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Pastor Troy shared this today...

Why Christians Do Not Obey The Bible
You would think, of all people, Christians would obey the Bible. Yet we find everywhere that there is little concern for what the Bible actually says. Relativism is replacing absolute truth. “That’s your opinion,” is the first cop out of any Christian who does not want to change their practices to fit the Bible. There is little study to find out what God’s words are, and what God wants. What happened? Why are the words of God not valued over the words of men? May I answer this important question simply and give you the solution while at it?

God claims He preserved His words for us. If that is true, then when you open your Bible, you have the very words of God in front of you. This would, for any who believe it, bind them to reverence and obedience. God did promise to preserve His word for us. Note this passage in 1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever." We believe that right? God’s word abides forever. Again, this is taught in Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." And so it is throughout the Scriptures that God says His words will last forever. Now we are getting to the heart of the matter. Today, people do not believe that God’s word has been preserved. It is no longer taught. Though many think they believe it, they do not. Their Pastors do not, the seminaries do not, professors and theologians do not. How do we know they do not? All you have to do is look at their Bibles and see that they do not. Where are God’s words? In the Bible you say? No, they are not. Look again at the Bible of the average preacher or theologian. If he is using any of the common new versions of Scripture, then his Bible is missing verses. In fact, the text from which the modern verses are taken is missing over 2,900 words! How about that? For 1900 years these words have been in the Bible, and then they get taken out by the thousands by modern scholars. Even the New King James Version, if you have one with notes, adds doubts about the words of God with, “this verse is not in some manuscripts.” If the verses are missing , or doubtful, and verses are in the Bible that do not belong, then no wonder people do not trust it. Check your Bible. Does it have all of Acts 8:37? “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” If it is missing, or if it is in brackets, or has a note at the bottom saying it doesn’t belong, then no wonder nobody obeys the Bible. Does your copy of the Gospel of Mark end at verse 20 or does it only go to verse 8? Does it have a note casting doubt on the text here? It is no wonder that people do not trust the word of God, they do not know where it is!

When scholars threw the door open to delete Bible verses and change others, they threw out people’s faith in the Bible. Now what happens if we cannot trust the words of the Book? What if next decade we find out more words should be taken out. Eventually we won’t have anything left. I am sure the Devil would be happy with that, but if you are going to keep the Book, at least he does not want you to believe it. We only know what God wants, and how to be saved, because we have His words. If we lose His words we lose everything. The only firm foundation of absolute truth is that which is revealed to us by God in the Bible. When people tamper with the words, they destroy people’s faith and turn them to relativism. “That’s your truth, and this is mine,” they say. How can we know Jesus is the Christ of God? It says so in the Bible. Destroy that and you lose absolute truth. There are, under these circumstances, no arguments or debates worth having; if we lose God’s word, we lost all hope of knowing truth. Thank God He made promises like the one in Psalm 12:6-7, "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever." Did He keep them? Where is the Word of God? Surely it is not in the New International Version, the New Living Translation, the English Standard Bible or any other book that rejects God’s decree that He will preserve His word. When they chopped thousands of words from the Bible, they forfeited their right to be called a Bible, and plunged us into the darkness of “truthlessness.” The reason I use a King James Bible is not because it is easier to read, it is not because it is cool, it is not because it has modern wording, it is not because I always used it, or because my church uses it, but because it alone has the words of God without doubt or deletion. If you want to read the words God said, you need to have them in front of you when you read your Bible. If you do not use a King James Bible, then you do not have the words in front of you. You have some of the words, and others with many changes, but you do not know what is missing and what is changed. Nor do you know what happened to the nearly 3,000 words deleted from your New Testament. If you do not read English well, then you need a copy of the Bible in your language faithfully translated from the same old text the church has always used; otherwise you will not have the Bible in front of you. If you want to avoid losing your children and grandchildren to the abyss of relativism, you will need to know that the words of your Bible are “pure words.” If they aren’t pure, they are not from God. If men have to cut them out of the Bible, then Christians have always read them and had faith in them groundlessly, leading to great doubt and distrust in the Book. If they are pure, do not delete them, obey them as absolute truth.

3 Things You Cannot Do Without Lying Unless You Have Biblically Repented

There are two ways to lie. One is to speak what is untrue. The other is to let people believe what you know is untrue thereby allowing the false impression to stand. The latter is what we refer to now. The first way you lie if you do not repent is in:

1. Baptism. Baptism is symbolic, therefore it communicates a specific truth. It says something very important about the baptismal candidate. First, it says that he believes that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose from the dead for his sins. He believes that Jesus died for him. The second thing it communicates is that he died with Christ and is raised to walk in newness of life. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4). So anyone getting baptized publically declares that he has left his old life of sin for the new life of righteousness. Now, unless he has indeed repented, unless he has turned from a life of sin to a life of godliness, he is lying. By his baptism, he says that he has died to the world, and become alive to God when, in reality, he does the exact opposite.

2. Church Membership. If a person joins the church it is because they are following the Biblical example. “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41) They that gladly receive the word are to become church members. What could be more dishonest and backward than joining a church when you do not gladly receive the word, but grudgingly, grievously and in mere toleration receive the word, but not in cheerful obedience? Those who have not experienced Biblical repentance have not turned from sin. They are nothing like the first converts who “continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42). In fact, they are the exact opposite. They refuse the apostles doctrine, and do not so much as begin in it, much less continue in it. They are more fit for church discipline than for church membership. Now, what could be more deceptive than to offer yourself up for church membership knowing that you have not turned from sin and chosen to serve God? What could more closely match the description in Titus 1:16 “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate”?

3. The Lord’s Supper. We also call this, Communion. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). What communion is there if you will not repent and turn from sin? No person who takes the cup without repenting can avoid drinking damnation. _“For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”_ (1 Corinthians 11:29). If you have not turned to God from sin, there is no communion for you. Over and over we are told that only one kind of person can have communion with God, “but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2). Do you take the Lord ’s Supper claiming communion with Christ? Then be sure to repent first, turning from your sins to Christ, or you can be sure you are lying to yourself. You cannot take part in any communion with the Holy One, while you choose not to take the “highway of holiness.” You are lying to the church when you take the cracker and juice, yet you have not turned from your wicked ways. You cannot fool God who sees the heart and knows if you have ever truly been born again. Only those who have turned from sin, those who have Biblically repented, tell the truth when they get Baptized, Join the church, and partake of Communion. All others, who will not yet “repent of their deeds”, and “turn from their iniquities” are doomed to be without the gates of that great city with “whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” (Revelation 22:14). There is no reason to refuse repentance except rebellion against God. We beseech you, by the mercies of God, as though Christ were pleading through us,…be reconciled to God while there is time.

