explore these questions related to salvation

John makes this pretty easy for us; the living water is the Holy Spirit. This is further confirmed by God’s own testimony. Therefore, it would be more accurate to ask “Who is the living water?” instead of [more]

Baptism is not for infants or children; several important facts exist in Scripture regarding the eligibility of someone to be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” :

1. The person must be old enough to understand right from [more]
   

Determining how church is defined in the Bible could be done a few different ways. If we were to simply look up the word “church” in our modern dictionaries we would get something like, “a building [more]

Defining salvation according to the Bible is yet another instance in which simply getting out a dictionary or “going to the Greek” is useless.  Knowing the Greek word for “salvation” (“soteria” – rescue or safety either physically or morally, deliverance, [more]

The sinner’s prayer is something frequently referred to by preachers today. Joel Osteen asks those who are not saved to pray with him at the close of every sermon. The prayer is asking Jesus to “come into their [more]

A Christian’s potential to fall from grace is a concept that runs contrary to many in the religious world today. Challenging certain pre-conceived doctrines (e.g Reformed/Calvinism), a fall from grace suggests that a person who had at one time [more]

There may be some that wonder if one can receive the Holy Spirit before being saved. This is a great question and one that deserves very careful study as it brings to the forefront at least a couple of commonly [more]

Determining God’s pattern of salvation could be a helpful tool in understanding what God requires of us today. Many talk about God’s plan of salvation, but what about God’s pattern of salvation? The system under which man is accountable to [more]

When it comes to the thief on the cross, it’s usually only raised as the “textbook” example of God’s saving grace. Specifically, it’s raised to counter the necessity of baptism. The popular response is something like, “What about the thief [more]

Sin is an unfortunate reality in this world. The remedy for sin and evil in this world has been pursued and framed by many different movements. Recently, the “New Age” philosophy has centered around man’s own ability to do [more]

He came to earth once, and when Jesus returns it will be different. He came to earth the first time on a mission. When Jesus returns a second time there won’t be a literal thousand year reign. In [more]

Jesus’ mission is something that can be confused with His actions. What Jesus came to this world to do (Jesus’ mission) and what he did (Jesus’ activities) are not necessarily the same thing. For example, one of the things [more]

Priests of God are most often associated with the Catholic religion. That tradition has specific qualifications to become a priest. “Catholic men who have been baptized, have undertaken their confirmation, and are practicing members of their local [more]

Baptism “for the forgiveness of sins” is a statement Peter makes in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38 ). The preposition “for” comes from the Greek word “eis” which is defined by [more]

Much is said about the activity of the Holy Spirit today. In fact, in some Christian religious groups, the primary emphasis of their message is the Holy Spirit – it [more]

Water baptism has something to do with water, right? Some believe water baptism is just getting wet (“sprinkling”) while other Christians insist one isn’t baptized unless the individual is completely submerged in water. In fact, [more]

Many today live as though they will never come before God in judgment. But Jesus said, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44) In the [more]

If the message of God’s word is mankind’s redemption and salvation, shouldn’t it include information about what saves you? This is a really BIG question with an eternally-weighted answer. Unfortunately, we can find lots of different answers out there [more]

In the face of God’s sovereignty and His very real desire that all are saved, the reality that repentance could become impossible for anyone seems contradictory. And yet, that is exactly what the Hebrews writer states . Is there really [more]

Jesus makes a statement about the hot and cold of Laodicea that apparently does not sit well with some. Dr. Chip Bennett is lead “pastor” for Grace Community Church in Sarasota, FL. In a recent [more]

What Christian’s believe and how they have come to understand what the Bible teaches isn’t always shaped purely by Scripture. The Ancient Greek influence of Gnosticism has had a profound and enduring effect on Christian thought. [more]

The act of baptism is well recorded in Scripture. Not only was it a tradition among the Hebrew people for centuries, but it is what at least one Bible character was know by (John the Baptist) and it was [more]

Invitations to ‘call on the name of the Lord’ are often extended by preachers and especially, it seems, by tele-evangelists. This may be at the end of their sermon when they invite the audience to recite a prayer, often referred [more]

Working through how “works” are defined in Scripture isn’t for the faint of heart. Where one comes down on works defined has led some to question the very inspiration of the Bible. After all, Paul said, “one is justified by [more]

Jesus teaches that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin that is unforgivable. The “unforgivable” aspect to this can be alarming and troubling. Undoubtedly, there’s no Christian that would want to be guilty of blasphemy against the Holy [more]