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• Everlasting Life–The Believer of John 3:16

  …ster WongMixxMySpaceNetvouzNewsvineoneviewOnlyWirePlugIMPropellerRedditSegnaloShoutwireSimpySlashdotSurphaceSphinnSpurlSquidooStumbleUponTechnoratiThisNextTwitterWebrideWindows LiveYahoo!Email This to a Friend  Link HTML:  Permalink:  If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.Powered by Bookmarkify™ More »Who has everlasting life?  Is it the man Jesus spoke of in John 3:16 when he sai…

• Does God Really Care?

  Over the course of time just about all of us are confronted with the reality of suffering and abuse not just on newscasts but in our own personal world where we live day by day and experience life up close.  Why are small precious children abused?  Why do many of them from all outward appearances not have a chance from the get go due to the circumstances they were born into?  Why do old people often get in such horrible conditions as you find th…

• Better to Never Have Been Born–Why?

  …rstand how it is that some do not seem to understand that they are not in charge of their lives.  Everyday people die unexpectedly, suddenly, without warning whether from accidents, heart attacks, you name it.  Even with long life one cannot overcome death.  It is going to get each of us sooner or later.  It is a battle we cannot win.  So what then–then after death? The answer is, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this t…

• Who is the Believer in John 3:16?

  Sometimes things that are the most obvious are also the easiest to overlook.  No passage in the Bible is better known nor been memorized more than Jesus’ statement in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (NKJV)  This was part of a conversation that Jesus was having with a man named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who …

• Jesus as the Bread of Life (John 6:48)

  Beginning in about John 6:27 Jesus begins a discussion with those with whom he is conversing that carries through most of the rest of the chapter about himself being the bread of life sent down from the Father (John 6:32-35) that man might eat of this bread and have eternal life.  There are many, many descriptive terms used in reference to Jesus in the Bible of which the bread of life is but one. In the book of John alone Jesus is described as t…

• Three Benefits of Being a Christian in This Life – Hope, Love, Peace

  One thing that is often overlooked is the value of being a Christian and living the Christian life in the here and now, not just for the benefit of the afterlife to come.  There is nothing as important as where you are going to live in eternity but there are enormous benefits to living the Christian life aside from those benefits to come when this life has ended.  I list but three of those benefits here. (1)  Hope When one takes hope away from a…

• What is it a Man Must Believe in Order to be Saved?

  …f Jesus Christ.  We are not talking about Allah or the God of some other religion other than Christianity.  Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life.” (John 5:24 NKJV)  Who sent Jesus?  God the Father (see John 3:16-17, John 8:16, 1 John 4:14, 1 John 1:3).  In Rom. 4 we are told our faith will be accounted for righteousness.  “It shall be imputed to us w…

• The Pleasures of Sin

  …d be a liar and fully aware of his lie if he was to deny that sin can be pleasurable.  He would know he was lying not only because of what the word of God has said about it in the passages above but also from his own personal life experiences.  Who can say that they have not enjoyed sin at one time or another or at least found it preferable to doing right?  If sin was unpleasant who would ever willingly engage in it?  We do not, under ordinary ci…

• The Prodigal Son–When He Came to Himself

  The story of the prodigal son as told by Jesus in Luke 15:11-32 is too long to quote here but also so well known that almost everyone acquainted with the Bible at all knows the story and the main thrust of the lesson taught there.  However, there is one phrase in the account we do not talk enough about–the phrase “when he came to himself” found in verse 17. This verse marks the point in the young man’s life where his eyes were opened to th…

• The Struggle to be a Spiritually Minded Man or Woman

  Every person that has ever contemplated the subject of life and death, the meaning of life and eternal destiny, and has chosen faith in Christ as the route he/she desires to walk has found himself/herself in a constant struggle.  On the one hand there is the deep desire to do what is right according to the will of God as we read it in the Bible and on the other hand there is that desire within us that wants to do what we want to do which often m…

• Lessons for the Church from Isaiah (Chapter 1)

  …e people were still offering sacrifices, burnt offerings, incense, holding to the appointed feasts, observing the Sabbaths, etc.  These were divinely given acts of worship but God was not pleased for neither the heart nor the life was right in the worshippers. God says, “I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.” (Isa. 1:13 ESV)  He says their incense “is an abomination to me.” (Isa. 1:13 ESV)  Of the new moons and the appointed feasts he say…

• Though He Slay Me

  …w, of the loss of loved ones (sons and daughters), of possessions, of health, and very nearly of hope.  His state got to be such that his wife’s advice was, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9 NKJV)  Death was seen as preferable to life as it was.  While Job agreed that his death was preferable to life yet the idea of cursing God was anathema to him (Job 2:10). In the next chapter he expresses a sentiment I became very familiar with in my own father’s …

• Fear God

  …re is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”  (I John 4:18 NKJV)  It is true that every Christian can have fear banished from his life whether young or old. Just a few verses later John says, “this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments”.  (1 John 5:3)  This freedom from fear is available to any Christian living a faithful and dedicated life…

• Regrets

  While it would be wonderful to live a life of no regrets there are few if any of us that have or will.  By the time one reaches old age, and generally a long, long time before, one can look back at his life and see things he wishes he had done differently.  These things may relate to about any area of our life.   I think it would do us some good to look back at some of the Bible’s famous men and see if they had any regrets.  By doing so it…

• How Does the Blood of Jesus and Baptism Tie Together

  … each get a microscopic drop of literal blood placed on our soul.  So the question then becomes where has God placed the blood in a spiritual sense?  It does matter; it is a matter of salvation.  In the Bible blood stands for life.  God speaking to Noah and his sons after the flood said unto them, “You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” (Gen 9:4 NKJV)  Again, God speaking to Moses in Lev. 17:11 says to Moses, R…

• The Peace Found in Forgiveness of Others

  …ill get even with you even if that mechanism is only by being unwilling to forgive). Yes, we all have people who have done us wrong whom we have been very angry at, maybe bitter against, but I have never seen a time in my own life but what time heals and the things that seemed so great an issue at the time has over the years palled into insignificance and no longer matter.  We are going to get hurt in life.  That is just life.  But we also have t…

• Lincoln’s Tomb and Jesus’ Tomb

  …erently.  I am not 70 yet but I am old enough to begin to see what he meant.  You go to a place like this cemetery and you are reminded that it will not be that long until you too will lie there or in a similar place. We love life.  Very few people have a desire to die save for perhaps those few whose physical condition is such as to make life nearly unbearable.  God gave us life.  We did not volunteer to come into the world but having arrived he…

• Demas Has Forsaken Me

  …If a man can walk with an apostle and fall away then any man can, every man can, and so the threat is real.  And threat it is for to fall away is to be eternally lost if we do not repent. Can you and I learn anything from the life of Demas worth our while?  I believe we can. Paul says Demas loved the present world.  John says, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.  If any one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” …

• He Went Away Grieved

  People came to Jesus while he was on earth for different reasons.  Some came because they felt he could provide them with the necessities of life.  After having fed the 5,000 the crowd intended to take him by force to make him king (John 6:15).  Jesus said to them, “You seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” (John 6:26 NKJV) Others sought after him that they might be healed of sickness and dis…

• The Church as the Family of God–Things Found in It

  The church in the New Testament is described under various appellations the best known perhaps being the family of God.  It is the designation that touches the heart with the greatest force.  We long to be part of a family, to have people that care about us and care how we are doing and who will help us willingly and gladly should we need it, people who do love us.  One of the saddest things one can experience in life, a gut wrenching experience…

• Jesus and the Furnace of Fire

  …now to end up in what the Bible calls the furnace of fire.  And what people cannot comprehend and refuse to believe is that Jesus will put them there (although the reality is they really put themselves there the result of the life they chose to live). Hear Jesus, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of…

• Christianity–Who Rules Reason or Emotions?

