IS DISOBEDIENCE SIMPLY AN INEFFECTUAL ACT? by steve finnell

When Christians continue in a sinful lifestyle are they risking losing their inheritance in the kingdom of God or are they simply obeying the command of Satan? 

Ephesians 5:1-7 Therefore be followers of God as dear children...........3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting , but rather giving thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God  comes on the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. (NHJV)

Is unrepentant disobedience to God's commands followed by God's wrath, or is it simply the ineffectual acts of following the commands of Satan ?

IS OBEYING JESUS BY BEING IMMERSED IN WATER SIMPLY AN INEFFECTUAL ACT OF OBEDIENCE?

Jesus said "...and is baptized will be saved..." (Mark 16:16--NKJV))

Is obeying the apostle Peter's command to be baptized simply an ineffectual act of obedience?

Peter said ".. and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins..." (Acts 2:38---NKJV)

Is obeying God's commands simply the right thing to do or does it affect men's salvation?

Does God forgive the sins of the unrepentant? Does God forgive the sin of a murder if that person continues to kill people on a daily bases until he dies? You make the call!

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Is refusing to be immersed in water so your sins can be forgiven being obedient to God or being disobedient? 

"THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS:
 WHAT DO THEY TELL US?" 
by David Vaughn Elliott 

A young Bedouin shepherd scrambled up the cliffs above the Dead Sea searching for a lost goat. When he spotted a cave and tossed in a rock, he heard earthenware shatter. Inside the cave he found jars containing ancient scrolls. It was 1947. By 1956, eleven caves had yielded thousands of parchments from small fragments to entire scrolls. Scholars dated them from about 250 B.C. to A.D. 70. 

Why Was This Significant? 

Included among some 800 Hebrew manuscripts are portions of every Old Testament book except Esther. Before that, the oldest Hebrew OT manuscripts known to scholars were copied about A.D. 900. With the Dead Sea Scroll discoveries, scholars had before their eyes copies of OT books that were copied before the birth of Jesus. Naturally, everyone was interested to learn how much difference there was between the Dead Sea Scrolls and our current Bibles. 

The accusation is often made that we cannot trust the Bible because we do not possess the original manuscripts. It is pointed out correctly that men made copies of copies of copies. How do we know they didn't make mistakes or even make changes on purpose? A fair question. Before the invention of the printing press, everything had to be laboriously copied by hand. That was wide open for mistakes and even for making changes. 

Thanks to the Hebrew scrolls found by the Dead Sea, scholars had the opportunity to compare the oldest copies they already had with these copies that were made one thousand years earlier – made before Jesus came to earth. Were differences found? How many changes took place in one thousand years of copying? Let's start with one example. Arguably, the most amazing find was a virtually complete copy of the book of Isaiah dated about 125 B.C. At the time the scroll was made available, scholars were working on the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. As a result of the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah, translators made only thirteen changes in the entire sixty-six chapters of Isaiah – all tiny, technical changes that most of us would not even notice. 

Some critics claim that early Christians altered the Old Testament in order to fit their ideas of Jesus. What does the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah tell us? Keep in mind that Isaiah offers so many predictions of Jesus that he is often called the Messianic prophet. Now we have proof that the book of Isaiah in our Bibles is substantially the same as the book of Isaiah copied a century before Jesus. The early Christians did not alter Isaiah to fit the facts of Jesus' life. Rather, the Old Testament was written by men who had supernatural foreknowledge. 

Scholars Speak
James C. VanderKam, professor emeritus of Hebrew Scripture of the University of Notre Dame, was a member of an editorial committee that prepared Dead Sea Scrolls for publication. In his prize-winning book, Professor VanderKam wrote: "Once scholars had had opportunity to study the great Isaiah scroll from Cave 1 (1QIsaa, copied in approximately 100 B.C.) and to compare it with the Masoretic [Hebrew] Text, they were impressed with the results. Despite the fact that the Isaiah scroll was about a thousand years older than the earliest surviving copy of the Masoretic version of Isaiah, the two were usually in very close agreement except for small details that rarely affect the meaning of the text... Many of the new scrolls do belong to the same textual tradition as the Masoretic Text. They are, however, centuries older and thus demonstrate in a forceful way how carefully the Jewish scribes transmitted that text across the years" (The Dead Sea Scrolls Today, Second Edition, James C. VanderKam, 2010, page 162).

