Baptize My Disciples

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV). There are several commands given here, but the one we will focus on is about baptism. Water baptism is a public statement that you are a believer in Jesus Christ and symbolizes three things: you have died with Jesus Christ to your old self, you have risen with Jesus Christ to become a new creature in Christ, and you are incorporating your life into a body of believers to serve God as he leads you.

Why are we to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? All three were involved at the baptism of Jesus. The Holy Spirit came as a dove, the Father spoke from heaven, and Jesus was baptized. We are to identify with each person in faith, service, worship, and obedience. In using all three names, we confirm the trinity and our relationship to each person of the trinity.

Prayer

Father, it is clear from Acts that each believer is to be baptized and by command of Jesus, we are to be a witness. Baptism is to be a public witness of our identity with Jesus Christ. This conformation can in some areas of persecution result in death. Father, I find that many who resist baptism also resist being a witness of their faith in Jesus. It appears to me that in refusing baptism one is confirming that convenience and apparent embarrassment have greater influence that obedience to God. Father, show mercy to those who resist and encourage them to obedience.

See "The Commands of Jesus" Index to view other commands.

Genesis 3:15

“And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NASB). In class on Sunday, Wayne Dishman our gifted teacher, asked us where the first mention of the virgin birth was found. I volunteered the above verse, which then led to a very interesting lesson. The virgin birth is implied in the phrase “her seed” because without a man providing the seed the only other way is for God to provide it because a woman does not have seed on her own. This led to a comparison of Matthew 1:1 with 1:18.

“The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:” (Matthew 1:1 NASB). Versus 2 through 16 provide the natural, earthly genealogy from Abraham to Joseph, the husband of Mary. This geology is through the seed of men.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18 NASB). This genealogy is eternal, divine, and supernatural. The seed for the child came from God, thus the seed of Mary. The eternal Son of God was given as seed and Mary gave birth to a child we call Jesus.

Prayer

Father, how special it is to take time and carefully study your word. Each Sunday something special is learned from the verses or even part of a verse being covered in class. It took the class I am in two years to work through 1 Peter. In January we will start James. As a book I have taught several times, l look forward to what I can learn sitting under a gifted teacher. 

Await My Return

“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:42-44 ESV). In the ESV translation, our verses are found in the section titled, “No One Knows That Day and Hour”. This not knowing can relate to many things; such as the flood that came in the days of Noah, the day of our spiritual birth, the day of our physical death, but especially the day of the coming of the Lord.

The context of the section our verses are in relation to the importance of being ready for the coming of the Lord. I find it interesting, and I think appropriate, that the “coming” of the Lord is used, not the “return” of the Lord. For a few the event may be the return of the Lord, but for most it will be his coming at our physical death like in the days of Noah. If it is important to be ready for his coming, then what must we do to be ready?

As we look through the verses surrounding our verses, we find being ready includes such things as being awake. On one of my return flights from China I fell asleep waiting for my flight and didn’t wake up until just minutes before takeoff. I managed to be the last one to board, but I made it. We must also be at work for the Lord; we don’t retire at a particular point and say, “I have done my part,” but we continue to press on. The most important thing we must be doing is working out our salvation; which means we have been born spiritually and are growing in Christlikeness.

Prayer

Father, it would be easier to sleep longer in the mornings and watch TV in the evenings than to work at writing Bible studies to post on the Internet, but then the quality of my life would not be as good and I would not have the blessing of being part of the lives of those around the world that read them, nor would I enjoy the nourishment I receive from my study or the blessing of my time with the Lord. I pray for physical health to allow me to be involved with the Lord until the day he comes to take me home with him.

See "The Commands of Jesus" Index to view other commands.

Ask, Seek, Knock

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 ESV). Our verses come from an extended teaching, by Jesus, known as the Sermon on the Mount. The three action words, ask, seek and knock indicate a need for something. You ask is to say something in order to obtain an answer or some information. It may be a request for someone to give or to do something. To seek is to try to find something by looking, searching and asking. To knock is to strike something for the purpose of attracting attention for help in gaining access to something.

it is easy to lift verses like these out of context and use them to request almost anything. In the general context of these verses the emphases would seem to relate to the work of reforming others and ourselves spiritually. There is the work of finding lost sheep and developing them to the point of spiritual birth, then there is the work of spiritual growth in them and ourselves. As believers, our assignment is not to become rich in the things of the world, but in the things of God and in the process we are to be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel. To do this work we are to ask, seek and knock to obtain what is needed to do this work.

