Solomon asked in Proverbs 20:6, “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”  The overwhelming majority of people who believe in an afterlife believe they are going to heaven.  Research polls show this year after year.  When a person is asked if heaven will be their home, a common response is, “Yeah, I think I’m a pretty good person.  I think God will let me in.” Is there any recognition in this answer of the power of Christ’s blood to remove sins and enable one to stand justified before God? No.

God’s Word, while encouraging us to be better people, does not convey the concept that one goes to heaven simply on being a pretty good person.  Rather the recognition that one is guilty before God and worthy of death is the Biblical starting point to salvation (Mk. 2:17; Jn. 9:39-41; Rom. 3:19-26).  The great need for the gift of salvation because of man’s utter inability to be right before God on his own merits is a common theme in the Scriptures (Rom. 3; Eph. 2; et. al.).  If a man does not see the heinousness of his own sins and his guilt before God, he will not appreciate his need for a Savior and the importance of Christ’s death on the cross for him.

The last few generations have generally held the prevailing opinion that we are not responsible for our own destructive actions.  We are masters of self-deception, easily dismissing any notion that we are culpable.  Whether it is our genes, our upbringing, the government, or a whole host of other entities, we are often found implying that someone else is ultimately responsible for our poor decisions.

Humanity, it seems, has always had this tendency.  The first sin was followed by questioning from God (Gen. 3:11), to which Adam tried to pass the buck to the woman God gave him (Gen. 3:12).  Eve then tried to pass the buck to the serpent (Gen. 3:13).  God gave each of them punishment for their actions (Gen. 3:14-19).  Cain grew angry with everyone else, when it was his decision to offer the improper sacrifice to God (Gen. 4:5-6).  This anger festered until he murdered his brother (Gen. 4:8; 1 Jn. 3:12; Jude 11).  It wasn’t Abel’s fault that Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted.  Time and space would not allow us to explore every example of this attempted shifting of responsibility in the Bible from Aaron’s excuse for fashioning the golden calf (Ex. 32:21-24) to Saul’s insistence that he had obeyed but the people spared the animals for sacrifice  (1 Sam. 15:13-23) and so on, but these examples suffice to show it is prevalent in human behavior.

Romans 3:10-18 gives a clear verdict that all accountable individuals stand guilty before God on their own merits.  While death is deserved for our decision to sin, salvation is provided as a gift through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).  Faith, repentance, confession, and baptism are required to enter the realm of the saved (Acts 2:38; 8:37-39; 17:30-31; 22:16).  A faithful life is required to maintain salvation (Mt. 25; 1 Cor. 10:1-14; Rev. 2:10).  In the end will you be found lost trying to argue your own goodness to the Lord (Mt. 7:22), or will He find you faithful and welcome you into the joys of heaven (Mt. 25:21, 23)?

-Mark Day

The Lord Himself said Satan was the father of the lie: “…When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” John 8:44. Satan lied to Eve in the garden (Gen. 3:4) and continues to lie through his agents and their doctrines today. Which would you consider the biggest lie?

Man Is Saved By Faith Only?

Satan has deceived the denominational world into believing man is saved when he confesses a belief in Jesus and when he acts on that belief to ask Jesus to “come into his heart.” Thus, all man has to do is have faith (Belief) and he will be saved. The Bible says: “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” James 2:24. The only time these words are used together in the Bible and they condemn, not condone, faith only. Jesus said: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” Matt. 7:21. Jesus said we had to do some things. Saul of Tarsus was told what he had to do to be saved (Acts 9:6; 22:16). Cornelius was told words whereby he and his house could be saved (Acts 11:14; 10:48). It is a lie to say we can be saved by faith only.

Once Saved We Can Never Fall?

            Satan has also eased the consciences of many by deceiving them into believing that they can never fall. However, the Bible disputes this a countless number of times. Paul warned the Galatians: “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” Gal. 5:4. It IS possible to fall from grace according to Paul.

