I've done a courtesy search for the term Gospel Obedience at Corinth.htm for you. See if you can find what you're looking for in the list below:

• Gospel Obedience at Corinth

  …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 »Did Paul preach the same gospel at Corinth that he taught elsewhere?  Ever…

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

  ater we have a long period of time when the Jews were under the Law of Moses. Well, how about today?  Are we under law today?  Paul says if we “bear one another’s burdens” we “fulfil the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2 NAS)  To the Corinthians he speaks of himself of “not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ.” (1 Cor. 9:21 NAS)  Being under grace as we are today does not mean lawlessness.  In Romans, the very book from which this ar…

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

  preaching to Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:17-18 and Acts 22:16), Peter in preaching to Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:48), Paul in preaching to Lydia (Acts 16:14-15) and to the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:31-33), Paul again in Corinth (Acts 18:8) and then later to the 12 at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-5) all preached baptism in preaching the gospel.  How do we know?  We know because in each account at the end of the preaching we find those who were recepti…

• Faith and Baptism in Paul’s Preaching

  back and reread Rom. 6:1-8 and consider carefully what Paul says there about baptism.  It would be good to remember also that Paul took 12 men in Ephesus and had them baptized (Acts 19:1-7).  Why? Of Paul’s preaching at Corinth it is said, “many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.” (Acts 18:8 NAS)  Paul did not do much of the actual baptizing at Corinth personally but his preaching led his assoc…

• Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching

  … they taught.  Often those who make such claims will pit Paul against James or Peter against Paul. The truth is the scriptures do not belong to Paul, or James, or Peter, or to any other writer even if their name happens to be attached to a letter.  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Tim. 3:16 NKJV)  The scriptures came by ins…

• Faith, Works, and Baptism

  … of the background of Judaism and the Law of Moses.  Much of what Paul writes in Romans is directed to the Jews whose inclination through much of the first century was to try and hang on both to the Law of Moses and to Christ at the same time.  The Law of Moses was a law system, not a faith system.  What was the problem with the Law of Moses (a works system of salvation)? Paul tells us, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under …

• When did Obedience Become Legalism?

  nerally 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 you hear and the preaching and that no matter what kind of life the man lived. People talk about love fo…

• Christ Did Not Send Paul to Baptize

  itself, no other passage is needed, unless of course one can deliberately disobey Jesus and still be saved.  But, there are many, many other passages teaching the same necessity of baptism as essential to salvation. Paul in 1 Corinthians was writing to the church that he established there.  He says of it “I planted” (1 Cor. 3:6 NKJV); “I have laid the foundation” (1 Cor. 3:10 NKJV); “For though you might have ten tho…

• Baptized For the Dead

  to it than there is to the average verse. I have no doubt that the verse is a reference to water baptism for the remission of sins (yes, I can hear my critics already).  Why do I say that?  In the very first chapter of First Corinthians Paul begins a discussion of the divisions in the church at Corinth.  To show the brethren the error they were following in dividing up into followers of men he says, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you…

• Cornelius’ Conversion–Final Thoughts

  The idea is in vogue in some quarters that Cornelius was saved when the Holy Spirit fell upon him (Acts 10:44) without any further action on his part.  One of the verses used to support this idea is 1 John 4:13, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (NKJV)  So, it is said that settles it. I went to take a look at that verse and read it in context.  Now understand I believe the Sp…

• Does God Really Care?

  …e?  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 that people do not lose faith.  When one loses faith in God what is left?  The answer is only suffering without hope.  So, it …

• Unhappy With the Church of Christ?

  …in the first place.  A little later we find two bold faced deceivers in the church (Ananias and Sapphira).  Even the model church had problems. Who would even know where to begin in talking about the problems of the church at Corinth?  The Holy Spirit himself speaking through Paul calls them carnal (1 Cor. 3:3).  He speaks of envy, strife, and divisions among them (1 Cor. 3:3).  They had in full fellowship a man living with his stepmother in a se…

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

  …ejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” (Col. 1:24 NKJV)  Paul says, in speaking to the church (see 1 Cor. 1:2) at Corinth, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (1 Cor. 12:27 NKJV)  To those in Rome he says, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (Rom. 12:5 NKJV) The b…

• Never Give Up

  ere about the children of God.  Remember how the father received back the prodigal son in the New Testament?  The message is God wants us back. In closing I want to touch on a few passages in the New Testament.  The church at Corinth was full of sinning Christians.  The book of First Corinthians was written for the purpose of getting the brethren to repent.  Just about every sin you can think of was going on in the church there.  This included ev…

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

  …et, when one reads closely, there is little mystery to it.  Paul, Silas, and Timothy, as you recall, enter the city of Philippi to preach the gospel.  Their first opportunity, as far as we can tell, is to a group of women out at the river side at a gathering place for prayer.  Lydia is one of the women assembled there.  The first mystery to some people is found in the statement in verse 14 where it is said that “the Lord opened her heart to…

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

  …ng a legalist?  Think a long time about that before answering.  Was Jesus a legalist and unspiritual?  Is that what a man is today if he follows in the footsteps of Jesus trying to obey every commandment of God? Paul told the Corinthians, and thus you and me through them, to “imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1 NKJV)  In John 13:15 Jesus said he had given the disciples “an example, that you should do as I ha…

• Bible Contradictions on Salvation?

  …;perfect” instead of the word “complete”.  It is the faith that is made perfect that saves rather than the faith not made perfect. The New Living Translation of the Bible, which I consider a paraphrase, gets at the sense of what is being taught.  “You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do.  His faith was made complete by what he did–by his actions.” (James 2:22 N…

• Christianity and Multiculturalism

  …iscern is to judge.  “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? … We shall judge angels?  How much more, things that pertain to this life?” (1 Cor. 6:2-3 NKJV)  Paul was being critical of the church at Corinth because they refused to judge?  “I say this to your shame.  Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?” (1 Cor. 6:5 NKJV) In life in ge…

• Philip Preaching the Gospel in Samaria

  “But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.” (Acts 8:12 NAS) It would be good to read an earlier article on this web site from an earlier time in the book of Acts, an article entitled, “Receiving the Gospel–Acts 2:41,” as Acts 8:12 is pretty much a parallel passage teaching the same thing as Acts 2:41.  …

• Is Holy Spirit Baptism The Baptism That Saves?

