The call of the psalmist is for mankind and for the leaders among us to serve Jehovah with fear and trembling. We are to celebrate God’s rule over us with joy and happiness, but our attitude should remain one that trembles at the thought of displeasing Him. We are to pay homage to God’s Son, for Jesus is the chosen One. Failing to honor the Son will bring God’s anger upon us, and the way we will have chosen will lead to our certain and eternal destruction. The way God has made for us in His Son has come at great cost, and God’s wrath is easily kindled against those who reject Jesus. However, those who choose to take refuge in Jehovah are happy and blessed having nothing to fear.

One of the lessons mankind must learn as we journey through this life is that God is supreme. His might and power has been observed from creation until this day. The person who fails to recognize and submit to God is without excuse. Paul wrote to Roman Christians saying this very thing in Romans 1:20, “For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.”

The great psalm nears its end saying, “Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled.” (Psalm 2:12a) The person who fights against this warning is fighting a losing battle. The apostles bore witness to this when they were brought before the Sanhedrin. They had been ordered not to teach in the name of Jesus, but they had continued to do so. We read of this in Acts 5:28-29, “…We strictly charged you not to teach in this name: and behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.” The apostles understood the danger of fighting against God.

One of the Jewish men on the Sanhedrin Council spoke of the foolishness of opposing God as the Council considered whether to kill these apostles. His words are recorded in Acts 5:33-39. Here is an excerpt of what he said. “Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves as touching these men, what ye are about to do… Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown: but if it is of God, ye will not be able to over throw them; lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God.” People cannot oppose God and succeed!

Mankind is generally filled with pride and independence. This attitude has led to such songs as one titled “My Way” in which the writer proudly boasts, “I did it my way!” People want to go their own way, but in doing so we often find themselves at odds with the teachings of the Bible – at odds with God, as it were. People cannot do it their way and succeed eternally. Mankind must become humble before God. Sadly, people are more inclined to proudness than humility.

We must realize that going it alone and doing it our way is an effort in futility. Jesus taught a parable in Luke 14 that illustrates what one must do when confronted with overwhelming odds – the kind of odds one is confronted with when rebelling against God. Jesus said, “Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace. So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:31-33)

An honest soul that looks at the glory and might of God and His Son will quickly see that conditions of peace must be sought. Human beings cannot fight against God and win. Just like the king with half the army of his opponent seeks peace, we must seek peace. Happily, Jesus told us if we seek peace with God we can have it. Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” If we cannot win the battle by doing it our way, we are wise to inquire for conditions by which we may have peace with God, and those conditions are set forth in Scripture.

We must first believe. Romans 1:17b “…as it is written: But the just shall live by faith.’” We must hear good news of Christ, so that we might believe. Romans 10:17, “So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” We must not only hear and believe, we must confess that belief. Romans 10:9-10, “…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” We must repent, change, die to the world and be buried with Christ in baptism. Romans 6:1-4, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.”

Then having heard the gospel; having believed in Jesus; having confessed Jesus as Lord; having repented of or died to sin; having been baptized into Christ Jesus and into His death; having risen from that watery grave to walk in newness of life; we give ourselves wholly and sacrificially to Him. Romans 12:1-2, “…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God… Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is…”

Are you a disciple of Jesus – a Christian? Or are you fighting a battle you cannot and will not win? Join with the apostle Paul who wrote in his letter to the Philippians, “I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). Take refuge in God and in His Son Jesus Christ! As the psalmist said, “Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”

In Genesis 6:3 we read of a time when God said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” I understand this to mean that God decided that He would destroy mankind in 120 years. God explains why in Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” God was sorry He had made man, and “it grieved him at his heart” (Genesis 6:6).

However, as God planned to destroy mankind (Genesis 6:7), He extended His favor to one man. That man was Noah. Genesis 6:8 reads, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” This was indeed a blessing for Noah, but what did it mean? I think the writer of Hebrews sheds light upon that question. Hebrews 11:7 tells us that it was not only God’s grace but also Noah’s faith that saved him as we read, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

Now we see that God extended His grace to Noah by warning him “of things not seen as yet.” God told Noah that He planned to flood the world and destroy all mankind. This was the warning of things “not seen as yet.” The flood had not yet occurred. It was 120 years away, although there is no indication that God told Noah how long it would be, God knew when He would bring the flood, but Noah only knew it was coming – not when it was coming.

