By: Sunny David It is hard for people in a denominationalized religious environment to grasp the truth that the church of Christ is not a denomination. Too many have the idea that the church of Christ is just one denomination among many. People are so accustomed to there being numerous denominational churches that many find it hard to comprehend the concept of undenominational Christianity. Most people think that the various kinds of churches, both Roman Catholics and Protestants, are different parts of the whole of Christianity. Some say that different kinds of churches are different ways leading to the same place. Some erroneously believe that Christ was referring to various denominations when He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches…” in John 15:5. There, Jesus was speaking to His followers and referring to individual persons and not to denominations. The very context itself disproves the theory put forth to justify the existence of various denominational churches today. Jesus was telling His disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches…If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch…” (John 15:5–6). Moreover, He could not have referred to denominational churches since none of them existed then. Denominationalism in a religious sense designates a divided condition, embracing many different groups and sects that are distinct from one another by names, creeds and practices. Yet, all claim to be the parts of the one body of Christ (Ephesians 4:4). The apostle Paul spoke disparagingly of such

By: Sunny David Christ Jesus came into the world that the world through Him might be saved, that a door of salvation might be opened for all and whoever would might enter in by it. The golden text of the Bible is, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV). The next verse reads, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” This is the good news to a convinced conscience, that Christ, our Judge, came not to condemn but to save. God not only sent Him into the world, but He gave Him up to suffer and die for us, as the great propitiation or expiatory sacrifice. No man could have died for all men to be the propitiation for the sins of the world or humanity. Only God Himself, in the form of man, could have done it (John 1:1, 14). “In this the love of God was manifested toward us,” says the Bible, “that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9–10). The gift of God’s only begotten Son was the highest possible manifestation of love,

By: Sunny David Countless thousands of people live today under the illusion that God continues to speak directly to men today. Some claim that God speaks to them in dreams and visions. Some are publishing papers and magazines, constantly telling people that God has revealed to them this or that message, and they expect people to believe them. Indeed, some do believe whatever they say, because some people are so gullible and credulous that they would believe just anything preached to them in the name of God or religion. Not only that, but they become their followers and call them “Prophets” and “Forerunners of Christ’s second coming.” Who are these people who claim that God speaks to them today through visions or dreams? These are people who are ignorant of what the Bible teaches about how God speaks to man today. They are mentally sick. They are highly emotional, often being driven by the heart rather than by pure logic and by what the Bible teaches. They imagine things and tell people that that was what God had told them. They contemplate, view mentally on something that they personally believe to be the will of God, and might even see those things reappear to them in their dreams, and they conclude that God has been revealing those things to them! When they get a little publicity, by telling their imaginative stories to people who believe them, then they do that more, because it brings to them fame and honor, as well

Today, many people are misinformed about Christianity. Some are attracted to Christianity today for just having a social change. Others are attracted to Christianity by hearing the claims of some preachers who say they have power to heal people of their various diseases in the name Jesus Christ. Such, though, is not true. No man on earth today has the power to miraculously heal people, as Christ and His apostles were able to do. Those who claim such powers are deceiving people in the name of religion. Jesus performed many miracles. He healed the sick and raised the dead, among many other supernatural wonderful works. The Bible says, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30–31). Note, if you will, Jesus did many signs and miracles, in the presence of His disciples. He performed many signs and miracles in the presence of His disciples, whom He had chosen in the beginning to be His witnesses, after His death, resurrection and ascension back to Heaven. Jesus had not come primarily from Heaven to the Earth to work signs and miracles. He had come to die for sinners, to be the propitiation for the sins of the world (1 John 4:9–10). After His death, burial and resurrection from the dead, and before

As Jesus was nearing the time of His propitiatory death, subsequent resurrection and ascension to Heaven, He told His disciples, “’And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.’ Thomas said to Him, ’Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’” Jesus said to him, ’I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:3–6). Jesus was going back to the Father, God, from where He had come to accomplish the will and plan of God for human salvation from sin and to make them suitable for Heaven. He was, from the beginning, with God in Heaven, and was God Himself, as we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14). The last verse of chapter 5 in the epistle of 2 Corinthians reads, “For He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus had come to the earth to make man righteous. Only the righteous are

Jude cited three well-known illustrations from the Old Testament history to prove his point that disobedience to God leads to disaster. After exhorting Christians “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (v. 3 NKJV), Jude wrote, “Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit and perished in the rebellion of Korah” (v. 11). Regarding Cain we read: And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:3-7). Regarding Abel we read, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4). God accepted Abel’s gift because it was rendered by faith. Faith comes by hearing God’s word (Romans 10:17).

