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• How Was Noah Saved Through Water?

  …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 »How was Noah and his family saved through water?  Peter, in 1 Peter 3:20-2…

• The Grace of God in Baptism

  …lls to mind other scriptures that teach the same thing. Jesus says, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 NKJV) He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NKJV) Paul teaches in Titus 3:4 what Jesus taught in John 3:5. The word washed or washing is in places used as a reference to baptism. Paul says to t…

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

  Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (NASU) and then a couple of verses later clarifies his statement when he says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NASU) This passage has greatly troubled people over the years to the extent that many have just c…

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

  Baptism is essential to salvation but there are many non-believers.  I want to deal with one passage today that teaches this but which is seldom used because the word baptize is not found in the passage.  The phrase used is “washing of water” as found in Eph. 5:25-27. Eph. 5:25-27, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,…

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

  inst the idea that these individuals were already saved prior to the reception of the Holy Spirit.  The text says, “they had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”  It is obvious that this is a reference to water baptism for if it was Holy Spirit baptism how does one account for the fact they lacked spiritual gifts? Cornelius had tongues by which he could offer proof of his baptism.  The apostles had a whole range of miraculous…

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

  When the children of Israel left Egypt, led by Moses, the first major event one reads about in the book of Exodus after the Red Sea crossing is found in Exodus  15:22-26, the crisis at the waters of Marah.  I say crisis for that was how the children of Israel perceived it.  They had been traveling three days in the wilderness and had found no water to drink during that time. Was that a crisis?  It was when you consider how much water was require…

• Is Holy Spirit Baptism The Baptism That Saves?

  In an article I wrote some time ago I had a gentleman of the Pentecostal persuasion respond seemingly upset with me over the issue of baptism as I was emphasizing the importance of water baptism which he was discounting as being nothing more than a picture of salvation (whatever that means).  Of course, his emphasis was on Holy Spirit baptism.  In any case since I said I would respond I will do so here thinking I might as well make an article ou…

• The Cleansing of the Church at Ephesus

  211;the words of Jesus referring to the Holy Spirit)  Thus the Holy Spirit spoke the words of Jesus and Jesus was thus their teacher. Paul said later in the book of Ephesians that Jesus cleansed the church, “by the washing of water with the word.” (Eph. 5:26 NAS)  Who was cleansed that way?  Those Paul said earlier had been saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8).  The washing of water with the word is clearly a reference to baptism.  What did Je…

• Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

  …paration for life eternal and not dwell on death but without facing up to facts we will never prepare for that which we must prepare if we are to have it–a life in heaven.  In the book of Matthew, chapter 25, verses one through thirteen we have an account of ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom after the manner of the customs of those days when Jesus lived.  None knew exactly when the bridegroom would arrive but some made adequat…

• Fear God

  …e earth–to every nation tribe, tongue, and people–saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’” I believe the Bible is as clear as it can be that man is to fear God.  Call it godly fear if you will for that is what it is.  It is the kind of fear that helps a man stay faithful.  It is the fear that Noah had, th…

• Repent–How Hard It Is To Do

  l is for all men (2 Thess. 2:14)?  We are all called by the gospel.  It is obvious he was saying that not many of such a class of people would respond to the call. Jesus said of a rich man that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (be saved). (Luke 18:25)  Why?  Again, the answer is obvious–the pleasures of the world.  See also 1 Tim. 6:9. In 2 Cor. 4:3-4 the Bible talks…

• Bible Contradictions on Salvation?

  hing the first gospel sermon ever heard after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:38 NKJV). Saul was told, “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins.” (Acts 22:16 NKJV) Jesus says, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  (John 3:5 NKJV) Paul, the very man who speaks of salvation by faith although never faith alone, says, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Chri…

• Cornelius’ Conversion–Final Thoughts

  n of the Ethiopian eunuch as it bears on this topic.  I quote the passage at hand. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that …

• The New Birth and Water

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

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

  o Nicodemus in John 3:3 and said to him, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” and then later in verse 5 expands on that by saying, “most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” was Jesus already a king with a kingdom?  Was he speaking of what already existed and speaking in the present tense or was he speaking prophetically? He was spe…

• Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith)

  elf says we die in baptism (Rom. 6:4) and walk in newness of life upon our baptism, read all of Rom. 6:1-8.  This means our state or status is changed at baptism.  He says Christ cleansed the church “with the washing of water by the word.” (Eph. 5:26 NKJV)  The washing of water is certainly baptism.  One might ask cleansed the church of what but the answer is obvious–sin.  Was Paul ever washed in water and cleansed of sin?  Anan…

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

  …the man Ananias.  Ananias tells him to “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” (Acts 22:16 NAS)  Jesus had already told all who would believe him quite a long time before Paul’s conversion that water was involved in salvation. “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NAS)  He said, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NAS) Wh…

• Misunderstanding the Grace of God

  t without obeying Peter’s directive on the Day of Pentecost as found in Acts 2:38. His position is not unusual.  Millions of people have read Paul’s statement in Eph. 2:8-9, “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” (NKJV) and said okay, that is it, no need for further study. I would like to say first of all this is a poor app…

• What Is Baptism (the Sprinkling Hoax)

  …at is what the Greek meant to those people.   The Bible confirms this to be the case for Paul says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” (Rom. 6:4 NKJV)  Baptism is a burial, a burial in water when used in a religious context.  Paul says again in Col. 2:11-12 (NKJV), “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circ…

• Saved by Jesus Outside the Church?

