Our theme for this month: “Understanding Salvation”

Our Bible verse for today: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You cannot lose your salvation.”

“Once saved, always saved”. That neat little phrase captures the essence of an important Biblical doctrine known as “the security of the believer”. The doctrine of the security of the believer teaches that once you have made a sincere profession of faith in Jesus Christ for the salvation of your sins, you are saved and nothing can ever change that.

Some people struggle with this. What if you don’t “act” as if you’re saved? What if you claim to be a Christian but then you act like the devil? Or, what if you really were saved at one time but then you kick the dog, steal your neighbor’s newspaper, cheat on your wife, or even murder someone? Are you still saved then? Those are good questions.

In John 10:27-28 Jesus made it clear that if you really are one of His followers (if you ever made a genuine profession of faith to trust Him for the forgiveness of your sins), then you belong to Him, you have eternal life, and you will never perish. Additionally, just for emphasis, He emphatically states that no one (read Satan) will ever snatch you out of His hand.

Please note that Jesus made no mention there as to whether or not you are a good and obedient little sheep. He seemed to be referring even to the black sheep of the family. That passage teaches that f you really are His then you belong to Him for all eternity and nothing will ever change that. Here’s another one. In Romans 8:38 the Apostle Paul wrote:

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor power, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul ran out of words and rhetorical devices in his effort to explain that if you belong to God then there is nothing in all creation, nothing in the physical world or the spiritual world, no angel or demon nor anything else that can ever separate you from God. That, by the way, would include your bad behavior. “Nothing” in all creation can separate you from God once you are His.

The Biblical doctrine of the security of the believer is important and therefore it’s a subject God devoted a lot of ink to in the Bible. There is much more than we can adequately cover in a single devotional message, therefore we will continue this discussion tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Understanding Salvation”

Our Bible verse for today: “In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.” Matthew 18:14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God is even more concerned about your salvation than you are.”

When it comes to having a sense of security about salvation the two most common questions people have are “Am I really saved?” and “Can I lose my salvation?” The answer to the second question is a lot easier than the answer to the first. We’ll come back to the issue of whether or not you can lose your salvation tomorrow but first, let’s be sure you really are saved.

Only you and God can know for sure if you really are saved. However, I can offer you some insights that you may find helpful. First of all, as Jesus taught in Matthew 18:14, it is not God’s desire for anyone to be lost. That’s the starting place for this discussion. God does not want anyone to be separated from Him for eternity. The Bible, from start to finish, is all about salvation. It’s about God drawing people to Himself. Matthew 18:14 is just one of the many places where Jesus helps us to understand the heart of the Father about this. God is even more concerned about your salvation than you are.

Second, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to draw people to faith in Christ so they can be saved. That is one of His primary roles on earth. “When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment.” (John 16:8). And, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:13).

There are other verses that teach the same lesson about the role of the Spirit in drawing people to Jesus, but I think you get the point. All throughout your life the Holy Spirit works to create opportunities for you to be exposed to the truth of the Gospel, and He creates situations that help you to appreciate your need for a Savior – all to draw you to faith in Jesus. This is a direct result of the Father’s desire that none be lost. This doesn’t mean that all will be saved, but it does mean that the Father wants all to have the opportunity to place their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

God wants your salvation even more than you do. Therefore if you have ever had that moment in time (as we discussed in yesterday’s devotional), when you made a sincere profession of faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, then you are saved. God loves you and He wants you in heaven with Him. He sent His Son Jesus to pay the penalty for your sins, and then He sent the Holy Spirit to draw you to faith in Jesus. So if your profession of faith was sincere then you are saved.

Now the question is whether or not you can lose your salvation once you have it. We will discuss that tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Understanding Salvation”

Our Bible verse for today: “Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.” John 3:6-7 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Salvation occurs in a moment when a decision is made.”

Nicodemus was intrigued and confused. He was a trained religious professional, a Pharisee who had spent years upon years studying the Old Testament Scriptures and he knew his stuff. Or so he thought.

But along came Jesus and Nicodemus realized there was an important element in his relationship with God that he had somehow missed. He knew that somehow, in some way, Jesus was the answer. So he came to Jesus secretly, at night so nobody would see him, and he asked Jesus to help him discover what he was missing in his relationship with God.

John 3:7 was the answer. “You must be born again”.