  A man is either led in life by his reason or his emotions and which makes all the difference in the world.  A life ruled by emotions is a life destined for disaster, a life where reason is always found in the back seat where it cannot be heard over the roar of the engine of emotion as it propels an individual down the road of life. When emotions rule your life everything is done on the basis of feelings with minimal thought being given to truth …

• The Book of Ecclesiastes

  … gone by when I would read it but that was my fault, not the book’s fault.  I would like to try and show the upbeat side of the book of Ecclesiastes. What the book of Ecclesiastes does is lay before us the facts of this life.  Our great achievements, as we may view them, will eventually fade away into obscurity and we along with them.  Even the names on our tombstones will eventually be weathered away to the point they can no longer be read…

• Spiritual Mirages

  It is so easy to be misled in life.  Things appear to be a certain way when the reality is they are just the opposite of what they seem to be.  Ask any young man or woman or husband or wife who has been deeply in love and then found out to their utter dismay that the love they felt sure was mutual between them and their beloved was all just an illusion and the object of their affections was in reality ready to dump them.  The first reaction is o…

• Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

  The title here is taken from part of the lyrics from the theme song for the TV show “Cops.”  It is a catchy tune but it raises a question we all have to deal with like it or not and most of us don’t like it.  The undertaker and his helpers are coming for us, no doubt about it, one of these days.  What are we gonna do? In life we confront things that are coming for us.  We see it coming and we do not like it but being rational p…

• Why Men Do Not Believe

  …said of himself, in talking about his past, how he was a persecutor of Christians and then says, “I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.” (1 Tim. 1:13 NAS) Thus there was a time in Paul’s life when he was an unbeliever.  Yet, Paul, then known as Saul, was an honest man for he says elsewhere in Acts 23:1 while standing before the Council or Sanhedrin that “I have lived my life with a perfectly good consc…

• The Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God

  In the book of Psalms 119, verse 71, there is a passage that has come to have personal meaning to me as I have contemplated it over time and made application to the things that have befallen me.  The Psalmist said, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” (NKJV)  Earlier in the same chapter the writer had said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.” (Psalms 119:67 NKJV) We all learn very early in life that we wi…

• The Parable of the 10 Virgins–7 Lessons

  …not obey the gospel?” (1 Peter 4:17 NKJV, see also 2 Thess. 1:7-9)  To ask is to answer. I know families as honest as the day, morally above reproach, kind, generous, do not drink, do not curse, have a great family and family life yet have no interest in religion, in Christ, the Bible, or God although they may offer a prayer at the Thanksgiving meal.  They may, if pressed, make a claim to believe in God but a Bible would last them 10,000 years fo…

• Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation?

  …ry?  Did you give a drink to the thirsty?  Did you take in the stranger who needed a place to go?  Did you clothe the naked?  Did you visit the sick and the imprisoned?  The righteous did these things and entered into eternal life.  The unrighteous did not do these works and their place of abode is described as “everlasting punishment” (Matt. 25:46 NKJV).  They are called “cursed” and told to depart “into the everlas…

• Healing For the Brokenhearted

  “Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick.  And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.” (Psalms 69:20 NASU)  Read in context one sees clearly that this passage of scripture refers to Jesus toward the very end of his life on earth when facing the cross and perhaps, very possibly, on the cross itself.  The heart has been broken to the point of sickness. Is there a person whose heart has …

• Looking Down Your Nose

  …y used to have the caste system and to an extent it is still in existence there in a few places.  The caste system was the way society was organized so that your birth determined what social/economic group you would be in for life.  If you were born into a low caste family it meant you would remain there all your life doing menial labor for low wages.  You did not marry or socialize outside your caste.  This is the way it was for the slaves in th…

• Things God Cannot Do

  …g the assemblies (v. 13).  They were a people full of hypocrisy. What then is the teaching for men today as found in this passage?  Exactly the same as it was to the people of that day.  God cannot endure hypocrisy.  Living a life of sinful indulgence and disregard for God’s word did not please God then nor will it now no matter how much “playing church” we do. Need an example or two?  How about all the unscripturally divorced a…

• Non-Offensive Christianity

  … very fact one is a Christian instead of what they are tells them the Christian has judged his belief superior to their own.  That is offensive to them. If the Christian believes it is a violation of God’s law to live a life of fornication who is likely to be offended by that belief?  To ask is to answer—the fornicator, to those who see sex as a sort of human right married or not.  If the Christian was to speak up against living together ou…

• Resource Sites

  Here are some links to what I consider to be some great sites I highly recommend. Christian Courier  (This site is owned and run by Wayne Jackson who does the writing found on it.  I don’t know where you would go to find more scholarly Christian articles on the web.  The man does his homework which means he does extensive research before he starts writing.  All of this will be readily evident to you once you read an article or two of his. …

• Bible Contradictions on Salvation?

  … by Daniel Petty he says, “Once Luther remarked that he would give his doctor’s beret to anyone who could reconcile James and Paul (Bainton 259).”  (Petty’s source:  Bainton, Roland H., Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, New York: New American Library, 1950; 1978.) Martin Luther’s doctrine does indeed make Paul and James contradict one another.  That fact alone ought to tell you he was wrong in his theology no ma…

• Disobedience to Jesus

  …obedience to Jesus is thus not considered a sin that will damn you just as long as you believe. What does the Bible have to say on the subject?  In John 3:36 we find this passage, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (NAS – see also the ASV, ESV, RSV, NRSV, LITV, GNB, and the ISV)  The New King James Version translates it, “He who b…

• Honestly Deceived

  …he Bible we ought to be satisfied with what we read.  There is no need and great danger in allowing others to tell us what God’s will is, the very thing the prophet from Judah did and that got him into trouble costing him his life.  We can read it for ourselves.  How many have been and are being led astray because they will not read the Bible and accept that only?  They want to know what the authorities in their religious body first have to say a…

• Abraham’s Faith (Faith Accounted for Righteousness)

  … NKJV) and then there is perhaps the best known passage in all of scripture, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (NKJV) The only question then to be resolved is the nature of the faith that saves.  We know its object (Christ) but need to know the characteristics of saving faith.  In Rom. 4 Paul says Abraham “is the f…

• The Fragrance of Christ

  The apostle Paul made the following statement in 2 Cor. 2:15-16, “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  To the one we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other the aroma of life to life.  And who is sufficient for these things?” (NKJV) I like the phrase “the fragrance of Christ.”  When I think of the word fragrance I think of that which has a pleasant smell–a f…

• What Does The Phrase “Born Of Water And The Spirit” Mean? (The New Birth)

  … to him would be why but he is not telling in his book. Let us now deal with the passage and make it as simple as it really is.  I begin by saying that it is essential to come to a correct understanding as your and my eternal life both depend on it.  Jesus says if we are not “born of water and the Spirit” we cannot enter into the kingdom of God. I need not tell you that salvation is in God’s kingdom, not outside it.  We are eith…

• Why Do Men Run From God?