So I ask, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Galatian 4:16). Is it not the Word of God which reads, “They received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12. If you must lie to participate in the church ordinances and membership, then aren’t you outside of Christ? Don’t lie. Instead “Repent ye therefore, and be converted [turned around], that your sins may be blotted out.” (Acts 2:19).

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church
www.GraceBaptistWPB.com

Who Can Come To Jesus?
Jesus said, “Com unto Me.” That is a great invitation, but He qualified it with, “all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This means that not everyone can come. So who can and who cannot come? Let us see, for this is of supreme importance to your eternal soul.
Although plenty of people know how a Christian is supposed to live, few there are that actually perform the duties of the Christian faith. There is much external religion in show, but there is little true religion in heart and life. If Christianity consisted in being called by that name, in being baptized, in going to church, and saying you believe in Jesus, then many there are who will be in heaven. However, if Christianity consists in an inward principle, a changed heart, a new birth, a putting off the old man and putting on the new, becoming a new creature, where old thing pass away and behold, all things become new, if it consists in repentance from sin to faith in God, and walking in newness of life, if it consists in being burdened for your sins and heavy laden with the guilt and shame of them before you will come to Christ, then, oh, how few there are with a share in this spiritual state! How many there are that pride themselves with only the outward show of religion, and how few there are that actually possess a new heart with God’s laws written thereon.

To show you who can come to Jesus I must first show you who cannot come.
First, he who thinks that he is good enough cannot come. If you think that you will be let into heaven because you have not been that bad, if you think you are basically a good person and do not deserve hell, if you think you will probably be saved because you try hard to live a good life, you are not burdened with your sin, and you cannot come to Jesus. Those whose righteousness is good enough in their own eyes do not think they need the salvation Jesus offers. He offers forgiveness to sinners who are helpless, in need of a complete salvation. They think they are not so bad as to deserve hell, so they have no sense of the guilt and misery of their own sin. It was just a bite of fruit that plunged the entire human race into sin and death, but Adam and Eve bit that fruit in rebellion. It was not the size of the bite, it was the rebellion that brought God’s wrath against them. Your sins are not small, though they may be so in your eyes. When done from a heart of rebellion against a holy and loving God, they could not be greater. All of God’s wrath rises up against the rebellion of man. If hell could open up before you, who think you are not so bad a sinner. If you could see the coming fury of God who will cast out all rebels into darkness and eternal torments, if you could see the results of you sins you have sinned, if you could see that there is not a good man upon the earth, then you would not think so highly of your righteousness anymore, you would cry out to God for the mercy he offers to burdened sinners. So if you think you are good enough, you are not burdened and weary of your sins, for you have not taken the time to consider them and their guilt. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” What took Jesus a cross and the blood of God to do in paying the wages of sin, you think you will accomplish with a few good works. In your pride, you think to do what only Jesus could do by His death. He paid the price for sin to become a Savior of sinners, you would do a few good deeds and erase all your sins without death. This is impossible, and shows that you do not feel the weight of your sins. If you were weary of them because you could not get rid of them, you would see that only Jesus can help you. That is why He said, “Come, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

Second, you are not burdened with your sin, and cannot come, if you continue in the practice of them, delighting in them, and following the sinful diversions of the world. Those who can still enjoy their sin, who can go on with delight to the beer parties, the filthy movies, the clubs, who can excuse themselves from church to enjoy their leisure, who can joke about the preacher and the holy people of God, who can follow the worldly pleasures, show they are not burdened for their sin, and are not laboring under its load. How will you ever be burdened for your sin if you do not want to consider them? If preaching of hell, judgment, sin, and guilt is wearisome to you, how can you ever get burdened for your sin? To stop your laughter long enough to feel the guilt of sin is a great agony to you. You know that if you consider these things, you would come to the place where you must give them up. You must leave your vain pleasure and follow Christ. Yet I ask, will you not lose them all in hell anyway? There is no laughter there. It is all sadness and grief. There are no parties in hell. There are no sports or comedies. What good are they doing you, except to silence your conscience and pacify you, hastening your own destruction? Then, there will be no joy in the remembrance of them. In hell, you will wish you had prayed, went to church, read your Bible, warned others of God’s hatred of sin, encouraged others to a holy life, but it will be too late. Then you would give all the world for one offer of mercy, one sermon about God’s grace to sinners, but none will be left. The day of mercy is today, we do not know what tomorrow will bring. If you continue in the delight of sinful diversions and vanity, you show that you have never been burdened and heavy laded with your sins. You show that you would rather have sin than Christ. He says come, but you cannot hear Him, because your sins drown out the sound of His still small voice. If you would stop and consider the end of the path you are on, and the heavy wrath and fire of God it will bring, then you would realize that God has done you a great benefit in dying to get your attention, to pay for your sins, and in rising from the dead to give you new life apart from those sinful diversions.

Now we proceed quickly to tell you who can come. Those who feel the weight of their sins can come. Those who are burdened and cannot find rest in anything this world offers, those who sin with anguish of mind because they know how hateful sin is to God, those who see that the wrath of God is heavy against them, those who know themselves to be guilty sinners, those who labor under the weight of constant sinning and see that, in all they do, they offend God, these are heavy laden with their sin and can come to Jesus. All you who do not have any hope of being saved by your own efforts, all you who cannot continue in the sinful practices of the world and be happy, all you who find no happiness offered to you anywhere in this life, all you who know that your sins are ready to sink you into hell, can come to Jesus and find rest.