When we ask we are to ask for good gifts; for bread not a stone and for fish and not a serpent. Think about this in terms of heaven verses the world. We are to ask in his name and according to his spirit. These three words may imply different levels of intensity. Asking may be a general prayer of request. Seeking would add a level of work to our prayers and in knocking we are at the gate of our Fathers house in a state of urgency.

Prayer

Father, as I have matured spiritually I see a shift from asking for myself to asking for others. As I write Bible lessons and post them I find a growing number of readers in a growing number of countries, which burdens me to pray for them, especially for those living in countries of persecution. As I write I pray that I would have the mind of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and as the word goes forth that it would not return void, but would accomplish that which was intended; the seeking of lost sheep and the spiritual growth of believers.

See "The Commands of Jesus" Index to view other commands.

Ask in Faith

“And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."” (Matthew 21:21-22 ESV). The context of our verses is about the fig tree Jesus cursed when he found nothing but leaves on it. Jesus said to the tree, “May you never bear fruit again!” and immediately the tree withered. As the disciples watched the tree wither, they asked Jesus how it withered so quickly? Our verses contain the answer to their question.

Jesus tells them it is the result of faith that does not doubt and if they had enough faith they could do the same thing, even move mountains. How much faith do you have? Jesus was able to do this, but for us there has to be a different meaning. Paul uses the same expression, “if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2 ESV) as an emphasis of great faith. The idea is not to move physical mountains, but to accomplish great things through faith.

Looking at the general context of our verses, we find the Jews bound to the law with their lives bearing many leaves but no fruit. In cursing the fig tree, Jesus is demonstrating how strongly he opposes the one whose life is barren of fruit, like the Jews. The mountain that need to be removed by faith is that which hinders us from bearing much fruit to God’s glory. Does our faith leave us in the condition of the fig tree or does our faith result in a tree that bears much fruit like the tree planted by streams of water?

Prayer

Father, I pray that we would have the faith to remove the mountains that stand in our way of bearing much fruit to your glory.

See "The Commands of Jesus" Index to view other commands.

Why Mary?

“And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:38 ESV). Gabriel was sent by God to a virgin, whose name was Mary, to tell her that she would conceive and bear a son who was to be named Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the most high God. My friend, and gifted Bible teacher and preacher, Wayne Dishman, posed the following question to our Sunday school class: “Why did God choose Mary?”

Gabriel greeted her with, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Verse 26) Why did Mary find favor with God that led him to choose her? First, it was her child like Faith. Mary asked Gabriel how she could conceive since she was a virgin. He explained that nothing is impossible with God. Then in childlike faith Mary responds with, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Verse 38)

Second, was her humility (Luke 1:46-48). The disciples came to asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,” (Matthew 18:3-5 ESV). Humility is required to receive God and since Mary had a humble spirit she received God through conception, to give birth to Jesus.

Third, was her preparation. As a child Mary had been taught the prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and now with this encounter with Gabriel, she knew God had chosen her and breaks out in a song of praise: “. . . My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” (Luke 1:46-50 ESV).

How did Mary come to have the qualities mentioned above? I believe that according to his plan, God chose Mary and developed her to be the person he would enter as the seed of God to enable him to enter the human race, according to prophecy, to provide our redemption. A virgin birth was required because a virgin birth implies God is the Father of the child and thus born without sin. Yes, all things are possible with God.

Prayer

Father, what a beautiful parallel our spiritual birth is to the physical birth of Jesus. You chose Mary and she conceived as the seed of God was placed in her and she bore Jesus. You chose us and place an imperishable seed within us and a new creature is conceived and in due time we are born spiritually. Our salvation is truly intentional on your part and for that I am eternity thankful.  

