I once asked a woman working in a convenience store if she believed the Bible and if she believed in Heaven and Hell. She nodded her head and said she did. I then asked if she could tell me what I would need to do to go to Heaven if I had never become a Christian. Before she could answer, her female co-worker spoke up rather loudly and said, “Get down on your knees and pray.” … Read more
Category: Salvation
Did Christ Do ALL the Work on the Cross?
Christ finished His main mission on earth by giving His life on the cross, saying, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30), but today some are twisting His statement into a false doctrine. They claim that since Christ said, “It is finished” on the cross, there are no “works” (no actions) men can do today that will have any affect on their salvation. This has led some to the conclusion that baptism cannot be essential, and that once a person is saved, there is no work he is required to do.… Read more
Questions About the Thief on the Cross
If you believe the account of the penitent thief on the cross being forgiven proves that people do not have to be baptized today to become saved, here are a few questions to consider:
1. Can it be proven that the thief had never been baptized to have his past sins forgiven? (see Matthew 3:2, 5-6; Mark 1:4; John 4:1-2).
2. Is it possible to sin after baptism? (see Acts 8:12-ff).
3. Is it possible to be forgiven of sins committed after baptism?… Read more
Time Does Not Wash Away Sin
Time does not wash away sin. Twenty years or more may pass after a sin is committed, and men’s memories may fade, but God’s memory does not. Children of God can deceive themselves into thinking they are fine or someone they love is fine, even when repentance has not occurred, but the blood of Christ is the only thing that can wash away sin, and simply waiting a certain length of time does not make one contact the blood.… Read more
Would You Dare Pull Someone Away from Christ?
How often have faithful members of the Lord’s church begun teaching a lost person, only to have someone else convince the potential convert that he does not need to listen? How often has someone been baptized into Christ, only to have friends or family convince him to leave Christ’s church and become a part of some group that is not in the Bible and not truly following the Bible? Statements or questions like the following are often posed to the person being pulled away: “Who told you that you had to be baptized to be saved?… Read more
Was Water Baptism Only Required for Jews?
When Jews in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost asked what they should do to be saved, Peter commanded them to “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…Save yourselves” (Acts 2:38, 40). In efforts to explain away the clear teaching of Acts 2 and the necessity of water baptism for salvation today, some claim that water baptism was only required for Jews, not Gentiles, and only for a temporary period.… Read more
Understanding Ephesians 2:8, 9 (slideshow)
The One Body of the Saved
What do the following things from the Bible have in common?
– The body of Christ
– The flock of Christ
– The fold of Christ
– The kingdom of Christ
– The nation of Christ
– The church of Christ
– The nation of Christ
– The family of Christ
– The bride of Christ
They are all Biblical descriptions of the one group of people saved by Christ, the group purchased with the blood of Christ in the first century A.D.… Read more
Satan Has Convinced You
Satan and his influencers have convinced many people that a person does not have to obey God to get to Heaven. They have been sold the lie that as long as someone “accepts Jesus into his heart,” nothing else really matters. Friends, anybody who tells you that you don’t have to obey God is working for Satan, whether they realize it or not. Don’t you know that has been Satan’s plan from the beginning in the Garden of Eden, to convince man not to obey God?… Read more
Surprised When Searching the Scriptures
With today’s technology, Bible study has become easier and quicker than ever before. One innovation that expedites Bible study is the ability to search for anything in the Bible very quickly with Bible software. One can learn rapidly from some simple searches, and many people are very surprised at what they find (or fail to find). For example:
- Search for the phrase “faith only” and you only get one verse: “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24).
Question Your Answers!
If someone were to ask you why you believe what you believe, or why you do what you do religiously, would you be able to answer? More importantly, would your answers come from the Bible? God commands us to “…be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…” (1 Peter 3:15). Are we able to do that? In the next chapter of Peter’s same epistle, we are commanded: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11). … Read more
The Seven Churches of Asia and Their Works
Did Jesus emphasize works as an essential part of man’s relationship with God, or did He emphasize “faith alone”? Please notice what Jesus said to the seven churches of Asia:
I know thy works…Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent…I know thy works…be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life…I know thy works…I know thy works…and thy works…I will give unto every one of you according to your works…And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations…I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.… Read more
Politically Conservative, but Religiously Liberal
Many who are politically conservative are liberal when it comes to religion, and they don’t even realize it.
Just because a man “identifies” as a woman, that does not make him a woman.
Just because a man identifies as a turtle, that does not make him a turtle,
and just because a man identifies as a Christian, that does not make him a Christian!
Facts matter – especially God’s requirements to become faithful and remain faithful.… Read more
The Great Commission Commands Water Baptism, Not Prayer
Do you know how John prepared people for the Savior? He was “preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mk. 1:5; cf. Lk. 24:47; Acts 2:38). People were being baptized in water “to flee the wrath to come…unquenchable fire” (Mt. 3:7-12). John was getting people ready for the Great Commission of Jesus, who had come to save people from their sins and would thus command the whole world to be baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins.… Read more
“Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”
Revelation 3:20 records encouraging words from Jesus to His church at Laodicea, urging them to repent. It is sad that many have taken His words and twisted them into a false plan of salvation that Jesus never authorized. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Some have used this passage to teach that all one must do to become a Christian is to believe and pray a prayer to Jesus.… Read more