Blessed Is The Man

The book of Psalms is likely the most-read book of the Old Testament. It begins by giving us instructions on how to live a good life away from those things that would drag us down and destroy us.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2 NKJV)

To really get a good grasp on a passage, it is often good to read it from more than one translation, so I want to quote the passage here from two other versions—the New Revised Standard Version and the New Living Translation.

“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.” (NRSV)

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.” (NLT)

The Old Testament Hebrew word translated “blessed” or “happy” in this passage (“joys” in the NLT) means, according to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, happy or favored. The Hebrew can legitimately be rendered “happy” according to most commentators. It is not a state of emotional ecstasy as in “I am so, so happy” but a state of being in which one could say he has been blessed by being saved from all the troubles and trials sinners bring upon themselves, unnecessarily, by the lives they live.

It is the kind of blessing or happiness that one can easily fail to recognize, for it is related to things like peace, contentment, and joy rather than the momentary and fleeting ecstasy that a single solitary joyous event might bring on. It has permanence. It is an abiding quiet type of happiness that lies deep within the soul.

There are things a godly person will never experience which are wonderful blessings within themselves. The godly person is not going to experience the loss of the love of a loving wife and children because of his cheating on his wife. He is not going to experience anger and bitterness against himself because of his deceitfulness, lying, and slander. People are not going to avoid him and disrespect him because of his vulgarity, his foul mouth. He will not be known as an unloving, unkind, and bitter man. Because we do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly nor stand in the path of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful, and we do follow God’s counsel, we miss the trouble, pain, and sorrow that comes as a direct result of ungodliness.

If we want to enjoy this blessing, we cannot walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Who we associate with and whose counsel we take can make all the difference in the world. “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’” (1 Cor. 15:33 NKJV) Good parents have always been concerned about the company their children keep and with good scriptural reason to back it up. It is just a fact that if you hang around with the wrong people long enough and get into a close relationship with them, it is going to rub off on you. Run with the wrong crowd, avoid the righteous, and it will catch up with you in due time.

There are people out in the world whose advice or counsel needs to be ignored, for it is ungodly and ultimately leads to suffering and sorrow. Gross ungodliness is easy enough to recognize, but ungodliness today is often cloaked in what the world perceives to be a mantle of righteousness and can easily draw the uninformed into its grasp. Paul said, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Cor. 11:14-15 NKJV)

Homosexual marriage is the latest such thing. The Bible is clear that homosexual relationships are ungodly, but the counsel of the wicked says it is bigoted, unloving, and intolerant, even unchristian, to prohibit these relationships. Two generations ago, when my grandparents were still living and my parents were still young, all recognized this sin as immorality. Nowadays it is unloving and bigoted to be critical, and some mainstream denominations are beginning to accept gay marriage as righteous. We cast the word of God aside and say society, not God, is the ultimate judge of godliness, righteousness, or whatever similar term you wish to use. It seems crazy, but who can deny but that we are doing that today?

When I was growing up, it was still immoral and frowned upon for a person to leave their husband or wife. Nowadays you can have 3, 4, or 5 marriages, all unscriptural, and nobody bats an eye. In fact, marriage itself is now optional, just move in together. Adultery in America means nothing to anyone except, it seems, to the spouse against whom it was committed and to the children whom it affects. And, one could add, to Christians who still honor God’s word.

What I am getting at is that it is becoming harder all the time, especially for the young and immature, to discern good from evil, godliness from ungodliness, in a secular and politically correct world where these false ministers of righteousness have gained sway over the public mind. I know of one case where a woman who attends denominational services, an educated woman, gave her son and his girlfriend a hotel room for the weekend to relax. Can you imagine? But that is the world we live in today, and people do not seem to be able to distinguish godliness from ungodliness. Fornication is no longer considered to be ungodliness or sin but just an accepted part of growing up in America in the times in which we live. Few see it as sin.

What will become of those who give ungodly counsel? “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20 NKJV) If you can make wickedness look good and make it seem to be the charitable and reasonable thing to do and make the Bible appear to be outdated, bound to an ancient society, buried in history, leaving the word with little to no applicability for today, then it is all the easier to get people to walk in ungodly counsel, especially the young who lack life experience. People today are being poisoned against God’s word.