Note: "Masoretic Text" is the term scholars use for the traditional Hebrew OT. The term comes from a group of Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes, who were the ones who produced the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the OT available to us before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  

Theodor H. Gaster, a Hebrew scholar, was a professor and lecturer in various colleges and universities. Gaster published the first English translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls in which he omitted the Bible scrolls. In his Preface he explained why: "The purpose of this book is to provide a complete and reliable translation of the celebrated Dead Sea Scrolls, insofar as the original Hebrew texts have yet been published... no translation is provided of the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah or of the other more fragmentarily preserved Biblical manuscripts. The contents of the Bible are readily available in English, and the special contribution of the Dead Sea Scrolls in this field is of interest only to scholars" (The Dead Sea Scriptures, Theodor H. Gaster, 1956-76; Preface, page xi).

Amazing! "Of interest only to scholars." What does that mean? It means that during one thousand years of copying, there were no great differences between the manuscripts before and after the thousand years. Can't trust copies of copies of copies? The hard facts prove that idea to be fiction. Some differences? Of course. But nothing to change the basic truths of our Bibles. 

The Septuagint
The Dead Sea Scrolls are also important for what they tell us about the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew OT into Greek, which was made in the third and second centuries before Christ. Scholars and some of us Bible students have long been aware that there are some differences between the Hebrew OT and the Greek Septuagint. This explains why some NT quotations of the OT don't quite match up with our OT, which is basically a translation from the Masoretic Hebrew. The NT quotations are most often in agreement with the Septuagint text. If you have a Bible with extensive footnotes, you will sometimes notice a variant reading found in the "LXX." That's the Roman numeral for "seventy." It's the common abbreviated way to identify the Septuagint. 

One very significant discovery is that, although the Dead Sea Scrolls are usually in harmony with the Masoretic Hebrew OT, sometimes the Dead Sea Scrolls are more in agreement with the Septuagint. Before the discovery and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars often looked at the Septuagint as an inferior translation, which sometimes paraphrased and sometimes was just plain wrong. However, inasmuch as some of the Dead Sea Scrolls agree with the Septuagint in places where it differs from the Masoretic text, scholars have had to realign their assessment of the Septuagint. Rather than it being a loose translation, as was thought, the evidence now is that the Septuagint was a careful translation based on a Hebrew text slightly different from the Masoretic.

Bear in mind that, for the most part, we are talking about differences that the majority of us would never even notice. We are talking mainly of details, just like the details you may have noticed between, for example, the New King James Version and the New American Standard Version or the New International Version. Even though the Septuagint is a translation (just as our various English versions are), the Dead Sea Scrolls have proven that the Septuagint is a better translation than was previously thought. And since NT quotes of the OT are usually from the Septuagint, this is an additional reason to deeply appreciate the discovery and study of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Evidence Is In
For some people all this evidence makes little difference. Mark Twain once said: "It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." Often people doubt the Bible, not because there is a lack of evidence for its trustworthiness and divine inspiration, but rather because it judges the way we behave.

If we go by the available facts, there is no evidence the Bible was substantially altered when it was copied through the ages. All the evidence points in the opposite direction. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in modern times is one of the most, if not the most, dramatic proof ever. The evidence tells us that the Bible has been faithfully copied through the years so that we can trust it. 

The Anvil of God's Word
attributed to John Clifford (1836 - 1923) 

Last eve I paused beside a blacksmith’s door
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime; 
Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers worn with beating years of time.

"How many anvils have you had?" said I,
"To wear and batter all these hammers so?"
"Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye,
"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The Anvil is unharmed – the hammers gone! 
_________________________________________
For a former Insight on the Dead Sea Isaiah Scroll:
http://insight2bp.homestead.com/186.html

IS BAPTISM AN OUTWARD SIGN? YES! BY STEVE FINNELL

Is water baptism an outward sign of an inward grace? Yes, in order to accept God's free gift of salvation men must be immersed in water.

Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The outward sign is the immersion in water. The inward grace is the forgiveness of sins we receive by following the command of Jesus to be baptized in water. There is no inward grace granted until men are immersed in water. Baptism is not a sign that we have already been saved. Baptism is a sign that believers in Christ are being saved.

1 Peter 3:20-21 ....safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you---not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience---through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

The outward sign is water baptism. The inward grace is that baptism saves through an appeal to God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If men do not confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, believe that He is the Son of God and believe that God raised Him from the dead, and make the commitment to turn from sin and turn to God, then, of course your baptism will not save you. Baptism is the final step before receiving forgiveness of sins. Water baptism is the point that the blood of Jesus washes away your sins.

Colossians 2:12-13 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgression and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

The outward sign is being buried with Jesus in the watery grave of baptism. The inward grace is being made spiritually alive with Christ, having our transgressions forgiven. We are dead in our transgression before we are buried with Christ in water baptism. We are made alive and have our transgressions forgiven after baptism, not before.

Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

The outward sign is water baptism. The inward grace is being clothed with Christ. You are not baptized into Christ because you have already been clothed with Christ. The clothing does not precede, being baptized into Christ.

Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

The outward sign is water baptism. The inward grace of salvation follows believing and being baptized in water.

THERE ARE TWO OUTWARD SIGNS

1. CONFESSION: Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

The outward sign is confession. The inward grace is salvation.

2. WATER IMMERSION: Mark 16:16....has been baptized shall be saved...

The outward sign is baptism. The inward grace is salvation.

IS WATER BAPTISM AN OUTWARD SIGN OF AN INWARD GRACE? YES, BUT WITHOUT THE OUTWARD SIGN OF BAPTISM NO INWARD GRACE OCCURS.

What must I do to be saved? FAITH John 3:16 REPENTANCE Acts 2:38 CONFESSION Romans 10:9-10 BAPTISM Mark 16:16

(All Scripture quotes from: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)   

    

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS UNDER THE NEW COVENANT? BY STEVE FINNELL

Did God authorize the use of musical instruments under the New Covenant? Yes, He did. Not only did God authorize musical instrument in the New Testament, He commanded them. He also commanded we sing without instruments.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (NKJV)

We are commanded to sing psalms. Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19.

What is a psalm? Psalm 81:2 Raise a song, strike the timbrel, The sweet sounding lyre with the harp. (NASB)

PSALM DEFINED

1. Word Origin: Old English, from Late Latin psalmus. from Greek psalmos accompanied on the harp, from psallein to play (the harp) (Ref. Collins English Dictionary)

 2. Primarily denoted a striking or twitching with the finger (on musical strings), then, a sacred song, sung to musical accompaniment, a psalm. (Ref. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words)

3. Word Origin and History for psalm: Old English psealm, salm, partly from Old French psaume, saume, partly from Church Latin psalmus, from Greek psalmos "song sung to a harp," originally "performance on stringed instrument; a plucking of a harp (cf. psaltes "harper"), from psallein "play on a stringed instrument, pull, twitch"

Used in Septuagint for Hebrew mizmor "song," especially the sort sung by David to the harp. Related: Psalmodize; psalmody.... (Ref. Online Etymology Dictionary, 2010 Douglas Harper)

4. Origin of Psalm: Middle English, from Old English psealm, from Late Latin psalmus, from Greek psalmos, literally, twanging of a harp. from psallein to pluck, play a stringed instrument. First Known Use: before 12th century. (REF. Merriam Webster)

God did not change the definition of the word psalm from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Psalm did not mean with musical instruments on 32 AD and then on the Day of Pentecost change to mean without instruments.

If God says it, it is His tradition. If men speak things that God did not, it is man-made tradition.

I believe worshipping with or without musical instruments is acceptable to God. It should never be a test of fellowship.     
     

 

DO MEN HAVE FREE-WILL? by steve finnell

Do men have the free-will to reject or accept Jesus as Lord and Savior? Some believe that God has predetermined those who will be saved and those who will burn in hell for all eternity. The truth is all men who hear the gospel preached can accept it and be saved or reject it and be lost. Men do have free-will.

 Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.(NKJV)

All men have free-will.

John 8:24 "Therefore I said to you  that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (NKJV)

Why would Jesus condemn men for not believing; if in fact it was through no fault of their own?

 All men have free-will.

Mark 1:15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand . Repent, and believe in the gospel."(NKJV)

Why did Jesus command men to repent and believe if it was impossible? You do not have to ask men to repent if they are forced to believe.

All men have free-will.

John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."(NKJV)

Why would God's wrath abide with men whose only choice was to not believe in Jesus?

All men have free-will.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.(NKJV)

Why would the apostle Peter tell those on the Day of Pentecost to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins if they had already been selected for salvation through no choice of their own?

All men have free-will.

Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and these things shall be added to you.(NKJV)

Was Jesus confuse when He told them to seek the kingdom of God? How can men with no free-will seek God's kingdom?

All men have free-will.

Luke 13:34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!(NKJV)

How could Jerusalem have been unwilling if they did not have free-will?

All men have free-will.

Matthew 24:5 "For many will come in My name, saying . 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.(NKJV)

No person can be deceived unless they have free-will. Adam and Eve could not have been deceive by Satan except for the fact they had free-will.

All men have free-will.

Luke 24:47 "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name  to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.(NKJV)

Why would Jesus say repentance would be preached to men who could not repent. How can men repent who have no free-will?

All men have free-will.

