The First Step to Salvation
…the act of faith in accepting the prescription for salvation… in God’s Word, must also mean full acceptance of ALL other prescriptions in His Word: Full acceptance of even those truths that we find uncomfortable.
…the act of faith in accepting the prescription for salvation… in God’s Word, must also mean full acceptance of ALL other prescriptions in His Word: Full acceptance of even those truths that we find uncomfortable.
It is possible to be saved and be on the wrong side of many issues, BUT remain saved.
It is also possible to be unsaved and be on the right side of many issues, BUT remain condemned.
Salvation is infinitely more important than political/ideological orthodoxy.
It is God and not men that impute value to human life. And, in God’s eyes, ALL lives matter. Whether you value my life or not, God does. How anyone (even me) values my life does NOT change my intrinsic God-derived value.
Rather than deny our disappointments with God, it is far more helpful to face them head on. Yes, even it means we complain, whine, and fuss just like a child would. We must confront the reality that our expectations of God often do not match the character of God.
When prayer is all we can give, then it is a great gift indeed. But, if we can give more today, then we must do more than just pray.
If prayer is all we are willing to give, then we don’t really want a solution, we just want absolution.
False teachers/doctrine can be identified. The only remaining question is whether or not we care to identify them and contend for the faith. It is easier to go along with the status quo than to challenge it. And standing up for truth requires that we ourselves know the truth. However, to fail to contend for the faith is to be derelict in our service to Christ.
We must contend for our faith, by fighting for holiness, standing against false teaching and demonstrating, by the obedient lives we live, the truth of the Gospel: that it is possible for a man to live for God, it is possible to be holy.
Today there is a vocal minority of Christians who have made a tremendous issue out of the phrase “three days and three nights.” They insist that Jesus used the expression because He was to be in the grave exactly seventy-two hours, not a second more or second less. This conviction has led them to conclude that Christ was crucified on Wednesday afternoon and was resurrected at the same hour late Sabbath afternoon. In this way they account for the full seventy-two hours which they believe Christ spent in the tomb.
Does this interpretation harmonize with the full Bible record on the subject? Does it fit with the many other inspired accounts of the time element involved? Is there other information given in the Word of God which will make it clear exactly how the three days and three nights are to be understood?
As long as we try to tackle sinfulness by focusing solely on the sinful acts, rather than the lusts that produce them, we will live in frustration. The only way to stop a weed from sprouting is to kill it at the root. God provided us with the best (and only) sin killer available to man: His Word. God’s Word of truth will transform us inwardly so that our very desires will change. And when the root of a sin is gone, the sin goes with it: No root no sin, no problem.
There is still much confusion among Believers regarding the role of Baptism: Specifically, whether or not Baptism is required for salvation. There is much already written on this subject; nevertheless, it will addressed here because of its importance and its thorniness.