What must I do to be saved?

In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus presented Himself to His hometown in Nazareth. He read from Isaiah 61:1-2 and then stated, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” As far as the text is concerned, Jesus did not elaborate on that text any further, but He did expect His audience to understand the text, its context, and its application to Jesus. He gave them something to anticipate as they saw and listened to His ministry unfold.

When the wise men came to Jerusalem to seek the King of the Jews, the priests and scribes correctly identified and applied the prophecy from Micah 5:2 to the Messiah. There was not hesitation in assuming the text could be understood and fulfilled.

Jesus denounces the religious leaders, specifically the Pharisees, for their hypocritical traditions in Matthew 15:4-6. What they were obviously doing was invalidating the commandment to “honor father and mother” and Jesus expected them to see their obvious distortion. And He expected them to change their distortion!

In the heart of His ministry, Jesus rebuked the Jewish leaders for not allowing the Scriptures to lead them to Him: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). Of course, the weakness was in the will not the ability or inability to understand the Scriptures.

In Acts 2, Peter and the other apostles preached the first gospel sermon after the ascension of Jesus Christ. They applied Joel 2 to the day’s events as well as explained the application of Psalm 16. Three thousand Jews understood that message, grasped the application of the Old Testament texts, and responded with repentance and baptism.

In Acts 8, we have a treasurer coming from Ethiopia to Jerusalem who was reading Isaiah 53. He needed to be taught that Isaiah was not talking about himself but about the Messiah. When Philip explained to him that Isaiah was predicting the vicarious sacrifice of the Messiah, the treasure understood the message with faith, confession, and baptism.

In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, Paul commends the Christians for understanding what he wrote in 1 Corinthians and for obeying what he wrote at that time! He did not allow them to continue believing and practicing error!

Lots of passages in God’s word give principles that are specific and their meaning is obvious: Ephesians 4:28 & Galatians 5:19.

What are we trying to say? As if you could not draw the proper conclusion: the meaning of God’s word is often very obvious and we should seek to understand the clear truth that the Holy Spirit is teaching us and sometimes a deeper analysis is not necessary.

Paul Holland

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who lived in the late ninetieth century. He is associated with a statement that he made a few times in his books: “God is Dead.” He made the statement three times in the book The Gay Science and once in his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Because of the Enlightenment period and the teaching of evolution that made the “God-hypothesis” unnecessary, Nietzsche said that “belief in the Christian God has become unbelievable.” And, everything built on that faith, propped up by it and grown into it was bound to collapse, including the whole European morality.

When the Bible teaches that God is “immortal,” it means that He is Life. Everything that God created has life by His grace, but God is inherently life.

GOD IS IMMORTAL:

Paul writes a word of praise to God: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Tim. 1:17). Later in the same letter, he writes: God “alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen” (6:16).

GOD IS THE GIVER OF IMMORTALITY:

In John 5:24, Jesus states: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” “Eternal life” here is set in contrast to “death.” God gives eternal life. If someone does not have that eternal life which only God can give, then he or she will experience eternal death, eternal separation from the One who gives immortality.

WE MUST SEEK IMMORTALITY:

In Romans, Paul writes: “In the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, He will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation” (Rom.  2:5–8.

So here we see that we need to seek for: glory, honor, and immortality and life as if it is important to us. And God will give us eternal life. Notice also that this “seeking” is set in contrast with “not obeying the truth.” So “seeking immorality” is another way of saying “obeying the truth.” When we do that, God will give us immortality.

WE SHOULD PRAISE GOD FOR HIS IMMORTALITY:

As in all His attributes, we ought to praise God that He is “undying.” He is “immortal.” He is “incorruptible.” As Paul told the people in Athens, Greece, “in Him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:28) and as he wrote in Colossians 1:17: “in Him all things hold together.” And we praise God because He will give us an incorruptible body one day: Phil. 3:20-21:

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;  who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

Let’s live God’s incorruptible message so that He will give us an incorruptible body as a part of our incorruptible inheritance.

Paul Holland

In my lifetime there have been several “misfits” of society who have killed or tried to kill important people. John Hinckley, Lee Harvy Oswald, and recently Thomas Crooks, have tried to assassinate a president, with Oswald being successful. Add to this list Mr. Mark Chapman who killed John Lennon.

