Category Archives: Salvation

One Way – Only One Way to God

Bible General, Culture, Evangelism, Islam, John, Missions, Salvation, , , ,

druid practitiionersSometimes people say, “There are many paths to God.” Sometimes people worship without regard to Jesus the Son of God. Jews honor Jehovah God and Muslims honor Allah through the teachings of Mohammad. Some pay homage to Buddha, some practice Hindu while others look to Shinto for their faith. Still more practice a form of witchcraft called Wicca. The common thread among all of these faiths, and more, is the rejection of the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth.

While some like Judaism and even Islam give a nod to Jesus as a teacher or rabbi, they do not acknowledge him as the Messiah.

Let me be very clear: There is no path to God and no hope of salvation to those who reject Jesus Christ. Continue reading One Way – Only One Way to God →

Is There A Middle Ground Between Heaven and Hell?

Bible General, Doctrine, Eschatology, Missions, Salvation, Sin, , ,

This is a question  that pops up in some form from time to time. The questioner wants to know what will happen to people who have  never  heard of God, Jesus Christ, the Bible and salvation. I am going to try and offer a reasonable answer to the question.

Let me say in the opening that people who ask this question do so out of a love of others. They are horrified at the idea that a person without the Scriptures could be lost. Surely, they reason, there must be some other divine plan for those legitimately ignorant of the Gospel. They seek some hope from Scripture for these unknowing souls.

They also seek a theodicy ((“A vindication of God’s goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil”, American Heritage Dictionary)) to explain how a loving and just God could sentence someone to eternal hell if that person didn’t even know of God. For the most part, those who ask this question are not trying to prove some point or pursue a hidden agenda but are truly interested in the souls of men. Let’s examine their novel thought closely. Continue reading Is There A Middle Ground Between Heaven and Hell? →

Romans 6, Part 2 (Romans 6:3)

Baptism, Bible General, Church, Doctrine, Romans, Salvation,

As we continue our look at this great chapter of the Bible we want to examine verse 3 in some detail.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3, ESV)

Paul is building on the thought begun in Romans 5 where he argues that grace “abounded” in the presence of sin which was made evident by the Law of Moses. He has answered the previous question from Romans 6:1 “shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” He has declared in Romans 6:2 that we do not continue in sin because we have died to sin. Now he reminds the readers of a step taken in connection with that death: their baptism.

As he did in verse 1 this is a rhetorical question, that is,  the answer is obvious. For Paul, there is no such thing as a non-baptized Christian. Those in Acts 2:41 who gladly received the word were baptized. Paul himself was baptized upon the direction of the Christ-sent Ananias (Acts 22:16). And here, it is as if Paul simply assumes that all his readers had been baptized. For him, baptism was just as much as part of his faith life as his belief. So no, baptism is not the main thrust of this passage because it is already a matter settled for Paul and the readers of this letter.

Paul’s main idea is to show the connection between baptism and death of Jesus. As Jesus was buried, so is the man who has died to sin and is buried, symbolically, in the waters of baptism. We’ll look closer at three key analogies in the next article.

Is There Any Room for Obedience?

Doctrine, Salvation, ,

Is there any room for obedience in salvation? I am trying to answer this question but I find many confusing answers in the protestant world. Some don’t seem to think obedience is important.

Some argue that we cannot obey God. Phil Johnson, himself a Calvinist, in arguing against an extreme form of Calvinism says this, “…the sinner’s inability to obey God does not nullify his duty to do so.” Notice the assumption that the sinner is unable to obey.

Boyce and Rykin in The Doctrines of Grace: Rediscovering the Evangelical Gospel (page 70) echo the thought:

“Here we are dealing with the nature and extent of sin, and the point is that we are radically sinful, so much so that we cannot take even the smallest of steps toward God unless he first intervenes.”

The Southern Baptist Convention says this in their Baptist Faith and Message: Continue reading Is There Any Room for Obedience? →