The Gospel of Jesus Christ, Part 3

Our final case study can be found in Acts chapter 16. The Philippian jailor had been charged with keeping Paul and Silas prisoners, and to that end he bound them in fetters in the inner prison, Acts 16:24. That night there was an earthquake that freed all of the prisoners and roused the jailor from his sleep; he found to his relief that none of the prisoners had escaped. Fearing greatly, the jailor came to Paul and Silas and asked a telling question: “What must I do to be saved?” verse 30. Here the jailor revealed his understanding about why these men were in jail. He might have heard them preach, or listened to some of their hymns praising the God of Israel. Their testimony concerning this God was validated by the earthquake releasing the prisoners in a miraculous way. Here we see God the Holy Spirit at work on this man, convicting him of sin and drawing him to Christ, John 16:7-11.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, Part 2

To emphasize our point, let us examine several passages where people are evangelized by Christ’s followers. It is true that all one needs to hear is the gospel to be saved, but first one needs to understand what they are hearing before they can believe it. Clarification is in order regarding the nature of our language. We can hardly accept salvation from Jesus if we aren’t convinced we’re even in need of saving.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, Part 1

What exactly is the gospel of Jesus Christ? Many quote Acts 16:31 stating “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household,” but that isn’t the gospel. In context Paul and Silas are speaking with a repentant and fearful jailor who asks what he must do to be saved; Paul replies that faith in Jesus Christ saves. Then he and Silas go on, after being brought into said jailor’s house, to speak to his family “the word of the Lord,” verse 32. What is this word of the Lord referred to? Clearly it was the message in which the jailor and his household believed, for after receiving it with joy (verse 34) all of his household were baptized (verse 33) which is the first commandment Jesus gave to new disciples, Matthew 28:19. It is this message that we are most concerned with.

1st John Chapter 3 Part 1

3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
John had just finished explaining that those who habitually practice righteousness are indeed born of God; this leads the apostle to the exclamation that begins with “behold.” This word was meant to capture the attention of the reader, so let us not just slip by it as we progress through the epistle.

Prayer Request for Michael and Ashley

A co-worker of mine came to work earlier this last week with very bad news: her boyfriend had been in an accidedent during a snowstorm we had last Wednesday. His name is Michael, and while he was being driven by his friend they rolled the car. Michael suffered a broken clavicle, sternum, four broken ribs, a punctured lung, a sprained wrist, as well as other injuries, and he needed surgery.

Cut & Paste, Part 5

The third topic I would like to address involves the very name of God; or more accurately, how that name is pronounced. This particular topic seemed too trivial to be pursued with all seriousness, but there seem to be sects within Christendom who want to make a divisive issue about the name of both Yahweh and Jesus, some going so far as to say that if you are not saying their names correctly you are following false gods and are deceived.