All of us are born once, physically. But in order to be alive spiritually we must be born again. At the time He creates us God breathes a living spirit into us and gives us the breath of life (Genesis 2:7; Job 33:4). But in the spiritual sense that Jesus was teaching about in John 3:6-7, that spirit is actually not alive in a relationship with God. Paul teaches this in Ephesians 2:1 when he writes that before salvation “… you were dead in your trespasses and sins …”

The spirit within you was a dead thing that could never be allowed into heaven. It was contaminated with sin and it was dead to God. Thus, the new birth Jesus spoke of. The dead spirit must be born again with new life. Jesus then went on in John 3:16-18 to explain that the new birth occurs in a moment of time when a decision is made to place your faith in Him for the forgiveness of your sins. “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life …”

The Apostle Paul expanded on this teaching about the new birth when he wrote in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And also in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come.”

When it comes to being “born again”, salvation is a one-time event. It happens in a moment of time because of a decision you make to place your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins – and you never need to repeat the experience. Salvation is permanent. You cannot lose it and you never need to repeat it. This is often referred to as “once saved always saved” or, “the security of the believer.”

Tomorrow we will consider the doctrine of “the security of the believer” and I will help you to see that once you are saved, you are always saved.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Understanding Salvation”

Our Bible verse for today: “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:-8-9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Salvation is a free gift which you must simply accept”

Martin Luther was a Catholic priest and monk in the 1500s in Germany. He is remembered mostly for two reasons. First, he was one of the fathers of the Protestant Reformation. He was perhaps the most influential figure in moving Christians away from the Catholic Church and into a more Bible-centric, faith-based practice of Christianity.

The other thing Luther is remembered for is his personal discovery and subsequent teaching that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, and not by works. However this was not a new revelation from God. The Apostle Paul had written about it 1500 years earlier in Romans 1:17 and again in Ephesians 2:8-9. Unfortunately, shortly after the time of Paul, the Christian faith moved into an era of works-based salvation. The Catholic Church became the dominant expression of the Christian faith and they taught a strict doctrine of salvation by obeying the rules, participating in the rituals, and giving money.

Luther himself was terrified of the holiness and righteousness of a God who seemed impossible to please. He prayed eight times a day. He sometimes spent six hours a day confessing his sins to another priest. He fasted multiple times each week. He often slept without blankets, even in the winter, because he considered himself too sinful to deserve the pleasure of blankets. He once ascended a high staircase on his knees, pausing at each step to pray a prayer of confession and to beg God’s forgiveness. And yet, Luther was miserable. No matter how much he repented he still felt guilty.

Finally one day in Bible study and prayer Luther had an epiphany. The Holy Spirit opened his mind to the great truth of Romans 1:17, that the righteous live by faith, and that as Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches, our salvation comes as a result of the grace of God by means of faith in His son, and not from any works that we perform. It is a free gift and can only be received by an act of faith.

It was the most revealing and liberating truth Luther had ever experienced. And it changed everything. In that moment Luther realized he did not need to earn his salvation. In fact, there was nothing he could do to earn it – he had already discovered that through many years of fruitless effort.

You cannot earn salvation, you cannot purchase it, and you will never be good enough to deserve it. It is the free gift of God, simply as a matter of his amazing grace, and it comes only through faith in His Son Jesus.

Tomorrow we will explore this great truth further. We will talk about the element of salvation that is a one-time event and which begins in a moment of decision.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Understanding Salvation”

Our Bible verse for today: “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike are worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The human race is as sinful today as it has ever been.”

As I noted in the first devotional message in this series, salvation is three stage process that unfolds over time. It is a one-time event, and it is an ongoing process, and it is a future promise. Throughout the month we will work through the process sequentially, beginning with the one-time event which is the moment in which your sins are forgiven, and then we will follow it forward all the way into eternity.

