Bringing Scripture to Life

When you became a Christian, was your salvation experience based upon you saying the "sinner's prayer"? Were you asked to repeat something to this effect; "Dear Jesus, I believe in my heart that I am a sinner. Please forgive me for all of my sins. I believe in my heart that You died on the cross for my sins, and that You raised from the dead. I believe You are the Risen Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart and change me. Please help me to live for you now. In Jesus' name, Amen."? For those of you who were introduced to Jesus by saying the “sinners prayer” there is a danger to be aware of. The danger to be aware of is basing your relationship with Jesus off of repeating the sinner’s prayer. The sinner’s prayer is only a tool that many Christians' use in order to help someone who is unsure of how to pray, or who has actually never prayed before, express their desire to God to be forgiven of their sins and put their trust in Jesus. ...

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus asks the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" The disciples had zero understanding at the time of the ramifications of their answer. They had no clue at the time that the answer they were about to give determined their eternal destiny!  You might be a bit like the disciples who were following Jesus at that time, where you know that Jesus is important, but you, like them, are not quite sure just how important He was and is to your life.  When reading through the gospels we discover that none of the disciples actually had a full understanding of who Jesus truly was until after He resurrected from the dead. In fact, prior to the resurrection they were cowards (John 20:19), but after the resurrection they became fearless for Jesus (Acts 4:13).  It was s hortly after Easter Sunday, that  Peter with his life on the line, would boldly proclaim to the religious leaders of his day, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for the...

What is Eschatology?  Eschatology is the theological term we use to describe the study of end times. Eschatology has several areas of theological implications, such as heaven and hell, angels and demons, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the tribulation period, etc. Related Articles on Eschatological Topics: 1.  Angels: Can Angels Sin? 2.  Man of SIN 3.  Revelation: Four Views: A Parallel Commentary (By Steve Gregg) 4.  Satan: When Satan Goes Fishing 5. The Return of Christ 6.  The End 7.  Understanding the End Times of Revelation 8. The Plague of Revelation 22 9.  Do Demons Die? 10.  Will Angels worship us in Heaven? 11. What will we do in Heaven?

What does the Bible say about the End?   The Bible says that Heaven and Hell are real places (Revelation 20:11-15). In the end there  will be a time of universal judgment, known as the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), when God will make final judgment on all men based upon their acceptance or rejection of Jesus as Savior (John 3:16-21). Those who have accepted Him as Savior will be eternal citizens of God's kingdom while those who reject God's loving offer of salvation through Christ will be eternal residents of Hell.

What does the Bible say about Salvation?   The Bible says that Salvation is offered freely to all men, who in faith turn to Jesus (John 3:16). There is no salvation apart from faith in Jesus (Acts 4:12). The shed blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only ground for justification (Romans 5:9), and salvation for all who believe (Romans 10:9-10). Only those who receive Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5), and, thus become children of God (Galatians 3:26). The way a person receives Jesus Christ is through faith in Jesus and repentance towards God. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin, and turning to God. Faith involves believing in Jesus Christ. What we are to believe about Jesus is that He is the Son of God (John 3:16), who died upon the cross to remove our sins, and rose again on the third day (Romans 10:9). Finally, our salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and this includes regeneration, justifi...

In the Book of Philippians, the Bible tells us, "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). Once a person puts their trust in Jesus, this has got to be one of the most important verses in all of Scripture. It tells us now that we have trusted in Jesus, God will never give up on us! Paul is telling us here that he wants us to be confident in the fact, that once we place our trust in Jesus He is not going to cast us aside if we trip up. He is going to complete the work that He began in our lives the moment He saved us. God has not forgotten about us.  Paul uses this same terminology throughout his writings. In 2 Timothy 1:12, Paul tells Timothy that he has been "persuaded that He (Jesus) is able to keep" what Paul entrusted to Him in faith, that is his soul. This word for "persuaded" is the same Greek word used for confident in Philippians 1:6. In R...

I had a friend recently ask me how she could dialogue with her Catholic friend who wholeheartedly believes and passionately argues with her that a person can only be saved through doing good works (to my understanding, not all Catholics would agree with him on this). He referred to James 2:24 as his proof text. My response to her question is not my effort to bring offense to any of my Catholic friends or readers, but instead to merely shed light on what the Bible has to say about this subject. James 2:24 says,  “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." When reading this verse by itself, it certainly would appear that our salvation is based on more than our faith in Jesus alone.  However, in this verse James is not referring to the steps to salvation, but rather the EFFECTS of salvation. This entire chapter in context is arguing how our faith can only be justified before “other people” by the good works that we do. James is not ref...

This year there will be more than a billion people celebrating Christmas -- from unwrapping gifts to attending Candlelight services, singing Christmas carols and taking in the savory smell of cedar and incense. This has been the scene that has been experienced by billions of people across the country all month long. In addition, there have been credit cards pushed to the max, tempers flaring to the fullest amongst shoppers, road rage as we race to get the closest parking spot and the occasional “Merry Christmas” -- when it is safe for those who care to proclaim it. It is as if from the moment we are finished celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday to the time Black Friday begins, some type of powerful, impatient, pushy, consumeristic monster overtakes the masses, up until the last department store closes on December 24 of every year. We then wake up Christmas morning with a new attitude, and are determined to experience the holiday glee, basking in the joy of giving and receivin...

Dear Friend, I am not sure what brought you to this particular post, but if it is for the purpose of wanting to understand how to “know” God, then I pray that this will be most helpful for you. Let me start off by saying every one of us has been born with the internal desire to live forever. In fact, the Bible tells us that “God has placed the desire to live forever” in each of our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This is the reason so many of us oftentimes think about what will happen when we die. In our day and age, many people have tried to push God out of the way, and will dogmatically defend their belief that there is no God, and there is no life after death. However, that does not change the fact that God is real, death is certain, and a persons eternity must be decided before they pass over to the other side. With that being said, I would like to help you with your spiritual journey, by doing the following; Help you to discover how you can know God. Help you unders...