God told Noah that “the end of all flesh is come” (Genesis 6:13), and He told Noah what to do to be saved. Genesis 6:14 says, “Make thee an ark of gopher wood.” God told Noah what kind of wood it should be; what size it should be; how many doors and windows it should have; and how many stories it should have. God told Noah he was to bring animals onto the ark with specific instructions as to how many of each kind and of each gender. And Genesis 7:5 says, “Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him.”

Now think back to Hebrews 11:7. This idea that Noah did all that God commanded is expressed in the scripture as it tells us that Noah “moved with fear” and “prepared and ark.” So God’s grace was shown in that He warned Noah about the flood that was coming. Noah’s faith is shown in that he believed God, and Noah’s faith was fulfilled in the works he did as he built “an ark to the saving of his house.”

So we see the grace of God combined with the faith of man which led man to obey the commandments of God that were intended to save him in the example of Noah. Is that not what God has done for us today? God has determined a day when the world will be destroyed. Peter tells us this in 2 Peter 3:7, “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” Peter says too that God is waiting because He is “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). So God has extended His grace to us in a warning just as He warned Noah.

And God has told us what to do to be saved. He sent His Son to die on the cross accepting the punishment that we deserve for our sins (1 Peter 2:22). Having sent His Son, God calls on us to believe in Him. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

His Son Jesus said we must repent and be baptized in Mark 16:15-16 telling His apostles, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” We see confession of one’s belief is called for as it was when Philip taught the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. When they came to water the eunuch sought to be baptized, and Philip said, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.”

And those who accepted this teaching on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:37 asked what they should do. They were told to also repent as we read in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

They turned from their sins asking for forgiveness. They were baptized, and their sins were forgiven. Then in Acts 2:41-42 we learn that those who received the teachings “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” It seems reasonable to do as Noah did – all that God has commanded. We should believe the warning of things that we have not yet seen. Believing we should put our faith in God’s Son who died for us. We should repent of our sins; confess our belief in Jesus; be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins; and live steadfastly in the doctrine set forth by the apostles in the New Testament.

God saved Noah and his family, because they believed and obeyed Him. The waters of the flood lifted the ark up and washed sin off the face of the earth. God will save us too if we believe and obey Him.

We can be buried in the waters of baptism, and God will wash away our sins. This is what Peter was talking about in 1 Peter 3:20-21when he wrote of Noah and the ark “wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

When the people listening to him heard this, the Bible says they were “pricked in their heart.” They believed the things Peter was preaching about Jesus. Their belief that they had indeed been party to the crucifixion of the very Messiah they had hoped for led them to ask Peter what they should do. We can read this in Acts 2:37, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

It was a question worthy of being asked. The Jewish people had waited a long time for their Messiah to come. They had hoped for him with great anticipation. Then when he came, they did not believe in him. They crucified him. Peter was explaining this to them in his sermon, and many of those listening believed. What could be done now? This was the question posed to the apostle Peter.

Peter answered their question, and we can read his answer in Acts 2:38-39. These verses say, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

This answer was faithful to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus told the eleven apostles who had been faithful to him what he wanted them to do in Matthew 28:19. He said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

We read of Jesus telling them the same thing in Mark 16:15-16. This passage says, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

This seems to make the answer to whether it is belief or baptism that saves us simple. Jesus said both were called for. However, some believers turn to passages such as John 3:16, which says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Does this passage not teach that salvation is offered to those who believe?

John 3:16 is not the only passage that teaches belief. We can turn to the story of the Philippian jailer also. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas have been in a Philippian jail. They are freed by an act of God, when the earth quakes and the doors of the jail are opened. The jailer thinks his prisoners have escaped, and he prepares to commit suicide. Paul cried out to him not to hurt himself. No one has escaped. This jailer falls down before Paul and Silas and asks for salvation. This is recorded for us to read in Acts 16:29-30, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’”

We would think the answer would be the same as Peters in Acts 2:38, but it is not. The answer here is recorded in Acts 16:31, “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Are there two different answers to this question? Why does Peter tell the Jews in Ad Paul and Silas tell this jailer to believe? Does the Bible contradict itself? Does Paul preach a different gospel than Peter?

