A Call to Unity of the Church

Written by Joyce C. Lock


Knowing God's heart, verses following teachings of men, isrepparttar difference between victory and defeat.

Let God be true, but every man a liar ... That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Romans 3:4

A Sampling of Questions with Answers

Let allrepparttar 141492 nations be gathered together, and letrepparttar 141493 people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

Isaiah 43:9

Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew untorepparttar 141494 heirs of promiserepparttar 141495 immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold uponrepparttar 141496 hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor ofrepparttar 141497 soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that withinrepparttar 141498 veil; Whitherrepparttar 141499 forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever afterrepparttar 141500 order of Melchisedec.

Hebrews 6:17-20

Again,repparttar 141501 kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field ...

Matthew 13:44

"Who?"

Q. Judah is a lion's whelp: fromrepparttar 141502 prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? Genesis 49:9

A. Who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. Numbers 24:9

Q. And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedstrepparttar 141503 Egyptian? Exodus 2:14

A. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge?repparttar 141504 same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer byrepparttar 141505 hand ofrepparttar 141506 angel which appeared to him inrepparttar 141507 bush. Acts 7:35

Q. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forthrepparttar 141508 children of Israel out of Egypt? Exodus 3:11 A. And by a prophetrepparttar 141509 Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. Hosea 12:13

Q. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, amongrepparttar 141510 gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Exodus 15:11

A. Amongrepparttar 141511 gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. Psalm 86:8

Q. Who can countrepparttar 141512 dust of Jacob? Numbers 23:10a A. Ofrepparttar 141513 tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141514 tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141515 tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141516 tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141517 tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141518 tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141519 tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141520 tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141521 tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141522 tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141523 tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Ofrepparttar 141524 tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. Rev. 7:5-8 12,000 x 12 = 144,000 andrepparttar 141525 number ofrepparttar 141526 fourth part of Israel? Numbers 23:10b And I heardrepparttar 141527 number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of allrepparttar 141528 tribes ofrepparttar 141529 children of Israel. Rev. 7:4 144,000 ÷ 4 = 36,000 Let me dierepparttar 141530 death ofrepparttar 141531 righteous, and let my last end be like his! Numbers 23:10c After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood beforerepparttar 141532 throne, and beforerepparttar 141533 Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. Rev. 7:9

Q. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heardrepparttar 141534 voice ofrepparttar 141535 living God speaking out ofrepparttar 141536 midst ofrepparttar 141537 fire, as we have, and lived? Deut. 5:26

A. I heardrepparttar 141538 voice ofrepparttar 141539 Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8

Q. And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand againstrepparttar 141540 Lord's anointed, and be guiltless? 1 Samuel 26:9

A. This isrepparttar 141541 law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; Or whenrepparttar 141542 spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall setrepparttar 141543 woman beforerepparttar 141544 Lord, andrepparttar 141545 priest shall execute upon her all this law. Then shallrepparttar 141546 man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity. Numbers 5:29-31 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemnedrepparttar 141547 guiltless. Matthew 12:7

Q. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty,repparttar 141548 Lord mighty in battle. Psalm 24:8 A. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he isrepparttar 141549 King of glory. Selah. Psalm 24:10

Q. Who is like untorepparttar 141550 Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to beholdrepparttar 141551 things that are in heaven, and inrepparttar 141552 earth! Psalm 113:5-6

A. The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. Isaiah 33:5

Q. Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? Proverbs 20:6 A. That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiahrepparttar 141553 ruler ofrepparttar 141554 palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many. Neh. 7:2

Q. Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? Proverbs 20:9 A. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure fromrepparttar 141555 blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you allrepparttar 141556 counsel of God. Acts 20:26-27

Q. Who hath woe? Proverbs 23:29a A. ... woe is unto me, if I preach notrepparttar 141557 gospel! 1 Cor. 9:16 Q. who hath sorrow? Proverbs 23:29b A. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Eccles. 1:18 Q. who hath contentions? Proverbs 23:29c A. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are ofrepparttar 141558 house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 1 Cor. 1:11 Q. who hath babbling? Proverbs 23:29d A. Surelyrepparttar 141559 serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better ...repparttar 141560 lips of a fool will swallow up himself. Eccles. 10:11-12 Q. who hath wounds without cause? Proverbs 23:29e A. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. Psalm 109:3 Q. who hath redness of eyes? Proverbs 23:29f A. Judah ... His eyes shall be red with wine. Genesis 49:9,12

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Written by Stephen Kingery


One ofrepparttar most important questions which needs to be answered today isrepparttar 141376 title of this article: "What Must I Do To Be Saved?" The answer to this question is important for those professing to be Christians and sinners alike. Why? Becauserepparttar 141377 answer is given inrepparttar 141378 Bible and it is specific. The main thrust of our ministry isrepparttar 141379 admonition of those professing to follow Christ to be "Doers ofrepparttar 141380 Word," or asrepparttar 141381 NIV renders it "Do not merely listen torepparttar 141382 word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (James 1:22) Allow me to paraphrase this another way: "Do not listen to what men teach, and let them deceive you. Do whatrepparttar 141383 word says."