Jesus promised and assured us that if we come to Him, He will give us rest. His promise is to all who labor under the load of sin, rich and poor, old and young. Come and find rest. This rest is from God, not from the world. The world cannot match it, and the world cannot take it away. What will you do? What will your answer be? Will you come now and find rest, rest for the weary, the burdened, the loaded down with sin. Jesus has paid the full price for your sins and, by faith in His name, God will count this payment as your own. Your sins will be covered by the loving cross of Calvary and the blood of Christ, and you will have Christ Himself come to live in your soul and give you rest, peace, and eternal life. Will you come?

Pastor Dukes
Grace Baptist Church
West Palm Beach, FL

Pastor Troy Dukes originally shared:

Why I Could Never Follow You Into Atheism - A serious response to an Atheist
Your Atheism has no foundation for your moral system higher than the majority vote of scientists, sociologists and human legislators. This is certainly not moral high ground, since you allow that a community of likeminded people can kill each other so long as democratically they approve it, via sociology or legislation. When scientists decide that teaching Creation is harmful to children, I will lose my right under your system. When teaching marriage from a Biblical view is deemed harmful to children by your standards, I lose my rights of freedom of religion and they WILL stop me or take my children as is beginning in Canada. There is no foundation in your system to keep me safe. My faith will be under persecution like it now is in Germany where they do not allow homeschooling because they do not believe it is good for children to have a "separate culture from the rest." That's what your sociologist have decided. It was my Baptist that were responsible for the freedom of religion clause in the Bill of Rights, the Danville Baptists to be specific, which protects your right to live an Atheist lifestyle. Your way is already here and my people suffer persecution right now because of it. People are dying because of it. Babies are dying because legislators think it is OK to sacrifice babies for convenience. Society can consent to murder all day, but God forbids it. It is sin. You can keep your religion. It is already affecting the freedom of my people. No thanks. Under my system, you will always be safe. You will be preached to, but you can raise your kids Atheist if you choose. No one will make you say "under God." However, your system is a proven disaster for me. Sorry, but I will not be following you to the destruction of innocent lives. Your sociologists are stealing the rights of my people. They are permitting euthanasia. They are approving abortion. They condone infanticide. Barack Obama introduced a bill as a State Senator from Chicago that permitted "after birth abortions." He voted four times to permit doctors to kill LIVING children born during a failed abortion. They were alive, born healthy, and they could be killed. Society kills, God protects life as sacred. Nothing is sacred with your system, just numbers and charts and studies. Forget it. Your system is worse than a disaster. You will never convince me of anything. If I came to your side, I would also have blood on my hands. You take the "moral high ground." Your ground is strewn with dead bodies. I will call all life sacred in the image of God. You can call it a fluke of evolution. You can respond, but you can give up any hope of getting anywhere with me. You have proposed a deadly system with the fickle taste of man as the foundation. As men are turning more against Christians, we will be next on the "we can do without them" list. Sorry, but you are on your own. I'm standing with God, you can do what you want. He can forgive you, but you must come as a guilty man who is in favor of the whims of wicked men who use tests to see what works best. Forced abortions? This is normal in China with its one-child policy. When babies are deemed “harmful” by scientists they kill them. No thanks, sir. Kill pastors in Russia? This was normal sociological development of an atheist society under Marxism. When preachers of the gospel were deemed “harmful” to the system, they killed them. It always ends up in our deaths when your system, with no absolute respect for life made in God’s image, takes over. NO THANKS. I hope someday you realize that your religion kills people and it is no different than any other vile religion that ends up killing people. Your system is already taking place. People are already dead by the millions right now. God condemns murderers to hell and all that support them, like you are doing, unless they repent and ask forgiveness in Jesus' name.
I think I have seen enough of your Atheism, thank you.
Pastor Dukes

Hipster Christianity vs. Real Christianity
What happens when Chrstianity slides with the culture instead of shaping it? You get Hipster Crhstianity. Here is how to tell the difference.

1. The Hipster Christian believes that he is a sinner. He believes that his life is a mess. After all, we're all sinners, right? He knows he is a sinner and either wears it as a badge of honor, or publicly flogs himself by constantly reminding others how sinful he is.
The Real Christian also confesses himself to be a sinner. He has repented and abhors his sin. He is ashamed of his old life and does not brag about how sinful he is, yet he will not deny himself to be the chief of sinners. Since sin no longer defines him, he finds his identity in Christ. He is pure in heart and to the pure all things are pure. His delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He loves righteousness and hates lawlessness. He hates every false way, and refuses to get off the paths of righteousness, the highway of holiness, just because he can. If he falls, he gets back up, even if he falls seven times. Yet he still expects to be rewarded for his righteousness, though he knows that he does not have as much as he would like. Still, he knows that the fruit of the righteous, whatever amount he does have, are by Jesus Christ.

2. The Hipster Christian believes that Jesus lived a righteous life and died for the sins of men. He lays great stress on the fact that Jesus obeyed for him. He emphasizes the freedom this gives him. He trumpets that he no longer must earn God's favor. He says that this liberating truth will deliver him from all the external pressure of living up to an unreasonable standard. He believes Christ's obedience so satisfied the Father that Jesus no longer cares how he dresses, what he sees, what music he listens to, what he drinks or smokes, or about any mere externals, for God looks on the heart, he says.

The Real Christian also believes that Jesus lived a sinless life. He affirms that Christ's death provides him with a righteousness he cannot earn. Yet, he hungers and thirsts after righteousness, and, unlike the Hipster, he is filled. He loves the law of God from the heart. Rendering obedience is not grievous for him. The Real Christian does not want to use the grace of God as a covering to hide in sin. He wants the blood of Christ to purge his conscience from dead works to serve the living God, and to cleanse him from all unrighteousness. He pursues inward and outward holiness, not because he is a Pharisee, but because he wants to be like his dear Savior, and be conformed to His image. He separates himself from worldliness, not because he is pressured to by tradition, but because God promised that if he would come out from among the world His God would receive him, and be a Father to him, and he would rather have his Father’s favor then the world.

3. The Hipster Christian believes in being "missional." That is, he must make the Bible relevant so lost people will be saved. This means he must go to the same movies, read the same books, talk the same way, and get tattoos and piercings like the world or else they won't listen. Besides, he likes that edgy stuff anyway. He must have enough worldliness to attract the world and not scare them off with that old traditional hymn singing, suite wearing, hell preaching Christianity that has long since found its way to the "antique" section of history.

