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• Misunderstanding the Grace of God

  …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 »Sometime back I had an article rejected that I had submitted to an article…

• The Cleansing of the Church at Ephesus

  of the church, he himself being the Savior of the body.” (Eph. 5: 23 NAS)  This is same body we are baptized into, that is if we are in it, for that is the only way the scriptures give of entering into it–not by baptism alone but by the obedience of faith that results in baptism.  The body of Christ being the church (Eph. 1:22-23) it is that which was cleansed “with the washing of water by the word.” (Eph. 5:26 NKJV) Where is gr…

• Bible Contradictions on Salvation?

  (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 matter how sincere.  Any time your doctrine makes the Bible contradict itself this tells you, if you will listen, that your doctrine is in error, that you are wrong in …

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

  od through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” (NAS) It is widely taught that man is saved by faith alone and this passage is often used as one proof text.  Of course we are justified by faith but not faith alone or faith only.  “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24 NAS)  Faith mus…

• For By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith Alone

  No, Eph. 2:8-9 does not read that way but that is the way most seem to want to read it.  Let me quote the verses for you from the New King James version. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” There is no believer in his right mind who would discount the grace of God in man’s salvation.  You do not believe you deserve to be sav…

• The Grace of God in Baptism

  ins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16 NKJV) The washing was done in baptism. The writer of the book of Hebrews encourages Christians in saying, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and (now watch it–DS) our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:22 NKJV) The washing is with water; the washing is baptism. Now back to our original t…

• How Was Noah Saved Through Water?

  fulfill, if he was to be saved.  Being saved by God’s grace does not mean man has no part in his own salvation, that man has nothing to do. There is also one other very important New Testament verse on Noah’s salvation.  “By faith Noah, being divinely warned (God’s grace-DS) of things not yet seen, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is…

• Faith, Works, and Baptism

  Many are the men and women who believe that since the Bible teaches justification by faith (Rom. 5:1) and not by works (Eph. 2:8-9, Titus 3:5) that baptism is excluded as an act essential to salvation despite many passages that teach the contrary (Acts 2:38, 22:16, 1 Peter 3:21, Titus 3:5, Eph. 5:26, 1 Cor. 12:13 compared with Eph. 5:23, John 3:5, Gal. 3:26-27, etc.).  They are greatly mistaken. In the first place the Bible clearly teaches that …

• The Kind of Faith in God That Destroys

  There is a faith, a so called Christian faith, which destroys.  Those who hold such a faith, while sincere, do not understand faith from a scriptural point of view.  Faith is all too often defined as “what I believe.”  There is more to saving faith than just believing in Jesus, believing he is the Son of God. If faith alone, defined as what one believes, could save by itself then even the demons could be saved for James says, “…

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

  nts.  Some have much longer to live and labor as soldiers of Christ than do others.  Likewise some suffer much greater persecution than do others with the apostles being perfect examples of that.  Yet, we all, if we will live faithfully unto death, receive the same inheritance. Is it fair?  Would you have it any other way?  If it is your son, your daughter, your wife, your husband, your mother or dad who is the eleventh hour worker you would have…

• Abraham’s Faith (Faith Accounted for Righteousness)

  Every person who truly believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is interested in having what we might term “saving faith.”  The Bible could not be any clearer than it is on our need for such faith.  Paul tells the Ephesian Christians, “By grace you have been saved through faith.” (Eph. 2:8 NKJV)  To the Christians at Rome he speaks of them “having been justified by faith” (Rom. 5:1 NKJV) and then the…

• Saved by Faith or Saved by Holy Spirit Baptism–Which Is It?

  Is a man saved by faith or saved by Holy Spirit baptism?  I personally do not believe either but there are many advocates of one or the other.  (Yes, I believe faith is essential but just not that it is the final step to salvation.) There are a number of people in what is commonly called the Christian community who are thoroughly convinced that one is saved by Holy Spirit baptism.  I do not believe they are in the majority but they are out ther…

• Faith is Not Just What You Believe

  is time to go back and do some rethinking.  That is exactly where those are at who interpret Eph. 2:8-9 in such a way as to make it exclude baptism or any work whatsoever.  James teaches you can try to get to heaven by faith alone but it will not work, not without works.  Paul, the author of Eph. 2:8-9, was himself baptized to wash away his sins (Acts 22:16) but never once complained to Ananias, the one sent from God to tell him to do so, “…

• Faith in the New Testament–Different Meanings

  word “faith” in Vine’s dictionary I found the Greek word behind it to be “pistis.”  Vine says the word means, depending on the passage in which it is being used, (a) trust (b) trustworthiness or faithfulness (c) what is believed, the contents of belief (d) the grounds for faith, assurance and (d) a pledge of fidelity.  He gives scriptural references for each of these usages. If I was to stop this article now and go …

• Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith)

  …ith their guilt over this matter in Acts 2:23 and again in Acts 3:14-15.  The good news is that “Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6 NKJV) and thus as a result of Peter’s preaching on the Day of Pentecost faith was created, about three thousand (Acts 2:41) responded to the preaching, obeying Peter’s command to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and were forgiven. Would God forgive Saul?  Most …

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

  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)  On its surface this proclamation by Paul is very simple and easy to understand and yet the failure to grasp its implications has brought much division and strife among those who believe Jesus is the Son of God.  Faith and opinion are mixed and it seems no one is able to separate the two.  It appears to the casual observer that one man’s faith is another man’s op…

• Grace

  Misunderstanding the Grace of God For by Grace You Have Been Saved by Faith Alone The Grace of God and the Parable of the Laborers How Was Noah Saved Through Water   Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) How God’s Grace Works The Gospel of the Grace of God Noah Found Grace …

• He Feared

  Why men become unfaithful varies from man to man.  The faith of Demas failed because he loved the world; the faith of Diotrephes failed because he loved the preeminence; the faith of the man I am about to talk about failed because of fear. Of course, there is a sense in which faith never fails.  It is the man who fails, fails to have faith in sufficient strength to remain faithful.  It is a challenge to all men to develop a strong faith. Paul, i…

• Ways into Christ–How Many Ways Are There?

  e without it nothing else could follow.” (Prof. D. R. Dungan, Hermeneutics, Pages 300-305)  We should not read the Bible, come across the word faith, and think without giving it thought that it necessarily means mental assent alone.  Be a scholar and study it out and see based on the context and the totality of New Testament teaching on the subject what the word means  where it is located. I want to deal with one other passage and that by Peter b…

• Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation?

  r, James, John, Paul, and the other writers of the New Testament.  It is possible to “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” (Rom. 10:2 NKJV)  A person who believes he can and will be saved by faith alone, no need to concern oneself with obeying commandments, is just as deeply in error as the man who believes he can do enough good works and obey perfectly enough to be saved.  Both hold and believe error. I close this ar…

• Canaan and Heaven–How God Gives

  How God gives to men is not only an interesting study but also one of upmost importance as it relates to our salvation, a salvation which is clearly set forth in the scriptures as being a free gift of God to man.  “Being justified freely by is grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:24 NKJV)  It is by grace through faith that we are saved and not by works. (Eph. 2:8-9)  Salvation is specifically said to be “the gift of God…

• Abel’s Sacrifice by Faith versus Cain’s Sacrifice

  full vent to anger, hatred, and jealousy.  He lived not for God or even for his own family. This is a good time to make a point about faith and what it is.  Faith that is pleasing to God is not faith in God’s existence alone.  God even spoke to Cain.  Cain had no doubt about God’s existence.  We could go so far as to say he did not need faith in God’s existence for he had firsthand knowledge of it.  So, faith that God is is not…