Free Will or Predestination

I had three teens in my car one day and one asked me if I believed in predestination or our free will. That led to an interesting discussion as we traveled and the basis for this blog entry. My response was that in a sense both ideas are true, not one or the other as so many think.

As I study the Scriptures, I find two views of salvation; one from earth and one from heaven. There are verses that support the view from earth and are used by those to justify their position of our free will. There are other verses that support the view from heaven and are used by those to justify their position of predestination.

I have chosen two groups of verses; one for each view and listed them below with a link to comments on each verse.

Earthly – Free Will

• Receive – John 1:12
• Believe – Acts 16:30, 31
• Call – Romans 10:12, 13
• Confess – Romans 10:9, 10

Heavenly – Predestination

• Elect – Matthew 24:22, 31
• Given – John 6:37 – 39
• Chosen – Ephesians 1:3 – 6
• Called – 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14

In this discussion, my starting point is Ephesians 1:3 - 6 (ESV): “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” These verses seem to make a clear case for God choosing us for salvation.

There is a mystery here. John 6:28 – 29 indicates that God works faith in us and in Philippians 1:29 he grants that we believe. By his work in us we are then enabled to freely choose him. So, do we choose God or does he choose us? In a sense it is both, but God starts the process.

Additional Thought

As I worked on this, Hebrews 6:4 – 6 kept coming to mind so I decided to write three more lessons.

• Hebrews 6:4 – 6 Part 1 Spiritual Gestation Period
• Hebrews 6:4 – 6 Part 2 The Impossibility of Falling Away
• Hebrews 6:4 – 6 Part 3 The Diagram of Life

Hebrews 6:4 - 6 Part 3

It was several years ago when thinking about this concept of a spiritual gestation period that this diagram came to mind. Doing this lesson will force me to think carefully about the diagram and provide others the opportunity to point out possible problems or needed changes.

A person’s physical life begins at conception, but without spiritual live. Because of Adam’s sin, everyone is conceived spiritually dead and is shown by the black area on the diagram. Generally, after nine months of gestation, there is physical birth, accompanied by a marked increase in awareness. If the person was chosen by the Father to be adopted as his child, then at some point there will be spiritual conception.

Spiritual conception begins the spiritual gestation period and is shown as the gray triangle because of the sin nature we still have. After a length of time known to the Father, spiritual growth and awareness will have progressed through hearing the gospel and various other means to the point where he causes spiritual birth. At this point there is a marked increase in spiritual awareness. This point is commonly referred to as being born again. It is the point where faith produces belief and like with physical birth, the person knows it is time and yields to the work of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, there are many in the west that think you can convince a person to be born spiritually. In this way many are deceived into thinking they are Christian when they are not.

After spiritual birth there will be change as we are conformed into the image of Christ. His is a joint effort involving God and the individual and continues in our body of sinful flesh until physical death, which is a separation point for believers and unbelievers. Believers enter heaven through the narrow gate and unbelievers remain under the wrath of God in hell. Justice demands that everyone continue under the wrath of God, but Jesus Christ drank the cup of God’s wrath on the cross for those chosen by the Father, allowing him to show them mercy, removing the penalty of spiritual death.

When we first enter heaven our salvation is still incomplete as we do not yet have a new resurrected body. That will occur when all those chosen by the Father have been born spiritually. When the body of Christ, his bride, is complete at the end of the age when Christ returns, we will be given our new bodies. After the new earth is created we will come to live there with a God.

The plan of salvation is so wonderful as it is solely a gift from God and will not exclude anyone who sincerely believes. I believe the Scriptures are clear that salvation is based on the will of God, not on the will of man.

Prayer

Father, as I think about all that our salvation entails, I am concerned that we might think it is simply free admissions into heaven. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12, to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” I wonder how many see spiritual growth as something this serious. Father, you chose us and had Jesus die on the cross so you could pardon our sentence of death. I am not sure our gratitude and sacrifice reflects how much it cost you to provide this pardon and for us to enjoy the kindness of your grace for an eternity. 

Hebrews 6:4-6 Part 2

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” (Hebrews 6:4-6 ESV). in Part 1, we considered the possibility of spiritual life before birth like in the case of physical birth. The same is true when planting a seed in the ground. There are a few days in which the seed germinates and when a plant breaks through the ground. We considered the words enlightened, tasted and shared as describing spiritual life before birth.

