The world at large de-emphasizes the importance of the church and, indeed, it sometimes appears to be the case that the church has been eliminated from the minds of men. This is to be expected from those who make no claim to religious belief, but even among those who claim to be seeking after God’s will, there are many who regard the church as being of little importance.

There is a very significant movement in modern Japan called the “No-church Movement.” This means simply that many thousands of people who were formerly Buddhists and Shintoists have come in more recent years to realize the tremendous appeal of the person of Jesus Christ. Many of them have accepted Him in a personal way and would call themselves Christians. While they have a great » Continue reading “How Important Is The Church?”

There is a commonly held belief in the religious world that the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to set up or establish His kingdom, but because He was rejected by the Jews, He postponed His kingdom and set up the church instead. Those who hold to this view believe that Jesus will set up His kingdom on earth when He returns the second time.

This concept relegates the church to the role of a stop-gap arrangement, a kind of after-thought conceived by Christ to provide something to fill the gap between His return to the Father and His return to the earth. It is also believed that the prophets said nothing about the church since they saw only the first coming of the Christ and His yet to come, earthly kingdom. » Continue reading “Was The Church Predicted By The Prophets?”

There are different ideas about when the church began. There are those who speak of it as beginning in the Old Testament period, though such a view is a misunderstanding of what the church is. Others believe that it began with the ministry of John the Baptist. Still others believe that the Lord’s kingdom has not yet been established. With such different answers to our question it is no wonder people are confused.

The correct answer is rather easily determined, if one notices the tense of the verbs used in reference to the church. Throughout the Old Testament all references to the Lord’s kingdom are future. Notice just a couple of them: » Continue reading “When Did The Church Begin?”

In talking with people about salvation one soon realizes that most people believe that things will eventually work out and that he/she will get to heaven. People feel that God is a God of love and that He simply will not see any person lost in Hell.

The Bible is crystal clear on this matter. The Lord Jesus Christ clearly warned, “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it” (Matt 7:13-14 NAS).

It is true that Jesus often spoke of God’s love for people, and He also perfectly manifested the love of God in His relationship with people. » Continue reading “Will All People Eventually Be Saved?”

When Paul made his defense before King Agrippa, he tried to persuade the king to become a Christian. “The Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that is such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’ Paul replied, ‘I would to God, that whether with little or with much, not you only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds’” (Acts 26:28-29).

There are really many good reasons for being a Christian. Rational people seek for reasons when challenged to do something and for this reason we are happy to present a number of excellent reasons given in the Scriptures for being a Christian. » Continue reading “Why Be A Christian?”

This question deserves careful consideration. In answering this question I mean by “church”, the Lord’s church, the church that is identical in name, doctrine, practice and organization with the church that you can read about in the New Testament! I am not referring to religious bodies that have been founded by men, either Catholicism or Protestantism. By the expression “saved” I mean forgiven of past sins, redeemed, and has become a child of God.

Many people think that they can be saved outside the church as well as in it—that they can be Christians outside as well as in the church. They reason that as long as they are good neighbors, good husbands or wives, good parents that all is well. Rather than thinking that something is true one should be concerned with what the Scriptures teach. The Word of God furnishes us with everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). Since this is true then let us consider what the Bible has to say concerning this question. » Continue reading “Is It Possible To Be Saved And Not Be A Member Of The Church?”

It is truly possible for a person to know that he/she is saved and is ready to meet God. In fact, God intends and desires us to have this assurance.

First, Paul shows very clearly that the man outside of Christ cannot live the Christian life. He said, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good {is} not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish” (Rom 7:18-19). It is essential for one to understand that it is not the condition of the Christian that is here described. A failure to understand this may lead to the repulsive error of Calvinism which contends that one may serve God with the spirit while at the same time practicing sin with his body. The condition Paul describes in these verses could never be true of the Christian. The Christian is not “carnal and sold under sin?” » Continue reading “Can A Person Really Know That He Is Saved?”

At the very heart of the gospel message is the Cross of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, “But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24). One of the reasons Jesus died and shed His blood was to establish redemption for mankind. Paul in writing to the church in Ephesus said, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph 1:7).

One of the great unchanging, immutable, principles of the Divine Government is the truth that, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” The Hebrew writer pointed this out when he wrote, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb 9:22). » Continue reading “At What Point Does The Blood Of Christ Save Us?”

The charge is often made that baptism is excluded from the plan of redemption because it is a “work.” And since no one is saved by “works” (Eph. 2:9), baptism cannot be essential to salvation.

Is baptism a meritorious human work? Absolutely not. It cannot be a meritorious human work because our Lord commanded it when He said, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned” (Mark 16:16).

The Bible clearly teaches that we are not saved by works (Titus 3:4-7; Eph. 2:9). Yet the Bible also clearly teaches we are saved by works (James 2:14-24). Since the Bible does not contradict itself, it is obvious that two different kinds of works are under consideration in the above passages. » Continue reading “Is Baptism A Human Work?”

Most people are not aware that infants are sprinkled, calling it baptism, because of the doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity. Walter Conner, in his book Christian Doctrine, a presentation of Baptist theology for ministers and laymen alike, states:

“…makes it not only possible that he may sin on account of his power of choice, but certain that he will sin on account of his moral weakness and inherent tendency toward evil. This depravity of man’s nature is inherent and universal…but in saying that depravity is inherent in human nature is meant that man as fallen is born depraved.”

» Continue reading “Do Infants Need To Be Baptized?”