Posts Tagged ‘faith’
Justification by Works in James
by Matthew W. Bassford Earlier, I wrote about Paul’s discussion of justification by works in the first four chapters of Romans. In it, he says that justification by works requires perfect obedience to God, which no one but Jesus has achieved. Thus, Christians must seek salvation by faith apart from works. Similarly, baptism for the…
Read MoreWhen is “faith” referring to the system of faith (the Gospel) or personal faith?
Question: Dear Brother Hamilton, When “Faith of Jesus of Christ”, “by the faith of Jesus of Christ” is mentioned in Galatians 2:16; 3:19-28; and Romans 3:22 is it referring to the objective faith (gospel) or personal faith? The American Standard, ESV, and other versions translate it as Faith in Jesus Christ? Is it referring to…
Read MoreBy Grace Through Faith with the Washing of Water
by Terry Wane Benton Notice the prepositions: by, through, and with. The Book of Ephesians uses all three to describe what is involved with our salvation. It teaches we are saved by grace. It teaches we are saved through faith. It teaches we are saved with the washing of water by the word. It is…
Read MoreBaptized into Christ
by Terry Wane Benton Image by Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, said that the Israelites were “baptized into Moses” when they were crossing the Red Sea while fleeing Pharaoh and his armies. They were immersed under a cloud of water and with the walls of water on each side (I…
Read MoreBelieving the Unbelievable Story of Jesus
by Don Bunting God intends for people to come to Him by faith. Undoubtedly God could reveal Himself to humanity in a powerful, material, undeniable way. Still, God says: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of…
Read MoreLessons from the Mamertine Prison
by Jefferson David Tant Do you ever feel discouraged, defeated, alone, forsaken, or any other word used to describe one who is “down in the dumps?” I’m sure we have all been affected by one or more of these words in our lifetime. If you are fortunate to have escaped all these negative feelings, just…
Read MoreDisobedience and Unbelief
by Matthew W. Bassford The epistle to the Hebrews might be the most tightly reasoned book in the whole Bible. Sentence by sentence, clause by clause, the Hebrews writer constructs intricate arguments that establish the superiority of Christ over Moses and the folly of Christians returning to Judaism. The more closely we read Hebrews, the…
Read MoreWhat Faith Is
by Doy Moyer Faith is the demonstration of our conviction that we trust the reality of what we cannot see. That is not the same as saying there is no evidence. Trusting the reality of what we cannot see means only that our faith is not dependent on first-hand material observation. I accept historical testimony…
Read MoreHow Noah Was Saved
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 3:18-22 I. In our reading, Peter draws on the account of Noah’s salvation to illustrate how the Christian is saved. A. Many people object to the straight forward reading of I Peter 3:21 because it stands contrary to what they have accepted. 1. To many people, baptism is simply a…
Read MoreDavid – A Child’s Faith
by Ross Ward Text: I Samuel 17:32-37 David’s Faith David Overcame Vs. 33-35 – bear and lion 33 – a youth 34 – shepherding 34-35 – lion and bear take a lamb David caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him 37 – The Lord that delivered me… will deliver me out…
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