  …baptizing in the Holy Spirit and fire.  Will it be the apostles, will it be man?  No, for the text says “He,” a reference to Jesus, which means what?  If you are going to receive Holy Spirit baptism it will not be at the hands of men.  It will have to come directly from heaven itself.  But, it means even more.  It means it cannot be a command for it is something Christ does for you.  In other words it is a baptism you cannot obey.  It…

• A New Creation in Christ

  …; (Rom. 6:5-6 NKJV) These things are so simple to understand that all could see them if not blinded by prejudice.  Men say baptism has nothing to do with salvation, is not needed, man is saved without it.  Not a chance.  Look at the word “if” in this Roman passage from chapter 6 (verses two through eight) and in the 2 Tim. 2:11 passage.  President Clinton use to say it depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is.  Are …

• Saved by Jesus Outside the Church?

  …God given authority. Look at the epistles.  To whom are they addressed?  When not to an individual was it not generally the case that it was to a church in a particular locality?  It is “to the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2 NKJV), “to the church of God which is at Corinth” (2 Cor. 1:1 NKJV), “to the churches of Galatia” (Gal. 1:2 NKJV), “to the saints who are in Ephesus” (Eph. 1:1 N…

• Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin

  … all we can about God’s word.  We accept the fact we will be saved by God’s grace and not by perfection in commandment keeping and rejoice in that fact but, that having been said, what about the man that takes a lackadaisical attitude toward learning God’s will and obeying his commandments.  Does God’s grace cover man’s indifference? Does a man want to try and go to heaven as one who never cared enough about God and his will to try and learn his …

• 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…

• Disobedience to Jesus

  …, GNB, and the ISV)  The New King James Version translates it, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (NKJV)  At first glance it might well appear to you that the two translations are in conflict and are not saying the same thing.  While the wording differs the meaning is the same. First, I would have you note carefully the text of …

• Behold the Judge is Standing at the Door

  ing the assembling of ourselves together.” (Heb. 10:25 NKJV)  The writer closes this section of his writing by saying, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31 NKJV) In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul begins by talking about the journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land.  He speaks of some of the sins God’s people fell into during that period of time and of the consequences to them saying, “…

• The Need to Preach on Sin

  There is a great need to preach on sin today.  I am not at all sure that sin is any worse or more prevalent today than in generations gone by for one can go back in history and find unimaginable sin.  Human sacrifice, cannibalism, idol worship, all forms of sexual debauchery, witchcraft, mass murderers (think Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot), you name it and you can find it in the history of the sins of mankind.  History teaches us just how bad man…

• Bible Conversions

  maria The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch Saul’s Conversion Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith) Cornelius’ Conversion The Conversion of Lydia The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer Gospel Obedience at Corinth   Audio Sermons  (by Waymon Swain) The Ethiopian Eunuch The Conversion of Saul Philip Preaches the Gospel The Seed of the Kingdom Promises God Has Not Made …

• Receiving the Gospel (Acts 2:41)

  …l I know they may still be telling them that as I do not watch TV evangelists.  It sounds good but was there ever any truth to it?  In Acts 2 just about everyone I know of or ever heard of admits that Peter preaches the first gospel sermon there ever to be preached.  The text then says, “those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (NAS)  What was his word that they received…

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

  …e to live under the law of Christ began when Jesus died.  “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.” (Heb 9:16-17 NKJV) Jesus “has become a surety of a better covenant.” (Heb. 7:22 NKJV)  “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one (the Law of Moses–…

• The Case of Cornelius and the Holy Spirit

  There are many who believe beyond doubt that Cornelius was saved at the time the Holy Spirit came upon him and his household.  It is a topic that ought to be discussed.  While I have written once before on this subject more needs to be said as there has been some objection to what was written.  I know of no person who claims to be a Christian who would deny the fact that the very first gospel sermon ever preached after Christ’s death, buri…

• Faith is Not Just What You Believe

  …by works?  Is that what it teaches? When one interprets a passage of scripture in such a way that puts it into contradiction with other scriptures it 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:…

• Fear God

  …e renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.”  (Eph. 4:22-24 NKJV) We know that this is not always easy to do.  Paul said to the Corinthians, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.  I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now …

• Ways into Christ–How Many Ways Are There?

  … discovered something in this passage I had literally overlooked for years until writing this piece.  Peter said, “every one of you.”  There were to be and are to be no exceptions.  This brings to mind Paul’s statement to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 12:13, “for by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” (NKJV)  Note here again the phrase “we were all”–that is every one of us.  No, Paul did not do a lot of baptizing personally but that…

• Parable of the Tares–No Middle Ground

  …servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’  But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”” (Matt. 13:24-30 NKJV) There has been a lot of d…

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

  …gently seek him.  “But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6 NKJV)  There will be no atheists in heaven.  There will be no one there who displeases God.  If you are an atheist you are not pleasing to God and have no hope of mercy in the Day of Judgment.  One must believe that God is. But this passage also te…

• The Cleansing of the Church at Ephesus

  Many believe the church at Ephesus (the church being the membership) was cleansed from sin by faith based on the teachings of their denomination and the famous Ephesian passage found in chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (NAS)  Many, many passages of the New Testament teach that salvation is a matter of …

• Canaan and Heaven–How God Gives

  …  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.” (Eph. 2:8 NKJV) Many more or less assume this gift of God freely given has no conditions attached, that it is unconditional, or else works would be included in its obtainment.  We sometimes jump to conclusions rather than crawl to them the latter being the much safer route as it involves thought and process, stu…

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

  see what will happen to those who do not obey the gospel.  Cornelius needed the gospel.  He was a man in need of salvation from his sins for no man is so perfect as to have never sinned.  Peter in reporting what had happened at Cornelius’ house once he gets back to Jerusalem throws more light on why Cornelius, by the angel’s direction, had been instructed to send for him.  The angel had told Cornelius that “he (reference to Pet…