Oswald was expelled from Russia, estranged from his wife, and lived alone in Ft. Worth. Hinckley was from wealthy Dallas parents but drifted from city to city, taking a Greyhound bus from LA to DC to shoot the President. Chapman was from a broken home and traveled from place in stalking Jodie Foster. Twenty-year-old Crooks was described as a “loner” by his school mates.  Friendless, he still lived with his parents.

It is easy to see many common traits of these men, most notably the lack of a fellowship group, no close friendships and severed family ties. All were best described as “loners.” Do not follow their example.  Meet with God’s people to worship. Stay for those fellowship meals. Attend family activities. Develop close friendships. There are many good reasons why we are admonished to “stimulate one another,” in “not forsaking our own assembling together,” and to “encourage one another” (Heb. 10:24-25). Don’t be a loner!

-Dennis Doughty

First, the Bible: “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Col. 4:6). There is no better place to practice speaking with grace than in the home and with your children.

There might be times when your child deserves a tongue lashing. There might be times when your child deserves an “I told you so.” There might be times when the child deserves to experience the consequences of his or her behavior. But a parent needs to be gracious at all times.

If a parent consistently yells at a child who makes a mistakes or makes a foolish choice or otherwise comes across harshly and demanding, it can steal a child’s willingness to experiment with new things. If a parent is harsh when a child makes a foolish choice, it can rob a child of the willingness to risk making a mistake.

Parents need to be wise in handling these situations. “Grace” means that the child does not deserve a soft answer or a second chance or… but Mom and Dad give it any way. I was blessed with parents who never launched into angry tirades when we kids made mistakes. Did they allow us to experience the consequences of our choices? Yes. But they also encouraged us to learn from our mistakes and do things differently and they did so with kindness and gentleness.

There were times when I was working, mowing 25 yards every two weeks, that I would get behind. I went to 7 4-H camps plus Bible camp one year; when I came home, sometimes it was raining and I could not mow grass. Then I had to leave again. My dad would mow the yards for me and, other than having to spend money on gas, he gave me the money from the work. One might say that Dad should have kept it and taught me a lesson, but apparently he believed that me going to these camps was a better learning experience than me losing the income from that work. And I don’t believe his gracious behavior encouraged a bad work ethic in me or my siblings.

Sometimes we parents get harsh with our kids, particularly when they misbehave in public, more in order to defend our own ego or reputation than to train our children. Correction needs to be thoughtful, sometimes done quietly. But we always need to remember the long-term goal is to train responsibility and perseverance and Christlike-ness. And Christlike-ness is certainly gracious.

Paul Holland

Glenn Gregory must have had slender fingers.  The wedding ring his wife Barbara slipped on his finger was lost just two months later while he was setting a foundation for their new mobile home.  A second wedding ring was lost some time later.  The third wedding ring was stored away by Barbara; she wasn’t going to take a chance on him losing another!

Glenn died just a few months ago.  His wife hired a man to set a monument to mark his grave at their Henry County, Kentucky farm.  As the worker was digging, he spotted something shiny in the soil; it turned out to be the first wedding ring Glenn lost – 63 years earlier.

This story about the Gregory’s should remind us of an important principle.  Marriages are not held together by wedding rings or by any other external objects.  Marriages are made durable when we safeguard in our hearts the vows we make on the wedding day.  The first wedding ring was kept safe in the ground, but the love that prompted the ring was kept safe in the hearts of Glenn and Barbara.

In Malachi 2:14, God rebuked His people for marital sins.  “Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”  “By covenant” points back to the vows that were made in forming that marriage.  For some reason, the vows were forgotten and the marriages were discarded.  The wife, by reason of the divorce, was treated treacherously.

Jesus was asked His opinion about breaking a wedding vow.  “Is it lawful … for just any reason?” the Pharisees asked Him (Matthew 19:3).  Jesus first pointed them to the origin of marriage: “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4,5).  He was referring to the first marriage, the joining of Adam and Eve by God’s own design (Genesis 2:21-25).