Anything that draws boundaries, that makes a clear-cut line between right and wrong, is considered judgmental today no matter how many scriptures you can quote to uphold a doctrine. Why? Because Satan has done his work and discredited a conservative reading of the scriptures. People have lost faith that the word of God means what it literally says or that they will have to give an account to a God who will hold them accountable. “Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, ‘You will not require an account.’” (Psalm 10:13 NKJV)

The only way to know what constitutes ungodliness is by knowing what the Bible says, but when people reach the point that their faith has been destroyed in the word, what then? “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3 NKJV) I find it interesting that the Psalmist David left the question unanswered, for I think we all know the answer instinctively. We are getting close to the point in America where the foundations will have been destroyed in terms of faith in the word of God as having any real meaning for us in life.

The great desire in our time is to have every religion known to man serve as a route to eternal salvation. That is why the Bible can no longer be accepted by modern liberal thinkers, for it says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NKJV) This is, of course, a reference to Christ. We have gone from one church being as good as another, which was never true as Christ only built one church, to the point now where one religion is as good as another. Where does it end? Again, I think we all know the answer to that question as well. We are told that the “nones” are the fastest-growing religious group in America today, 2026. Who are they? Those without any religion at all. A world without God, what a world it will be.

Note the progression in ungodliness in this passage in Psalm 1. First, you take counsel of the ungodly. Next you become one with him, taking his side, standing with him. Finally, you become scornful of righteousness, you are now the one giving out ungodly counsel yourself. As the expression goes, “Who would have thought it?” when you first started down that road. Ungodliness leads to more ungodliness. Paul says, “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Tim. 3:13 NKJV)

One can become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. “But exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘TODAY,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb. 3:13 NKJV) This passage has always scared me, for it tells me such a thing can happen, and if it happens to a person, what then? You no longer care. How can you repent? If you cannot repent, what then? We know the answer.

At the close of this first Psalm, David says, “Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:5-6 NKJV)

The good news is there is a blessed man in this Psalm, the one who ignores the wicked and ungodly, who will not take their advice, nor stand with them, nor sit in their seat, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2 NKJV)

People who are not faithful Christians cannot understand how a person could delight in the law of the Lord nor how a person could be interested enough to meditate on it day and night. When my dad died, he did not leave me a book he had written to me, for me. I wish he had. If I had such a book, I would rejoice in it and read it and reread it and reread it again and think about it often. I would find great joy in that.

God, our eternal Father, has left us all a book, and while that book is for all mankind, it is also personally written to each one of us as individual children of His, or at least we can be His children if we will. This is His letter to us, His way of communicating with us, the only thing we have that truly contains His thoughts, tells us of His love, reveals His nature, and tells us what He wants us to do, and what our future will be like.

God is going to take care of you and make you eternally happy, at least that is His desire. Why would you not want to read about that and meditate on it? Why would you not take an intense interest in what He has to say to you in His word? Why would you not delight in it? Speaking on a personal level, it is the one place I have found peace in my life. I cannot tell you how that works, you will have to get to the point where you experience it for yourself, but there is peace to be found in reading and meditating on the word of God.

Learning about God, developing faith, and finding peace and comfort in His word takes time, but it starts with picking your Bible up and opening it and reading the first verse. Every journey begins with a first step. The 119th Psalm will tell you all about the word and its value. Read it. But, until you have time to do that, remember there is a blessed man in the world—the one who heeds Psalm 1:1-2.

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God's Merciful Grace

Everyone is pleased to have the grace of God in their life, but are we disturbed when God’s grace shows up in the lives of others in a way that seems more abundant than in our own? I am afraid that is sometimes the case. The parable of the laborers found in Matt. 20:1-16 is an example and is also an illustration of how man has a tendency to feel he knows more about what is just than God does. We judge God.

The passage is too long to quote here, but I will jog your memory and summarize it for you. A man had a vineyard and needed workers. He went out to hire workers for his vineyard five different times during the day, each time sending them directly to work as they were hired. At day’s end each was paid. A problem arose in the hearts of those hired early in the day when, at the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard paid those who came to work last, late in the day, who did the least labor, the same amount of money as those who had gone to work first and who had put in the most hours of work. They complained, feeling they had been treated unjustly. “These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.” (Matt. 20:12 NKJV)

It is easy to read this account and, at first impulse, feel that indeed the earliest workers were mistreated, that this was unjust. We have all been raised to believe in the concept of quid pro quo, pay based on the amount of work done, the more work, the more pay. The last workers in this parable did not do an equal amount of work, far less, yet received equal pay.

To an American this seems most unfair, but what was the vineyard owner’s response? “Is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matt. 20:15 NKJV) The ESV reads, “Do you begrudge my generosity?” The NAS reads, “Is your eye envious because I am generous?” The bottom line is that they were jealous and angry over the generosity shown by the vineyard owner to those hired last.