The Real Christian believes in evangelism. He still believes that they must go into all the world and preach the gospel. He believes that God will bless a holy life with success. He would rather have God’s blessing than compromise. He knows the way to win the lost is to be in the world, but not of the world. He believes that the greatest Soul-Winner is without sin and separate from sinners, and that holiness draws people to God, whereas worldliness draws people to try to add God to their sinful lives. He wants, as much as possible, to win sinners to God the same way Jesus did, by being harmless and blameless, circumspect and self-denying. He wants to show them that Christ has real power over sin. He does not believe that Jesus was a partier who hung out with sinners for fun. His Jesus is too holy to be of such low character. He knows Jesus did not come to man to party, but to seek and to save the lost.

The Hipster has created a new “Jesus.” His modern, skinny jeans Jesus would easily mingle with the worldly church. He would not judge them. He would want them to feel comfortable just as they are, even if they are in a beer t-shirt. The last thing their Jesus would do is make sinners uncomfortable. In fact, he would probably put on a "Jesus is my homeboy" t-shirt to preach his sermon, just so they know He is cool. The truth is, today's hipster Jesus could fit in well anywhere without offending anyone except the righteous, and Hipster Christians can fit in anywhere except into heaven, because there it is actually holy. God does not need the current standard of cool to win souls. He has not been cool for 2000 years. His uncool Christians have offended people the entire time with their holy living and loving ways. Real Christians have held that men must be born again, live a holy life, and separate from sin or they should not think they have begun the Christian life. For this they have paid with their lives, their property, their back given to the whip, their homes burned, their cheeks punched, their blood shed, and they go rejoicing that is was all for Jesus’ sake. But for some awful reason, now the Hipster must remake God in his own worldly image so people will receive Him. The real Christian knows that if you do not repent and believe the same old "uncool" gospel that makes sinners holy, you will die and go to hell. Then you won't think you are very cool. Reject Hipster Christianity and be a Real Christian.

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church
www.GraceBaptistWPB.com

FWIW - the same people are who pushing this heretical gap theory, are also the same people who are buying into more unbiblical errors and heresies.

One of them being the basic doctrines of salvation. For example - I saw this posted on another message forum. I've seen these same gap theory pushers call(what this pastor says below) "lordship salvation".(and they have no idea what LS is to begin with)

Ultimately - either you believe the bible 100%, or you don't. You are either with Jesus Christ, or against him.

Why Did Jesus Die? If you say, "To pay for sin," you are only half right. The Bible is very clear over and over as to why Jesus died. Please read these verses and see why He died.

2 Corinthians 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

Galatians 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Colossians 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

You may easily recognize that Jesus did die for our sins. That is a fact, but He died that you will live for Him. When you received Christ, did you receive Him to accomplish the purpose He set out to accomplish? He died to give you life, not just in heaven, but right now. Life from the dead of sin. Over and over the Scriptures tell us that Jesus died so you would not remain the same. Have you ever understood why Christ died? He died as a ransom for your soul. For nothing but the blood of Jesus could wash away your sins. But He died to wash you clean of them and set your feet on the path of righteousness. This is what it means when God says that Christ died so you can have life.
Are you alive?

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church
www.GraceBaptistWPB.com

A SERIOUS RESPONSE to those who use the New Covenant in Christ to attempt to prove there is no male or female, therefore both can be Pastors.

Please understand that the words of the Bible cannot be counteracted by bad interpretation. The gospel did not change the nature of human beings. Although it set aside the ceremonies and the sanitary laws and the demands that the law had on our soul for payment, it did not change how God created us. For instance, animals still need 1 in 7 days to rest. The Sabbath, as a day, cannot be set aside without changing the nature of animals and man. We need to rest and worship 1 day in seven. Jesus death on the cross in no way changed our nature. I am sure you can agree with this. The problem with your argument is that you are coming at the thing all wrong. You are arguing that the death of Christ and the institution of the new Covenant has abolished our nature. You see, the argument that women are not to lead men, according to the apostle Paul, is that a woman is not, "to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man." This is a New Testament passage, therefore your entire argument, that "this is the New Covenant and Jesus set the old aside," is already void before I set forth 2 more reasons why it cannot be valid. However, your argument is also not valid because Paul makes his argument based on (1) creation and the (2) nature of women. This could not change after the gospel era. Jesus did not come to change our natures. His 1st argument is that Adam was formed first, then Eve. This means that in the created order, Adam had responsibilities that Eve did not. This is not God respecting persons, but being orderly. 2nd, he states that Eve was deceived, not Adam. This means that Eve's nature is more likely to be deceived than Adam. Therefore, she proved in the Garden that she is not fit to lead, but that God fit the man to lead. Paul made the argument. Paul made the argument in the New Testament. Paul wrote Galatians and he said it, not me. He did not allow a woman to have authority over the man. If you do not like this, do not use Paul to argue against his own stand. He was not a bigot. He was not a respecter of persons. He was not adding OT laws and ordinances to the NT. He wrote Galatians, and he forbids women to have authority over a man. It does not matter what you think, a woman cannot be a pastor according to the Bible. You can take as many thoughts as you want, but this IS the NT. Man did not change natures when Jesus died. God did not change the nature and reverse all the family order since creation. God did not eliminate the duties of a bride to usher in a new system with two heads. If you think submission is a yoke of bondage, then you will never enjoy being a Christian, that is all there is to Christianity, submission. It is not bondage it, it is freedom. Children are not yoked with obedience to their parents. Citizens are not yoked with obedience to good laws. We are not yoked with submission to each other. And women are not yoked with the same obedience Christ willingly offered to His Father, though they were equal.
Pastor Dukes
www.GraceBaptistWPB.com

Pastor Dukes is NOT a non-dispensationalist heretic(he's pre-trib, and believes the ToJT period focuses largely on Israel).

Nonetheless, this is a very interesting read.

FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION...

