What must I do to be saved?

It has been said that a mother once asked, “At what age should I begin to teach my child?” The person replied, “How old is he now?” The mother said, “Two years.” His response was, “You have already lost about two years.”

Recent studies indicate that babies may begin to learn some things even before they are born. However, it is a fallacy to suppose that children will love their homes and learn properly from them just because they eat and sleep there. Wise parents will not only try to make their children satisfied and happy in their home environment, but they will also try to make home a place where good memories will be created that will serve good purposes in the difficult years that lie ahead.

Parents should provide room and occasion somewhere in the house for indoor activities that will charm, educate and improve the child so that he will not be restless for the street when school hours are over. Projects should also be included to broaden his interest in nature, hobbies or other things that will enrich his life as he grows older. If parents would deliberately find ways to create in their children a love and a respect for nature as part of God’s heritage, and a love of study and learning about all that is around them, great results could follow. The child will then be interested in where we came from, what our purpose in life is, how to achieve that purpose and what our spiritual destiny is to be. The answer to those questions can come only from God’s Word, an intense study of which will be profitable for this world and the world to come.

Parents cannot start too early to develop these inquisitive minds in their children and should never say or do anything that would dampen their normal desire to know things. Their questions may sometimes seem to have little significance or value, but parents should encourage all desire to learn truth while letting their children know in humility that humans simply do not have answers for all questions of life. God reveals only those things that we need to know to make life happier and more productive.

It is probable that there will be time later to help children learn to ‘avoid foolish and unlearned questions, knowing that they do gender strife’ (2 Timothy 2:23). This admonition has reference, not to the inquisitive minds of children about all the things that may be of interest to them, but of religious questions about things God has not revealed, and which, if one knew, would not be of any value. These are the kinds of things Paul mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:14 where people ‘strive about words to no profit, subverting the hearers.’ If you start early enough, you can help children to learn about the things that would be valuable enough to spend time learning and also about those that would not matter even if they found the answers.

[Editor’s Note: Babies learn more things more rapidly, perhaps, in the first two or three years of life than they may ever learn at any other time in their lives. For instance, they learn a foreign language (to them), how to feed themselves, how to dress themselves, how to use a toilet and how to manipulate siblings and adults to get what they want. While our young children are most like little sponges – absorbing everything they can from their environments – is an ideal time to introduce them to God the Son (Jesus Christ, our Savior), God the Father (Who receives our prayers) and God the Spirit (Who gave us the Bible). From infants to adolescents, Christian parents need to expose their offspring to Christian worship as a family, to consistent, godly, daily Christian living and to heartfelt Christian service. One important way to grow and to sustain any local congregation of the Lord’s church is populate it with children of faithful and earnest Christian parents. ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]

T. Pierce Brown

I cannot remember when I first saw, or heard, this sermon title, but it made a big impression on me. At first, my response was I thought, “Yes that is right that we are to be fishers of men.” I believed that back then and I believe it now. We must get better, as a congregation in doing personal work! The reason being is that there are people dying every day who are outside of Christ and they have absolutely no hope of being in Heaven.

Some might say that there are so many who are lost that we can never reach all of them so that they may have salvation. Because of that thinking, some might have the attitude that since we cannot save all of them, then we cannot make a real difference to bring many of them to Christ. I beg to differ! That reasoning is just a “cop out.” If someone had not taken an interest in us to bring us to Christ, then we would not be Christians today! We would be lost with no bright future ahead of us eternally. We would have lost Paradise and Heaven itself. But, for us, we had someone who was willing to sit down with us and show us the way of salvation. That is why we are Christians today!

The old maxim, “We are found to find another, we are taught to teach another, we are saved to another” is certainly applicable to us today when we consider that there are so many people around us who are outside of Christ, just waiting to have the opportunity to obey the gospel and be saved from their sins.

Are we really fishers of men, or are we keepers of the aquarium? Let me suggest that we are BOTH! If we do not share the gospel with others they certainly will not have the opportunity to obey it and be saved. On the other hand, we also have the responsibility to be “keepers of the aquarium,” that is, to help those who are saved to stay saved. Therefore, our responsibility is both to the lost to bring them to Christ, as well as to the saved to help keep them saved. Why? Because we want them to remain faithful so they will continually have the hope of salvation.

Think about it!

Kevin Williams

Life has a way of keeping us humble, if we will listen. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 that loving hearts make a habit of showing true humility, not just toward people we like, toward people who agree with us, but toward our enemies, people we don’t like, people who disagree with us.

Humility means being quiet about yourself. In Proverbs 27:2, the wiseman says, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”

Giving is a good thing. But if we do a good thing with impure motives, it will backfire on us if only in the eyes of God (Matt. 6:2-4).

Secondly, humility is “not looking down” on others: Philippians 2:3-4.

Humility means letting others shine their light. Paul wrote that Christianity is “rejoicing when others rejoice” (Rom. 12:15).

I am not indispensable. To anyone. Only Christ is indispensable to everyone. I am not. In every role I have, I can be replaced by someone else and it is just as likely that the next person is better than I am as it is the next person is worse than I am.

The Bible teaches that pride is a sin: Proverbs 8:13; 16:5; 21:4; 2 Timothy 3:2; 1 John 2:16.

The world looks down on humility. But God exalts it as one of the most important of all virtues He expects from us. God does not take pride lightly.

Humility – thinking soberly about ourselves, putting the other person’s needs and opinions before our own – is God’s plan for greatness: 1 Peter 5:5-6; James 4:10.

Bow your heart to those around you, and to God, every day.

Paul Holland

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.”

Let us note a few things about this text. First, in the text Jesus inquired of His disciples about what was being said by the people as to His identity. Evidently people were not fully sure who Jesus truly was. They were saying that He was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or a prophet. It was then that Peter spoke up and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said he was “blessed” and that no man had told Him about His identity. He simply told him that God, Himself, had revealed it to him.

Jesus then told Peter of His plans to build His church and that Hades, itself could not stop it! Jesus then gave to Peter “the keys” to the kingdom of heaven, the church! He used those “keys” when he preached the first gospel sermon in Acts, chapter two. Think about what Jesus said, in that Jesus, Himself, would build His church. That church that He built came into existence: ONE CHURCH, not many churches that we see in the worldly churches throughout our land. Why can people not understand that basic, fundamental truth about Jesus and His church? I would suggest that is why Paul described Jesus’ church as “the churches of Christ” in Romans 16.16. He knew to Whom the church belonged, Jesus Christ!

Think about it!

Kevin Williams

If we all speak the same thing, then we will dwell together in unity. But where are we going to get all this “same thing” to speak? There is your problem.

We can not find any unity among the creed books of today’s religious organizations, for there is not a creed book among all those written by men that is acceptable as a basis for unity. We know that one denomination will not accept the manuals or disciplines of other denominations as authority for their religious practices.

There is one book, however, that records God’s Word, which is recognized by all as rightly constituted authority. All religious groups will agree that it is right and can not be wrong. That book is the Bible.

Let us teach what the Bible says, no more and no less, and we will all speak the same thing, according to that exhortation in 1 Cor. 1:10: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

If religious people would but speak where the Bible speaks and remain silent where it is silent, there would be no divisions among them. There would be unity.

– by W. A. Moody

    This word is one of the most beautiful concepts in the whole Bible; and one of the most misunderstood. I was counseling with a woman one time who wanted to marry a man who was not biblically eligible to marry (in violation of Matthew 19:9). We looked at the Scriptures but then she responded: “But what about grace?” What that individual wanted to think was that grace would allow her to live in sin. Paul asked the question: “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be!” (Rom. 6:1-2) That expression “May it never be!” is as emphatic in the Greek language as it could be; the KJV translates it “God forbid!” Paul’s thoughts were directed at Christians who had this woman’s same mentality.