  …personal relationship with Jesus” while not a member of the church there, the church over which the elders were to oversee or shepherd?  In his letter to the Ephesians Paul said to them, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Eph. 1:7 NKJV)  Who is the “we” in that passage if not the church (the brethren) there?  But, we know that the brethren there were an organized body overseen by…

• How Does the Blood of Jesus and Baptism Tie Together

  sus was on the cross but after his death said, “But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” (John 19:33-34 NKJV)  To me this event, the piercing of his side, had symbolic importance for the sacrifice of himself had already taken place, his life already given for ours.  Remember Lev. 17:11?  &…

• Who is the Believer in John 3:16?

  who will have everlasting life?  Who is this believer?  Is it not the same person that will see the kingdom of heaven if he is “born again” in verse 3 and who will enter the kingdom of God if he is “born of water and the Spirit” in verse 5?  Most certainly!  It is all the same conversation directed at the same man, the man Nicodemus. The believer of John 3:16 is the man who is born again (verse 3), is the man who is born …

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

  …inspired men immediately led to baptism on the part of those who accepted the preaching.  Baptism was a part of the message.  Is it any different this time with Cornelius?  No!  Hear Peter, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized” (Acts 10:47 NAS) then “he ordered them to be baptized.” (Acts 10:48 NAS)  What is another word for “ordered?”  If you check other translations you will see the wo…

• The Great Commission and Cornelius

  A great many people believe that Cornelius was saved the moment the Holy Spirit fell on him to which I disagree.  It seems to be a topic of interest so I have decided to write on the subject from a different vantage point than is usual. This is really, at its core, a discussion of whether or not water baptism is for the remission of sins as stated in Acts 2:38.  Since that is the basis of opposition every related subject such as conversion, the …

• The Kind of Faith in God That Destroys

  se of their troubles on Paul just being a man kind of out of step with the times.  The words Paul spoke, however, were not his own. There is a faith that will save.  It is that faith where if the Lord speaks (he does so today through his word) we will believe it and obey it even if it causes us problems.  When Abraham was commanded to go out and offer his son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice that caused Abraham problems.  When Paul was constrained to p…

• Does God Really Care?

  …t is it when we are hit by another car?  Who brought on the suffering?  Was it the person who warned us to stop at a sign or was the fault with us for ignoring the warning. (2)  In the second place God begs and pleads with us through his word to repent and turn from disaster and avoid the suffering.  Peter says the Lord is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV)  He …

• Baptism

  iend of mine–Waymon Swain.  I hope they help. The Blood of Jesus and Baptism Jesus’ Baptism and You If Baptism is not Essential for Salvation Ways Into Christ The Grace of God in Baptism How Was Noah Saved Through 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, Works, and Baptism

  … it is a part of God’s mercy as per the teaching of this verse.  One acquainted with the New Testament cannot read Titus 3:5 without being reminded of John 3:5, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (NKJV) Clearly, Paul does teach justification by faith.  “The just shall live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17 NKJV)  “Therefore we conclude that a man …

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

  dren of Israel had reach Mt. Sinai.  They had already been quarreling and complaining against Moses and the Lord a number of times.  There had been the rebellion at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:11-12, Psa. 106:7), the grumbling at the waters of Marah (Ex. 15:23-24), and the grumbling over food in the wilderness of Sin (Ex. 16:1, 2-3, 7-9, 12, 28), and now once again more of the same only a little farther along in their journey. They are now at a place cal…

• If Baptism is Not Essential for Salvation

  Baptism is not essential for salvation according to most denominations.  The thought came to me recently if baptism is not essential for salvation what then?  What are the necessary implications of such a doctrine?  (1)  If baptism is not essential for salvation then Jesus taught error when he said, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5 NKJV) for you can enter the kingdom of God without water …

• Things People Do Not Know About the Church

  stian or the non-Christian?  If God has not added you to the church there is a good reason–you are not yet one of those who are being saved. It is only the church that Christ sanctified and cleansed “with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:25-27 NKJV)  Only the saved are in the church.  …

• For By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith Alone

  saved without being baptized (for the remission of your sins–Acts 2:38, Acts 2:16) the same way Paul was baptized?  This body one is baptized into, the body of Christ, the church, is cleansed “with the washing of water by the word.” (Eph. 5:26 NKJV)  No washing of water (baptism) then no cleansing. Paul, unlike those today, did not see a conflict between being saved by grace through faith and being baptized for the remission of…

• Ways into Christ–How Many Ways Are There?

  not.”  Baptism is into Christ (Rom. 6:3) and that being the case it is also into the benefits or blessings of Christ’s death.  You only walk in newness of life, a new creature, a new creation, when you arise as such from the waters of baptism for “our old man was crucified with him.” (Rom. 6:6)  Crucifixion means death.  We were baptized “into death.” (Rom. 6:4)  We arise from the baptismal waters to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4) because …

