The man Jesus of Nazareth is our model that must be duplicated in order to inherit eternal life, if we can take God at His Word. Recall Jesus telling the rich man who sought salvation that, his having obeyed the Ten Commandments all of his life, “ONE THING THOU LACKEST.” The Savior told him that ONE SIN stood between […]

The fifth step in the “… he who endures unto the end will be saved” (Mat. 10:22) process is conversion, without which one cannot inherit eternal life. In order to be converted, one must understand what is meant by the word. Simply put, conversion in the spiritual sense means to reverse course completely, for until God’s […]

As the honest reader has by this time concluded, salvation is not an instantaneous event, but rather a time-oriented process that lasts from the moment of conviction until the return of Jesus Christ to take control of the earth and what is left of its inhabitants, set up the Kingdom of God and rule it with […]

In the Book of Hebrews chapter 5:12 to 6:6 we find the Apostle Paul chastising the Israelite Christians because they refused to grow up in the Lord and were therefore dying spiritually. He told them that they should by that time have been teachers of God’s Way. Instead they were in need of someone to teach them the […]

In the previous posting we studied 2 Corinthians 7:10,11 where Paul, speaking under the power of the Holy Spirit, characterized true repentance using such descriptive terms as clearing, fear, zeal, desire, vindication, revenge. Any repentance short of this level of self-directed consternation is sure to produce future repentances in that it is nothing more than false, serial […]

In 2 Corinthians 7:1-11 we find the Apostle Paul congratulating some in the Corinth church for the soul-saving spiritual turn-around he had seen in them in the past. He began his letter to them (and us) by reminding them (and us) of God’s requirements for eternal life, saying, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of […]

Different people react to their sins in different ways. Some feel no need to repent though they know what God says about their actions, thoughts and words. Adam, Eve and Cain are prime examples of “non-reaction.” This type of sinner does not believe that he/she is actually sinning though they can quote God’s words to the […]

Conviction, realization of the reality of grace and repentance are not enough to affect salvation, as Jesus tells us in Mark 1:14,15: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, saying, ‘The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand; REPENT AND BELIEVE […]

In Romans 3:25 we are told that true repentance results in justification (forgiveness) of PAST sins. Which begs the question: “Now what?” We are told that, from the moment one completes the prescribed ritual (gets “saved” and “born again”) sin, though ever present, is no longer an issue, that Jesus’ death automatically nullifies sin that is repented […]

Conviction of sin, realization of the need for a sin Forgiver along with acceptance of the Forgiver’s grace to do exactly that are essential beginning steps on the path that will lead to eternal life for those who remain on that narrow path until death or His return (Mat. 7:13,14). How important repentance is to the process of salvation is revealed in Matthew 3:2 […]