Blood plays some role in the system of belief for most religions of the world, as it did also in the Old Testament Jewish religion. Christianity, however, is the only religion which observes that God Himself became a man and shed His own blood for the ransom of humanity. The eternal Word, Who was with God from the beginning and was God, put on flesh and blood. We know Him best as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who shed His blood for us to wash us from our sins (John 1:1, 14; Philippians 2:6-8; Acts 20:28). Sin is the biggest human problem! “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” says Romans 3:23 (NKJV). Further, Isaiah 59:2 reads, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Almost all people everywhere on earth realize the presence of sin in their lives. This is evident from the many different religions that exist on earth. People everywhere worship God, though in several different ways, just as we read in Acts 17:23-31. Why do people worship, make all kinds of offerings, as well as follow various religious rituals and traditions? There is only one purpose, and that is, they all want to go to Heaven to be with God. They are all trying to please or to appease God, often by offering Him silver, gold and money or by making difficult journeys to presumed

In his epistle, Jude wrote to Christians to whom he had been very eager to write about the common salvation enjoyed by all followers of Christ. However, suddenly he changed the subject and said, “I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3 NKJV). The faith here implies the recognized body of teaching as we have today in the New Testament of the Bible. Nothing could have been more important in Jude’s generation, nor in our own, than the necessity of contending earnestly for the faith that was once forever delivered to Christians. To contend means to strive to protect something. The apostle Paul said to the Christians at Philippi when he wrote them, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). Scripturally speaking, there is only one faith (Ephesians 4:5). This one faith comes by hearing or learning from the Word of God, written in the Bible (Romans 10:17). Second Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith…” This means we should believe and practice only those things that are written in the Bible. Sometimes, people ask whether they should, as Christians, observe or practice certain things. I respond, “Is it

Reading from Matthew 16:18-19, we observe that Jesus told Peter that He would build His church on the rock, which was on Peter’s confession of Christ as the Son of the living God. In the same breath, Jesus also told Peter that He would give him the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and that whatever he would bind on Earth would be bound in Heaven, and whatever he would loose on Earth would be loosed in Heaven. Later, this promise was also made to the other apostles (Matthew 18:18). However, in this case, Christ was foretelling that Peter was going to preach the Gospel, and that He would be the first one to let people know what they must do to enter the church or the kingdom of Christ (Acts 2:37-41). He used the word “church” interchangeably with the word “kingdom.” It is noteworthy from the preceding texts in Matthew 16 that when Christ made the statement about building His church, He made no difference whatsoever between the two words “church” and “kingdom.” When He said that He would build His church, He also meant that He would establish His kingdom. True to the promise, when the first Gospel sermon was preached on the day of Pentecost following our Lord’s ascension, in the city of Jerusalem about A.D. 33, it was Peter who told those who had become believers in Christ to repent and to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Again, it is also significant that it

Thanks be to God for keeping us and allowing us to have another year. In the last few days, many have greeted us with a Happy New Year, and likewise we have said the same to so many people. Certainly, we all are looking forward to having a happy and blessed New Year, but to make a happy new year, there must be a proper use of time. Someone has pointed out, “Dost thou love life? Then waste not time, for that is the stuff that life is made of.” The apostle Paul wrote, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16 NKJV). Someone else has rightly said, “Nothing is more precious than time, and those who misspend it are the greatest prodigals.” Character may break to pieces and be built up again. Health may be lost and regained. Silver and gold might be lost but time can regain them. However, time itself cannot be recalled. The brevity and uncertainty of time emphasizes our responsibility in the way we should use it. True, nothing is more precious than time. To redeem the time means taking advantage of the available time or to buy back the neglected opportunities. When the children of Israel were heading to the Promised Land – when they came near it, just before entering –  Joshua who was leading them cautioned them by saying, “That you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before” (Joshua 3:4).

In one of his epistles to Christians, the apostle Peter wrote, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar [“special” NKJV] people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9 KJV). How are Christians different or distinct from all other people of the world? They breathe the same air, eat the same food, drink the same water and enjoy the same sunshine. Then, how are they different, peculiar or special? Christians are different because they do not follow the standard set by the world; they are trying to live by following the steps or teachings of Christ (1 Peter 2:21). Christ taught that His followers are in the world but are not of the world, as He was not of the world when He was on earth (John 17:14-16). They are urged to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2). By becoming Christians, they have put off the old man of sin and have put on the new man, which is Jesus Christ, when they were baptized into His death (Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 4:17-24). Philippians 3:20 says our citizenship is in Heaven. Sure, on earth we are citizens of the countries in which we live, and as Christians, we are to live as responsible people in our nations. Our first responsibility, however, is to God, as Christ taught

