Pope Francis’ recent death is an opportunity for bible-believing Christians to consider what we ought to believe about the papacy. The goal is not to dance on a dead man’s grave, but to think about who oversees Christ’s church. Is the papacy a legitimate institution? Does it have biblical warrant?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (“CCC”) says that:

The virgin birth of Christ has always been proclaimed as a doctrine to be believed by the church. It is heralded as a historical event which must be accepted as a fundamental or core truth of the Christian faith. For example, The Apostles’ Creed states:

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary…

Similar statements appear in The Nicene Creed, The Chalcedonian Creed, and The Athanasian Creed.

Despite a long history of its proclamation, this doctrine is not often explained. Most Christians who…

One of the greatest privileges that I enjoy as a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry is that I get to preach in—and be in—lots of churches.

For the most part, these churches are quite similar in terms of their understanding and interpretation of Biblical truth and, of course, they find common ground with our ministry when it comes to the core issue of the importance of God’s plan for Israel.

Often, of course, these churches have different backgrounds, traditions, practices, standards, convictions—sometimes even distinct doctrinal teachings…