Before we go any further though, I want to be sure we understand how bad sin is, and how much it continues to impact the world today. In Romans 3:10-12 the Apostle Paul made it clear that there isn’t a single individual on earth who can stand righteous before God apart from Christ. That was true then and it continues to be true today. Paul went on in that passage, “Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:13-18

Things are no better today than when Paul wrote those words, and in fact they are probably worse. In his book “The Doctrine of Salvation” Dr. Darrell Robinson cites a study conducted by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with historians from England, Egypt, Germany, and India. The study was intended to explore whether or not the character of the human race has improved much as civilization has advanced. They discovered that it really hasn’t. At one point they wrote:

“Since 3600 B.C. the world has known only 292 years of peace. There have been 14,531 wars, large and small, in which 3,640,000,000 people have been killed.” That’s 3.5 billion people killed just in wars. And that’s just deaths in wars. That particular passage makes no mention of all the pain and suffering inflicted by murder, manslaughter, rape, domestic violence, burglary, fraud, sex trafficking, child abuse or any of the host of other crimes that continue to plague mankind.

As much as the world has advanced in terms of science, technology, and standard of living, people are as evil and as lost in their sins today as they have ever been. And everyone still needs Jesus. Tomorrow we will consider the one and only thing a person can do to receive salvation and to begin a process of true spiritual transformation.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Understanding Salvation”

Our Bible verse for today: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Why was salvation even needed?”

So, why do we need salvation anyway? Why couldn’t God simply bring us to heaven in the condition we are in? The answer is found in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned. All of us. None of us is without sin, and our sin causes us to fall short of God’s glorious standard.

God is perfect and pure and holy. Heaven is also perfect and pure and holy. If God were to ever allow any imperfect, impure, or unholy thing into heaven then heaven would no longer be perfect and pure and holy because it would contain something that was not. Since you and I have sinned that makes us imperfect, impure, and unholy and therefore ineligible to be in heaven.

However, God loves us each one of us very much and wants us to be in heaven with Him despite the sins we have committed. In Matthew 18:14 Jesus said, “In the same way, it is not the will of the Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Likewise, in 1 Timothy 2:3-4 the Apostle Paul wrote, “This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Those are just two of the many verses which show us the heart of the Father with respect to salvation. We have all sinned and separated ourselves from Him. But it is His desire that none should be lost. Instead He wants everyone to understand how their sins can be forgiven so they can join Him in heaven for eternity. This does not mean that everyone will be saved, but it does mean that God wanted there to be an answer for the sin problem and therefore a pathway to heaven for whoever would choose that path.

Sin is our problem; it separates us from our heavenly Father. Jesus is our answer to the sin problem. Tomorrow we will see how it is that Jesus solved the sin problem for us and created the way for each of us to have our sins forgiven so we can one day join the Father in His perfect and pure and holy heaven.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Understanding salvation”

Our Bible verse for today: “Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into your salvation.” 1 Peter 2:2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Salvation involves more than just having your sins forgiven.”

Usually when Christians think of salvation we think of a one-time event when a person prays and asks Jesus to forgive their sins. In that moment their sins are forgiven and the person has the assurance of going to heaven instead of hell.

Actually, although the one-time event I described above is a part of the salvation process, it’s just a part of it. The Biblical doctrine of salvation involves much more than that. Salvation is a one-time event, that’s true, but it is also an on-going process and it is a future promise. It offers us forgiveness for our sins; it gives us the chance to grow spiritually now in this lifetime; and it gives us the promise of eternity in heaven.

Salvation is both free and costly; it is a gift and yet it requires something of us; it is permanent and therefore cannot be lost; and yet it must be safeguarded and treated as the precious thing that it is.

The full doctrine of salvation is very complex and involves actions by the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and also by us. This is what Peter was referring to in 1 Peter 2:2. There he urges us to “grow up into your salvation”. This clues us into the fact that salvation is something that has already occurred for you if you have placed your faith in Christ (that one-time event), and yet there is obviously more to it as well.

In that verse Peter refers to a newborn infant. For a newborn infant who has already experienced birth, there is now growing and maturing that needs to take place so the life that comes after the birth experience can be fully realized. Well, just as the birth experience is only the beginning for the newborn infant, so too the moment of having our sins forgiven is just the beginning for the new Christian. Salvation is a one-time event, but it is also a process. It involves all the rest of life, and then all of eternity too.

We will spend this month exploring the full extent of the doctrine of salvation and what it means for us. We will talk about why salvation was necessary to begin with, as well as what the ongoing process of salvation should look like in our lives. We will also consider the end result of the full salvation process and what that will mean for us in eternity.

Salvation involves much more than just having your sins forgiven. I look forward to exploring that truth with you.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Take care of your body”

Our Bible verse today: “Here I am today, 85 years old. I am as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then.” Joshua 14:11 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Live longer and live better.”

