goes without saying that the Jews accepted the fact that Jesus was/is Jewish. In Matthew 1, the Gospel lays out a tedious and long genealogy of Christ. Verse 2 begins with Abraham. Simply put, Jesus has a royal lineage all the way back to Abraham. Verse 6 continues with King David and descends all the way to Joseph, who is the husband of Mary.

Likewise, Luke has a genealogy of Christ in chapter 3. Luke even begins by writing that Jesus “was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). This was the age that Jewish priests began their priestly duties; another proof that Jesus came to fulfill the Law and become a Great High Priest for His people. Luke takes his genealogy further back than Matthew; he goes past Abraham all the way to “the Son of God” (Luke 3:38). The lineage of Christ is listed because Jesus is Jewish. In fact, Luke 4:16 says, “And He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.” Gentiles are not able to do this, only one who is a Jew.

We can biblically conclude that Yahweh is in fact the same God of the Old Testament and He is of the New Testament; and He is the same God today. God is unchanging and eternal (Mal. 3:16; Num. 23:9; Ps. 102:25–27; Heb. 13:8; James 1:17; Heb. 1:10–12).

Furthermore, we can biblically conclude that Jesus was and is Jewish. Anyone who is claiming otherwise has no hope of the forgiveness of sins, as the Law had to be fulfilled by the Messiah; One who is Jewish. Jesus being a Jew is non-negotiable. Corey Mahler said recently, “Jesus was not and is not a Jew.” There is no biblical proof for this horrendous claim, and he needs to renounce it if he claims to be a Christian.

Why is there a need to make this post? Gnosticism, just as when 1 John was written, is once again on the rise. I plan to post more about this in the future. This time, Gnosticism is being merged with New Age thought and Paganism. The lie that many are starting to proclaim is that “Yahweh is the grand conspirator against humanity” (@DonnieDarkened on an X post condemning this Gnosticism). For example, they say that the Old Testament (i.e., Yahweh Himself) is a conspiracy that has given the Jews worldwide power today and has financed our churches.

New Gnosticism is fairly easy to identify. I saw a post on X that had these two claims: “Most Jews do not like to admit it, but our God is Lucifer…and we are his chosen people,” and “Yahweh=Moloch=Saturn=Satan… (He is) NOT the Father.”

These heretical and blasphemous statements are easily disproven by opening the Bible and fact-checking. Stay on guard and take every claim back to our ultimate authority, the Word of God.

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@DineshDSouza @HwsEleutheroi Your post was disgusting and concerning

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@Thebubbler69 @MtZionAD33 “Abortion saves lives.” Wow. Imagine being this deluded. You think a mom is only murdering her kid late term and on but have complete disregard for that same child from conception to birth. Also since when is it considered “freedom” to murder an innocent. You people are insane.

[𝔚𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔡 @HwsEleutheroi]

Well, record shows…I tried. The man is utterly clueless about the history of the church, the Reformation, the Remonstrance, Dordt, and everything that has happened since then. Prediction: once someone “takes a stand” with feet planted firmly in self-imposed ignorance they very often go to their grave committed to that position. This was what I hoped to avoid. Still time to back off and do this right but, truly silly rhetoric like this is shameful. It would even make Arminius himself chuckle.

[𝔚𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔡 @HwsEleutheroi]

It is interesting to note that someone like @DineshDSouza , who knows the importance of primary research, has so little respect for Reformed theology that he is willing to forego the effort before making his negative conclusions. But this is not really unusual at all. I can name many big names who have followed the same path, repeated simplistic errors and straw-man arguments, all in the service of the most widely adored idol of mankind: human autonomy. At the same time, he is not to be identified as an exegete of any kind, and, once again, as I have taught for decades, the only reason to believe God elects an undeserving people to eternal life is if you are convinced by the testimony of the inspired Word of God. All other foundations for such a belief will, eventually, collapse.

[𝔚𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔡 @HwsEleutheroi]

I would like to make a few quick comments on the @DineshdSouza anti-Calvinism crusade going on right now.

First, Mr. D'Souza just indicated he is ordering one of the most basic books on Reformed soteriology, one that every Calvinist I know owns and has read: Sproul's _Chosen By God_. That's a great first step, but it also illustrates the problem. Dinesh has not given any of us any reason to believe he actually understands the position he is vigorously denying. That's what caught my attention. So, first...

Let's stop talking about a debate for now. Debates are great: I will list some of my formal, public, moderated debates below on this topic. But some of them are not useful, such as the one I did with Steve Tassi. OK, entertaining, but not overly useful in the long run. And I don't want to invest time in such a debate at the moment. Here is my suggestion. Let Dinesh read Sproul. Think about it. Work on it. Understand it. I think he would find _The Potter's Freedom_ even more useful, given its apologetic orientation, but for now...Sproul will do. And then, let's give him room to...back track. Realize that all of his objections are basic, and have been addressed by our side again and again and again at a very deep level. Give him the room to grow, to learn, and to go, "OK, sorry...much more to this than I originally thought." Dinesh is a smart man . I've profited from much of what he has written and produced. I'd like to see him given room to take a step back and go, "OK, let's rethink this."