That design of marriage has not changed through the ages.  When Jesus pointed to the Garden of Eden and the first marriage, He was saying, in effect, “This is still the standard.”  He went on to clearly answer the Pharisee’s question: “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6).

Some condense the principle into this simple statement: “One man and one woman for life.”  That seems an accurate assessment of what the Son of God taught on the subject.

My wife and I are in our 49th year of marriage.  I happen to still have on my left ring finger the gold band she placed on my finger on our wedding day.  But if I should lose the ring, the important thing is that I still carry the vow – and the love which prompted the vow – deep in my heart.  And I know she feels the same as I do.  Our love is safeguarded where it counts the most – in our hearts.

Come to the light God offers!  Study His word, the Bible.  Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24).  Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.

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Copyright, 2024, Timothy D. Hall

There must be some kind of world-wide contest underway to see which country can inflict the most harm on its own citizens or its neighbors- Gaza, Israel, West Bank, Syria, Ukraine, North Korea, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan… ad infinitum.

I recently saw a picture of a young boy who looked to be about twelve years old, who lived in one of the Middle Eastern war-torn countries.  The news blurb revealed that his parents had recently been killed.  The expression on his face was riveting.  It revealed a level of anger and hatred that would be shocking on the face of a 40 year-old, but it was even more shocking on a child’s face.  And I thought, “We know how this is going to end.  I just wonder how many he will manage to kill before he’s killed?”

I’m really sick-at-heart of war news, aren’t you?  Why must so many people die over a piece of land or an oilfield or ethnic pride or because one group wants to control another group?  Hatred is self-perpetuating.

I’m reminded of how incredibly blessed I am to be a Christian.  I am so happy to be part of a spiritual family that loves and cares for each other.  I’m happy to be part of a church where there is peace and unity.  I don’t take it for granted.

Yes, I know… it’s not perfect.  And there are two reasons why it’s not.  One of them is because I’m part of this family; the other is because you are.

Peace and security and encouragement are rare commodities these days.  Let’s all treasure it and pray that it continues and grows.

     “The Lord’s our rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide, A shelter in the time of storm….”

Ken Stegall

There have been famous cases of children suing their parents, like Gary Coleman of Different Strokes fame due to misappropriation of his earnings. Parents have sued their children, as rapper Eminem’s mom did for damages after he referenced her substance abuse in songs. Money is often a motive, but sometimes such court cases revolve around retribution for abuse or perceived neglect.

The book of Isaiah begins with the perfect Father, Jehovah, bringing a case against His spiritual children. As such, He leads out, “Sons I have reared and brought up,  But they have revolted against Me” (2). He labels them, “Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly” (4). He calls heaven and earth as witnesses (2). Certainly, there are other ways the nation of Judah is described here, but that the Lord is making the case against them for their sin and apostasy. What are the charges?

Rebellious Conduct (2-9). Daily life for Judah was characterized by iniquity and corruption (4), which God equates to despising and rejecting Him. He depicts their immorality as leprosy-like spiritual illness. Is there a more graphic depiction than, “The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil” (5-6)? He diagnoses them as a rebirth of Sodom and Gomorrah (9-10), whom He destroyed for their many and gross immoralities. These are the people of God, given His written Word and handed stalwart leaders. They had every advantage and were profusely blessed. Despite this, they rejected Him to serve their own passions and pleasures. They’ve collected so many sins that they are burdened with the weight of them (cf. Heb. 12:1). The people have no case, so they have no choice but to plead guilty to this first charge.

Unacceptable Worship (10-20). Their first crime led to this charge. Because of their daily, rebellious living, God rejected their worship. The problem was not that they withheld sacrifice from Him. They “multiplied” them (11). They gave them in abundance. They brought the right gifts. They came at the right times (13-14). But, when they prayed, He hid and ignored them (15). Why? Their hands were covered with blood (15). They were guilty of evil deeds (16). They were trying to substitute one day of worship for six days of wickedness. They lived like the world, then came to worship and pretended to be righteous before an omniscient and omnipresent God.

