What must I do to be saved?

We live in the midst of a culture controlled by excessive individualism. In other words, more and more individuals have begun to think that each person determines what is right for himself or herself. This kind of thinking controlled the people in the days of the Judges when the writer said, “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes,” (Judges 17:6; 21”25). They had a king, God, but they ignored Him. Therefore, each person did what he or she thought was right. Those were some of the darkest, most chaotic years in Israel’s history. The same can be said for us today. The results they had are the same results today – immorality, irreverence and disrespect for any authority. Even as wicked as some individuals in this culture are, they are made in the image of God (Genesis 1;26) and Christ died for them as well as for us (I John 2:1-2; John 3:16). God has commanded that the church be “the pillar and support of the truth, (I Timothy 3:15). So, how can we reach this culture with the gospel so that they can be saved?

Because the church is “the pillar and support of the truth” the church has always been counterculture. The world has always been upside down and needed to be turned right-side-up (Acts 17:6 KJV). Paul gave a great summary about how we should go about turning the world back to God. He wrote, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete,” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Denny Petrillo has done such a great job explaining this passage, I am just going to quote what he said in 2008 Workshop in the Word commentary. (The explanation is lengthy, but worth our read to help us understand Paul’s great message).

“Paul identify (sic) the four acts of war he will initiate: He says that (1) we are destroying speculations. This is the first of four participles that are based upon the principal verb “we fight” in v. 3. The opponents do not have truth on their side, but human speculations. Paul will destroy these, as well as (2) every lofty thing. Men propose great and powerful arguments. Paul will take them out, showing that they did not have a divine origin. This is vital because these arguments were against the knowledge of God – therefore were blocking men from seeing the truth of the gospel. Next, Paul says that they will (3) take every thought captive. …as with point two, Paul is talking about the arguments and vain reasoning of the false teachers. Their points will be taken captive, and like prisoners, will be removed and forced to yield to Christ (to the obedience of Christ). Remember, every other point is negative; therefore logic would demand that this one be understood in a negative sense as well. As he finishes his threats, Paul says he will (4) punish all disobedience. This is not referring to people, since Paul is not interested in destroying people – just their false arguments that destroy men’s souls (unless this punishment is disfellowshipping – cf. 2:6). The action taken will only be done whenever your obedience is complete. It would be fruitless to confront the false teachers only to have virtually no support from the church.”

Our Actions

    First, help them see the consequences of their worldview (A worldview is the standard by which one lives his or her life). Everyone has a worldview whether or not one is aware of that word. To the best of our ability and to the best of their willingness to listen, we need to help them see the consequences of their view. An amoral (having no moral standard) culture soon becomes an immoral culture filled with victims of crime and violence. A culture in which every man is a law unto himself is a culture in chaos and anarchy. Help them see the wickedness described in the Book of Judges and help them see what is happening in our society.

    Second, show them the inconsistency of their worldview. Basically, their worldview is that there are no absolutes. Even though they say everyone is right and there are no absolutes in life, they want absolutes. The space industry operates because there are absolutes. They can shoot rockets into space and hit their moving target because the solar system operates on an absolute time schedule. Scientific laws such as gravity operate on an absolute truth. Do they want absolute truth with they ask the pharmacist to fill a prescription? Yes, they do! Getting away from the absolute proportions in medicine may cause death. Do they want the bankers to operate on a system of absolute truth when it comes to their money? Yes, indeed! The only areas where people who say there are no absolutes want no absolutes are (1) Morals, and (2) Religion.

    Third, show them the hopelessness of their worldview. The Christian life is the best life. Jesus said that He came “that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” (John 10:10). The Christan worldview offers guidance in life. Jeremiah said, “I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps,” (Jeremiah 10:23). Peter said, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His sown glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). It’s unfortunate that sinful people think Christianity is a burden. Actually, “His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).

Unfortunately, the sinful worldview offers no hope beyond this life. The Christian worldview offers life after death (I Corinthians 15). Jesus promised, “Do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also,” (John 14:1-3).

