Tag: Salvation

The Things God Hides

Recently I began teaching the Book of Daniel to our Wednesday evening service. The book of Daniel is a wonderful mix of history and eschatology (eschatology is theological study of the final events of history of man and the universe). It is commonly referred to as the study of the “end times.”

The first chapter deals with the capture and enslavement of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Chapter two contains the first vision and dream by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. This dream troubled the king so much that he called all of the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and Chaldean’s to interpret his dream.

The thought struck me that Nebuchadnezzar was so moved that he did not want to retell his dream, almost like just talking about it would make it come to life. You talk about your nightmares! But this is no nightmare, this is the Hand of God moving in the heart of a pagan king whom the LORD rules.

The magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and Chaldean’s were of course clueless, they had no idea what the dream meant or even what the content of the dream was. They said, ““O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” Not so fast says the king. You tell me the dream and its meaning and I will lavish gifts and honor on you. However, if you lie to me the meaning of the dream you will find destruction in your future (Daniel 2:4-12). The ruse of these so called “wise men” was unraveling. The Chaldean’s have no clue what is going on. Could it have been the LORD God clouding their thoughts and perception in order to bring glory to Daniel who in turn would give God the glory?

They were finally confronted by Nebuchadnezzar and couldn’t give the king the dream and its interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar was furious, commanding that every “wise man” was to be killed.

Interestingly enough, this command also meant that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were on that list to be killed. You may be more familiar with the the Babylonian names of Daniel’s friends: Hananiah is Shadrach, Mishael is Meshach and Azariah is Abednego.

The book of Daniel has a main theme running through it, “salvation” and the “sovereignty of God.” God was using Babylon to judge the children of Israel. God was using Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan unbeliever, to acomplish His work. God was using a remnant (Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah) to show the world the power of the LORD Almighty.

Study notes are available.

Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

These 3 verses from the first Epistle of John, follow the preamble of verses 1 through 4. They set forth the importance of having a proper relationship with God that leads to fellowship with the Father and with his Son.

Starting in verse 5, John introduces God as “light” and that there is no darkness in Him at all. John is setting the table so to speak; in order to have fellowship with God, there are prerequisites.

In verses 6-7, we are introduced to “if, then” statements that John uses to demonstrate how the believer is to have fellowship with God or conversely, how to walk in darkness without fellowship with Him. John places the believers fellowship with God, Jesus Christ his own son, and fellow Christians as making his own decision to walk in darkness or walk in the light.

Verse number 6 concerns the Christian who says he has fellowship with God and yet he does not obey the commandments or following the truth of his teachings. John says, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.” In other words, a person who declares that they have fellowship with God and yet denies His teachings is a liar! The “if, then” statement of this verse is simply: IF we say we have fellowship with God and yet walk in darkness, THEN we lie.

The antithesis of verse 6 is found in the following verse. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin.” John boldly announced to his readers that IF one is walking in the light THEN he is having fellowship with God and THEN he is being cleansed from all sin. As we have seen, “if, then” statements are conditional. In this case the condition is that the “cleansing from all sin” is conditional upon “walking in the light.”

Man, is not perfect, nor will he be perfect on this earth. There is nothing that man can do that will make him good enough to walk in the light. However, John makes it very clear that Christians are “walking in the light”, not due to anything they have accomplished, rather, it is what Jesus accomplished on the cross. The Christian does walk in the light and his sins are being cleansed not by any works that he could accomplish but rather by the work that Jesus did for mankind as he shed his blood on the cross. The continual process of a Christian’s “cleansing of sin”, is part of Sanctification and Justification.

In this discussion, and throughout the context of 1st John, the writer makes it very clear that he is not speaking about “positional sanctification”, which takes place at the moment of salvation. Rather, he is speaking about “progressive sanctification” which is a lifelong, continual process. Taking this one step further, John is not talking about cleansing from sin as it deals with salvation, instead, he is speaking about cleansing of sin for the purpose of having fellowship with God and with the brethren. For a Christian to have fellowship with God and other Christians, he must repent and confess his sins (progressive sanctification). The Christian must be willing to abide in communion with God by following all His commandments.