The answer, I believe, is best found by looking not at the question but the one asking the question. Think about these two events. In Acts 2, the Jewish people who heard the gospel believed it. They Bible tells us that “they were pricked in their heart.” In other words, the gospel had penetrated their heart. It had found its mark, and these hearers were moved to belief.

Hebrews 4:12 reads, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The gospel is the good news of what Jesus has done for us. He has paid the debt we owe. In him, God will forgive us of our sins. It is supposed to penetrate the heart of one who is turning to God. It had done this in Acts 2. These hearers had believed. That is why they asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

There was no reason for Peter answer by telling them to believe. They had already believed. And it was not enough that they believed. There was more to do. They needed to repent or turn away from their sins. They needed to be baptized for the remission of their sins.

The Philippian jailer, on the other hand, had not yet been taught. He needed to hear the gospel and believe it. Notice that Paul and Silas tell him to believe in Acts 16:31, and then they teach him what to believe in Acts 16:32, “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.” We do not ask a person to repent and be baptized when we they have not yet heard the gospel. Notice too that once this jailer and his household had heard the gospel in Acts 16:32, they were baptized in Acts 16:33, “And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”

We may rightly conclude from these examples that one must first hear the gospel and believe it and repent of his sins and be baptized for the remission of his sins, and the forgiveness or remission of sins is salvation. Therefore the answer to the question, is it belief or baptism that saves us, is that God calls for the gospel to be taught, heard and believed, which will lead a faithful heart to repent or turn away from sin and be immersed in water or baptized for the forgiveness of those sins.

We see forgiveness following baptism in Acts 2:38, which we looked at earlier in this article. Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…”

We see it also in the account of Paul’s conversion to Christianity. Jesus appeared to Paul as he traveled to Damascus. Paul believed in Jesus and asked what he should do. We read this in Acts 22:10, “And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said unto me, ‘Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.’” So Paul went into Damascus, and God sent a man named Ananias to him. Ananias to him that God had chosen him to be a witness unto all men. And he told him in Acts 22:16, “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

We can see that if Paul’s sins had not yet been forgiven, so he had not yet been saved. His salvation came when he was baptized and washed away his sins. Peter compares this to the sins of the world being washed away by the great flood in the days of Noah. The waters of the flood lifted the ark up and saved the eight souls who obeyed God. Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:21, “The like figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us…”

The gospel must be preached. Hearers must believe, repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins.

Paul taught us that we are saved from the wrath of God. He wrote in Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” And lest anyone of us thinks we are not unrighteous or ungodly Paul taught us that we have all fallen short of the wholesome goodness in which we were created. He wrote in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

God has shown great patience with mankind in that he has not annihilated us from the face of the earth, but instead of mankind responding in love to God with thankfulness many have despised his goodness and patience. Paul taught us that as mankind chooses to sin and refuses to repent, God begins to store up wrath against that one. In Romans 2:5-8 Paul wrote, “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath.”

God has revealed his plan for making us righteous, but we have to accept that plan and believe in his son and obey his commandments. If we do not, then God will store up wrath against us until the great day of reckoning when he renders “to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6).

So how does God plan to save sinners from his wrath? He plans to justify us, or make us righteous, through belief in his son Jesus. Paul wrote in Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

Paul explained what the gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 saying, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” The good news, or the gospel, is that Jesus died for us; that he was buried; and that the third day he arose never to die again.

