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

  …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 »I have written a series of articles on the subject of obeying the gospel i…

• 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…

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

  f Cornelius and his household as found in Act 10 is where most of the difficulty arises.  People feel that when the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius that saved him or, let me get this straight, did it mean he was already saved before the Spirit fell upon him for God would not place his spirit on an unsaved sinner? Thus my first question is which is it?  It makes a difference.  If the Holy Spirit falling upon Cornelius is what saved him, he being a…

• 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…

• The Great Commission and Cornelius

  ere to be made, and then they were to be baptized.  Mark 16:16 makes it even clearer.  “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16 NKJV)  I have said before and say again the problem with denominational teaching on this subject is that the import of what they teach is the same as if Mark 16:16 read, “He who believes and is not baptized will be saved” for they …

• 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 …

• Things People Do Not Know About the Church

  ly, one can do without the church if one is talking about a denominational church (those in them will generally admit it does not matter whether or not you are a member of their particular denomination for they say you can be saved without being a member of their group).  But, with that said it is a whole different story when it comes to the Lord’s church.  Here is a list of 12 things many people do not know or understand about the Lord’s church&…

• Bible Contradictions on Salvation?

  the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32 NKJV) We are saved by fearing him and working righteousness.  “But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (Acts 10:35 NKJV)  Before you get in a hurry to dismiss this passage you need to consider.  What about a man who does not fear him and is not working righteousness.  Is he saved? We are saved by grace.  Peter says, “But we believe that t…

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

  …are not Christians.  They are moral people, they are honest, they work hard, treat us well, and it is hard to see how God could reject them.  They are like Cornelius in Acts 10 but I remind the reader Cornelius in order to be saved had to hear, believe, and obey the gospel for salvation.  If he was saved in the state he was in why bother Peter?  Why does Peter need to travel to Caesarea in view of the fact it is a waste of his time to preach to C…

• Ways into Christ–How Many Ways Are There?

  nt alone.  Be a scholar and study it out and see based on the context and the totality of New Testament teaching on the subject what the word means  where it is located. I want to deal with one other passage and that by Peter before closing.  In Acts 10:43 Peter is at the house of Cornelius preaching and says this, “to him all the prophets witness that, through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins.” (NKJV)  This is the…

• How Was Noah Saved Through Water?

  or by works (he did build the ark)?  There are a lot of questions.  Let us start from the beginning. We are all aware of the story of how the flood came about.  After God made man in due time mankind came to be great sinners before God.  “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5 NKJV)  God determined to destroy man for his evil, a…

• Misunderstanding the Grace of God

  eves all God has said on a subject.  The denominationalist says you put on Christ at the point of faith.  Paul says not so.  Paul says by grace I have been saved through faith and then tells me I put on Christ in baptism, not before baptism.  Will I believe all Paul said or just what I want? But, here is the clincher that destroys all arguments that attempt to separate baptism from grace.  Paul, who remember said “by grace you have been sav…

• Saved by Jesus Outside the Church?

  … pop up in a Bible concordance search? All of that aside I want to deal with the idea that one can develop this relationship with Jesus on a personal level that will save him outside the church.  If a person means they can be saved outside the Catholic Church I completely agree.  If they are saying they can be saved outside of a denominational church I again completely agree.  If, however, they are saying they can be saved outside the church one …

• Acceptable Prayer

  …s in Acts 10, God will listen.  It is said that Cornelius “prayed to God continually” (Acts 10:2 NAS) and then when the angel appears to him the angel says, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.” (Acts 10:4 NAS)  As soon as Peter arrived and told Cornelius what God would have him do he believed and obeyed what he was told. However, if you are one who is not truly seeking God, but only one who is se…

• Does God Really Care?

  …f our care or anxiety upon him, “because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 NAS) In closing I ran across a song on YouTube the other day that hit home and opened my eyes to a Bible verse in a way I had never known it before.  The song was entitled “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” You remember the verses, Luke 12:6-7 (NKJV), “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But …

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

  …spel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1:16 NAS)  It thus becomes essential that we learn what it is that man is to believe in order to be saved if we seek the salvation of our souls.  What is included in the gospel that must be believed? Paul helps us out and gives us a good start in defining the gospel in 1 Cor. 15:1-4:  “Now I make known to you, brethr…

• Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation?

  he full context in which we find the statements.  The very next verse coming after this Eph. 2:8-9 passage is verse 10 which reads, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (NKJV) The man who takes Eph. 2:8-9 as eliminating the need for good works is saying then that even though we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works” we do not…

