Bonitas Dei

Bonitas Dei, the goodness of God. Goodness according to Webster’s Dictionary means, “The state of being good; the physical qualities which constitute value, excellence or perfection, moral virtue, kindness; favor shown; acts of benevolence, compassion or mercy.” As Jesus said, “No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19) and as the Psalm says, “Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! (Psa 106:1), thus God alone is the standard of good. According to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology the goodness of God means, “He[God] is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval.” Grudem goes on to ask, “What is ‘good’? ‘Good’ is what God approves. We may ask then, why is what God approves good? We must answer, ‘because he approves it’ There is no higher standard of goodness than God’s own character and his approval of whatever is consistent with that Character.” (Grudem 198).


The goodness of God is identified as an essential attribute of God; that is, goodness is identified with the divine essence. Stephen Charnock (1628-1680) in his magnum opus, Discourses upon the existence and attributes of God said, “whatsoever is perfect goodness, is God; whatsoever is truly goodness in any creature, is a resemblance of God.” (Charnock 538). When Charnock wrote of the goodness of God he referred to it as the, “efflux of his will, whereby he is beneficial to his creatures.” (Charnock 540). We see here that not only is God good in and of Himself, but He also does good, “You are good and do good” (Psa. 119:68). Because God is perfectly good no one can say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” (Jas 1:13).


God gives good gifts, everything He makes is good, and He works everything for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (Jas 1:17). “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Gen 1:31). We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28).


One of the unique aspects of the goodness of God is that though this attribute falls under the category of being a communicable attribute we cannot imitate this attribute in our fallen state. God must regenerate us. When God made man, He made man in His image and able to do what is right before the Lord and to obey His law. They were able to do this until man rebelled and sinned against God. As stated in the Baptist Confession, “Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.” (1689 LBC 6.2).


In order for us to imitate the goodness of God He has to remove our hearts of stone and replace it with a new heart and “[He] will put [His] Spirit within [us], and cause [us] to walk in [His] statutes and be careful to obey [His] rules. (Eze. 36:27). As the 1689 London Baptist Confession says about those who have been regenerated, “Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ; and that they may be enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is necessary an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure; yet they are not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty, unless upon a special motion of the Spirit, but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them” (1689 LBC 16.3).


We might ask, “what lies within the goodness of God?” and when one searches the scripture one will find God’s power, mercy, grace, and love for example, are aspects of His goodness. J. I. Packer writes in his book Knowing God, “when the biblical writers call God good, they are thinking in general of all those moral qualities which prompt His people to call Him perfect, and in particular of the generosity which moves them to call Him merciful and gracious and to speak of His love.”(Packer 161). God’s grace, mercy, and love are an outpouring of God’s goodness. God’s providential care and benevolence are the fruition of God’s goodness.


God is a good gift giving God. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Mat 7:11). God gives us the gift of grace, repentance, and faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (Eph 2:8)” “…God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (2Tim. 2:25). As one reads through the Scriptures one will see from the very beginning God displaying His goodness through providence, benevolence, and miracles. God made Adam and Eve a special place to live just for them in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2). God gave the Israelites bread from Heaven (Exo. 16). God sent a crow with bread and meat to feed Elijah (1 Kings 17). Jesus fed different multitudes of people by multiplying bread and fish (Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9; John 6). God rescued His people from blindness, sickness, prison, persecution, and even death!


Many accept the fact that God is holy. Many accept the fact that God is sovereign. But many people have trouble reconciling the fact that God is holy, sovereign, and good. People can understand the idea of a holy God. A God that has the highest standards and because we cannot meet those standards wouldn’t want anything to do with mankind. People can grasp the idea of a sovereign God who is all powerful and is able to do what ever He pleases when He pleases. But many people have trouble accepting the fact that God is also good. They have trouble accepting this attribute because of the presence of evil. They can accept a God who is holy and has nothing to do with Evil. They can accept a God that controls all things and makes everything that happens happen. But they claim, “If God is holy, sovereign, and good why does He allow evil?”


Quickly, many Christians would appeal to free-will, but I believe the free-will argument, in every case that I have heard it, limits the power of God and sacrifices His sovereignty. I also believe the free-will argument fails in its failure to give an answer to the vast biblical evidences of God foreordaining and decreeing everything that comes to pass including evil. “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.” (Isa 45:7); So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— (Rom 9:18-23).


We know clearly from Scripture that God is not the author of sin or evil nor forces people to sin. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1Jn 1:5). Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (Jas 1:13-14). We cannot be noisy gongs where the Bible is silent. Scripture simply does not tell us where evil came from but what we do know for sure is God is holy, sovereign, and good. God is not surprised or frustrated by evil. In fact, God has allowed, controls, ordains, and decrees evil.


We see that God is holy and righteous and just. And because of these attributes God hates sin. But how do these attributes reside harmoniously with God’s goodness? God’s holiness, righteousness and justice are displayed through His wrath and God’s wrath is God’s goodness in response to that which is evil and sinful. God sent His people into captivity because they disobeyed and transgressed His laws. Even the psalmist says, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” (Psa 119:71). This is not just an Old Testament thought for God is the same yesterday, today and forever. “But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” (1Co 11:32), “Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:9-11).


