SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

It sometimes shocks me how much the world has changed since I was a boy. Our country has departed from many of the values that used to be the bedrock of society. Some of those changes have been good but many have not.

However, there are some things that have not changed and never will change. Men still refuse to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because men still think they can be good enough to please God. Men still think they know a better way of salvation than God has set forth in His Word. Men still think they know a better way of worship than God has set forth in His Word. Men still think they know a better way to govern their lives and govern society than God has set forth in His Word. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” (Rom 1:22) Men are as lost and dead in sin as ever.

It is obvious to me that man’s greatest need hasn’t changed either. It is of the utmost importance that the church be focused on preaching Christ. We cannot believe on Christ until we have heard of Him. (Rom 10:14) We cannot see Christ until He is revealed through preaching. We cannot follow Christ until He calls us to Himself.

The world certainly has changed but the truth that Christ is our greatest need has never, and will never change. “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Eccl. 1:9)

Pastor

For there is no one so great or mighty that he can avoid the misery that will rise up against him when he resists and strives against God.

John Calvin

When is a Sinner Saved?

Men have debated this question for millenniums. Most of the controversy stems from man’s effort to reconcile the temporal to the eternal. Living in a world of time and space, he tries to define the when in this question as a single event! Scripture settles all controversies. So, what sayeth the scriptures?

1. God’s elect were saved in the covenant of grace established by God in eternity past. II Timothy 1:9; Is. 45:17; II Thes. 2:13.

2. God’s elect were saved when Christ bore their sins on Calvary’s Cross 2000 years ago. Rom 5:9-10; Jer. 23:6.

3. God’s elect are saved when they hear the gospel as the gospel and are made willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Titus 3:5; Eph 2:8; Rom. 10:9-13.

4. God’s elect are continuing to be saved as they are kept by the power of God to keep coming in faith to Christ. Is. 64:5; I Peter 2:4.

5. God’s elect will be saved when they are taken to glory to see their Savior face to face and be made like Him (sinless). Rev. 12:10; II Peter 3:12-15; I Peter 1:9.

All five of these glorious truths (Election, Redemption, Regeneration, Sanctification and Glorification) are necessary for a sinner’s salvation. Let others speak of when they “got saved”. We don’t hang the hopes of our salvation on one subjective experience in time. Our faith is in Him who does all the saving. We have been saved; we are being saved; and we shall be saved. “And being made perfect He became the author of ETERNAL SALVATION unto all them that obey Him.” Heb 5:9.

Pastor Greg Elmquist

Believing On the Lord Jesus

This is what I am hearing. Accept Jesus as your personal Savior, but nowhere in the New Testament do we find any apostle, prophet, or preacher ever telling a sinner to accept Jesus as his personal Savior. What we hear them saying is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The command to sinners was bow and be subject to the Lordship of Christ. That is, lay down your weapons, surrender, worship, and adore Him. You come to Him in your true character as a beggar; a lost undone sinner or you don't come at all.