I Am Praying for You

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made
for all men,..” (1 Tim. 2:1)

In this passage the apostle Paul reveals to us that
the prayers of Christians are to include an appeal to
God on behalf of “all men.”  Not just for your family
and friends, mind you, but also for others – even for
the leaders of our nation, as Paul tells us to pray “for
kings and all who are in authority that we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
reverence” (v. 2).  Did you know that Jesus also
instructs us to pray for our enemies as well (Matt. 5:
43-48)?

But what is the purpose of praying for all men?  Paul
says, “this is good and acceptable in the sight of
God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:
3-4).  This is the main point.  Though Christ died for
the whole world (1 Jn. 2:2), the whole world will not
be saved (Matt. 7:13-14).  Only those who obey His
will can be saved (Heb. 5:9).  Thus (as the hymn
says) “I Am Praying For You.”

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Once Bathed, Always Bathed

In the religious world there are many manmade
philosophies, ideals, practices and doctrines.  The
word “doctrine” basically means “a belief that is
taught.”  According to the Bible there is only one true
doctrine (the gospel of Christ, and it is of divine origin
– Gal. 1:6-12); all else is man-made and is therefore
false doctrine.

One such man-made teaching is the “once saved,
always saved” doctrine.  Proponents of this doctrine
tell us that once a person comes to salvation in
Christ, it is impossible to fall away and be lost.  Yet
God tells us that if a righteous man turns away from
his righteousness he will die in his sins (Ezek. 18:24,
26).  Additionally, the Hebrew writer describes those
in a saved condition falling away and being lost (Heb.
6:4-6).

Simply put, if a man takes a bath he is cleansed from
the filth of his body.  But if that same man rolls in mud
he is in need of being cleansed again – for it is
impossible to be “once bathed, always bathed.”  How
clean are you?

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I Hope You Took Your Medicine

Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be
saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned” (Mark 16:16).

I’ve known quite a few people who have had a
problem accepting the words of Jesus in Mark 16:16.
Those who believe that one can be saved by faith
alone dismiss the word “baptism” – claiming that it is
merely an option, or that it is an outward sign of an
inward grace.  Yet Jesus did not state it as an option
but as a requirement.  The apostles also taught that
baptism is a requirement for salvation.  Peter
commanded it (Acts 2:38; 10:47-48).  In fact, in
1 Peter 3:21 he specifically states that baptism saves
us.

Imagine, if you will, people dying of a disease that
was only curable by taking a special pill.  And the
doctor who made the pill said, “He who buys the pill
and takes it will live; but he who does not buy it will
die.”  Would you have a hard time understanding that
you’d have to take that pill in order to live?  The same
is true with baptism, my friends.  I sure hope you took
your medicine.

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Why Don’t You Grow Up?

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers,
you need someone to teach you again the first
principles of the oracles of God; and you have come
to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who
partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of
righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food
belongs to those who are mature, that is, those who
by reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:12-14).

Has anyone ever said to you, “You need to grow
up?” Whether true or not, that’s a pill that is usually
hard for people to swallow.  Yet, what if it is true?

When the Hebrew writer told his audience to “grow
up” it was because they were not advancing in the
knowledge of God’s word as they were supposed to
(cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).  You see, it is not enough to just
believe or just be baptized into Christ (Heb. 6:1-2).  If
we are to be well pleasing to God and if we are to be
saved, we must ever strive to “understand what the
will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17).  How are you
measuring up?

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Is There a Fly in Your Soup?

If there is one thing we know about good soup it is
that it may as well be pond water after a dead fly is
found floating in it.  Though there may be some who
would eat the soup anyway, many, I dare say, would
lose their appetite. Actually, this is only one of many
ways we describe something so good being ruined by
one bad thing.  Does not “one rotten apple in the
barrel ruin the whole bunch?”

The Bible shares this sentiment with a few
expressions of its own. “Dead flies putrefy the
perfumer’s ointment, and cause it to give off a foul
odor; so does a little folly for one respected for
wisdom and honor” (Eccl. 10:1).  One of the more
quoted expressions found in Scripture is “a little
leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:
9).  Leaven is that element in dough that causes it to
rise.  Paul here used the term in reference to sin.  To
tolerate or embrace even the smallest element of sin
will eventually bring about the ruin of one’s soul.  So
then, spiritually speaking, is there a fly in your
soup?

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