This is not to say either that every time evil occurs it is God punishing sin. For we read in John 9 “As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (Joh 9:1-3). When God allows evil to happen it is to lead us to repentance, bring glory to God, and provide missions. Taking the example of the blind man it served as all three. It brought repentance, it provided an opportunity to proclaim the good news, and it brought glory to God. Many mission opportunities are provided by way of natural disasters. Rather it be earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, or hurricanes churches respond quickly with help. Not just physical help but with the good news of Jesus. All of this God ordains within His goodness and sovereignty. Even Origen gives an example how God providentially allows something evil to happen to bring about a greater good. “it is certain, moreover, that the Jews were punished even in this present life, after treating Jesus in the manner in which they did. And let the Jews assert what they will when we charge them with guilt, and say, “Is not the providence and goodness of God most wonderfully displayed in your punishment, and in your being deprived of Jerusalem, and of the sanctuary, and of your splendid worship?” For whatever they may say in reply with respect to the providence of God, we shall be able more effectually to answer it by remarking, that the providence of God was wonderfully manifested in using the transgression of that people for the purpose of calling into the kingdom of God, through Jesus Christ, those from among the Gentiles who were strangers to the covenant and aliens to the promises.” (Origen)


Knowing these things help us in life and ministry. If it was not for the goodness of God we would not even have the revealed word of God nor would we have any form of hope in this life. Because of God’s goodness and His simplicity, He is not capricious. God is all that He says He is all the time. Which means God is good all the time and all the time God is good. In Islam Allah is praised for His capriciousness. Allah can be loving one minute and wrathful the next he does not have to hold them at the same time. Allah can be good one day and completely evil the next. As the Jehovah Witnesses believe God is good and loving above His justice and holiness. They would say that God would not even cast Satan into Hell for all eternity because He is too good and loving for that. In both cases of Islam and Jehovah Witnesses their god has no unity or holiness or true goodness. Whereas the True and Living God has unity with His goodness, love, wrath, justice, wisdom, and etc.


The goodness of God also helps those of us who are Christian in our times of sufferings and trials. Because we can look at the promises of God’s word such as Romans 8:28, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” And know that whatever we are going through God is allowing for our good. We could even say that nothing bad will happen to us. I will caution that statement with, I do not mean that we will not suffer or have great pain but what I am saying is that even the attacks of Satan, so long as we are in Christ, are being worked for our good and the glory of God.


Lastly, how are we to behave knowing God is good? We are to respond with humility, obedience, and the transformation and renewal of our minds. As Paul penned,” I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:1-2).


Even the Psalmist says after experiencing God’s goodness in way of affliction, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. (Psa 119:66-68). As Wayne Grudem states, “In imitation of this communicable attribute, we should ourselves do good (that is, we should do what God approves) and thereby imitate the goodness of our heavenly Father.” (Grudem 198). Paul goes on to say, “let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal 6:9-10). We have to realize that God Himself is the ultimate good that we seek. “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:1-2, 11).





works cited
Association at Philadelphia. 1689 London Baptist Confession. Philadelphia : Association at Philadelphia, 1689.


Charnock, Stephen. Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God. New York: RT CARTER & BROTHER., 1874.


DD, James Orr M.A. ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia . public domain: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing company , 1915, 1939, 1956.


Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1994.


Packer, J. I. Knowing God . Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1973.


Webster, Noah. Webster Dictionary. Public Domain, 1828.

Church Membership

Ephesians 5 says, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”, but who is the church? How does a person become a member of the church or is becoming a member even a Scriptural concept? If it is Scriptural what are the requirements?


The first time that we see the word church in Scripture is in Matthew 16:18 after Jesus asked the disciples “who do you say that I am?” Peter responded with, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then says to Peter, “on this rock I will build my church.” The word for church there in Greek is ἐκκλησία, ekklēsia and it means the called or called out referring to those whom Christ has called out to Himself to be saved. It is also used to signify the gathering of such people. In Scripture we see two main aspects of the church. There is the general use which refers to all believers of all time and then a more specific use referring to the local church such as the church of Ephesus or Corinth or the First Baptist Church on Main Street.


Jesus says he gave “the keys of the kingdom of heaven”, being the Gospel truth of Christ, to the church. He went on to say, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mat 16:19). In other words, by the affirmation of the truth of the gospel, the church is given authority to say who are its members and who are not by the affirmation or denial of the gospel truth by confession and way of life. This is reemphasized in Matthew 18:15-20. Church membership is the churches ability to affirm who is confessing the gospel rightly and to be able to identify who is the local church.


The Church is made up of those who are in Christ—all believers of all time. And the names of these members are kept in the book of the Lamb’s book of life. “…All who dwell on earth will worship [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” (Rev 13:8). Even Jesus keeps a record of the members of His church. If anyone were to know who all the members of their church are it would be Jesus and yet He keeps a formal record of His members. It is by this book that Christ rewards His member with the entrance of Heaven. “But nothing unclean will ever enter [into heaven], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.” (Rev 21:27). Likewise, the local church should keep a formal attendance especially for the purposes of make church decisions and disciplines.


Either we are talking about the Church in general or the local church the Church only consists of true believers. The local church is a representation of the Church which means it should only consist of true believers as well—Those whom Christ gave himself up for. “The biblical basis for seeing the church as composed exclusively of believers is so strong and obvious that the difficulty is in seeing how this idea was ever obscured. The very idea of the church as the called-out ones presupposes that the members of the church have heard and responded to God’s call. The image of the church as the people of God assumes that these are people who belong to God.” (Hammett).


Though the Church is a pure church, the local church is a mixed church. In the local church there are going to be three kinds of people attending. Those who confess Jesus as Lord and are truly saved (Romans 10:9-10), those who confess Jesus as Lord and are not saved (Matthew 7:21-23), and those who neither confess Christ as Lord nor are saved (Jude 1:4). Out of these three groups of people who attend there are those whom we can and should remove and there are those whom we cannot and should not remove. We want to do this because, even though it will not be achieved perfectly, we want the local church to be as pure as possible.


In the local church there is always going to be a mixture of “wheat and weeds”. “[Jesus] put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field…his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away…the plants came up and the weeds appeared also…he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So, the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” (Mat 13:24-30). In this passage we can clearly see that there will be false converts among those in the congregation and in this particular case we should not try to weed them out to prevent the weeding out of the wheat. That being said, there are plenty of other passages that not only encourage the local church to remove “the weeds” but command the church to remove those who do not affirm the gospel by confession or way of life.