  …ever been a problem before.  Sin made it a problem and thus sin caused the first man and woman to run from God and try and hide from him. Every case of running from God or away from God has been caused by sin in a man’s life.  Those who love God and obey his commandments do not run from God.  “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:3 NKJV)  God is man’s great benefactor.  Why run from one wh…

• Mt. Sinai and the Day of Judgment

  … (Ex. 24:16-17 NASB)  But, did it matter?  What effect did this wondrous sight have on the children of Israel? People will worship their idols and soon forget God.  This is still true today.  Give a man a little terror in his life and he suddenly comes to God but it often only lasts as long as he remains terrified.  As soon as the terror abates he is back to his worship of money, or entertainment, or whatever it is he worships.  That said there a…

• Parable of the Tares–No Middle Ground

  …dy.” (Eph. 1:22-23 NKJV) If a person is saved he is in the church, the body of Christ, but this does not mean once saved always saved for a Christian can fall away and become ungodly, even become a disbeliever, later in life. In a practical sense as far as what will happen at the last day, the Day of Judgment, everyone is a tare who is not saved whether in the church or outside it.  All outside the church are going to be gathered together t…

• Three Attitudes That Destroy the Hope of Salvation

  Most everyone is willing to concede they desire to go to heaven after this life is over and live there with God eternally versus dying and going to hell “where ‘their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’” (Mark 9:48 NKJV)  That is the way we ought to feel and God certainly approves of our desire along that line.  Unfortunately, our desire for heaven and our attitudes while living here on earth are often in con…

• Behold the Judge is Standing at the Door

  …ill someday be found on their knees at the feet of God (Jesus) the creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is.  I cannot imagine the terror of one who is forced into that situation knowing that he or she had lived a life of rebellion against God.  Terror is too mild a word for that experience. Can a man fight against God and hope to win?  If not should we not all give consideration to the life we ought to be living?  We have today.  We …

• Keep Your Heart With All Diligence

  …ot possible to look inside another individual and see what they are inside (“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” 1 Cor. 2:11 NKJV) we doubt ourselves. As I have grown older in life I have finally come to believe we are all pretty much in the same boat.  “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things…

• Never Give Up

  … baptism we are determined that we will not sin, we are going to live sin free.  This attitude is to be highly commended but is also unrealistic. Many who obey the gospel do so when young and thus their own expectations about life are not in accord with reality.  They have little idea of what it will be like to live as an adult in the real world with the pressures that daily face people.  When they are confronted with them, are no longer sheltere…

• The Grace of God and the Parable of the Laborers–Is God Just?

  Everyone is pleased to have the grace of God in their life but are we disturbed by it when his grace shows up in the lives of others seemingly more generously than in our own?  I am afraid that is sometimes the case.  The parable of the laborers found in Matt. 20:1-16 is a perfect example and is also an excellent illustration of how man feels he knows more about what is just and right than God does. The passage is too long to quote here but I wi…

• The Faithfulness of Jesus to God the Father

  …ounding context awhile back got me to thinking about the faithfulness of Jesus.  We seldom think about Jesus being “faithful,” that is in the sense of being faithful to God, even though we know he lived a sin free life.  I think there is profit to be had in looking into this subject in as much as Jesus is to be our example.  It is Jesus who said, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, a…

• Jesus Defines Repentance

  …w long does it take to repent?  It takes just as long as it takes you to be convicted in your heart and then determine with your will to cease your sin and turn to God in faith and obedience.  Repentance is not reformation of life for reformation of life is a result of repentance.  Repentance is a matter of the heart and a determination of the mind. One can hear a single gospel sermon and repent immediately if the heart be good and honest and ten…

• The Christian, Politics, and the Government

  …he Bible teach? First of all it should be clear to all who truly want to be what a Christian ought to be that one’s first order of business ought to be to be as much of a Christian as he/she can be every single day of his/her life.  What does that mean?  It means I ought to live a spiritual life daily.  “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.   Against such there is …

• Without Natural Affection and Covenant Breakers

  …the copy I have of the original American Standard Version of 1901). As Christians we have entered into a covenant relationship with God.  When Jesus died on the cross and we come to accept him as Lord, Savior, and King of our life by gospel obedience we have entered into a covenant relationship with him.  Remember his words, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:28 NKJV) Paul spoke of …

• Repentance–How Can I Be Sure?

  …l surrendering of one’s will to God’s will.  It is a determination to turn from sin to God, from unrighteousness to righteousness; it is a matter of the human mind and will.  The idea is that I will cease being my own boss in life.  Jesus will now be my Lord.  His will will be my will.  It is a determination to follow God.  It is the determination to make Jesus my Lord and Savior with all that implies. It is not yet reformation of life for reform…

• The Army of the Lord–the Church

  …o into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15 NKJV)–then you are going to suffer for it.  If we do not suffer for it (sooner or later) then maybe that says a lot about our failure to live the life as God intended it to be lived.  To me that is the implied teaching of the passage–no suffering personally then there is likely no actual living of the life as Christ intended one to live it. The Christian life is…

• Are Paul’s Writings as Authoritative as Jesus’ Words?

  …at I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that his command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.” (John 12:48-50 NKJV)  He says again, “The word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:24 NKJ…

• Faith

  …ith, Works, and Baptism Abel’s Sacrifice by Faith versus Cain’s Sacrifice Abraham’s Faith (Faith Accounted for Righteousness) The Faith of Enoch Moses, the Waters of Marah, and a Lesson for Today Everlasting Life–The Believer of John 3:16 (This is a different article than the John 3:16 article above.) What Must a Man Believe to be Saved by the Gospel of Christ? The Kind of Faith in God That Destroys Faith Based on Deceptio…

• Faith is Not Just What You Believe

  …tioned in the Hebrews passage quoted had a choice.  They did not need to suffer these things.  In fact, the first verse quoted speaks of not accepting deliverance but why not?  Because faith is a driving force in the person’s life who has it.  It is not just a feeble thought or opinion.  It will force you to obey when it becomes as strong as God desires it to be. Paul speaks of his own life as a Christian in the New Testament and says: “Are they …

• God’s Willingness to Forgive–King Manasseh

  …but I also think we feel that way about others.  No Christian desires to bring harm or hurt on others and certainly not sin which, if unrepented of, would lead to their eternal spiritual condemnation. If I repent of sin in my life and yet I have been responsible say for leading my children into sin of which they do not repent how do I live with that?  It would be tough. Here we have a man so evil that our human nature might well lead us to say th…