• The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept

  cal faith is and what it encompasses.  Faith means you believe what the Bible says, for starters, about any and every subject of which it speaks. I have long said that the very thing those who teach that one is saved by faith alone need is “more faith.”  They need faith in God’s word, faith that God was able to say what he meant and that he meant what he said, faith that when Peter told the people at Jerusalem on the day of Pent…

• Saved by Jesus Outside the Church?

  t the Lord adds you to his church.  This adding is to the church universal which consists of all true Christians all over the world wherever they are found and consists both of the living and of those now dead but who died as faithful Christians. Paul, in writing to Timothy, speaks of “the house of God, which is the church of the living God.” (1 Tim. 3:15 NKJV)  He told Timothy he was writing “so that you may know how you ought …

• The Faith of Enoch

  The Bible tells us that, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.” (Heb. 11:5 NAS)  Enoch and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) were the only two men to ever be born and not die a physical death.  Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven after a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated him from …

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

  as come to believe.  As James says, “faith without works (obedience–DS) is dead” (James 2:26 NAS) and dead things do not bring life (salvation).  If one’s faith stops at the point of intellectual faith alone, leaves out repentance, confession of Jesus, and baptism then it is dead.  It is dead for two reasons.  One, it stopped short of the full faith of and in the entire gospel message which required these things and two, i…

• Faith and Baptism in Paul’s Preaching

  le fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.  And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us.” (Acts 16:14-15 NAS) We are not told exactly what Paul said in his sermon but we know he preached at least the following:  (1) Man as…

• Does God Really Care?

  thousands including infants and toddlers, why cyclones, why starvation?  And the list could go on and on and on. Does God care?  It is easy to give up on God as one contemplates what he has seen and heard.  It is easy to lose faith.  What is the answer?  This is a subject that is important to study because there has probably never been a person who at some point in time in his or her life who has not thought about these things.  It is important t…

• Was Cornelius Saved Before Baptism? (Cornelius’ Conversion)

  upon them.” (NAS)   It was necessary for Peter to complete that message which included baptism.  But let us look at it from another point of view.  What if Cornelius had told Peter “no thanks I have been saved by faith and grace.  I believe in Jesus.  I think I will just pass on the baptism.”  Would he have been saved?  Many preach today that he would have for the gospel they preach has no water in it unlike Peter’s gospe…

• When did Obedience Become Legalism?

  as, why did he preach it was not okay? But, this is another example of how we take a sin out of the category of iniquity today and recategorize it.  God is love and “we get to define love” not him.  Leaving adulterous couples alone even in the church is now the loving thing to do.  To talk to them about the need for repentance is now seen as sinful, judgmental.  We have flip flopped everything and come up with a manmade religion. It is getting ve…

• Demas Has Forsaken Me

  years of work and losing and wasting all that time, money, and effort for nothing.  How much greater the loss, how much more dire the consequences, when we give up living the Christian life. (2)  We learn from Demas that the faith of the best of men can fail.  We never grow so strong but what we can lose our faith.  Some think if we had miracles today people would believe and would automatically become Christians strong in a steadfast faith.  I …

• Weak, Defiled, and Seared Consciences

  …an idolater, no longer a believer in idolatrous gods, but still he remained susceptible to the call of his past.  It was certainly possible for him to turn again and go back to idolatry.  The Bible talks of various degrees of faith.  There is little faith and great faith and everything in between.  How great was his faith?  That is always a question for every man.  Paul says in the beginning of 1 Cor. 8 in verse 4, “we know that there is no…

• The Parable of the Talents–the Sin of Fear

  ing for God and striving to be a profitable servant.  We are a Christian being a Christian in deed and not just in word. What is the teaching of the parable of the talents if it is not that we must go to work?  Can we by work alone go to heaven?  No way!  Salvation is always a matter of God’s grace, not man’s works, but if the parable of the talents does not teach the necessity of works along with faith for salvation I do not know wha…

• Everlasting Life–The Believer of John 3:16

  en in his family and friend’s minds) saved without ever offering any real concern about God’s commands or any serious obedience to them.  Many have made no real attempt in years to worship God or read his word let alone put him first in their life yet they are saved.  We go to the funeral home for visitation and we hear how this man or woman is now in a better place. Jesus never taught even once what such men have assumed.  John 5:24 …

• Faith

  Paul’s Conversion–Justified by Faith Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God–the Implications Who is the Believer in John 3:16? What is it a Man Must Believe in Order to be Saved? Faith is Not Just What You Believe Obedience of Faith and Justification by Faith–Opposing Doctrines? Disobedience to Jesus The Faithfulness of Jesus to God the Father I Can Do All Things Through Christ If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implicatio…

• I Can Do All Things Through Christ

  all of us there are going to be hard times.  Suffering, pain, sorrow, and death trail after us like a bloodhound on our track chasing after us.  We lose jobs, we lose loved ones, we lose health, and maybe someday we are left alone in a nursing home to await death with no one seeming to care.  What are we going to do?  How are we to survive?  There is only one answer. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  So it is from childho…

• Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching

  ch now saves us, namely baptism.” (1 Peter 3:21 NKJV)  If a man is saved he is saved from sin and the only way that is accomplished is through God’s forgiveness.  Peter says baptism saves.  He does not say baptism alone without faith or repentance.   There was no fist fight among the apostles when Peter first preached baptism for the remission of sins on the Day of Pentecost.  All the apostles were in agreement with Peter’s prea…

• God’s Willingness to Forgive–King Manasseh

  ow 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 that we don’t want to see such a man saved.  We want him punished.  We do not ever want to see the man let alone have anything to do with him.  We almost hope God will not forgive him for we want to see him punished.  He deserves it. However, if we are honest we all know the Bible teaches us that we all deserve it.  We deserve a …

• Behold the Judge is Standing at the Door

  o be living?  We have today.  We ought to make use of it for “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2 NKJV)  Today is the day God will accept us if we will accept him by faith and obedience to the gospel.  But as life has well taught us today is here and gone tomorrow.  Yes, of course, today is as long as our life lasts but we have all been to the cemetery too many times to fool ourselves in…

• How Does One Get Into the Church Christ Built?

  cts 2:37 NKJV)  Make no mistake about it these Jews believed everything Peter preached that day in preaching Jesus. Here is my point–why not dismiss the crowd and go home at that point in time?  If we are saved by faith alone there is no need for any further instructions as to how to become a child of God, a Christian.  No need for further instruction on what is necessary to be saved.  When the men ask “what shall we do” why not tell them t…

• Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin

  d to be a propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10) which simply means Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so that we will not have to which allowed God to be just in punishing sin and yet give unto us a way to be saved through faith in Jesus.  This is the gospel story. We need to make applications of these truths.  What can we learn from what we have said? (1) The person who has never heard the gospel is lost.  Everyone of us has a tendency to say…

• Unhappy With the Church of Christ?