In Matthew 18:15-20 there are steps laid out in the case a believer sins against another believer and is not repentant. Whoever is the victim should confront the person who sinned against them. If they do not repent or listen them, they should bring another person or two people with him again to see if he will repent. If the person still does not repent, then they should bring the issue before the church. “If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mat 18:17-18).


An example of the steps in Matthew 18 being carried out is found in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. There is a man who is a member of the church who is having sexual relations with his father’s wife. This man even bears the name “brother” (v. 11). Within these thirteen verses the church of Corinth is commanded seven times to remove and not associate with such people from their church. “Let him who has done this be removed from among you.” (v. 2), “you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” (v. 5), “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.” (v. 7), “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.” (v. 9), “But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.” (v.11), “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (v.12-13). Even in the pastoral epistle of 1 Timothy Paul removes two people because they have rejected the gospel. “…Holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1 Tim. 1:19-20). “We need to be able to show that there is a distinction between the church and the world—that it means something to be a Christian. If someone who claims to be a Christian refuses to live as a Christians should live, we need to follow what Paul said and, for the glory of God and for the person’s own good, we need to exclude him or her from the membership in the church.” (Dever). Also, in 2 Thessalonians they are told by Paul to keep list of people who reject the gospel and to not associate with them. “If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.” (2Th 3:14)


On the contrary, those who affirm the gospel by confession and way of life are to be received into the church and added to the number as a member. We can see in the beginning of the book of Acts that there was a number being kept in the church of believers. As the Holy Spirit moved and was granting salvation to more and more people the church rejoiced. “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Act 2:47). You cannot add names to a register unless one is being kept. This concept is carried throughout the book of Acts and not only did they add names to their register but kept record of men, women, and children. “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women…” (Acts 5:14).


Many people believe that as long as they believe in God and attend a church on a regular basis that makes them a member of that local church. Some may argue that what we see in the book of Acts is just a record of who became a Christian and not referring to local church membership. Though this may be true there are verses that may indicate that a person can be a saint, being a member of the Church, but also calling them a member of the local church or calling them brother making them a member of the Church but also barring them from the local church as a member because of sin. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints [the Church] and members of the household of God [the local church]” (Eph 2:19).


Also, again from 1 Corinthians 5:11, “But now I am writing to you not to associate [loss of membership in the local church] with anyone who bears the name of brother [still a member of the Church] if he is guilty of sexual immorality…”. One last example is found in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 makes a distinction between being a member of the Church and member of the local church. “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.” (2Th 3:6). Either this verse is saying he is a brother, a member of the Church, and is to lose his local church membership or it is saying he is a false convert, not a member of the Church, but has local church membership and thus they call him brother.


In either case these decisions of accepting someone as a member or denying their membership is done by the local church members and that by some kind of vote. In 2 Corinthians Paul tells Corinth to reaffirm a man’s membership that, due to sin, was lost. He tells the church they do not need to shun him anymore because he has repented. “Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So, I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.” (2Co 2:5-8). In this verse it is by the majority that he is to be reaffirmed. Would they just let anyone vote? Would they just let anyone who showed up that day to vote on such a matter? Or does the responsibility fall on those who belong to that church? There would need to be a formal record of who is who. Another example of knowing who is part of the church is in 2 Corinthians 14:23, “If, therefore, the whole church comes together…” how would they know the whole church came together if there was no formal membership? “Surely they would have known who was supposed to be present in a churchwide meeting and who was missing. But how else could they have known when “the whole church” was “Together in one place” without knowing who was a member and who wasn’t? This implies a verifiable membership.” (Whitney)


Becoming a member of a church is more than just a formality. Joining a church is a public confession of faith, a commitment to love God and His people, and submission to the authority God has ordained. No one likes the word or idea of submission, but the truth is God has ordained it in all parts of life. All of creation is to submit to God the Father as it’s creator. God has ordained the governments of the land and its leaders and commands us to submit to them. God commands the church to submit to Christ, husbands are to submit to Christ, wives to husbands, children to parents, employees to employers, etc.


As members of the church we are to submit to the church as a whole and especially the pastors and elders. If no one were to become members of the local church how could the church formally perform church discipline as laid out in Matthew 16, 18, and 1 Corinthians 5? God has ordained the pastor and elders to care for the church and protect it from false teachers, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Act 20:28) and has called the church to submit to them “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Heb 13:17). We cannot obey these commands unless we not only attend the church but belong to the local church as members. “Christians should submit themselves to their local churches ethically. This does not mean making the church an absolute authority any more than a child should regard his or her parents this way. Rather, Christians should look to the church for ethical instruction, counsel, accountability, and discipline in matters that are addressed by God’s Word.” (Leeman)


We now ask what are the requirements to become a member? Though local churches may ask that members agree to a confession of faith simply to clarify their profession of faith, the only standard to become a member is to be a Christian. What is required to be a Christian? To know Jesus, have faith in Jesus, and a way of life that produces the fruits of the Spirit. The person wanting to become a member must know the gospel at the least. They need to know who’s name they are gathering under. Islam, The Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormon Church, United Pentecostal Church, and the Roman Catholic Church all claim to know Jesus, but each proclaim a different Jesus than what is revealed in the Scriptures. They must know what it is they are being apart of and what they are standing for and who they are representing. Maybe they do not know how to describe the gospel perfectly but must have a good idea of the gospel (This is where a statement of faith can be helpful).