In this lesson, we will consider the impossibility of falling away once conception has taken place. Jesus said: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37 ESV). Before the creation of the world God the Father chose those he would give to Jesus as a gift; to those the Father would begin the period of gestation and not one of these would not go full term and be born. The promise is that all chosen would be given the faith to believe and would be born according to the Father’s plan. It is, therefore, impossible for anyone to fall away and if they somehow could overcome the power of God and fall away, then it would be impossible to restore them again to repentance.

In the next lesson we will consider a diagram to express this concept.

Prayer

Father, if free will is embraced and salvation is determined by a decision on the part of the person and not on your choice, then there could not be a gestation period in which spiritual life develops, making belief impossible.  One who is not first given spiritual life will not choose God (Romans 3:10-11). Father, I clearly experienced several years of gestation before my faith was sufficient for me to believe. 

Hebrews 6:4 - 6 Part 1

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” (Hebrews 6:4-6 ESV). I have given much thought to these verses over the years and read the comments of others on them and have decided to express a possibility concerning them. What I am going to write is something that will probably be rejected by many and they may tell me that I am wrong, but I want to at least express my thought as a possibility.

Physical life begins at conception and continues through a gestation period to birth. The fetus is a live human with limited awareness, which expands greatly at birth. Is it not possible that spiritual life is similar? The human family uses seed as the means of propagation, but that seed is “perishable” and is capable of decay. There is, however, another seed that is “imperishable” that produces a new creation that in eternal. In 1 Peter 1:23 we read: “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;” (ESV). I am suggesting the possibility of a variable length of time from when that seed is placed and when the birth occurs. Today some say that human life does not start until birth. That is the general belief concerning spiritual life because it accommodates the idea of free will.

If one allows a spiritual gestation period then that period could be described with the terms found in Hebrews 6:4 – 6, such as, “enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come.” Do not the terms “enlightened”, “tasted”, an “shared” suggest a condition before birth? As this spiritual fetus grows, a point is finally reached when the Father causes the new creature in Christ to be born (1 Peter 1:3).

In Hebrews 6:4 – 6, there are the words “impossible” and “fall away” that we need to consider. That will be the topic of the next lesson. (Use next lesson as a link)

Prayer

Father, I pray that I am not misleading anyone with this idea, but to me it has some merit. I believe that I experienced this gestation period in my life because I was experiencing the beginnings of spiritual life. Then one day I knew I was ready because I felt compelled to surrender and pray and experienced a definite explosion of spiritual life. There is absolutely no question when I was born spiritually and that it followed a period of being enlightened when I tasted the heavenly gift and the goodness of the word of God. 

Elect

“And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:31 ESV). In the New Testament, elect means properly an object or objects of selection (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). Those selected were chosen before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). They are the ones selected by the Father who he will cause to be born again (1 Peter 1:3).

I have built several homes and when I do I select the materials needed and from them construct the building according to plan. God has a plan describing the body of Christ. It is one body made up of many members, each member is chosen for a specific function and to fit into a relationship with all the others. Before the world was created, God determined the exact number of members needed and their characteristics and put together a list called the Book of Life. Over the course of time, these members would be born physically as lost sheep, nurtured to spiritual birth and then conformed into the exact specifications for each one using various situations in life in the process.

Every person born physically is born spiritually dead as a sinner, separated from God and condemned to an eternity under God’s wrath in hell. In this way justice is served, but God the Father with list in hand, selects those on the list as they occur in the course of human history and shows them mercy. There is no injustice in showing mercy in removing their death sentence because Jesus died on the cross for these lost sheep.

These are verses used by those who believe that God in his sovereignty, according to his will, not the will of man, selects those who will receive the gift of salvation. This is a view of salvation as seen from heaven.

Prayer

Father, like a child selected from an orphanage, what a sense of love, joy, security, and thankfulness I have experienced as an object of your mercy. As I experience your hand on my life, conforming me into the image of Christ, I experience the living hope of being like Jesus and being with you and serving you throughout eternity. Thank you for selecting me, showing me mercy and extending grace to me. 