• Christianity and Multiculturalism

  …but only unjust judgment.  “Judge with righteous judgment,” (John 7:24 NKJV) Jesus said. To make no judgments at all, and yes I am speaking of value judgments, opposes everything taught in the New Testament and in life.  The New Testament praises those who because of full age are able to absorb solid food, “that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb. 5:14 NKJV)  To …

• The Chastening of the Lord

  People often have a misconception about God.  They cannot imagine that God would ever bring upon us trials and tribulations, punish us for our sins, or do anything in this life but bring us good–good as we measure it.  God is love, God is grace, and the very idea that God would ever send upon us anything but that which is most pleasant is abhorrent to their way of thinking. There is no doubt that when one looks at the big picture that God …

• The Kingdom of God and the New Birth–A Matter of Timing

  …e death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” (NAS) Two points need to be emphasized here regarding this passage.  (1) The kingdom still had not yet arrived but it would be doing so within the lifetime of some of those standing there.  (2) When it came it would arrive “with power.”  Put another way you would know it when it happened for there would be power with its coming. When Jesus spoke these words…

• A Good and Pure Conscience

  …at is it?  “Whatever is not from faith is sin.”  The passage is thus not just about eating meats that were condemned at one time under the Law of Moses, now made clean under the law of Christ, but about all of our life and actions for the word is “whatever”–whatever is not from faith, whatever is not from a good conscience and a pure conscience. Is there any difference between a good conscience and a pure conscience?…

• Ways into Christ–How Many Ways Are There?

  …racter, and conduct.  God saves sinners true enough but not while they actively engage in the practice of sin unrepentant. The fact remains that no matter how much we desire another’s salvation it is up to them to bring their life into accord with God’s will for neither you nor I can broaden the gate.  “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7:14 NKJV) Salvation is found only in Chri…

• The Hardening of the Human Heart

  …another day of sin, another day of the further hardening of the heart.  You say you can change but the desire to do so becomes less and less as time goes by and one grows ever more comfortable in a non-Christian or unfaithful lifestyle.  Sin becomes ever more comfortable as each day passes by.  This is a part of the deceitfulness of sin.  Things seem to go fine without God or without faithfulness.  That is until the day it is too late. In Heb. 6 …

• When did Obedience Become Legalism?

  … call yourself a Christian, and God’s grace will cover you.  It is said it is what is in the heart (generally defined as the emotions) that counts.  Feelings and emotions are defined as love for God.  God’s grace will cover a life of sin just so a man believes in God in some abstract sense.  I might add if you doubt this just attend a few funerals and see if you can learn of any deceased who are not already in heaven based on the conversations yo…

• They Loved the Praise of Men

  Most of us given a choice would like to be well thought of and spoken well of for our life and beliefs rather than to be reviled, criticized, and despised.  This is natural and easily understood but there is danger that this natural desire lead us into sin.  When one gets to the point where he cares more about what people think than what God thinks and what God commands he is in trouble, in trouble with the Lord and Savior. In studying the subje…

• Acceptable Prayer

  When a person runs into trouble in his or her life they are often counseled to pray.  That is usually one of the very first things that is done and most certainly we ought to turn to God in our times of trouble.  James says, “Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.” (James 5:13 NAS)  The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grac…

• Indifference – The Great Destroyer

  …eed and that is what makes the word “indifferent” such a fearful word? If God and his word are matters of no serious concern to me, if God is only going to make my top 100 list of most important things to me in my life, if he gets that high, then realistically what kind of hope do I have of salvation? To be indifferent is to not care. If you do not care about God, about his will, about going to heaven, if you are disinterested in livi…

• Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon

  …er been born.” (Mark 14:21 NKJV)  Jesus could not have said that of Judas had Judas been saved in the end. John the Baptist spoke of bearing “fruits worthy of repentance” (Matt. 3:8 NKJV) thus reformation of life is a product of repentance and is not in itself repentance but a result of repentance.  Repentance is that which lies between godly sorrow and reformation of life and we might ask what that is?  It is a determination ma…

• Abortion Luke 1 – All You Need to Know

  …find out.  No, don’t be lazy, open your Bible and read.) How many women are trying desperately to have a child but cannot?  If you as a woman have conceived then it was God’s doing.  God is the only giver of human life.  He alone can make it happen.  How many times in the Bible does one read of women who gave credit to God for giving them a son?  I do not know but having been a Bible reader of long standing I know it is many times beg…

• He Feared

  …sured.  Take the shield away from the soldier and his prospects for survival were greatly diminished.  Paul is telling us all that if we will build our faith strong enough we cannot be defeated in the battle for our spiritual life. The Bible teaches us clearly that faithfulness is directly associated with obedience and vice versa.  In Hebrews chapter 3 toward the end of the chapter the writer is discussing the children of Israel who came out of E…

• Pray For Others Lest You Sin

  …ent I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34 NKJV)  Thus in the book of 1 John we read in chapter 3, verse 16, “by this we know love, because he laid down his life for us.  And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (NKJV) If I am to love you as Jesus has loved you (and loved me), to the extent he gave his life for you, then surely I am to pray for you.  Jesus pray…

• The Joy and the Danger of a Clean Conscience

  …es of us before it will let us go free. I know of a man who recently went before the church confessing his unfaithfulness.  Afterwards he spoke of what a burden was lifted from his shoulders.  The conscience was now clear and life could move forward with the inner turmoil now gone and peace restored.  That is a common reaction from those who finally decide to quit fighting the conscience they have violated and pay the price conscience demands. Th…

• Christ and Baptism in Colossians

  … there he teaches elsewhere in the New Testament as well. “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” (Col. 1:27 NAS) is a central theme of the first two chapters of the book of Colossians.  Christ is all that is needed in a person’s life for in him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:3 NAS)  In him we are “made complete.” (Col. 2:10 NAS)  We are not therefore to be taken “captive through philosophy and empty deception, accord…

• What Must a Man Believe to be Saved by the Gospel?

  …a man and join in the deception?  Not if God is good and just.  If Jesus is not resurrected it shows God wants no part of him.  However, Jesus was resurrected which showed that God placed his stamp of approval on Jesus’ life and teaching and his sacrificial death, to provide a means for the forgiveness of sins. In believing Jesus was resurrected one is thus accepting the fact that Jesus was and is the Lord and Savior of man and the Son of G…

• Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith)

  …ater says, “But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.” (1 Tim. 1:16 NLT)  The NLT (New Living Translation) is not a literal translation but I believe it is an accurate rendition of the meaning of this verse and makes it easy to understand what Paul is saying.  Paul …

• Misunderstanding the Grace of God

  … have been an embarrassment to me, all of them of which I am aware have lowered my self esteem, some have hurt others, all have hurt my relationship with God.  I will never be the person I could have been due to the sin in my life.  How about you, if you are honest how about you?  Yes, we are saved by grace for we are undeserving of salvation. Grace is often defined as unmerited favor, the unmerited favor of God toward man, and that hits the mark…

• If Baptism is Not Essential for Salvation

  … teacher with regards to the subject of baptism. (6)  If baptism is not essential for salvation then the blood of Jesus is not essential for salvation.  In the Bible blood while literal also stands for or is representative of life itself.   Pilate in washing his hands of the whole affair (if only it was that easy to do) said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person.” (Matt. 27:24 NKJV)  He meant he was innocent of putting Jesus to death, …

• Mary of Bethany–Doing What You Can

  …one as far as it is possible for any man or woman to go and done all God expects from them.  God does not expect of man more than man is capable of doing.  What a great epitaph this would make at one’s passing from this life into the next.  He/she has done what he/she could do. Every man and every woman is capable of obtaining just such an epitaph from God.  I would like to mention three of whom I believe this could be said. The Poor Widow….