While teaching that Christ’s resurrection was the greatest proof that our own resurrection will occur at His coming to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31; John 5:28-29), the apostle Paul asked the Corinthians, “Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?” (1 Corinthians 15:29 NKJV). Some have held that there was a custom practiced by some in the first century of baptizing people – living persons –  for the benefit of the individuals who had died without baptism. Some think that in 1 Corinthians 15:29 the apostle was using an argument based upon what some Christians were doing at Corinth – practicing vicarious baptism, baptizing Christians on behalf of deceased acquaintances who, while under instruction and faith development, had died before completing their primary obedience to the Gospel (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). The obvious difficulty in imagining such allusion here is met by emphasizing that the apostle did not here evaluate such a practice with which he would have been in complete disagreement and merely mentioned it in an argument in making his overall case for the resurrection. Moreover, had such a custom existed there or at any other place in the first century, then, certainly the apostle Paul would have denounced it, as he did in every other case where Christians were deviating from the truth. He certainly would not have used such an unscriptural practice as an example

The apostle John, in his first epistle to his fellow Christians, wrote, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1-2 NKJV). What a glorious thought it is that when Christ comes back, He will raise our mortal bodies in the likeness of His glorious body. Compare what the apostle Paul also wrote. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21). However, if we want to be like Jesus in Heaven, we should first try to become like Him on earth. Note that the apostle Peter taught, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). What do we learn from Christ? The first thing we learn from Christ is that He was obedient to the Father in Heaven in all things. The Bible says, “though

The apostle Paul entered Athens almost nineteen hundred years ago. While preaching the Gospel of God in that Grecian city, many who heard him exclaimed, “…You are bringing some strange things to our ears…” (Acts 17:20). The apostle told them about the one true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, as well as all that is in them – including man himself. The people of Athens were very religiously inclined. They attempted to worship God, but they were trying to worship God Whom they did not know. They were ignorant of the One True God. Hence, Paul told them, “…Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). They were sincerely worshipping God Whom they didn’t know. They didn’t know His will. They didn’t know how to worship God acceptably, as He revealed. Their worship was based on their own imaginations; they were following traditions they had learned from their parents or others. So, Paul told them they were worshipping God ignorantly. Hearing Paul preach the truth, they exclaimed, “You are bringing some strange things to our ears.” Millions of people have the same attitude today for the truth of the Gospel. Today, many religious people, who believe the Bible to be the Word of God and who believe that Christ is the Savior and the Son of God, find it very strange when Gospel teaching is brought to their attention. They are astonished to learn that according to the teaching

When Christ in the beginning established His church, as He had promised in Matthew 16:18, Christians sang psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in the worship of God, without the use of any kind of instruments of music. They were taught, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). Likewise, Christians in Ephesus were instructed, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). When the Roman Catholic church began hundreds of years after the establishment of the church of Christ, it began to use mechanical instruments of music in its worship. In the beginning of the 16th century when the Protestant movement started, founders and leaders of prominent denominational churches, including Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Wesley, spoke against the use of instruments of music in the worship of God. Christ taught, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). God desires that people, whom He created, should worship Him with their hearts and lips, which God made and not through musical instruments which man made. Hebrews 13:15 teaches, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” [Editor’s Note: The foregoing is part of

The great fundamental fact of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus Christ! The resurrection bears directly upon the fact whether or not He is the Son of God, and thus upon His claim that He came from Heaven (John 1:1, 14; 3:16). Romans 1:4 says, “And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.” The foundation on which the entire doctrine of Christianity is based is the fact of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The extreme importance of this teaching is seen in the part that it played in the preaching of the apostles who declared boldly in every place that Christ Who was crucified and buried in a tomb rose from the dead on the third day after His death, as He had promised. The apostle Peter preached to the Jews: Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know – Him, being delivered by the determine purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. (Acts 2: 22-24) The apostle Paul aptly stated, “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (1

Recently in a Bible class, someone put forth this question: “How do I know I am saved from my sins?” This is a very important question for every one of us. You see, if we are not saved on earth, we will not be saved in Heaven, since only the saved ones will enter Heaven. So, how does one surely know he is saved? There are plenty of people who would explain this by saying that one’s feeling is the evidence or the proof of one’s salvation. In other words, they believe, when a person accepts Jesus Christ as one’s personal Savior, and then, this brings good feeling into one’s heart because he feels that he has been forgiven. Yet, the question is, “How can one know if his feelings are right or wrong?” One’s feelings are the result of one’s education or knowledge. Someone may feel happy upon learning certain news, but if he had not learned the truth or if had he been misinformed, then, his feelings would be wrong. His happy feelings would not change the truth, like in the case of the rich fool about whom we read in Luke 12:15-21. There is no place in the Bible where we are taught by a command or an example that one is saved by his feelings. In fact, the Bible teaches the very opposite to this view in Matthew 7:22-23. Here the Lord said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not