Given

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:37-39 ESV). The action word we will consider from these verses is “gives” or “given”. Who are those who are given to Jesus by the Father? “. . . He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,” (Ephesians 1:4-5 NKJV).

Those given are those the Father chose before the foundation of the world and at that time he predestined them to be adopted as his children. These are the ones Matthew refers to as the elect in Matthew 24:22 & 31. These had their names recorded in the book of life before the foundation of the world (Revelation 17:8). I believe these are known as lost sheep who have been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God (Hebrews 6:4 – 5). As these lost sheep grow spiritually, a point will be reached when they are ready to respond to the gospel in belief as the Father causes spiritual birth. Man does not determine that time of spiritual birth; the Father does (1 Peter 1:3). These are the ones given to Jesus. Not one lost sheep will be missing. All of them will be found and will come to Jesus.

These are verses used by those who believe that God in his sovereignty, according to his will, not the will of man, selects those who will receive the gift of salvation. This is a view of salvation as seen from heaven.

Prayer

Father, the more I study this topic of salvation the more convinced I am that spiritual birth is similar to physical birth in that there is a period of time between conception and birth. Each time I read Hebrews 6:4 – 5 I see those descriptors as describing that gestation period before birth. It appears that you choose and manage those chosen and then at the proper time cause them to be spiritually born. As believers, we are commanded to be involved with you in this process by building relationships and sharing the gospel. Father, it also appears that at the time of spiritual birth, these are given to Jesus and spiritual life, as a gift, is extended eternally. 

Called

“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 ESV). These two verses contain two action words that relate to our salvation. They are “chose” and “called”. The idea that God chose us is covered in the lesson from Ephesians 1:3-6 and thus will not be covered here. In this lesson we will focus on the idea of being called.

Are those chosen and those called the same? I believe they are, but then if we look at Matthew 22:13-14, we find the statement that “many are called, but few are chosen.” In that passage it is clear that the “called” are not always “chosen”. In the Matthew context, “called” is a general appeal to the world to come to a banquet. It is an invitation to come; a general call that goes out to everyone. But there is also a specific call like the call we find in John 11:43 when Jesus called Lazarus to come out of the tomb. That call was specific and resulted in a dead man receiving life. In the context of our verses from Thessalonians, those called are the same ones as those chosen. That call creates an obedience in the ones chosen and provides them with eternal life through being born again.

These are verses used by those who believe that God in his sovereignty, according to his will, not the will of man, selects those who will receive the gift of salvation. This is a view of salvation as seen from heaven.

Prayer

Father, like Lazarus was called from the tomb, we have been called by you from being spiritually dead and caused to be born again and given eternal life. Like that little child tucked away in some remote orphanage, you found us in the grips of the power of darkness and you chose us and called us out and turned on our lights and adopted us into your family. Clearly this was according to your will and love for us to which we are eternally thankful. 

Chosen

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV). Here is another great verse concerning our salvation. Notice the action words and who it is that performs the action.

Before the world was created, before its foundation was laid, God the Father chose those he loved and would predestine for adoption into his family as his children. He made this choice according to his will, not according to anything we had done or would do. According to Paul it is “. . . by grace [we] have been saved through faith. And this is not [our] own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV). Just like you and I choose who we will give gifts to, God chooses who to give the gift of eternal life to. Some who don't like the gift we give might try to return it to the store It came from. That is not true with the gift of salvation. Everyone who is chosen will desire to be born again; everyone will gladly accept.

These are verses used by those who believe that God in his sovereignty, according to his will, not the will of man, selects those who will receive the gift of salvation. This is a view of salvation as seen from heaven.

Prayer

Father, I am so thankful that you chose me before I loved you and caused me to be born again. I praise you for your glorious grace with which you have blessed me in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for adopting me as your child, as a son, and clothing me with his righteousness. 

Believe

“Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."” (Acts 16:30-31 ESV). The context of our verses find Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God with the prisoners listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, causing the prison doors to open and everyone's bonds to unfasten. The jailer awakens and sees the doors open and is about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners had escaped. Paul cries out for him to stop because he and all of the prisoners were still there. The jailer calls for lights and rushes in, trembling with fear he falls down before Paul and Silas. He brings Paul and Silas out and asked them what he must do to be saved?