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

  …aid Jesus is the “Savior of the body.”  If you will read but 2 verses on down you will begin reading as follows, “Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:25-27 NKJV)  Let me ask you one thing.  What di…

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

  nd not just the words in red in a red letter edition of the Bible (read John 16:12-15 for proof of this statement). Many are the men who say they believe in Jesus but who do not believe what he said about the new birth having water in it (John 3:5) or what he said about baptism (Mark 16:16).  One must believe Jesus, must believe what he said on each and every topic about which he spoke.  For me to say I believe in a man but I just do not believe …

• He Feared

  …ion to all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:9 NKJV)  We either believe that or we do not. But who was the man whose fear led him to sin and unfaithfulness?  The apostle Peter’s faith failed him 3 times out of fear.  He walked on the water believing Jesus would make this possible for him until his faith failed.  He denied Jesus 3 times after Jesus was arrested.  Finally, in Galatians the second chapter Paul tells us Peter withdrew from eating with the Ge…

• 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 …

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

  V) Luke tells us they were ordered to not depart from Jerusalem, “he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” (Act 1:4-5 ESV) In Acts 2 we see the arrival of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4) clothing the apostles with power from on high.  Peter…

• How Does One Get Into the Church Christ Built?

  church matters.  It is not Jesus yes and the church no. The church is what Jesus gave himself for on the cross.  “Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:25-27 NKJV) Salvation is in Christ which is the…

• Unhappy With the Church of Christ?

  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 sexual relationship that Paul says not even t…

• Honestly Deceived

  tar preparing to burn incense to his idol. The prophet was sent to Bethel on this mission “by the word of the Lord” (1 Kings 13:1 NKJV) and given distinct instructions as how to proceed.  He was to eat no bread, nor drink any water, nor return by the way he came (1 Kings 13:9).  Having fulfilled his mission of prophecy in Bethel he obeys God and starts for home on a route different from that by which he had come.  However, an old prophet intercep…

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

  …sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23 NAS)  The question then became one of how God could save man and at the same time be just?  Sin had to be punished if justice was done. The answer was to punish sin through his son’s death on the cross.  “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by his wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24 NAS)  Christ t…

• Never Give Up

  When we learn the truth of the gospel message, come to believe it, and then sincerely obey it we sometimes expect more of ourselves than is humanly possible for us to deliver.  When we first come out of the water of our baptism we are determined that we will not sin, we are going to live sin free.  This attitude is to be highly commended but is also unrealistic. Many who obey the gospel do so when young and thus their own expectations about life…

• Christian Wars–A Misnomer

  vinced people it is God’s will that it be so. However, Protestants have their own problems and it centers around one thing.  They are wedded to the idea that a man is saved by faith alone and that the new birth, born of water and the spirit, has nothing to do with becoming a Christian.  The new birth involves baptism in water for the remission of sins and that they will not accept.  Water to them is only symbolic. It was not symbolic to Pet…

• Salvation (Becoming a Christian)

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

• Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation?

  in the title of this article, are works essential for Christian salvation, is easily answered by taking one such passage and doing exactly that.  The passage is Eph. 2:8-9 which reads, “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.” (NKJV)  We read that and immediately answer our question by saying no works are not essential for Christian sal…

• Christian Circumcision

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

• Is Denominational Baptism Scriptural?

  ype into your search engine the keywords “transliterated +baptism” minus the quotes.  Read and enjoy. Paul says, “we were buried with him through baptism.” (Rom. 6:4 NKJV)  However, he was talking to people actually buried in water, not sprinkled or poured.  Sprinkling and pouring are not only frauds but also exceedingly dangerous in that many who know no better believe they have received a scriptural baptism.  It would only be scriptural if one …

• Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching

  …aid that the Catholics baptize babies who cannot believe.  Do they?  Where does the Bible teach that sprinkling is baptism?  Men made sprinkling baptism, not God.  In the New Testament a man was baptized when he was buried in water.  There was no other way to be baptized.  Secondly, the Bible teaches, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16 NKJV) and not “he who is incapable of believing and is baptized will …

• The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept

  wrong, believe what he was taught, and then go through what a denomination calls baptism and then say he was baptized scripturally.  He got wet but he was not baptized any more than a diver jumping off a diving board into the water.  One cannot accidentally obey God.  Understanding, motivation, the heart are all involved in acceptable obedience.  Paul said the Romans “obeyed from the heart” (Rom. 6:17 NKJV) which is the only way one c…

• Faith

  st If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implications Faith, Works, and Baptism Abel’s Sacrifice by Faith versus Cain’s Sacrifice Abraham’s Faith (Faith Accounted for Righteousness) The Faith of Enoch Moses, the Waters of Marah, and a Lesson for Today Everlasting Life–The Believer of John 3:16 (This is a different article than the John 3:16 article above.) What Must a Man Believe to be Saved by the Gospel of Christ? The Kind o…

• 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…

• Which Denomination Did Jesus Build?