For many years, people have been taught that their babies must be baptized. The doctrine of infant baptism grew out of a belief that should a child die without having been baptized, he or she would suffer eternal punishment in hell with the devil and his angels. It is supposed that souls share in Adam’s guilt, and every person, therefore, is under condemnation and is punishable for the inherited guilt quite apart from any actual sins one may commit. Hence, the manmade doctrine of original sin teaches that children are born with the guilt of sin through inheritance and are depraved in nature. However, this is not what the Bible teaches. Had it been so that children are born in sin, and thus depraved, Christ would not have said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted, and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Again, in another instance, when little children were being brought to Him so that He might put His hands on them and pray, His disciples rebuked those who were bringing their children to Him. Then, Jesus said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). Now, if those children were depraved sinners, as it is supposed by some people, why did Christ say, “of such is the kingdom of heaven”? Further, why did He tell the

In First Kings 13, we read about a young prophet who had honestly and resolutely refused the king’s invitation, though the king promised a great reward. The prophet said, “If you were to give me half of your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came’” (1 Kings 13:8-9). What a wonderful attitude we find in this man as he respected what the Lord had told him to do. Yet, in the following verses we read he was over persuaded by an old prophet to come back with him and eat with him in his house—contrary to the command of God. The old prophet, as we read, had deceived him by saying, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” The text says, “He was lying to him.” “So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water” (1 Kings 13:18-19). Next, we read, “Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of

When Jesus lived on earth, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were the two most popular religious sects among the Jews. They felt threatened by Christ’s plain and truthful teaching. So, they often tried to embarrass Jesus by posing ensnaring questions to Him. They were always scheming with how they might entangle Jesus in His talk. Therefore, they would often bring to Him very tricky and mischievous questions with such intentions. Jesus, however, refuted their arguments each time and reduced them to silence. On one occasion when Jesus had silenced the Pharisees by giving a very fitting answer to their question, we read: The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman dies also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.” Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning resurrection of the dead, have you not

Many people believe that the Bible is the most difficult book to understand. Yet, the truth is, the Bible is the book of God’s message to man everywhere. Through the pages of the Bible, God, man’s Creator, has revealed and communicated His will for all humans. God desires all people to know and to follow His will, as He wants all to be saved and none to perish in ignorance (2 Peter 3:9). He is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and He has revealed His will for man in such a manner and in words that all should understand and follow. On the other hand, if He is unable to do this, then how can we say that He is the Almighty God? Being God, the Creator of man, He knows man better than man knows himself. He knows exactly what and how much man is able to understand. Just as we humans know how to communicate with our children, so God knows how to communicate with His children. He is capable to so reveal His will to man that we can all understand it alike. What it reads to you, it also reads to me, and this is true globally. His Word—the Bible—doesn’t tell people to do different things in various places. What it says to an individual in China, Britain or America, it says the same to me here, in whatever language I want to read it. Christ taught that God’s Word is the seed of the

Over the years there have been many distortions of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity, which is the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as three distinct spiritual Persons in one Godhead. The word “Godhead” or the “Divine Nature” appears in the New Testament three times in Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20 and Colossians 2:9. It simply means “that which is divine.” There are various Bible references that indicate that there are three divine Personalities Who are eternal and are identified as God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. The English word “God” is the translation of the Hebrew word “Elohim,” which is a plural of the Majesty. The plural form “Elohim” carrying with it the actual meaning of the Godhead appears more than three thousand times in the Old Testament. This means that in most cases when the English reader reads the word ”God” in the Bible in the singular sense, the Scriptures are actually referring to the Godhead, in the plural sense. For instance, when in Genesis 1:1 we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” translated literally from Hebrew, in the language Moses wrote, it would read, “In the beginning Gods created…” This is how the plural word “Elohim” would read. There was a plurality of divine beings in the beginning when this creation was perfected. This is evidently clear as we read in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…’”—a plurality of persons being used.

A modern dictionary defines the word “church” as “a building where Christians go to worship.” Most people have an unscriptural idea concerning the church, as a material building made of brick, mortar and stones. The word “church,” however, is never used in the New Testament of the Bible to convey such a meaning. The English word “church” is a translation of the Greek word “ekklesia,” which Christ actually used in Matthew 16:18 when He promised to build His church. The Greek word “ekklesia” means “the body of citizens or the assembly of a select people.” When the Bible was translated from Greek into the Latin language in the second century A.D., the Greek word “ekklesia” was translated in Latin as “chirche.” In the Roman world, the word “chirche” was used for a religious building or a place of worship. Later, John Wycliffe in his English translation of the Bible, in 1380-84, anglicized the word “chirche” and rendered it as “church.” The Bible meaning of the church, however, has never changed. The Bible still speaks of the church as the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23) and says, “He is the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). The church is also spoken of as the “house of God” (1 Timothy 3:15), and 1 Peter 2:5 says Christians are living stones which make up the house of God. To Christians at Corinth the apostle Paul wrote, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Another striking

