Regardless of what we do in life or how hard and rigorously we serve God; regardless of how many good works we amass, we cannot earn our way to heaven.  If there is something that we can all agree on, it is that we are saved by grace.  As a result, we have no right […]

We sometimes speak of Satan as one who is alive and active.  He is never idle.  He is always working, one way or another, trying to destroy the souls of men.  Peter said that he is “…walking about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). There is something else we should not forget—God is […]

Works have gotten a lot of bad press over the years.  Those who do not understand the place that works have in salvation are quick to quote passages like Romans 4:1-6 and Ephesians 2:8,9.  Those who speak of the importance, or even the essentiality, of works, are referred to as being legalistic and Pharisaical, which […]

I n 1 Tim. 4:12, Paul gave Timothy the instruction to be a good example to others. That is sound advice for all Christians. We should all try our best to be good examples to those around us, whether they be people of the world or other members of the body of Christ. Let us […]

Jesus sent the Spirit to guide the apostles into all truth (John 16:13).   This has reference to the inspiration of the Spirit that the apostles received by being baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). When the apostles spoke and wrote, they were not relying on their own wisdom, nor their ability to recall all […]

Paul was confident about his salvation. Even when the shadow of death was hovering over his head, he was sure about his heavenly destiny.  In the last turn of his earthly race for Christ, he said with poise, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, […]

We live in a society that devalues marriage.  The majority of people in the world believe that marriage is nothing more than a secular contract that can be broken over the smallest offenses, or even over no offense at all.  It is not unusual at all for a person to be married, divorced, and remarried […]

This article is not about whether or not miracles were performed in the first-century church. THEY WERE!  Jesus performed miracles.  The apostles performed miracles.  Many members of the church of Christ, in general, performed miracles in the first century.  Anyone who believes in the Bible knows that this is true.  So again, whether or not […]

Obeying the gospel of Christ is the smartest, most valuable decision anyone can ever make.   Some very important decisions must be made in life, but none of them ranks as high as accepting Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior. Upon making that great decision, and following it up by actually obeying the gospel, one’s sins […]

One of the tenets of Calvinism is that man is born totally depraved due to original sin.  What is original sin?  Let us allow defenders of the doctrine to tell us. “According to the Bible when Adam, the first man, chose to sin in the Garden of Eden, sin came into the world and passed […]