Jesus Christ paid the debt that we owe God when he died upon the cross. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, which called for sin to be punished by death. He redeemed us when he took the curse upon himself on the cross. Galatians 3:13 tells us, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

We are thus spared the wrath of God, because Jesus took that wrath upon himself for us. And Paul tells us that when we believe in him and confess that we believe in him, we can receive the salvation from that wrath in his sacrifice. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Paul also tells us how we gain access to the death, the redemption, of Christ for us. He wrote in Romans 6:3-4, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” We gain access to the redemption of Christ when we believe in him as the son of God; when we confess that belief for others to hear; and when we are baptized for the forgiveness of our sins. Having done these things, we come up out of that water to live for Jesus trying diligently not to sin anymore. Paul said this very thing in Romans 6:1-2, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

That old man, the sinful one, dies and is buried with Jesus in the watery grave of baptism. Again, Paul said this very thing in Romans 6:6 writing, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

It is important that we turn away from sin. Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). Those who believed Peter in Acts 2 obeyed. Acts 2:41-42 reads, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and that same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Save yourself from the wrath of God by hearing the gospel and believing it. Confess that belief for others to hear. Repent of your sins and be baptized for the forgiveness of them. And come up out of that watery grave to live for God in newness of life, continuing in the doctrine of the apostles that is set forth in the New Testament. Do these things and you will – as Jude wrote in Jude 21 – keep yourself in the love of God looking for his mercy.

A disciple is a learner or a pupil. It would be correct to say a pupil of Jesus Christ. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines disciple as “one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrine of another.” With that definition in mind, are you a disciple of Jesus Christ?

Jesus instructed the eleven in Matthew 28:18-20 saying, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Jesus also told the twelve at the last Passover they ate together, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). The apostles of Jesus would be helped to know all things and remember all things, so they could teach what Jesus commanded.

These men and others guided by the Holy Spirit of God recorded God’s word for us. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Jesus fully prepared His disciples to do His work. They were helped to remember everything He had taught them. They were taught all things by the Holy Spirit of God. They were fully able to teach all nations and baptize them and make them disciples of Jesus Christ. The writers of the New Testament were inspired by God to write down the scripture for us. And today, we have everything we need in the Bible. If it is a good work, we find it in the Bible. If we want to know the doctrine, it is found in the Bible. If we need to be reproved or corrected or instructed in righteousness, we can use the Bible. A disciple or pupil of Jesus Christ needs only the Bible and nothing else.

This sounds so simple. Why would a disciple give heed to anything but the Bible? And yet Paul warned the elders of the church in Ephesus saying, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30).

There is that word again – disciples. Paul warned that there would be those who would seek to make people their disciples rather than Jesus’ disciples. This has happened. Churches follow creeds written by men. Eloquent speakers and charismatic leaders have drawn people away from the Bible. And they have done it in the name of Christ and with a Bible in their hands.

Little by little the doctrines of the Bible have been narrowed to only a few things that people have to agree on, while the rest is explained away.

A disciple of Jesus is a learner of His teachings, and a follower of His teachings – all of them. Disciples do as the people of Berea in Acts 17:11 who “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Notice they did not go ask a person somewhere. They searched the scriptures to see if what they were being taught was so. A disciple does this. When faced with a teaching, we look into the scriptures carefully to see what is true.

This is not always an easy task. It takes one who is seeking the truth to find it. Peter warns as much regarding Paul’s letters saying in 2 Peter 3:16, “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”

Yes, there is destruction in misunderstanding the scriptures. So when we hear many different things from many different preachers in many different churches, a true disciple does not put their trust in the preacher. A true disciple puts their trust in the scripture. A true disciple learns from Jesus and His apostles and the inspired writers of the New Testament. A true disciple searches the scriptures daily to see if what they are being taught is so. If it is so, a true disciple obeys it and encourages others to do the same.

Discipleship is also reflected in one’s life. Saul, who was later called Paul, was a Jew working against Christ’s church when he left to go to Damascus. His reputation was known among the disciples of Jesus. Acts 8:3 tells us that Saul was making havoc of the church and putting believers in prison. Acts 9:1 tells us that Saul breathed out threats and slaughter against the disciples. Then he left for Damascus, and Jesus appeared to him. Saul immediately believed in Him. He asked Jesus in Acts 9:6, “what wilt thou have me do?” Jesus told him to, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Acts 9:8 tells us that, Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.” God sent Ananias to him who said to Saul, “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” There can be no doubt that Saul obeyed.

However, when Saul went to Jerusalem in Acts 9:26 trying to join himself to the disciples, they were afraid. They did not believe that he was a disciple. Barnabus had to vouch for him. It would not be long, though, before all disciples knew and loved this man. He had become a true disciple. He learned he was wrong and corrected it. He did not hesitate, and in his writings he called upon us to follow him as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Are you a disciple like Paul was? Am I? We must be.

The steps leading to salvation are taught differently in different churches. One church calls for only faith. Another church calls for sprinkling water on an infant. Some teach that once we are saved, we are always saved, while others teach that salvation is through confessed belief in Jesus and baptism for the forgiveness of sins and that one may fall from grace after being saved.

The work of the church is taught differently by different churches also. One church calls for benevolence for all people. Another church calls for benevolence for brethren only. Another sees the work of the church in recreation, child care, schooling, etc. And yet another says the work of the church is anything that serves what is called the greater good.

Many believe even things such as modesty or honesty are determined by the circumstances, suggesting that a swimsuit is not too revealing at the beach but is not appropriate at the grocery store. A cheerleader’s uniform might be considered modest at the ballgame but immodest at the funeral home. Honesty may be compromised by telling a lie if it leads to what is considered a better result. People call these situation ethics and other such terms indicating that truth is relative to circumstances or maybe to one’s faith.

Yet into all of these varying opinions we still have the words of Jesus. “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Can we abide in His word and believe all sorts of contradictory things? Does that make sense? Someone calls our attention to the fact that seemingly sincere people come to different conclusions and that all quote scripture to support their different beliefs. We may be asked if we think we are right and all others are wrong.

Let us think about that for a minute. Is there one right way? A group of young students studying arithmetic for the first time may look at a simple equation such as 2+2 and conclude that the sum is 3, 4, 5 or even 7. Surely the teacher will try to help those students understand that there cannot be four different answers. The sincerity of the different efforts does not mean that different answers are acceptable. The fact that they might be able to offer reasons for their different answers does not mean that disagreement is okay. No, the answer is that 2+2=4, and pointing that out is not a bad thing. Indeed the one is right while all the others are wrong.

There is absolute truth in arithmetic, and there is absolute truth in scripture. Our work is to seek it. First we must believe in God and in His word – the Bible. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “…he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Paul wrote to Roman Christians saying, “…let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). And Jesus affirmed both the existence of God and the truth of His word in John 17:17 when He prayed saying, “…thy word is truth.”

It has never been God’s desire that we all come to Him in different ways. God even warned us through Paul’s letter to Timothy saying, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

This is what has happened today. People are going where they hear what they want to hear, with far too little regard for the idea that the Bible teaches us that there is “one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…” (Ephesians 4:4-5). God does not want us to study His word and come to different conclusions. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:10, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing…”

Why then, one might ask, do all the different churches cite scripture to support their various beliefs? Remember, the devil cited scripture to Jesus when he tempted Jesus. This is recorded in Matthew 4:6. Satan said, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and, in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Citing scripture did not make the devil right. Jesus said, “It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7).

The scripture can be sincerely or insincerely misunderstood. Care must be given to make sure it is correctly understood. Paul encourages us to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Peter gave us a warning regarding some things Paul had written, saying in 2 Peter 3:15-16 that Paul had written things that were hard to understand, “which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”

If two people come to different understandings, one of them is wrong. If both of those people are quoting the scriptures, one of them is wresting the scriptures to their own destruction. There are not various faiths, there is one faith. There are not various truths, there is one truth. Truth is not relative. It is absolute.

Scripture can be used to prove truth, and it is all we need. 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Jesus warned that there will be those who believe they have done God’s will who would say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23).

It is an interesting fact that the Bible never speaks of truth in the plural. There is but one truth, and we must seek it and stand humbly but faithfully in it if we hope to escape the wrath of God that has been revealed against all unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).