  New Testament church was to exist on earth today with a single name, identity, belief, and practice then it would destroy denominationalism which is the very thing denominationalism cannot allow and will not accept.  If your faith and practice in your congregation was identical to that of a New Testament church, say the church in Jerusalem or Antioch of the first century, do not kid yourself into thinking that the denominations would admit it or…

• Christian Circumcision

  and the new man put on (read Rom. 6:3-8 again and Col. 2:11-13). Sometimes people grow upset with the idea that God uses means to accomplish his ends.  When a text says God does a thing they seem to have the idea he must act alone–that he is not allowed to use means to accomplish ends.  If we applied that to life as we live it daily we would readily see how ridiculous that kind of thinking is.  Am I not allowed to build a house using hamme…

• More on Willful Sin—Can Anyone be Saved?

  d be lost.” You will be hard pressed based on my research to find a commentator anywhere that would disagree.  Virtually every commentator will tell you that the passage has reference to one whose intent is to leave the faith altogether.  He willfully chooses to go another direction.  I do not think this person is one who necessarily ceases to believe.  I say that because of verse 27 where there is with this individual “a certain fear…

• One Church—A Thing Hard to Accept

  the other one taught for every one of them was guided in his speech by the Holy Spirit (see Matt. 10:19-20, John 14:16-17, 26, 16:13, Gal. 1:11-12, 2 Tim. 3:16, 1 Cor. 7:40, etc.).  The idea that we have thirty some thousand faithful denominations all chockfull of saved Christians is the thinking of hearts that have been hardened to the point they can no longer reason rationally. If denomination A believes one thing, denomination B believes anot…

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

  What is it a man must believe in order to be saved according to the Bible?  If salvation is dependent on faith which the Bible clearly teaches then it is essential to know what it is that the Bible teaches we must believe.  This is not a subject that is studied a whole lot for the answer seems so evident–we must believe in Jesus.  Yes, that is true, but what does that mean?  I will talk about that later in the article but there are other t…

• Things People Do Not Know About the Church

  One should never minimize the importance of the church, the church Jesus built.  I am not speaking about manmade denominational churches.  They are not one and the same.  However, many people do not understand that and have grown unhappy with the old main line denominations and as a consequence have cast them aside and decided they will take Jesus alone and forget about the church.  Years ago this sentiment was popularized by the saying, “Jesus …

• Disobedience to Jesus

  Disobedience to Jesus is far more widespread among people who call themselves Christians than what is generally recognized to be the case.  Over the years the doctrine that man is saved by grace through faith alone without any kind of works has become so prevalent in men’s thinking that it seems it has driven out of men’s lives the sense of any kind of responsibility to obey God other than mentally assenting to the son ship of Jesus….

• A New Creation in Christ

  . Now please note what I have not said in this article.  I did not say we are saved or that we become a new creation without faith, without repentance, without confession of Christ, and I have not said we are saved by baptism alone. Faith is the energizing agent that leads to all further obedience to Christ.  Without faith absolutely nothing else follows.  In the sense that “faith” is the source of all allegiance and obedience it can …

• If Baptism is Not Essential for Salvation

  a slow learner for many years after his initial sermon on the Day of Pentecost he was still making the claim that “there is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism”  (1 Peter 3:21 NKJV).  If salvation is by faith alone, with baptism having nothing at all to do with it, one would almost have to say that Peter became a habitual false teacher with regards to the subject of baptism. (6)  If baptism is not essential for salvation then the…

• The Washing of Water by the Word–Baptism and Salvation

  look at 1 Cor. 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” (NKJV)  “By one Spirit” is the same as “by the word” in Eph. 5:26 for the word is the mind of the Spirit, the Spirit speaking to us, leading us to faith and obedience. Paul also tells us elsewhere how we enter this body of Christ, enter Christ himself spiritually speaking.  “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27 NKJV)  See also…

• Instrumental Music in Christian Worship–Is it God’s Will?

  could not be saved.  Much of the books of Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews discuss this very issue.  We cannot hope to be saved today by animal sacrifice, by worshipping as they worshipped, by observing Jewish festivals, etc.. Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17).  Where there is no word from God there can be no faith.  Yes, people believe it is okay to use instruments of music in Christian worship but their belief is not based on t…

• A Good and Pure Conscience

  e trained based on correct teaching–the word of God. That said the Bible teaches we must act in good conscience and to do otherwise is sin.  “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23 NKJV)  Why is man condemned if he eats?  Because he doubts whether he ought to be doing it or not and thus cannot do it with a clean, good, and pure conscience…

• Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God

  here were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?  Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Ex. 14:11-12 NASB) They did not yet see God as being their Savior nor did they …

• Healing For the Brokenhearted

  Is sorrow not sorrow?  Must one’s heart be crushed by a particular thing in order to call it a broken heart? Can God help us mend?  God understands that in this life there are things that are too big for us to deal with alone.  We are put in a position where we cannot act in a proactive way for we have lost that power.  Events have overwhelmed us.  We need outside help. What can God do?  We might respond what is there that God cannot do?  D…

• Is Holy Spirit Baptism The Baptism That Saves?

  …tles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried …

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

  beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46-47 ESV) This gives us a beginning point of both time and place of the gospel message God has for us today.  Those desiring to be saved the way the thief on the cross was saved (by faith without baptism) go back too far, past Jerusalem, past the beginning, and in doing so end up with another gospel. The only way one can have the Jerusalem gospel is to preach what Peter did that day beginning in Jerusal…

• Is Denominational Baptism Scriptural?

  he established.  What denomination was Lydia a member of?  Lydia had it right, denominationalism has it wrong.  Why is one who believes he is already saved, had his sins remitted, already entered into Christ through his faith alone and is thus already in Christ’s church baptized to get into a denomination?  There were no denominations in New Testament times.  Not a single person in the New Testament was ever baptized to enter into a denomination …

• Resource Sites

  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.  Not only does he know the Bible he also knows what men are saying about it.) Walking by Faith:  Origin of Instrumental Music in Christian Worship  (This is an online copy of what was once a pamphlet consisting of two sermons delivered in the late 1800′s by M. C. Kurfees.  Gives the best definition of fait…

• The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer

  to do is believe in order to be saved is that they leave out repentance all together.  That ought to save the demons then, hadn’t it?  They believe and no repentance required for salvation.   Yes, I am sure Paul taught faith in the Lord Jesus and when understood properly that will save a man.  However, faith in the Lord Jesus means you believe everything Jesus taught and believe it so strongly you obey him without question.  Faith in the L…

• Non-Offensive Christianity

  le hearted people who sincerely want to please everyone, not be offensive to any, and who want to stay out of all fights and disagreements and they are thus unwilling to take sides and take a stand.  They just want to be left alone and left out of any disagreements or unpleasantness but isn’t that the desire of most of us?  We want peace not strife.  We want less stress in our life, not more.  But there is a problem. Life just does not work…

• Which Denomination Did Jesus Build?

  ust one mind.  We can practice what another denomination considers sin and yet be saved for what denomination you are in makes no difference.  That is denominationalism. Jesus prayed in John 17, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one.” (John 17:20-21 NKJV) One sin of denominationalism stands out very clearly for any thinking individual.  If your denominati…

• Repentance–How Can I Be Sure?

  ll).  There are men and women who are sorry for the things they have done but will not turn to God for forgiveness thinking they have been too evil to be forgiven.  They despair.  This is a worldly sorrow.  It shows a lack of faith in God’s love and willingness to forgive and thus a lack of faith in God and in his word. Others are also sorry for their sins but it is because they have been caught in them and have suffered as a result (adulterers a…

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

  gdom and not a president of some kind of a democracy.  This being the case, and as Christ the head has spoken and given his will in the pages of the New Testament, why have men not been content to be guided by his will and it alone? Men have arrogated power to themselves and set up conferences, and councils, and governing bodies, and tried to make laws for God and in many cases even overrode his will (for their own) setting aside scripture and pe…

• Cornelius’ Conversion–Final Thoughts

  context, but still in the book of 1 John, it is said if we keep his word we abide in him and he in us. (1 John 2:5, 1 John 3:24)  Thus we have a series of items being listed by which we can measure whether or not we are in a faithful relationship with God. The passage (1 John 4:13) is not talking about initial obedience to God (gospel obedience) for there can be no obedience to what is thrust upon you (baptism of the Holy Spirit).  To say that o…

• Christian Wars–A Misnomer

  phets because of the things I have written here but you know what, they will have to go outside of the pages of the Bible for their proof. There is not a Catholic on earth that can take the New Testament and the New Testament alone and get today’s Catholic Church out of it.  I venture even further–they know better than try and will not try.  They live not by what the Bible says but by what the Catholic hierarchy has handed down from o…

• Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon

  Most people who know anything at all about the Christian faith realize that Peter preached the first gospel sermon ever preached on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.  The second recorded sermon in the Christian dispensation of time is again a sermon preached by Peter as found in the next chapter in Acts–chapter 3.  That there was preaching being done between Peter’s first sermon and his second there is no doubt for the Bibl…

• Gospel Obedience at Corinth

  Savior of the body.” (Eph. 5:23 NAS)  He has not said a word about saving anything else save his body.  One needs to get himself into Christ where salvation is and the road to doing that is certainly faith but not faith alone apart from repentance, confession of Jesus, and baptism for the remission of sins which places one in Christ.  The reader should not confuse being in the church mentioned in the Bible with denominations.  The thing Pau…

• Sin in the Desert–Testing God at Massah and Meribah

  Lord, are seen eye to eye, while your cloud stands over them; and you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.” (Numbers 14:14 NASB) There are some lessons here for us.  (1) Miracles alone will not produce faith in people disinclined to believe.  Remember when Jesus gave the account of the rich man and Lazarus both in Hades although in different parts of it?  The rich man was in torment while Lazarus was…

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

  Why write an article on the topic the kingdom of God and the new birth?  The answer is really quite simple.  As long as people today have a desire to be saved in the way Jesus saved some during his personal ministry on earth–by faith without baptism–there will be a need to show the error of that position.  On this subject timing makes all the difference. When did Jesus become a king with a kingdom over which to rule?  When Jesus was …

• If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implications

  hook or crook with no New Testament passages bothering them. One must remember the Catholic Church believes authority resides with them and not solely with the New Testament.  They are not willing to accept the New Testament alone as the final authority in religion. Pentecostal groups have a different motivation.  As far as I know they have not tried to get humanity to think that God hands down law today through them, law not found in the New Te…

• The Case of Cornelius and the Holy Spirit

  one elsewhere?  Does God show partiality toward some?  Are some saved one way and others in a different way?  The Bible says, “there is no partiality with God” (Rom 2:11 NKJV) and Paul says there is but “one faith” (Eph. 4:4) while saying also of one who preaches another gospel “let him be accursed.” (Gal. 1:8).  All of this being the case then how does one account for the fact that in the account of Cornelius&…

• Jesus and the Furnace of Fire

  are not obeying him) how are you going to avoid the furnace of fire? But people say I know what the word of God says about this or that but I know how I feel in my heart and thus the standard for being saved and for living a faithful obedient life, for determining what is and is not sin, ceases to be what the book, chapter, and verse of the Bible teaches and becomes instead the feeling in the heart.  That feeling becomes the standard for salvati…

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

  have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” (Luke 8:15 NASU) When one accepts the word of God and allows it to work in his life, having an honest and good heart, faith develops and leads the man to repentance, changing him within in his inner being, his spirit.  He now believes differently, has different goals and aspirations, has a desire to live a different life.  When this occurs …

• Work Out Your Own Salvation

  …r eternity.  “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” (NKJV)  That has always been true and always will be.  Man has things he must do if he is to be saved.  The burden is not all on God and God alone. “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Heb. 5:9 NKJV)  Obedience is to righteousness. (Rom. 6:16)  Jesus says we will be judged by his word (John 12:48).  Are there any commandments in his w…

• Keep Your Heart With All Diligence

  ey were saying “you go ahead and struggle I am depending on God’s grace” which translated means I will pretty much do in my life what I want and let God’s grace cover me in the end.  We are suppose to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12 NKJV) and have been given a sword (the word of God–Eph. 6:17) and a shield (faith–Eph. 6:16).  Where is the fight in liberal Christianity (a misnomer)?  Paul said he had “fought the good fight…

• Jesus Defines Repentance

  …Son of God and the Savior of the world. The second comment I will make in passing is that the order of the wording does not necessarily imply that the one action preceded the other.  Paul, in Rom. 10:9, puts confession before faith, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (NKJV)  Do you think Paul meant to imply that confession is to come before faith…

• Israel’s Rebellion at the Red Sea

  cts this was the time referred to in Ex. 14:12 at the Red Sea rebellion when the children of Israel seeing the Egyptian army approaching told Moses, “Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?’” (NKJV)  When they told Moses that back in Egypt there is little doubt their thinking was if it was not for this trouble maker Moses Pharaoh would be more lenient with us. …

• Parable of the Tares–No Middle Ground

  ” (2 Thess. 1:7-10 NKJV)  We see no middle ground.  One has either obeyed the gospel or he has not. It brings me great deal of sorrow and sadness to know people I care about and realize that to them gospel obedience and faithfulness is no big deal.  What they are thinking (or how) I will never know, I guess, and that saddens me too?  I am not sure they know.  Do they think the Bible is a fairy tale?  Do they believe you cannot trust GodR…

• The Great Commission and Cornelius

  of sins, Acts 2:38, a part of the word?–DS); and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23 NKJV)  Jesus again speaks in John 17:20-21, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (NK…

• The Mysterious Eloquent Evangelist

  …o.  One must necessarily be a disciple before he can be saved.  How can you be saved without first learning of Jesus and being willing to follow him? And, the final point.  If people were commonly saved in those days by faith alone apart from baptism why did Paul bother to take these men and baptize them? Here is the clincher– why did Paul just assume they had been baptized?  He says in Acts 19:3, “Into what then were you baptized?…

• Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

  eath brings every human being to his pure individuality, to the intense contemplation of that deepest and most solemn of all relations – the relations between the creature and his Creator.” We came into this world alone and we will go out of it alone.  There were people there when we were born and there may well be people there when we die but we go alone even if a thousand others were to die with us in our presence.  I think this is …

• The Army of the Lord–the Church

  … Paul’s admonition to Timothy where he tells him, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Tim. 2:3 NKJV)  If we are honest we realize that is an admonition to us as well if we desire to be a faithful Christian. We ought to put emphasis on the phrase “must endure hardship” for it is easy to think in our day and age and in our country there is no hardship to be endured as a Christian.  Wrong!  Paul made it clear i…

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

  “And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us.” (Acts 16:15 NAS)  In Acts 16:13-15 we find the account of the conversion of Lydia in the city of Philippi.  This is a very interesting conversion account and one that men have debated as to what actually happened.  Yet, when one reads closely,…

• Who Gets to Decide–God or the Church?

  a ton of other things came from denominational legislative bodies, from man, not from God’s word. Hear Paul from 1 Tim. 4:1-3 (NAS), “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons … men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.R…

• Indifference – The Great Destroyer

  e, 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 living a faithful Christian life what joy do you bring to God? Grief and sorrow yes but joy no. A lot has been made of the fact that salvation from sin is a free gift from God. This while true when properly understood is seldom under…

• Why Men Do Not Believe

  the Thessalonians asked the brethren to “pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith.” (2 Thess. 3:2 NAS) The question I want to deal with in this article is why do men not believe?  This is a question that has bothered me over the years for it seems to me only natural to believe.  Yet, I cannot …

• Moses, the Waters of Marah, and a Lesson for Today

  resentative thus to complain against Moses was to complain against God (see Ex. 16:8).  Moses individually had no power to provide them with water and they knew that so the complaint was against God. This manifested a lack of faith in God.  How so?  Back in Ex. 3:16-17 before the plagues, before Moses ever entered Egypt after his exile, God told Moses at the burning bush incident to, “Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to …

• Christianity and Multiculturalism

  neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28 NKJV) Jesus long prayer in John 17 includes this, “I do not pray for these alone but also for those who will believe in me through their word; that they all may be one.” (John 17:20-21 NKJV)  I would also recall to the reader’s memory the verse that began this article, 1 Cor. 1:10, were…