Not only does a person need to know who Jesus is, they need to have faith in Jesus. If we have learned anything from the Reformation it is that Scripture is clear that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The person must have true saving faith. They cannot just have knowledge of Jesus or know Theology well, but they must have an actual relationship with Christ and His word. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom 5:1-2). “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8) Secondly, one cannot have faith without having repentance—a way of life that produces the fruit of the Spirit. A sure sign of faith is repentance. A changed way of life that runs from sin. The person wanting to become a member of the church must have a hatred for sin and be fighting sin. Jesus proclaimed, ‘“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”’ (Mar 1:15). These are the bare minimum scriptural requirements to become a member. To know Jesus, have faith in Jesus, and a life of repentance. There can be one additional step added and that is because the Scripture speaks frequently of this outward sign of the inward faith a Christian has and that is Baptism. “The first step of the Christian life in the New Testament is baptism—always. The crowds asked Peter what to do to be saved, and he answered, “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38). Paul, writing to the Roman church, simply assumed that all of them had been baptized (Rom. 6:4). And it’s the first thing Jesus commands his disciples to do when making disciples (Matt. 28:19). Baptism does not save a person, but Jesus means for his saved individuals to publicly identify with him and his people. It’s one piece of how his citizens become official. It’s how they wave the flag.” (J. Leeman). There are other examples of where baptism was emphasized before they became official members in the local church. “Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Act 2:38) Look at the order of a few verses down, “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Act 2:41). They received the gospel, then were baptized, then were added to the church.


As far as church history is concerned and the difference between Baptist and most historical denominations the historical faiths believed that to be a member of the church one must be admitted to both baptism and the Lord’s Supper. “Even the paedo-Baptist, those who baptize infants believe the children are members of the church are careful to call them ‘non-communicable’ members. The Baptist of course don’t accept the idea that infants are to be members in any sense at all. But the overwhelming majority of ecclesiastical history, which does favor the baptism of infants, infants are non-communicate members which means they are not entitled to the Lord’s Supper even though they have received the right to baptism, the Baptists of course deny that one can make that distinction because a person who is admitted to baptism is admitted to the Lord’s Supper because the only way he can be admitted to baptism is on a profession of faith which simultaneously authorizes him to be admitted to the Lord’s Table” (Gerstner).


Baptist are very strong in that unless a person can make a profession and be admitted to both baptism and the Lord’s Supper, he should not be considered a member of the church. “Within the Reformed view neither paedo or credo-baptism causes regeneration or being admitted to the Lord’s Supper until the child can discern and make a profession of faith. One cannot be a true member until one makes a profession of faith either the church practices credo or paedo baptism.” (Gerstner). When a person cannot be sure if he trusts in Christ the church cannot accept him as a member no matter the evidence because the person knows their own heart better than anyone else. If and when the Lord grants faith to that person then the church may accept him as a member. A person needs to have a sound faith and a sure faith.


In conclusion, joining a local church is more than a formality. It is submitting to the church, it is an act of love and obedience to God, and his people. Christ has given authority to the church to discipline its members and to bind and loose the things on earth by the aforementioned criteria— knowing Jesus, faith in Jesus, a life of repentance and one that produces the fruits of the Spirit including baptism which is the first act of obedience to Christ. Though many contemporary churches do not have formal membership, the word of God is clear that local church membership is important and historical faiths such as Presbyterians and Baptist, though they may differ in certain details, hold to this importance.





Works Cited



Dever, Mark. "Biblical Church Discipline." Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Wheaton, Il: Crossway, 2013. 184.


Gerstner, Dr. John. "Chruch Membership pt. 1, lecture 81." Handout Theology. 2019.


Hammett, John S. "Regenerate Church Membership." Hammett, John S. Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications , 2005. 83.


Leeman, Johnathan. "What Are the “Standards” of Membership? (Becoming a Member) ." Leeman, Johnathan. Church Membership. Wheaton, Il: Crossway, 2012. 89.


Leeman, Jonathan. "How Does a Christian Submit to a Church?" Leeman, Jonathan. Church Membership. Wheaton, Il: Crossway, 2012. 101.


Whitney, Donald S. "Why Join a Church." Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1996. 47.

The Person and Work of Christ

            The Divine Person who made the world and upholds and governs all things that he has made, is the son of God, the second person of the Trinity—Jesus Christ. Being vere homo, vere Deus—truly man, truly God, Jesus is our new federal head. He not only came to restore what we lost in Adam but to guarantee what we can never lose by His death, burial, and resurrection. Christ is now at the right hand of the Father and is the mediator and interceder of the elect as we await the Parousia—His return.


God is a Trinity, He is one God in three Persons. As stated in the Athanasian Creed, “The Father is made by none, nor created, nor begotten. The Son is from the Father alone, not made, not created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is not created by the Father and the Son, nor begotten, but proceeds. Therefore, there is one Father… one Son…one Holy Spirit. And in this Trinity there is nothing prior or posterior, nothing greater or less, but all three persons are coeternal, and coequal to themselves. So that through all, as was said above, both unity in trinity, and trinity in unity is to be adored.” Since eternity past, Christ was living harmoniously and happily as one with the Father and Holy Spirit in the Godhead. Christ has created and upholds all things by the word of his power as John 1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (Joh 1:1-3) and Colossians 1, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together…that in everything he might be preeminent.” (Col 1:15-18).


“It is [Jesus] who, at the appointed time, took upon Himself the nature of man, with all its essential characteristics and its common infirmities, sin excepted. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, a woman who belonged to the tribe of Judah, the Holy Spirit coming down upon her and the power of God most High overshadowing her…In this way it came about that the two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the divine and the human, were inseparably joined together in one Person, without the conversion of the one nature into the other, and without the mixing, as it were, of one nature with the other; in other words, without confusion. Thus, the Son of God is now both true God and true man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.” (1689 LBC 8.2). This doctrine is called the hypostatic union of Christ. It is because Jesus is truly God and truly man that he is able to be a mediator between man and God. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1Ti 2:5).