General Apostasy (21-31).  Apostasy “is the turning away from God in rebellion or apathy” (Jones, Lexham Theological. Wdbk.). Notice its description. Once a faithful city, they are now a harlot (21). Once full of righteousness and justice, they are now murderers (21). Isaiah describes what made this so: bribery (23), materialism (23), and oppression of the helpless (23). Because of this, they made their Father their adversary! He pledges to use His divine resources against them (24-25).

There is something Judah needed to know about these proceedings. Even though God had abundant evidence against them and they had no case, He wanted to find them “not guilty.” He does not want them to continue in this condition and pleads for them to change (5). He had already shown mercy (9). He pleads with them to turn away from their sins. Notice how He phrases it: “wash” (16), “remove” (16), “learn, seek, reprove, defend, plead” (17), “reason” (18), “consent and obey” (19). When has a plaintiff been so merciful and forgiving as God is with His people here?

But, make no mistake about it, as they are living at the time when Isaiah writes, they are His adversaries and foes (24). He was sentencing them (25). Yet, on the other side of that, He pledges to restore and redeem them (26-27). The impenitent will be crushed (28), but with the intent to make them ashamed and resolved to change (29-31). This judgment theme will recur throughout Isaiah’s prophecy, directed not only at His chosen but also their enemies. Notice also the parallel between chapter one and chapter 66, where these many themes are mirrored again in the closing words of this book. That shows that these themes are important to the overall message of the book. The bottom line is that we cannot go to court against God on the basis of our deeds. We will eternally lose under such conditions. We must throw ourselves on the mercy of the heavenly court, ready to confess and change.

Neal Pollard

We have now a plain work – simply the work of the Lord and no other. We have nothing to preach but the gospel, nothing to believe but the truth of God, nothing to do but the will of God, and nothing to hope for only what is promised in the word of God. Our work is not new and untried, but old, well tried, and noting can stand before us. We have truth and righteousness to maintain – sin and the world to oppose. We can make no change only at our peril – no departure without losing all. We started simply to be the people of God, and to give ourselves unreservedly to the Lord. We can not turn away.

– by Benjamin Franklin

(the gospel preacher, not the statesman)

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Alone 2

As David fled from Saul, he found himself alone in the caves of Adullam. He would write of those dark nights hiding in the cave, “There is no one who regards me, there is no escape for me, no one cares for my soul” (Psm. 142:4). He was wrong. Soon “his brothers and all his father’s household went down there to him,” and in no time “there were about four hundred men with him (1 Sam. 22:1-3).

The great thing about being a Christian is that we do not have to face this world’s difficulties in isolation. When we find ourselves in the darkness of life’s caves, help is always on the way. The Lord’s church is a family that will surround us with empathy, encouragement, even food and clothing if necessary.

In a Roman jail Paul was not without hope. He thanked the Philippians “having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent” (Phi. 4:18). In the church we “stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together” (He. 10:24-25).  We deal with life “together.”  It is not meant to be a solo journey.  It is a pity that so many in our society are facing daily life issues secluded and alone. This is particularly true of many of our elderly.  Let us be thankful for God’s family, and for the blessings of a loving fellowship with Christian friends. With God we are never alone!

-Dennis Doughty

It is the middle of the summer.  Every garden that is producing fruit, every flower that is blooming, every tree that is giving shade, is growing and producing by its roots. No roots, not fruits. What we see and enjoy on the surface is produced by what lies deep below the surface.

The same is true of our spiritual life. We want the fruits of a Christian life; forgiveness of our sins, a faith to live by, and fellowship with one another. The roots that produce these fruits are the cross of Christ, the apostles’ doctrines, and the church Jesus established. Solomon said it correctly that “the root of the righteous bears fruit” (Pro. 12:12). No fruit without roots.

Jesus’ parable of the Sower taught that those who “believe for a while” and then fall away, are those who “have no firm root” (Lu. 8:13). Paul explained it this way, “if the root is holy, the branches are too” (Ro. 11:16). Too many today want the fruit of forgiveness without the root of the cross, a saving faith without deep roots into the apostles’ doctrine, and the fellowship with God without the foundation of the church. Jude warned of “Autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted” (Jude 12). As in the natural world, so in the spiritual world, there can be no fruit without roots. How deep are your roots?

-Dennis Doughty