Baptism

Rom. 6:2) “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” As we continue on our journey through the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul makes it very clear that once we are saved from the condemnation of our sin we are not to go back to the old sinful life style of our past. Therefore Paul introduces to us in (Chp. 6) “Baptism.” Here, Paul teaches us that baptism is a symbolic ordinance demonstrating not just the gospel of Christ but also our death to our old way of life. Baptism was never meant to save anyone, but it is 1) A symbol of identification. (It identifies us with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus). (Ro 6:4) “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:” Water baptism is a symbol of our death to the old way of life, and our coming out of it, alive unto God. “that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” 2) A symbol of surrender. If we are dead to our past sin, then we need to make a decision of the mind and heart to “yield ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead” (Rom. 6:11-13). Baptism is a surrender of our will to follow God. 3) A symbol of servant hood. (Ro 6:18) “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Baptism pictures a new allegiance to a new Lord. Once saved we are no longer under the power of the old master Sin, but rather now under a new master, Jesus Christ!

The Gospel

(Eph. 1: 4&5) “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will..,” So how can we as Bible believing Christians reconcile the command of God to go into all the world and preach the gospel, with the above verses that seem to indicate that God is the one, and not man, who chooses us for salvation? When Jesus died on the cross, his sacrifice was sufficient for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). My Bible still says in (1 Tim. 2:4) that God, “…will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” meaning that his desire is that all men repent and turn to Christ, but also that “ whosoever will…” can still come (Rev. 22: 17). Christian, all men can if they so desire. When any man hears the gospel of God he is faced with a choice to believe it or not. Jesus said himself that many are called but few chosen. God knew us from the foundation of the world whether or not we would believe the gospel or reject it. Jesus was not an after-thought and neither were we. God doesn’t want any to perish. That’s why God sent His Son to save all or whosoever will !

Apostasy

Is There Apostasy In America
This question can simply be answered, Yes! Who then is in apostasy? The Church, for you can’t fall away from something that you never really had. Apostasy is defined as the abandoning of what one used to believe or practice. In the book of Jeremiah, God called Jeremiah to preach to a people who had abandoned their faith in God, for a faith based upon the beliefs of men. God’s simple message was for Judah to repent and return to the Lord, but they refused to listen and went into captivity anyway. So, the real question is why didn’t they listen? 1) They failed to remember their past. God rebuked them for not remembering where they came from, nor the God who led them there. (Ps 9:17) “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” As Christian Americans, if we as the Church forget God, our nation is doomed to the same. 2) They failed to remember God’s Law. (Ps 11:3)” If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” In our country today all of a sudden God’s Word is optional or up for interpretation. Christian, our foundation is still Jesus Christ and his Word. Be careful lest you go the way of the apostate. (Ps 33:12) Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.

The Backslider In Heart

The Backslider In Heart
(Prov. 14:14) “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways:” I’ve never yet met a backslidden Christian that didn’t have an excuse for why he/she is living contrary to scripture. A backslider knows that he is not living right, for he has convinced himself that the way he is living is justified, even though God says in the above verse that it’s not. This world is constantly antagonistic to the ways of God, and we must be on guard at all times least we slip back into the ways and thinking of our past. This slipping backward is not fast but slow, a bit here and a little there and before we know it, we are outside the will of God looking in. But there is a way back. In (Rom.12: 1-3) 1) God tells us to “present” our bodies back to the Lord, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. This is a recognition of a wrong direction, and a re-dedication to the correct way of God. 2) We need to “transform” our thinking. The backslider must re-fill again his heart and mind with God’s Word. An acceptable sacrifice is one that is practiced in agreement with God’s Word. 3) “Prove” the will of God. Practice the first two, but prove the third. Talk is cheap, practicing the known will of God proves to God and others that you have indeed repented. Everyone slips, but the consecrated remain !

Salt

As Christians we are commanded to be salty. In (Matt. 5:13 )Jesus said that “ye are the salt of the earth,” and in ( Mark 9:50) he commanded us to “have salt in ourselves,” and just as every sacrifice was salted in the old testament, he said that “everyone (every believer) shall be salted with fire.” John the Baptist told us in (Matt. 3:11) that when Jesus comes he will “baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” From the moment of our new birth in Christ, we have been salted with the fire and power of the Holy Ghost. At that moment we become salty, and according to scripture we need to work at staying salty. Jesus said, “but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Of Christian, don’t lose your saltiness because you have decided to become lazy and apathetic. We must daily work at walking with the Lord. Praying daily for boldness, feeding daily upon God’s Word, so that we never lose the savour of God’s fire.

Who hath believed our report?

(Isaiah 53:1) “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? The prophet Isaiah spoke these words 700 years before the coming of Jesus, and this message has been given to every generation since. Oh that man would believe this report and be saved. In fact God’s heart has always been, ” Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,” (Isaiah 1:18). In Isaiah chp. 53, we read of the love of Christ who carried our sins to the cross. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. You and I cannot be healed from our sin until we believe and trust in Christ.

Impatience

(James 5: 7) “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.” This exhortation by James to the Jewish believers of his day was written in light of the truth that as we see the day of Christ approaching, there will be many that will abandon their faith because of Impatience. 1) Impatience with God. You see, God is not slow, but He is patient and longsuffering! He’s in no hurry nor does He look at things as we do. So, don’t grow frustrated with Him, rather learn to trust in Him patiently. 2) Impatience with Others. James says that impatience with others will breed “grudges.” The word grudge means to murmur about others out of frustration. People are frustrating, and so are we, but since God is very patient with us, He expects us to show the same patience toward others. It’s easy to quit on people, but not so easy to be longsuffering with them. 3) Impatience with Affliction. We must learn that affliction is God’s way of building faith. God’s end is always pity and mercy, so endure and patiently wait for Him.