November 4, 2026

How to Prevent an Apostasy

Opening the Bible

Paul told Timothy that apostasy was certain: “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith…” (1 Timothy 4:1). He warned the brethren in Thessalonica of a great apostasy – “the apostasy” (2 Thessalonians 2:2) – which was coming. This apostasy would be widespread, yet that did not mean that every Christian or church must be doomed to fall away.

Timothy was to “hold fast the pattern of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13, NKJV), and he was to pass this on to others (2 Timothy 2:2). He needed to continue teaching without compromise, even if others departed from the truth (2 Timothy 4:2-5). If he did this, there was hope that those who would listen would be saved (1 Timothy 4:16).

So how would Timothy approach his work as a preacher to help prevent apostasy? And how would the brethren need to respond in order to keep from falling away? Let us notice what Paul wrote after warning about the coming apostasy.Continue Reading

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October 21, 2026

Learning from the Sabbath

Reading the Bible in bed

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11).

When God, through Moses, gave His law to the children of Israel, it included the instructions above regarding the Sabbath. In fact, this law was part of the Ten Commandments, which formed the foundation of a society that had just been liberated from Egyptian bondage. Each week, God expected His people to observe a day of rest and treat it as holy.

Christians are not under the Sabbath law today.* However, it was part of the Old Testament that was “written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4). There are principles contained in the Sabbath law that we can learn from and apply today. We will notice five of these principles in this article.Continue Reading

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October 7, 2026

Trusting in Christ for Our Salvation

Baptism

Ask nearly any professed Christian, and they will affirm that one needs to put their trust in Christ in order to be saved. But what exactly does that mean? Interestingly, the New Testament does not use that phrase (trust/trusting in Christ) in reference to salvation, but the concept is certainly there. However, we need to be very careful how we understand and explain this. Just because the New Testament teaches the concept that we must trust in Christ for salvation does not mean that every claim people make about what this means is valid. We want to understand what the Bible – particularly the New Testament – teaches about this. So let us consider it now.Continue Reading

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September 30, 2026

The Mystery of Godliness

The Apostle Paul

Many churches have some statement of faith or confession that they adopt as a unifying belief. A common one is the “Apostles’ Creed”* (despite the name, it did not originate with the apostles, but came about in the fourth century). Some churches recite this in their worship services.

We might agree with the content of the Apostles’ Creed if we are careful how we define the terms. However, rather than adopting a man-made confession like this, we should go to the Bible. Paul expressed a statement of faith about Jesus in his first letter to Timothy:

“By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).

He said this was a “common confession” among Christians, and these points were “without controversy” (KJV) in the first-century church. This is what they believed, and we must believe these things as well.

So what is this “mystery of godliness”? By using the term “mystery,” Paul referred to something that was previously hidden but has now been revealed. They all pertain to spiritual truth. In this article, we will examine this “common confession” and see what we should believe about Jesus.Continue Reading

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September 2, 2026

The Professions of the Apostles

The apostles fishing with Jesus

“Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him” (Matthew 10:1-4).

After spending an extensive amount of time with them over a period of three years, Jesus sent His apostles into all the world to preach the gospel. These men were chosen from various backgrounds. We do not know what all of them did before Jesus called them, but we do know this for a few.

For those whose backgrounds are known, there are some lessons we can learn. We can also see that Jesus offered them (and us) something far better than any earthly employment.Continue Reading

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August 19, 2026

What Is a Sin Not Leading to Death?

Man with head in his handsAt the end of John’s first epistle, he mentioned two different kinds of sins – one that leads to death and one that does not lead to death. What was he talking about? Is there a certain class of sins that God permits or tolerates and, therefore, allows them to go unpunished? Or does John mean something else? Notice what he wrote:

“If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death” (1 John 5:16-17).

This is a difficult passage, and some portions of Scripture are like that (cf. 2 Peter 3:16). We must take care not to misinterpret it, but we can understand it (cf. Ephesians 3:4). To do this, we must seek to harmonize it with the rest of Scripture.Continue Reading

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August 5, 2026

Convicting the World

Paul before Felix

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged” (John 16:7-11).

Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke to His apostles and promised to send the Holy Spirit to them, who would “convict [reprove, KJV] the world” (John 16:8). The New International Version translates this phrase by saying He would “prove the world to be in the wrong.” The Spirit would do this “concerning sin and righteousness and judgment,” and we will notice later why this was necessary.

This work of the Holy Spirit would have a direct impact on the apostles’ teaching, and it should on ours as well. In this article, we are going to consider HOW the Spirit would convict the world, how the apostles carried out their work related to this, and what we should do in this regard today.Continue Reading

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