• The Grace of God in Baptism

  …rly set forth in Paul’s passage to Titus which reads as follows: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by his grace we should become heirs according to …

• Faith, Works, and Baptism

  …e because of faith or out of faith.  What does that mean then?  Faith must precede obedience.  The justifying faith Paul was talking about in the book of Romans was a faith that led to obedience.  Faith must precede obedience before you can have obedience out of faith. There has never been a baptism acceptable to God but what it was first preceded by faith and submitted to by faith.  (This being one reason infant baptism is of no account being a …

• Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith)

  ash away his sins did Paul doubt he had sins to be washed away?  Did he believe at that point in time that baptism was just a figure, a symbol, or a representation of a salvation already received?  Now be honest with yourself before you answer that.  A man comes from God and gives you this message and you know full well he was sent from God and you are going to do what–doubt him and his message?  I don’t think so! Here is a point that…

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

  …he man sent from God to Paul, 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 …

• Unhappy With the Church of Christ?

  ; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.” (2 Cor. 12:20-21 NKJV)  Yes, there is no need to tell me the church is not what it ought to be today for when has i…

• The Kind of Faith in God That Destroys

  here was one God but by studying the gospel accounts one also knows they believed in Jesus for they often confessed him.  One such example is Mark 3:11, “And whenever the unclean spirits beheld Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, saying, ‘You are the Son of God!’” (NAS) Another example is found in Luke 4:33-34 (NAS), “And there was a man in the synagogue possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and …

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

  20:31 NKJV)  Simon Peter’s confession in Matt. 16:16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (NKJV), is the foundational truth upon which the church is built.  It is the thing that must be believed before one can be made into a “living stone” (1 Peter 2:5 NKJV) that is added to the spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5) of God called the church of which Jesus is the Savior (Eph. 1:22-23 and Eph. 5:23). If Jesus was …

• The Cleansing of the Church at Ephesus

  s believed and has not been baptized shall be saved” is not a man of faith.  He may think he is but if so then one can clearly disregard the words of Jesus, turn them topsy-turvy, and call it faith. I have asked this question before but have never gotten an answer.  If Jesus wanted man to know that baptism was essential to the remission of sins how would he say it in a way to get man to understand it?  He could not say “repent, and be baptized ev…

• Baptism

  ria Preaching Jesus Means Preaching Baptism (The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch) Moses, the Waters of Marah, and a Lesson for Today Saul’s Conversion Paul’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 Baptis…

• For By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith Alone

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

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

  sus lie?  Did the Holy Spirit fail to do this with Peter on the day of Pentecost?  If you ever wanted to know when Jesus taught baptism for the remission of sins then Acts 2:38 is one of your answers. Speaking to the apostles before his death Jesus said, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initia…

• How Does One Get Into the Church Christ Built?

  Not a single denominational church was built by Christ for he built his church, one and only, in the first century hundreds of years before any denominations came into existence.  The New Testament scriptures after the gospels and Acts chapter 2 all refer to the church as a then existing institution.  Paul wrote to various churches in some of his epistles.  Jesus in the book of Revelation instructs John to write concerning the 7 churches of Asia…

• Denominationalism’s Sin Against Peter

  er apostles that day prior to the sermon.  If so, and I thought it was, I thought God was capable of saying what he meant to say.  Have I been wrong?  But then Jesus did say that “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mar 16:16 NKJV)  Did Jesus promise in this Mark passage that he who is not baptized will be saved?  Some seem to think so the way they talk.  The reality of Mark …

• Everlasting Life–The Believer of John 3:16

  …of whom the Bible says, “By faith Abraham obeyed.” (Heb. 11:8 NKJV)  To what extent did Abraham obey?  To the extent he was in the very act of offering Isaac as a burnt offering to God because God had commanded it before God stopped him.  This is the Abraham of whom the Bible says is “the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also.” (Rom. 4:11 NKJV) The …

• Which Denomination Did Jesus Build?

  Years ago I had a lady tell me it was impossible to be just a Christian without being in a denomination.  Did Jesus build a denomination?  Which denomination did Jesus build?  I fear the lady I spoke of above was in grave error those many years ago but she was in a bind.  What do I mean?  Those who are in denominational churches generally all agree that those in other denominations can and will be saved the same as they will be.  Which means wha…

• 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…

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

  and without blemish.” (NKJV) The phrase “washing of water” is a direct reference to baptism.  “By the word” signifies the reason for the baptism–God’s word.  God’s word directs one to be baptized. Some think they can be saved outside the church.  There is no way that can happen.  Why?  Because Christians are the church and it is Christians that will be saved.  The church is the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23); “He (Jesus–DS) is the Savi…

