For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ:
For it is the Power of God Unto Salvation
Twylla Sundin
Witnessing about God’s goodness in your own life will result in the winning of lost souls to the Lord. There needs to be a fire kindled in our hearts so that we cannot help but speak the things we have seen, heard, and discovered in the Christian life.
God says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Who is going to tell them about Jesus? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Even short bible studies concerning their salvation is a good place to start, as the Word is food for the soul.
People are won to Christ through the power of His Word, which is sharper than a two edged sword and pierces the heart. It is through the Word that faith springs forth to life in the human heart, second to our friendship, although that is also important. The best study guide to the Bible is the Bible itself and the best commentary on scripture is the scripture itself. Most Bible commentaries contain man’s ideas. The Bible is the mind of God revealed to man.
We are admonished to rightly divide the word of truth, which means it is surely possible to wrongly divide the scriptures too. Wrong division leads to doctrines and conclusions that are entirely different from that which God has said and what He meant. It is possible to wrestle with the scriptures to your own destruction.
The first major section in the New Testament is called the Gospels. This section contains four books which covers the eyewitness accounts of miracles, teachings, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. This section should cause us to believe Jesus as the Son of God. The gospels contain Jesus’ teaching about many topics but they do not record examples of any Christian conversions. Sinners are not shown receiving Christian baptism or the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This occurred in the next section of the New Testament, the book of Acts. The book of Acts is the preaching of the apostles to lost men. We find many clear descriptions of how baptism was administered and people receiving the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts we have the answer to the question, “What shall we do?”
The Epistles are letters written by the apostles to people who already believed and obeyed the plan of salvation in the book of Acts. Because the people these letters were addressed to had already been “born again,” they were not meant to be taken as instructions to lost souls concerning how to be saved. Rather, they were written to believers to teach them how to walk and how to please God.
The last book of the Bible is the book of Revelation which is written to show us things which must be hereafter.
By way of “rightly dividing the word” again if you wished to study the miracles of Jesus you would not look in the Epistles for they are not there. You would look in the books that contain the Gospels. For instruction in water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit you would not study in the book of Revelation but in the book of Acts. It is just common sense. The Bible is without error. It is the Word of Salvation and will be true and useful forever.
God reveals to us vital truths about His Divine Being. First of all He is a spirit. Jesus taught us this truth when He said that God is a Spirit. In Genesis it states that, “In the beginning God created” and the “Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Because God is a spirit He is invisible. He is everywhere. There is but one God. He had many names. Adonai, Elohim, El Shaddai, Lord and Jehovah, Emmanuel, and Jesus. Jesus is the redemptive name of God – “There is no other name given among men under heaven whereby we must be saved.” Salvation is in Jesus Christ alone. We are to baptize in “the name of Jesus Christ.” That is a New Testament command. He chose to reveal himself in different ways throughout the Bible. The greatest revelation was when God decided to reveal himself to us in terms of flesh and blood. In the gospel of John it was revealed, “and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” He became one of us and died on the cross to purchase our salvation. What an awesome God! He laid down His life for us. The Spirit didn’t die, but the only “human” life God would live surely ended on Calvary’s cross. He bore the suffering Himself! The Jews knew exactly what He meant when Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.”
It is impossible to separate the person of Jesus from the message of Jesus. To have one is to have the other. If the message is lost or compromised, Jesus will no longer be present, the message becomes corrupt. Modern religion, by whatever name, is a manmade cistern, a broken substitute for the Fountain.
Many people are very faithful to the churches thy attend, but they will not live the way God wants His people to live. They are more faithful to a church than to God. Just going to church does not save us. It is obedience to the Word of God that saves us. If a believer witnesses to them by telling them something word for word from the Bible they accus them of judging. It is the Word that pricks their heart and they don’t like what they feel. We will “all” be judged by the Word of God. There are some people that are very open to hear things they never knew. The Word is the same yesterday, today and forever. I’m thankful there is something that never changes in a forever changing world. And, “forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in Heaven.”
Good works are things remembered in the final judgment, such as giving meat to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked and needy, visit the sick and those in prison. God performs the miracles. He measures our love by how much we love our neighbors. “In as much as you have done unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.” All men will know His disciples by their love. But where is the compassion, kindness, and good deeds in the family of God? Is everyone too busy with their own lives and interests to do a good deed for someone that is lonely or in need? Is this really Christ like? Can they not give a few hours of companionship or a meal to someone who is lonely or hurting? Doing these things are important and expected from our Savior. Without kindness there will be no growth in a church. We cannot ignore these things.
Do you know there are around 10,000 religions in the world today? The Lord started one church, on type of flock. He sent letters by the Apostles to the churches condemning things back then, that were contrary to His Word. The Christian church survived the first fifteen centuries before tradition became equal to God’s Word in importance. At the council of Trent in 1545 tradition was declared equal in authority with the Bible. Mere men declared that their word is equal in authority to God’s Word. How vain and deceitful these men were and continue to be to this very day. That is why the Apostle Paul declared, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8) Anyone with even some understanding of current events will detect an inexorable Ecumenical movement and the Vatican’s leadership towards establishing one universal church. And so it will be the tradition of men will “appear” to overcome the Word of God. The Lord of Heaven and Earth will condemn those who go along with this deceit. How can we say we love Jesus and go along with false doctrine? If people who follow traditions of men would study the Bible they would become troubled in their mind and find out the doctrines are anti-scriptural. “Study to show yourself approved unto God,” (II Timothy 2:15) The Bible is the Christians manual – the travelers road map. From God’s inspired Word we get our directions. For the true believer nothing takes precedence over the Word of God. If the Word supports it, so should we. A certain way may seem right, but if it is scripturally incorrect, it ends with death. (Proverbs 14:12 – 16:25)
Why are so many people today tired of life? Probably because they have no future without Jesus. They are not complete. Many today are bound to their homes, money, possessions and vanity. They are not free. It is not wrong to enjoy having nice things, but they must not possess us. If we are bound to things we will not be free in spirit and will not be ready when Jesus comes. When God sets you free, you are free indeed.
There will be “One Great Flock” which is One in Jesus Christ, for the Church of Jesus Christ is one. The Church of Jesus Christ cannot be untied by man with unbelievers because it is an entity within itself. Every word of God is pure; He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another.
What a day that’s going to be, when my Jesus I shall see. When He take me by the hand and walks me through the promised land. What a day, glorious day, that’s going to be.