One must understand, and I think we do, that this parable is about God’s dealings with those who believe and obey the gospel. It is about God’s grace, not about how people ought to be paid in the material, physical world in which we live our daily lives. God’s grace gives a man what he needs, not what he deserves. Every person who is saved is granted far more than he deserves. God’s grace is not based on works, not on how much work one has done, not on how difficult it has been, not on how long one has had to endure.

God is always just in the sense that he treats us honestly and fairly and does not go back on the word he has given. In the parable, those who went to work in the vineyard earliest in the day were glad to go, to have the opportunity, and agreed that the wage set was fair and the work required was just. He did not ask of them more than they could do or were willing to do.

These early workers were blessed and enjoyed the grace of the vineyard owner. What had he done for them? He had given them work. Not every man was so blessed with a job. He had given them security. At the end of the day, they knew their need to feed their family was going to be met. He had given them dignity and self-respect. They need not hang their head in embarrassment and shame as those who could not provide for themselves and their family.

Those were great blessings in that day, and they are great blessings in this day. These men were treated not only with justice but with grace in being given these blessings. They should have been in a state of thanksgiving and rejoicing, and perhaps they were for a time—until the time they learned of grace given to others, grace beyond what they perceived had been given to them. Envy and jealousy arose. If we are not careful, the same attitude can develop within us and for the same reason. It is the age-old complaint that men have that God is not fair. In the parable, the vineyard owner is representative of God. Was he fair? Did he do what was right?

In the parable, as the day went on, others were hired, with the last being hired at the eleventh hour, quite late in the work day. When they were paid at the end of the work day, what did they receive? They received the same amount as did those who had worked far more hours of the day, who had endured a much greater workload because of it, and who had borne the heat of the day.

How could that be? If I owned a business today and went out and hired men as in the parable and acted accordingly in paying them, would I be doing what was right? Most would say no. In what sense, then, could this be said to be right? If it was right, it would have been wrong to have done it the way most think it should have been done—pay based on the amount of work done.

Here is what made it right. Every man hired that day had an equal need—the need to feed himself and his family, if he had one, which is most likely. If it is in my power to do good and make that possible for another man, can I be righteous and fail to do it? “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17 NKJV)

Paul told Timothy to command the rich to “be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.” (1 Tim. 6:18 NKJV)

In Matt. 25, who is it that is going to be condemned on the last day? “Then he will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’” (Matt. 25:41-43 NKJV)

“But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17 NKJV) The eleventh-hour men in the parable had a need. The vineyard owner, since he had it in his power, could not have been a just man with the love of God in his heart and done anything other than what he did. What he did was good and right. If these laborers had not had need, they would not have been laboring, so there was a need to be met that could not now be met by any other principle.

What was that principle? The principle of grace. God is a God of grace. If we are his children, we too must have grace for others. When we take the position everyone has to earn all he gets, then that locks us all out of heaven “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23 NKJV) Remember this parable is in reality about spiritual matters, not economics.

Many who work hard and make a living develop a negative attitude toward those who have been less fortunate than themselves. It goes something like this. See me, see what I have done: anyone could have done the same as I have and would have if they had any get-up-and-go about them and were not so shiftless. Look at me. Vanity, pride, arrogance all fit into one body, one made of dust to which it will return in due time.

It would be good to look closer at the eleventh-hour laborers. In the parable, when the vineyard owner was preparing to hire the eleventh-hour workers, he quizzes them before doing so and asks them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” (Matt. 20:6 NKJV) Their answer is, “Because no one hired us.” (Matt. 20:7 NKJV) It was not that they were lazy, nor that they had not been seeking work. It may well have been simply a matter of not being in the right place at the right time. I say that because the vineyard owner had been seeking day laborers evidently all day long, hiring, it seems, about any who would answer the call. He only runs into these men at the eleventh hour, and yet they had obviously been where they were long enough to have been passed over by other employers, as per their answer to the vineyard owner’s question.

Why were they passed over? Was it unwillingness to work? They went to work at the eleventh hour knowing the work day was pretty much over and that they could not realistically expect anything close to a full day’s wages, yet they went being willing to work for what they could get. They had been passed over, but it was not because of failure to seek work or unwillingness to work. People are passed over for employment for a great many reasons that have nothing to do with character, and yet we so often see their plight as their fault, for look at us: we raised ourselves up by the bootstraps, and if they have any grit about them, they would do the same.