Many have asked the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” Some have answered by saying, “He was a great teacher, a good man or a prophet.” Some have thought that Jesus was wholly man and not God at all. They say His beginning was with His birth into the world. Some believe that Jesus was the most glorious of God’s creation, but still a creature. Still some others say Jesus existed in Heaven from the beginning with God the Father as His Son. Then, there are those who believe Jesus to be one of the incarnations of God, who appeared in the world in different forms, at various times. They believe in recurring manifestations of God who appeared in human form to give direction to men on earth; so, they think that Jesus was one of these appearances of God made on earth. Conflicting views arise about the Person of Jesus Christ because people speak from hearsay and the opinions of men. However, if we want to learn and to know the truth about Jesus Christ, then, we must go to the primary source of information about Him, that is, the Bible. Who is He according to the Bible? Let us investigate biblical testimony in order to evaluate and to determine what God’s truth on the subject is. According to the Bible, Jesus is unique in both His Person and His purpose. He wasn’t just some spiritual leader, teacher or a prophet during His time on earth. Instead, He was both

The man in John 9:31 said that “God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.” His observation was absolutely right. If one is not willing to do what God says, one should not expect God to hear his prayer. Proverbs 15:29 declares, “The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the righteous.” Proverbs 28:9 says, “One who turns away his ears from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” God speaks to us today through the New Testament of His Son, just as He spoke to the people under the Old Testament law through Moses and the prophets (Hebrews 1:1-2). He expects us to hear Him and heed Him. We speak to Him by prayer. Prayer is a privilege given to God’s children (1 John 5:14-15). However, if God’s Word is not regarded by us, our prayers shall not only be rejected by God, but they shall be an abomination to Him. Amongst many errors preached in the name of the Bible, one that is preached most by denominational preachers is telling people to pray the sinners’ prayer and God will save them. In many cases, the preacher tells his listeners to “repeat after me” this or something similar, “Lord, I am a sinner, and I repent of my sins, please come into my heart and save me.” Then the preacher says, “If you prayed this prayer, you are now saved and a

Most people believe that as long as one is sincere and honest about his religious beliefs that it does not matter what one does religiously and that all religious people will finally enter Heaven. In essence, all humanity is trying to worship and please the same God who is the Creator of all things, including man. All humanity has sinned against God. Yet, the world is very much divided religiously. There are many faiths and many different beliefs about origins. In almost every religion on earth there are many honest and sincere people who are trying their best to please God and thus hope that He will open the door of Heaven for them when they leave their earthly existence. However, the fact is that being sincere and honest does not always and necessarily mean that one is right. One may sincerely drink or swallow poison from a wrongly labeled bottle of medicine, honestly believing it to be the right medicine, and die. Poison will not save one, no matter how sincerely it is taken. The Bible says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 16:25). Through the account of the wise and the foolish builder, Christ taught a very powerful lesson on this subject that we all need to heed. He said: Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many

During this time of the year, people are frequently greeting each other with a “Happy New Year.” What do they mean? Most mean nothing; they just say those words traditionally, just as some say, “Praise the Lord” (Exodus 20:7). Christ, however, almost two thousand years ago, in His sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, taught how man can achieve the true happiness while living on this earth and in the world to come. The ingredient of genuine and true happiness that Christ revealed, though paradoxically, are so valuable, that if followed, they will bring happiness to any individual not only in this world but also in eternity. Christ taught, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The word “blessed” means “happy.” Being poor in spirit is that quality of recognizing one’s spiritual destitution in such a degree as to be enabled to approach God, not as the Pharisee, but as the publican, supplicating the Father for necessary and desirable blessings (Luke 18:9-14). One must have the genuine spirit of poverty and destitution to the extent that even if he possesses his wealth, he possesses it as if he possessed it not. It is to come off from all confidence in our own righteousness and strength that we may depend only upon the merit of God through Christ for our justification, to enable us to become worthy of the kingdom of Heaven (Romans 3:21-26). Secondly, Christ taught, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

The Bible at Ephesians 5:23 teaches that Christ is the Savior of the body. Now what is the body? The body is the church. Speaking of God, the apostle Paul said, “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). Again, speaking of Christ, the apostle said, “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18). In verse 24 of the same chapter, the apostle again stated, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.” So, the body of which Christ is the Savior is the church. In saying Christ is the Savior of the body, the apostle in effect was saying Christ is the Savior of the church. Now the question is, “Which church?” There are hundreds and perhaps thousands of churches on earth today, with different names, following different patterns of worship and teaching different doctrines. In the first century when the apostle wrote these words, there was only one church—the one that Christ had promised to build. He had said it’s going to be, “My church” (Matthew 16:18). The Bible says that Jesus adds daily to the

