Ironworks

          How do I know if I am right with God? The question is simple, but it requires us to put some effort into figuring out an answer.  Since this takes effort, many people will ask the question and never look for the answer. This is an extremely dangerous way to live as you may be blissfully ignorant, but being blissfully ignorant of God’s word can lead to terrible eternal consequences. So, let’s answer the question in short. How do we know if we are right with God? To answer this we should ask ourselves some simple questions. Have You Heard?              The first step in the process is hearing the word of God. I know this seems like taking a step back from answering our serious question, but we have to address the fact that we need to hear God’s word. Logically speaking it all starts here, but as we move forward we need to continue to hear God’s word.           Romans 10:17 (K...

  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.  John 3:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. Mark 16:16  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  2 Peter 3:9   But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8  When we seek to interpret the Bible, we look at the text and ask several questions; first, is there a specific command in the Scripture regarding this subject? If there is not, we might look to approved examples where a certain question might be answered by the presence of an example that corresponds with the whole of Scripture. Lastly, we find there are certain times where a specific comma...

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.” John 5:24 Basis of Belief      What do you do when you hear some form of information? You may accept it as factual, or you might not believe it at all. When we are young, we may not believe the stove is hot. In fact, possibly the orange glow of the burner or open flame is appealing to the eye and the warmth is a nice feeling on a cold day. However, if you chose to touch it, you will certainly be burnt and certainly believe what your mother may have warned you about. Belief is established when one is presented with truth and when we hear truth, we have the option to believe it or not.  Continuation of Belief      In matters of faith, belief is an integral part of God's plan for saving man. Last week I wrote about the fact that we must hear the good news. We must hear, but ...

Friedreich Nietzsche, the 19th-century German philosopher wondered what the world would be like if Jesus had never been born. This man greatly opposed “Christianity” because of all the horrors that have been committed under the guise of Christianity. He cited things like the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades. As we know, those heinous acts were committed by men who did not know Christ, but he brings up an interesting thought. What if Jesus had never been born?  If Jesus had never been born, first and foremost, there would be no reason to assemble on the Lord’s Day. We would not be Christians if not for Christ. Perhaps we would still be under Moses as Jews, if we are really optimistic. However, the reality is that most of us, being Gentiles, would likely worship some idols. Jesus made it possible for all to live eternally (John 3:16). Jesus is the way that those who were far off are made near by His blood (cf. Eph 2:13). He made peace between those driven apart, reconciling the...

          The Pride of the Southland Band from the University of Tennessee plays “Rocky Top”, the unofficial fight song, gratuitously at all football games. The song is played so often that opposing coaches have been known to blast it over loudspeakers at practice the week before playing Tennessee. At every game you will hear it: After the extra point, Rocky Top, after a turnover, Rocky Top, after a big gain on offense, Rocky Top. When Rocky Top is played, Tennessee fans are happy. Regardless of which team you like in sports or even if you do not like sports, we can agree a cheerful song can change our attitude, mood, yes our entire disposition. When we sing we are reminded of why we have a reason to be happy. If you are a Christian, you know that there is plenty to be happy about. Let's examine a few of those reasons.  Jesus Saves “We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!”             First, we ...

     Who limits the power of Christ? Who limits the power of Almighty God? I know who tries, anyone who would teach a doctrine of limited atonement. This, like every other element of Calvinism, is dependent upon the doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity, which we have dismantled previously. We still must prove why this is not a Biblical doctrine in our ongoing study.  What is Limited Atonement?      First, we want to allow those who espouse such to properly define their doctrine. David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas in their book The Five Points of Calvinism, Defined, Defended, Documented, said, "Christ's redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them. His death was a substitutionary sacrifice of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners.” As with all things, we want to test the comments of men against the Word of God, and we will always defer to the latter in all matters of faith and prac...

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.Mark 16:16  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  2 Peter 3:9   But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8  Is Your Name in the Bible?      When you read these passages, what do you think about first? I imagine that you would consider the magnificent grace of the Lord which He extends to you. I suppose you would have feelings of appreciation for the patience that God extends to you. To do all these things would be to make an assumption that each of these verses applies to you. You are not wrong in...

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24     What do you do when you hear some form of information? You may accept it as factual, or you might not believe it at all. When we are young, we may not believe the stove is hot. In fact, possibly the orange glow of the burner or open flame is appealing to the eye and the warmth is nice feeling on a cold day. However, if you chose to touch it, you will certainly be burnt and certainly believe what your mother may have warned you about. Belief is established when presented with truth, yet, when we hear truth, we have the option to believe it or not.      In matters of faith, belief is an integral part of the God's plan for saving man. Last week I wrote about hearing, and that it is the basis of that plan. We must hear, but what do we do once we hear? If we are...