Tag: salvation

God Is Our Rock and Our Salvation

On October 13, 2022

Psalm 62 discusses the fact that the only one we can truly rely on is our Creator. God is the only one that is consistently there for someone in times of doubt, trouble, strife, and loneliness.

The thing is, God is enough! You may have highs and lows with the other people in your life, but if you keep following the commandments of Christ you will be taken care of.

David, the writer of this Psalm, felt oppressed and attacked by those around him – but David kept his hope in God. It is unfair to base your hope in the people around you. It is unfair to you (for they can never live up to what you expect from them) and it is unfair to them (for they are imperfect just as you yourself are imperfect).

You should not expect the people in your life to give you what only God can give you. Only God can give you the ultimate support and love that you need. Humans support and love, but they must do so in an inferior manner to God. God’s love is completely just and unwavering. God’s ego does not get in the way of His love. A bad day at work does not get in the way of His love.

You should not put burdens on people that they cannot bear, and you must not expect them to show the same amount of affection and support every day. Only God can do that. As David so eloquently put it in Psalm 62:

Psa 62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

Works or Faith Only?

By Jay

On March 10, 2022

In Bible & Doctrine

One of the biggest controversies in religion today is whether we are saved by faith (often called antinomianism) or by works ( often called legalism). It seems that most people view “faith” and “works” as if they are on opposite ends of a spectrum – and maybe they are. However, even if they are it does not follow that two things on opposite ends of a spectrum are necessarily in conflict or opposition.

In addition, the words “antinomianism” and “legalism” remind me a lot of the “package deals” of political ideologies. You are either “red” or “blue”. We should remember, however, that red and blue (when mixed) make purple, and there is nothing contradictory about purple.

Pro 4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

We should never stray too far from God’s Word when seeking truth. Truth is only measured by the Master of all truth, God. Since we have God’s Word we no longer have to seek the opinions of men or “groups” to find ultimate truth.

So, Faith or Works?!?!?

Let’s break this down a little bit. the Bible tells us that all scripture is from God and should be treated as such (respected and adhered to). Most people would agree with this assertion, but just in case you need a little proof, here is some scripture to back up this claim:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Even so, many denominations today say that Paul and James are in conflict or they ignore the part of scripture that does no suit their traditional values (usually that of faith only). Here is an example (from Romans) of the teaching that most denominations assert to be true:

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

And here is a section of scripture that is either ignored or explained away in an insufficient manner:

Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Now, one has to make a decision. Are we going to believe both James and Paul? If we say yes then we must work to achieve harmony by rightly dividing the Word of God. This means we must see if we can make these verses about faith and works (and many other verses on this topic in the Bible) harmonize. We do that by reading the rest of the Bible and applying a rational study of the gospel.

Thankfully, when one puts in the necessary Bible study they are easily able to see that “faith” and “works” are not exclusive to one another. We are able to see from the story of Abraham that it was both faith and obedience that made him a friend to God. If we look at what is commonly called the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 we see countless examples of faith and then action (Noah, Rahab, even Sampson, etc.).

The Bible affirms that faith and works are not in conflict and that both faith and works (obedience) are required to attain eternal life. That is how we show our faith:

Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

What Kind of “Works” is Paul Speaking of?

Why does Paul seem to be preaching against works in many verses? Because he was preaching against the tendency of many Jewish Christians to demand that the Law of Moses continue to be kept despite Christ’s bringing in of the New Covenant (Acts 15: 1, 5). Jesus had brought in the New Covenant which enhanced and fulfilled these old “laws”. Paul wanted the Jewish Christians to let go of the past and embrace the New Covenant brought in by Christ.

Still, we can see that Paul also preached that faith and works were necessary:

Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

This short article is not designed to fully explain faith and works, however, I think it shows enough to get an adherent of the “faith only” doctrine to stop and think. If you believe in faith only then you simply need to reexamine the scriptures with an open mind. You need to see that faith and works are not at odds with one another and that the Christian can (and in fact must) both obey and have faith. It’s only then that Jesus’ blood will be able to cover his/her sins.

Please do not think this means you have to be perfect. None of us are worthy of salvation (we are all sinners) but thanks to Christ’s blood we can have our sins remitted, remitted by His ultimate sacrifice. Let us all be grateful for this sacrifice and seek to live in a way that incorporates both faith and obedience.

Salvation by Calling On the Name of the Lord

By Jay

On August 3, 2021

In Bible & Doctrine

In today’s society it is far more common to hear about someone “asking Jesus to come into their heart” than it is to hear about the plan of salvation. This is a shame, because unless one fulfills all of the components of the plan of salvation one cannot be saved.

This “asking” of Jesus is often put forth as “calling on the name of the Lord.” We are indeed supposed to “call on the name of the Lord”, but in order to do so we must find out exactly what that means. Here is a verse from Acts 2 that seems to back up the fact that we simply call upon His name:

Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Peter here is talking to those at Pentecost and it seems that he has directly told them the key to salvation. But alas, just a few verses later we find that those at Pentecost asked Peter for further information. Why? It seems they must have sensed that there was a deeper aspect to this “calling on the name of the Lord.”