  in every place.  Now we say it doesn’t matter; they will be saved the same as we, just believe in Jesus. What does it mean to believe in Jesus?  Does it mean it makes little to no difference what he taught on a subject through the inspired writers of the New Testament?  Is the idea we will believe in Jesus for salvation but we will not believe him in doctrinal teaching and it won’t matter in the least?  Is that the idea? Denomination…

• Parable of the Tares–No Middle Ground

  …d the wheat.  There is no middle ground to be had.  One is either a tare or wheat and which one it is makes all the difference in the world. Let us say for the sake of argument the parable is a reference to the church and the saved Christians in it (the wheat) versus those who are ungodly characters in it (the tares).  There is no middle ground there and to bring the point home if the ungodly in the church are not to be saved (and they are not) t…

• One Church—A Thing Hard to Accept

  he could not be the Son of God (Matt. 28:11-14). In his last recorded meeting with the Jews in Rome during his imprisonment there Paul made this charge against the Jews, not all but some: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY: “HEARING YOU WILL HEAR, AND SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND SEEING YOU WILL SEE, AND NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEARTS OF THIS PEOPLE HAVE GROWN…

• The Case of Cornelius and the Holy Spirit

  entecost as recorded in Acts chapter two.  Neither do I know a man who would deny but what the words spoken by Peter were given by the Holy Spirit.  The reader ought to note and carefully digest what the Holy Spirit, speaking through Peter, said on that occasion in response to those who asked “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37 NKJV)  They had heard the sermon Peter preached, believed it, and now these men who were “…

• Everlasting Life–The Believer of John 3:16

  …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 offers a commentary on John 3:16, as do many other passages throughout the New Testament, concerning who the believer of John 3:16 is.  When Jesus says in John 5:24, “he who hears my word” (and, of course, believes in God the Father) will have everlasting life he is not a…

• Resource Sites

  …d above.  The commentary was first written in 1863 according to what is written across the top of the page.  You navigate the book by means of the links found in the upper left hand corner of the page.  I have personally read through this commentary page by page.  It is outstanding and can still be purchased in hard copy form.) Instrumental Music in the Worship  (Published in 1911 and written by M. C. Kurfees.  As soon as you click the link here …

• 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…

• Christ and Baptism in Colossians

  re also raised up with him through faith in the working of God,” (Col. 2:12 NAS) “he made you alive together with him.” (Col. 2:13 NAS)  But, this one who is made alive is a new man.  He is not the man that went down into the water and died.  This one that comes up from the water “made… alive together with him” (Col. 2:13 NAS) was raised to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4 NAS) for he is a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17 NAS). He forgave t…

• Demas Has Forsaken Me

  told us.  We must believe there is a reward awaiting us.  “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)  It has often been said that Peter walked on the water as long as he looked at Jesus rather than the water and that is true.  We can figuratively walk to heaven if we continue to look to Jesus rather than at the trials and troubles and temptations we are here faced with.  …

• Non-Offensive Christianity

  e not wise.” (2 Cor. 10:12 NKJV)  Christ is the only acceptable standard a Christian can have.  The goal and the desire is not to be the best of the average of everyday people but to be Christ-like.  Our desire is to be saved and in order to be saved we must live like Christ and not like the average of men.  We must seek to please God, not man.  “If I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:10 NKJV)  The …

• The Faith of Enoch

  he truth if one is to walk in the truth, as John says we are commanded to do, thus what must be believed is the truth.  Why will men perish?  The answer is “because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.” (2 Thess. 2:10 NASU)  Jesus in his John 17 prayer to the Father said, “Thy word is truth.” (John 17:17 KJV)  When the Bible says Enoch walked with God do you think he walked in truth? John says just…

• Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon

  phet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:22-23 NAS) If I had not been baptized for the remission of sins I would be scared by that statement for it was Jesus who said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NAS)  It was Jesus who said, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NAS)  It was Jesus who said to …

• The Parable of the Talents–the Sin of Fear

  act.  Even Jesus had some trepidation about going to the cross but it did not stop him from obeying God so to the cross he went. Fear is contrary to faith and acts to destroy it.  When Peter got out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus he did in fact walk on the water for a time, until the time he looked around him, saw the waves, became fearful, and lost his faith. (Matt. 14:28-31 NKJV) Fear can kill us spiritually.  It led to Peter denying…

• The Church Christ Built–Marks of Identification

  …ther God adds them upon conditions.  “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47 NKJV)  The conditions are those set forth by Peter on the day of Pentecost.   Jesus said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NKJV)  There are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.  One must be in the kingdom of God for salvation but Jesus is the Savior o…

• 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…

• Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin

  …the world 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 tendenc…

• Jesus and the Furnace of Fire

  …is lawlessness, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4 NAS)  It is those who practice lawlessness, Jesus says, who will be cast into the furnace of fire. To be saved a man must love Jesus.  “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.” (1Co 16:22 NKJV)  “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me,” says Jesus. (J…

• 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…

• 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…

• Faith and Baptism in Paul’s Preaching

  How does a person become a Christian?  What does it take to make a person a Christian (a saved individual)?  Over the years there has been an enormous amount of debate over this very question.  It is a question that can only be resolved by seeing what the Holy Spirit inspired apostles preached, taught, and practiced as they went out into the world preaching the gospel.  In this article I want to take a look at the apostle Paul and what he taught…

