I came from a religious system where there was a sharp difference between those who handled the services of the assembly and those who came to worship. It was difficult to disengage from a such system inasmuch as I was raised to respect it. And some of those who taught me so, were respectable as well. However, through the scriptures I came to see there is a “royal priesthood” made up of those who were called “out of darkness into His marvelous light.” I also came to understand that the distinction between clergy and laity is not a scriptural concept.
The Gospel Saves Posts
We have all sinned. Paul rightly illuminates that everyone in the world has sinned. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23 KJV) We have all sinned. We all need the forgiveness of the Lord. This is undeniable.
Is there a quality that is generally more detested than favoritism? We cry out when we observe our branches of government perverted by bribery, “pork-barrel politics”, or racial bias. Some political movements are formed for the sole purpose of promoting fairness, equality, social impartiality.
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.” “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight (Mark 1:1-3 KNJV).’”” Before the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God sent a messenger, John the Baptist. His purpose was to prepare the hearts and minds of the Israelites for the coming of their King.
Saving faith is sadly an integral part of many mainstream churches today. It is also deadly to people that believe it and those they teach. As a concept, it is derived from the Calvinist doctrines of Unconditional Election and Perseverance of the Saints. To sum up the concept of ‘saving faith’ in a few words; it is something that the predestined to election receive upon hearing the word.
1. What is the origin of the universe? The current consensus of Science is that the entire cosmos (including time and space) came into existence at a precise point in the past. All of our observations, equations, and physical laws testify to this point. Given this troubling possibility that the universe may indeed have a finite beginning, consideration must be given to these questions: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” and “Where did it all come from?” If the cause of creation was not God, what was it?
In Ezekiel 2:4 God tells Ezekiel that he is being sent to the children of Israel, “a rebellious nation,” to say to them, “thus says the Lord.” Ezekiel, throughout the entire book of prophecy bearing his name, states the same thing: thus says the Lord. (See Ezekiel 6:1, 12:17, 22:33, etc.) This is a very important statement made in Ezekiel, and he is not alone among the prophets in its use. Jeremiah begins his book stating these were the words of the Lord (1:2,4).
The word “sin” appears 427 times in the King James Version of the Bible. That’s not counting appearances of all its derivations (sinful, sinner, sinning, etc.). The Biblical writers use nine Hebrew and three Greek terms in their discussions of it. It is central to the message of Scripture, and poses a potentially eternal threat to us all: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). In light of this, we do well to understand it.
The above title is a fragment of what was spoken by the Lord to Moses and later written among the ten commandments. According to the book of Hebrews, they along with other matters of the Old Covenant are “. . . obsolete.” “Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Heb.8:13)
A Times magazine article titled “Christians: No One Path to Salvation” reported in a survey that 70% of respondents agreed with the statement “Many religions can lead to eternal life.” ( Times Magazine, by: David Van Biema Monday, Jun. 23, 2008) This movement as a whole is very disturbing. It points to the erosion of biblical knowledge even by those claiming to be Christians.