Act 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

According to most denominations Peter should have said, “I already told you what to do, call upon the name of the Lord and be saved!”

But he didn’t. This is what he said:

Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

It’s pretty simple really. In the middle of this century a lot of men “called on” a girl, which mean’t a lot more than walking up to the door and saying “Hey Mary Jo!” It meant he wanted to be their suitor – possibly ending in marriage. This “calling on” would include dates, dinners, conversations, and eventually the ceremony of the wedding.

Here Peter was telling those at Pentecost (those who were ready to accept the doctrine of the New Covenant) to “call on” the Lord. They instinctively knew (as mentioned above) that this meant more than just asking Jesus to save them. This is why they then asked Peter “what shall we do?”

Yes, they sensed that calling on the Lord meant a lot more than just saying “Lord, Lord”. By the way, didn’t Jesus tell us that?

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many critics of the Bible claim that the verses that say to simply “call on the Lord” to be saved (Rom 10:13, Joel 2:32) are contradictory with what Christ said in Mat 7:21. Indeed, these verses would be contradictory if one believed that calling on the Lord was the only necessary component to salvation.

Thankfully, we know that there are multiple meanings to statements (just like the ‘calling on’ dating example above) and the rest of the Bible clearly tells us every component of the plan of salvation. If one does the research and looks over the plan of salvation put forth by the church of Christ they will come away convinced of the true pathway to heaven:

First, you need to HEAR and BELIEVE, Rev 22:17, Mark 16:16, Acts 16:31; you need to REPENT, Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30, Luke 13:3; you need to CONFESS, Mat 10:32; Rom 10:10, you need to be BAPTIZED, Gal 3:27; 1 Pet 3:21, Acts 8:38-39, Col 2:12, Eph 4:5, John 3:5, Acts 22:16, then you need to LIVE FAITHFULLY 1 Cor. 15:58; Rom 6:1-2, Rev 2:10.

We should only trust the inspired Word of God when it comes to our salvation. We should never trust man to tell us the truth on these matters – we should always check the Bible for ourselves.

Peter was a man but on Pentecost he spoke with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Today, we have that same inspiration – and it is found in the Bible. Let us always use God’s inspired Word as our compass and North Star:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and isprofitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The Answer is (Probably) Right Under Your Nose…

By Jay

On June 15, 2021

In Bible & Doctrine

So many people in this world are lost, confused, depressed, and hopeless. Our culture today (and, honestly, throughout history) is focused on prestige, power, material gain, and money. This is really nothing new but the situation we are in now is “different” to say the least.

Never has technology made it so easy to gain information, and yet still people are uninformed. We watch the news, read blogs (yes, I’m aware this is a blog!) and ask others (often priests, rabbis, or ‘pastors’) what we should do to remedy our derelict lives, yet many fail to think of looking for themselves.

Pro 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

According to the American Bible Society 87% of households own a Bible – yet only around 1% of Americans belong to the Lord’s church. This is a sad situation indeed. Think of how many people have passed away with the secret to eternal life only a stone’s throw away!

We are a culture that has become overly reliant on so called “experts” and under reliant on the Word of God. When we are searching for answers in our daily lives let us first turn the Bible, the Word of God – not to worldly experts and information.

After all the most comprehensive book of knowledge on the planet (sorry Webster) is probably right there under our noses. Only when we begin to turn to our Bibles for the ultimate truth will we truly know we are on the right path.

Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And light unto my path.

Jesus, the Ultimate Blessing

By Jay

On May 31, 2021

In Bible & Doctrine

Last week I spoke of the blessings of normal life that are given to us by God, and while those blessings certainly are amazing, this week I’d like to shift course and discuss the ultimate blessing in our lives. After all, without this ultimate blessing all of our other blessings would be temporal and meaningless.

Often, when I think of Jesus I think of a kind and loving “Savior”. While Jesus most certainly is a kind and loving Savior we also must remember that He gave us the ultimate gift – the gift of salvation. He, the Creator of the Universe, came to earth and died an agonizing death on the cross. Above this, He bore the sins of mankind – and by His death we now have the hope of eternal life.

However, the point of this article is not to tell you something that you already knew, it is to remind us of something (I believe) we can often forget. I know that I have had times in my life where I partook of the Lord’s supper and barely regarded Jesus’ great gift to us. We cannot let this happen. Every first day of the week we should take our mind back to the cross and realize that Jesus gave us this precious gift of salvation, and that He suffered greatly so that we could have it.

Imagine a beautiful mansion on one thousand acres of gorgeous countryside. Now imagine that someone gave this to you along with two billion dollars. How would you feel about this gift? Would you consider it a great gift? A precious gift? Well, Jesus’ gift to us makes that gift laughable in importance and prestige.

Jesus offers us the gift of eternal life, which is a gift more valuable than mountains of gold and material wealth. As we go throughout our week (and on this coming first day of the week) let us take time to thank our Lord and Savior for His gift to us. Let us take time to enjoy and be grateful for the ultimate blessing in our lives.