• The Parable of the 10 Virgins–7 Lessons

  academic study of God’s word.  We don’t know what God teaches.  We only know what we hear on TV or what the preacher says.  Too often the amount of study that is done would fit into a thimble with room left over. God speaking through Hosea said in days gone by, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I als…

• Ashamed of Jesus and His Words

  …, “baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21 NAS) but not with them for they will not believe the words of Jesus and are ashamed of all such.  Even when Jesus spoke directly on the subject, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5 NAS) it is not accepted.  Of such people it will never be said of them that they obeyed Jesus who said, “If anyone keeps my word he shall n…

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

  “And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.  And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:35-36 NAS) This is the account of Philip and his encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch.  It shows that when Jesus is preached baptism is preached as a part of preaching Jesus to an alien sinner.  When th…

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

  …ct of treachery in this case it nevertheless shows it was the traditional custom of the time), and also Matt. 7:44-45.  In the last passage Jesus is speaking to one called Simon and says, “I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet … you gave me no kiss.” (Matt. 7:44-45 NKJV)  The kiss served the purpose of being a greeting (1 Cor. 16:20), was to be holy (2 Cor. 13:12), and to be of love (1 Peter 5:14).  Thus Jesus said of Simon, the …

• The Mysterious Eloquent Evangelist

  lained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he helped greatly those who had believed through grace; for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.” The first great mystery is how could this man have been instructed in the way of the Lord and y…

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

  urch on earth today and worship in it they condemn themselves and they are not about to do that so all they can do is shout and shout over and over again “denomination.” But what they are really saying, if they would think it through, is that God’s word has lost its power to make just a Christian and lost its power to keep his church on earth today out in the open where it can be seen.  They are saying that the seed, “the seed is the word of God”…

• Indifference – The Great Destroyer

  …ationalism. If it really does not matter what you believe or practice just so you believe in Jesus then certainly one can be indifferent about both doctrine and practice. What difference does it make if we are all going to be saved anyway? I thus see people who think they are going to be saved who never darken a church door for a worship service. If they have a Bible they would have to hunt it before they could read it and then dust it off for it…

• More on Willful Sin—Can Anyone be Saved?

  In July 2008 I posted an article online entitled “Willful Sin – Can Anyone Be Saved?  Heb 10:26-27.”  Within the past couple of weeks I received a comment from a lady who was reading the article for the first time.  She took the position that there was no hope for a person who committed a willful sin after their conversion.  That was the way I read her comment and I was not the only one for not long thereafter another lady commented …

• Faith in the New Testament–Different Meanings

  The word “faith” is a word that has different meanings in different places where it is found throughout the New Testament.  It can be a little disconcerting when one first learns this but at the same time we benefit from knowing it. In preparation for this article I looked up the word “faith” in a little paperback Merriam Webster Dictionary that I have being curious as to what I would find.  I found 4 meanings listed as f…

• Walk in Truth—the Joy of John the Apostle

  …t it to read any differently in this enlightened high tech computer age in which we live than it did 200 years ago when in this country people were still living a primitive lifestyle in log cabins with dirt floors and drawing water from open wells with a bucket and a rope. Many believe the Bible is not worthy of man in today’s society.  It is felt we are better than the Bible.  We will have gay marriage, we will have women ruling (and preac…

• Work Out Your Own Salvation

  were a vast number of Greek scholars behind these translations so I think the question as to whether or not the text has been correctly translated has been answered.  An argument based on the idea of a mistranslation holds no water. The other man I was reading after based his argument on verse 13, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.” (NKJV)  His idea seemed to be that it is not really us working out our s…

• Hypocrites in the Church

  … 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 hypocrisy. No one can defend a hypocrite nor would it be right to try and do so but to those who…

• Christ Did Not Send Paul to Baptize

  … preach that baptism was a non-essential and that none need to be baptized for it was Jesus himself who said, “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16 NKJV) and that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5 NKJV) and it was Paul who was commanded to “arise and be baptized” to have his sins washed away (Acts 22:16 NKJV).  One can also read 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…

• Weak, Defiled, and Seared Consciences

  …sed.  They are cleansed, made good, in baptism (see 1 Peter 3:21)–a baptism preceded by faith, repentance, and confession of Christ as the Son of God.  One meets up, spiritually speaking, with the blood of Christ in the waters of baptism, baptism being the final step of entering into Christ where forgiveness is found (see Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Gal. 3:26-27, Rom. 6:3, etc.).  One last passage–the passage is Heb. 10:22 on the evil cons…

• Faith is Not Just What You Believe

  …en. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sle…

• Denominationalism’s Sin Against Peter

  baptism is for salvation (Acts 2:38 & 1 Peter 3:21).  He says, “There is also an antitype which now saves us–baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:21 NKJV) I am in a minority but I think I will just go with Peter’s misunderstanding and let the denominationalists go their own way.  If they are saving a se…

• Why Do Men Run From God?

  hich cannot be found in the New Testament of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, things that sprang up in some man’s mind once upon a time and that was taken up by a body of believers and has been handed down by tradition through the years as if it came from Jesus’ own mouth.  They placed God’s stamp of approval on those things without a single word from God voicing his approval.  They took it upon their own authority, forget God,…