King David, in Psalm 19:13, prayed to God, saying, “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me…” To sin presumptuously against God means to defy or to refuse to obey God, and thus to show disrespect to God’s authority. The sin of presumption is one of the deadliest sins. Those who were found sinning presumptuously against God in Old Testament time were certainly and promptly punished (Numbers 15:30-31), as the following examples show. In 1 Samuel 15, we read about Saul, the first king of Israel. God, through His prophet Samuel, had commanded Saul to go to Amalek and to utterly destroy all and everything of the Amalekites because of their hostility toward Israel when the new nation was coming out of Egypt. Saul gathered his army and went to Amalek to do what God had commanded him to do. When he was coming back from Amalek, Samuel met him on the way. On seeing Samuel, Saul proudly said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” But Samuel said to him, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” To that Saul replied, “They [that is, the people who had accompanied him] have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have

Many in the world believe that one is saved by faith alone, without any act of obedience. Most preachers teach that all one has to do to be saved by the blood of Christ is to accept Jesus as one’s personal Savior. It is said that “the doctrine of faith and faith alone is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” However, the Bible teaches, Jesus Christ is the Author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. To obey means, “to do what one is told or expected to do.” Speaking about Christ, the Bible says, “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). Notice, He was a Son, the only begotten of the Father (John 1:18). One would have thought this might have exempted Him from obedience, but it did not. By His suffering, He was made perfect, and He became the Author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. The salvation Christ accomplished for humanity by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8), is actually bestowed on none but on those who obey Christ, and not on those who merely believe in Christ and accept Him as their personal Savior (James 2:24). It is not sufficient that one has some doctrinal knowledge of Christ, or that one makes a profession of

“Justification” in legal language means to “acquit” or “to state officially in court that somebody is not guilty of a crime.” In the New Testament, it refers to God’s gracious act (Romans 8:33), grounded in the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 4:25), by which He accepts into a right relationship with Him the sinner who in faith entrusts himself to Christ. The true Scriptural justification “by faith” has no reference at all to the faith of sinner, but to the “faith of the Son of God” by whose perfect faith the sinner is justified. Justification means God’s reckoning a man to be righteous who has no righteousness of his own. The individual who believes in Christ, repents of all wrongs and is baptized for the remission of sins according to the Scriptures (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38) is justified, accounted righteous, while still a sinner, by the blood of Christ. God, at that point, declares the believing obedient person to be righteous, while he is ungodly. If God changed him first, he would not be ungodly. The sinner’s faith, repentance and baptism are not “meritorious” works. They are simply giving God the credit of revealing the truth of His grace in the Gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). It is Christ’s shed blood, and that alone, which is the procuring cause of God’s declaring an ungodly individual to be righteous or justified. While God’s grace is the reason for it, man’s faith and obedience to His commands is simply the instrumental condition

Contrary to the teachings and opinions of men that one is saved at the very moment one believes in Christ or when one prays the sinner’s prayer, the Bible very clearly teaches that to be saved in Christ one must hear His Gospel message and believe it, repent of sins, confess Christ to be the Son of God and be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins. This does not mean, however, that this is all one must do to be saved and to go to Heaven, but each person must follow these initial steps to begin the Christian walk. When Christ was going back to Heaven, He had charged His disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15-16). Christ didn’t stop at “He who believes,” but said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Preachers who offer salvation by “faith only,” therefore, deceive people (Romans 16:17-18). Then, there are those who insist that one must have a supernatural experience to be saved or to be “born again,” an idea that is most irrational and unbiblical. This concept, variously advocated, supposes that at some particular moment, with emotions better felt than told, in answer to prayer, under the emotional appeal of revivalism or in some other bizarre circumstance, the sinner suddenly experiences faith. At that moment, it is supposed that all his sins are forgiven, he is transformed spiritually, born again and saved eternally. Some claim to

Another year has gone, and that is another reminder of just how fleeting our time on earth is. As James said, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). The brevity, the frailty and the uncertainty of life ought to check the vanity and presumptuous confidence of every individual. However, almost all people go about with the evident expectation of continued living in this passing world, without realizing that the human life is like a vapor that appears for a while and then vanishes away. We may plan what we intend to do in the next few weeks or months, but anything may happen to prevent us from doing that. The point is that we have no certainty of life. We know nothing of tomorrow, and certainly not of a year into the future (Proverbs 27:1). While man’s physical life is uncertain (1 Peter 1:24), his spiritual life is certain. Having been created, in the beginning, in the image and after the likeness of God, His Creator (Genesis 1:26-27), man is destined to live forever, like His Maker. The end of physical life for man on earth is not the end of man’s existence. There is no power on earth that can obliterate man’s spiritual existence. The physical life of man vanishes away as to this world, but there is a life that will continue in the other, spiritual world. Yet, since this life is so

