Are you a member of the true Church? How many true Churches are there? What is the true Church? How can you know if you are in the true Church? And if you are in the true Church, how can you stay in the true Church of God? These are questions every person who desires to be a genuine Christian faces. We should know the answers. Not knowing the answers has already put the salvation of many in jeopardy, and can put your salvation in jeopardy.
Tag Archives: faith
Does It Pay To Obey God?
Does obeying God have any benefit? What is in store for those who obey God? And for those who refuse? Rod Reynolds discusses the question, does it pay to obey God?
Are You Faithful?
We are instructed in Scripture to “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith” (II Corinthians 13:5). The Bible has a great deal to say about being faithful, and faithfulness. We are told that those who will be with Christ in his kingdom are “called, chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14).
In the message “Are You Faithful?” are reviewed a number of Scriptures relating to both the faithfulness of God and the faithfulness he requires of his people. Every Christian is being tested with regard to his faithfulness to God and his way of life, and it’s a matter we need to give attention to and take seriously.
Knowledge and Conversion
Many people believe that to be a Christian — to be converted — you don’t have to know much of anything and you don’t have to do anything. More than a few have sought to juxtapose knowledge and faith in such a way as to make it appear they are in opposition to one another. The only “truth” you need to know as a Christian, some allege, is “that the gospel is Christ plus nothing.” The implication, perhaps stated in various ways but amounting to the same idea, is that if you profess faith in Christ as your savior, nothing else matters.
Does the Bible have anything to say about the value, even the necessity, of knowledge in connection with conversion and salvation? Does God honor ignorance? Is knowledge something to be abhorred, shunned and avoided. Or might it be an essential element in one’s relationship with God, and in having a place in God’s Kingdom?
New Covenant Law
It’s commonly taught among professing Christian churches that some or all of the commandments of God, especially the ten commandments given from Mt. Sinai, are not applicable to Christians. Christ, we are told, has “replaced the law,” including the ten commandments, thus they are no longer obligatory for Christians.
An example of this general idea is found in how the Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary interprets the meaning of Colossians 2:14: “The law (including especially the moral law, wherein lay the chief difficulty in obeying) is abrogated to the believer….” “The ‘handwriting’ (alluding to the Decalogue [i.e., the ten commandments])….” “Not only was the law against us by its demands, but also an adversary to us by its accusations.” “In His person nailed to the cross, the law itself was nailed to it.” For an explanation of what Colossians 2 actually teaches see our article: “Were the Commandments ‘Nailed to the Cross’?”
It is easy to be deceived about what the Bible teaches, and in fact, most people, including most people who call themselves Christians, as well as Jewish people who claim to follow the teachings of the “Old Testament,” are deceived about much of what is taught in the Bible. It’s much more difficult to find and hold to the truth of what is taught in Scripture. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The “god of this age [or world, KJV]” is Satan, and he “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9).