Romans 10:21 But to Israel he says:"All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient  and contrary people.(NKJV)

It is impossible for men to disobey if they have no free-will.

All men have free-will.

Acts 13:45-46.....46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.(NKJV)

You cannot reject the word of God unless you have free-will.

Al men have free-will

Acts 17:30 "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, (NKJV)

Why would God command men to repent if they did not have the free-will to comply?

All men have free-will.

Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.(NKJV)

Why would God condemn men for not believing if they lacked the capacity to believe?

ALL MEN HAVE FREE-WILL! 
       

   

THINK ABOUT IT...by George L. Faul

Vol. 28 No. 2 April 2015 George L. Faull, Editor Think About It…

 --By George L. Faull GOD HAS SAID,

 “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. Can people have sex with those who are not their spouse? Yes, they are capable of it and both may enjoy it. Does capability and their enjoying it justify them for doing so?

 JESUS HAS SAID, “If a man puts away his (innocent) wife and marries another commits adultery”. Can he do that? Is he capable of doing that? Does he enjoy his second wife more than his first wife? Would that justify him? Does capability and pleasure and contentment justify his doing it?

 JESUS HAS SAID, “He that believeth and is baptized (immersed) shall be saved”. Can anyone change “baptizo” (immerse, dip, plunge) to “rantizo” (sprinkle) instead? Are they capable of it for convenience or tradition of their church’s preference? Yes. Does capability, tradition, or doctrinal change justify it?

 THE INSPIRED APOSTLE PAUL SAID that it is a shame for a woman to speak in the Church and she is not to be the teacher of men or have authority over the man. Is she capable of doing so? The Elders may approve of it. Is her ability to do so, or even do better than some male teachers, justify her doing so?

 PAUL SAYS that those who practice homosexuality will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Is a man capable of homosexuality? Does he enjoy it? It has become socially accepted. Some churches even approve of it and even ordain them to ministry. Does that justify it?

 Capability, enjoyment, ability, tradition, or social acceptability or thinking in one’s heart that it is okay does not justify disobedience to God.

 Does God want your happiness and enjoyment or does He want your obedience? Just ask those of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

INHERITED DEPRAVITY?  by steve finnell

Do all men inherit guilt from the sin of Adam? Does the fact that Adam sinned mean all of his descendents are born depraved? Many denominations teach that as facts. Those denominations who baptize unbelieving infants do that because they believe infants are born guilty of Adam's sin.

The Westminster Confession

CHAPTER 6

Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of

the Punishment thereof.

I. Our first parents, begin seduced by the subtlety and temptations of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory.
II. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.
III. They being the root of mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by original generation.
IV. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.
V. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be through Christ pardoned and mortified, yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin.
VI. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.

The doctrine of Inherited/Total Depravity has been adopted by many denominational churches due to the writings of Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430 and John Calvin (1509-1564)

Those who believe the false doctrine of Original Sin say all men are sinners at conception.

There are no references in Scripture that state men need to be forgiven for Adam's sin or that men inherited Adam's guilt.

If all men are born totally depraved how did Moses serve God? Moses did not live under grace. Moses did not receive Christian baptism as an unbelieving infant.

Was Abraham totally depraved at conception? Genesis 18:19 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all nations of the earth will be blessed? 19 For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham was was spoken about him." (NASB)

Questions: How it possible that God would chose Abraham if he was totally corrupt at conception? How could Abraham's children and household do righteous acts and justice if they were totally defiled and only inclined to do evil?

The doctrine of Original Sin/Inherited Sin and Total Depravity are not found in the Bible, they only written in man-made creed books.

Was Noah guilty of sin at conception rendering him totally depraved? Genesis 6:8-9 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 These are the records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.(NASB)

Did Noah trick God into thinking that he was a righteous man? No, God cannot be deceived, however, men can be deceived into believing the false doctrine of Original Sin, Totally Depravity and Inherited Depravity.

Was Job a guilty of Adam's sin at conception? Was Job not capable of resisting evil? Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.(NASB)

Was the first Gentile convert to Christianity a totally depraved sinner at conception? No. Acts 10:1-2 Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.(NASB)

Inherited Depravity is a man-made doctrine found in denominational creed books. Original Sin/Inherited Sin is not found in the Bible.

Atheist and nonbeliever are not born evil. Many atheist and non believers do good works.

All men sin and are guilty of their own sins. No person has inherited sin from Adam.

All men need a Savior because of their sin, not because of Adam's sin.