It was necessary for Jesus to be very man to be our representative and obey the law of God in our place. “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Rom 5:18-19) and “For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb 2:16-18). From this verse in Hebrews it is clear that Christ had to be very man because He was not concerned with saving or reconciling angelic beings, but He was concerned with reconciling and saving human beings (The offspring of Abraham). Christ was made like his brothers in every respect, so he could be a high priest for God to make a propitiation— “A sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us in favor.” (Grudem). The verse goes on to say, “he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” The only way Christ could have done this is by becoming man because James informs his readers, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” (Jas 1:13). So, in that respect, Jesus had to be a man to represent us on our behalf to be tempted and to endure it perfectly and being a mediator between God and man.


Christ does not act through the human nature as an instrument; rather, Jesus acts according to both natures. If Christ were to mediate solely as human that would logically mean that any man could have been the mediator between man and God before or after Christ. “By anchoring the natures of Christ in the unity of the person, Reformed theologians refused to speak of Christ’s mediatorial work simply the work of a human. Therefore, based on the unity of the person and communication of properties and operations, the church can be said to be purchased by the blood of God (Acts 20:28).” (Joel R. Beeke). Thomas Goodwin said, “We say that God and Man died, though the Manhood only did die, yet it is attributed to the whole, it is called the blood of God, and we say God-Man rose, though his body only rose, yet it is attributed to the whole, Totus Christus [ Christ as a whole person], though not Totum Christ [the whole being of Christ].”


It is obvious from this point that Christ remained very God while He was very man. The only one who could represent mankind is a human and likewise, the only one who can represent God is God. As the Psalms states, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,” (Psa 49:7). “Only someone who is infinite God could bear the full penalty for all the sin of all those who would believe in him—any finite creature would have been incapable of bearing that penalty…only someone who was truly and fully God could be the one mediator between God and man, both to bring us back to God and also to reveal God most fully to us.” (Grudem).


The distance between God and mankind is so great that, although men, endowed as they are with reason, owe obedience to God as their creator, yet they can never attain it and fall short of His glory. Therefore, without a gracious salvific act from God, all mankind, being wicked, would be cast into hell, where they would remain forever in torment and utter darkness.


“Man, as he came from the hand of God, his creator, was upright and perfect. The righteous law which God gave him spoke of life as conditional upon his obedience and threatened death upon his disobedience. Adam's obedience was short-lived. Satan used the subtle serpent to draw Eve into sin. Thereupon she seduced Adam who, without any compulsion from without, willfully broke the law under which they had been created, and also God's command not to eat of the forbidden fruit. To fulfill His own wise and holy purposes God permitted this to happen, for He was directing all to His own glory. By this sin our first parents lost their former righteousness, and their happy communion with God was severed. Their sin involved us all, and by it death appertained to all. All men became dead in sin, and totally polluted in all parts and faculties of both soul and body.” (1689 LBC 6.1-2). God made Adam in such a way that he represented the whole human race. When it came to obeying or disobeying God in the garden his actions represented our actions. Adam was our federal head and, in our case, sinned against God. This incurred the holy and righteous wrath of God against sin.


This fall into sin, guilt, and shame is passed down to all of Adam’s posterity to the point that we are all born, as Ephesians two says, dead in our sins and trespasses following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all live in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and are by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Thus, leaving man totally depraved and inclined to sin. That being said, man’s relationship with God was in desperate need of a propitiation and atonement, this is why Christ had to die. As the Canons of Dort state, “God is not only supremely merciful but also supremely just. And as He Himself has revealed in His Word, His justice requires that our sins, committed against His infinite majesty, should be punished not only in this age but also in the age to come, both in body and soul. We cannot escape these punishments unless satisfaction is made to the justice of God.” (C.D. 2.1).


God is not capricious in that God is not “free” from His love, grace, or righteousness and holiness. God cannot and will not forgive someone of their sins without a propitiation because this would be an infringement to His holiness. The wages of sin is death. Four verses from Romans make this clear, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Rom 3:23-26). These verses show that man has sinned and fall short of the glory of God and they are saved by the redemption of Christ as a gift of Grace and received by faith. The weight is on why Christ died. To show His righteousness so that He will be the just and justifier of those who have faith. It was necessary for Christ to die for those who were the elect believers before the incarnation of Christ because as God in His divine forbearance passed over former sins it appeared as though God did not care about His holiness; it appeared that God disregarded His righteousness and wrath against sin.


As the present elect saints look back to what Christ did for salvation the elect saints before Christ looked forward to the Messiah. Those saints of old had their payment of sin pending in the divine forbearance. By Christ dying, it showed the severity of sin in the face of God’s holiness and that it truly does incur the wrath of God. Christ died, not for sins of His own, but for the sins of His elect. In John 10 Christ calls His elect His sheep, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. (Joh 10:14-16). “Christ gives the name of sheep to unbelievers, who in themselves were the farthest possible from being entitled to be called sheep and not only does [Augustine] point out, by this term, what they will be, but rather refers this to the secret election of God, because we are already God’s sheep, before we are aware that He is our shepherd. In like manner, it is elsewhere said that we were enemies, when he loved us, (Rom 5:10) and for this reason Paul also says that we were known by God, before we knew him, (Gal 4:9) Them also I must bring. He means that the election of God will be secure, so that nothing of all that he wishes to be saved shall perish. For the secret purpose of God, by which men were ordained to life, is at length manifested in his own time by the calling, — the effectual calling, when he regenerates by his Spirit, to be his sons, those who formerly were begotten of flesh and blood.” (Calvin).


Christ’s death was a penal substitutionary atonement. The legal aspect of Jesus’ atonement is evident in that He was made under the Law and he obeyed the Law perfectly. He lived a perfect life satisfying the law of God for us. He was also our substitute in that Jesus took our place and taking on the full wrath of God in our stead. Christ’s death was also an atonement as He appeased the wrath of God as a propitiation for the elect unto God.


