Every year we see and hear them during the holiday season. You hear their bells ringing, you see them standing in front of stores with a collection pot hung from a tripod for people to drop in their money. They call themselves the Salvation Army.

As I was sitting in a Bible Study recently, reference was made to the Salvation Army. At which point I made the comment that they were, in fact a denomination. Many folks associate the Salvation Army with the charitable works they engage in yet just as many people do not realize that they are also a religious organization.

So, due to the time of year we are seeing the collection pots and hearing the ringing of the bells, consider a few points regarding the Salvation Army from their own website (http://www.salvationarmy.com) as we revisit this topic.

1. “The movement (The Salvation Army – JDS), founded in 1865 by William Booth, has spread from London, England, to many parts of the world.”

The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ built His church on Pentecost in 33 AD in Jerusalem. Jesus said “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

On the day of Pentecost the Bible says in Acts 2:47, “…And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

2. “We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.”

This is from the Calvinistic doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity. The Bible teaches that sin is something we do, not something we inherit. 1 Jn. 3:4, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Man is responsible for his own sin, not the sin of others. Ezekiel 18:20, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”

3. “We believe that repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation.” “We maintain that no external observance can rightly be said to be essential to salvation or to the receiving of divine grace and that the biblical truth is that we can meet with God and receive his grace anywhere at any time through faith.”

The Bible teaches the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. Mark. 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

1 Pet. 3:21, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”

Space prevents us from further examination; however it is clear that to support the Salvation Army is to support a denomination and the Biblical error they teach. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” – Ephesians 5:11.

– Jerry Sturgill

We often wonder what the world is coming to; just how long will evil progress in our world? The Bible ought to be at the forefront of our focus when we have such questions. That God wrote the Bible is evident from many of its characteristics, one of which is its controlled way of describing evil in the world. There is no shocked helplessness at the evil acts of men, but rather a reminder that God is in control over the kingdom of men and works according to His own timetable (Daniel 4:25).

Just as farmers wait as long it takes for their crops to mature before they harvest them, God waits until the time is ripe to punish wicked nations. Often we can become anxious and impatient about evil, wondering when God will deal with it. Men in the Bible did this as well. Jeremiah questioned how long God would allow the wicked to prosper (Jeremiah 12:1-4). Habakkuk knew that God was of purer eyes than to behold evil (Hab. 1:13), but was troubled because to him it seemed that God was idly looking at wrongdoing (Hab. 1:2-4). John saw the souls of them who were slain under the altar crying out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10); an evident representation of God’s sense of justice being so sensitive that innocent blood screams out to Him (cf. Genesis 6:4).

God will punish when the time is ripe. In Genesis 15:16, God promised Abraham that his descendants (Israel) would inherit the land where Abraham was sojourning (Canaan), when the iniquity of the present inhabitants (the Amorites) was full. However, before that time Israel would be a servant in the land of Egypt until the time was right for God to judge them (Genesis 15:13-14). God had plans to bless Israel and to punish Egypt and the people of Canaan, but it was all according to His time. When will the iniquity of our nation be full? God alone knows. He sent His Son to save the world “when the fullness of time was come” (Galatians 4:4).

Revelation 14:13-20 portrays an angel being sent forth with instructions to reap the earth with a sharp sickle gathering God’s people for deliverance and the wicked for punishment. The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 came when the time was ripe. Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-43 gives a glimpse of the harvest that will take place at the end of time. God harvests when the time is ripe for individuals and nations. He will issue His last and great harvest at the end of time. It is up to us to make sure we are prepared for the reaping when the time is ripe.

–Mark Day