    Let’s take a look at what the NT teaches about grace. The Greek word is charis. We first note that the word is not found at all in Matthew or Mark (or 1 John or 3 John). Its first use is in Luke 1:30 where Gabriel tells Mary that she had found “grace” (“favor” in the NASV) with God. This means that Mary did not earn or deserve the right to be Jesus’ mother. As Jesus grew through childhood, the “grace of God” was upon Him (2:40). Here, the word refers to God’s presence and His blessings. Thus in 2:52, Luke writes that Jesus was in “favor” (“grace”) with God and men. 

    While He was teaching in Nazareth, the people wondered at the “gracious words” with which He was teaching (4:22). This refers to the beauty, gentleness, and wisdom with which He spoke. The word for “credit” (6:32-34) is the word “grace.” We receive no “grace” if we only behave godly toward those who can return the “grace.” The word is translated as “thank” in 17:9 where Jesus states that a master does not “thank” (“have grace,” literally) the slave for doing what he was expected to do. These are all the uses of charis in Luke (8 occasions).

    The apostle John has fewer occasions (four) and all are in the first chapter. The “Word” became flesh, full of “grace and truth” (1:14). I understand the word here to refer to the blessings of God, the Father, which were in Jesus Christ and available through Him throughout His ministry. He came to reveal the “grace” of the Godhead, just as surely as He came to reveal the “truth” of the Godhead. Those who believe and obey Jesus Christ will receive His fullness as “grace” is stacked upon “grace” (1:16). All spiritual blessings are available in Jesus Christ. The Law was given through Moses, but ultimately the grace of God is experienced in, and only in, Jesus Christ: “grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (1:17). This is John’s way of saying that Jesus came to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). One surprising result of this study is that “grace” (the word) is only uttered by Jesus Christ four times and never in reference to God’s relationship with man!

    Next time, we’ll look at “grace” in the Acts of the Apostles as they begin preaching the grace of God.

Paul Holland

“But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’” John 12:23-28

 In the hour of trial Jesus was clear about his purpose for coming to the earth. He was not confused by dissenting voices around him, and he did not doubt his own intentions. He could clearly see the reason for his purpose, and he expressed it with the metaphor of a grain of wheat which goes into the ground and dies, but which produces much grain. Jesus did not cling to this early life. He knew that the sacrifice of his life would produce eternal life. Those who want to serve the Lord must follow him. A true disciple will take up his cross daily and follow Jesus.

This story about Hank Aaron and Yogi Berra is told, and it is revealing about knowing our purpose. During the 1957 World Series between the Milwaukee Braves and the New York Yankees, slugger Hank Aaron came up to bat. Yogi Berra, the Yankee catcher, noticed he was holding the bat wrong. “Turn it around,” he told Aaron. “So you can read the trademark.” (That’s the usual wisdom on how to hold a bat.) Hank never looked back, but said, “Didn’t come up here to read. Came up here to hit.” And brother, did he ever.

That is a great story about purpose. Aaron knew what his business was at the plate, and he would not be deterred by the comic quips of that famous Yankee catcher. In fact, Yogi Berra knew what his purpose was, too. He would do whatever he could to rattle or distract an opposing hitter. They were both dedicated to their purpose.

When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he referred to God’s purpose in sending his son to die on the cross. “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death” (Acts 2:23). God even uses men with evil purposes to accomplish his own plans. This is a plan that was in place from the foundation of the world, as we read in Revelation 13:8, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Paul declares that it was God’s purpose to call us into the church of Jesus Christ from the foundation of the world, “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…” (Eph. 1:4-5). As we continue to read in the Book of Ephesians, we discover that we are chosen through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can say that God preordained the plan of salvation and not individual men and women. God chose Jesus to fulfill his purpose and plan, and we are chosen in Christ through the gospel. When the hour of suffering came for Jesus, he was not looking for a hiding place, and he was not looking for an excuse to duck out. He would set his face steadfastly for Jerusalem and walk confidently in his father’s purpose and plan. We need to know our purpose and be faithful to it so that we, too,  may glorify God.