• One Church—A Thing Hard to Accept

  ld it be because he or she was happy and satisfied with where they were at and had no desire to change, did not want change? But this was not the first time the Jews had done such a thing.  Zechariah in talking about the Jews before the Babylonian captivity said of them, “They refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.  Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and t…

• Resource Sites

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

• The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept

  …JV) which is the only way one can obey God. One cannot believe error, get wet, and be saved.  Almost all denominational bodies with hardly an exception teach that baptism either symbolizes a salvation one already has obtained before his baptism or else it is necessary not to enter the universal church but to enter the local congregation or denominational church.  The idea is that you are already saved but to become a member here we require baptis…

• The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer

  that can be gleaned from those few words.  First, it can be fairly inferred that the jailer was convinced that Paul and Silas were men of God who knew God’s will.  Perhaps their reputation had proceeded them as not long before this they had converted Lydia (Acts 16:14-15) and also had cast out a spirit of divination from a slave girl, a spirit that was telling all that “these men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclai…

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

  …r heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.” (Rom. 10:9-10 NKJV) The final condition one is met with before it can be said he has entered the body of Christ of which Christ said he is the Savior (Eph. 5:23) is baptism.  “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or fre…

• 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 …

• Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

  …31 we read, “And again, ‘The LORD will judge His people.’  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Paul says it this way in 2 Cor. 5:10-11 (NKJV), “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”  Death is co…

• The Church Christ Built–Marks of Identification

  …2:38), and were baptized for the forgiveness of sins (as instructed to do–Acts 2:38) they were then translated into the kingdom of God by God himself.  It is in that kingdom, not out of it, where salvation is found.  If saved that day, does anyone doubt that they were (?), they were that day translated into the “kingdom of the Son of his love.” (Col. 1:13 NKJV) Men do not join the church (the kingdom of God) but rather God adds them upon co…

• Willful Sin–Can Anyone Be Saved?

  … 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 before reaching that kind of conclusion.  When we take a look at verse 26 in the New American Standard version we readily see that the verse is not talking about a single act of willful sin.  It reads as follows, “For …

• 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?

  …can rescue (?) them for there is no hope that reason can.  How can one claim his church (speaking by way of accommodation) is the church Jesus built when one takes chronology into account?  The church Jesus built had to exist before his denomination otherwise the implication is that no one was saved for the hundreds of years prior to his denomination’s establishment but after Christ’s purchase of the church with his own blood (Acts 20:28 NKJV).  …

• Faith and Baptism in Paul’s Preaching

  ame city Paul and Silas find themselves in prison when an earthquake occurs freeing them and all the other prisoners if they so choose to flee. (Acts 16:26)  The Philippian jailer, trembling with fear, comes in and falls down before Paul and Silas (Acts 16:29), brings them out, and asks of them the question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30 NAS)  The entire conversion account follows: “And they said, ‘Believ…

• Jesus and the Furnace of Fire

  …y, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (NKJV)  Paul says, “and the like” meaning this is only a partial listing of sins. …

• Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching

  …pel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Gal. 1:8 NKJV)  One gospel was preached by inspiration. Jesus commanded the apostles, “But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 13:11 NKJV)  I quote that passage for I want you the reader t…

• Is Denominational Baptism Scriptural?

  to one body.” (NKJV)  It becomes meaningless for that is the very thing a saved by faith alone advocate must deny.  He must deny that “we were all baptized into one body.”  His point of view is that he was already in the body before and without baptism. Salvation is in the body of Christ (Eph. 5:23, 1:22-23).  You are baptized into that body (1 Cor. 12:13) but the saved by faith alone man got into the body some other way since he claims to be sav…

• Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin

  … into 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 t…

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

  l always have a greater appeal to man than the Lord’s church for it allows more freedom of expression and gives man more say so in what is done and how it is done.  Man has a desire for that.  It has always been that way long before the church ever came into existence. The fact that some congregations are not what they ought to be should surprise no one.  Read about the 7 churches of Asia in Rev. 2 and 3.  However, the concept of restoration is a…

• If Baptism is Not Essential for Salvation

  …so may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (2 Tim. 2:10 NKJV) Sometimes people want to quibble when one quotes Gal. 3:27 to them as I just did above saying we left out the verse that comes right before it, verse 26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)  A quibble is all it is for when you put the 2 verses together here is what you get – how do you know you are a son of God throug…

• Indifference – The Great Destroyer

  …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 has set that long unread and unused. They virtually never read it. The scariest thing for me when it comes to one’s loved ones having indifference towards God and s…

