“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).
Belief in Christ is essential for salvation. But the belief that Jesus mentioned here is more than just a belief that he existed, came to earth, died for our sins, rose again from the dead, and ascended back into heaven. Yes, we must believe those things about Jesus, but if that is the extent of our belief, we will die in our sins.
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Paul told the saints in Corinth, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Why did Paul place such an emphasis on teaching Jesus? He explained: “So that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5).
The Corinthians had a problem of following after men. This resulted in division as some were saying, “‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ’” (1 Corinthians 1:12). Paul later explained that when they claimed loyalty to these men, they were carnally minded and immature (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).
The inspired apostle sought to correct this thinking so that they would focus on following Christ and not men. This is the first problem he addressed in his letter (1 Corinthians 1:10-17). But notice how he subtly made this point before he explicitly stated it.
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Many people are fascinated by conspiracy theories. Some believe the attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001 were a conspiracy by the U.S. government. There is the theory that we did not really land a spacecraft on the moon in 1969, but that it was staged in a secret location as part of a government conspiracy. While many of the conspiracy theories we may hear are probably not true, they are still a source of fascination for many.
What is a conspiracy? Generally, a conspiracy can be described as a secret plan by two or more persons intent on bringing harm to a person or group and/or causing the conspirators to gain power, wealth, or both. Conspirators have a goal, something they want to accomplish. This is not always apparent, of course, because it is secret. Conspirators have to hide the truth, both of their goal and their plan. But people generally will want answers or an explanation as to why certain things are happening. So they have to convince them of a lie or a partial truth. These things are generally true for conspiracies.
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On his way to Jerusalem, Paul stopped in Miletus to meet with the elders from the church in Ephesus (Acts 20:17ff). In this farewell address, Paul reminded them that the message he brought to them was “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). This was the message that Paul preached “everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:17). He preached the gospel to those who were already Christians (Romans 1:15) and to those who had not yet heard of Jesus (Romans 15:20). The gospel is the message that Jesus told His apostles to preach (Mark 16:15) and is the message that we must preach today (Galatians 1:8-9).
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Shortly before His ascension, Jesus gave His apostles the Great Commission: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16). This passage succinctly tells us who it is that will be saved. Those who believe and are baptized will be saved.
This order seems pretty simple. A person believes, then they are baptized, and then they are saved. Though this seems simple, many have the order wrong. They think that a person believes, then they are saved, and sometime later they are baptized. This is not what Jesus taught. He taught that those who will be saved are those who believe and are baptized.
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“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Many use this verse to show that we are saved by the grace of God and that there is nothing we can do to affect our salvation. In other words, works (acts of obedience) are not necessary for salvation. We all recognize the fact that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), so it is true that all are deserving of spiritual death. But those who say grace is unconditional try to say that those who believe grace is conditional also believe they can earn their salvation.
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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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