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

  … is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34 KJV), shows no partiality (Rom. 2:11, Eph. 6:9, Col. 3:25), and teaches us that it is a sin to show partiality (James 2:9), then God did the very thing in converting Lydia that he says, through his word, that he does not do and that he condemns in us.  None of us believe that.  Lydia’s heart was opened by God’s word in the same natural way yours and mine is.  For example, all of us have read pas…

• Who Gets to Decide–God or the Church?

  opposition to clear statements of scripture? It boils down to the fact we do not hold the Bible in the high esteem that we ought which is a nicer way of saying we do not believe it.  According to a Gallup poll taken every May through the years 2005 to 2007 with the results being averaged it was found that 48% of Protestants say they believe the Bible is inspired by the word of God but not the actual word of God to be taken literally.  What!  How …

• Jesus the Foundation of and the Builder of the Church

  ch is the church” (Col. 1:24 NKJV – see also Eph. 1:22-23 and Col. 1:18).  “He is the Savior of the body.” (Eph. 5:23 NKJV)  This is the body which he sanctified and cleansed “with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26 NKJV), a reference to baptism all denominations to the contrary notwithstanding, in order that “he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any su…

• Christianity–Who Rules Reason or Emotions?

  …n religion than the case of the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus.  Their emotions ruled them, over rode all reason, and ended up destroying them.  There was no reasoning with them.  The miracles of Jesus were to them like water off a duck’s back.  So Lazarus was raised from the dead.  So what?  But that is the mind set you get into when you are dealing with emotion based (or should I say “emotion ruled”) religion.  You will never change a per…

• Behold the Judge is Standing at the Door

  …or will say about you.  Where you are headed they are not going, at least not so soon, but you can see clearly you are.  Truth ought to become utmost in our desires at that point in time.  In fact, it ought to be that way all through life but often it is not. Yes, “the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:9 NKJV)  He is expecting you.  He “was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.” (Acts 10:42 NKJV)  …

• Repentance–How Can I Be Sure?

  … repent in one way or another.  We could talk about the Galatians. But my point is this–if you were sincere in heart at that point in time that you obeyed the gospel with regards to your repentance and you then followed through and completed your obedience of faith as per Acts 2:38 being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16), baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27, Rom. 6:3), then there is no cause down the road to look back a…

• Mary of Bethany–Doing What You Can

  “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 the whole world, what this woman did will also be spoken of as a memorial to her.” (Mark 14:6-9 NKJV)  Is that not what we are doing even now as we bring up this story and seek lessons from it? Mary of Betha…

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

  .” (2 Thess. 2:14 NKJV)  It is “the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19 NKJV)  “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’  And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’  And let him who thirsts come.  Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17 NKJV) It is an invitation but it is more than that.  It is a plea, “as though God were pleading through us:  we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5:20 NKJV)  Re…

• Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God

  trust him for deliverance.  They were grumbling and complaining.  The lack of faith will do that to a man who does not trust in God for salvation. After the end of the crisis at the Red Sea they came to be in want of drinking water at Marah and the Bible says, “the people grumbled at Moses.” (Ex. 15:24 NASB)  Since Moses was merely God’s man and had no inherent power of his own a complaint against Moses was in reality a complain…

• A Heart Right With God (Test Your Heart)

  s with my whole heart.” (Psalms119:69 NKJV)  “Oh, how I love your law!  It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalms 119:97 NKJV)  “I love your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!” (Psalms 119:127 NKJV)  “Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep your law.” (Psalms 119:136 NKJV) “Your commandments are my delights.” (Psalms 119:143 NKJV)  “My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on your word…

• 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 …

• God’s Willingness to Forgive–King Manasseh

  all over again not putting up much of a fight against it.  Somehow we feel we were justified in the act we committed. We tell ourselves the temptation was too great and thus God understands even though he has said in his word through Paul the apostle that, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the …

• A New Creation in Christ

  … this occur?  Paul answers. “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainl…

• Christianity and Multiculturalism

  ing abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross.” (Eph. 2:14-16 NKJV)  The end is not humanity divided as it once was between Jew and Gentile but now united as “one new man.”  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slav…

• Lessons for the Church from Isaiah (Chapter 1)

  ed on the idea that things do not matter to God.  They had gradually, and it seems almost totally, drifted away from God in their belief that what he had said mattered or that he really cared about the things he had told them through the law and the prophets. Here is the great lesson for the church and individual Christians today.  Have you ever heard it said, “I know what it (reference to the word of God) says but I don’t believe it matters.”  I…

• Gospel Obedience at Corinth

  ursed.” (Gal. 1:8 NAS)  If Paul preached more than one gospel he condemned himself by his very own words.  That did not happen.  In the book of Galatians, Paul says in chapter 3:26-27, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (NAS)  We need for the purpose of our study to emphasize the words “baptized into Christ”. …

• Mt. Sinai and the Day of Judgment

  …ad seen God working actively on their behalf in miracle after miracle.  They had seen the plagues in Egypt from many of which they were spared.  They had crossed the 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 w…