Notice what Paul wrote: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things ye shall never fall” 2 Peter 1:10. Notice falling is conditional; if we add the graces (5-8) then we will not fall. The opposite would be true: if we do not add the graces we will fall.

Baptism Doesn’t Save?

The father of the lie has convinced the masses baptism is non-essential to salvation. Jesus said: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” Mark 16:16. Peter wrote: “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” 1 Peter 3:21. Jesus said whosoever was baptized would be saved and Peter said baptism saved. Whom will YOU believe? Satan? Jesus and Peter?

One Church Is As Good As Another?

Satan says one church is as good as another because the church has nothing to do with salvation anyway. The apostle Paul said: “There is one body…” Eph. 4:4. He had earlier written the church was the body (1:22-23). He later wrote “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” Eph. 5:23.  Thus Jesus is the Savior of the body which is the church and there is only one body. This means there is one church and Jesus will save ONLY that church—the church of Christ (Rom. 16:16). Whom will we believe?

-David B. Jones, Stage Road church of Christ, Memphis, TN as published in Bulletin Digest, Oct. ‘05

Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

The desire to make lasting investments that will tremendously benefit us in the future is a goal of all forward-thinking individuals.  What we accumulate in our lives must be properly managed.  Jesus gives us wonderful guidance in making the proper investments now so as to yield the maximum benefits in the future.  His instructions, however, are entirely different from investment plans that are confined to this life.

Jesus shows us that earthly wealth is insecure.  As moth and rust corrupt costly clothing and precious metals respectively, so the value of many earthly possessions decreases.  Even markets have bubbles that burst and leave investors with much less than they presumed.  Add to that depreciation the fact that others are out to take what is ours and you have a very insecure situation in regard to physical wealth.  The common way of storing treasures in the first century was not in a vault, but hidden in one’s house, the walls of which were often made of mud.  Thieves could literally dig through the wall to steal valuables.  The twenty-first century has seen the rise of thefts that are committed not with the display of a weapon or the use of physical force, but from behind a computer screen through the anonymity of the Internet.  The means have changed but the effects are the same: thieves will take what you have legitimately earned and saved.  In contrast, heavenly treasures are immune to corruption and secure from theft (Lk. 12:33-34; 1 Pet. 1:3-4).

All of us need a certain amount of earthly wealth to live.  If we are fortunate enough to avoid huge losses to what we have accumulated, there is still the danger of what wealth may do to our hearts.  It can easily enslave us (1 Tim. 6:9).  Our heart will be where our treasure is.  How sad is the life of one who places his only hope in this world.  If this life alone is all there is, then one’s efforts and investments will ultimately come to a tragic end.  We leave it all to someone else.  However, the prospect of a future life provides a hope for which the human heart yearns, especially in the moments of loss that are part of this life.  Jesus says to be only earthly-minded is foolish.  We must be forward-thinking enough to prepare for heaven.  Heaven will not be ours by default, but only after a life of proper preparation.  “No man ever went to heaven whose heart was not already there.”  There are tremendous joys and wonders that this life has to offer, but if we aim only for them we will come up short, wanting something more, something permanent.  Aim for earth and get nothing; aim for heaven and get its joys with what earth has to offer thrown in.

Am I investing in the life to come?  Does heaven occupy a prominent place in my heart?  Or do I have too much of this dying world in me?  Beware of banking in the wrong place.  You can come up very short when the bill comes due.

-Mark Day

“…[W]hat woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.” Luke 15:8-9

We all lose things from time to time, but the woman in this parable shows a firm resolve to find her lost coin that highlights God’s desire for man’s repentance.  She does not say to herself, “Oh, it will turn up sooner or later.”  Instead she goes to all manner of pains to find her lost silver coin. Just as the shepherd would not stop searching until he found his lost sheep (v.4), the woman in this parable is set on recovering her coin.  Palestinian dwellings were often of mud-brick construction with no windows and earthen floors; thus, it was possible for a coin to fall, be trodden underfoot and become embedded in the floor.  The search was painstaking.  She had to light an oil lamp, which shed roughly the same amount of light as a candle.  With her dim light in hand she swept and searched until she found the small coin.