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

  …urch?  If so why is it needful now that it do that but was not needful for hundreds of years after the first century had come and gone.  If so when did the gospel lose its power to make me just a Christian, no more, no less?  At what point in time was it that both the gospel and the Lord lost the power to save without the aid of men in building denominations? When did Jesus and the gospel begin to need help in the saving business?  When did his c…

• 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…

• Religious Titles Forbidden in Christianity

  … a claim to particular respect.’  In this sense it is used here. In this sense it belongs eminently to God, and it is not right to give it to people. Christian brethren are equal.” Yes, it is true Paul said to the Corinthians, “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” (1 Cor. 4:15 NKJV)  Paul also referred to…

• Jesus the Foundation of and the Builder of the Church

  penalty for being mistaken is not a slap on the wrist but destruction. We might respond and say well I have read the New Testament and I know not all of the churches back then were what they ought to be.  True!  The church at Corinth had all kinds of problems and then we can read about the 7 churches of Asia (Rev. 2 and 3) of which most had one thing or another wrong with them, etc.  Yes, that is right but we also see in our reading they were reb…

• Resource Sites

  … have had more influence on me than any other that I have ever read and I have read many.  I believe the book of sermons, of which this sermon was one of twenty, was first published in 1869.  In any case it is free online now at:  http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/bfranklin/tgp1/TGP00.HTM.) The Audio Sermons of Bob Swain  (Bob is the son of Waymon Swain and an excellent preacher in his own right.) …

• Baptism

  #8217;s Conversion (Justified by Faith) Was Cornelius Saved Before Baptism? The Great Commission and Cornelius Be Faithful to the Lord–The Conversion of Lydia The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer Gospel Obedience at Corinth The Mysterious Eloquent Evangelist What is Baptism (The Sprinkling Hoax) Baptized For the Dead Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching Is Holy Spirit Baptism the Baptism That Saves? The Truth So Ca…

• Things People Do Not Know About the Church

  …(Eph. 5:23) which is the church (Eph. 1:22-23, Col. 1:18, 24).  There is no passage to be found in the Bible where Jesus ever said he would save anyone outside his body, outside the church.  Paul speaking to the Christians at Corinth said, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (1 Cor. 12:27 NKJV) (3)  Jesus purchased the church with his own blood (Acts 20:28).  It is by his blood that we will be saved.  “In him we have redem…

• Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God

  …ildren 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.  Yet, while there they were not so enthralled with it. The grumbling against God began at the Red Sea (if not before for an argument can be made that it began even before the first plague based on Ex. 6:9).  At the Red Sea the Holy Spirit said through the Psalmist that the children of Israel “rebelled by…

• He Feared

  … the Lord that even if he has to die he will not deny him.  We know the rest of the story. We ought not to be over confident.  Until our faith is tested we can talk all we want.  The proof is in the testing.  Many people fail at this point.  You and I perhaps have also.   We are okay when there are no problems but when things turn against us we begin to doubt God’s love and care for us.  That leads to disobedience and doing our own thing apart fr…

• Repent–How Hard It Is To Do

  …r, fame, money, luxury, prestige) has, for the average man or woman, a great deal to do with what we believe and what we think about repentance.  We do not think these things color our perspective but they do. Paul spoke in 1 Corinthians about these things when he said, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” (1 Cor. 1:26 NKJV)  What did he mean by that in view …

• The Kind of Faith in God That Destroys

  … 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 treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But at these words his face…

• Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation?

  …is to answer. Jesus said, “I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.” (John 9:4 NKJV)  Has God not given us works to do?  Was Jesus the only one required to work the works of God?  Peter said while at Cornelius’ house, “in every nation whoever fears him (God–DS) and works righteousness is accepted by him.” (Acts 10:35 NKJV)  Christianity is not just what you believe but also what you do and/or f…

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

  …vident from even a casual glance at scripture I do not want to waste much time on it here.  Many of Paul’s salutations in the epistles establish that fact for he often begins with words like, “To the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2 NKJV), “To the churches of Galatia” (Gal. 1:2 NKJV), “To the church of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess. 1:2 NKJV).  It is hard to write to a body not yet established, to something that does not exist.  The c…

• The Mysterious Eloquent Evangelist

  …taught them the truth and they were shortly thereafter baptized. In the very next set of verses after reading about Apollos we come to an account of twelve men whom Paul finds at Ephesus after Apollos had departed and gone to Corinth.  These verses have caused much confusion because of what one has just read in the chapter before about Apollos and has been part of the mystery surrounding the man.  Luke says, in Acts 19:1 that Paul found there …

• Repentance–How Can I Be Sure?

  aws of God under which we live today (the New Testament).  The need for God’s grace is obvious. The New Testament is full of admonitions to those who are already Christians but who are involved in sin to repent.  Read 1 and 2 Corinthians.  Even the apostle Peter needed to repent (read Gal. 2:11-13).  In the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians Paul does not raise the question whether or not those brethren who were caught up in sin were genuinely converte…

• The Church Christ Built–Marks of Identification

  …s truth.” (NKJV)  This means, obviously, that man is not free to worship God just any old man made up way he chooses and call it worship pleasing to God.  God gets to decide what pleases, not man.  If you recall the church at Corinth in 1 Cor. 11 had a worshipping problem as it pertained to the Lord’s Supper.  Not just any old way of doing things pleases God. What are the acts of worship as found in the New Testament that when done in the right m…

• Hypocrites in the Church

  …o you care enough about him to try? Another point that needs pursuing is this–the fact that a man is in sin does not necessarily imply that he is a conscious hypocrite.  It would be easy to look at a church like that at Corinth in the New Testament and read about all of the sins in that congregation and just say that church is full of hypocrites and sinners.  I want nothing to do with them.  Does that attitude save them? What if Paul had fe…

• Salvation (Becoming a Christian)

  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 Salvation From Sin Conditions of Salvation Forgi…

• Better to Never Have Been Born–Why?