Neither are we inter-denominational. It is our sincere desire to be non-denominational. It is our wish and purpose to wear no other name than Christ’s, and to be known simply as Christians, members of the body of Christ-the church of Christ. Such was clearly true of the Lord’s people in the first Century (Acts 11:26; I Peter 4:16; Ephesians 1: 22, 23; Colosians 1: 18; Romans 16:16). Collectively we refer to ourselves as the church of Christ, the Lord’s church, or some other scriptural description, not in an attempt to be “sectarian,” but on the contrary, to identify ourselves as the church belonging to Christ.

Our emphasis is spiritual not material or social.

We are not concerned with the building of pretentious architectural monuments to human pride. Our building is merely a tool designed to facilitate our work and worship. While as individual Christians we seek each others’ association socially, the church is not a “front” for a social club or agency, and therefore the Lord’s treasury is not used to promote social functions. Our aim is spiritual 1 Peter 2: 5; I Timothy 3:15).

We strive to be the same church described in the New Testament.

It is our purpose to be completely identified with the Christians of the first Century. We believe this to be possible to all who will learn, believe, and be guided by the plain teaching of the word of God. Jesus declared such to be “the seed of the Kingdom” (Luke 8: 11). A fundamental truth in nature is that a specific kind of seed, when planted, will always produce after its kind. For example, wheat will produce wheat; corn will produce corn. In like manner, the word of God, when planted in the hearts of honest people, and obeyed, will produce Christians just as it did in the first Century- nothing more or nothing less. We are human, and therefore subject to error, so we recognize the possibility that we may be wrong in our application of the scriptures. But if we can be shown where we are wrong-by the scriptures-we are willing and anxious to change.

We have no human head.

There is no man, or group of men, who legislate for the church. We have no one to answer to but Christ. He is at the head of the church (Ephesians 1: 22) which leaves no room for any human head. As was true in the first century, there is no inter-congregational organization, but rather interdependent congregations in different locations with Christ as Lord and Master. According to the authority of Christ, when a congregation matures to the point where men meet the qualifications, overseers (also called bishops, elders or pastors) are appointed to look after the spiritual welfare of the congregation. Such men are appointed only when the congregation determines that they meet all the qualifications enumerated by the apostle Paul in I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1: 5-9. They then have the responsibility to “feed the flock” with the spiritual food found in the scriptures, and to be living examples for others to see (I Peter 5: 1-3). Unlike sectarian groups, our preachers are not “pastors” (unless they meet the qualifications and are so appointed) but are simply teachers of the gospel.

The Bible is our only book of rules.

Therefore we have no man-written creed books to follow. We are governed in faith and conduct by the Bible alone. While recognizing and heeding the guiding principles of the Old Testament, we seek to conform to the rules and patterns of the New Testament (I Cor. 10: 4; Hebrews 1: 1-2; I Peter 4: 11). We accept the Bible as being both verbally inspired and infallible in content (2 Pet. 1: 20-21; I Cor. 2:11-13). Consequently, when the Bible speaks upon any given subject, its pronouncement is accepted as final. By its own testimony, no one may with impunity alter a single word of it Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30: 6; Revelation 22:18-19).

Our plea for unity.

We plead for unity among all who obediently respond to the doctrines and commandments given in the New Testament. Such is in harmony with the prayer of Jesus and the pleadings of the apostles (John 17:20-21; I Cor. 1:10; Ephesians 4:1-6). We consider such unity to be possible, or Jesus would not have prayed for it. We also note that unity and love for each other was a mark of discipleship in the early churches (John 13: 34-35; Acts 2: 44, 46; Acts 4:32). And since division has always been a result of departure from “the faith which was once delivered to the Saints” (Jude 3), we believe division can be healed by a return to the revealed truth of God’s word. For this we plead.

For a long time I have believed and taught that the dead are in Hades presently.  Luke 16 teaches this if it teaches anything.  However, many younger (and a few older) preachers have decried this as the “traditional” explanation, as if that makes it immediately wrong!  Some time ago I preached on this idea.  The chart on the next page is one I used to describe the “intermediate” state into which we must all enter and pass if the Lord does not come first.

Some ask that if at death we know what our eternal destiny will be, what is the need for judgment?

First, Jude 14-15 indicates that judgment will be to “convince all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness.”  In essence, an explanation, or “sentencing,” if you please, of the unrighteous will be given in judgment.