• Christian Wars–A Misnomer

  d from childhood.  And who can help what he is born into?  (This is not to say no one ever converts to Catholicism but only that the vast majority are born into it.) However, when one gets older he/she does become responsible before God.  John said, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1Jn 4:1 NKJV)  There will be some, maybe m…

• The Mysterious Eloquent Evangelist

  …ld have conferred this knowledge to him or else he would have known and not needed further instruction from Priscilla and Aquila. So, one of the big mysteries concerning Apollos is how he failed to come to this knowledge long before meeting up with Priscilla and Aquila.  Why did not his earlier instructors in the way of the Lord convey this truth to him?  We will never know for the Bible does not tell us. Was it important that Apollos know this t…

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

  with its coming. When Jesus spoke these words the kingdom did not yet exist and if Jesus is to be the king of it he does not yet have a kingdom.  But, one might object the New Testament speaks of Jesus as being a king already before this kingdom of which you speak has arrived.  True.  But, can a person be a king before he sets on the throne and begins to rule?  We would, I think, all agree that he could.  If it is certain he is to be king we can …

• More on Willful Sin—Can Anyone be Saved?

  tter.” (2 Cor. 7:9-11 NKJV)  The Corinthians were Christians who had sinned and considering  the sins they committed as we read about them in the book of First Corinthians one has to think “they knew better” before committing some of them. John says he wrote to his little children, as he calls them, “that you may not sin.  And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2…

• How Does the Blood of Jesus and Baptism Tie Together

  ve sinned by betraying innocent blood.” (Matt. 27:4 NKJV)  What did he mean by using the phrase “innocent blood?”  He meant he had betrayed innocent life.  Blood stood for life.  When Pilate washed his hands before the multitude who wanted Jesus put to death and made the statement, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person” (Matt. 27:24 NKJV) what did he mean?  Was it not I am innocent of putting to death this …

• Bible Conversions

  Second Gospel Sermon Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching Philip Preaching the Gospel in Samaria 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 …

• Who Gets to Decide–God or the Church?

  of sense–or is it nonsense? But, who gets to make the rules about Christianity and the Christian life?  Is it the church, the denomination, or is it God?  When we get this right denominationalism will cease. Jesus, just before he ascended back to heaven said to his apostles, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matt. 28:18 NAS)  If words mean anything the word “all” still means the entire thi…

• Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon

  e between Peter’s first sermon and his second there is no doubt for the Bible says “the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47 NAS) and this was after Pentecost but before the events recorded in Acts 3. Of those sermons, of which we know nothing, we can only say with certainty that the truth was taught and what was taught was the same as that taught by Peter in Acts 2 by inspiration of …

• Abraham’s Faith (Faith Accounted for Righteousness)

  lost sinner and this is the first time God accounted to him his faith for righteousness.  This was not a conversion experience for Abraham. The truth is Abraham believed God, walked with God, and was in obedience to God long before this event.  Stephen in Acts 7 said, “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives,…

• 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…

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

  …aith.  With Paul, as with the other evangelists of his day, that included baptism for the remission of sins.  The text says Lydia was baptized along with her household (Acts 16:15) but when did she do this and why?  The verse before, verse 14, tells us that she was responding “to the things spoken by Paul.” (NAS)  Paul preached to her the gospel.  Paul preached baptism because Lydia was baptized in response to the things spoken by Pau…

• Who is the Believer in John 3:16?

  n (verse 3), is the man who is born of water and the Spirit (verse 5).  If this is not the same man, the man of John 3:16 and the man of John 3:3,5, then we have Jesus contradicting himself and teaching one man is going to be saved one way in the earlier passages and another way in the later passage.  Surely, all can see Jesus is talking about the same individual. Unfortunately, for the faith only crowd, this makes the believer of John 3:16 who w…

• Faith is Not Just What You Believe

  …h that by all outward appearances has driven them to do nothing.  It is as dead as a door nail by all outward measurements.  Many who talk about their personal faith cannot even make it out to worship once a week but they are saved by faith. But, the response is made you are judging, you do not know my heart.  What I do know is that James says, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save…

• Why Do Men Run From God?

  …in the Garden of Eden by eating of the forbidden fruit, breaking God’s commandment, they attempted to hide from God.  Adam said to God he was hiding because of his nakedness (Gen. 3:10) but that had never been a problem before.  Sin made it a problem and thus sin caused the first man and woman to run from God and try and hide from him. Every case of running from God or away from God has been caused by sin in a man’s life.  Those who l…

• Mary of Bethany–Doing What You Can

  Sometimes even when we do good we receive criticism and blame as though that which we did was evil rather than good.  Such was the case with Mary of Bethany a friend of Jesus and one whom Jesus loved (John 11:5).  If you are not familiar with the story of Mary who anointed Jesus with some very expensive oil of spikenard not long before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion you can read the account in Matt. 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, and John 12:1-8. I w…

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

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

• Repentance–How Can I Be Sure?