• Ghost Hunting and Consulting the Dead

  Ghost hunting has become popular on TV in recent years.  Just about all of us are curious about those things that are unknown, mysterious, and frightening and we think maybe even a little dangerous.  Some people believe in ghosts and some do not.  The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost when they saw Jesus walking on the water–Matt. 14:26, Mark 6:49–but that may have been simply because they felt there was no other way of acco…

• The Joy and the Danger of a Clean Conscience

  …to him” (I Kings 13:18) claiming an angel had spoken to him countermanding God’s original command. That original command to the younger (we assume) prophet had been, “‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.’” (1 Kings 13:17 NAS)  When the young prophet believed what the old prophet told him about an angel countermanding the original command, the assumption …

• Israel’s Rebellion at the Red Sea

  …orm before the people as proof God had sent him.  These signs can be found listed in Ex. 4:1-9 and consisted of his staff being turned into a snake when thrown to the ground, his hand placed in his cloak becoming leprous, and water from the Nile being poured on the ground and becoming blood.  The snake when picked up by the tail became a staff again and the hand placed into the cloak after becoming leprous was returned healthy.  The Bible says, &…

• The Chastening of the Lord

  … the man who lacked bread in his house (verse 6), suffered from drought (verses 7-8), suffered from blight and mildew and locusts (verse 9), was thinking much on a national level.  His problems were personal–no food, no water. And, besides, how does a nation repent unless the people who comprise that nation repent on an individual basis?  There can be no national repentance without individuals repenting. There will be in life trials and tro…

• The Hardening of the Human Heart

  udgment of God.” (Rom. 2:5 NKJV)  The impenitent heart is a hard heart.  It will not obey God and its reward is wrath.  That reward begins at the day of death.  He will be as was the rich man who desired of Lazarus some water for his tongue for he said, “I am tormented in this flame.” (Luke 16:24 NKJV)  That time of torment for the hard-hearted man or woman could begin in the next few minutes for no one knows the minute of his d…

• Regrets

  …od)?  We have all sunk our own boat and all of us are reaching up to Jesus for salvation.  We are all hoping with Christian expectation that Jesus will reach out his hand to us as he did to Peter when Peter was sinking in the water he had been walking on.  Only Jesus can save us. The past is the past but we can help one another, comfort and console one another, and help one another get to heaven.  We all have regrets but we all can have hope if w…

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

  …1; (Acts 22:16 NAS)  Do you not find it strikingly strange that a man who believes with his whole heart still has sins 3 days later?  It shouldn’t because Paul was begotten three days earlier, not born again. Jesus says water is a part of the new birth (John 3:1-7, see verse 5).  When we understand what is involved in the new birth thus understanding how one becomes a Christian we will know when to use the word “begotten” versus…

• Baptized For the Dead

  …tized for the dead.”  It is common to find in most commentaries an extended discussion of the verse with much more space being devoted 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 t…

• King Saul–As Long as It Glorifies God

  ne it and receive into fellowship the unrepentant individual practicing it as long as we say “he is in a committed relationship.” Paul’s teaching on women preachers and leaders of the church again is as clear as crystal clear water.  Read 1 Cor. 14:34-37.  Paul closes that section by saying, “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 1…

• God’s Hardening of the Human Heart

  t.  Whose hearts does God harden?  Why?  How does he do it? Many that I have read after are pretty much under the conviction that the way God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and thus the heart of others whom he has hardened is through his word.  That is to say God gives a command that a man does not want to receive and obey.  He (the man) refuses to do so.  The man thus hardens his own heart but there is a sense in which it could be said God harde…

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

  (read the Psalms).  Why is it wrong to use them today?  Because there is no word from God approving such under the law of Christ under which we live today. If a man desired to live under the Law of Moses today he 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 …

• 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? …

• 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…

• Pray For Others Lest You Sin

  …r of the book of Hebrews requests prayers when he says simply “pray for us.” (Heb. 13:18 NKJV) There is one prayer request by Paul that seems to be more than just a request.  To the Romans he writes, “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive 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 …

• 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…

• When did Obedience Become Legalism?

  …ry “legalism” against the teaching of obedience is in reality a smoke screen to cover up and make an excuse for a life lived for self, a this worldly life.  It is my life and I want to live it the way I want to.  The claim of saved solely by love and God’s grace provides the cover one needs for such a life to legitimize it before the public. We all have a tendency to try and hide the wrong we know we are doing and one of the best ways (?) of doin…

• Better to Never Have Been Born–Why?