  Jesus in reference to his betrayer Judas said, “It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” (Matt. 26:24 ESV)  Most of us who believe the Bible can understand what Jesus said and why as it pertains to Judas and if we could leave it at that we could rest in peace.  Why then does such a statement torment us? The answer is because we know the truth to be that any man or woman whether it is our mother or dad, our wif…

• The Peace Found in Forgiveness of Others

  …terness, and perhaps even malice (a sort of revenge motive of I will 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 g…

• Weak, Defiled, and Seared Consciences

  …Testament is in 1 Cor. 8:7-12.  This entire chapter is devoted to the subject of eating meats offered to idols and whether or not it is acceptable in God’s eyes for a Christian to eat such meats.  One should also read 1 Corinthians 10 beginning around verse 14 through the end of the chapter on the same subject and Romans 14 also has some application even though the subject there is the eating of meats or foods that at one time under the Law…

• One Church—A Thing Hard to Accept

  Many Americans can remember years ago when O. J. Simpson was arrested and put on trial for the murder of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman.  I remember a comment I heard on TV at the time that simply astounded me.  One lady that was being interviewed, for what reason I no longer recall, made the comment that if she had seen O. J. commit the murder with her owns eyes she would not believe it.  I guess her idea was that she could not trust herself, she …

• How Was Noah Saved Through Water?

  … the Lord.” (Gen. 6:8 NKJV)  One cannot emphasize too much the teaching of this text.  That said it goes against almost everything that men today have to say about grace.  Grace today, as men see it, means you need do nothing at all toward your own salvation other than believe in 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 (…

• The Faith of Enoch

  …e 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 know that Enoch was a prophet of God in the seventh generation from Adam (Jude 14) and that he is found in the genealog…

• Work Out Your Own Salvation

  As I was thinking about doing an article on this famous passage from the book of Philippians (Phil. 2:12-13) I first did a little Google research to see if anyone else had done so and if so to see what they were saying.  I did find a couple of authors whose work I took a look at.  It seemed to me like both had worked themselves almost into a state of frenzy trying to deny what the passage clearly states, that a man must work out his own salvatio…

• Christian Circumcision

  …s of his own day that they sought “to establish their own righteousness” (Rom. 10:3 NKJV) and did not submit to the righteousness of God.  Of Israel of old he says they pursued the law of righteousness but did not attain it because they sought it by works rather than by faith (Rom. 9:31-32).  The circumcised of the Old Testament were to “walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.”…

• 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…

• The Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God

  …s in order, and seek God as we ought?  Life is brief and to be granted an opportunity to have our eyes opened to what life really is and to our ultimate end and accountability before God is indeed a blessing. In the book of 1 Corinthians in the first chapter Paul makes a statement worthy of our consideration.  He says, regarding the gospel, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many n…

• The Fragrance of Christ

  …life, bearing as its fruit life itself. But as there are pleasant smells there are also unpleasant ones–the open sewer, the hog pen, skunks, decaying animals killed in the road, etc.  From those we flee.  Christ and his gospel are like the unpleasant offensive smell of death in those who are rejecting him.  Ever wonder why some just do not want to hear it, the gospel?  I am persuaded that deep down they know their guilt and their need but t…

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

  e Old Testament can be traced back to the idea that they did not think who they worshipped or how they worshipped made much difference.  One sees some of the same tendencies in the New Testament.  What is Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 11 all about if it is not about the corruption of the worship in how the Lord’s Supper is to be partaken of?  Does it matter to God?  Some are still saying today it does not matter.  We can do this or t…

• Lessons for the Church from Isaiah (Chapter 1)

  …being told of a vision Isaiah saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, God’s people in that Old Testament time.  I mention that for we must remember that we who are Christians are God’s people today so in terms of broad principles at least, versus specific laws, there is application for us here in Isaiah as well as for those who lived back then.  Here are some of the lessons found in the first chapter. (1)  God’s people can cease to know him or unders…

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

  …believed and has been baptized shall be saved … .” (Mark 16:16 NASU)  He does not say “he who has believed and has not been baptized shall be saved” even though many want to read it that way. But let us look at some other passages that, relating to the new birth, are even clearer.  “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,…

• Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

  …he bridegroom after the manner of the customs of those days when Jesus lived.  None knew exactly when the bridegroom would arrive but some made adequate preparation for a long wait while the others did not. When the time came at midnight, when the bridegroom arrived, the 5 foolish virgins found they were unprepared and their lamps were going out for they had not taken sufficient oil.  The other 5 virgins who had prepared adequately for a long wai…

• Mary of Bethany–Doing What You Can

  …sciples (Matt. 26:8), and Martha, Lazarus, and Mary (John 12:2-3), the latter three being a brother and his two sisters.  This was the same Lazarus that Jesus had raised from the dead (John 12:1, 9).  While Jesus was reclined at the table, according to the custom of the time, Mary comes up behind him with a flask of fragrant oil (John 12:5), burst it open, and anointed both his head and feet with the oil (Matt. 26:7, John 12:3). This angered some…

• Who Governs the Church if We Follow the Bible?

  …urch (they still do through their writings).  To disobey an apostle who was speaking the word of God by inspiration was the same as to be in disobedience to the one who gave the inspiration–God himself.  The brethren at Corinth who received instructions from the apostle Paul were not free to disregard those instructions because he was not present with them and was not one of them.  However, the apostles were only 12 in number, could not be …

• Walk in Truth—the Joy of John the Apostle

  …tolerant than that old outdated book we call the Bible, that book that called certain things sin and dared condemn the disobedient, the sinner. Our attitude in American Christendom today reminds me of that which the church of Corinth had toward the man who had his father’s wife.  Instead of being ashamed of what had happened and how they were tolerating it Paul says they were instead “puffed up.” (1 Cor. 5:2 NKJV)  The New Livin…

• Which Denomination Did Jesus Build?