Second, Paul said that “there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing” (II Tim. 4:8).  Similarly, for the righteous, an explanation will be given as to their salvation.

Concerning judgment, Paul said, “that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (II Cor. 5:10).  Receiving “the things done in the body” describes an accounting we will be given. This will be done at judgment on the last day.

Before that event, all the dead are in Hades.  The righteous are in “paradise,” a place of comfort.  The unrighteous are in “torments.”  Conscious existence continues in both paradise and torments.  Judgment will be to explain the “why” of eternal life and punishment.

In the Bible, death simply means, “separation.”  Physical death is separation of one’s body from his spirit (James 2:26).  Spiritual death is our spirit’s separation from God.

Since our destiny is determined at death, the larger and more important question is, “Are you ready?”

Death can come at any time.  Have your sins been forgiven by the blood of Christ?  Jesus warned some of His generation that if they died in their sins, where He went they could not come (Jno. 8:21).  Sin separates us from God now (I Tim. 5:6; Eph. 2:1-3), and to die in that condition is to die “separate from Christ,…having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12).  If we are spiritually dead even while physically alive, after physical death, we experience what the Scripture calls “the second death” – eternal separation from God (Rev. 21:8).

In the Bible God has revealed in great detail a plan that is in keeping with His nature – that of holiness, love, mercy, and justice.  By one’s refusing to partake of God’s grace in Christ by believing on Jesus’ deity and humanity, repenting of sins, confessing one’s faith, and being baptized in water for the remission of sins (Acts 2:36-38), one in essence says, “I’m not interested.”  Such people “trample under foot the Son of God,…count the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and insult the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29).  It is no wonder that for those who thumb their nose at Jesus, His gospel and things divine, God will render “vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (II Thess. 1:8-9).  Though God is love, He is also just, and His holiness disallows Him to fellowship sin.

Life is indeed serious.  Are you ready for the consequences in the hereafter that come by your actions here and now?  Think seriously about your soul’s condition.  We want to go to heaven and want you to go also.  For this purpose our little paper comes into your home.  We pray it helps all who read and desire to please God.   

– Phillip Owens

There are several passages which refute this false notion, perhaps none so powerful though as Peter’s sermon in Acts 2.  Peter here quotes a prophecy from David found in Psalm 16:8, and applies it to Jesus as proof of His resurrection.  But it also answers those who argue for “direct access” to heaven.  Peter notes in vs. 29, “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.”  He then adds, “He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell [hades], neither did his flesh see corruption” (vs. 31).  Then, following his application to Jesus, he concludes in vs. 34, “For David is not ascended into the heavens…”!  Jesus had already ascended, but David’s soul was still in the hadean realm!  And this Peter spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, hence we know that the statement is accurate.  If there were no other passage except this, it is adequate to answer those promoting the direct access idea completely.

But, we also note in Rev. 20:13-14 that at the end of time, when the devil himself is cast into the lake of fire (20:10); death and hell [hades] will also be cast into the same lake of fire.  Thus hades will continue to exist right up until the end of time, and was not abolished when Jesus ascended into heaven!

In John 14:3 Jesus states when He “will come again,” He would “receive you unto myself.”  John also states this is when we will be transformed to be like Him (I Jno. 3:2).  Paul said that would be the time he would receive a “crown of righteousness” –and all others theirs as well (II Tim. 4:8; Matt. 25:31f).  But that takes place at the end of time (II Thess. 16-10)—not when Christ ascended into heaven.

The doctrine sounds nice and appealing.  Naturally we all want that glorious reward as soon as possible.  Sometimes heaven is spoken of in an immediate sense (Phil. 1:23; Matt. 25:31f, II Cor. 5:8), but this is done for emphasis sake, not for technical details.  Let’s be sure we are getting the whole story before we jump to quick conclusions.  Luke 16 is still the valid description of the hadean realm, where the disembodied spirit will dwell until the day of judgment and the return of Christ.  Then we shall receive our reward in full, even though our eternal destiny is known at the point of death (II Cor. 5:10). – Donald P. Ames

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