We, if we are not careful, see ourselves, because we were hired, as worthy, as talented, as deserving, while looking down on the other guy who was not hired. We can sin in our attitude toward others if we are not awfully careful, and it is not just a matter of attitude but also of judging. Where is compassion and mercy? Where is grace?

I do not judge those first hired in the parable as regards their attitude toward the eleventh-hour workers, for their attitude was not revealed except for one particular. In this they could be judged. They, in concern for self only, lost sight of compassion for others who had a like need—the need to provide for themselves and for their family. How easy that is to do, to become so concerned about oneself, and one’s own needs, that it blinds us to the needs of others. It is easy to do, but it is still a sin.

Were the first-hour workers treated fairly? Most certainly, for they got exactly what they had been happy to agree to. Had they been paid in private and left unaware of what the later laborers received, they would have walked away fully satisfied and content. But, as it was, they were made jealous by the generosity of another, one who gave grace.

Bible teaching is that we “rejoice with those who rejoice.” (Rom. 12:15 NKJV) The proper attitude is to be happy and thankful for the good fortune of others. I think we know this, but we have to battle human nature (which tends towards jealousy and envy) and overcome it if we are to become the person of character that God would have us to be and to have the kind of attitude God would have us have. Those first hired in the parable fell short in this respect.

Jesus used the parable about the laborers in the vineyard to teach how God’s grace works for those who become Christians. We become Christians at different stages in life and in different circumstances and environments. Some have much longer to live and labor as soldiers of Christ than do others. Likewise, some suffer much greater persecution than do others, with the apostles being perfect examples of that. Yet we all, if we will live faithfully unto death, receive the same inheritance.

Is it fair? Would you have it any other way? If it is your son, your daughter, your wife, your husband, your mother, or your dad who is the eleventh-hour worker, you would have it no other way. Give praise to God for his grace. We are pleased with his promise to us no matter what hour worker we are, and we rejoice in the grace he gives others. No, we would have it no other way. We will not complain, and we are overcome with joy to know there is hope, even yet, that some will come to work at the eleventh hour, even some of our loved ones.

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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, burial, and resurrection was in the city of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, 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 “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37 NKJV) find themselves in need of forgiveness. What is Peter’s reply, speaking by the Holy Spirit? It is: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 NKJV).

Now note: When does the Holy Spirit, speaking through Peter, promise these believers they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Is it before repentance and baptism for the remission of sins or after? The answer is evident. This raises a question: Does the Holy Spirit preach one message concerning salvation at one time but a different one at another time? Are there two different gospels, one for Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and another for Caesarea some 7 to 10 years later?

Does God show partiality toward some? Are some saved one way and others in a different way? The Bible says, “there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11 NKJV), and Paul says there is but “one faith” (Eph. 4:5 NKJV), while saying also of one who preaches another gospel, “let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8 NKJV).

All of this being the case, then how does one account for the fact that in the account of Cornelius’ conversion we have the Holy Spirit arriving before, rather than after, baptism? Has the Holy Spirit suddenly changed his mind on repentance and baptism being for the forgiveness of sins, as he formerly taught? And if he has changed his mind this one time, is it possible he may change his mind again? Has he changed his mind on there being but one gospel?

The answer is obviously no. What the Holy Spirit taught on the day of Pentecost, he also taught years later at the household of Cornelius. Repentance and baptism still retain the same position in God’s plan of salvation for man as they did on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

How then does one account for the Spirit arriving before baptism in the case of Cornelius? If one reads carefully all of Acts 10 and 11, he will see God’s reason. The gospel was meant to be preached to all men of all races and nationalities. And yet, quite a number of years have gone by since Pentecost. Where are we at? We are still at the point where the vast majority of Jewish Christians cannot believe the gospel is for Gentiles as well as Jews. Judaism, out of which they came, had been an exclusive religion confined to the Jewish race. Yes, there were proselytes, but there was never a Great Commission in Judaism to go out into the world and make converts of the Gentiles.

Even Peter, an apostle, though inspired so he could teach and preach without the possibility of error, does not fully comprehend the meaning of the message Christ taught in Matt. 28:18-19—the Great Commission. This was nothing new, for prophets often did not know the full import of the inspired words they spoke. (See 1 Peter 1:10-12)

In reading Acts 10, one learns by seeing Peter’s initial reaction to the heavenly-sent vision he had that Peter was still observing as law the dietary restrictions found under the Law of Moses, all the while living under the law of Christ. Then, in verse 28 of chapter 10, he says, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (NKJV). This was the purpose of the vision—to bring about a change in Peter’s attitude toward going to the Gentiles.