L Scott Gage

I recently encountered a skeptic who attacked Christianity with a statement along these lines, “If your religious system requires you to die to experience the best it has to offer (i.e. heaven), then your religion is a scam.” This statement reveals a serious misunderstanding of Christianity.

For centuries, Christian apologists have said this is “the best of all possible worlds.” The best world imaginable would be one characterized by love and goodness. True love only exists as the result of free-will actions. Thus, in the best of all possible worlds, free will must exist. Where free will exists, the potential to do both good and evil must exist. God created this world in perfect goodness, yet He also populated it with free-will beings – humans – beings that ultimately chose to do evil (Genesis 1:31; 3:1–24). Even though sin entered this world, and with it suffering, it could not be a better world than it is. To take away evil, God would also have to take away free will, which would eliminate the potential for real love. That price is too high!

Back to the skeptic’s statement: not only is this the best possible world, but Christianity offers the best possible life in this world and in the life to come. Surrendering to God in Jesus Christ does not merely secure a better life in eternity; it provides the Christian with a blueprint for living in this sin-broken world. The Beatitudes are a great example of this already-but-not-yet tension (Matthew 5:3–12). Christians suffer, but so do non-Christians. Yet, when Christians suffer, we have a connection with “the God of all comfort,” a family to lean on, and we know that suffering can be a tool for glorifying God (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:3–5; Romans 5:3–5). No, life in Christ is not a scam. It is the abundant life. It is the best possible life now and in eternity.

Clay Leonard

One characteristic of God that is prominent in the book of Joshua is His faithfulness. In the closing chapter, Joshua’s final speech to Israel offers a history lesson of God’s faithfulness to them. Read verses 2-13, and you will find that God’s presence is displayed throughout Israel’s history. Notice all of the “I” statements (I gave, I sent, I brought you…”). From the beginning to now, God had been with His people.

This was a fulfilled promise offered by God to Joshua at the start of the book. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). God’s hand is with His people. It was true for Israel, and it’s true now for Christians. God has promised to “never leave or forsake us” (Heb. 13:5). He is the provider of blessing in the good moments of life (James 1:17) and He walks with us in the difficult times (Psalm 23:4).

Let us, too, not forget the faithfulness of God displayed by His Son. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 lists several examples of sinners that will not inherit the kingdom of God. Yet, Paul continues the thought with “…and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). Let us view ourselves as products of God’s faithfulness. In doing so, we will be better able to appropriately care for sinners and share with them saving power of Jesus Christ and His steadfast love and faithfulness.

After addressing God’s faithfulness in the past, Joshua presents the Israelites with a choice. He calls on them to “Fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness” (v.14). Sincerity – intent. Many are sincere. Sincerity is the easier part of serving. Most will sincerely say, “I will serve the Lord.” But we must be sincere and faithful. Sincerity is intent. Faithfulness is action. Say what you mean to do, and do it!

Joshua is begging the question, “Will you be faithful now and in the future?” He then says, “Choose this day whom you will serve!” It’s a choice all must make individually: Serve the Lord, or something else. Even as the Israelites respond with sincerity (v. 16-18), Joshua questions their faithfulness, reminding them that God is a holy and jealous God. There is and will be no other God, and He will not take partial allegiance (v.19-20). Christians receive a similar warning in Hebrews 10:26-27. “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” If we say we are going to serve God, we can’t serve sin, too. We must daily choose faithfulness.