  …hat is it I must do?  What does it mean to repent?  It is very common to find people who do not understand and who simply think to repent means to be sorry. If sorrow was repentance then Judas, the betrayer of the Lord, was a saved man.  The Bible says, “Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.” (Matt. 27:3 NKJV)  His sorrow was so gre…

• Behold the Judge is Standing at the Door

  …ble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.  Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:9 NKJV)  That ought to be a sobering thought to all who seriously contemplate it. “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  For it is written:  ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’  So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.…

• Ashamed of Jesus and His Words

  …1) – (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 state of mind when he gives this warning against being as…

• A New Creation in Christ

  …e. Paul said, “This is a faithful saying:  For if we died with him, we shall also live with him.” (2 Tim. 2:11 NKJV – see very similar wording in Rom. 6:8 as well.)  The old man of sin must first die and be buried before a new creation can come into existence.  When and where does 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 Je…

• 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…

• Christianity and Multiculturalism

  …Acts 19).  Was this a culture Christians ought to value or embrace? If every culture has value in its own right why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?  If every culture is good why did God drive out the inhabitants of Canaan before the Israelites?  If you do not know you can find out by reading Lev. 18 and Lev. 20.  God in both chapters list a long list of sins and then says in Lev. 18:24-25, “Do not defile yourselves with any of these thi…

• Walk in Truth—the Joy of John the Apostle

  …” for the desire is for hundreds and thousands of different truths to all come from the same book, the Bible.  If the Bible was to teach but one truth then men would have to learn and know that truth.  They could not be saved by simply being sincere in their hearts. What is even more troubling, if the Bible teaches there is but one truth, is that it would mean many people we love or have loved and who are now passed on were lost.  Why?  Bec…

• Gospel Obedience at Corinth

  you do not have any so evidently Ananias felt pretty sure that Paul still had some that needed to be taken care of.  Many modern day preachers speak as though they know more about it than what Ananias did as they say men are saved at the point of faith without baptism and thus have no sins to wash away.  There is a passage in 1 Corinthians that cause some people trouble on the subject of baptism–1 Cor. 1:14.  Paul preached baptism, persona…

• Demas Has Forsaken Me

  orld”. (2 Tim. 4:10 NKJV) One gets the idea that Demas had been with Paul for a number of years and had only recently departed.  Why else mention his departure if it was one of long standing, old news, that had occurred years before? We have then a man who had traveled and worked with Paul, sacrificed and struggled along with him, endured the hardship a number of years, and saw with but little doubt miracles Paul performed and yet this Christian …

• Repent–How Hard It Is To Do

  h “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5 NKJV).  Most Bible students believe Noah preached 120 years (based on Gen. 6:3) and yet the only ones converted by his preaching were members of his own family.  Only 8 people were saved from the flood–Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives. The Bible says of those who died in the flood that they were “disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the a…

• Christ and Baptism in Colossians

  itage exerts on people. Error believed has the same faith affect upon a man or woman as truth believed and can thus provide peace and comfort until the time truth 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–t…

• Lessons for the Church from Isaiah (Chapter 1)

  Paul says, in Rom. 15:4, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning” (NKJV) as he writes to the saints (Christians) in Rome (Rom. 1:7 NKJV).  The prophetic book of Isaiah written hundreds of years before Christ can teach us much about God–what pleases him, what displeases him, his nature, who he is, what or how he feels, his thoughts, his sense of justice, etc.  I think most of us would like to know God better a…

• Hypocrites in the Church

  …nning in verse about 15.  We have earlier in this piece talked about Peter’s own hypocrisy but if you will read closely verses 18 and 19 you will see that Peter was to die a death that would glorify God.  He would die a saved man so hypocrites can be saved; they can repent and be saved. But, my point is not that.  It is rather this.  When Jesus told Peter about what kind of death he Peter would die Peter turned around and saw the disciple w…

• God’s Willingness to Forgive–King Manasseh

  began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.  His mother’s name was Hephzibah.  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.  For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven a…

• Is Holy Spirit Baptism The Baptism That Saves?

