We often talk about the conversion of Saul – later known as the apostle Paul – because of the important lessons to be found in it about how one becomes a Christian. But what about what happened after Saul’s conversion? There are important lessons here as well. Let us look at what Saul did following his conversion.
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Some have a misunderstanding about the nature of God’s covenant with us today. Has there been one everlasting covenant throughout the history of mankind? Or is the covenant currently in force today different from the one we read about in the Old Testament? If we consider one of the prophecies from Jeremiah, we will get a clearer picture of the nature of the new covenant which is currently in effect.
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We sometimes sing the song, “Did You Think to Pray?” In one of the verses, it mentions the “Balm of Gilead.” This may be an unfamiliar term to us. What exactly is the Balm of Gilead? In order to have a better understanding and appreciation for the words we are singing, let us notice what the Bible says about it.
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Paul began his letter to the Ephesians by offering praise to God: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). There are many reasons why God is worthy of all praise and honor; but in this passage, Paul directed our attention to the spiritual blessings we have from Him. We give glory to God because he has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).
As Paul continued, he listed some of the spiritual blessings available to us:
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People often want to think of degrees of sin. They view some sins as particularly heinous (rape, murder, etc.), and others as being virtually innocent (“a little white lie”). Is it accurate to grade particular sins and judge them against one another in this way?
The fundamental question we have is this: Are some sins worse than others? Yes and no. It depends on what aspect of sin one has in mind. In this article, we will briefly examine this question.
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One of the major distinctions between brethren and the religious world relates to how we understand baptism. We teach that baptism is necessary for salvation (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21), is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16), and is our entrance into the Lord’s kingdom (Acts 2:41, 47; 1 Corinthians 12:13). Many others teach that baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace (that we are saved before and without baptism) and that it is for membership in a local church or denominational body.
Of course, there are no passages in the New Testament that teach baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace or that we are baptized to gain membership into a local church (and certainly not into a denomination since the New Testament does not speak about them at all). Instead of trying to twist passages in order to provide positive support for these ideas, denominationalists will generally will try to make arguments against the necessity of baptism. They quibble about various passages to try to attack the truth about baptism. Let us notice some passages that people try to use in arguing that baptism is not essential for salvation.
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[This article was written by Robert A. Sochor.]
In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus taught the parable of the unmerciful servant. For every generation it is relevant and helps us understand the need for forgiveness: forgiveness granted to the king’s servant as well as the forgiveness and mercy that were denied to the servant’s debtor. The king of verse 23 who ruled over all in the parable was displeased (wroth, verse 34) with his servant and actually ended his forbearance by requiring payment. The concluding lesson of the parable is found in verse 35 — that we as forgiven sinners should forgive those who trespass against us.
I have not done the parable justice by summarizing it so briefly. But there is one point of the parable that stands out, and that is the servant’s debt to the king. In verse 24 the servant had run up a debt of 10,000 talents. There are varying explanations of how much debt this actually was. One margin note stated that one talent was about 15 years’ wage for a common laborer. Multiplying this out would show this debt was quite unpayable. Other estimates I have heard run into the millions, even the billions, of dollars. I have always wondered, how did he run up such a debt? How did he ever expect to repay it? And what was he thinking?
But then I remember this is just a parable. A parable is a story to illustrate a greater spiritual truth. The man in the parable really does not exist. He is only in the story to represent someone else. And that someone is us. We are the ones who ran up a completely unpayable debt. We are the ones not thinking of how we would ever pay back the debt that we had run up. If we consider the man in the parable foolish, then we would have to say that also about ourselves. There is not one of us who could point to this man and say, “I’d never do that.” We have all sinned (Romans 3:23; Galatians 3:22). We have incurred that overwhelming debt we could never repay. And the debt we owe because of our sin is staggering. Romans 6:23 says the “wages” (the just compensation) for our sins is death. In the Old Testament, Ezekiel states the consequences more bluntly: “The soul that sins, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). Sin carries a terrible consequence.
In the parable the foolish debt-ridden servant was fortunate to be in debt to this particular king for he was merciful. There is nothing about the servant which should recommend forgiving the debt. He was not particularly good; in fact, there is nothing good said about this servant in all of the parable. He had done nothing to merit this forgiveness.
After being forgiven, there was no change in the servant. Such forgiveness “reasonably” should have produced (or have been followed by) a change in character and conduct in his life. It did not. In the case of ourselves, when forgiven we should have a change of character and conduct. The New Testament calls this “newness of life” (Romans 6:4) or being “transformed” (Romans 12:2). The God who granted such great forgiveness has every reasonable expectation that this change would be present in those He has forgiven.
There is a practicality to this and probably all parables. If we miss it, it is to our shame.
What does “propitiation” mean? How is “justification” connected to salvation? What does “sanctification” look like in our day-to-day lives? The Bible uses some powerful words to describe God’s plan to save mankind. However, these words are not always easy to understand, especially when they are not part of our everyday vocabulary. This book explores key Bible terms that unlock the message of the gospel.
Big Words in the Bible examines five important words – Propitiation, Reconciliation, Sanctification, Justification, and Resurrection – using plain language to see how the Scriptures describe these concepts and how the apostle Paul employs them in his letter to the Romans. This book also contains an appendix with eleven additional articles to explore these topics further.
Whether you are new to the Bible and want to grow in your understanding or want a simple way to explain these core gospel doctrines to others, this book will be helpful. With a focus on the Scriptures, Big Words in the Bible helps break down these fundamental topics to shed light on the life-changing message of the gospel and the salvation found in it.
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