Almost two thousand years ago when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, the Bible says, “Behold wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:1-2). The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was in fulfillment of many prophesies that were recorded hundreds of years before in the Old Testament of the Bible. Prophet Micah almost seven centuries before the birth of Christ had foretold, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be ruler of Israel, Whose going forth are from of old, From everlasting” (Micah 5:2). Isaiah, another prophet of God, had declared, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The word Immanuel means God with us. When Jesus was born, God entered the ranks of humanity, became a man in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, and paid the penalty of human sins—laying upon Himself, in the person of His Son, the iniquity of us all (John 1:1, 14; 3:16). Isaiah had also predicted that the child Who would be born as God’s Son would be a King Who would rule in His everlasting kingdom forever (Isaiah

Affirming his interest and concern in his own Jewish people, the apostle Paul wrote in his epistle to the Romans that his heart’s desire and his prayer to God was that they may be saved, but then he said, “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). They were not consciously rebellious to God; in fact, they manifested an apparent zeal for God in their pursuit of the righteousness that they believed would come to them by obeying the Law of Moses (Romans 9:31-32). However, they were not enlightened concerning the righteousness that God grants to all who will accept it in faith (Romans 4:16), even the righteousness that is through the faith of Christ (Philippians 3:9). It was their ignorance of the righteousness that comes from God which prompted them to continue in their vain efforts to obtain their own righteousness through their own religious, good works. They were not deliberately resisting God’s will; they just did not understand what His will truly was. While it was commendable though that they had a zeal for God, yet, zeal without knowledge is dangerous. It’s like someone wanting to fly an airplane without any knowledge of flying an aircraft. That would destroy both the airplane and the flyer if flight were attempted. There is such a thing as a blind, misguided zeal. In the religious world today there is a great deal said about the Holy Spirit, especially about the

There is only one Taj Mahal in the whole world. People from all over the world come to India to see the Taj Mahal. How would you react if someone told you that he went to Japan to see the Taj Mahal? The apostle Paul had the same reaction concerning the Gospel when he wrote to people in Galatia. He said, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-8). Paul’s marveling was real and genuine because there is only one Gospel of Jesus Christ; there is only one way to be saved. Yet there, the Galatians were turning to a “different gospel.” Jesus Christ, the Author of the Gospel sent His disciples into all the world to preach the Gospel—not gospels (plural) as some erroneously refer to the first four books of the New Testament, saying, “the Gospels” (plural). The first four books of the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—contain the message of the Gospel of Christ. They consist of four accounts of the same one Gospel. There is only one Gospel, not four gospels. The Gospel of Christ consists of three important ingredients, which are: Christ died for

The Bible teaches that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). To be saved from sin, one must be taught, believe in Him and be baptized (Mark 16:16). Those whom He saves, He adds to His church (Acts 2:47), which is His kingdom (Matthew 16:18-19). At His coming again on the last day, Jesus will receive His kingdom unto Himself, and He will deliver the kingdom, the church, to God the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24). “And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). One must, therefore, be in the church to be saved and to finally enter heaven. However, as much as it is required to believe and obey the Gospel to be saved and to become a member of the church of Christ, it is also equally important to remain saved in Him until the end. Christ taught, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). People become followers of Jesus Christ after hearing His Gospel, believing in Him, repenting of their sins, confessing Him to be the Son of God and being baptized for the remission of their sins. Christ, according to His promise, adds them to the church, and they try to be faithful to Him for some time by attending worship services of the church every Sunday and by staying away from all sinful things and bad habits in which they formerly engaged. However, due to the lure of sin

Some people are too willing to believe or accept what other people tell them, and therefore, they are easily tricked. It is folly to be credulous or naive, to heed every flying news, to give ear to every man’s story, and to trust and to accept everything as true. There are all kinds of scams, and too often people get duped or tricked fraudulently by clever, dishonest scammers. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world get conned by investing in Ponzi schemes that appear to be very lucrative to many simple people. However, they soon discover with great shock that they had been duped and swindled of their hard earned, and in many cases borrowed, money. Not only is this true physically, but it is also true spiritually (Romans 16:17-18). Many honest and simple people have believed lies as though they were God’s truth of the Bible because they have heard them stated and seen them followed since their childhood over and over again by those who claim to be Christians. On the Day of Judgment, Christ will say, “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:22-23). Were they sincere? Yes, they were sincere and honest both in what they believed and in what they claimed. Yet,

Recently, when a city in the United States of America exploded into rioting and anarchy over the weekend following the death of a young African-American man in dubious circumstances at the hands of the police, hundreds of African-American agitated youths swept across the city burning and destroying properties and looting at will. However, the young man who was chased down by the police and killed had been arrested eighteen times previously by the police and had several convictions, mostly for drug possession and distribution. It also turned out that he had a difficult childhood. However, the person who was grabbing the headlines, around the same time, was the mother of another African-American 16-year-old boy who publicly smacked her son for taking part in the riot. She was caught on camera berating and clobbering her son and chasing him home after she spotted him carrying rocks to hurl at the police. She was even heard saying, “That’s my only son and at the end of the day I don’t want him to be another Freddie Gray.” The question is not just whether the young man was killed by the police, but what caused him to get to the station in life where he was chased down by the police. The wise one at Proverbs 22:6 wrote, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Parents are custodians of their children. To them it is enjoined that they train