  other words it is a baptism you cannot obey.  It is something you get, not something you do.  Pentecostals ought to keep this in mind because it is going to cause problems down the road.  Indeed, it is going to cause problems before one even finishes the book of Matthew.  In the Great Commission of Matt. 28:18-20 Jesus speaking to the apostles said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples …

• Christ Did Not Send Paul to Baptize

  …question if one is to interpret 1 Cor. 1:17 as teaching that baptism does not matter to Paul or to Christ.  Actually, two questions.  (1) Why was Paul, an apostle, exempt from the command Jesus gave to the other apostles just before his ascension to heaven in Matt. 28:19-20 where the command was, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them…

• Work Out Your Own Salvation

  y what the passage clearly states, that a man must work out his own salvation.  One denied the Greek was correctly translated and made his argument on that basis. Let me quote the Philippians passage to you so we will have it before us and know what it says. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in…

• 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…

• Christianity–Who Rules Reason or Emotions?

  … said they were doing so. However, what if the leadership decides that next Sunday we will have a special worship service where each one present will come forward, light a candle, and kneel at the bottom of a picture of Jesus before returning to their seat.  Is that not commandment making?  You can find no authority for it in the New Testament and yet your leadership has said we will do this and it is forced upon you like it or not.  It is as muc…

• 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…

• The Faith of Enoch

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

• 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…

• When did Obedience Become Legalism?

  …n 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 doing that is to legitimize it–get everyone else to think what we are doing is not wrong.  Hey, e…

• Why Men Do Not Believe

  … acted ignorantly in unbelief.” (1 Tim. 1:13 NAS) Thus there was a time in Paul’s life when he was an unbeliever.  Yet, Paul, then known as Saul, was an honest man for he says elsewhere in Acts 23:1 while standing before the Council or Sanhedrin that “I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day” (NAS) or, as the NKJV puts it, “in all good conscience.” It would be easy to say …

• God’s Hardening of the Human Heart

  Does God ever harden people’s hearts?  No doubt about it.  Every Bible student is aware of God’s hardening the heart of Pharaoh back in the book of Exodus.  This was God’s plan before Moses arrived in Egypt.  “And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.”…

• Better to Never Have Been Born–Why?

  …ul Christian when that breath has been drawn.  It is torment to us and unrelenting sorrow to think about what is to become of those we care about and love deeply if somehow or another they do not get their lives turned around before death takes them.  It is better to never have been born than to die in sin and spend eternity in hell. I do not understand how it is that some do not seem to understand that they are not in charge of their lives.  Ev…

• A Good and Pure Conscience

  …and unhappiness. The conscience is that which is within us that pricks us, perhaps troubles us would be a better way of putting it, when we do that which we consider to be wrong.  Generally speaking we knew the deed was wrong before we committed it but went ahead, violated our conscience, and did it anyway.  We then feel guilt and shame.  Also it is not always just what we do that condemns us in our conscience but often things we know we should h…

• Pray For Others Lest You Sin

  … made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (NKJV) God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV) In Rom. 10:1 Paul speaks of his praying for those who were not C…

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

  ubject of instrumental music no man alive today can remember when there was a time when instruments were not in common use and generally accepted across what is called Christendom.  However, it was over 600 years after Christ before instrumental music was introduced into worship.  Pope Vitalian, it is said, was the first to add the instrument to the worship with the date being a little uncertain but it was somewhere between 658 and 670 AD.  While…

• Honestly Deceived

  elves.  How many have been and are being led astray because they will not read the Bible and accept that only?  They want to know what the authorities in their religious body first have to say about a verse, about a doctrine, before they are willing to accept the word at face value. There has always been pressure to conform our thinking in a way that is acceptable to others.  The prophet from God wanted to believe the old prophet who lied to him….

• 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? …

• Jesus the Foundation of and the Builder of the Church

  Lest the reader be misled by the title reading into it what is not there the church that is being talked about in this article may not be the one you are a member of so proceed if at all with caution having been forewarned.  You can judge for yourself after reading.  I begin with Jesus as the foundation of the church. After Jesus’ arrest he was brought before the Jewish council where he was asked, “‘Are you then the Son of God?…

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

  …on, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NKJV)  He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (1 Peter 3:9 NKJV)  He “desires all men to be saved.” (1 Tim. 2:4 NKJV)  “We love him because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 NKJV) (2) He will never give up on me or come to the point he no longer wants me as long as I will come home even if I was to wonder afar–…

• The Parable of the Talents–the Sin of Fear

  …r to withdraw from eating with the Gentile Christians “fearing those who were of the circumcision” (Gal. 2:12 NKJV) and for which Paul rightly rebuked him (Gal. 2:14).  Without repentance Peter could not have been saved from these sins. What was missing from the thinking of the man who buried his master’s talent in the parable of the talents?  Faith!  His master had faith in him or else he would never have given the man the tale…