Some very important additional considerations for the doctrine that men are saved differently in different dispensations:
1. Adam and Eve did not have salvation by works in the garden. They were innocent and did not need salvation. They were not sinners, so there was nothing to be saved from. They lived by God's power, but they had no sin, therefore they enjoyed God without need of a Savior. The angels have not sinned, and there is no Savior for angels.
2. Adam and Eve were saved, after they sinned by faith in a substitute. The picture of a sacrifice was given so they could have faith in the seed to come, the Messiah. Their faith had to be in the fulfillment of the sacrifice, and the promised Messiah. The blood was shed to picture Christ.
3. Abraham was saved by faith alone in Christ alone. He understood the picture of a coming Messiah. He was justified, according to Romans, JUST LIKE WE ARE, "to him who worketh not, but believeth…his faith is counted as righteousness. There was not even a little work, or his example cannot be for us. No law, no circumcision, no works - just faith. That's what the good book says.
4. Under the Mosaic Law they were saved by faith. One may say, were they not REQUIRED to offer sacrifices? Indeed they were, but the book of Hebrews plainly declares that sacrifices never took away one sin. So though it was required, it could not in any way save or add to faith. These were only pictures of what Jesus does for us by faith.
5. There can be no mixture of faith and works in any dispensation. Remember Romans 11:6. Salvation is either by faith or works, but they CANNOT be combined. Any talk of some faith and some works should be dismissed out of hand without debate, that is like saying something is a little free and not free at the same time.
6. When Jesus was upon the earth, he called men to faith in Himself and condemned anyone who did not believe in Him. We same verses that He used to tell people to believe on Him for everlasting life are the ones He gave when He was present. He called it faith while He was standing there. For someone to say that we cannot call this faith is to say Jesus was wrong. Of course, that is absurd.
7. In the church age we are saved by grace alone right? Not by works of righteousness which we have done… So how can faith be what saves us and Abraham be our example, unless the same faith saved him? How can we have a “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11 if they were all saved by works and faith together (which is a contradiction anyway Romans 11:6). Either their lives were by faith or they were by works. That is the Bible. No body want to say their lives were lived by works. Therefore, we need to end the idea that some were saved any other way than faith alone in Christ alone.
8. In the tribulation time, the Bible states in revelation 14 that saints have the faith of Jesus and keep His commandments. Do not be fooled to think that salvation then comes by the keeping of the commandments. Here are two Bible reasons. First, we are told by the apostles that there is no law or commandment given that can take away sin, therefore, the law does not presently exist that can add to faith and save us. Second, the revelation of God has ceased and we have it in the Bible. So if it is not given, and the revelation has already ceased, it will not be given. Men are saved by faith or works without the possibility of mixture. There is no law given besides the faith of Jesus that can take away sin. Finally, there will be no more commandment revealed. So it will always be impossible and has always been impossible for any laws, or rules or commandments to in any way procure our salvation or recommend us to God. This can only come on the merits of Jesus, looking past or forward, and only by faith in His blood. Some will object that if you take the mark of the beast after you get save, then you will not be saved in the end. To this, we reply that if the elect could be deceived, this would be true, but the Bible tells us that the elect will not be deceived by the antichrist. If they follow him, they prove they loved the lie and not the truth. They must be given over to believe the lie to follow him. Though all who worship the beast get the wrath of God, there is not Scriptural evidence that any true saints will worship the beast. That is speculation and is not proved by Scripture.
9. Toward the end of the tribulation, at the judgment, Jesus separates those who visited Him in prison and gave Him water from those who did not. Doe this prove that they are saved by works and not faith? The question is, how could God receive those as good works, unless He created the works Himself? The fruit of the righteous are by Jesus Christ. Man cannot produce the first good work without being redeemed first, for all man’s good works are fruits of repentance and fruit of the Holy Spirit, and done by Jesus in us. Remember, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” So unless these were saved first, they cannot do anything God will approve. The idea that they earned their salvation by giving a glass of water when Jesus had to die on a cross to procure it is ridiculous. Additionally, their good deeds must flow from a good heart, made so first, for “a good tree produces good fruit.” They must already be saved or God would not approve their works. Somebody had to MAKE the tree good first, or it could NEVER produce good fruit. This is the same plan we are under.
10. What about the millennium? The question is can a man have faith when he can see God? Let us ask did Jesus trust his Father? Could Jesus not see the Father? When He sees the Father, can He trust Him? In Hebrews 11 we are told faith is the evidence of things not seen. Someday our faith will be made sight. At that time we will have no more sin nature and will be free from the presence of sin. But what of those who still must be saved. If they can see Jesus as we can, can they still be saved as we were without seeing Him? Yes, One Thousand times yes! Read John 20:29, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Thomas believed while he was looking at Jesus. This is no contradiction. Jesus said he did it and we will believe without seeing Him. So unless Jesus was greatly mistaken, someone who is looking right at his glorified body CAN believe.

11. To sum up. The Bible says that it is impossible to be saved by any other faith than by the faith of Abraham who did NOT work but believed and was accounted righteous. The Bible plainly says you can NEVER mix faith and works. You must have either faith or works. There is no such thing as a combination. Finally, Jesus plainly taught that men can believe while they are staring into Jesus’ face. To say the only faith is that which is unseen, is unscriptural and contradicts the plain words of Christ. Nobody ever got saved any other way than by faith alone in Christ alone, with the faith that produces good fruit.

Pastor Troy Dukes
www.GraceBaptistWPB.com

Some reflections on the implications of repentance. Is it just believing that Jesus is God or yielding to the truth of it in your heart?

It is not possible to admit Jesus is God and not to follow Him, unless by that you mean to admit he is God just like the devils. To admit He is God and refuse to follow Him is flat out rejection, not faith in Him. The response to follow Him is a result of the recognition that He is God. The actual following Him is not the recognition. The actual following Him is the fruit of repentance, or sanctification. Is there no difference between repentance, and fruit meet for repentance? The former is a change of mind the latter is sanctification. Otherwise, fruit meet for repentance must mean living as though you believe God is in charge, but refusing His authority over you, just like the devils do. Fruit meet for repentance then is living like a devil, against what you know to be true. This is absurd.

