Doctrinal Issue: Eternal Security

How can one be sure that he is saved? This is a question that every Christian asks himself one time or another in his Christian Walk.

Salvation is the key component in the life of a Christian. Without Salvation there is no Christianity. If there is no Christianity, then there is no freedom from sin. If this is true, then there is no hope. There has to be assurance of salvation in order for there to be peace with God.

Peace with God is a sign of the assurance of Salvation. The first link that ties us eternally with the Savior is peace with God, Verse 1 “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (John Macarthur Security of Salvation)

Gaining Wisdom

I have recently been in a discussion about a particular Study Bible.  One of the other scholars made the comment that all contributors must have a PH.D. after their name.  I argued that this is absurd.  Have we come to rely so heavily on academia that we forget the work of the Spirit?

James 1:5 says that if you lack wisdom you may request it from God.

The word wisdom in this verse is the Greek word σοφία (sophia).  Sophia has the meaning of:

the capacity to understand and, as a result, to act wisely—‘to be prudent, wisdom.

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (383). New York: United Bible Societies.

Is it not possible that someone without a PH.D. behind their name could also be able to “rightly divide the Word of Truth?”  (2 Tim. 2:15)

The Jesus Inquest by Charles Foster

The Jesus Inquest by Charles Foster was an excellent case for, and against the resurrection of Christ. 

The book felt very much as if you were reading articles of evidence for a court case.  The evidence on both sides is very detailed and extremely deep in content.  Just looking at the footnotes alone you know that Foster did an amazing amount of research for the book.

What was most pleasing about the book is that, though very technical, anyone would be able to read and understand it with ease.  Many scientific and Theological terms are introduced but explained very well.

I have to give The Jesus Inquest 4 out of 5 stars.  It is a must read that will strengthen or convince you of your faith in Christ and what He did on the cross.

Born Again

John 3:2-6

I have been studying a lot as my wife and I have been meeting with a pair of Mormon Missionaries.  One of the things that has caught my attention is their belief that baptism is necessary for Salvation.

I am not trying to downplay baptism, but I cannot find in Scripture where it is mandated before one can get to Heaven.

The Mormon belief comes from John 3:5 where Jesus says you must be born of water, and of the Spirit. 

It is easy to see how this could be misunderstood to mean baptism when you take the verse out of context.  However, when we look at the before, and the after on the context of this verse we see clearly that it is not talking about baptism, but rather, our human, physical birth.

John 3:4 shows Nicodemus asking how can a man be born again when he is old, can he return into his mother’s womb?  The next verse Jesus responds with water, and spirit.  One must assume that Christ was answering the question about physical birth with the term “water.”

In the next verse following Jesus statement, John 3:6, he then talks about flesh being born of flesh, and Spirit being born of Spirit.  Once again we see the reference to a physical birth. 

When we examine the context of the Scripture we clearly see that Christ is not talking about baptism as a requirement for Salvation, He was merely painting a picture of the differences between our natural and spiritual births.