According to the Bible, Christ made the promise to His followers: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). When will Jesus come back? No one knows (Matthew 24:36). Not only does the Bible teach that Christ will come back one day again to receive His followers, but it further teaches where He will come, how He will come, what Christ will do when He comes, and what events will take place at the second coming of Christ, all simultaneously. The day of Christ’s Second Coming is called “the last day” or “the day of the Lord” (John 12:48). In 2 Peter 3:10 we read, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and works that are in it will be burned up.” Since the earth will be burned up when Christ comes again, we therefore know that He will not come back on this earth again. Where will He come then? Speaking to the followers of Christ, the apostle Paul said, “For the Lord Himself will

During His personal ministry on earth, a large number of people had believed on Christ, especially by seeing His mighty and wonderful works. However, there were many who no longer went about with Him because they could not make the complete surrender of themselves in an obedient faith – so they turned back. They were offended at His teaching and said, “This is a hard saying who can understand it? …from that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:60, 66). They walked with Him no more because His teaching did not find an abiding place in their hearts. Jesus attached a condition to being truly His disciples. “If you continue in my word,” he told them, “then indeed you are My disciples” (John 8:31). The point is, it is not enough to just accept Jesus and believe in Him, as many do today. Instead, the true disciple is obedient to His Word. “But why do you call Me Lord, Lord,” Christ said in one place, “and not do the things I say?” A disciple is a follower of Christ, a learner who has believed, obeyed and continues to follow and abide in His teaching. To those who had believed in Him, He did not say, “You have believed in Me and therefore you are saved.” Rather He said in effect, “Now that you have believed, if you really want to be my disciples, do what I have commanded.” In John 15:14 He

Recently, I bought a little book entitled Believe and Be Baptized. In it, the author vainly tried to show his readers that baptism follows conversion and that baptism is just an outward sign of an inward salvation. In one place, explaining Acts 2:38, he says, “They must REPENT in order to be forgiven and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” How brazen one could get to prove an error! Is this what Acts 2:38 in your Bible reads? The Bible clearly states: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” The Bible teaches one must both repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins—not just repent. Yet, in another place in his book he writes, “A person is not baptized to make him a Christian, but rather to show he is a Christian.” The Bible in Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Can one be a Christian without getting into Christ or without putting on Christ? How does one put on Christ? The Bible teaches, through baptism into Christ in whom we have redemption through His blood, one receives the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14). The apostle Peter, in his first epistle, linked baptism with salvation and used Noah’s ark and the floods as an illustration. He stated in 1 Peter

Millions of people around the world every year celebrate December 25th as a special religious “holy day” because they believe it marks the date of Christ’s birthday. It may, however, come as a surprise to you to learn that Christmas is a religious observance of wholly human origin. The Bible, which is the source of learning about Christianity, is completely silent concerning any special festivities to commemorate the date of Christ’s birth. The observance of Christmas did not originate in the apostolic age, and thus, it is without divine sanction. As a matter of fact, the word Christmas, which means “Mass of Christ,” does not even once appear anywhere in the Bible. Furthermore, it is not possible to determine in what month, on what date or on which day Jesus was born. The Bible gives two accounts of the birth of Jesus, and they are found in Matthew chapters 1 and 2, and in Luke 2. No mention is made of Christ’s date of birth. We are living in the year of our Lord, A.D. (Anno Domini) and all the time before His birth on earth is known as B.C. (before Christ). All people on earth, therefore, accept and admit advertently or inadvertently when they write a date on any piece of paper or document that almost two thousand years ago Jesus Christ was born on earth. Yet, in what month and on what day or date Christ was born, the Bible is silent. No command is given for Christ’s

The Bible teaches that Christians are a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). They are a peculiar people because they do not follow the standard set by the world, but they are trying to live by following the steps of Christ as they are taught (1 Peter 2:21). Christ said His followers are in the world but are not of the world, as He was not of the world when He was on earth (John 17:14-16). The apostle Paul wrote, our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Sure, on earth we are citizens of the country in which we live, and as Christians we are a responsible people in our nation. Our first responsibility, however, is to God, as Christ taught in Matthew 6:33. We must, therefore, try to live daily our lives on earth in such manner that through all our actions God`s name may be glorified (Matthew 5:16). As Christians we are also responsible to our fellow beings; Christ taught, “whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12). We want others to speak well of us and to do good for us, and so we should do likewise towards others. We do not want others to cheat us, to lie to us or to harm us in any way, and so we must first do the same to others. As Christians we owe a debt to our nation. We enjoy freedom and protection from evil and lawless men. Only a settled government can