• Salvation (Becoming a Christian)

  as Noah Saved Through Water? How Does One Get Into the Church Christ Built? Saved by Jesus Outside the Church Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation? Canaan and Heaven–How God Gives Are the New Testament Scriptures Alone a Sufficient Guide to Heaven? Three Attitudes That Destroy the Hope of Salvation Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) What Must I Do To Be Saved?  (Part I) What Must I Do To Be Saved? (Part II) Factors in Salvation Salvat…

• How Does the Blood of Jesus and Baptism Tie Together

  fe unless the blood of Jesus has cleansed him?  Newness of life comes to a man upon being raised up from the waters of baptism.  God placed the cleansing blood in the waters of baptism.  In that act, when done from a heart of faith, the blood of Jesus cleanses a man from all sin.  But, objection is made by man and it is said baptism is a little thing.  Is the blood of Jesus a little thing?  If one can be saved without baptism into the death of Ch…

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

  a violation of duty to fall asleep on guard duty, as it also is today, but the punishment in the Roman army was death if the matter was pursued.  You do not fall asleep on guard duty. Secondly, it was not a matter of one man alone on the job for then we could imagine one man might fall asleep.  We cannot know how many men had guard duty that night but we know there were at least a few for only “some of the guard” (Matt. 28:11) go to report the h…

• Why Do Men Run From God?

  not want to be in the next life but for here and now you can find a place of comfort, a place where they will tell you the lie you are living is nothing other than God’s truth. The Bible only teaches one church and one faith and it does not teach a thousand different competing doctrines.   ”There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of al…

• He Went Away Grieved

  rt.  Perhaps even the young man himself did not realize that such was the case.  But in the end he loved his wealth too much to give it up for Christ, for God, despite believing in Christ.  Again we find another lesson—belief alone will not save you.  I say nothing by saying that but what inspiration has already said—read James 2. Then we come to those words we all almost know by heart from the lips of Jesus when he says, “How hard it is for thos…

• Baptism

  Water? The Cleansing of the Church at Ephesus The Washing of Water by the Word–Baptism and Salvation A New Creation in Christ Christ and Baptism in Colossians Christian Circumcision Christ Did Not Send Paul to Baptize Faith and Baptism in Paul’s Preaching Is Denominational Baptism Scriptural? What Does the Phrase “Born of Water and the Spirit” Mean? The New Birth and Water Who is the Believer in John 3:16? Faith, Works, …

• Ashamed of Jesus and His Words

  is generally true. We do not speak because we do not want to be embarrassed or shamed by the world that ridicules faith in Jesus thus are more concerned about receiving honor from men rather than the honor that comes from God alone.  We do not speak because we do not want to contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 3).  We do not speak because we do not want to wield “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17 NAS)  W…

• Abuse of the Old Testament

  utcome of the Lord’s dealings that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” (James 5:11 NAS) Hebrews chapter 11 is another good illustration.  We are taught by the examples of Old Testament characters what faith is and what it means to have faith.  We are encouraged to persevere as we see what some of those men and women were willing to do and endure to be faithful to God.  We compare our trials with theirs and ours seem but l…

• Walk in Truth—the Joy of John the Apostle

  shall make you free.” (John 8:32 NKJV)  Did Jesus know what he was talking about?  Did Jesus say “you shall know a truth” or did he say “you shall know the truth?” Paul said there was “one faith.” (Eph. 4:5 NKJV)  Faith here means the body of doctrine Christians are to believe and Paul says there is but one.  This faith (body of doctrine to be believed) is what Jude referred to when he said, “conte…

• Christ and Baptism in Colossians

  ll rule and authority.” (Col. 2:10 NAS)  He says himself directly, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” (Matt. 28:18 NAS)  Paul teaches in the book of Colossians that all we need is Christ, him and him alone, him and nothing else.  Christ is found in his word and not outside it in someone else’s ideas, thoughts, or imaginations, or as Paul says in the NAS “in self-made religion.” (Col. 2:23)  If Christ in me is “the hope o…

• Is Church Attendance Essential for Christian Salvation?

  or worship is not answering God’s call, God’s seeking for such worshippers.  Paul said of Christians, “we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit.” (Philippians 3:3 NKJV) But, some may say I can worship at home or alone.  That is, to a certain extent, true but only to an extent.  We are to teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs while singing in our hearts to the Lord. (Col. 3:16, see also Eph. 5:19)  Th…

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

  400’s.  If a person claims the church of which he is a member is the one which Jesus is the Savior of and yet it was not begun until the 1400’s it necessarily means that for 1400 years Jesus had nothing to save and no one was saved.  If an individual readily admits his/her church was established sometime in the Middle Ages or thereafter they are admitting, like it or not, that their church is not the church Jesus established or built thus they ou…

• Willful Sin–Can Anyone Be Saved?

  verses are directed at Christians as is the whole book of Hebrews.  Each one of us knows we are guilty of having committed willful sin and this passage troubles us.  When we read the verses in the larger context of verses 24 through 31 it is very easy to become fearful and feel it is hopeless, we are lost and undone without remedy.  We are sorry about our sins but we feel it is too late. However, there are a number of things we ought to consider…

• Acceptable Prayer

  Jesus himself said, speaking to the Father prior to raising Lazarus from the dead, “I know that You always hear Me.” (John 11:42 NKJV)   Elsewhere he says, “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” (John 8:29 NAS)  The blind man who Jesus restored sight to while not an inspired man yet spoke the truth in John 9:31, “We know that God does not hear …

• Denominationalism’s Sin Against Peter

  The apostle Peter has taken a beating among denominationalists.  I would feel sorry for him save for the fact that I would be feeling sorry for the wrong party seeing as how he was an inspired apostle of God and his antagonists are but mere flesh and blood men and totally uninspired. It was not always the way it is today.  For at least a few hundred years after his sermon in Acts 2 he was honored by those who proclaimed faith in God and belief i…

• Who is the Believer in John 3:16?

  sus contradicting himself and teaching one man is going to be saved one way in the earlier passages and another way in the later passage.  Surely, all can see Jesus is talking about the same individual. Unfortunately, for the faith only crowd, this makes the believer of John 3:16 who will be saved a baptized person.  The person who is born again, born of water and the Spirit, is the person who led by the Spirit came to a belief so strong as to le…

• Singing and Playing in Christian Worship

  peaking of today, the here and now, we just naturally assume he or she will bring their musical instruments with them and use them in the performance thus the word sing in the New Testament does not necessarily mean just sing alone.  They might have been bringing their instruments with them.  If so the historians are wrong for that is the very thing they say was not done.  Do the research yourself. The real problem, so you are not led astray by s…

• Though He Slay Me

    Would you have prayed had you been in their shoes?  You know you would have and thus you know they did also. James tells us, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NKJV)  Here is a good that can come from our suffering. Although I consider the New Livin…

• Fear God

  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, one who is observing all the commandments of God, who truly repents when he does transgress, who puts God first in his life in every respect.  Such a man fears neither man, death, nor the judgmen…

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

  Many years ago I asked a lady this very question–can one be just a Christian in Christ’s church without being in a denomination?  Her answer was that while that was once possible it is no longer possible today.  I have never understood that kind of thinking.  To her the church that is Christ’s simply cannot exist today alone by itself outside of denominationalism.  That raises all kinds of problems. If what she said is true then of what va…

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

  re from the Bible for proof is needed that your word is from God when you do such cutting.   After all you will be giving us a new Bible when your cutting is done. Needless to say all such approaches to scripture end up being faith destroying.  How do you have faith if you do not know what to have faith in and what not to have faith in?  Yes, I know these types proclaim their faith but real faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (R…

• Mary of Bethany–Doing What You Can

  ragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.’” (Matt. 26:8-9 NKJV)  Mark says, “They criticized her sharply.” (Mark 14:5 NKJV)  Jesus intervened on her behalf saying, “Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for me. … She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout th…