The significance of this teaching, is that God will not force his fellowship upon man just as he will not force salvation upon man. Man, is a free will agent and is responsible for all his own decisions. Man must choose salvation, he must choose to believe in God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Consequently, in order for man to have fellowship with God and his son Jesus Christ, he must choose obedience.

What did the Apostle Paul believe concerning the Gospel of Grace as the only means of Salvation?

It is very important to understand the history of Paul. In his own words, he describes himself as: “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.” (Acts 22:3-4).

Paul was not just a follower of Judaism; he was trained as a Pharisee and persecuted anyone that was not a devout adherent. This gives Paul great insight into the religion as well as describing his education. He was an enforcer of the Law. And yet now, he fully embraces salvation by grace as the only means of salvation.

Paul was God’s chosen vessel to proclaim grace to humanity and especially to the Gentiles. By his own words, it was by God’s grace that he was chosen for salvation and to be God’s messenger (Galatians 2:9).

Paul’s salvation (Acts 9) is well established by his first missionary journey in which he proclaimed the Gospel and started churches. His message of salvation is only by faith, by the Grace of God becomes the main point in all his writings.

The Apostle Paul, from the outset of the epistle to Galatia, is dealing with the heresy of adding requirements to the Gospel of Grace by faith. There is a great difference in believing that the grace of God is all that is required for salvation and those that would add works to salvation (circumcision in this case).

The Greek word for grace is charis. It is only found 13 times in the Gospels, but over 144 times in Paul’s writing. Paul’s epistles always use grace doctrinally, in connection with the dispensation of Grace.

The Apostle Paul goes so far as to proclaim; “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)

Paul never said it was wrong for Jews to be circumcised. He never said that it was wrong to keep the Law or to observe the Jewish festivals. He said that these have nothing to do with salvation. While customs and practices may differ, salvation never differs. There is only one way to be saved and that is by the Grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Questions from Youth Camp

Falls Creek Youth Camp, 2016

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Another Youth Camp is in the rear view mirror. Every camp takes on a different feel and this year’s camp was no different. We had many first time campers, some previous campers were now counselors and we had several new counselors to our group.

For the past four years, our church, Keys Valley Baptist Church in Belton, Texas, has joined with Grace Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. We go to Falls Creek Youth Camp, located in the Arbuckle mountains. The responsibilities are somewhat shared and we have it down to an organized chaos.

The temperature was in the mid 90’s in southern Oklahoma each day, but that doesn’t stop our 70 campers. They participate in volleyball, soft ball, skate boarding, swimming, canoeing, zip line or many other activities. Memories are made whether it be in the rain and flood of the previous year or the heat this year.

Note: If you decide to read this list of questions, I would ask you to not only look at the question, but think about the reason for the question. I believe you will see some real struggles in the lives of these teenagers (however, there is no way of know if any of the cooks or counselors also placed questions into the box). Many come from broken homes, some abusive. Many parents are not supportive of taking their kids to church. Each year my heart is broken for these teenagers that I get to teach and love for a week. 

