church

Truth Came Once

In the book of Jude, verse 3, Jude exhorts his readers, namely fellow believers in Christ, by writing: “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”

There are three things we can derive from this exhortation.

First, the faith of which he is writing was delivered. God delivered the faith through the Holy Spirit to the apostles, who then taught it and wrote it down. The scriptures reveal that God is the source of the faith. It did not originate with man. We are told in Ephesians 4:5 that there is only “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

Second, this one faith was delivered “once for all”. God delivered it only one time for all people in all generations in all the earth. This secures for us that what was delivered by God the one time He delivered it, is the only revelation we should be expecting! There are no further revelations, there are no changes being made, there are no additions or subtractions. What was delivered will remain unchanged for all of time. All we need is the Bible to teach us and guide us in the faith that we find in its pages. No other creed or additional “revelations” from man are necessary, and in fact, they work against our salvation.

Lastly, God is not subject to our culture. No matter the hot topics of the day, no matter the social agendas making the most noise…….what God delivered once still stands.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16,17

May His Word enlighten you, teach you, guide you, and comfort you this day.

He Shall Direct Thy Paths

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

It isn’t always easy to trust in someone who isn’t ourselves. It’s even worse when said trusting may result in pain, suffering, or even death. This proverb teaches us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and put aside our own understanding. As is usually the case, we have some examples in scripture to look to regarding this truth.

Job lost everything. His own wife and even his friends instructed him to just curse God and die. End your own misery! Wisely, Job did not heed their instruction. Instead, he trusted in the Lord to see him through. Job 13:15  Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. Oh, he certainly questioned God, but he never cursed Him. Job surely knew that God could slay him, but be that as it may, he would still trust Him.

John 21:18-19  Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”  (19)  This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” Jesus is making known to Peter that he would one day suffer and die because of his faith. Yet even knowing this, Peter continued in the doctrine of Christ, trusting God to fulfill all of His promises.

We trust him unto death knowing His great and precious promises. 2Pe 1:4  by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Can you count the promises of God? Is there anything of more value to us than what God has promised us?

When you think you’ve got it all figured out and your understanding is complete, remember Job. Job 38:1-4;Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:  (2) “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?  (3) Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.  (4) “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.” Job had questioned God regarding his dealings with him and his afflictions. God is very direct with him and puts him in his rightful place as a mere man who is not even close to fathoming the knowledge and wisdom of God. Aren’t we sometimes like Job? Don’t we often think too highly of ourselves? Let’s also remember these scriptures:

Prov. 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

Jer. 10:23 O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

Jesus implores us to always acknowledge Him. Matt. 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  (29) Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  (30) For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” We must acknowledge Christ and his doctrine and abide in it if we are to succeed in our endeavor to have heaven as our eternal home.

By putting our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ, God will direct our paths. How? Through His divine word. 2 Tim. 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Jude 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. God’s word is truth, it is all sufficient.  Hold on to it and do not compromise! It is truly the most valuable possession one could have in this life.

John 12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him— the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. So tell me again, why wouldn’t I let God’s word direct my path? His word is what will judge us in the end!

Let us be diligent in contending earnestly for the faith. Trusting in the Lord and never wavering.

Rom. 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 

1 Cor. 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  (5) that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Who is it that leads you? Do you walk according to your own understanding? Do you follow some other doctrine thought up by man? Or, do you walk according to the pattern that God has laid out in His word? The choice is all yours to make. Choose wisely.

The Bucket Religion

Man has devised for himself all manner of beliefs for as long as he has been in existence on this earth.  Among these beliefs is what has been termed the “bucket” religion.  Essentially, this is the belief that as long as your good outweighs your evil, you will gain entrance into heaven.  So, say you have two buckets, one carrying all of your good deeds and the other carrying all of your bad deeds.  The goal is to have your “good” bucket full and your “evil” bucket not as full as your “good” bucket.  As long as you’re a good person, as evidenced by your full “good” bucket, you will be admitted into the kingdom of heaven.  It sounds good in theory, right?  After all, God is good and wants all of his children to have heaven as their home, right?  Surely, if I’m a good person God will not send me to be punished for eternity.  There are problems with this belief and one could take a lot of time to address each one.  For the sake of this post, we will focus on perhaps the greatest illustration that we find in Scripture that argues the case against this belief.