To believe that He is God is a universal idea of supremacy. Look up "God" in the dictionary. It means Supreme Being. That means He gets to be in charge. Otherwise you effectively reject that He is God. The devils affirm the truth of it, but reject the implications. When a man gets saved he is led of the Holy Spirit. For anyone to have their mind changed about who Jesus is, and that change end up rejecting Him as God in the heart, is not repentance, it is not the leading of the Holy Spirit, it is rejection. Just because the effects of genuine repentance results in a changed life, does not mean that this definition confuses sanctification. It means that there is a Biblical difference between repentances and fruit meet for repentance, or the change of mind required by God and the resultant change of life that follows. The heart changes when it decides who God is. The man replaces the devil with Christ as God in his heart. This is the only gospel way to recognize the deity of Christ. The devils believe in God and tremble, but they do not yield to God's authority. They know He is in charge, but have no desire to follow Him. We do not wish to say that man gets saved by believing about the gospel, but not upon Christ. If you believe that man must go further than a devil when he believes to be saved, then you must acknowledge the true definition of repentance and it changes the heart, not just the beliefs about God.

If I change my mind about who owns me (God) it will affect my behavior (sanctification), but I did not get sanctified to get saved. I got saved to get sanctified. The low view of repentance does not deliver a man from the power of Satan to the power of God, does not translate a man out of the kingdom of darkness and into light, does not purify the heart by faith, or bring a man to the faith that works by love, he sows to the flesh, but will reap everlasting life contrary to the Bible. Galatians 6:8.
Consider these thoughts and reflect upon their implications.
Love in Christ

What Has Happened To Christianity?

We want to preach the same Christianity that has always delivered men from the Devil. There are those who would have us believe that there is no such thing as repentance from sin. They hold that repentance is merely a change of mind about how to get to heaven. They cry foul if anyone speaks of surrendering the heart to God as though this is working your way to heaven. They boast of standing only on faith, while the doctrine of repentance, they say is a work, and a doctrine from hell! Are they right? Absolutely not. Here is why.

We will have to breeze over two impressive arguments, but I will state them anyway.

1) This is the way salvation has ALWAYS been preached. They would have us believe that everybody got it wrong until they discovered the hidden truth. Really? All of Christianity got it wrong until the mid 1900's? Even the Mormons pre-date this false teaching of no repentance

2) Did all the Greek scholars, who read and wrote fluently in multiple languages, enough to give us a version like the King James Bible, not notice that repentance was just a change of mind, and not a change of direction. They did not know the literal meaning of repent was a change of mind? They accidentally or deceptively "added" that it was a change of heart? Could it be that this really is the contextual meaning and all these men were actually right?

3) On to more serious arguments. Jesus said in John 8:44, " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." All lost men serve the devil. That is a Bible fact. So what happens when a person gets saved? They are faced with a choice. Since Jesus is God, He should be the new Master. If you want to receive Christ, you must choose Him over the Devil. This, they would have us believe, is a sin, a trick of the Devil, and will send you to hell. Wow! The Devil tricks you OUT of his service and INTO Christ arms to love Him. Did not Jesus say a kingdom divided cannot stand? Would the Devil fight himself? Now we are not asking anyone to depend upon their work to save them ,we are saying to receive Chris you must reject the Devil, that you cannot receive both Christ and the Devil. Jesus said that "no man can serve two masters. So if you do not serve Christ, you do serve the Devil. This means that when a man finds out that Jesus is God, and that Jesus died to save him from hell and the Devil, a man receives Christ and rejects the Devil. This we are told is earning your salvation. We are told that one mus retain submission to the Devil, or he cannot be saved. If we say a person must reject the Devil, we are of the Devil. That is backwards and dangerous.

4) We are told a sinner only wants to go to heaven. They cannot understand the deeper parts of theology and sanctifiction until after they are saved and start growing. Then they surrender to Jesus. Before that, they cannot because they do not know enough. Beside the fact that this is no where in the Bible, let us boldly assert that this is poppycock. This only makes sens to those blinded to any sort of reason. First, a man must believe Jesus is God to be saved. What is God, but the Supreme Being? This, by virtue of His nature means He has a supreme claim on our obedience. As God, He owns and rules everything. If you do not know this you cannot be saved. Yet, if you can know Jesus is God, how can you NOT know that you are to submit to Him? To refuse surrender to Jesus now is to effectively telling God to back off while you rule yourself. This is the faith and recepion of Jesus they give us. "Come and save me, but back down from calling yourself God, I am still God around here." Who cannot see that this cannot be the faith required of God?

5)We are told that sinners do not know they must surrender to the authority of God because they do not know enough. Agian let us inquire, what must a person know to know they are a sinner? They must know that God makes law. They must know that God has a right to make Law and they have a duty to obey. They must know that they have broken God's Law, and that they deserve to be punished in hell for eternity. All this they must know to know they are a sinner, yet we are to believe, in all this they still do not know that they must turn from sin! They do not know that they should serve God and not the Devil? They do not know that they should submit to the God they know they offended? These teachers would have us believe that a sinner has no idea that they should not go right on sinning the very offences that made them guilty and caused them to incur the wrath of God! Even a child knows better when they touch a stove, they should not continue. This knowledge and heart change toward God is called a work, and a lie from hell! When does a man figure out that God is supposed to be loved? If the cross and a dying Savior cannot communicate that and change a heart, if the threats of the Law do not arouse his suspicions that he is in great error in his ways, then what does God have left? The end of the commandment is Jesus Christ. That is where you end up, in Christ's arms.

Finally, we ask, have you never read that Jesus has already describe what you call faith as a dishonor to God, and a false profession? Mark 7:6-7, "He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments." If you profess to know God with your mouth, but deny Him in your heart by following the Devil, you are a hypocrite, not a Christian. The doctrine of God does not leave you in the Devils arms. It destroys the works of the Devil. Jesus plainly declares that all who call on God, but do not draw near to God in heart, are following man's doctrine and not God's. Enough of this crying foul that a call to holiness is a call to hell. Where does holiness come from, me or Jesus? Since it comes from Jesus,we are not looking to self. Enough of this calling a rejection of the Devil and reception of Jesus in the heart a lie of Satan. Would Satan trick me into the love of Jesus and hatred of sin? Enough of this saying that surrendering to Christ is not faith. Are we made perfect by the works of the flesh or by the hearing of the law? Does a man work hard to become holy, or does he rather recognize the saving power in Christ to deliver him from sin and the Devil? One look to the real Jesus offered in Scripture and a man is set free from the bondage of the Devil. This does not mean he will never sin again. It means he chooses Christ. Has Christianity come to the place where we offer a two God system? A Devil to rule you and a Jesus to take you to heaven. Let us be about the business of delivering people "from the power of Satan to the power of God." That's the gospel, the soul saving message that brings Christ to His new throne in the soul, and saves a man from hell and the Devil.