• Lessons for the Church from Isaiah (Chapter 1)

  ay things like that was then this is now, we have to adapt the Bible to modern times, etc., we are starting to travel a dangerous road.  Who is the man who is qualified to tell us what changes need to be made in the Christian faith and practice of today versus that of the first century as found in the pages of the New Testament?  There are many who feel they are qualified for they are busy telling us all the time what is allowable today even thou…

• The Faithfulness of Jesus to God the Father

  Hebrews 3:1-2 reads as follows:  “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was faithful in all his house.” (NKJV) Reading this passage and its surrounding context awhile back got me to thinking about the faithfulness of Jesus.  We seldom think about Jesus being “faithful,” that…

• Jesus’ Baptism and You?

  ense it looked forward and was a promise.  We have this in our everyday lives all of the time.  If I do this then I am promised that even though that may be down the road a ways.  Paychecks are like that.  We work trusting by faith the promise that we will be paid.  This was John’s baptism. Does this mean their actual forgiveness lay down the road somewhere in the future and was not immediate?  No, for it was a certainty, not just a promise, that…

• Jesus the Foundation of and the Builder of the Church

  16 NKJV) is the rock Jesus built the church on (Matt. 16:18 NKJV) Catholic doctrine to the contrary notwithstanding.  No one can enter the church built by Jesus who does not believe this foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. Jesus is described by Peter as a living stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious (1 Peter 2:4).  He goes on a couple of verses later to say, “it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I l…

• Born Again At The Point Of Faith – John 1:12-13

  en the context demands one or the other.  In John 1:13 there is really no choice unless you desire a Bible contradiction in which case the Bible cannot be true.  When you understand John 1:12-13 you will understand that faith alone is not enough to make you a child of God no matter what anyone tells you. …

• Faith Based On Deception–Gen. 37:31-33

  is. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?’ And he recognized it and said, ‘It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.’” (NKJV) Faith can be based on false information or misunderstanding and yet be so strong that one is firmly convinced that the error he believes is the truth. Because of the evidence presented to him (misinformation) Jacob was certa…

• Never Give Up

  t we see and hear has an affect upon us all. It is a battle all of us fight.  Paul said in 1 Cor. 10:13 “no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man” (NKJV) which tells us to not kid ourselves.  We are not alone in being tempted by the things of this world.  But Paul goes on and says, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that …

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

  n ideas about what to bring into worship and placing them on the same level with God’s commands. There is in the New Testament one verse that settles this question about whether or not we need Bible authority in the Christian faith and practice and worship once for all to those who are willing to listen.  “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col. 3:17 NKJV) What does…

• Repent–How Hard It Is To Do

  le. I want to deal with that in just a minute but first I want to suggest this.  While belief and repentance are two separate factors yet they are closely tied together.  If a person truly had the depth of conviction (call it faith or belief) that hell was real and as bad as the Bible teaches it is and believed they were going there I think most men would repent.  Who volunteers to be tortured?  None if they believe it will happen. Jesus said in …

• Christ Did Not Send Paul to Baptize

  …consistent in what they teach, would have to tell you that Ananias was mistaken and could not possibly have meant what he said about Paul having sins to be washed away for they say a man is saved from his sins at the point of faith and thus Paul had no sins to be washed away so they know more about it than the man sent directly by the Lord himself to Paul.  They also would have to tell you, because they believe man has no part in his own salvatio…

• 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…

• Diotrephes Loves To Have the Preeminence

  ainst us with malicious words.  And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.” (3 John 1:9-10 NKJV) Diotrephes, was a Christian man whose faith failed.  In that he had the power to put brethren out of the church one suspects that he was an elder who had gained preeminence over time above the other elders.  He had become so emboldened that he would not even acc…

• Looking Down Your Nose

  The expression “looking down your nose” was and is an American idiom used with reference to looking upon someone dishonorably with a degree of contempt.  It is felt that the person so looked upon is beneath the one doing the judging in respect to honor and dignity.  That is the subject of this article. James says: “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.  For if there sho…

• 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…

• They Loved the Praise of Men

  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 subject of why faith fails we find an account of a group of men who had this very problem–the desire for the praise of men. “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess H…

• What Is Baptism (the Sprinkling Hoax)

  here.  I wish someone would tell me how he did it if it was not there in the first century.  I don’t know whether you ever thought about it this way or not.  What we are saying when we add to God’s word is that it alone is today insufficient to save men.  We now need more.  Yes, there was a time when immersion was sufficient but not so today.  Men need options God did not give.  It is too hard to have to do what he said way back then….

• Reconciling With a Brother

  n others, say for example the Pharisee who went up to pray in Luke 18:10-14, fools only himself. Christians need to be very aware of the great danger they are in at all times as regards this matter.  They try their best to be faithful and obedient in all things.  There is much evil they would not think of partaking in.  We see sin and protest against it as we should.  The Pharisee that went up to pray to God and went back unjustified in Luke 18 w…

• Hypocrites in the Church

  or us) was that they might be “sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.” (Phil. 1:10 NASU)  The writer of the book of Hebrews instructs us to draw near to God “with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:22 NASU)  Enough has been said without going further–God demands of us honesty, sincerity, and not…

• Case of Cornelius

  Was Cornelius Saved Before Baptism? The Case of Cornelius and the Holy Spirit The Great Commission and Cornelius Saved by Faith or Saved by Holy Spirit Baptism? Cornelius’ Conversion–Final Thoughts …

• Waymon Swain’s Audio Sermons

  ink to Bob’s audio sermons as well:  Bob Swain’s Audio Sermons Assorted (22 sermons) Authority (1 sermon) Baptism (4 sermons) Bible Characters (1 sermon) Bible Conversions (5 sermons) Christian Living (26 sermons) Faith (7 sermons) Forgiveness (6 sermons) God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit (10 sermons) Grace (3 sermons) New Birth (7 sermons) Old Testament Studies (13 sermons) Prayer (1 sermon) Salvation (26 sermons) Sin (21 …

• The Church Christ Built–Marks of Identification

  embership in this body, this church of Christ, this church Jesus built, is granted only on the basis of the new birth (John 3:5).  It begins with the Spirit in that through the Spirit’s word, the gospel message, man is led to faith and repentance and a willingness and desire to confess Christ for who he is–the Son of God–and it culminates in baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16) but more succinctly to put to death the…

• The Parable of the 10 Virgins–7 Lessons

  prepared with proper dress, etc.  They were also prompt, on time, in fact early as it turned out.  Early but not adequately prepared. Being unprepared in one aspect of one’s life is enough to ruin the whole thing.  So I have faith.  What if I do not have works?  James says, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26 NKJV)  The Christian life is a balanced life.  In what area is one to be unprepared?  Is it in faith, in works, in love, in worship…

• The Conscience as a Witness

  word of God says for only God knows what is perfect in goodness, holiness, and righteousness.  Jesus said to the devil, but it is applicable to all for it remains true, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV)  This was originally written in Deut. 8:3 by Moses by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. No, we cannot ignore our conscience.  I do no…

• Confirmation Sunday–No Bibles Required

  a denomination that has no more respect for the Bible than does this one.  The reality is they do not need a Bible for they have created their own religion and just adopted as much of the Bible as they want, leaving the rest alone, and have added the commandments of men to what they have adopted.  I’d rather go play golf and I do not even know how to play golf and I am not interested in learning but at least in golfing I would stay out of …

• Must the Christian Keep the Sabbath?

  aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (NKJV) Christ came into the world to make a new covenant, not just with and for the Jews alone, but for all mankind who were and are willing to go into a covenant relationship with him.  Read the passages in the New Testament that pertains to Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper.  What does he say?  “…