• Jesus’ Baptism and You?

  ay down the road somewhere in the future and was not immediate?  No, for it was a certainty, not just a promise, that Jesus would die on the cross.  The deed was as good as done the day it was first prophesied, actually, even before when it was first conceived in the mind of God.  When Moses and Elijah met Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus had not yet died on the cross.  Was their salvation hanging in the balance until he died?  To ask …

• Christian Circumcision

  sha to go dip in the Jordan 7 times.  Naaman had something to do.  When he did it he was cleansed. Now let us think about that just a little.  Who really cleansed Naaman of leprosy, was it the water or was it God?  Was Naaman saved by works or by faith?  Had Naaman never heard of Elisha and had just gone down on his own to the Jordan and dipped in it 7 times with no idea of being cleansed but just dipping as in bathing would the water have cleans…

• 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 …

• Grace

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

• He Went Away Grieved

    In those days a man might seek Jesus to further his career not that he was really seeking after the bread of eternal life but seeking for the bread of this life.  Even today the politicians will be sure and hit the churches before a major election and most certainly not for spiritual enlightenment or uplifting. There was a man in the Bible we read about who came to Jesus for what appeared to be the right motive, a spiritual motive, that he migh…

• The Need to Preach on Sin

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

• 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…

• Abortion Luke 1 – All You Need to Know

  …eaking 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 before Cyrus would be born.  Did Cyrus exist in the mind of God prior to his birth?  Was he just fetal matter in the womb or was he the baby Cyrus?   When a woman conceives whose doing is that if not God’s?  (See Gen. …

• 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….

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

  …nd went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept.” (2 Sam. 18:33 NKJV)  You always love your child no matter how deeply they grow to despise you.  Oh, what it would have meant to David if there could have been reconciliation before it came to this but reconciliation requires two willing parties.  One alone is not enough. The New Testament example of alienation did not end in tragedy as was the case with David and Absalom but rather in great joy …

• 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 Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God

  what should be an eye opening event, get our lives 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 a…

• 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…

• Saul’s Conversion

  sins.” (NAS)  This is the very reason in every account of conversion that we have discussed in earlier articles those who believed were baptized.  As Jesus said, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NAS)  Is it so hard to believe Jesus?  Is it so hard to believe Peter, to believe Philip, to believe Ananias?  Judged by the belief and practice of the world it must be. …

• Jesus Defines Repentance

  …an impossibility.  We say it is hard to get people to repent and so it is but why?  One of the biggest reasons is disbelief. What must one believe in order to repent?  He must believe God is.  He must believe he stands guilty before God.  He must believe he is a condemned man in his present state.  Belief is thus a necessary prerequisite to repentance. There are two or three passages in the New Testament that put repentance before belief (Acts 20…

• 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…

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

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

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

  at God is is not saving faith.  There is more to it than just that.  “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble!” (James 2:19 NKJV)  Do we believe Cain and the demons were saved?  If not we need to continue to study to learn what saving faith consists of.  It certainly involves more than just believing a God exists in the heavens. The writer of the book of Hebrews says of Abel that he “o…

• What Is Baptism (the Sprinkling Hoax)

  …lic Church would not accept this but the Roman Catholic did and it exercised dominance in the West where the English speaking people resided and where English speaking Bibles were to be produced.  This was more than 100 years before the printing press was invented making mass production of Bibles possible.  The long and short of it was that the doctrine of sprinkling was by subterfuge brought into the Bible by deliberate failure to translate a Gr…

• A Heart Right With God (Test Your Heart)

  uch better it would be to take the route Paul proposed? Paul said, “I do not even judge myself.  For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but he who judges me is the Lord.  Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.  Then each one’s praise will come from God.” (1 Cor. 4:3-5 NKJV) We ought to be content…

• Fornication–Take It Lightly at Your Peril

  “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:  adultery, fornication…and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21 NKJV)  One of two things is true today–the world either believes it can treat God with utter contempt or no longer believes in him and his word period.  Man has always had to battle sexual desire …

• 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

  be put to death.  Do you think that might have aroused bitterness and anger in most of us had we of been in Jesus’ shoes or been a family member or close friend?  Yet, Jesus “was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isa. 53:7 NKJV) Peter says, “When he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteou…

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

  …somehow feel as though to do so is unspiritual.  If that is true what do you do with Jesus?  Has there ever been a stricter legalist if commandment keeping is your definition of being 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 th…

• They Loved the Praise of Men

  …r, the trash man, or the cleaning lady.  We are arrogant.  We are only interested in what you think about us if you are one whom we deem to be better than others.  At a very minimum you must be one of our peers, as we see it, before we are interested in your praise. This attitude itself is sin.  All men stand equal before God.  We are to show partiality to none.  James speaks of this in James 2:1-6, “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord…

• Deeper Spiritual Understanding–How do I Acquire It?