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God's terms for pardon from sin. Faith: John 3:16, Repentance: Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Confession: Romans 10:9, Immersion in Water: Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 22:16 

SEEKING TRUTH BY STEVE FINNELL

If seeking God's truth is your goal, what avenue would you take. What would be your source for the truth?

WOULD IT BE?

A. Prayer and studying the Scriptures?

B. Reading the books written by these men Bishop Sheen, Billy Graham, C.S. Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Alexander Campbell, John Wesley, Robert Schuller, Oral Roberts, Rick Warren, Benny Hinn, Max Lucado, Charles H. Spurgen, Paul Washer, John MacAthur, Joel Osteen, T. D. Jakes, Joseph Smith Jr., Chuck Swindoll etc.

C. Read creed books, the Book of Mormon, catechism, statements of faith etc.

B. and C. do not contain the infallible word of God. Why would you search for truth there?

GOD'S WORD IS TRUTH!

2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself  approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,accurately handling the word of truth.

In order to accurately handle the truth you need to study the source for the truth. THE BIBLE AND THE BIBLE ALONE IS THE ONLY TRUSTWORTHY SOURCE FOR THE TRUTH.

THE APOSTLE'S WORDS WERE TRUTH!

1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word  of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

Paul said their word was God's word. Paul  and the rest of the apostles received their words directly from Jesus and the Holy Spirit.


Why would believers in Christ be willing to put their trust in mere men? That is puzzling, at best.

ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED BY GOD.(2 Timothy 3:16)

THE LISTS B. AND C. ARE NOT PRODUCING SCRIPTURE!

SEEKING TRUTH?----BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU SEEK!

    

WISDOM AND TRUTH BY STEVE FINNELL

Without seeking wisdom from God; truth can become an illusion.

What is wisdom? Wisdom is the knowledge of what is true. Wisdom is being able to discern the truth and properly putting that knowledge into action.

YOU HAVE TO SEEK GOD'S WISDOM

James 1:5-8 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will  given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Without God's wisdom  it is difficult, sometimes impossible , to understand  even basic passages of Scripture. An example being: Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Many find (Mark 16:16) troubling and hard to understand; because Jesus said "he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." Some think that would void the requirement of water baptism in order to be saved.

If your doctor informs you that if you rest in bed and take antibiotics you will live, but if you do not rest in bed you will die. IS YOUR DOCTOR SAYING THAT TAKING ANTIBIOTICS IS NOT ESSENTIAL FOR YOU TO LIVE? Of course not, and Jesus is not saying baptism is not essential to be saved.

WITHOUT SEEKING GOD'S WISDOM, MEN HAVE A TENDENCY TO BELIEVE THEY ARE SMARTER THAN GOD.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

WISDOM IS THE GATEWAY TO THE TRUTH!

(All Scripture quotes from: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)     

IGNORING THE NEW COVENANT by steve finnell

Those who deny that immersion in water is essential for salvation do so by ignoring the terms for pardon under the new covenant.

The new covenant was not in effect until after the death of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:14-17 And how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a testament, there must also be of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.(NKJV)

The new covenant terms of pardon were only in force after the death of Jesus.

After Jesus died He gave the new covenant terms for pardon. Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved..(NKJV)

New covenant conversions.

1. Acts 2:22-38. They believed and were baptized.

2. Acts 8:12. They believed and were baptized.
3. Acts 8:35-38. He believed and was baptized.
4. Act 9:1-18, Acts 22:16. He believed and was baptized.
5. Acts 10:34-48 They believed and were baptized.
6. Acts 16:14-15 They believed and were baptized.
7. Acts 16:30-34 They believed and were baptized.
8. Acts 19:3-5 They believed and were baptized.

Examples of those saved before the new covenant was in force.
1. 2 Kings 2:1-11. Whirlwind into heaven. Can men today be saved like Elijah? No, they cannot
2. Hebrews 11:5 Can men today be like Enoch? No, they cannot.
3. Can men today be saved like Moses and Abraham? No, they cannot.
4. Luke 7:37-50. Can men today be saved like this woman who was a sinner? No, they cannot.
5. Matthew 9:2 Can men today be saved like the paralytic? No, they cannot.
6. Luke 18:13-14 Can men today be justified like the Jewish tax collector? No, they cannot.
7. Luke 23:39-43 Can men today be saved like the thief on the cross? No, they cannot.

None of these people who were saved before the the new covenant was in force believed that God raised Jesus from the dead. None of them were baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

NEW COVENANT TERMS FOR PARDON
1. FAITH: John 3:16
2. CONFESSION: Romans 10:9
3. REPENTANCE: Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19
4. IMMERSION IN WATER: Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21

It does not matter what men say. What did Jesus say? (Mark 16:16)