Have you experience a time in your life when you realized you needed to be saved as this jailer did? Were you told to simply believe in the Lord Jesus and you would be saved? Did you respond as the jailer did and then share your decision with your family and then to follow up with baptism? If not, now is the time.

The important action word is “believe” and is action to be taken by the one in need of salvation. Verses like these suggest that the time of being born again is determined by the one coming to faith in Jesus Christ, not necessarily by God. These verses are used by Armenians to support their position of salvation being free will. It is a view of salvation as seen from earth.

Prayer

Father, thank you that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raises us from the dead then we will be saved. “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:10 ESV). Thank you for the sacrifice that was made for our salvation. I pray that, with fear and trembling, we will continue with you in working out our salvation. 

Call

“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."” (Romans 10:12-13 NASB). Looking back to verse 9 and10, Paul tells us we are to believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, resulting in our righteousness, and that we are to confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, resulting in our salvation. Paul then makes it clear that there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Jesus.

Paul emphasizes the importance of calling upon the Lord by going back to the prophet Joel, where he tells us that before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord, it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2:31, 32). Before the awful day of judgment comes, you will have opportunity to be saved from it by calling on the Lord for your salvation. To call on the name of the Lord is not a new concept. What is new in the New testament is that the Lord is now identified as the person of Jesus Christ. It is critically important that this be understood because there is no other name given among men other than the name of Jesus by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Our salvation is found in and obtained from the person whose name is Jesus, the Son of God who came to earth and took on a body of flesh through a virgin birth.

These verses are also used by Armenians to support their position of salvation being free will. It is a view of salvation as seen from earth.

Prayer

Father, there should be no question that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will receive salvation, but there is an underlining tension over who will or can call on the Lord. This leads to the question of those who never hear of the name of Jesus so they can call on his name. There are so many other questions that one might have, but one thing is certain; “whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That is your promise to us, sealed in the blood of Jesus on the cross and then his victory over death through the resurrection. Father, thank you for the gift of salvation. 

Confess

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 NASB). The word “that” at the beginning points back to what these verses are based on. Looking back, we see it is the word of faith that Paul is preaching; the word that is so near it is described as being in your mouth and in your heart.

The action words are “confess” and “believe” and are to be done by “you” and if you do them you have the promise that you will be saved. Confession is about Jesus being Lord, resulting in salvation and belief is about God raising Jesus from the dead, resulting in righteousness. These verses are very clear about the importance of a believing heart and a confessing mouth, yet I see so many trying to convince someone to ask Jesus into their heart. You don't determine the time of being born again; the Father does. In Convincing a person to pray, you may win an argument, but you risk the chance of creating false belief in the person who just responded.

These verses are also used by Armenians to support their position of salvation being free will. It is a view of salvation as seen from earth.

Prayer

Father, it is clear from these verses that we are to share the word of faith and allow time for the Spirit to properly prepare the heart. When the heart is ready then the new birth will take place. The Scriptures seem quite clear that salvation is according to the will of God not according to the work of man. We need to be active in sharing the gospel with love and patience and leave the born again part in your hands. 

Receive

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” (John 1:12 ESV). The context of this verse is about the Son of God coming into the world in a body of flesh as Jesus. He is the true light, which gives light to our souls. He enters into the world he created and came to his own people he grew up with, but they would not receive him for who he claimed to be.

As you look at this verse pick out the action word and note who performs the action. The action word is “receive” and is performed by “all” who believe. The “all” defines the group of people who receive or accept the gift of salvation; those who believe in his name. To those who receive Jesus and believe that he is God in the flesh of man, God gives the right to become the children of God. Those excluded from this group through unbelief are not adopted as children into the family of God, but remain children of the devil.

This is a verse chosen by Armenians to support their position of salvation being free will. It is a view of salvation as seen from earth.

Prayer

Father, I find it interesting that the next verse provides balance as well as tension. It provides balance because it involves God, but it provides tension because it suggests that maybe being born again was not according to our will, but the will of God. Father, thank you for the gift of salvation that is available to everyone who comes to Jesus Christ in belief. 

