The Great Love of God.
Did you know that God loves and
cares for you today? Since creating humans God has never stopped loving
humanity. Paul teaches that nothing can separate us from the love of God
(Rom.8:38-39). We must understand that God never fails on his part. Humans make
the decision to turn away from God. For example, Adam and Eve had everything
they needed with only one restriction. They were commanded not to eat of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). But, what did they do? They turned
to their own desires and sinned by eating from the forbidden tree. God created
us with a free will and he wants us to choose to love and serve Him (Josh.
24:15). By examining the Book of Judges, you will learn that during prosperous
times God’s people kept turning away from him and worshiping idols. When
troublesome times came, they would repent and turn back to the living God by
praying for deliverance. Consistently, God would have mercy on them and deliver
them from their troubles. However, at one point, God was growing weary of his
children falling away and told them to call on their idols to deliver them.
But, they confessed their sins and they truly repented, putting away their
idols and began to serve God once again. Due to God’s great love, he could no
longer endure their misery so he delivered them once again (Judg.
10:12-16). God’s demonstration of
love and mercy toward those who truly repent and serve Him should comfort and
encourage us.
The greatest love that God showed for humanity was when he
gave his best for us even though we did not deserve it (Rom.
5:8-9). Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). Jesus came into this world to save sinners (1
Tim. 1:15; Lk.
9:56). God desires everyone to be
saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim.
2:4). What is truth? It is the Word of God (Jn. 17:17), which is able to set you free (Jn. 8:32), and
save your soul (Jas. 1:18-21). The
Word of God supplies us with everything we need to be complete (2 Tim. 3:16-17) and gives us all the things that
pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). The Word of God has been put to the
test by people in regards to its accuracy in history, science, math and its
overall consistency. No matter how hard humans have tried to disprove the
Bible, it has stood the test of time. The Bible is an amazing book. The Bible
was written by about 40 inspired authors over a period of 1600 years on three
different continents and in different languages. Yet the Bible stands in
complete harmony with itself. The same cannot be said about any other book that
humans have written because the Bible is the Word of God. In fact, there is a
great deal of scientific foreknowledge in the Bible that people could not
possibly have known during that time unless God had told them. For instance,
the earth is round (Is. 40:22). There is an empty space in the north without a
single star to be found which is a recent discovery, yet Job knew long ago (Job
26:7). The water cycle was not understood until the sixteenth century, yet God
mentioned it long ago (Eccles. 1:7; Job 36:27-29). It wasn’t until the 1800s
that people started having the ability to explore the depths of the ocean, yet
God speaks about the depths of the ocean and mountains being there (Ps. 33:7; 2
Sam. 22:16; Jonah 2:6). So, there should be no doubt that we possess the Word
of God today. We should take it very seriously and study it to discover what
our Creator wants from us. He wants us to study His Word (2 Tim 2:15), grow in
knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18), obey his commands (1 Jn.
5:3; Jn. 14:15), believe in His Son (Jn. 8:24), repent (Lk. 13:3),
confess Jesus as Christ (Rom. 10:9-10), be baptized for the remission of sin (Acts
2:38) and live a faithful life until death (Rev. 2:10). Please refer to the
chart below.
If
you would like to learn more about the Word of God, please do not hesitate to
call us at 580-657-4455 or email us at lgchurchofchrist@cableone.net.
In
Christian love,
The
Lone Grove Church
of Christ
SALVATION
In order to be
saved one must be in Christ’s body, but how?
All these things working together.
Hear the Word
of God.
Rom. 10:14,17;
Acts 8:5-6
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Obey the Word
of God.
1Jn. 5:3, Jn. 14:15, Heb. 5:9,
Mat. 7:21; Rev. 22:14; 2 Th. 1:7
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Believe having faith in Christ
Jn. 8:24; Heb 11:1,6; Mk.
16:16
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Repent of your sins
Lk 13:3; Acts 17:30; 2Pet. 3:9
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Confess Jesus Christ
Mat. 10:32-33; Rom.
10:9-10
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Be baptized into Christ
Acts 2:38; Mk.16:16; 1Pet. 3:21; Acts 22:16;
Col. 2:12
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Things found in
Christ.
2Tim. 2:1 Grace
2Tim. 2:10
Salvation
Eph. 1:3 Every
spiritual blessing
Eph. 1:7 Redemption
and forgiveness of sin
1Jn. 5:11 Eternal life
Rom. 8:1 No
condemnation
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In Christ = being
in his body and being saved.
The body of Christ.
Eph. 4:4
There is only one body
1Cor. 12:12
The body is made up of many
individual members
Eph.1:22-23 The church is Jesus body
Col. 1:18
Jesus is the head of the body
Eph. 5:23 Jesus is the savior of the body
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At the point of baptism one is put into the
body
1Cor. 12:13 and put into Christ Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3
Eph. 4:5 tells us there is only one
baptism that saves, but which one?
Water Baptism
Mat. 28:19 The disciples administer it
Acts 10:47-48 A command to be obeyed
Acts 8:12-13,
38 Philip water baptized
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Holy Spirit Baptism
Mat. 3:11
Jesus administered it
Lk. 24:49 It was a promise not
a command
Acts 2:4; 11:15
Happened only twice
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Water baptism is the one that saves (1Pet. 3:21). Mat. 28:19-20 teaches that baptism is
commanded by Jesus and is to be done until the end of the world by the
disciples. If Holy Spirit baptism saves then why did Philip, an inspired man,
only water baptize the people of Samaria (Acts 8:14-16) and the Eunuch (vrs 38) and then leave them in a lost condition? Why did Ananias tell Paul to arise and be baptized and wash away
your sins (Acts 22:16) if Holy
Spirit baptism is what saves? Why would he have to arise when the Holy Spirit
could fall upon him in any position? The answer is easy. It is the obedience
to water baptism that saves and is administered by humans. However, Holy
Spirit baptism cannot be obeyed because it’s a promise that Jesus fulfilled.
There’s nothing magical about the water. When we put our faith in the working
of God (Col. 2:12) and obey from our heart the Word of God (Rom. 6;17), we
are being baptized into Christ having our sins washed away, being united with
Christ in His death (Rom 6:2-11). We are raised a new creature and have been
added to the body of Christ by God. (Acts 2:47).
Baptism followed by a faithful Christian life is evidence of our salvation
(Rev. 2:10).
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