THE NATURE OF BAPTISM
The first thing we must understand is that Jesus commanded baptism to take place as seen in the Great Commission passage (Matthew 28:18-20). Yet we also see in Scripture that salvation is by faith alone, apart from works. So, this leaves us three possible scenarios:
Coronavirus and the Christian
As Christ-followers, we have a unique opportunity in the next few weeks and months to have Gospel conversations and to stand set apart from our neighbors as those whose faith is tested, tried, proven, and is at rest in the finished work of Christ. We don't fear death--we don't fear the loss of our assets--we don't fear what man or viruses can do to us.
WHAT IS THE BIBLE? PART 2
Proverbs 30:5 says that every word of God is true. John 10:35 says that Scripture cannot be broken. Psalm 12:6 says the words of the Lord are pure. Obviously, if God is perfect, and God has spoken, it would naturally mean that all that was written in the inspired documents is without error. Infallibility is related to inerrancy--but means more powerfully: not able to be wrong.
WHO IS JESUS?
Over the last two-thousand years, there have been countless views as to who the person of Jesus was. Some have claimed and believed that Jesus was a prophet of God. Others have said that he was a good teacher, still, others say that he was nothing other than a historical figure; a man, a first-century carpenter from the city of Nazareth. There have been many others who have gone so far as to argue that Jesus never existed and is simply a myth.
THE WRATH AND JUSTICE OF GOD
Is God a God of love? Yes! Is God a God of wrath? Yes, and there is no better place where both of these attributes work together more beautifully than at the cross. The wrath of God is holy justice. I would argue that without an understanding of the wrath and justice of God one can not know the true gospel.
WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?
You would think such a straight forward question would be relatively simple to answer. However, that is not the case. When the question has been posed to a variety of people it is amazing at the amount of significantly different answers or non answers have been provided. Some of the responses I have heard or read about have included the following.
WHAT IS REPENTANCE?
Repentance means to “change one’s mind”. In the scriptures, we see that true repentance is a change in one’s mind as to who the person of Jesus Christ is and what He has done. In Acts chapter 2, the Apostle Peter delivers a sermon to a group of non-believers in Jeruselum where he proclaims the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
According to Guinness, the Bible is still the world’s most distributed book (link). At the time of this article, the Bible has been translated into 1,659 languages. And between 1815 and 1975, some 2.5 billion Bibles were printed, of which 1.5 billion were handled by Bible societies. Within its 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 41,173 verses, and 774,746 words, we read about a variety of topics from religion, love, war, history, poetry, foretelling the future, songs, and wise sayings. We read narratives about betrayal, bravery, honor, cowardice, obedience, and rebellion.
WHAT IS THE LORD'S SUPPER?
Have you ever stopped to realize the strangeness of the Lord’s Supper? Many Christians have taken this meal for years and perhaps have found themselves in a familiar routine: A call to remember the sacrifice of Jesus. A morsel of bread. A sip of wine. This strangeness no longer confronts our senses. But imagine you are attending church for the first time or you are a young child witnessing Christians receiving these elements. As each member holds a piece of bread you hear “This is my body.” Then wine (or grape juice) is received and the pastor says, “This is my blood.” What in the world is going on here?
THE MOTIVATION OF GOD
Charles Spurgeon believed that a theology that promoted the supremacy of the glory of God is worthy of “every second of our attention.” In a day and age in which humanism is the prominent worldview, this is the kind of truth that must saturate our souls. Many would strive to make man be the reason God acts, but that is not what the Bible declares. Why does God do what he does? God does everything for the sake of His glory.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
This is the pertinent question is it not? What is the Gospel? Certainly, the Apostle Paul had the utmost importance of the Gospel when he said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” So, if the gospel is the power of God for salvation, what is it? What is the substance and essence that makes up the definition of the “gospel?”
