The Gospel Of Repentance

This subject is such a tinderbox. Why? In small part, many in the Church are to blame for the way people think about God and the Church. As I mentioned in the prior article, the way we present Jesus to the world is the way they see Him and all of Christianity.  It is impossible for the unsaved to have a Biblical worldview unless we who are truly in Christ show them the way. You know what that means? We must know what we are talking about. What one loves is what they will give their time, energy and spend their money on. One will study hard and long with commitment and diligence to learn that subject so that they can graduate, get their degree and become employed in their field of study. An athlete trains long and hard so that he or she can be the best and win that championship ring or that cup. It signifies them being the absolute best in their sport - and everyone knows it. How much more should we as Christians heed the command of 2 Timothy 2:15 which says to study to sh...

The book of Proverbs 25:26 it reads, "A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring." I use that verse of scripture to show that those of us in the Church must be careful how we present ourselves to the world - that is the fallen world. For how are we to reach them if we are doing the same things they are doing? Answer? We will not reach them. We MUST be lights in a dark world that has no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12). We have to lovingly and firmly stand our ground for truth no matter what. We do not have to resort to gimmicks or tricks to draw the lost into the kingdom. God is adding daily to His Church those that will be saved (Acts 2:47). Our blessed role is to be the seed planters - preach the gospel. Now, back to the original question. Are we in the Church running away the lost? Sadly and perhaps often, yes. How? When someone who is a faithful church attendee does or says something ungodly, th...

This letter was written by the apostle Paul to one of his sons in the faith - a man by the name of Philemon. The reason for the letter is regarding Philemon's slave, a man by the name of Onesimus. Onesimus offended Philemon somehow and ran away from his hometown of Colossae in Asia Minor which is now Modern day Turkey to Rome. Providentially Philemon encounters Paul who was in prison led him to Christ. Paul writes this heartfelt letter to Philemon to forgive Onesimus and to receive him back. Paul greets and commends Philemon The first thing Paul does is salute Philemon and those in his house. Next, he commends Philemon for his love and faith for the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. These are tremendous and gracious kind words to bestow upon a fellow believer. This lets us readers know that Philemon was a man of impeccable and godly character. Philemon loved not only in word but more importantly in deed (1 John 3:18). I know it had to be refreshing to Philemon to know th...

What are these two extremes the writer is talking about? The first one is called Legalism. The second is called Antinomianism. What do these words mean? Legalism was invented by overzealous Jews called Judaizers. Their preoccupation was with the law of  Moses. They insisted that one could not be saved apart from the works of the law. In other words, trusting wholly in Jesus' sacrificial atonement for the remission of sins was not sufficient. One also had to adhere to the law and obey all of its demands in order to be saved; salvation by works and not grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Antinomianism is a compound word. Anti means against. Nomianism comes from the Greek root nomos which means law. So an Antimonian is one who is against the law.   Now, let's put context to these terms as they relate to our salvation.  The Antinomian (lawbreaker) Paul the apostle dealt extensively and clearly with these two matters. He explained why both were danger...

For some perhaps many there is confusion regarding who the 144,000 are in the Bible in the book of Revelation. According to the Jehovah Witnesses organization, these witnesses are a special group that will reign in heaven with Jesus Christ at the end of this age. JW's literature claims that heaven filled up in 1935 so there is no more room for anyone else. In other words, no one else goes to heaven. This is not true! There are and will be an innumerable amount of saints   in heaven. In Revelation 7:9-10 we read, "After this, I (John the apostle) looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every tribe and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" John was seeing one of many visions; visions of the end times. In this chapter, God seals his witnesses on...

Why would the writer James utter the above statement? The statement actually reads, "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience or endurance" (James 1:2). The word count means to consider. The writer James is not saying that tests are joy. They are not, they are painful. And truth be told, none of us want trials in our lives at all. James said to consider them joy because of what trials produce in us, patience or endurance which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  This type of attitude requires a laser focus on God and the truth of his word. If we are to discover that our faith is genuine, it has to be put to the test. The way God has decided to do that is through challenges in our lives. The archetype of the one who was righteous and suffered greatly in the Old Testament was Job. Job lost everything. He became so destitute and despaired of life that he cursed the day of his birth and wis...

The Bible tells us repeatedly that God is love, and that he is (1 John 4:8). That is why mankind is commanded to love one another. Jesus said to the disciples in John 13:35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." Love is the supreme virtue of all God's attributes. From his love flows everything else. But what I would like to discuss is what God's love isn't.  The world's view of God's love is unbiblical. Why? Because it is viewed through a corrupt human lense. The world has replaced God's perfect love for an unholy tolerance of their sins. You have all heard the phrase, "Well God knows my heart." This phrase is used as an escape hatch to excuse one's guilt for the sin(s) they are committing. In their mind, it gets them off the hook with God - so they think.  Since the world...