  … 20:10 NKJV)  For such it would be better to have never been born. We know the way to have our names written in the book of life for Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)  But are we determined to commit suicide?  So many are and why I cannot comprehend.  Why die an eternal death which while called death is really eternal torment, pain, and suffering accomp…

• A Good and Pure Conscience

  … the sin is forgiven and the conscience is cleansed. 1 Peter 3:21, “There is also an antitype which now saves us–baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)  How can baptism be the answer of a good conscience toward God?  Most say that even though God commanded it (John 3:5, Matt. 28:19, Mark 16:15-16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16…

• 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 (…

• 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 …

• Why Men Do Not Believe

  … to do to even give thought to God or the gospel. Luke describes these people as those beside the road, “who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12 NAS)  The Bible says, “A natural man, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.…

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

  n, has already happened, friends and family will leave you.   I have someone in God my Father who will be with me no matter what even if it comes down to being just the two of us alone.  He is the only one that can go with me through the gates of death.  It means a lot to know he will be by my side through life and death. Finally, I must close with the elder son of the Christian family the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  How much does he love me, …

• He Went Away Grieved

  lready 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 those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:24-25 NKJV) Having told Jesus that he had kept all the commandments from his youth up Jesus told him there was one thing lacking.  He was to s…

• 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 …

• Reconciling With a Brother

  …r that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.” (Matt. 5:22-24 NAS) Can a man be saved who has contempt for and mistreats his fellowman?  John says no when he says, “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor …

• 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…

• Fornication–Take It Lightly at Your Peril

  …the fellowship.  He says, “you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you…deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Cor. 5:2-5 NKJV)  This was a man who was a Christian but who stood condemned because of his fornication. Today we celebrate, or are expected to, the birth of children born of fornicati…

• Saul’s Conversion

  “And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was baptized.” (Acts 9:18 NAS)  In Acts chapter 9 verses 1 through 18 we have the account of Saul’s conversion from a persecutor of Christians to an apostle of Christ.  In the early years of Christianity when a person heard and believed the gospel, accepting it, it always led immediately to baptism.  The reader and Bible…

• Philip Preaching the Gospel in Samaria

  …ed in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of you sins.” (Acts 2:38 NAS) If you have never been baptized for the remission of sins you are in a fight against God.  Don’t be one of those who insist on being saved their way rather than the way taught by Peter and Philip, by the Holy Spirit.  You cannot win in a fight against God.  It is his narrow gate or the wide gate and the gate you enter makes all the difference in the world…

• The Pleasures of Sin

  … things, spiritual matters, and in the end result in a man having no spiritual crop to harvest.  In the last day what do they do who have no crop to give to the Lord?  “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” (Jer. 8:20 NKJV) I understand what a disaster it would be for a farmer to come to the end of the season and have no crop but how about a man who comes to the end of life and has no spiritual crop worthy of being harv…

• 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 …

• Abuse of the Old Testament

  o do that.  We then know we are on safe ground. That the Old Testament scriptures have value for us today there is no doubt for Paul says, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Rom.15:4 NAS)  We thus learn that we can receive instruction from the Old Testament scriptures and encouragement that combined with per…

• The Conscience as a Witness

  …his willingness or unwillingness to abide 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 conscie…

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

  Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, is the first person listed among many in Hebrews chapter 11 commended by the Holy Spirit for their faith.  Of Abel it is said, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” (Heb. 11:4 NKJV)  Men have long been troubled by this passage trying to figure ou…

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

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

• Jesus Defines Repentance

  …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?  How would that work?  How could Jesus be Lord if God did not raise him from the dead–if you did not believe that he did?  So we…

• The Army of the Lord–the Church

  godly in Christ Jesus–the battle fought was a religious fight, the very kind many feel it too unchristian, or unchristlike, to fight. It was a fight over doctrine, over who was right and who was wrong, over who would be saved and who would not, over the way to heaven.  Too many people today see this as an exceedingly nasty type of fighting that drives people away from Christ they say.  Hey, don’t talk to me.  Your fight would be with Jesus,…

• 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…

• 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….

• Three Attitudes That Destroy the Hope of Salvation

  …ty, is too sorrowful a scene to contemplate. (2) Indifference.  Some synonyms for indifference would be disinterested, uninterested, unconcerned, apathetic, etc.  Many people will be lost because they do not care enough to be saved.  With this character salvation would have to fall into his lap for him to have it for he will not make a move on his own.  He is very well pleased with the “just believe in God” doctrine (having no idea wh…

• The Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God

  ffliction like those who lack the power and nobility and worldly wisdom they have.  Is money a blessing?  It could be but most of the time it is not.  How do I know?  I know because Jesus said, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matt. 19:24 NKJV)  Why?  One big reason is because few of that class who are doing so well will ever find a heartfelt desire from deep within to …

• 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…

• 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….

• 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…

• 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

  … all men” (1 Peter 2:17 KJV) or as the ESV states it “honor everyone.”  With God one man is as good as another and we are to have that attitude as well, followers of him who shows no partiality and who desires that all men be saved.  Indeed of those who are more powerful and influential God has 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)  Th…

• 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 Christian, Politics, and the Government

  ho has ever read the Old Testament.  It was not just Israel and Judah that God judged and brought to ruin.  If you will read the Old Testament prophets you will read of nation after nation that God prophesied judgment against through his prophets and eventually brought to ruin. Even before that we can go back to the time the children of Israel were given the land of Palestine after their departure from Egypt?  Why did God drive out and destroy th…

• Abortion Luke 1 – All You Need to Know

  nd of God?  David said, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” (Psalms 139:16 NKJV)  God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, spoke about Cyrus the Great fulfilling God’s will in Isaiah 44:28 on through the first part of chapter 45, even calling Cyrus by name (Isa. 45:4), when it would be many decades to come befor…