  …not matter nor does practice.  Believe what you want, practice what you want, just believe intellectually that Jesus is the Son of God and that is all that matters. What a waste Paul writing all those letters to the church at Corinth trying to correct wrong practices (shall we say sin).  A waste because it did not matter; they believed in Jesus and were going to be saved anyway.  And Jesus too for there was evidently, according to denominationali…

• The Great Commission and Cornelius

  or you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (NKJV)  Do you know that the word “in” here should be the word “into”?  Again, check it out using the references I have already alluded to.  The Corinthians were not being baptized into a relationship with Paul or any other man but with Christ and he wanted them to know that. I think it goes without saying that all are agreed the Christian has a relationship with the…

• 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…

• The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept

  Most people who call themselves Christians are in reality not Christians at all no matter how dedicated they may be to their faith.  The word of God is truth (Jesus speaking–John 17:17) and stands as the one and only standard that is acceptable to the God of heaven and of men.  It, not man, sets the standard for who is a Christian. As there is a political correctness in our land there is likewise a religious correctness that one must adher…

• The Heart of Man from a Biblical Perspective

  …l the emotions of which the Bible speaks that are attributed to the heart.  The reader can readily see that I went through the books of Psalms and Proverbs with a concordance to come up with the list and with one added from 2 Corinthians.  That leaves a lot of other books and verses that need to be looked at before one can say his research has exhausted all the available biblical sources. One will readily notice that the word “love” as an emotion…

• 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…

• Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith)

  …9:1 we read about Saul “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” (NKJV)  Evidently, if it was something he was still doing it was pretty much a habitual thing with him.  This was said at a time when he was setting out to Damascus to find Christians he could bind and bring back to Jerusalem for punishment. (Acts 9:2)  Paul says of himself, “I persecuted this Way (Christianity–DS) to the death.&…

• God’s Willingness to Forgive–King Manasseh

  It is not unusual to find in religion, as it relates to Christianity, two extremes of thought.  There are those who feel God is so full of loving kindness that he will readily forgive us of any and all of our sins if we just ask him.  We may be kind of sorry that we  did whatever it was we did, sorry about the consequences at least, so feel we must ask God’s forgiveness but the truth is if the same set of circumstances were to arise again we wou…

• Jesus Defines Repentance

  …t?  Jesus tells us and we can find no higher authority on the subject than Christ himself.  Let us hear what he has said. “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” (Luke 11:32 NKJV) The book of Jonah where we are told about this is a very short book of only 4 chapters so it is not hard to find out what the men of Nine…

• Mt. Sinai and the Day of Judgment

  … Red Sea on dry ground, they had been provided with drinking water miraculously on two separate occasions (Ex. 15:22-25, Ex. 17:1-7), they had been fed with manna and quail (Ex. 16), and they had been able to defeat those who attacked them with God’s help (Ex. 17:8-13).  There was also the cloud that accompanied them by day and the pillar of fire that accompanied them by night.  Evidence of God’s presence with them and of his care for…

• A Good and Pure Conscience

  …outheast Asia were justified.  Their cultures said those things were right and thus their conscience did not bother them by participating in such acts. Paul while persecuting Christians even to the death had a good conscience at the time he was doing so.  He said, in reference to that time, “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut …

• Everlasting Life–The Believer of John 3:16

  …lares himself a believer, and is in his mind (and often 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 tau…

• The Struggle to be a Spiritually Minded Man or Woman

  …1:8-9 NKJV)  Remember when Peter and Barnabas refused to eat with the Gentiles in Gal. 2:11-13 thus sinning?  Always remember why much of the New Testament was written–to straighten out sin in the lives of Christians (1 Corinthians being the best example). I have brought these things up for one reason–to warn us all not to despair and be overcome by discouragement in our life when we sin or fall.  A Christian, by the grace of God, may…

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

  …s the subject of this article–Eph. 5:25-27.  It was by means of the Spirit working through the word.  The word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17).  It leads a man to faith and obedience.  In their washing the Corinthians were cleansed as much so as the Ephesians. Of Christians the Hebrew writer says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies …

• Christian Wars–A Misnomer

  Christians, God’s children, have for years taken a beating by those who make the claim that Christians have been responsible in part, at least, for religious wars that killed tens of thousands of people during the Crusades and in Europe itself during the Middle Ages.  There never was any truth to it and never will be. Just because a Catholic claims to be a Christian does not make him one.  Just because a Protestant makes the claim to be a …

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

  …ference.  If the Holy Spirit falling upon Cornelius is what saved him, he being an unsaved sinner before that happened, then man is helpless.  It then becomes God’s sole decision to either baptize you or not so he will, at his will, baptize some unsaved sinners while not baptizing other unsaved sinners. Do we have here the doctrine that man is helpless to do anything about his salvation until the Spirit intervenes directly upon a man?  It l…

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

  …ruth.” (John 14:16-17 NKJV)  “But when the helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, … he will testify of me.” (John 15:26 NKJV)  Now here is where one needs to pay special attention.  Did the Holy Spirit speak free lance style?  Listen carefully. “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he…

• If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implications

  …e eleven “went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” (Mark 16:20 NKJV)  Paul spoke of the signs of an apostle.  He said in speaking to the Corinthians, “In nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.  Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.” (2 C…

• Lincoln’s Tomb and Jesus’ Tomb

  …lready lain there.  The same could be said of many of the graves in the cemetery outside the tomb.  Many have been dead for years and years and their bodies just lay there. I heard a preacher a few years back who was about 70 at the time say that when one gets older he begins to look at death differently.  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…

• Faith in the New Testament–Different Meanings

  rd faith that is an uncommon usage but a scriptural one is faith as a spiritual gift.  In 1 Cor. 12 the subject is spiritual gifts (see verse 1).  In verse 8 Paul begins listing various spiritual gifts that had been given the Corinthians and in verse 9 includes faith.  He says, “to another faith by the same Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:9 NKJV)  I do not understand the nature of this faith but it was of such strength, evidently, that it could o…

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

  … mourning, such a sense of despair?  Because there is alienation within the family.  Families are torn apart because one member or another became alienated and will no longer have anything to do with the rest of the family or at least with the one with whom they are alienated.  The alienated one becomes angry and lives in bitterness and hate, resentful.  Sometimes both parties involved come to feel that way but often it is a one party matter.  Th…

• How Does One Get Into the Church Christ Built?