Note the word “unlawful” in that verse. Up until the time of this vision, Peter was lacking a full understanding of how the Law of Moses had now been completely done away with. He was still, up to this time, concerned about dietary commands and keeping a distance from Gentiles. It took the vision of the sheet let down from heaven and the Spirit speaking to him directly (Acts 10:19-20) to convince Peter it was God’s will to go to the Gentiles and preach.

Why did the Holy Spirit fall upon Cornelius and his household before baptism for the remission of sins? Was it because that was the means of salvation, because Cornelius was already a saved man without repentance and baptism? No. It was because it was going to take a miracle, not now so much for Peter, because he seems to be getting the idea, but in order for the whole Jewish Christian body to come to an understanding that the gospel was for all and not just for Jews, and to get them out preaching and teaching the Gentiles. In fact, when the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household, the Bible says of those Jews who had traveled with Peter that they were “astonished” that this had happened—that God would grant this to Gentiles (Acts 10:45).

When Peter went back to Jerusalem, to show you and me how great the prejudice was against the Gentiles, the Bible says—and it is speaking of Jewish Christians (read the context)—that “those of the circumcision contended with him” (Acts 11:2 NKJV). Peter had to rehearse the whole account of what had happened to silence his critics, but having done so, they realize for the first time that “God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts 11:18 NKJV). The world has now changed in that henceforth the gospel will be preached to all men everywhere, but it took a miracle to get the message across that that was God’s intention. They, the Jewish Christians, would never have been convinced without it. They now confess, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts 11:18 NKJV).

Thus, we have the real reason the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household prior to baptism. It was not for the forgiveness of sins, for the gospel had not changed. Peter still needed to command them to be baptized (Acts 10:48). But who really commanded them to be baptized? Was it Peter the man or the Holy Spirit within him? If the Holy Spirit commanded it, why did he do so?

I know one who argues that Cornelius and his household were already saved, having received the Holy Spirit. Yet the Holy Spirit commands them to be baptized. Is this baptism to be for some other reason than what the Holy Spirit first said in Peter’s inspired sermon in Acts 2:38? Is baptism for one reason or purpose at one time and place, but then for another reason at another time and another place?

God granted, in the case of Cornelius and his household, the Spirit prior to baptism (baptism for the remission of sins, which the Spirit taught in Acts 2:38) for a special reason, but the reader must bear in mind that God knows our hearts and what we will do before we do it. God knew Cornelius would obey the command and be baptized for the very reason those on the day of Pentecost did—because they believed every word Peter spoke, and part of that word was baptism for the remission of sins (or to be saved, which is one and the same thing). This is as it was on the day of Pentecost, for the message never changed. What was preached in one place was preached in every place.

They were the things the angel said Peter would tell them: “tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved” (Acts 11:14 NKJV). An essential part of that word that we know Peter spoke was baptism, for the text says, “he commanded them to be baptized” (Acts 10:48 NKJV). Without Peter’s preaching the words by which he was to be saved, Cornelius and his household would have had no idea of what to do, or why, or how.

Yes, some say baptism is just a symbol or a picture and is meaningless other than as a symbol. Tell Peter that. Better yet, tell the Holy Spirit he did not know what he was talking about in Acts 2:38 on the day of Pentecost. If those in the audience on the day of Pentecost were saved without baptism, they did not know it, for they are asking what they must do after they had already come to faith. Furthermore, Peter did not know it, for he told them what to do. That is pretty much the end of the story.

Yes, the case of Cornelius was unique and an exception to the rule, but it is not the only such case, for when God has seen a need, he has acted for the specific purpose he had in mind. Saul was converted and became the apostle Paul, but not because he heard the gospel in the normal way and responded. We doubt that would ever have happened with Saul left to his own devices, with the attitude he had. But God acted directly, and the Lord appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus. Why? Because he had a special reason for doing so. The case of Cornelius is similar in that regard.

One who has objected to my position has said that 1 John 4:13 means Cornelius was saved before baptism. I deny that. 1 John 4:13 is the word of God and truth. But the case of Cornelius and his household, like the case of Saul in his conversion, was a special act of God for a specific purpose God had in mind, but neither set aside the commands God himself had given. Cornelius still had to be baptized for the remission of sins, and Saul still had to do the same (Acts 22:16). God is not in a battle with his own law.