Wayne Burger

Questions about membership in a local congregation often arise – questions like: When? How? Why? We believe that many such questions can be answered by studying the case of Saul (Paul) when he returned to Jerusalem following his conversion:

”And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus …” (Acts 9:26-29)

Notice the things we learn from this text:

– The action was immediate. There was no long delay on Saul’s part before seeking to identify with God’s people in Jerusalem. Oftentimes folks today wait months, even years, before identifying with a local congregation.

– It was Saul who took the initiative in this matter. The KJV says “he assayed to join himself to the disciples”. Other versions say “he tried to” or ”he was trying to’: Clearly, he made the effort. He did not wait for others to approach him.

– The church put him to the test. They needed to know of his conversion and his faithfulness. Evidence was presented to them to verify that Saul was a faithful Christian. They were not obligated to receive him into their fellowship until they were convinced of his proper standing before God. And, too, observe that Saul was not “put off’ or turned away by their desire to know these things about his former life.

– As soon as he was a part of that congregation, he got actively involved in the work that was being done.

Surely we can all learn some important lessons from this about membership in a local church.  Are you are member of a sound congregation? Are you active and working? If not, why not?

– by Greg Gwin

In John 13, after Jesus had instituted the Lord’s Supper, we find that he washed his disciples’ feet (vs. 4-16). Many times the question arises, “Since Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, should we not wash one another’s feet?” Some in the denominational world have used this as justification to have a “foot washing service” as a part of the worship to God.

Washing feet is also mentioned in Luke 7 where a woman washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Then it is mentioned in 1 Timothy 5 as one of the deeds that would characterize some widows.

The usual mode of travel in Jesus’ day was walking. The roads and pathways were usually dusty. One of the signs of hospitality in that time was to wash (or, have a servant to wash) the feet of a guest when hey arrived in your house. This seems to be the thought in Luke 7 and seems to be given as a symbol of hospitality in 1 Timothy 5. It is certain that the lesson Jesus taught in John 13 was that of humility and service.

Saints still need to be humble in the sight of God (James 4:10) and in this humility be willing to do anything they can to relieve the distress of another – including washing their body (not just feet).  We should show hospitality to those who visit us, but washing another’s feet is not necessarily the only way to manifest this. And, we all (not just widows) should be active in doing good deeds.

To go through a ceremony of washing another’s feet when they don’t need washing is NOT a show of humility nor godliness. So far as I can see it is NOT something to be done in worship to God.

Let us leave it as the Bible does – a symbol of hospitality and good works. Let us manifest hospitality in other ways and do all good works expected by God – but let us not fall into a ritual of washing feet in applying the Scripture improperly.

– by J. F. Dancer, Jr

When we were little, it was quite natural to hang on to the hand of either your mother or father when we went out into public. As children, God has placed that instinct into each child as a part of an early bonding for their safety. As we grew older, we may have also grown bolder and as a result let go of that secure hand to launch out into an unknown territory. Hopefully our parents would keep track of us and make sure we didn’t come to some harm.

A few years ago, I was reading Mom’s diary that she had diligently kept in 1941 and 1942. It was a bit of a traumatic time (World War 2 and all that) but added to that was my “declaration of independence” as I attended public school in Geneva, New York. It was wintertime and much to my mother’s frustration, I insisted in playing in the snow on the way home, either for lunch or at the end of the day. Her concern is seen in her writing but I was completely oblivious to her frustration. Except for her diary I don’t remember anything except playing in the snow and coming home soaked to the skin.

How oblivious are we to God’s plea (as the perfect parent) to not stray from his protective care. We, many times, exercise our independence when we go into unknown territory to perhaps taste the sweet taste of some forbidden fruit?

How many times has God expressed the frustration of a parent who sees their children going in the wrong direction? Joshua is one of God’s faithful children who will speak for the Father when he addresses the nation with an admonition to stay close to the Father.

    “But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day,” (Joshua 23:8).

This message was not one that was new. The second giving of the Law of Moses is presented by God through Moses so that the new nation of Israel might always hang on to God’s hand for the direction that was needed in conquering a new land.

    “You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him,” (Deuteronomy 13: 4).

The message for us today is one that is clear. As children of God we always need direction. This dark world has too many pitfalls for us to walk blindly without light. For us to deny the light that God provides is to deny the very work of our Father on our behalf. To not rely on God is to forget God.

    “Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries,’“ (Ezekiel 23:35).