Some men would have you believe that all that you must do to be saved is to "call uponrepparttar 141384 name ofrepparttar 141385 Lord." They even give you a sample "sinner's prayer" to pray, and having prayed that prayer they declare, "praise God, you are now saved!" But is this whatrepparttar 141386 Bible teaches? The scripture which is used to prove this teaching is Romans 10:13, where Paul says, "For whoever calls uponrepparttar 141387 name ofrepparttar 141388 Lord shall be saved."

I once heard a very wise preacher say, "If you ever put an interpretation on a scripture that makes another scripture appear to be wrong, then you haverepparttar 141389 wrong interpretation." Let's examine Romans 10:13 to see what Paul is really teaching. First of all you need to know to whom Paul was teaching inrepparttar 141390 book of Romans. To properly interpret scripture, you must know to whomrepparttar 141391 message was given. In Romans, Paul is teachingrepparttar 141392 Christians inrepparttar 141393 church at Rome which had former Jews as well as Gentiles. Therefore,repparttar 141394 book of Romans is a treatise of some things which should be considered by both Jew and Gentile.

Chapter ten teaches that Israel rejected Christ, but this did not mean that Jews could not accept Christ. In verse twelve Paul writes, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, forrepparttar 141395 same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him." In other words, both Jew and Greek (Gentile) can call uponrepparttar 141396 Lord for salvation. If either a Jew or a Gentile seeks salvation through Christ based uponrepparttar 141397 New Testament teachings, they shall receive salvation. Then Paul reaffirms what he said in verse twelve by stating in verse thirteen, "For whoever calls uponrepparttar 141398 name ofrepparttar 141399 Lord shall be saved." In other words, it doesn't make any difference if you are a Jew or a Gentile, if you call uponrepparttar 141400 Lord for salvation, you shall receive salvation.

Now please note that Paul was not teaching onrepparttar 141401 subject of HOW you receive salvation, but WHO is eligible to receive salvation.

There are many other "plans" for salvation which have been developed by men. Some say you have to have that "special feeling", others say you have to "pray through," and still others will put some other form of man-made qualification on receiving salvation. No person here on earth will ever produce a plan of salvation equal to, or that will takerepparttar 141402 place of, that plan which Christ gave us. The New Testament gives usrepparttar 141403 plan of salvation which was given torepparttar 141404 Apostles by Christ, and was practiced by them throughout their ministries.

So what isrepparttar 141405 plan of salvation? The plan of salvation consists of five steps, all of which are necessary forrepparttar 141406 person to receive salvation and gainrepparttar 141407 eventual reward of eternal life with Jesus Christ. Those five steps are: Belief, Repentance, Confession, Baptism, and Faithful Living.

Belief

Belief, or faith isrepparttar 141408 first step in receiving salvation. Paul, in his epistle torepparttar 141409 Romans says as much, "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed." (Romans 10:14a) How do we develop this faith or belief in Christ? Paul continuesrepparttar 141410 above passage by saying, "And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14b) And, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing byrepparttar 141411 word of God." (Romans 10:17) So we see that we come to a realization that God does truly exist, and that He is able to do that which He has promised, by hearingrepparttar 141412 word of God. Of course this usually happens by listening to a preacher, Sunday School teacher, Bible study, or some other means of learning what God tells us in His word.

This should go without saying, but I shall say it anyway, faith (or belief) is absolutely necessary if we are to receive salvation. How can we have dealings with One who is unseen, and whose chief rewards lie beyond this present life, unless we believe that God exists and will bring eternal life. We see this explicitly spelled out inrepparttar 141413 Bible, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

We also read inrepparttar 141414 Bible that our faith must be in Jesus Christ, "but these are written that you may believe that Jesus isrepparttar 141415 Christ,repparttar 141416 Son ofrepparttar 141417 Living God, and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:31)

Faith was also preached byrepparttar 141418 Apostles, "So they said, 'Believe onrepparttar 141419 Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'" (Acts 16:31) Jesus Himself emphasized faith when He said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16)

Repentance

The result of faith that Jesus isrepparttar 141420 Christ,repparttar 141421 Son of God is repentance. Not just saying, "I'm sorry forrepparttar 141422 sins I've committed," but a deep feeling of remorse inrepparttar 141423 knowledge that we have not been pleasing to God. Inrepparttar 141424 same way that faith is not merely intellectual agreement that God does exist, repentance is not merely acknowledging that we have sinned and saying, "I'm sorry."

Let's compare for a moment a child who has been caught breaking his parents' rules. He may acknowledge that he has brokenrepparttar 141425 rule, and he may (probably will) say, "I'm sorry and I won't do it anymore." But his real motive may be to avoidrepparttar 141426 punishment that his parents have warned him would be given to him if he disobeyed. However, givenrepparttar 141427 opportunity, he may breakrepparttar 141428 rule again, and not feel any guilt unless he gets caught again. This is not repentance.

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