Preachers sometimes invite listeners to pray something such as, “God, I am sorry I have sinned. Please forgive me and let Jesus come into my heart. I thank you for forgiving me and giving me eternal life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen” The preacher then says, “Since you have asked Christ into your life, you are now His child, and your sins are forgiven.” The problem, however, is that the promise of forgiveness is from a man, not God. God has never promised to respond to “the sinner’s prayer.” Prayer is a privilege for...Continue reading
Category: Salvation
Bought Back
A young boy received a toy sailboat for his birthday. He treasured it greatly. One day, while he was sailing it in a pond in one of the city parks, a strong rain storm came up. The high wind swept the sailboat to the other side of the pond, and the hard rain caused the overflow to be high enough to sweep the boat into the city water drainage system. The young boy was heartbroken, but there was nothing he could do. The boat was lost. Some time later, he was walking down the street...Continue reading
Causes of Salvation
The word “causes” is defined as – to bring about, to bring into existence. When we think about salvation we need to know the “causes” of this blessing. As with any topic we must go to the Bible to find the answer. God of course is the original cause of salvation. God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). When you read about the creation you find God did it in an orderly manner. Think about it, if man had been created on day one, what would he have stood on, what would he...
Clean vs. Unclean
In the Old Testament we find what God calls clean and unclean. Sometimes this refers to animals. The earliest we find this is in Genesis 7. Noah is told by God “Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the make and his female: and of beast that are not clean by two, the male and his female.” At this time we are not told what constitutes clean and unclean but just that there are two different kinds of animals; clean and unclean. Later, we are told in Leviticus 11 what animals...