  for the remission of sins.  (2) It was into Christ.  (3) Christ commanded it (Mark 16:16, Matt. 28:18-20, John 3:3-5) (4) Peter commanded “every one of you” to do it.  No exceptions on the Day of Pentecost.  Paul said to the Corinthians “we were all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13 NKJV), no exceptions.  (5) The churches of Judea were “in Christ” (Gal. 1:22, 1 Thess. 2:14).  A church can only be in Christ as the membership is in Christ and …

• Healing For the Brokenhearted

  …s with barely a bite and it matters not in the least for the heart is sick.  The stomach feels as though it has taken a body blow.  All the breath has been sucked out of one’s being.  Nothing matters any longer, nothing at all, all feeling is gone, and whether it be life or death matters but little to none? There is no longer any fear for fear has been struck down.  The worst fear has achieved victory so any other thing that could come alon…

• Why Men Do Not Believe

  …onest, perhaps the majority, for who can say?  Paul, or Saul, was on the scene quite early in days of the beginning of the Christian religion.  In Acts 7 we are told that those who stoned Stephen “laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man name Saul.” (Acts 7:58 NAS)  And then we read in chapter 8, the first verse, that “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.” (NAS)  This was in the very earliest da…

• The Army of the Lord–the Church

  …an we generally are willing to accept.  We think if someone on the national scene has spoken against Christianity, it makes the news, and we hear about it, then we personally have been persecuted because we are a Christian or at least consider ourselves to be one.  Yet, in the first century when Paul was writing there was no national news that you were going to get instantly like today, no news magazines, no internet, no TV or radio. Paul was spe…

• 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…

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

  …ir hope?  Where is their comfort and peace of mind?  Where is their hope that God will be with them?  Where is their hope that all things will eventually work out for their good? Hope allows the Christian to not become bitter at life but rather have a long term optimistic outlook.  The darkness of the moment will pass and the sunshine will return.  The Christian believes this for he has hope and hope in the Bible means confident expectation, not …

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

  Sometimes we run across phrases in the Bible that we really do not understand yet we think we can kind of guess at the meaning and come close enough thus we never bother to study them out to get at the truth.  The phrases trouble us a little but not enough for us to do any extra work to find out the meanings.  The phrase “my name” as found in the Bible is just such a phrase. The exact phrase “my name” is found 118 times i…

• Jesus’ Baptism and You?

  Does baptism matter?  Most Americans have come to the conclusion that it does not, a person can be saved and go to heaven baptized or not.  It is such a settled conviction with most that they are not willing to give the study of the topic the time of day.  It is ridiculous to even consider it as they see it. It seems to me this is taking the same attitude the Pharisees took back in the first century.  They had their settled law and there was no …

• Without Natural Affection and Covenant Breakers

  …r, in a few passages scattered about the Bible even the new literal translations like the ESV, NASB, and the NKJV, all excellent translations when taken as a whole, have led us slightly astray with inferior translations in an attempt to make reading easier for us. One such example is found in Rom. 1:31.  In Romans 1 Paul toward the middle of the chapter begins to talk about the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (v. 18) and then in the last f…

• Must a Man Seek God?

  …d society’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 e…

• The Hardening of the Human Heart

  …e gospel, on God’s will, what then?  The answer is that it is then directing the course of your life towards hell.  There is good reason to, “Guard your heart above all else.”  One’s eternal destiny is at stake. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:21 NKJV)  If you look closely at the two verses just prior to Matt. 6:21 Jesus only offers two alternatives as to where a ma…

• God’s Hardening of the Human Heart

  … says, “Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” (Rom. 9:18 NKJV)  God willed to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Does God harden people’s hearts arbitrarily; just pick out people at random to harden their hearts?  We know he does not for “God is love.” (1 John 4:8 NKJV)  He “desires all men to be saved.” (1 Tim. 2:4 NKJV)  He is “not willing that any should perish but th…

• Finding Truth in Divided Christendom

  …wn to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.   For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Gal. 1:11-12 NKJV)  At the same time he made clear that the words he spoke were from the Holy Spirit.  “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual thing…

• Looking Down Your Nose

  … faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.  For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or, ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown…

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

  …oming more obvious what we are going to do with it every day.  We are going to use the Bible as a football and give it a big swift kick, one so hard that it will get it so far away from us we will never have to see it again.  At least when one kicks a football he can go get it again and bring it back but it is not quite so easy getting the Bible back after you kick it away.  There has to be a desire to go get it and with the Bible the desire for …

• The Wicked Shall be Turned into Hell

  David, in Psalms 9:17, made this statement:  “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” (NKJV)  That is strong, strong language and language people do not want to hear.  Some would probably call it hate speech.  People do not want to hear about hell and many reject God because of the concept of hell as taught in the Bible.  I suspect it is highly likely many who look at what I write from time to time…

• The Parable of the 10 Virgins–7 Lessons

  The parable of the 10 virgins found in Matt. 25:1-13 has more to say to us than we often realize. One of the things that troubles a person most, that nags and gnaws at our spirit, is when we mess up, make a bad mistake, and then have to pay for it when we had realized from the beginning what it was we needed to do which would have avoided the whole thing but simply failed to do it for one reason or another.  We blame ourselves for the mess we go…

• The Joy and the Danger of a Clean Conscience

  A good conscience is a wonderful thing to have.  Without it there is no inner peace–only turmoil, anxiety, and restlessness.  Anyone who has ever violated his conscience knows of that which I speak. A bad conscience pricks us continually without let up.  It is the perfect tormentor.  Day and night we suffer from its attacks.  Wherever we go it travels with us.  We cannot lose it.  It is determined to give us no rest or relief. Rest can onl…

• Christ and Baptism in Colossians

  …h exerts itself with such force that it cannot be denied.  Saul, before he became Paul the apostle, believed error and acted in all good conscience (Acts 23:1) while persecuting Christ (Acts 26:14).  He believed error and was at perfect peace with himself while sinning continually–that is until the force of truth was exerted with power on the road to Damascus.  Sincerity will never change error into truth nor will it ever lead to a pardon f…