• The Chastening of the Lord

  ns was in order that the children of Israel (God’s children) repent and return to him. Why would we think it strange if God was found to still be working today in the same manner in order to get people to repent–that is through trials, tribulations, and troubles? One could say that was on a national scale in Amos’ time and did not involve individual action.  There is truth to that but I doubt the man who lacked bread in his house (ver…

• The Need to Sing in Worship

  ant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:  ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty!  Just and true are Your ways, O king of the saints!  Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?  For You alone are holy.  For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.’” (NKJV) Every song I have found in the Bible is a song wherein God is being praised, and glorified, an…

• Fools, Speech, and Christianity

  ome to mind.  James tells us, “Let every one be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.” (James 1:19 NAS)  Words not spoken have never caused trouble nor ever condemned a man.  Words spoken that would have been best left unspoken have resulted in murders, hatred, anger, strife, bitterness, and condemnation before God. For the moment I want to put emphasis on what Jesus said in Matt. 12 quoted above when he said, “For the…

• God’s Hardening of the Human Heart

  decision.  You say how can this be?  It is one of the great mysteries of God how God can have foreknowledge and yet man have free will.  Some things are beyond man’s ability to understand.  Some things we must accept by faith. The point to be made is that God does not harden a man for destruction who was going to repent if given more time to do so for God knew already what the man would choose.  There is no evidence in the Bible to support …

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

  le 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, is to feel alone, to feel abandoned, to feel you matter to no one.  It rips your heart out and then shreds it to pieces. Many people truly are alone; no one cares enough even to pray for them and the saddest thing is many who are in th…

• The Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God

  s account of the father and his prodigal son is in reality about God as our Father and we as the prodigal son. James tells us, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (endurance in the NASU-DS).” (James 1:2-3 NKJV)  The Hebrew writer says, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him; for whom the Lord loves he …

• The Joy and the Danger of a Clean Conscience

  t, often much family history involved, friendships, and so on that it is very hard to be fair, that is objective, with the scriptures. We need to study the scriptures objectively but our human emotions will not allow it.  Our faith is the correct one just because it has to be that way; there are no other possibilities, at least none we are willing to consider. There is one other factor that makes it very difficult for one to change his religion, …

• Spiritual Mirages

  ell; we see no need to repent thinking our life is pleasing to God and we are being blessed because of our godly life all the while knowing we cannot read specific Bible passages without them condemning us–our life, our faith, or our conduct.  We like the Jews of old will not listen to God’s specific word.  We convince ourselves in one way or another that things have changed today and the passage or passages that prick us are no longe…

• Better to Never Have Been Born–Why?

  mother or dad, our wife or our husband, our son or our daughter, our grandchild, our best friend, whoever it may be, is in the exact same place with Judas just as soon as their last breath leaves their body if they are not a faithful Christian when that breath has been drawn.  It is torment to us and unrelenting sorrow to think about what is to become of those we care about and love deeply if somehow or another they do not get their lives turned…

• Repentance

  Jesus Defines Repentance Repentance–How Can I Be Sure? Repent–How Hard It Is To Do Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? More on Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? The Chastening of the Lord The Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God …

• Must a Man Seek God?

  7;s standard).  They do not concern themselves with reading or studying the Bible, with worship, or obedience to God’s specific commandments. Whether they realize it or not this approach to salvation is an attempt to be saved by the works of man–it is an attempt to work your way to heaven based on personal goodness.  It reminds me of Rom. 10:3, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their…

• Honestly Deceived

  e.  Their feelings are hurt because they want us to fully accept their behavior as godly when it is not.  Only the man who has no real principles can accept all things and that man is an ungodly man, a man who will leave evil alone to do its dirty work.  When I condemn nothing I accept all things and what kind of a man does that make me? It is, just as one example, easy to accept homosexuality as godly on the basis that God’s love covers all and …

• Christian Living

  Politics, and the Government Must the Christian Keep the Sabbath? Three Attitudes That Destroy the Hope of Salvation The Sin of Being Unthankful and the Need for Thanksgiving Ashamed of Jesus and His Words I Can Do All Things Through Christ The Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God Anger The Sin of Contempt (Verbal Abuse) Fools, Speech, and Christianity Reconciling With a Brother Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Heaven (Part I) Heaven (…

• Christianity–Who Rules Reason or Emotions?

  or Bible authority even though those holding to such a religion call themselves Christians.  Paul said, in Col. 3:17, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (NKJV) It is a little hard to see how one can do a thing in the name of the Lord Jesus about which the Lord Jesus has said nothing.  To do a thing in the name of the Lord Jesus means by his authority thus if he…

• Forgiveness

  God’s Willingness to Forgive–King Manasseh Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? More on Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? The Need to Preach on Sin The Peace Found in the Forgiveness of Others Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Forgiveness Contacting the Blood of Salvation No Condemnation Is Your Name Written There? The Goodness and Severity of God Are You Ready? …

• Pray For Others Lest You Sin

  ive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” (Rom. 15:30 NKJV) That one especially touches the heart, “I beg you.”  Have you ever wished people would pray for you?  I have wished they would pray for me.  We often feel alone.  People know us but it seems too many are just figures passing in the night.  They stop long enough to say hello, smile, and ask how you are and then they are off and gone and you are left alone with every single prob…

• Sin

  Honestly Deceived The Pleasures of Sin Better to Have Never Been Born Jesus and the Furnace of Fire Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? More on Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? Three Attitudes That Destroy the Hope of Salvation Disobedience to Jesus Must a Man Seek God Indifference – The Great Destroyer Looking Down Your Nose Ghost Hunting and Consulting the Dead Christianity, Homosexuality, and Gay Marriage The Wicked Shall be Tu…

• Saul’s Conversion

  id not tell Saul what he must do then who did?  It was not Christ for he could have done it on the road to Damascus if he was going to be the one who did it.  Now what did Ananias tell Saul?  Did he tell Saul you need to have faith in Jesus?  Did he need to tell him that?  Had not Saul become a believer already?  Did he tell Saul you need to repent?  Had he not done that?  If his experience on the road to Damascus had not wrought these things wha…

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

  The word reconciliation is a very emotionally laden word.  There are millions upon millions of people in this world of billions who have sorrow in their hearts that words cannot express.  It is a sadness that goes with them day by day and night by night, month by month and year by year, and how can they tell anyone about it?  What can they say?  They cannot verbalize the feelings even to themselves let alone to others.  It is a sadness, a depres…

• A Heart Right With God (Test Your Heart)

  e conflict and confrontation are not a delight when we do not have the heart of David. Secondly, how many can say God’s law is in their heart?  One has to become a student of the word, a serious student, to know God’s law let alone lay it up within one’s heart.  When we delight to do God’s will, all of it, not just the smorgasbord approach, and have it stored within our heart we will be heading in the direction of the kind of heart God is pleased…

• The Christian, Politics, and the Government

  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 no law.” (Gal. 5:22-23 NKJV)  Just above this passage in Gal. 5:19-21 are listed the “works of the flesh” (V. 19) of which I would like to list two of those wor…

• Three Attitudes That Destroy the Hope of Salvation

  il in itself but only in that it is worldly putting worldly things ahead of God and influencing us to do the same. Living successfully as a Christian is a battle. Paul calls it a fight and says, “Fight the good fight of faith.” (1 Tim. 6:12 NKJV)  He says he had fought that fight (2 Tim. 4:7 NKJV).  One of the biggest parts of that fight is no doubt the battle within, the battle of maintaining Christian attitudes.  Of the miser the wr…

• Philip Preaching the Gospel in Samaria

  … says “they were being baptized” when they believed.  In Acts 2:41 when they received Peter’s word what did they do?  They were baptized.  Thus we see that in the beginning of the church, of Christianity, of faith in Christ, that when the gospel was preached and believed or received it led to people being baptized.  There has to be a reason for that. Is baptism a part of the gospel?  Is it a part of the good news?  It is if it i…