  …ut individuals within my realm of influence. We all need to keep in our minds that we are not going to be judged by what the group thinks, or believes, or practices.  Judgment is an individual matter.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” (2 Cor. 510-11 NKJ…

• The Wicked Shall be Turned into Hell

  …e care about them.  Serving God or obeying his word is far from his mind. “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.” (Psalms 10:4 NKJV)  “There is no fear of God before his eyes.” (Psalm 36:1 NKJV)  “Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.” (Psalm 119:155 NKJV) A man must be very careful to never encourage evil as defined by God in his …

• The Pleasures of Sin

  …Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Gal. 6:7-8 NKJV) Not everything that is pleasurable is sin but even when a pleasure is not sinful in and of itself we can make it a sin by putting indulgence in it a priority before God and thus making it an idol we worship ahead of God.  Will we have kept the pleasures of life at bay sufficiently to have done our duty before God and man when our time to depart this world has come?  We need to do…

• The Fragrance of Christ

    We get to choose which it will be.  Moses, in speaking to the children of Israel in Deut. 30:19, spoke words that are applicable to us today as well.  “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (NKJV)  Why not choose Christ?         …

• Fear God

  …edge,” (Prov. 1:7 NKJV), “is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death,” (Prov. 14:27 NKJV), “by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” (Prov. 16:6 NKJV) Just a few more verses from the Old Testament before turning to the new.  What is the whole duty of man?  Solomon concluded in Eccl. 12:13, NKJV, that it was and is to “fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” or as the old King James version put it, “…

• 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…

• Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God

  t 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 the sea, at the Red Se…

• The Parable of the 10 Virgins–7 Lessons

  could say that even the 5 unprepared virgins were seeking the company of God’s people. I sometimes hear people talking about their heart and how their heart tells them they are okay with God.  We must have a clear conscience before God but Paul’s heart was good while he was persecuting Christians for the simple reason he thought he was doing God’s will.  He said after his arrest in Jerusalem while before the council there, “I have lived in all g…

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

  Does Bible authority matter or is man free to do as he sees fit in the Christian religion?  Most have come to the conclusion today that it does not matter.  The result is that there are more unheard of things going on in Christian worship today than ever before.  You name it and it is being done somewhere.  Every type of special service the mind can imagine (and many that you cannot) is being held.  The idea is that anything we do in worship wit…

• The Conscience as a Witness

  …cause of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.” (NKJV)  Our hearts ought to be so tender towards God that we are willing to endure all wrong in order to maintain a good witness of our conscience before God. Not everything can be bought with gold.  Some things, in fact many things, are of more value than gold.  Things like a good name, good character, a good hope, love, faith, forgiveness, and a good conscience towar…

• 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…

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

  , “because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us, or not?’” (Ex. 17:7 NASB)  This was in the early part of the exodus after leaving Egypt before the children 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 …

• He Feared

  …just around the corner and that the only thing keeping us from going there is faithful obedience we will be faithful.  Sin is a direct result of a weak faith.  We some how convince ourselves that we can disobey God and yet be saved which is another way of saying we do not believe what God has said.  To quote the Hebrew writer, speaking of Jesus, “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:9 NKJV)  We either believe…

• Never Give Up

  …Moses went to God concerning the matter and God directed him to go to the rock there and speak to the rock and strike it with his rod and water would come forth.  Moses did this but failed to give God the glory instead saying before striking the rock “must we bring water for you out of this rock?” (Num. 20:10 NKJV)  We infer from this that he was speaking of himself and his brother Aaron who was with him.  God was left out of the picture and not …

• Abuse of the Old Testament

  , “Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?”  Good question.  I think Isaiah answered his own question didn’t he? Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 “offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them” (verse 1) and the Bible says “so fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.” (Lev. 10:2 NKJV)  They had no authority from…

• The Army of the Lord–the Church

  …cted you of it.  Obviously, this is a paraphrase but that is pretty much the exact thought expressed and how true it was and is yet to this day.  Many is the man who will speak softly to us and who will allow us to go to hell before they will offend us but how many a man is there who will tell us the truth?  Which of the two is really our friend? I told my children when they were growing up that one of the worst things that happens with adulthood…