Even though I have used Joshua 14:11 and the example of my Bible hero Caleb earlier in the month, I want to end the month with it too because I love the picture of eighty-five year old Caleb just full of energy and spunk, embracing life and living it fully.

When we think about taking good care of ourselves the object is not just to add years to our life, but to add life to our years. You want to live long, but you also want to live well. In his book “Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest”, Dan Buettner studied the habits of people in eight regions around the world where it is common for people to live to 100 or more. Here are the nine habits he discovered that they all seemed to have in common and which we can adopt too:

1. Remain active. The more active you are the healthier you will be.

2. Cut calories by 20 percent. Healthy people don’t overeat. Being overweight is hard on the body. Consuming too many calories makes every body system work harder. Eat enough so you are no longer hungry and then stop.

3. Avoid processed foods and limit your intake of meat. Natural foods, especially vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains, are the healthiest foods for you.

4. Drink red wine. It’s not my intent to promote the use of alcohol here. I’m just reporting to you what Dan discovered in his research. People in the Blue Zones tended to have one or two glasses of red wine a day. Evidently it helps to reduce stress and lowers the risk of heart disease.

5. Have a clear purpose in life. People who are happy and healthy tend to have a reason for getting out of bed in the morning. They have a purpose in life that they enjoy and which they look forward to.

6. Be intentional about relaxing. People who are happy and healthy, and who tend to live long, are active and they have a clear purpose in life, but they also know how to rest, relax, and have fun.

7. Have a strong faith and be part of a spiritual community. Those who live long and well tend to have a strong faith in God and they are active in a faith community.

8. Make family and friends a priority. Those who maintain close relationships with people they love and care about tend to be happier, healthier, and live longer.

9. Associate with others who share your commitment to taking care of yourself. It is human nature that over time we become like those we associate with. Those who are happy, healthy, and living long tend to surround themselves with others who are happy, healthy, and living long.

The people in Dan’s study had mastered the art of living long and living well. It’s true that someday we will all die. Nobody lives forever. But there’s a choice in life that we’re all faced with: you can live a shorter life with lots of sickness and disability, or you can live a longer life with the fewest bad years possible. To a large degree that will be determined by the lifestyle choices you make.

I’ll end our study this month by paraphrasing a word of blessing spoken by that iconic Vulcan Mr. Spock from Star Trek: “May you live long and prosper”.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Take care of your body”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord answered her: ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Maintain the balance.”

Martha was a doer. She was really good at getting things done. She was also conscientious and she cared about people’s needs. Specifically, in this case, she wanted to make sure Jesus was well-fed and taken care of. That’s a pretty commendable goal.

Mary was a good girl too. She just viewed things differently. While Martha was compulsive about getting things done quickly and efficiently, and of course checking them off of her “to-do” list, Mary was more relaxed and casual. Whereas Martha could not leave a thing undone, Mary was content to leave the pots and pans for the moment and to just sit with Jesus and enjoy His company.

Jesus said that Mary had it right and that Martha needed to chill.

The story of Martha and Mary is one of balance and perspective. There was really nothing wrong with Martha’s desire to provide a good meal in a timely manner for her guests. She was just too compulsive about it. It was too much and at the wrong time. Although there is a time to work and to serve, there is also a time to sit and relax – and it’s important to know the difference. Otherwise we end up banging pots and pans and getting all stressed out when we should be sitting and relaxing and enjoying the company.

As we near the end of our devotional series about taking care of our body, we need to remember how important balance in life is. There’s a right time for everything. There’s a time to work and serve, and there’s a time to rest and to play. There’s a time to go to the lake with your family, but there’s also a time to be in church with your brothers and sisters. There’s a time to eat and feast and maybe cheat a little on your diet, but most of the time you need to watch what you eat and to get plenty of exercise. Balance is the key.

Remember, as a person you are a complex being who consists of physical body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Your life needs a pattern and rhythm that includes meaningful work, plenty of rest, physical exercise, spiritual nurture, and a healthy mind. And since we are creatures of habit who tend to do best when we have stable and repetitive patterns that we stick to, ideally your life should be lived on a regular schedule that has you working, sleeping, eating, exercising, praying, and worshiping at the same times each day.

You will be at your best – you will be healthy, happy, and stable when your life is properly balanced.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is: