SALVATION

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24 NKJV).

Here we have one of the great verses about salvation, coming from the lips of the Lord Jesus. Heed this verse and heaven will be yours for eternity. This, it speaks of the priority of salvation, the prerequisite of salvation, and the product of salvation.

Priority of salvation – “Verily, verily.” This double “verily, verily” phrase appears a number of times in the Gospel of John. The Greek word is amēn (ἀμήν = am-ane') and gives us our English word “amen.” This doubling means that something is very important. How fitting that the Lord Jesus should use the double “verily” with regards to salvation; nothing is more important than the soul’s salvation. Note the Lord Jesus’ question in Mark 8:36, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” Unfortunately, most men choose to give little attention to the most important matter of life. And this neglect of the soul will lead to eternity in hell.

Prerequisite of salvation - “That heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me.” For salvation to occur, there are two things that we must do. First, we must listen to God. If we do not listen to what God says about our souls, we will never be saved. Second, we must believe on God. Salvation is through faith. It is a result of believing what God has said about His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In our day, unbelief is honored by mankind. But God only honors faith; He condemns unbelief. If a person persists in their unbelief, they will be condemned to eternity in hell fire.

Product of salvation - “Hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.” The product of salvation is twofold. First, there is the provision of life: “Everlasting life.” This is the best life, and it will never end. Living in sin is not life but will result in death. Salvation is where real life is. Second, there is the protection from condemnation: “Shall not come into condemnation.” This protection keeps one from condemnation and, therefore, out of hell forever. No protection is greater.

(Adapted from Butler’s Daily Reading 2)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Worship is our innermost being responding with praise for all that God is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words, based on the truth of God as He has revealed Himself!”

Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430)

Theologian and Philosopher

Word Study

Fall away (stumble

In Matt. 5:29 we read, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (NASB).

“Fall away (stumble)” is the Greek word skandalízō (σκανδαλίζω = skan-dal-id'-zo). It means to put a stumbling block in the way, cause to fall away, be enticed to sin, offend, anger, shock. We get our English word, scandalize, which is to offend the moral sense, from this word. In classical Greek, skandalízō conveyed the idea of to trap or to snare. In the Septuagint, skandalízō also carried the idea of to trap or snare. In the New Testament, skandalízō also means setting a trap, but it also conveys the idea of causing offense, causing stumbling. Stumbling directly corresponds to a relationship with God. Thus “to stumble” is to resist coming to faith or to fall from faith.

“Fear Nots” Found in the Bible

“Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement” (1 Peter 3:6 KJV).

Did You Know…

“The Way” was one of the early names for the Christian faith (cf. Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).

Bible Quiz

How were the Israelites saved from the snakes God sent in judgment to bite them?”

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: According to the Book of Proverbs, what does God do: “When a man’s ways please the LORD?” “He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7).

Names For the Lord Jesus in the Bible

“WAY”

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6 NJKV).

Meaning – WAY refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only true access to God the Father.

Insights – Here we have one of the seven great “I AM” statements of the Lord Jesus in John’s Gospel. Note also that each of the words “way,” “truth,” and “life” is preceded by the definite article. Thus, the Lord Jesus is not merely showing the way, but that He is Himself the way. This is exclusive because the One who makes this claim is the incarnate Word, the revealer of the Father. There is no room for other ways in this statement. It excludes every way except the Christ-way. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation – “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”” (cf. Acts 4:12).

Did You Know – Christian History

Benajah Harvey Carroll Jr, known as B. H. Carroll, was born December 27, 1843, in Carrollton, Mississippi. He was a Baptist pastor, theologian, teacher, and author.

Carroll was the seventh of twelve children of a Baptist minister. When he was five, the family moved to Texas. Almost from the day he learned to read, he was a devoted student, devouring whatever books were available at the time. He had an amazing memory and could recall at will material he had read years before, even to the point of giving the page locations!  In spite of his religious upbringing, Carroll struggled with skepticism, authoring a book on his radical views. Although an unbeliever, he knew the Bible well, having read it through several times; few men dared debate with him on it. Carroll joined the tough Texas Rangers at the start of the Civil War, and from all account, it did not appear that he would be any friend of the church. But with God all things are possible. Carroll was wounded in the war. After being released from the army, he attended an old-fashioned, Methodist camp meeting and was converted.

He joined the Baptist Church in Caldwell, TX. He was ordained in 1866 and pastored a few small churches. In 1870, he became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, where he would serve until 1899. As a leader of the Baptists, Carroll engaged in almost every controversy that sprang up across Texas, whether religious or political. And the confrontations could get lively. Further, in spite of not completing his college degree, Carroll was greatly involved in education. He taught at Baylor from 1872 through 1905. In that year, the Baylor Theological Seminary was founded with Carroll at its head. This institution turned into Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1908 and two years later moved to its present location in Fort Worth, Texas.

Carroll was an influential preacher, teacher, and writer. He penned a 17 volume Bible commentary titled An Interpretation of the English Bible. Many other lectures and sermons have been collected and printed, including very popular works on Baptist doctrine. Carroll suffered from ill health throughout the final years of his life. He passed away on November 11, 1914, in Fort Worth.

A Little Humor

Johnny’s Mother looked out the window and noticed Him “playing church” with their cat. He had the cat sitting quietly and he was preaching to it. She smiled and went about her work. A while later she heard loud meowing and hissing and ran back to the window to see Johnny baptizing the cat in a tub of water. She called out, “Johnny, stop that! The cat is afraid of water!” Johnny looked up at her and said, “He should have thought about that before he joined my church.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“The gospel breaks hard hearts and heals broken hearts!”