  • What do you do to comfort somebody with Jesus?
  • If God has always been there, were the angels always there as well?
  • What do you do if you feel like God is calling you and you don’t listen and you feel like you sinned?
  • I have been having hard thought’s? What do you do if you’re in a church and you feel like God is calling you and you don’t listen?
  • How do you get baptized faster if the other church you go to gives you a 50 question test that you have to pass to get baptized? What do you do?
  • What do you do if you want to get baptized and your pastor immediately says you’re not ready to do this?
  • What do you do if you have problems getting to church?
  • If you commit suicide, can you still go to heaven?
  • What do you do if you’re having bad thoughts and are questioning if God loves you or not?
  • How do you deal with guilt from sin?
  • How did anyone know about God before Jesus came down?
  • What is Christianity? What is God doing when good people die or have bad times?
  • What if someone dies and they have never heard the Gospel?
  • How should we pray?
  • Do you HAVE to confess with your mouth to be saved or just believe in your heart?
  • What verses can you read if you’re going through a tough time?
  • Is it good to only want to read one verse in the Bible?
  • Will I still be able to get into heaven if I believe in things the Bible doesn’t support it? For example, supporting gay marriage.
  • Is it wrong to be transgender, bisexual or gay? Will God hate me if I am? If it is wrong, I’m sorry.
  • Are gay’s allowed to be in heaven?
  • Do you love God? (question for the Apologetic’s Forum panel). Why?
  • How do we help homosexual people?
  • What do you do if when you’re reading a verse in the Bible and don’t get it?
  • Am I saved if I can’t remember when I accepted Christ, but I still believe in him? I just can’t remember the actual date.
  • How do you know the Lord is with you?
  • Is it OK if you want to get closer to God and get resaved?
  • Is it true they took things out of the Bible they didn’t want us to know about?
  • What is the difference between God the Lord & the Holy Spirit? And if none, why not call all of them one name?
  • How do you talk to people that think God is fake?
  • What do you do when you encounter an atheist that argues about your faith? What are some arguments I can use?
  • How do you overcome doubt of God?
  • Why does God love me? Is it OK to have doubts?
  • If God created earth, who created God?
  • Is God going to make us live again?
  • Did the dinosaurs exist?
  • Why is theism involved in Christianity?
  • What does God’s love mean?
  • How do we begin understanding God’s love?
  • How do we know/feel when God is speaking to you?
  • Why is evolution not in harmony with creation?
  • If you aren’t saved, can you still be saved?
  • In Revelation, it says that someone who “adds to” the Bible will have their name “blotted out of the book of life”, but as Baptists we believe no one can be separated from God after they’re saved. Can a Christian lose their salvation by adding to the Bible? Or, does getting your name removed from the book of life mean losing your salvation?

We ended up the Friday evening Apologetics Forum well after midnight. I am sure that there were many questions that were never put on paper.

Our greatest resource in America are our youth. Would you agree to pray with me for this next generation as they search for answers? Thank You.

Good, Is Just Not Good Enough

Good, Is Just Not Good Enough

That was the headline for the announcement that the Denver Broncos head coach John Fox and Executive Vice President John Elway had come to an agreement that they would part ways. This separation of a winning head coach sent shock waves throughout the sports world.

John Fox was brought in when the team went a horrific 4-12. That is not the Denver tradition. He got his hands deep into the organization and went 8-8 the following year and into the playoffs. The next two years, the team went 13-3 after brining in Peyton Manning. In the 2014 season of 12-4, it was the fourth AFC West title since becoming the head coach. In four years the Broncos were 46-18, with four division titles. In 2013 the Broncos went to the Super Bowl.

With all the good work, vision and leadership, his good, just wasn’t good enough.

The problem was a 3-4 record in the postseason, a 43-8 thrashing in the Super Bowl and a one-and-out 24-13 loss this year spelled disaster for coach Fox.

The official statement from Elway said; “While we have made significant progress under Coach Fox, there is still work to be done. I believe this change at the head coaching position will be in the best interest of our long-term goal, which from day one has been to win World Championships.”

Your good, is just not good enough.

Like John Fox heard from his boss, one day, every one of us will face the creator of the universe. And when that day comes, the Bible tells us that no matter how hard we tried, or how good of person we are to others, our good, is just not good enough.

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans lays it out pretty clear. “There is none righteous (no matter how good we try to be), no, not one.” (Romans 3:10). “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

But there is hope. Paul says “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:10). So even though we could not be good enough on our own, God made a plan.

At one point or another, we have been exposed to John 3:16 in the Bible. In churches or at sporting events you will see signs that say, “John 3:16.” That verse says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish.”

Paul describes what John wrote in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Our attempts to be good fall way short of what God wants, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we can receive a gift from God, eternal life.

Wages or Gift…our very best efforts (Wages) will be NOT GOOD ENOUGH, but if we receive God’s free Gift, the work of Christ is GOOD ENOUGH.

Hmmm, what shall we do?