Pastor Troy Dukes
www.GaceBaptistWPB.com

Does History Matter?
It may be irrelevant what ridiculous ideas some people have come up with. This does not mean that history does not matter when it comes to Christianity. Few study history, much less Church History. Yet, we can find a very valuable lesson from it. All true Christians have the Holy Spirit that is true today and in Church History. This means we can expect to find a distinct teaching about salvation throughout. We can expect that though good men disagreed on many things, the one thing men of God should have agreed about is the gospel. If this is true, then we can study their writings, see the agreement and spot a phony new doctrine right away. If we are ignorant of history, we will likely be taken by some clever form of new doctrine. This will mean we have left the fold of the Christian gospel for a destructive counterfeit, and repudiated all the godly preachers as wrong. We will effectively be saying, "no generation of Christian ever understood the gospel until now." Not only is this very arrogant, but it is very dangerous.

So what is the universally understood gospel that was taught across denominational lines since the founding of the church? It is the gospel that makes men holy and fit for heaven. Preachers through the ages have preached a free salvation, a single way to get to God, by the blood of Jesus. Through faith in His name all your sins are forgiven, and God's wrath is set aside, having been poured out on Jesus. They preached repentance. They preached it loud and strong. They preached that a man must abhor sin and turn from the love of it to the love of Jesus or they will remain lost. They preached that no work or repentance can earn you any favor with God or wash a single sin away. Yet, they also taught that no man can get saved who is not turning from sin to righteousness, nor has any man been saved whose life does not produce good works, some 30 fold, some 60 fold, some 100 fold. This is the unanimous voice of historical Christianity which has not been so ignorant as to all be exactly wrong on the most essential element of the Christian faith. They disagreed on many things, but not about this.

So what can we learn from history. First, know it or you may be easily deceived. Second, do not think it is a small thing to be so full of pride as to think your generation first understood the gospel. Third, be sure the gospel you know is the one that has always been preached, otherwise, be sure you are no Christian.

Who were some of these men you may wonder? The list is far too long, for nearly every preacher has taught this. Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, John Calvin the list could go on indefinitely.

The final thought is this. Have you turned from sin to holiness? Have you thrown yourself on the mercy of God? Have you left an old selfish life to be made a new creature in Christ? Are you born again in the old-fashioned way, or are you just claiming Jesus in the new way that requires no submission to God. Man's problem is that he is a sinner. He loves sin more than God. The gospel fixes his wicked heart, and by repentance sets his affection on things above, by faith washes his sin away in Jesus' blood, and by the presence of the Holy Spirit empowers him to serve with gladness.

I hope you all know true salvation.
God bless you,
Pastor Dukes

Do People Only Go To Hell For Unbelief or for Their Sins?

Some people say that the one sin people go to hell for is unbelief because Jesus paid for all sin on the cross. Is that true?

Unbelievers are not condemned simply for a failure to believe. This theory states that since Christ died for all sin and all sins are paid for, man cannot be condemned for his individual sins. He is only condemned for his failure to believe in or trust and rely on that payment for sins. God condemns man only for unbelief.

This theory is also based on the premise that any sin paid for by Christ guarantees that the individual will not be condemned for it. He may, by exercise of the free will, refuse to believe on Christ and be condemned for unbelief, but Christ has already paid for his other sins so he cannot be condemned for any of his committed sins. To support this theory John 3:18 is cited. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Emphasizing the word “because,” it is urged that we are only condemned because we do not believe.

There are three problems with this theory.
1. It confuses the condition of condemnation for the ground of condemnation. Notice the distinction in John 3:19, the next verse, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” If the sinner came to the light his deeds would be exposed, therefore, he refuses to believe, trust in, or acquiesce to the light so he can continue practicing evil. Here we have the ground, or ultimate reason, for condemnation, that is, the practice of evil, and we have the needed condition met for condemnation. The condition necessary to be condemned is failure to believe, but the ground of condemnation is the sin practiced. In other words, “because you have not believed (condition of condemnation) you will be condemned for practicing evil (ground of condemnation).”

2. This theory also confounds the reasoning for why we need Christ. Why does a man need to believe in Christ? It is because man has sinned. He has broken the law and will be sentenced to eternal death. If Christ's payment for sin means that God literally has nothing against him but failure to exercise faith in Christ, then we have come to a logical absurdity. I am innocent of everything, except believing that I am guilty. I must trust Christ as my payment for the sins that are not being held against me. In addition, I may be condemned for not trusting Christ to forgive and remit the sin that he has already removed from my account. In other words, one should read the Bible and be convicted that he has never been saved from the sins that God does not hold against him. With nothing against him that he has done, he still must believe in Christ, but for what? I must at the same time hold that I am to believe on Christ or be damned, and that I cannot be damned for my own sins.

3. This theory also presents us with another contradiction. If Christ died to pay for all sin, and if I cannot be condemned for my actual sins, only for failure to believe, why is failure to believe exempted from His payment? How can failure to believe not be considered a sin? If Christ died to pay for all sin, why is my unbelief not paid for? If unbelief is considered a sin then one cannot reasonably hold this position and believe that Christ died for all sin.

For if he died for all sin, then by this theory he paid for my unbelief, and I cannot suffer for it either. If His death renders it impossible for me to go to hell for my own sins, yet I can go to hell for not believing, then either Christ did not pay for all sin, or unbelief is not a sin. But if it is objected that His payment for unbelief is for all sin, but I am not credited with it until I believe, then we must respond that the whole scheme of redemption must work consistently. Why am I credited with His payment for my sins before I believe, but I am not credited for the sin of unbelief until I believe? Again, how can the guilt of some sins be gone without faith and another species of sin remain on my account until I believe? Certainly all my sins remain on my head until I believe. At that time I am forgiven of both my failure to believe and all my other sins. According to this theory, Christ paid for all sin, yet I can still be damned for the sin of unbelief; therefore, those who hold this theory effectively hold that Christ paid for all sin except the sin of unbelief.