Not only is the life and death of Jesus necessary for our salvation but the resurrection and ascension of Christ is just as crucial. Just looking in the book of Romans, every aspect of our salvation rests on the resurrection of Christ. Christ proved He was the son of God by His resurrection, “and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 1:4). Our faith is counted towards us as righteousness who believe and are justified by the resurrection “It[faith] will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (Rom 4:24-25). We have the ability to walk in newness of life and are guaranteed a resurrection like His by His resurrection, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Rom 6:4-5). Christ resurrected in order that we will bear fruit, “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. (Rom 7:4). Our eternal life is sealed by the resurrection of Christ, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Rom 8:11).

In the book of Hebrews the resurrection of Christ is only mentioned one time at the end of the book, “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,” (Heb 13:20). The resurrection is implied by the amount of times and emphasis the book places on the ascension and session of Christ. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:12). It was necessary for Christ to not only resurrect from the dead but to ascend and make His session with the Father as our Hight Priest. As Charles Hodges states, “It was necessary that as our High Priest He should, after offering Himself as a sacrifice, pass through the heavens, to appear before God in our behalf. An essential part, and that a permanent one, of his priestly office was to be exercised in heaven. He there makes constant intercession for his people. As He died for our sins, He rose for our justification. All this was typified under the old dispensation. The victim was slain without in the court of the temple; the high priest bore the blood with much incense within the veil and sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat. What the high priest did in the earthly temple, it was necessary for the High Priest of our profession to do in the temple made without hands, eternal in the heavens. This is set forth with all clearness in the Epistle to the Hebrews.” (Hodges).


The ascension of Christ was also necessary so that redemption should not only be acquired but applied as He took his session with the Father. Christ ascension was necessary to finish His work to prepare a place for us. Jesus said, ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” (Joh 14:1-4). The ascension was also necessary to send us the Holy Spirit, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (Joh 16:7).


There has always been one people of God, the elect and there has always been just one plan of salvation and that is through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. There is also going to be a single Parousia or return of Christ. He will return to resurrect the righteous and the unrighteous in a general resurrection for a single final judgement. “God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom the Father has given all authority and power to judge. At that day the apostate angels will be judged. So too will all persons who have lived upon the earth; they will appear before Christ's judgment throne to give an account of their thoughts, words and deeds, and to receive His award in accordance with what they have done in this earthly life, whether good or evil.” (LBC 32.1)


In conclusion, Christ is the second person of the Godhead with a hypostatic union of two natures yet one person—divine and human. He is the creature and sustainer of all things. Jesus lived a perfect life fulfilling the law of God, died upon the cross to lay down His life for His sheep as a penal substitutionary atonement for the elect, resurrected from the dead to seal their salvation and ascended to heaven to make His session with the Father to not only acquire salvation but to attain it.








Works Cited
A. P. Stanley (Dean of Westminster): The Athanasian Creed . Lond. 1871.
Association at Philadelphia. 1689 London Baptist Confession. Philadelphia : Association at Philadelphia, 1689.
Calvin, John. Calvins Complete Commentary. Public domain, 1555.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1994.
Hodges, Charles. Systematic Theology. New York, London and Edinburgh: C. Scribner and company, T. Nelson and sons, 1871–1873.
Joel R. Beeke, Mark Jones. A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life. Grand Rapids MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012.
The Synod of Dordrecht. Canons of Dort. November 13, 1618—May 9, 1619.

Giving Thanks to God

2 Thessalonians 2:13-15

Why Reformed Theology Will Ruin You and Your Ministry

- Because it focuses on the work and words of Christ... Not yours.

- It aims to bring glory and honor to God... Not you.

- It labors to show how vast and grandiose God is and all of His attributes... Not you, your church, or your ministry.

-Reformed Theology puts mankind, including you, in its biblical place—enslaved, depraved, and spiritually dead.

-It reminds us that God has exalted two things above all creation: His name and His word... Not you or your ministry.

-Glorifying God, Reformed Theology, points out that we cannot save ourselves either that be by our works, will, or merit. We, including you and your ministry, can do nothing apart from Christ.

-Lastly, Reformed Theology will ruin you and your ministry because it instills in us that we must be saved and live by scripture alone, by Grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone, and to give glory to God alone. All of this is to point everything away from you and your ministry and to point everything to Christ.

MAY WE ALL BE RUINED.

Can You Lose Your Salvation?

Growing up in a Free Will Baptist church I was taught, “There are strong grounds to hope that the truly regenerate will persevere unto the end, and be saved, through the power of divine grace which is pledged for their support; but their future obedience and final salvation are neither determined nor certain, since through infirmity and manifold temptations they are in danger of falling;  and they ought, therefore, to watch and pray lest they make shipwreck of their faith and be lost.”- (A Treatise of the Faith and Practice of the National Association of Free Will Baptist, Inc., pg. 12, Chapter 13, Perseverance of the Saints)

I am now a member of a Southern Baptist church which teaches, “All true believers endure to the end. those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” - (The Baptist Faith and Message, Pg. 5, Article 5, God’s Purpose of Grace) 

I am convinced of the later. I believe that those who are truly saved by God will be saved to the end because they will be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. I also believe, what I think both confessions are trying to stress, those who persevere in sin will be damned and those who persevere in faith will be saved. Southern Baptist are probably known for throwing around a phrase, that has good intentions and is biblically supported, but I think falls short of the deep richness of what the Bible actually teaches, and that phrase is “Once Saved Always Saved.” Unfortunately this phrase has a connotation that once you are saved you can do whatever you feel like doing and sin and let grace abound all the more. I personally prefer the words that both confessions mention, perseverance of saints.