We need to cling to our Father and let Him do what He perfectly does and not arbitrarily cast Him behind us because we think we know what is best.

Dave Chamberlin

It seems that since David was the youngest son in his family, it fell his lot to keep the sheep. What does a teenager do while he is with the sheep? There wasn’t much he could do except look at nature. It is easy to imagine David lying on the ground at night and looking up at the stars. Later he wrote with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands,” (Psalm 19:1).

David spoke of “heavens.” People in biblical times thought that there were “three heavens,” (2 Corinthians 12:2). The heavens are so broad they are spoken of as a great “expanse.” Stars are self-illuminating heavenly bodies. Our moon is a heavenly body that is not on fire, but only reflects the light of our sun, a star in our galaxy. A “galaxy” is a group of heavenly bodies, primarily stars. We are in the “Milky Way” galaxy which has between 200 to 400 million stars in it. There are thousands of galaxies. With the naked eye, one can see about 6,000 stars.

The Hubble camera took pictures of the heaven – 1/25 of one degree and found 1,500 to 2,000 galaxies which means in the heavens there are something like 50-100 billion galaxies. The ratio of what Hubble took a picture of would be equivalent to holding a grain of sand at arm’s length (The Denver Post 1-16-96).

Our sun is about 684,000 miles in diameter. In comparison, our earth is about 8,000 miles in diameter. Some stars are 600,000 times brighter than our sun. It is estimated that the diameter of one star is 336,960,000 miles. It would hold a half billion “earths.”

Here are some illustrations to help us understand how big the universe is. If someone put a dot on a white board which represent the earth and one inch away put another dot that represents our sun, which is 93 million miles from the earth, the next dot which would represent the nearest star to us, would have to be four and a half miles away. If we were to put a dot to represent the middle of our galaxy, we would have to put it 25,000 miles away with every inch representing 93 million miles.

The Andromeda galaxy is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way. It is 4.5 billion light years away from earth. A “light-year” is the distance light will travel in a year at the rate of 186,000 miles per second. That is over 65 million miles per hour. This galaxy can be seen with the naked eye. It contains 14 trillion stars! Many other stars are many more light years away from us! It is estimated that from border to border our universe is 20 billion light years across. (Remember, a light-year is the distance light will travel in a year at a rate of 186,000 miles per second).

The Power of God

     The Bible begins, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” (Genesis 1:1). The Hebrew writer said, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible,” (Hebrews 11:3).

The Holy Spirit explained, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being,” (John 1:1-2).

Again, the Holy Spirit explained further, “For by Him (Christ) all things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him,” (Colossians 1:16).

Think of God’s Care

     Scholars tell us that our galaxy is just the right size. If it were larger the infusion of gases would cause our world to ignite; if it were too small, it would be insufficient to sustain life. Our orbit around the sun is not a perfect circle, but an elliptical orbit. For each 18 miles that the earth travels it moves one-ninth of an inch off of a straight line. If this were changed to one-eight of an inch we would burn up. If this were changed to one-tenth of an inch, we would freeze to death. We also have just the right mixture of air to breathe. If the mixture was changed, we could not survive on this earth.

Think about How the Universe Works

The earth is spinning on its axis at the rate of 1,000 miles per hour. While at the same time our earth is orbiting around the sun at 72,000 miles per hour. While our solar system is moving in an orbit. While our galaxy is moving at the rate of 600,000 miles per hour. It is no wonder that Sir James Jeans, a leading British astronomer said that the ultimate reality of the universe is probably forever beyond comprehension by the human mind.

When thinking about all this, we can say with David, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him,” (Psalm 8:3-4)?

 What Can We Learn about God Without a Bible?

• God is all powerful!
• God loves beautiful things!
• God is good to His creation!
• God is faithful!
• God is the author of order and design!

(Hugo McCord in Truth for Today Commentary by Eddie Cloer on Psalm 19, page 254).

It’s no wonder that C. S. Lewis said of Psalm 19, “I take this to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world” (Truth for Today Commentary Psalm 1-50, p. 245 by Eddie Cloer).

