October 1, 2006

The Purpose of Preaching

Man with Open Bible

From the beginning of the New Testament we read about preaching. First we see John the Baptist “preaching in the wilderness of Judea” (Matthew 3:1). A little while later “Jesus began to preach” (Matthew 4:17) and went “throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). Jesus commanded His disciples on different occasions to go out and preach the gospel (Luke 9:1-6; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8). Throughout the New Testament, this is what we see – the gospel being preached. Though men may see this as foolish, this is what God desires (1 Corinthians 1:18-21).

God designed preaching to accomplish certain things. Let us notice the purpose of preaching.
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August 1, 2006

Doing the Will of God

Man at Sunset

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23).

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus described the character of one who would be a citizen of His kingdom. The kingdom is open to all; but sadly, not all will choose to enter. Who is it that will enter the kingdom? Jesus said, “He who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” Do we want to be a part of God’s kingdom? If so, we need to do the will of God.
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July 1, 2006

The Love of the Truth

“Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:8-10).

Those who do not possess a love of the truth will be lost. Their fate will be the same as the “lawless one” – the one who acts contrary to God’s revealed will who will be slain by the Lord. Why is it that we need to have a “love of the truth” in order to be saved? What will a love of the truth cause us to do?
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June 1, 2006

Calling on the Name of the Lord

Baptism

The Scriptures plainly teach that calling on the name of the Lord results in salvation. Nowhere is this affirmed more plainly than in Romans 10:13 – “For ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” I would imagine that the vast majority of professing Christians believe that we must call on the name of the Lord in order to be saved. The point in which we have controversy is how we call on His name.
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January 1, 2006

What Shall We Do?

Shortly after Jesus had ascended back into heaven, the disciples were gathered in Jerusalem. Being the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1), a Jewish feast day, there were many Jews from different regions who had come to Jerusalem (Acts 2:5, 9-11). It is at this time that Peter delivered what we often refer to as the first gospel sermon. In a sense, the gospel had been preached before. It was preached in promise to Abraham (Galatians 3:8). When Jesus began His public teaching, He taught the “gospel of God” (Mark 1:15). But this was the first time the gospel was preached in its fullness. The gospel was the good news of salvation from God made available by Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead which gave us hope of eternal life. Before, this was said to be coming. By the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, it was a reality. This was the first time the gospel was preached since all these things were fulfilled.
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October 1, 2005

Will Only Members of the Church of Christ Be Saved?

A common criticism about those who are members of churches of Christ is that “they think they are the only ones going to heaven.” It is likely that we have heard this or something similar to it before. The important question for us to answer is not whether people are making this claim or not. We need to be answering the question, “Is it true that only members of the church of Christ will be saved?” The answer to this question, as well as any Bible question, will not be found in the opinions of you, me, or any other man. The answer is in the word of God.
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September 1, 2005

What About the Thief on the Cross?

Three Crosses

When talking to others from various denominations about the subject of salvation, we can see that man has many different ideas as to how one is saved. Some will tell you that in order to be saved, you just need to receive Jesus into your heart and accept Him as your personal Savior. Some will say you need to pray the “sinner’s prayer” and ask God to forgive you of your sins. Others will tell you that as long as you believe in God, then that is all that is necessary to receive salvation. Usually no passage is cited to prove their assertion. When one is, it has been taken out of context and misapplied. When we study the New Testament, we see one consistent message showing what man must do in order to be saved. We must believe in Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized in water, and live faithfully in service to God from that point forward (John 8:24; Mark 16:16; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Revelation 2:10).

When pointing out these things to others, a question will often come up – “What about the thief on the cross?” Notice what Luke recorded:
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