• The Pleasures of Sin

  Is there pleasure in sin?  The Bible teaches that sometimes there is–that is for a time.  You are probably familiar with the passage in the Bible found in Heb. 11:24-25 that speaks of the “pleasures of sin for a season” (KJV) or “the passing pleasures of sin” as the New King James puts it.  “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God…

• The Silence of the Scriptures

  y own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” (John 12:49 NKJV)  Jesus came into the world to bear witness to the truth but that could not be done by miracles alone without words or speech.  Miracles cannot confirm words that are not spoken.  Jesus’ bearing witness to the truth involved both delivering truth and then confirming it via miracles.  “Truth came through Jes…

• Mt. Sinai and the Day of Judgment

  fear and the one who fears is not perfected in love (1 John 4:18).  I am sure Paul did not fear God as in trembling fear but the fear of the Lord is one of the things that keeps us from sin (Ex. 20:20) and keeps us walking in faithful obedience so that we can develop that perfect love which in our spiritual maturity destroys fear altogether.  That day comes when we are able to say as Paul did, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished …

• New Birth

  Born Again at the Point of Faith – John 1:12-13 Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith) What Does the Phrase “Born of Water and the Spirit” Mean? The Kingdom of God and The New Birth The New Birth and Water A New Creation in Christ The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept   Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Born Again When One Obeys the Gospel Things That Happen With Gospel Obedience Why I Am a Christian Keeping…

• Bible Conversions

  nd audio sermons (sermons by a friend of mine–Waymon Swain) discussing mainly conversions recorded in the book of Acts with the emphasis on baptism.  Why that emphasis?  Because very few, if any, debate the necessity of faith, repentance, or the need to confess Christ. Receiving the Gospel – Acts 2:41 Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching Philip Preaching the Gospel in Samaria The…

• The Church

  Things People Do Not Know About the Church How Does One Get Into the Church Christ Built? Saved by Jesus Outside the Church Jesus the Foundation of and Builder of the Church One Church–A Thing Hard to Accept Which Denomination Did Jesus Build? The Church as the Family of God–Things Found in It The Church Christ Built–Marks of Identification Can One be Just a Christian in Christ’s Church Without being in a Denomination? Ch…

• The Peace Found in Forgiveness of Others

  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) Of those 3,000 on the day of Pentecost who obeyed the gospel and were saved that day Peter says to them about Jesus, “you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death,” speaking in reference to what they had done to Christ.  Surely, if God would forgive them he will forgive yo…

• The Need to Preach on Sin

  JV)  “‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.’” (Ezek. 33:11 NKJV)  Man was created to give God glory throughout eternity.  “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” (Isa. 43:7 NKJV) God knew man would sin and knew he had to punish sin but made…

• Fornication–Take It Lightly at Your Peril

  at people often do not know is that the word “fornication,” in the meaning of the Greek word, includes the sin of adultery, a state in which one can live according to Col. 3:5-7.  When the word “fornication” is used in a text alone without the word adultery accompanying it then it should be given its broader meaning to include all sexual immorality which includes adultery.  Again the newer versions have eliminated a lot of this problem by use of …

• Deeper Spiritual Understanding–How do I Acquire It?

  ngs 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.  You become like the Philippian jailer in Acts 16 who said to Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30 NKJV)  Was he selfish in asking that question?  Am I selfish in being concerned about self?  Are you? This does not mean we would not change group A, if it is in error, if we could but we lack that power….

• The Wicked Shall be Turned into Hell

  s what he was saying was that he liked this particular place he attended worship because they did so much good in the community and did not condemn people.  People today are not interested in what anyone including God himself through his word has to say about sin.  They do not want to hear it.  Preaching about sin is the kind of preaching that will drive many away.  It has almost gotten to the point where people consider it sin to preach against …

• 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…

• Preaching Jesus Means Preaching Baptism–The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch

  …nless he felt some urgency about it, unless he felt there was a need? Philip taught the eunuch baptism because as Peter said on the Day of Pentecost baptism is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) without which one cannot be saved. When Philip preached in the city of Samaria the Bible says he preached “the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12 NAS) with the result being that men and women “…

• Abortion Luke 1 – All You Need to Know

  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 beginning wit…

• Religious Titles Forbidden in Christianity

  I recently got into a discussion with a messianic Jew who insisted he had the right to use the title “Rabbi” without any violation of scripture.  I pointed him to Matt. 23:8, “but you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren” (NKJV) to no avail.  He is not alone for you could point a Catholic priest to Matt. 23:9, “do not call anyone on earth your father; f…

• Is America a Christian Nation—the Sandra Fluke Controversy

  221; is too broad a term and covers too much ground for the Greek.  That is wishful thinking and reflects a lack of in depth study.  The best study I have ever come across on the subject is a 20 page article by Oscar Miles in Faith and Facts Quarterly, April 2008, Vol 36, Number 2, pages 36-56.  It is a scholarly work with in depth research with 39 footnotes reflecting that research. The purpose of the last paragraph was just to make the point th…

• Children of Israel

  Israel’s Rebellion at the Red Sea Moses, the Waters of Marah, and a Lesson for Today Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God Sin in the Desert–Testing God at Massah and Meribah Mt. Sinai and the Day of Judgment Canaan and Heaven–How God Gives The Chastening of the Lord …

• The Prodigal Son–When He Came to Himself

  t as the case may be there was only one reason for it whatever the cause–sin.  Sin changes a man to the point he does not reason correctly. Not long ago I learned of a Christian man, extremely well thought of and liked, faithful by every measurement apparent to an observer, married for 39 years, who announces to his fellow Christians he is leaving his wife divorcing her to marry a divorced Christian woman in the same congregation.  They had…

• Baptized For the Dead

  same way Paul himself had in the waters of baptism where the blood of Jesus is contacted spiritually. What does all of this have to do with 1 Cor. 15:29 and the baptism for the dead?  A lot.  As Paul spoke to the Corinthians through his writing he was speaking to them of that which they knew–baptism for the remission of sins–and that which they had done.  I could tell you exactly what I think this verse is teaching but that is not th…

• The Book of Ecclesiastes

  popularity, pleasure upon pleasure, honor upon honor, and still never be satisfied. Satisfaction for the soul can only come from living a godly life, knowing all is well with you and God and your fellowman for you have lived faithfully and lived a life of love, a life of faith and obedience, a life of good works.  Solomon thus admonishes man to, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth” (Eccl. 12:1 NKJV) and “before…

• Assorted

  he Fragrance of Christ Deeper Spiritual Understanding Things God Cannot Do Without Natural Affection and Covenant Breakers The Christian, Politics, and the Government Why Men Do Not Believe Did Christ Rise From the 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 P…

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

  ork together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28 NKJV)  We can believe that even though things are hard in our life God will work it out for us if we will be faithful.  Remember Job? The Hebrew writer tells us as Christians that “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’  So we may bold say:  ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.  W…

• Things God Cannot Do

  an it for us today, he knows times have changed.  In other words God did not mean what he said and will not count our disobedience against us as sin.  We need to remember the words of Jesus, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV)  We ought to emphasize from that passage the phrase “every word.”  God “cannot lie.” (5) God “cannot deny hi…

• Are the New Testament Scriptures Alone a Sufficient Guide to Heaven?

  Sometimes we take it for granted that everyone who calls themselves a Christian holds the New Testament scriptures in as high a regard as we do.  However, that is not the case.  Some, while calling themselves Christians, do not believe in the all sufficiency of the New Testament scriptures to save a man.  They feel man needs more guidance and direction than can be found in the scriptures alone. Questions immediately come to my mind.  If the New …