• Jesus and the Furnace of Fire

  …ecause I am scared.  I am scared for people I know and love.  I am scared for the many who are likeable, kind, and caring people–we would call them good people by our standards.  I am scared for they are not sacred, not at all.  They do not know enough to be scared.  Like an infant running toward the busy highway having no concept of the consequences that awaits them they go day by day walking toward the precipice from whence once the last …

• 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…

• Abortion Luke 1 – All You Need to Know

  …ile yet in his mother’s womb.” (Luke 1:15 NAS, see also the HCSB, ISV, NET, NLT, and NRSV translations)  Some translations say “from his mother’s womb” (NKJV and others) but if you will look down at verses 41 and 44 you will see that the NAS is most likely the correct translation.  Those two verses read as follows: “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; an…

• Keep Your Heart With All Diligence

  …a misnomer)?  Paul said he had “fought the good fight.” (2 Tim. 4:7 NKJV)  It is a cop out to live as you want, not being overly concerned about doing the wrong (sin), feeling that grace will take care of it all.  It is a bad attitude toward God.  But, I digress. In the book of Proverbs, chapter 23 verse 7, we read of a man, “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (NKJV)  Make no mistake about it–our struggle is with our hearts within.  “For…

• Deeper Spiritual Understanding–How do I Acquire It?

  …t admit to having.  If we do not change our ways we will get to answer as to why to Jesus the way Saul got to answer to Samuel. There is no hope of any man ever learning more who will not obey what he already knows.  If he is at the end of his obedience he is also at the end of his growth in spiritual understanding.  He can forget about any deeper spiritual understanding. I close with this.  Jesus says (Matt. 13:12 NLT), “To those who listen to m…

• The Faithfulness of Jesus to God the Father

  …n. 1:26 NKJV, see also John 1:1-11) once Jesus entered the world, sent by God the Father (John 17:18), he became not only the Son of God but also the Son of Man and became subject to the Father.  Paul said, in speaking to the Corinthians, “I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” (1 Cor. 11:3 NKJV)  Paul said earlier, in the same book, “And you are Christ&…

• A Heart Right With God (Test Your Heart)

  …ought to be.  God made man; man did not and cannot make God.  I am his creation, he is not mine.  God has always measured man (man’s heart) by man’s willingness to obey for a man is willing to obey just as far as his heart is attached to God’s heart.  A man who loves God is a man who is obedient to God.  “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”  (1 John 5:3 NKJV)  “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves…

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

  t whether you or I see a reason in a command God gives.  Sometimes he gives commands just to test our obedience (Abraham being a case in point with the sacrifice of his son Isaac).  Paul writing by the Holy Spirit said to the Corinthians, “For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.” (2 Cor. 2:9 NKJV) Many, many people who consider themselves to be Christians (the reality is …

• Ashamed of Jesus and His Words

  … he returns to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31) – (1) being ashamed of Jesus, (2) being ashamed of the words of Jesus. We might well ask what is there about Jesus to be ashamed of.  The answer is obvious, nothing at all.  But lest we think we are clear on this count and before we begin to pat ourselves on the back thinking we are not ashamed of him let us think a little deeper about the matter.  Is Jesus just talking about our mental…

• Is Denominational Baptism Scriptural?

  …vention–sprinkling and calling it baptism.  To translate the word accurately would end their deception for any capable of reading.  Sprinkling for baptism was officially adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in 1311 A.D. at the Council of Revenna hundreds of years after no apostles were around to object. Vine’s “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,” a standard work, says of the word baptism, “consisting of the processes of immersion…

• 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…

• The Pleasures of Sin

  …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 circumstances, voluntarily engage ourselves in that which is dis…

• The Book of Ecclesiastes

  … it all. I believe we error greatly, however, when we read the book and get from it the idea that there is no use or value in striving to achieve in this life.  When we live this life with understanding and purpose, God being at its center, we can find joy and happiness.  Hear Solomon: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, …  I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do…

• Assorted

  This page consists of articles that do not fit well into any of the other categories listed on the menu.  Likewise with the audio sermons at the bottom of the page. Christianity and Multiculturalism Is America a Christian Nation–the Sandra Fluke Controversy Christian Wars–A Misnomer Christianity–Who Rules Reason or Emotions? The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implications Lincoln…

• Reconciling With a Brother

  “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.  If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there…

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

  …ory and summarize it for you.  A man had a vineyard and needed workers.  He went out to hire workers for his vineyard 5 different times during the course of the day each time sending them directly to work as they were hired.  At day’s end, as was the custom back then, each was paid.  A problem arose in the hearts of the early hires at the end of the day when the owner of the vineyard paid those who came into the field last, late in the day, the s…

• Misunderstanding the Grace of God

  inationalists argue no it is not, that is works.  Their idea is that there is nothing you can do for salvation other than depend on God’s grace with the idea being that it is a kind of a one time packaged deal given you at the point of belief by which you are then and there saved without any further effort on your part period.  Lest anyone misunderstand I am talking about initial salvation. That thinking reminds me of Christmas just passed …

• Praying to God to Bless the Bread–Really?

  …nt from what he said Jesus did in 1 Cor. 11:23-25.  I also remind the reader again of 1 Cor. 14:16-17 which defines the word “bless” when used in prayer to mean give thanks. In the last half of chapter 11 of First Corinthians Paul deals with the subject of the Lord’s Supper in  order that the Corinthians (and all later generations) might observe it properly.  He begins with the words (verse 23), “For I have received of the…

• 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 …

• Saul’s Conversion

  e told him?  The text said he “arose and was baptized.”  Why be baptized?  Was it not because it “shall be told you what you must do” and baptism was the thing he must do?  But, we do not have to guess at it or reason our way to this conclusion for we can turn to Acts 22:16 where Saul recounts his conversion experience and tells us what Ananias told him.  “‘And now why do you delay?  Arise, and be baptized, and…

• If Baptism is Not Essential for Salvation

  …ot know what he was talking about in Acts 22:16 when he told Saul (who was to become Paul the apostle), “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins.” (NKJV)  What sins?  There are none to be washed away if salvation comes at the point of faith.  Surely, after seeing Jesus on the road to Damascus and talking with him Saul was no longer an unbeliever or doubter that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.  Thus Ananias was in great error making a…

• Why Do Men Run From God?