• Must a Man Seek God?

  Should a man seek God?  Many men and women who if you were to ask them if they believed there is a supreme being we call God would answer in the affirmative and yet they feel no need to seek God.  With them God is God and he is just and good and so he will save them as long as they live what they consider to be a reasonably good life (reasonably good by their own personal standards and society’s standard).  They do not concern themselves w…

• The Need to Preach on Sin

  … have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NKJV)  “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23 NKJV)  We all live condemned before the God of the universe based on the sin in our life unless it is forgiven.  Men need to be convicted of sin in order to motivate them to turn from it and turn to God. Well what is sin and what makes it so bad?  “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:…

• Diotrephes Loves To Have the Preeminence

  … own marriage and alienating their family.  And it is not just men but women can be guilty as well. Spend some time around a high school and you will soon learn by observation that this attitude of superiority starts early in life.  If you are in the right crowd you are superior to others not in that group. In Acts chapter 8 there was a man by the name of Simon who was converted by Phillip.  Prior to his conversion he had practiced sorcery in the…

• Is Church Attendance Essential for Christian Salvation?

  …or. 11:25).  It is a memorial of his death.  Would we not attend a memorial service for our father or mother, for our son or daughter?  Perhaps the one who will not attend such a service for the Lord is telling more about his life and his affections than he cares to.  Yes, a lack of love can kill you spiritually. (4) The one who will not assemble with his brethren for worship is one who does not love his brethren the way he is commanded to.  The …

• I Can Do All Things Through Christ

  … power (the strengthening) and these are tied so closely together that they are like links in a chain.  Which one could you remove without destroying the chain? There was power enough in the words Jesus spoke to change Saul’s life for Saul was now to become Paul, Paul the apostle.  If there was ever a man with greater faith found in the New Testament I do not know who it would have been.  I do not say others lacked faith but only that I do not be…

• A New Creation in Christ

  …erson” (CEV, NLT), and “a new being (GNB).  You get the idea.  In Christ a new man is created.  The old man of sin is done away with and a new creature comes into being, a spiritual being whose desire is to live a life of faith and dedication, of commitment and obedience to Christ. This new creation has a specific time and place of creation or birth, of coming into being, of coming into existence. Paul said, “This is a faithful …

• Cornelius’ Conversion–Final Thoughts

  …ift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.” (Acts 10:45 NKJV)  This was the event that convinced the Jews that it was not only okay but the will of God that the Gentiles also have access to eternal life through the gospel.  “When they (the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem–DS) heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ‘Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to l…

• The Wicked Shall be Turned into Hell

  …d, but such as keep the law contend with them.” (Prov. 28:4 NKJV)  We never want to be classified with those who “have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life.” (Ezek. 13:22 NKJV) What should our attitude be toward sinful conduct?  “An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous.” (Psalm 29:27 NKJV)  This does not mean you hate the man but you surely hate …

• God’s Hardening of the Human Heart

  …ions and simple observation.  Say the wrong thing to someone, innocent as your intentions may have been, and the first thing you know they are angry at you and develop a hardened attitude toward you.  Hopefully, in your adult life this has seldom happened to you personally but I think we have all seen or observed the thing. There is no doubt God’s word when directed at one’s heart can harden a heart already inclined to disbelieve and …

• Christian Living

  Pray For Others Lest You Sin Is Church Attendance Essential for Christian Salvation? Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation? Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? More on Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin Never Give Up Does God Really Care? Three Benefits of Being a Christian in This Life – Hope, Love, Peace The Struggle to be a Spiritually Minded Man or Woman Fear God Regrets If Miracles Have Cease…

• Obedience of Faith and Justification by Faith–Opposing Doctrines?

  …Jesus have been baptized into his death?  Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4 NAS) Who gets to walk in newness of life?  Paul tells you.  Will you answer?  It is the man or woman who has been baptized. How is it, do you suppose, that the Romans came to know about baptism?  Do you su…

• God’s Plea–On Christ’s Behalf be Reconciled to God

  …as a teenager and that was the last they ever saw him or heard from him.  The mother died without ever seeing her son again or knowing what became of him.  I cannot imagine the pain that mother and dad dealt with all of their life.  No doubt that mother would have rejoiced in tears to have seen her son at her bedside, just one time, as she passed from this world into the next.  However, that was not to be. When I came to know the mother and dad t…

• More on Willful Sin—Can Anyone be Saved?

  …way simply because they enjoyed sin more than righteousness.  They preferred “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25 KJV) over an eternity of bliss.  They did not go into another religion but into a sinful life. Here are some words from Neil Lightfoot’s commentary on the passage.  “He speaks not so much of an act of sin but of a state of sin, for the force of the verb is repeated action—’if we go on sinning,&…

• How Was Noah Saved Through Water?

  … Jesus.  If more was required of you that would be, so they reason, salvation by works. How did God show Noah grace?  Was it not by telling him what was going to happen (judgment was to befall the inhabitants of the earth and life on the earth be destroyed) and what he (Noah) needed to do to save himself?  That was it exactly. But, in today’s world of so called Christendom this is not grace.  Noah had to work some say, based on Gen. 6:3, one hund…

• The Case of Cornelius and the Holy Spirit

  … (Acts 11:2 NKJV)  In fact, Peter had to rehearse the whole account of what had happened to silence his critics but having done so they realize for the first time that “God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” (Acts 11:18)  The world has now changed in that henceforth the gospel will be preached to all men everywhere as God intended but it took a miracle to get the job done.  They, the Jewish Christians, would never h…

• Christian Circumcision

  …ed by a new man of the spirit.  Christ does this but he uses means to do it.  By his word faith is created, the heart is changed, and then in baptism the old man is put away and one arises from the water to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4-5), a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).  This is not water salvation but salvation by faith for Paul says in Col. 2:12, one of our principle verses being discussed, “you also were raised with him through faith…

• Faith, Works, and Baptism

  …t we shall also live with him.” (NKJV)  So we are baptized into Christ’s death but that is also the place where “we died with Christ.”  When we arise from this death we “should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4 NKJV) and “present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead.” (Rom. 6:13 NKJV)  We have been “set free from sin” (Rom. 6:18 NKJV) but when?  When we died to it, “For …

• The Kind of Faith in God That Destroys

  …ty so I quote only the relevant verses.  (Mark 10:17 NAS), “And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” And then (Mark 10:21-23 NAS), “And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasu…

• What Does the Phrase “My Name” Mean in the Bible?