In the book of Acts, we read of a man named Cornelius.  He is described as “a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.” (Acts 10:2)  Later in the chapter, he is further described as “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation” (Acts 10:22).  We can therefore gather from this text that Cornelius was indeed a “good” person in every sense of the word.  So was Cornelius destined to enter the kingdom of heaven on account of him being good?  The answer is no!  If you read the whole of chapter 10, Cornelius was instructed by an angel to send for the apostle Peter.  Peter, at the same time, was given a vision by God describing to him that salvation was not only meant for the Jews, but also the Gentiles, of which Cornelius was one.  Peter came to Cornelius’ house, where many had gathered, and he preached the gospel to them.  They heard the gospel, believed the gospel, and were baptized into Christ.  This wouldn’t have been necessary if the bucket religion were true.

The Bible instructs us to hear the Word, believe the Word, repent of our sins, confess Christ before men, and have our sins washed away in the waters of baptism.  This puts one into Christ, who is the only way to the Father (John 14:6).  We must be in Christ to inherit that upper kingdom promised to those who love Him.  It’s great if you’re a good person, I commend you.  But don’t stop there!!  We must be obedient as well.

What Christianity Is Not

What comes to your mind when someone tells you that they are a Christian?  How deep is your thinking when that claim is made?  Do you recognize that that person is living their life as Christ would, or is it more shallow than that?  Perhaps you just make a mental note to watch what you say around that person, or watch how you act.  Maybe you don’t invite them to gatherings because they might be “boring” or make the situation awkward.  The label of “Christian” seems to have a wide variety of meanings in our society today.  I know of people in my own life who call themselves Christian, but you wouldn’t know it if you observe how they are living their lives and the things that they indulge in.  False teachings abound on the matter of what it is to be a Christian, so to help correct those teachings, we will focus on what Christianity is NOT.

First, Christianity is NOT a denomination.  In other words, Christ is not divided.  There are many denominations in our world today, each claiming to be the one true church.  The Bible is clear on this.  Beginning with the truth stated in Ephesians 4 beginning in verse 4: “There is ONE body(church) and ONE Spirit, just as you were called in ONE hope of your calling; 5 ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism; 6 ONE God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Emphasis on each “ONE” mine) If there be only one of each of these things listed, how is it then that we have so many different sects of Christianity?  The answer is because of false teaching.  Jesus himself stated in Mark 3:24, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”  Scripture teaches that the church is the body of Christ, and Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “…..on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”  Paul asked the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:13, “Is Christ divided?…”  They were labeling themselves according to who taught them, or who baptized them instead of recognizing that they were a part of the ONE church of whom Christ is the head.  Christians are to be united in Christ, not separated according to false doctrines promoted by man.

Christianity is NOT the “sinner’s prayer”.  Have you ever looked in scripture to find where the sinner’s prayer is recorded?  I’ll save you the time and let you know that this prayer is not recorded in scripture.  The sinner’s prayer is a false doctrine that has led many people astray from the truth.  If your place of worship promotes the sinner’s prayer as a means of salvation, I warn you that your soul is in grave danger.  Looking through scripture at each instance of conversion recorded, you will not find any reference to the sinner’s prayer being recited.  Instead, the convert is admonished to believe on the Lord, repent and be immersed for the forgiveness of their sins, and walk in newness of life in service to the Lord.  Simply reciting the sinner’s prayer will not save you from condemnation.  On the day of judgement, many will call out to the Lord and expect to be saved, but will be rejected instead.  Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’  Saying the sinner’s prayer is not sufficient for salvation.

Christianity is NOT warming a pew.  There are those who call themselves Christians, but are not found attending worship services when they are held.  Some only go on special occasions, such as Easter or Mother’s Day.  What’s the problem with that?  Well, we can’t claim ourselves to be in the ONE body of Christ and never be found among the brethren.  How do we foster relationships with our fellow Christians if we are never there?  Furthermore, how do we live according to Christ if we don’t ever hear the teachings of His word at worship services?  Should we not do as the early Christians did?  Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”  Acts 20:7, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”  Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  

There’s a lot more to be said on this topic, and maybe we will revisit it and add to it in future posts.  For now, I hope that you will reflect on these things and study the scriptures to make sure that if you are identifying yourself as a Christian, that you truly understand what it means to be a Christian and are making every effort to live up to that title.  God bless.