Repent

Repent

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” (Matthew 4:17 NKJV). According to this verse, repent or repentance has some relationship to the kingdom of heaven. To repent is to turn from evil and return to God. When we sin we turn away from God to our idols or detestable practices (Ezekiel 14:6); to do offenses (Ezekiel 18:30). Isaiah says to “Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good” (Isaiah 1:16-17 NKJV). We are to turn from our evil wicked ways (Jeremiah 26:3) and return to God (Amos 4:6).

John the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, picks up this theme and says: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance,”

Matthew 3:7-8 NKJV). Repentance not only seeks forgiveness for our wrong, but is to show evidence of a right heart by doing what is right.

We are to repent of our sin, come to Jesus to receive eternal life and then when we sin as a child of God, we are to turn back to our Father and confess our sin, for he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleans us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). In this way, through Jesus, we enter the kingdom of heaven and maintain a walk worthy of our calling.

Prayer

Father, thank you for providing, through the sacrifice of your Son, access to you with provision to repent of our sin. Jesus can command us to repent of our sin because he shed his blood to cover our sin. No matter how hard we try, in our body of flesh we will continue to sin. You confirm that in your word, but one day, in heaven, we will never again sin. But for now, in obedience, we must continue to repent.

See "The Commands of Jesus" Index to view other commands.

Memory Verses

Topical Memory System verses (from Navigators)

It was about 60 years ago when I walked from class to class at Michigan State University with little Navigator cards in my hand containing verses I was memorizing. I also worked on larger groups of verses, like the letter of 1 John. I am so thankful I did that because I still have them with me wherever I go.

The Topical Memory System from the Navigators contains 60 very basic and meaningful verses. When we memorize verses like these we often fail to consider the context from which they are found. I decided to do a write up of these verses and the context from which they were taken. Below is a table of the 60 verses, or verse sets, contained in the Navigators Topical Memory System and links to the descriptions.

Pack A: Live the New Life
Christ the Center	2 Corinthians 5:17	Galatians 2:20
Obedience to Christ	Romans 12:1	John 14:21
The Word	2 Timothy 3:16	Joshua 1:8
Prayer	John 15:7	Philippians 4:6, 7
Fellowship	Matthew 18:20	Hebrews 10:24, 25
Witnessing	Matthew 4:19	Romans 1:16
Pack B: Proclaim Christ
All Have Sinned	Romans 3:23	Isaiah 53:6
Sin’s Penalty	Romans 6:23	Hebrews 9:27
Christ Paid the Penalty	Romans 5:8	1 Peter 3:18
Salvation Not by Works	Ephesians 2:8,9	Titus 3:5
Must Receive Christ	John 1:12	Revelation 3:20
Assurance of Salvation	1 John 5:13	John 5:24
Pack C: Rely on God’s Resources
His Spirit	1 Corinthians 3:16	1 Corinthians 2:12  Link2
His Strength	Isaiah 41:10	Philippians 4:13
His Faithfulness	Lamentations 3:22, 23	Numbers 23:19
His Peace	Isaiah 26:3	1 Peter 5:7  Link2
His Provision	Romans 8:32	Philippians 4:19
His Help in Temptation	Hebrews 2:18	Psalms 119:9, 11
Pack D: Be Christ’s Disciple
Put Christ First	Matthew 6:33	Luke 9:23
Separate from the World	1 John 2:15, 16	Romans 12:2
Be Steadfast	1 Corinthians 15:58	Hebrews 12:3
Serve Others	Mark 10:45	2 Corinthians 4:5
Give Generously	Proverbs 3:9, 10	2 Corinthians 9:6, 7
Develop World Vision	Acts 1:8	Matthew 28:19, 20
Pack E: Grow in Christlikeness
Love	John 13:34, 35	1 John 3:18
Humility	Philippians 2:3, 4	1 Peter 5:5, 6
Purity	Ephesians 5:3	1 Peter 2:11
Honesty	Leviticus 19:11	Acts 24:16
Faith	Hebrews 11:6	Romans 4:20, 21
Good Works	Galatians 6:9. 10	Matthew 5:16