  …220;A good name is to be more desired than great wealth.” (Prov. 22:1 NASU)  God’s name is to be given praise, honor, and glory for he is worthy.  Don’t drag God’s name through the sewage of an ungodly life.  To wear the name Christian likewise is special and it brings with it special obligations to uphold the honor of the being behind the name–Christ himself. When God’s name is associated with whatever it migh…

• Christianity, Homosexuality, and Gay Marriage–What Do We Do With the Bible?

  One of the wonderful things about America is that we have gotten to be smarter than God (hope you recognize satire when you read it).  We are now wiser than he is, we know better than he does how to love our fellowman and what is inherently right, and we no longer need his word as any kind of a guide to life.  God if you will just take a seat over here to our left behind us and let us handle this we will take care of it.  Yes, maybe you had it r…

• Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God–the Implications

  …n is that if there is no word from God on a religious matter there can be no faith but only opinion.  Faith and opinion are not equal in God’s sight.  A man is saved by faith, not by opinion.  A man is to walk (live his daily life) by faith (Rom. 1:17, 2 Cor. 5:7).  The Christian religion is based on faith but it is an objective faith in that it is based on direct testimony as found in the word of God, testimony given by God himself. Where God ha…

• Did Christ Rise From the Dead or is Faith Folly?

  …ise from the dead what hope do we have as we grow old and face the inevitable?  Are we but animals? The evolutionist would say yes we are only animals and talk like it is absurd to think of a God in heaven yet they talk about life evolving from non-life as if it just kind of popped out on its own from dead matter–dead matter evolving into living matter.  Now that is a scholarly concept for you is it not but that is the position of the profe…

• The Cleansing of the Church at Ephesus

  …e Gal. 3:21).  He would worry continually about what works (do I know all of them I need to do).  The thought would always be in his mind have I done enough. Just about all of us have been involved in working endeavors in our life where we gave it our best, worked as hard as we could, and yet failed in the end.  Every time you watch a ballgame someone who has worked hard falls short and loses.  Many a man or woman has given his/her all on a job a…

• Faith in the New Testament–Different Meanings

  …apter 11.  By faith this man or this woman did this or that.  We read of that in verse after verse.  The phrase generally means they “acted” on the basis of faith or because of faith.  One would be hard pressed in life to find any meaningful act ever done by a rational person without a motivation of one kind or another behind it.  Faith is the motivating factor for the man or woman of God.  People act on God’s word because they …

• Hypocrites in the Church

  Are there hypocrites in the church?  Surely, there are some.  Paul dealt with such in his day for he said in 2 Cor. 11:13, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.” (NASU)  In Gal. 2:4 he speaks of “false brethren secretly brought in.” (NASU)  Hypocrisy is thus an age old problem and one we will never rid ourselves of in this life. There are hypocrites about everywh…

• The Silence of the Scriptures

  From a book entitled A Short History of Christianity by Stephen Tomkins I quote as follows:  “The basic difference between Zwingli and Luther was in their attitudes to the Bible.  Zwingli saw it as a precise blueprint for church life.  For Luther, what is not forbidden is permitted; for Zwingli, what is not permitted is forbidden.” (page 141)  Both Zwingli and Luther lived in the Age of Reformation often called the Protestant Reforma…

• Salvation (Becoming a Christian)

  Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching Jesus as the Bread of Life Must a Man Seek God? Jesus and the Furnace of Fire Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You? Indifference – The Great Destroyer God’s Plea–On Christ’s Behalf be Reconciled to God Why You Cannot be Saved like the Thief on the Cross Bible Contradictions on Salvation How Was Noah Saved Through Water? How Doe…

• Israel’s Rebellion at the Red Sea

  …0;And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30-31 NKJV)  Faith is ultimately a free choice man makes miracles or no miracles. To abbreviate the story and get to the Red Sea rebellion for which we have been setting the stage most are a…

• Who Gets to Decide–God or the Church?

  …al people)–saved despite being in sin.  Now that is truly a scriptural position isn’t it?  It also makes a lot of sense–or is it nonsense? But, who gets to make the rules about Christianity and the Christian life?  Is it the church, the denomination, or is it God?  When we get this right denominationalism will cease. Jesus, just before he ascended back to heaven said to his apostles, “All authority has been given to Me in …

• The Need to Sing in Worship

  …es, “Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing psalms.” (James 5:13 NKJV)  When you are just deeply thankful to God for what you have, for what he has done for you, how he has blessed you, the joy he has brought into your life singing is not a chore but a joy. David said in the nineth Psalm, a psalm in which the heading in my Bible says ‘To the Chief Musician,’ “I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of …

• Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God

  …ble says, “The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor.” (Ex. 1:13-14 NASB)  They had enslaved them (Ex. 1:11).  This does not sound like a good life to me but I point this passage out for you need to remember it.  To hear the children of Israel tell it later in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land you would have thought Egypt had been a Garden of Eden.  …

• Assorted

  … Dead or is Faith Folly? Denominationalism’s Sin Against Peter Which Denomination Did Jesus Build? What Does the Phrase “My Name” Mean in the Bible?   Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain)    The Burden of Life The Pot of Gold at the End of God’s Rainbow Heaven (Part I) Heaven (Part II) Where Are The Dead? The Doctrine of Eternal Life Things That Could be Written on the Door to Hell The Goodness and Severity of God What …

• Unhappy With the Church of Christ?

  … body, his church, that which he is the Savior of (Eph. 5:23).  Not everyone in the church of Christ, first century or today, is saved.  How one lives after gospel obedience does matter and not all remain faithful or live the life. The problem today is the denominational world does not understand what gospel obedience is.  As sincere as they may be, and I do not doubt them on that count, they do not and will not accept Peter’s preaching on …

• Praying to God to Bless the Bread–Really?

  …g every one  of you from your wickedness.”  This blessing came to man by means of the cross and the gospel which if believed and obeyed results in the greatest blessing possible that could be bestowed upon a man—eternal life. We next come to the word “bless” as found in 1 Cor. 10:16 which deals with the Lord’s Supper.  It reads: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The …

• The Parable of the Talents–the Sin of Fear

  The parable of the talents is found in Matthew 25:14-30 with an account that is similar in many respects in Luke 19:12-28 although there are differences.  Only the account given in Matthew is referred to, by men, as the parable of the talents but it is profitable to read Luke along with Matthew.  Differences aside both accounts seem to be teaching about the same lesson and one I have needed throughout my life. The account is too long to quote he…

• One Church—A Thing Hard to Accept

  …ed to believe, not objective reality. Is it any wonder people cannot or will not accept truth in religion?  Is it any wonder they will not accept clear statements made in scripture on various subjects?  There was a time in my life when I was yet relatively young and naive that I thought if a person was in error as it related to a religious matter correcting him or her would be as easy as going to the Bible and finding the book, chapter, and verse…

• The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept

  …same could be said of our own generation.  The zeal is there but not the truth. What did God do with the generation of which Paul spoke?  They were destroyed in 70 A. D. when the Roman army took Jerusalem with massive loss of life.  The Bible says that when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, “He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now the…

• Denominationalism’s Sin Against Peter

  … they are saying “he who believes and is not baptized will be saved” and they can object all day long if they desire but that is exactly where their doctrine leads them. Poor Peter never did get it right his whole life.  If only he could have received some counseling by today’s Christians (?) who are in the know.  In Acts 10:48 he is again commanding people to be baptized at the house of Cornelius.  “And he commanded them …

• The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer

  In Acts 16 verses 23 through 34 we have the account of the conversion of the Philippian jailer at the hands of Paul and Silas who preached the gospel to him and his household.  As you recall Paul and Silas had been jailed in Philippi when an earthquake at midnight loosed their bonds and opened all the prison doors.  Being responsible for the prisoners the jailer assumed all had escaped and was ready to take his own life when Paul called out to h…

• Jesus’ Baptism and You?

