Tag Archives: ten commandments

The Foundation of Godly Faith

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According to Scripture faith is essential to salvation. Without faith it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Those who have genuinely repented and had their sins remitted are no longer under the death penalty brought about by their sins (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 5:10). So such are saved from the second death, but under the condition that they continue to walk in the true faith (Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 10:26-27). Once converted we must continue to overcome, or as Jesus warns we may have our names blotted out of the book of life (Revelation 3:5).

It’s a matter of life and death then that we understand the proper foundation for saving faith. What is the foundation of your faith? Is your faith based on what you’ve always heard or been taught? Is your faith in your own powers of reasoning and rationalization? Is it based on popular opinion, or what others in your circle of influence believe? Is your faith in some personality? Is it in an organization? Continue reading →

A Nation At Risk

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As I write I’m spending a few days with my youngest son, who just finished college.

He’s extremely blessed to have been granted a job offer upon finishing his degree program, as many college graduates are having a difficult time finding any employment, much less employment in their fields of interest and at salaries they might have expected as graduates.

We’re in Northern Arizona, hiking some of the many trails in the area. Thursday afternoon and night, it snowed about seven inches where we are. But on Friday we managed to find a snow covered trail we could hike up a mountain, and view other majestic peaks in the distance, across a snow covered landscape of Ponderosa Pine forest.

Like many others his age, or any age, my son wants to explore and sample the good things of life. Trying new restaurants, new varieties of foods and beverages, and in general experience life to the full. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it’s done in the proper balance. Though we’re separated by a generation, I haven’t lost many of the interests we share in common.

As we were traveling across the country, I couldn’t help but think of the incredible blessings we in the U.S.A. have been granted as our heritage. We saw huge stores of grain piled high on the ground at a number of grain elevators we passed on the road (cf. “Bumper Grain Harvest Overwhelms Ships, Trains,” December 9, 2013, Reuters.com; “Finally, Kansas wheat is a cash crop again,” theolathenews.com, July 12, 2013). Continue reading →

Did Jesus Fulfill the Law?

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Question: Didn’t Jesus fulfill all of the Law and all of the Feasts through His coming to earth, going to the cross, and being raised on the 3rd day? He has sat down at the right hand of God and continually makes intercession for us. He is our High Priest. Or am I not reading my Bible correctly?

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Answer: Jesus fulfilled the law in the sense of perfect obedience to it, as he did not sin (Matthew 3:15; cf. Acts 13:22; Romans 2:27; Galatians 5:16; 6:2; 1 Peter 2:22).

Note that Paul was sent as a steward of the gospel, with the responsibility to “fulfill the word of God,” in the same sense in which Christ fulfilled the law (Colossians 1:25). Robertson (Word Pictures in the New Testament) comments on the verse as follows: “to fill full or to give full scope to the Word of God.” Paul prayed for the Christians in Thessalonica, that they would “fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power” (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

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Abide In God’s Word

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Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). To be a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ, rather than one in name only, requires abiding in his word. That’s what Jesus Christ himself said. That means a real disciple of Christ, a real Christian, is one who abides in — continues in, or lives according to — the teachings of Christ. And one of the teachings of Christ is that we are to live “by every word of God” (Luke 4:4). Continue reading →