At last when the lost coin was found the woman was so overjoyed that she threw a party.  No doubt some will demur that this celebration probably cost the woman more than the coin she found was worth, but that is exactly the point.  These parables in Luke 15 show the joy in heaven over sinners who repent.  They are not lessons in economics, but rather in the joy of God when a soul returns to Him (v. 10).  Upon the return of the lost son, the father does not concern himself with the money that was wasted in the younger son’s prodigal living, but rather celebrates that he has returned (vv. 22-24).  The one who questions such a celebration is more like the older brother (vv. 25-32).

The Pharisees and scribes thought that “sinners” were not worthy to be received (v.2).  Unlike the woman in this parable, they would not so much as waste the oil to light a lamp to search for the lost, much less rejoice over them.  In that sense they would remain in the dark; their inner darkness blinding their eyes to the truth as Jesus explained earlier in the book of Luke (11:33-36). They had an evil eye toward Jesus for associating with those who were called “sinners.” Similar to how Saul eyed David with envy (1 Sam. 18:9), the Pharisees, moved with envy, were not putting forth effort in understanding Jesus’ sayings, but rather in plotting His death (Mk. 3:6; 15:10).  They would never consider that they would be lost; never would they place themselves in this parable and see themselves as a lost coin.

Jesus is the light of the world, that all may come and see the light of God (Jn. 8:12).  If it were not for His light shining into the world we would have remained lost in the darkness of sin.  He did not come to save and enlighten people who are just like you and me, but people of every background.  Do we see our need for salvation?  Are we searching for souls to save?  Are we searching our own souls? Can we place ourselves in Jesus’ parables, becoming engaged in what He has to say and weighing the meaning in our own lives?  Or do we, like the Pharisees, wear masks of hypocrisy, professing to be enlightened while never considering our own spiritual destitution?  Does the light of Christ shine in us?

– Mark Day

The year 2016 has now passed and we have stepped into a new year, 2017. Many have made New Year’s resolutions, several of which might actually make it to April 1^st. Surely it is fitting that we make some Biblical “new” year’s resolutions to direct us into the future.

Let Us Resolve To Study Our New Testament. We live under the New Testament (Covenant) today.  Matthew 26:28, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The reference to the New Testament is to the New Covenant which God had promised in the Old Testament He would establish. See Jeremiah 31:31-34. This indicates a change of His law. This New Testament is sealed by the precious blood of Christ. Since such a great sacrifice was made to bring about the New Covenant which we live under, and since it will be the standard of our Judgment (Romans 2:16) we should desire to be diligent students of the New Testament.

Let Us Remember As Christians We Are New Creatures. Upon our obedience to the Gospel we are new creatures. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” When a person Hears the message of the New Testament (The Gospel), Believes that message, Repents of sin, Confesses the name of Jesus Christ, and is Baptized into Christ, that person is a new creature. See also Romans 6:3-6. That is, a new creature in Christ has been born again (John 3:3, 5), forgiven of sin (Ephesians 1:7), is focused on spiritual things (Colossians 3:1), and seeks to live right in this life (Titus 2:11-12). We are new in Christ; the old sinful self has been put to death (Romans 6:6), in Christ we are new people!

Let Us Look For The New Heavens And New Earth. 2 Peter 3:12-13, “Looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (ASV)  Learning the Plan of Salvation from the New Testament, obeying it, and living according to it, the faithful Christian can look forward to, the time when he or she will enter into the new heavens and new earth; that’s heaven my friend. “Peter speaks of the new heavens and new earth only in the sense of a new habitation for the saved, one prepared by the Lord and wherein dwells righteousness. It is a place new in quality, one that has never before been used by men. He does not intend that we think of this old sin-scarred earth with its millions of sinful memories, but tells of a special place that is new and fresh in quality, specially made and prepared by the Lord.” (Bob Winton, Commentary on 2 Peter)

As we begin this New Year, let us seek the “new”. “If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:21-24

-Jerry Sturgill