Conclusion

Through nature God has given us a witness that He exist. It is said that during the French Revolution, a revolutionist said to a peasant, “I will have all your steeples pulled down so that you will not have any reminders of your superstitious religion.” The peasant replied, “You cannot pull down the stars.” The starry sky preaches a sermon every time we look up. It is a silent sermon; It is a universal sermon; It is a glorious sermon; It is a continual sermon (Truth for Today Commentary, p. 253). Are we receiving that message? The starry sky tells us there is a God, but only by studying His written word, can we know how to please Him.

Wayne Burger

Did you know there are dentist chairs in the ocean that fish can swim up to and get their teeth cleaned for free?

Yes, this is true!

These cleaning stations can be found throughout coral reefs. They are an example of a symbiotic relationship. Symbiotic relationships are when two species interact in a mutually beneficial way. In this case, the fish receive a free dental cleaning and the cleaning station gets food scraps that the fish leave behind. Both species benefit from the relationship.

These very real cleaning stations are areas that a fish can swim into and have parasites, bacteria, and dead skin removed from the skin, scales, gills and mouths of fish. The “cleaners” are gobies, blennies, wrasse fish, and shrimp that live in a concentrated area to provide cleaning services. The “clients,” are larger fish like grouper and sharks, which open their mouths to allow the cleaners to do their job.

In this symbiotic relationship, the fish gets a stress-free cleaning, while the small fish, shrimp and other organisms that live in the station get a meal. This mutually beneficial relationship is one of the many examples of how complex life forms interact with each other and their environment–a relationship not explained by evolution.

Brad Harrub

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11.

H – Honor God by your life, Ecc. 12:13; Matt. 6:33; Rom. 12:1-2.
A – Attend every church service possible, Heb.10:25; Acts 2:46-47; 5:42; 20:7.
P – Pray always, I Thess. 5:17.
P – Practice the “Golden Rule,” Matt. 7:12.
Y – Yield not to temptation, Matt. 6:13; 26:41; Luke 22:40.
N – Never murmur or complain, Philippians 2:14.
E – Endeavor to save others, I Cor. 9:22; see Prov. 11:30.
W – Worship sincerely, John 4:23-24.
Y – Yearn for Bible knowledge, Matt. 5:6; I Peter 2:2; II Pet. 3:18.
E – Enlarge your faith, Luke 17:5.
A – Always be considerate, Heb. 10:24.
R – “Remember Thy Creator,” Ecc. 12:1.
-Author Unknown

Jessica Vincent has been a fan of “Antiques Road Show” for years.  She dreamed of one day finding an object that would be declared valuable by an expert, even after others had overlooked it.  She recently had her wish come true.

While perusing merchandise at a Goodwill store near Richmond, Virginia, Vincent spotted a vase that stood out because of its colorful pattern.  Thinking it would look nice in her home, she purchased it for $3.99.  She then posted pictures of it in Facebook glass art groups and learned it was a rare piece that others would pay dearly to obtain.

Experts were contacted, and they paid a visit to inspect the vase for themselves.  It was determined to be a rare and flawless creation by an Italian artist and was put up for auction.  When the gavel fell a price just over $107,000 was paid by an unidentified collector.

“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure” is a well-known proverb.  It’s unknown who brought the valuable vase to that Goodwill store, but they obviously regarded it as little more than junk.

Jesus told a parable about a merchant in search of beautiful pearls: “… when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:46).  The merchant knew the worth of the pearl and sold all he had to obtain it.  But why had no one else already spotted it?  Apparently, others were not trained to understand its true value.

The “pearl” of which Jesus spoke almost certainly points to the gift of salvation which He would soon make available to humanity by His death on the cross.  The cost of following Jesus is staggering: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).  That’s a price that the majority of people aren’t willing to pay.  Why should we?

Two verses later Jesus gave the reason for making such an investment: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).  When we grasp the big picture of our existence, we value things differently.

I suspect that virtually every thrift store in America has inexpensive used Bibles for sale.  Some have been passed over by dozens of people who saw no value in them at all.  But those who understand that life on earth is a training ground for eternity know that this Book is a treasure.  From an ancient Book we learn about our perilous condition in sin, and we hear the Good News of a Savior who offers to deliver us from those sins.

The Bible you buy at Goodwill may never sell for big money, but the results of living according to its teaching will be worth many times more than all the silver and gold on earth.

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