We must remember that we are sinners, salvation comes from God, and that Jesus died to save us and to seal the New Covenant.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

Jesus promises He will lose nothing that is given to Him:

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. (John 6:37-39)

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30)

God’s word also promises us, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39) This promise is for those who are IN Christ Jesus our Lord.

Verses that seem to contradict the perseverance of the saints:

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31)

I am persuaded by the very same chapters, that these passages came from, are not talking about true converts but those who only profess to be Christians but are not actually true followers of Jesus.

Hebrews continues to say, “Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:9-12)

and

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:35-39)

Verses that show that those who have seem to have had salvation and lost it were not saved to begin with. Those who are saved will persevere in faith and good works.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:6)

for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. (1 Corinthians 11:19)

This is not to say that those who are in Christ are perfect. All sin and fall short of the glory of God. But If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:6-10)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Grace and Faith are gifts from God. That being said, God is the one who guards our salvation forever and continues to give us faith to the end.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)

Who & What Did Christ Die For?

God hates sin and the sinner. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.(Psalm 5:5; Psalm 11:5)

But God also “so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:23-26)

Some ask, “Why did God have to send His son to die? Why couldn’t God just forgive us of our sin?” God is not only loving, merciful, and gracious. God is also just, holy, and righteous. God does not compromise any of His attributes and if God just said, “You’re forgiven, don’t worry about my holiness or righteousness.” That would be like a judge looking at a murderer in court and saying, “Don’t worry about what is right and wrong I am just going to let you go.” That would be a horrible judge. Instead God protects and maintains all of His attributes at all times, infinitely and instantaneously. Because the wages of sin is death(see Romans 6:23) the penalty has to be paid. God sent Jesus to pay that penalty for His people.

Not only did Jesus pay the penalty but He also bought His people and confirmed the New Covenant with His blood. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying,“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Hebrews 9:12-22, ESV)

The New Covenant that Jesus bought with His blood is this:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

“Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. (Jeremiah 32:36-41)

I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:24-28)

Jesus came to save His people from their sins and to seal the New Covenant:

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28)

And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. (Mark 14:24)

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

Jesus died for His Sheep:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11)

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:14-15)

The sheep are also known as “the elect” or “God’s elect” in the Bible. The elect are those who call on the name of the Lord to be saved. They are the ones who have been chosen by God before the world began for adoption as sons in Jesus Christ for salvation. (see Ephesians 1:3-14; Luke 18:7; Romans 8:33; Romans 9:6-18; Romans 11:7; 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1)

We must proclaim the Gospel because there are other sheep.

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.(John 10:16)

Jesus said they will listen and He must bring them also... This is why the Gentiles rejoiced in Acts:

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)

Jesus saves His people effectively:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6, ESV)

Where Does Salvation Come From?

Man is so effected by sin “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14). There is nothing we can do to be saved. “ [Jesus] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9). Repentance, Grace, and Faith are gifts from God.

Man, because of sin and the sovereignty of God, does not have free will. It would be a contradiction if man was so free that God was sovereign in name only. The opposite is a contradiction as well, God has not made everything so fatalistic that man has free will in name only. The truth is, God is absolutely sovereign and man has a limited will that can make choices that are real and significant. Because of sin we cannot will to be saved without God working it in us first and begin regeneration.

Here are two quotes on the subject before we look at more scripture:

“Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of Grace” – Baptist Faith and Message. (Pg 4, Article 4. Salvation, Section A. Regeneration.)

“A man is not saved against his will, but he is made willing by the operation of the Holy Ghost.” – Charles Spurgeon

Now for more Scripture that shows this to be true:

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:11-13)

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (Romans 9:16)

As you can see God has to work in us first and not only does He work in us first, to allow us to be willing, but He also draws us to Himself to be saved and He does it effectively(to see who and what Christ died for exactly click here):

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44)

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

[Jesus] who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. (2 Timothy 1:9)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:3-14, ESV)

 

Here is a song based on this truth:
Listen here.

My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be;
My heart would still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me.

You took the sin that stained me,
You cleansed me, made me new;
Of old You have ordained me,
That I should live in You.

Chorus:
My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be;
My heart would still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me.

Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my opening mind,
The world would have enthralled me,
To heavenly glories blind.

My heart knows none above You;
For Your rich grace I thirst;
I know that if I love You,
You must have loved me first.

How Sinful is Man?

Because of the fall, recorded in Genesis chapter three, all mankind is now born into sin and is bound by it. Genesis chapters 1 and 2 and Revelation chapters 21 and 22 have something in common and that is no sin. Everything between those two sets of chapters is about man and sin. Everything in between, is about the struggle man has with sin and about what God is doing to remove that sin from man and for man. God is holy, just, and righteous and He is infinite. When an offense is committed against an infinite God who holy, just, and righteous and is serious about sin, the punishment must be eternal death. 

Sin has effected every part of man. It has effected his physical body, his spirit, and his mind/will/desires. The following verses show us what man is like before he is saved by Jesus Christ.

Man produces all kinds of evil from the heart- And he[Jesus] said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy,slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:20-23)

Man is weak- For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)

Man is a slave to sin- But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, (Romans 6:17)

Man is dead in sin- You were dead in the trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1)

Man is a follower of the devil- in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— (Ephesians 2:2)

Man is by nature children of wrath- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:3)

Man does not do good nor righteousness nor seeks God- as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

Man is an enemy of God- For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10)

Man is hostile towards God and cannot please God- For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8)

Because of these sins we are more than horribly crippled. Every part of us is effected by sin. Biblically speaking we do not have a free will. When I say we do not have a free will I do not mean that we don’t make choices. We can make choices but they are not choices or desires for good or righteousness. But the most critical thing about this is because we are spiritually dead we cannot make right spiritual decisions. Dead people don’t make choices. Even when Jesus was speaking in the book of John He said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63) Only God can save us and draw us to Himself… No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44) We will talk more about that later here. Right now we are focusing on our sin and the severity of it.