Likewise, we must be resolved to make that decision every day in the future. To be “resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the worlds delight,” but instead be “allured by things that are higher and nobler.” To “hasten to Him.” To run, and cling to Him more closely every day. Resolve requires action. For Israel, they are told to put away foreign gods and incline their heart to God (v.23). What “gods” must you put away so that you can better incline your heart to God? What specifically can you do to better express your faithfulness to a God who has constantly expressed His to you? Be resolved. Be intentional.

God has been, is, and will be faithful to His people. Let us choose to be sincere and give faithful service to Him.

Jared McLeod

    My dad was a preacher. But he never worked for a church that was larger than about 45-50, so he never worked under an eldership. Most of the time, he had to work some other job, in order to support his work as a minister. When we lived in south Alabama, which was the only time we lived within about 30 minutes of my grandparents, my grandpa and dad started a business doing construction work. Grandpa was a carpenter and he and dad worked a lot together. One time dad came home having a black and blue thumb because he hit it a few times with the hammer and he told us that Grandpa told him that when when he got his thumb knocked around where he wanted it, he would quit hitting it!

    A carpenter might nail a thousand nails a day, and that’s a lot of practice! The most important thing in hammering nails, as my dad learned the hard way, is to keep your eye on the nail. One time when I was helping my dad, I hit my thumb and dad said, “Son you are hitting the wrong nail!” If you keep your eyes on your thumb, you will hit your thumb; if you keep your eyes on the nail, you’ll hit it.

    If Christ is at the center of our lives, then why do we keep hitting our thumbs? The resurrection of Christ is the event that impresses on our hearts the reason we need to have Jesus at the center of our lives. Let’s study the first ten verses together. We’ll look at the last ten tomorrow…

THE EMPTY TOMB – 28:1-7:

    The angel said: 1) Do not be fearful. 2) He acknowledges they were seeking the Jesus who had been crucified. 3) The Jesus who had been crucified (dead), is not in the grave. 4) He has risen to life again. 5) He had so predicted this resurrection. 6) They are invited to see the evidence with their own eyes. 7) They are then to go tell the disciples that He was risen. 8) He will meet them in Galilee (as He had said, Matt. 26:32; cf. “Galilee of the Gentiles” from 4:15-16). 9) They will see Him alive there. 10) He has now shared the information that God told them to share.

THE FIRST MESSAGE FROM THE RESURRECTED LORD – 28:8-10:

    Jesus repeated a few of the items of the angel: 1) Do not be afraid. 2) Go. 3) Announce to “My brothers” (see 12:49-50; 25:40; John 20:17; Heb. 2:11) that He is going into Galilee (John 21:1-14). 4) There they will see Him. Galilee had been the location of most of His ministry, in Matthew’s account. 

APPLICATION:

    If the gospel story was fabricated, or if the gospel story was written by misogynists, the testimony of the women would have been excluded or changed to men. Women were not considered reliable witnesses in the court of law.

    The “first day of the week” becomes significant for Christians as the celebration of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ – through the Lord’s Supper – which happened on the first day, which came to be known as the “Lord’s Day” (see Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:20; 16:1; Rev. 1:10). 

    Jesus’ resurrection is the first fruit (1 Cor. 15:20, 23) of a coming harvest of souls’ resurrections one day (1 Cor. 15:57-58).

    Jesus ought to be worshipped; men and angels cannot be worshipped: Acts 10:25-26; 14:11-15; Rev. 22:8-9.

    We also note that even though the disciples had forsaken Jesus and fled (26:56), and Peter had denied Him (26:69-75), Jesus still considered them “brothers” (verse 10). He would forgive them (singling out Peter himself in Mark 16:7) and restore them into His grace. 

    The fact that Jesus rose from the dead needs to be at the center of our lives. If the resurrection did not happen, then we (Christians) of all people deserve pity (see 1 Cor. 15:9) and nothing really is important. If the resurrection did happen, then we will experience a bodily (but changed) resurrection, Christ means everything, and nothing else is really important! See also 1 John 3:1-3.

Paul Holland