Secondly, I would like to invite Dinesh to consider this: if I were to all of a sudden show up start haranguing his most recent book, and he asks, “When did you read it?” and I answer, “I haven’t,” how much credibility would I have? In the same way, I have written three books on this topic, one of which is very widely used and very popular. Yet it is clear Dinesh hasn’t read it yet…he will dismiss my “videos” as just surface level proof texting? I will hazard a guess: he has not listened to a full debate on this topic, not even the ones with Flowers, let alone the more serious ones with Bryson and Brown. I’d like him to consider what this might mean for his conclusions.

Next, I would like to ask him if he has read any, or all, of the following:

The Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. Fundamental reading for Western Civilization, truly, let alone for Reformed theology, and for “Calvinism.”

Institutes of Elenctic Theology by Francis Turretin. At least the relevant sections on soteriology. Height of Reformed scholasticism, and surely sufficient to keep a person from making off-hand comments about how surface-level Reformed teaching supposedly is.

Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will. Classic Reformed treatment that would disabuse Dinesh of every one of the rather silly statements he has made about man not being able to make choices, etc. (Reformed theology says we make choices, obviously: the issue is the bondage of the will to sin, and hence the options from which to choose in making said choices).

The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock. At its base, the debate over “Calvinism” is a debate over theology proper. I have always said, a consistent Arminian is an Open Theist. There is a reason why that is a very defensible proposition.

And let’s let ol’ Luther have his say. Has Dinesh read the first written debate of the Reformation, that between Luther (On the Bondage of the Will) and Desiderius Erasmus?

So look…a debate would be great, but, I am simply stating this honestly: I have not seen Mr. D’Souza make an objection so far that shows he has a CLUE what the other side is actually saying. And I say that with standing: I know how to debate. I’ve done more than 200 moderated, public debates all around the world on dozens of topics, not just this one. I’ve gotten pretty good at being able to tell who has done their homework and who is making it up as they go along. Want evidence? OK, let’s start with a few debates on Calvinism, going back over a quarter of a century:

https://t.co/t8PRfzX1tH
https://t.co/6aROuHGd7F

And the Tassi debate which, while entertaining, was not exactly edifying in the long run:

https://t.co/RZQJZZSlKU

And a few others simply demonstrating that formal, public, moderated debate is something we have been engaged in for, oh, let’s see…as of this month, I just realized…36 years (started August of 1990):

Vs. Bart Ehrman: https://t.co/IWNY5DSafr

Vs. John Dominic Crossan: https://t.co/35tPzoQKtI

Vs. John Shelby Spong: https://t.co/uVCuVT5h3D

Vs. Shabir Ally (Abu Bakr Siddiq Mosque, Erasmia, South Africa: https://t.co/jZxPSqniKw

Vs. Dr. Abdullah Kunde, Australia: https://t.co/gnk5EmV57A

Vs. Atheist David Silverman: https://t.co/x2SulRpdlV

Vs. Atheist Dan Barker: https://t.co/hCmZC1Y4C5

And, of course, all the debates with Mitch Pacwa, Gerry Matatics, Patrick Madrid, etc. and etc.

So, let’s let Mr. D’Souza do some reading…and then we can talk about formal debate. As for me, I have been working for months in preparation for my next such debate October 17th in Gilbert, Arizona vs. Eastern Orthodox representative Craig Truglia. Thesis: “Icon Veneration as Taught by the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicea II) in 787 is Apostolic” (I am, of course, taking the negative).

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@Pastor_JVaughn Agreed

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@BeardownCuz W(tbd)NBA on a random Saturday night

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@BeardownCuz Very good, Michael very good

[Mike Winger @MikeWingerii]

Saying the Dispensationalists, as a general rule, believe that Jews have a path to God apart from faith in Christ is like saying that Calvinists, as a general rule, believe evangelism is unimportant.

It’s a false claim that blunts wisdom, charity, and truth.

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@MtZionAD33 On behalf of Iowa, you’re welcome and thank you for your support

[𝔚𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔡 @HwsEleutheroi]

Such a shame Dr. Turek will keep making statements like this while so obviously avoiding interacting, publicly, formally, with those who could demonstrate his errors.

You have a standing challenge to debate this topic, Dr. Turek. Hope you will choose some day to stand behind your claims.

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@BeardownCuz Can’t wait for this sell on the pod. Must be addressed

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@BeardownCuz @BrillDumbShow Can’t wait. Would love to see some sort of punishment at the end of the year if Bob gets under 50% on the Ask Bob segment @BDShowTracker

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@LeadingReport @DonnieDarkened is this is the beginning of the rebuilding of the temple?

[NUCLR GOLF @NUCLRGOLF]

🗣️ “JUST A TERRIBLE QUESTION. NEXT QUESTION. AWFUL.” 😳

Scottie Scheffler claps back. 😅

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@HQNewsNow @DonnieDarkened

[𝕸𝖆𝖙𝖙 𝕷𝖊𝕻𝖆𝖌𝖊 📖 🇺🇸 @MtZionAD33]

Brother Paul asking John MacArthur self-examining questions on his deathbed is biblically appropriate.

To those who have an issue with Brother Paul, it really shows that we have idolized John MacArthur and in effect are allowing hyper-grace to influence our thinking.

[Trevor Sheatz @TrevorSheatz]

The fruit of the Spirit isn't something you produce by trying harder. It's what grows when you abide in the Vine: Jesus (John 15:5).

[Adam Wilson 📖 @AdamWilson_52]

@HwsEleutheroi @lecrae Conviction.