If you pulled a knife on an average man on the street he might pull one back or at least attempt to fight you. If you pull a knife on a police officer you are going to get hurt and end up in jail. If you attempt to pull a knife on the president you are most likely going to end up dead. Notice the offence was the same from the guy on the street to the president but the consequence of the offense increased, Why? Because the authority was also increasing. If you attempt to pull a knife on the president and are going to end up dead, what do you think the consequence is when we sin against an infinite God who is holy, just, and righteous? Eternal punishment, we deserve God’s Holy and Righteous wrath on sin—Hell.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions,divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:18-21)

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

But “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

Is Your Bible Good Enough?

Have you ever wondered where we get translations of the Bible from? Or hear someone claim that the Bible can’t be trusted because it has been changed or things have been lost through out the years of it being passed down? Well lets look at the order of things and see where we get our translations from(At least for the English speaking world) 

(Original Manuscripts)... These do not exist or if they do we have no idea where they are.

Starting with the oldest copies, we have:

(Most Ancient Copies) Date back around the 2nd Century.

(Ancient Copies) People keep finding older ones all the time.

The Septuagint: This is the Old Testament translated into Greek around 285 B.C.

Vulgate: Old and New Testament translated into Latin around 400 A.D. It was used for 1,000 years for the Catholic Church.

Wycliffe: New Testament into common English from the Latin around 1380 A.D.

Tyndale: New Testament into English around 1525 A.D. and the Pentateuch around 1530 A.D. these did not lean upon the Latin as much as the Greek from the (Ancient Copies).

The Great Bible: Was made around 1539 A.D. and was based on other Bibles like the Mathews, Coverdale, and Tyndale Bibles. The Matthews leaned on the Tyndale translations and so did the Coverdale. Out of those three only the Tyndale was based on some of the Greek.

The Geneva Bible: Made around 1560 A.D. and heavily leaned upon the Matthews Bible, which was based on Tyndale's translation.

The Bishop's Bible: Made around 1568 A.D. and was based upon the Geneva Bible. It was not in this Bible, but the Council of Trent in 1500s is when the Roman Catholic Church added the Apocrypha.

King James Bible: Made in 1611. This was not based from the (Original Manuscripts), (Most Ancient Copies), or the (Ancient Copies) but was based upon the Bishop's Bible and Geneva Bible. A lot of people hold that the KJV is the best of the best Bibles because “it holds to the Greek and Hebrew” but this is not necessarily true because it is mostly based from the Bishop's Bible and Geneva Bible. The Dead Sea scrolls were not found until 1947 and 1956.

The Revised Version: was made around 1881-85 it had a great advantage over the rest because they had contact with the (Most Ancient Copies) of the Original Copies.

 

Later when they found the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 and 1956 much better copies were able to be made, but the most fascinating thing about all of this is when they found the Dead Sea Scrolls all of the Bibles that are mentioned above, that are based on the Greek and Hebrew, hold true to the Greek and Hebrew... and now we can enjoy versions like NASB, NKJV, ESV, and NIV. God’s word has never been lost even when checked against the recent finds of ancient articles everything has stayed the same.

Verses that sometimes cause question:

John 7:52-8:11 was not fully accepted in the book of John until the 12th century.

1 John 5:7 with the words FATHER, WORD, AND HOLY SPIRIT" is a disputed verse rather it should be accepted most newer versions of the bible take those words out because they were not added until the 12th Century

MARK 16:9-20 was not accepted until 2-4 Century. Compared it to (Hebrews 2:1-4; Romans 15:19; 2 Corinthians 12:12). There are many other "endings" that were made up to "fix" the book of Mark. The reason for all of this is because Mark never really finished his book.

"The ending" of the LORDS prayer "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen." is not found in early manuscripts of the Greek but can be found in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13

Besides those few things here are some of God’s own promises to us about His Word.

Matthew 5:18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.- Jesus

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.- Jesus

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void. (Luke 16:17)

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

Rev 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

I personally would stay within these four translations: NASB, NKJV, ESV, and NIV. These particular translations stay true to the Hebrew and Greek. They are what we call a “word for word” translation or “thought for thought” translation.

Order of manuscripts to translation:
Thompson, Frank Charles. "The Origin and Growth of the English Bible." The New Chain-reference Bible: Containing Thompson's Original and Complete System of Bible Study, including a Complete Numerical System of Chain References, Analyses of Books, Outline Studies of Characters, and Unique Charts. To Which Has Been Added a New Valuable Series of Pictorial Maps, Archaeological Discoveries, Together with Many Other Features. Self-pronouncing Text. Compiled and Edited by Frank Charles Thompson. Fourth ed. Indianapolis: B.B. Kirkbride Bible, 1964. pages 180-81. Print.

Preach the Word, Trust the Word, & Live the Word

Preach God's Word: We as Christians need to seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to receive power, to live holy lives, and to preach God's word with boldness. It is through the preaching of God's word that God calls people and draws people to Himself to be saved. 

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.(Romans 10:14-17)

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14).

 

Trust God's Word: When we preach God's word that is it. We don't need to trust in anything else because God's word is from God. There is none like Him, there never was nor will be. That means you as well. We cannot trust in any degree we may have, nor any experience we have, nor any personal attribute we have(i.e. great speaker, good looks, humor, money, or I.Q.), not even our own testimony of what God has done in our own life. Trust God at His word. 

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:18)

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void. (Luke 16:17)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.(Matthew 24:35)

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

 

Live God’s Word: We cannot just preach God’s word and trust God’s word but we must also live out God’s word. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:27)

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:9)

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:26)

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.(Hebrews 4:12)