  …ut crucify him for there was no possibility in their mind that they could be wrong in their religion.  What he had to say had to be heresy. A man ought to be cautious in reaching conclusions in spiritual matters for once this life is over and the next one has begun there is no going back a second time and getting it right.  There are no second chances and eternity is a long, long time.  I would like to look at baptism and want to start with an ac…

• A Heart Right With God (Test Your Heart)

  …Yes, nature and observation tells me of God’s great might and power, of his infinite wisdom and understanding, but it tells me nothing about what he desires of me.  Only through his word does God reveal his will for me and my life, only in his word do I know his commandments and expectations of me. It is not about my feelings, not about my emotions, not about what I think God ought to be.  God made man; man did not and cannot make God.  I am his …

• The Faith of Enoch

  …arated him from Elisha his traveling companion and the one appointed to take his place as a prophet of God.  Of Enoch we only know the Bible says he was taken up.  How we are not told. Very little is known about Enoch and his life.  We know he was the father of Methuselah (Gen. 5:21) who was the oldest man to ever live as far as we know dying at the age of 969 (Gen. 5:27) and that he was the great grandfather of Noah (see Gen. 5:21-29).  We also …

• Gospel Obedience at Corinth

  ….  The thing Paul is discussing is not denominationalism which did not exist when Paul wrote and would not for hundreds of years to come.  One is baptized into the New Testament church, the one Christ established and gave his life for and which will be saved on the last day.  Everyone in the church will be saved provided they live faithful lives.  Now to the passage at hand which troubles some, 1 Cor. 1:14-17 (NAS), Paul speaking, “I thank …

• Religious Titles Forbidden in Christianity

  …uld have no effect upon him either. Not only are men accepting religious titles, contrary to Jesus’ teaching, but the general public is just as guilty in granting these titles.  I have never seen a single instance in my lifetime of a Catholic priest being interviewed on TV without the interviewer calling him Father.  Indeed, I suspect any interviewer who tried to do so would lose his job.  There is little doubt his superiors would call him …

• The Grace of God in Baptism

  …the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7 NKJV) I would encourage the reader to compare this passage as rendered in the New King James Version just quoted with its rendering in other reliable translations such as the English Standard Versio…

• Be Faithful to the Lord (The Conversion of Lydia)

  …d from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.” (NAS)  True, but what is not stated is what is to be believed.  In Acts 13:48 the text says “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” (NAS)  Believed what?  If they believed what Paul preached then they believed, among other things, that they must be baptized.  But, the point is that such passages are just summary statements without d…

• What Is Baptism (the Sprinkling Hoax)

  …ablishment of the church in Acts 2 that anyone was sprinkled or had water poured on them rather than be immersed was approximately 200 years later.  In about 250 AD a man by the name of Novation became ill and fearing for his life wanted to be baptized.  Too ill for immersion he had his friends pour water on him.  By that point in time there was not an inspired man alive to cause problems over this substitution.  By that time there was also not a…

• If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implications

  …not yet completed, indeed was just beginning to be given, without miracles accompanying it.  The people living in places like Asia (modern day Turkey), Greece, and other remote locations knew nothing of Jesus originally.  His life, his death, his resurrection was not broadcast over TV, all over the Internet, and was not in newspaper headlines.  We have to put ourselves back in their time to understand what their situation was.  When a man like Pa…

• Repent–How Hard It Is To Do

  …ng over Jerusalem.  It was another city that did not repent at his preaching. Remember the account of the rich man and Lazarus as told by Jesus?  Both had died but the rich man now found himself in torments due to his ungodly life.  He makes the plea to father Abraham to send someone to his living brothers that they might repent.  “And he said, ‘No father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  But he said to him, ‘If …

• Abuse of the Old Testament

  …eople.  We see his eternal purpose being set forth in prophecy. And then there is the book of Psalms.  Who is there among God’s people who have not gone to the book of Psalms time and again over the course of his or her life to find comfort and hope and especially in time of sadness and sorrow? Want to learn how to pray?  Read David in the Psalms to see prayer from the heart.  Learn how to praise God in prayer and how to petition him for hi…

• Things People Do Not Know About the Church

  …s, where the Father is, where the Holy Spirit is you cannot remain out in the world away from the church. (11)  There is only one way into the church–through Jesus.  “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6 NKJV)  Elsewhere he said, “I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.” (John 10:9 NKJV)  The saved are in the church (Acts 2:47, Eph. 5:23, Col…

• The Mysterious Eloquent Evangelist

  …n Luke says, (Luke 7:30 NAS), “But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.” We also have to remember that Jesus preached and baptized during his lifetime.  We can be assured that if John’s baptism was for the remission of sins so was that of Jesus.  Do we believe that one who obeyed Jesus while he lived on earth and was baptized by him, whether directly or thro…

• Why Men Today Cannot Be Saved Like The Thief On The Cross?

  …hey are the two relevant to this discussion. Jesus lived and died under the Mosaical law.  Jesus was in the fullness of time “born of a woman, born under the Law.” (Gal. 4:4 NAS)  When we say Jesus lived a sinless life what law did he keep perfectly?  The Law of Moses.  In what was the second to last utterance Jesus made on the cross he said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30 NAS)  What was finished?  What was finished was the…

• Work Out Your Own Salvation

  …isobedient (unrighteous).  It is an either or matter. Which of these two men do you think will get to heaven?  Which is going down the difficult way Jesus spoke of?  “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7:14 NKJV)  Is it the man who is unconcerned about righteousness or the man who is very concerned about it? Let us take a look at the larger context of our passage starting in Phi…

• The Church as the Body of Christ–Which Means What?

  …ers even if they are believers.  If so where does the Bible teach it?  If man can be saved without repentance what did Jesus shed his blood for?  If a man can be saved without repentance, meaning he can go on and still live a life of sin and be saved, then why did Jesus shed his blood for the remission of man’s sins if sin does not matter?  Repentance is thus required of man for salvation (Acts 2:38). A third condition is a confession of Jesus wi…

• Saved by Jesus Outside the Church?