I might add this as I close. What if Cornelius that day, after receiving the Holy Spirit, had responded to Peter’s command to be baptized by refusing to do it? Would he have been saved? The Holy Spirit does not force a man to do right against his will. What if Cornelius had said no?

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Saved By Faith Alone in Acts 2

What is required to become a Christian and be saved from one’s sins? The Protestant world seems to have convinced itself that salvation comes to a person by faith alone without any further actions on an individual’s part. It is especially adamant in its stand that baptism has no part in salvation. It is hard to understand, but it is without any doubt the majority position of the Protestant world.

They use passage after passage that teaches we are saved by faith, which no one doubts, but they add the word “alone.” And yet the only time the phrase “faith alone” is used in the Bible, the text says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24 ESV; see also the CSB, NAS, NET, NIV, and the NLT) The King James Version and the New King James Version read “not by faith only.”

One has to remember that faith has to be defined. When the Bible speaks of us being saved by faith, is it speaking of a dead faith or a living faith? If it is a living faith, it does not stop at mental assent but is moving and active. To stop is to be dead in its tracks.

Let me ask a question. In Acts 2 we read of the first gospel sermon ever preached. Were those people in Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost, who responded to Peter’s gospel preaching saved by faith? Certainly! They were, but they were saved with a living faith that responded to Peter’s preaching by believing and obeying it, by repenting and being baptized; Peter said, for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38). Peter’s command was, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (Acts 2:38 KJV)

Now make no mistake about it; the faith-only or faith-alone crowd would have those saved that day saved before obedience to Peter’s preaching to be baptized. Their doctrine demands it. They would say you must repent, but to do that you have to split Peter’s command in half, taking part of it, repentance, while rejecting the other, baptism. One wonders what good conjunctions are in grammar if you can do that to a sentence, or in this case to Peter’s command. Or should we say the Holy Spirit’s command? Yes, we should.

But if they include repentance in their faith-alone doctrine, then they ought to quit referring to it as “faith alone,” for that it would not be.

It is plain enough that this crowd on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 had not repented when Peter issued the command to repent and be baptized, but they had developed faith. We know they had come to faith, for the text says, “they were cut to the heart” by Peter’s preaching and asked Peter and the apostles “what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37) We know Peter’s response. Why command people to repent who have already repented? Peter commanded them to repent; thus they had not done so, even though they had come to faith through his preaching.

Repentance is not just sorrow for sin. These people were clearly sorry about crucifying Jesus, as evidenced by their asking “what shall we do?” The text says they were cut to the heart. Godly sorrow leads to repentance (2 Cor. 7:10), but godly sorrow by itself is not repentance. To repent, one must turn from sin to righteousness. It is a state of mind and will. It is a determination to cease sinning and to live righteously. One may be sorry about a thing for a number of reasons without any determination to change his/her ways; this is the sorrow of the world that leads to death (2 Cor. 7:10).

Peter’s preaching that day had produced faith. The question to be answered was whether it would produce repentance and baptism. The question the Bible student must answer in Acts 2 is exactly when the people present on that day were saved. The only options are (1) at the point of faith, (2) at the point of faith and repentance, (3) at the point of faith, repentance, and baptism.

In the past, some have argued that the word “for” in the passage means “because,” because of the remission of sins. There is no truth in it, but, for the sake of argument, let us pursue the thought. If that was so, then you have forgiveness of sins before repentance of sins. You can be forgiven without repentance. If you repent and are baptized because your sins were already forgiven, forgiven by faith, then you were saved before you repented of your sins. Saved without repentance. Now it is easy to see that will not work.

I suppose another question, in due order, that would be good to ask the faith-only people is this—had you been in the crowd that day on the Day of Pentecost and heard Peter’s preaching, being subject to it yourself, one of the guilty ones, could you have walked away from it having believed it, repented, and been saved, without obeying Peter’s command to be baptized? Their doctrine demands that, if they are consistent. And in such a scenario, could it truly be said you believed Peter’s preaching if you refused his Holy Spirit-inspired command to be baptized?

Jesus said in a disputed passage, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NKJV) It is disputed because the ending of Mark is disputed. But in an undisputed passage, Jesus says, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NKJV) You cannot go to heaven without baptism.

Finally, the faith-only position belittles the Great Commission, for in it Jesus commanded baptism. “Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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 to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Matt. 28:18-20 NKJV)

Can you disobey Jesus and be saved? He is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” (Heb. 5:9 NKJV) Obedience included baptism on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, and it still does today.

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