  … to us.  Even then we may end up scratching our head in bewilderment.  They may tell us what they think but do they themselves even understand the processes of the heart and mind that have led them to the point where they are at? If there be a God (I am not expressing doubt) then by definition of what it means to be God it is clear one could not successfully run from him.  Hear David in the 139th Psalm. “O LORD, You have searched me and kno…

• The New Birth and Water

  … I will go beyond that and say that what has come to be the generally accepted understandings of the passage today are in error.  They have come to be the new traditional for they now go back a few generations but when looked at from a historical perspective the traditional today is only recent history. I understand I have not discussed John 3:5 with regards to making scriptural arguments.  I said in the beginning that the purpose of this article…

• Non-Offensive Christianity

  …dd humility (1 Peter 5:5), mercy and meekness (Col. 3:12), thankfulness (Col. 3:15), and truthfulness (Eph. 4:25) to our list and our list would still not be all inclusive of the good things to be found in Christian character at its best. It is hard to look back over this list and see anything that should offend anyone.  It is certainly not the Christian’s desire to offend.  The word of God teaches the Christian to “pursue peace with …

• I Can Do All Things Through Christ

  … regular basis that first year.  It tears a Dad and Mom’s heart out to send them off into what is for them the dark terrifying unknown when as they leave the house it is all they can do to keep from crying.  Night after night at bedtime I would go back and the two of us, my son and I, would set there and talk about this verse and it seemed to calm his fears after a while as we would talk.  Is that the way God strengthens us?  I have little doubt …

• DennySmith.Net

  Welcome to my website, DennySmith.Net.  DennySmith.Net is a repository for my personal writings on God’s word, Christian articles if you will, and the audio sermons of Waymon Swain of Bastrop, Louisiana.  Waymon is a gospel preacher I have known since childhood, a man who has been preaching for approximately 60 years now.  In addition I have also listed under the “Resource Sites” link at the top of each page links to other webs…

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

  …ce on some New Testament books all scholars I know about concede that Second Timothy was the last book written by Paul.  Was Paul excluding his own writings when he spoke of scripture being given by inspiration of God? To the Corinthians Paul told them “the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 14:37 NKJV) But we also have Peter’s testimony on the subject when he says, “as also our beloved …

• Though He Slay Me

  …the Holy Spirit speaking through James about Job. Hundreds of years after the fact God saw fit to use James as his mouth piece and reveal more of the purpose behind suffering that seemed without reason or purpose, even unjust at the time.  Job was to be an example for mankind (along with the prophets–James 5:10-11) of the kind of patience and endurance we are to have and it is made known to us that the end result of all such godly endurance…

• They Loved the Praise of Men

  …se men but rather to please God, his creator.  We live for God, not man. We have been purchased with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28, Eph. 1:13-14).  We have been bought by him and we are his, he owns us, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20 NKJV)  We are the sons, the children of God (1 John 3:2), “his own special people.” (1 Peter 2:9, NKJV) The praise of men is v…

• 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 …

• Is Church Attendance Essential for Christian Salvation?

  Whether or not a Christian must attend church to be saved is a question of utmost importance.  There is nothing more important than one’s eternal salvation.  Where will one spend eternity?  Will it be in a place of happiness and joy where “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain” (Rev. 21:4 NKJV) or will it be in the place of torment “where ‘their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched’” (Mar…

• Abuse of the Old Testament

  There are many things practiced in the name of Christianity today that have no biblical basis to be found in the law of Christ.  The Old Testament is, at times, appealed to as the source of authority.  Does the Old Testament have the same authority for Christians today as the New Testament?  How should Christians today relate to and handle the Old Testament scriptures?  These are questions we all ought to be interested in for we are saved by tru…

• Who Gets to Decide–God or the Church?

  …titude of them and I suppose the number you come up with depends on how you decide to count them.  If this number is correct we have gone from 1 church in the New Testament to 38,000 today.  How have we gotten to where we are at today? I think we all understand each denomination has a unique belief different from what other denominations have.  That is just part of the definition of what it means to be a denomination.  We also understand that the…

• Fornication–Take It Lightly at Your Peril

  …er versions translated as “sexual immorality.”  There is a reason for that.  The Greek includes more than what we generally think of by the word “fornication.”  We usually limit that word to illicit sexual intercourse between at least one unmarried partner with the other partner being either single also or married to another.  We say the unmarried party is a fornicator. The reality is the Greek word is much broader in meaning than just that one n…

• Waymon Swain’s Audio Sermons

  Waymon Swain is a gospel preacher from Bastrop, LA.  You will find Waymon’s sermons listed at the bottom of each of the following subject/topic pages. If you have Windows Media Player they will start playing immediately once you click on the sermon title.  However, if you are using some other player other than Windows Media Player or browser other than Internet Explorer there may be a few seconds delay while the file downloads completely. …

• Confirmation Sunday–No Bibles Required

  … to God.  Where is this truth, “confirmation,” found in God’s word?  I looked for it but could not find it.  Am I to assume this group does not care about finding any word of God for their practice? The lady attempts to give the history of confirmation so people like me can get a handle on it but guess where she starts with that history.  Are you guessing the New Testament and the first century?  Better guess again.  She starts …

• Pray For Others Lest You Sin

  …ny 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 problem you ever had and no one cares.  That is at least the way it often seems to us.  We just wish someone cared enough to pray for us. What is wanted is not just “Father, be with (you fill in the name).”  What we want is people that really care, really love us, whose p…

• The Conscience as a Witness

  …ide in what he considers to be that which is right and good. The conscience cannot be a man’s perfect guide for it like man’s intellect must be properly trained to be useful.  Throughout history men have committed atrocities in all good conscience against other men.  Men have burned other men at the stake, slit the throats of others, sacrificed their children as burnt offerings all in good conscience because the conscience was misinfo…