  ….  Men would rather do it their way than God’s way.  If we lived in Noah’s time and place we would tell God we will build the boat as long as we do not have to use your pattern. As for me I will live and finish my life out in a conservative church of Christ, one which believes in restoration, using the pattern of the New Testament and be content therein.  That is not to say all churches of Christ are what they ought to be but neither …

• Christ the Savior of the Body but Which One–the Matter of Timing?

  …ne way or another, we will be forced to deal with it.  It refuses to be swept under the rug and forgotten.  There is a judgment day where we will have to provide answers as to what we did and why in the religious realm of our life (as well as in other areas). Often the answer that comes up is that all the denominations taken together are the church Jesus built.  We all know deep down that is not true but again we do not like to think about it.  E…

• Jesus the Foundation of and the Builder of the Church

  …which Jesus has built and continues to build by adding new stones onto it, then he must be laid on top of this foundational rock that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world as the lamb of God to give his life as a sacrifice for all of mankind’s sins in order to bring salvation to all who will but believe and obey the gospel message. What kind of building is the church?  Paul describes it as “the temple of GodR…

• Weak, Defiled, and Seared Consciences

  …in his heart and conscience but let him do it again, and then again, and then again, and he eventually reaches the point where he no longer cares and it no longer bothers him to commit the act whatever that act be.  His whole life can be flipped on end.  He can totally apostatize from God with no feelings of guilt whatsoever–no guilt in the end for over time he seared his conscience and feels no regret, nor sorrow, over his sin.  This is a …

• Can one be Just a Christian in Christ’s Church without being in a Denomination?

  … hand they want to insist you must because to them it is impossible to reestablish the New Testament church today and just have it alone.  They are wanting it both ways, want to eat the cake and save it all at the same time.  Life doesn’t work that way.  They cannot have it both ways.  But, that is their problem not mine. I think most people who are serious about their religion see the great contradictions in denominationalism.  However, they eit…

• Ghost Hunting and Consulting the Dead

  …n or sitcom comedies are often as bad or worse.  Casual sex, better known in Bible terms as fornication, is played up as though it is something every normal person that is unmarried ought to engage in as just a normal part of life.  Seinfeld is a good example of that kind of show. Well, how about ghost hunting shows?  Are they just clean innocent TV entertainment?  I am fairly certain most of us would at first, without thinking it through, say ye…

• Bible Authority, Foot Washing, the Holy Kiss, and Head Coverings?

  …n a lot of places including religious services around Easter but that is a personal problem (sin) and not a matter of inconsistency in the position conservatives have taken that one must follow the Bible as authority in their life.  There will always be personal sin. But I really think he wants to condemn all braided hair or arranging of the hair, all pearls, or gold.  In other words unless you let your hair go wild as he sees it you have abandon…

• Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin

  …. 3:16 NKJV)  God’s grace is not for the lukewarm, indifferent, and disobedient unless and until they repent. In closing I reiterate ignorance does not excuse sin with God.  That being the case we have an obligation to live a life of knowledge which means for all of us it is time to get the Bible out and read and study it.  The old King James Version says, “study to show thyself approved to God.” (2 Tim. 2:15)  Let us not sin because of willful i…

• The New Birth and Water

  Having written on the subject of the new birth before I was surprised, although I doubt I should have been, to have gotten some comments back to the effect that the water mentioned in John 3:5 where Jesus says, “most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (NKJV) had reference not to baptism but to the water of childbirth.  Probably shows what a sheltered life I have led to be surp…

• Must the Christian Keep the Sabbath?

  …he law” (Gal. 4:4 NKJV) and he and his fellow Jews were under obligation to keep that law.  Had Jesus not kept the law perfectly he could not have been our perfect sacrifice for sins.  But was it Jesus’ purpose in life to perpetuate that old Law of Moses for perpetuity?  No, not at all. In Col. 2:14 the following statement is made about Jesus, “He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (NKJV)  Did you…

• Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching

  …to death” (Acts 2:23 NKJV) Jesus.  In Acts 5 the apostles refer to those to whom they are addressing as murders (see Acts 5:30).  In Acts 3:15 Peter says to the crowd gathered there that they “killed the Prince of life.” (NKJV) The point is that apostolic preaching preached about sin and the need to repent.  So, we see repentance was preached by the apostles.  It was preached here in Acts 5:31; it was preached in Acts 2:38; it w…

• Canaan and Heaven–How God Gives

  …an will obey and not seek salvation without obedience.  To seek salvation without obedience is to seek salvation without any real faith.  “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26 NKJV) and things that are dead no longer have life and are ready to be buried.  Willful disobedience manifests a lack of faith and is rebellion. God’s gifts and grace, in the context of the subject of which we are talking, always require more of man than a dead faith th…

• God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit

  Does God Really Care? Things God Cannot Do Jesus as the Bread of Life Jesus and the Furnace of Fire Behold the Judge is Standing at the Door The Need to Preach on Sin What Does the Phrase “My Name” Mean in the Bible? Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Wonderful Jesus Who Is Jesus? Born To Die The Appearance of Jesus All Spiritual Blessings Are in Christ Enemies of Christ The Holy Spirit (Part I) The Holy Spirit (Part II) The Holy Sp…

• King Saul–As Long as It Glorifies God

  …l as Saul returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites.  Saul had been commanded by God through Samuel to go and put to death every living Amalekite and to destroy everything they had. (1 Sam. 15:3)  He disobeyed sparing the life of King Agag, king of the Amalekites, and the best of the livestock bringing them back to Israel. (1 Sam. 15:9)  Samuel in his meeting with Saul utters the famous statement I here quote: “Has the Lord as great delight i…

• Willful Sin–Can Anyone Be Saved?

  … in the New American Standard version we readily see that the verse is not talking about a single act of willful sin.  It reads as follows, “For if we go on sinning willfully,” thus the sin of verse 26 is a way of life rather than individual acts of sin. Then there are other things we need to consider as well.  All sin other than sins of ignorance is willful sin.  One may struggle mightily before committing the sin that has enticed hi…

• Deeper Spiritual Understanding–How do I Acquire It?

  …rch, etc.?  If we have a correct exegesis of scripture today, a proper understanding, how does one explain all of this?  How can everyone differ and all be right? I do not mean this to sound as hard as it probably will but as life goes on and one comes to understand that as an individual he cannot do a lot to change the way things are you reach the point, if you are like me, where you no longer care about group A, B, or C but rather about self.  …

• The Church Christ Built–Marks of Identification

  The church Christ built is worthless to man if it is impossible to find it (or establish it), if it only existed in ancient history, and cannot be known today.  Fortunately, like all things that exist, there are marks of identification that allow us to know his church from those made by man.  We are able to distinguish one thing from another in life because of characteristics that each possess that differ from another.   True, there may be many …

• The Heart of Man from a Biblical Perspective

  …sarily comes to mind when one thinks about this aspect of the human heart is “am I responsible for the way I think?”  The Bible answers in the affirmative.  “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” (Rom. 8:6 NKJV)  “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, wh…