Undoubtedly, it is true that Christ's death pays for all sin, yet until I believe on him, His death avails me nothing. All my sins remain on my account until I receive His payment for my sin. Until that time I am exempted from all of the privileges of His payment for my sin.
Either I am credited with Christ's death payment for all my sins only when I believe and I, therefore, will not suffer for any of my own sins, or Christ's universal atoning payment allows all men to go to heaven because it covers all their sin, even their sin of unbelief. Either men are going to go to hell for every sin they commit and the for their wicked, unbelieving hearts from whence it all proceeded, or we should be Universalists and affirm that Jesus’ death paid for all sin and every man will go to heaven. It is impossible for Christ to have paid for all sin, for God not to hold me accountable for all my own sin, and yet hold me accountable for the sin of unbelief. This contradiction leads to confusion. If God can overlook my other sins without my exercising trust in him, why can he not look over the one sin of unbelief? You see that Christ’s payment for sin does not render the individual forgiven of any sin until, by faith he receives Christ. Until that time, he is still in his sins. “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

What is Salvation by Grace?
You may be familiar with the expression that salvation is “by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone.” This is a great statement. In fact it becomes familiar to the point that we lose its meaning in its familiarity. Let us contemplate for a moment what salvation means.

First, salvation is by Grace Alone. God is the one who saves. We cannot save ourselves. It is by grace that we are saved because God must raise dead men from their sins. They cannot escape the consequences of them or the practice of them without his Grace. God gives grace to the humble, but He resists the proud. Whoever would try to save himself would be proud if he could accomplish it. Grace means we are helpless to produce what God has already finished at the cross, a full salvation through His blood.

Second, salvation is by Faith Alone. No works can secure what God wants to give for free. It is not that you have any good works, for the Bible says there is none good, not even one. It says that all our righteousness is as filthy rags to God. We have no good works. Nothing we do can move God to set aside His wrath. We are sinners. The Bible says that we are alienated from God by our wicked works. Since our works are wicked, we cannot use them to erase our sin. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. God did not need our help to erase sin. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, not good works. Good works is not the price sin demands, death is. So only blood can make atonement for the soul. Since you are still alive, you cannot use these works to pay for you sins. You must die. By then it will be too late. All your sins will follow you to the judgment and you will be cast out of life and die in hell forever tormented. If you think you are good enough to go to heaven, then you have no idea what it means to be a sinner. A sinner is a rebel against God who has chosen to place himself on God’s throne and rule his own universe. This is high treason and no few works can excuse the consequences of that. Salvation is by faith in Christ’s work not in our own works. It is by faith only, not mixed with any dependence on anything else for meriting favor with God.

Third, salvation is in Christ Alone. There is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. There is one Savior. He said, “I am the way.” There is none else. Unless all your faith is in the blood of Christ, you cannot be saved. No one else can save. No one else died for your sins. No one else lived a sinless life, died in your place, rose from the dead, and said if you believe upon Him you will have everlasting life. Only Jesus saves. Only Christ could take your place and take the curse of sin for you. Only Jesus, God in the flesh, took the wrath of God against sin for you. Only Jesus can be your substitute for sin. Only Jesus can wash away your sin in his blood. Christ alone can save. All who come another way are thieves and robbers. Unless you come humbly for God’s grace, renouncing your own works as wicked for serving the devil, and apply to Jesus, in faith, for His free salvation, you will be lost forever. Every soul who thus calls upon the Lord Jesus Christ to wash away his sins, come into his heart, and deliver him from sin to a new life, is promised free salvation. Simple faith in the grace of God to give you free salvation in Christ, for it can be found nowhere else. Are you saved by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone?

The Obvious Difference Between God's Children and the Devil's

“If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.”
“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.”
(John 8:39, 42-44)

This is a very critical passage in understanding Christ’s preaching to lost men. He names two characteristics of the saved and one of the lost. These characteristics are natural opposites. We can thus see that there is a distinct character to the saved and a distinct character to the lost according to Christ.
Our Lord first tells these lost men that if they were Abraham’s children they would not be doing what they are doing. They would do the works of Abraham. He then says that Abraham did not seek to kill him, but what did Abraham seek to do? Abraham was the friend of God. Abraham was obedient to God. Abraham was not perfectly consistent through every action of his life; however, his character was such that he could be called the friend of God. This is no mere reference to the bare faith of Abraham, but the faith of Abraham and its subsequent obedience. The proof of this is in the next characteristic of the saved.
Our Lord next tells the lost men that if they were Abraham’s children, then like Abraham they would love Him. Now what does He mean that they would love Him? The Spirit has told us through John exactly what it means to love God in I John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” So, Jesus says that if they were Abraham’s children, meaning, if they were truly God’s children, that is, truly saved, then they would love Him. To love Him is to humble ourselves regarding obedience and to bring ourselves happily into submission. This is no grievous burden for the cheerfully obedient. Christ here tells us in no uncertain terms that if they were true children of God, they would love Him with their cheerfully obedient hearts.
To further demonstrate that this is the exact meaning, he points out the third characteristic of the lost. He does not here tell them what they will not do, but what they will do. They will do the lusts of their father the devil. To do the lusts of their father is here to live in sin and not be lovingly obedient to Christ. He has, a few verses before, told them what it means to be “free indeed.” It is the opposite of sinning, for “He who sins is a slave of sin,” and that only the Son can make them free. He now tells them that they are going to live by their lusts. Here their lusts are going to drive them to kill Christ, now the lusts of the lost drive them to live by their own law of sin.
So, according to this passage, Christ states that truly saved people live by a different rule than those who are lost. The saved live by the works of Abraham and they love Jesus. Loving Jesus in the Bible is described as happy service to him in obedience. So Christ states that real Christians are characterized by their submission to His will and obedience to him. On the other hand, the lost are characterized by living by their lusts in their sins. Jesus says saved people have repented from their sins. The great repentance in this passage is from living by lusts to living by love. Love is the great Christian character. Lust is the great lost character. Repentance is the great change from sin to love required of all men. Either a man must repent from living by lust to living by love for Christ to become a true son of God or this passage is misleading at best. Jesus says that if God is your Father you will love Him, yet you cannot love God without turning from sin.
As a proof of this last statement please see these four references:

1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

There can be no doubt that only those who KEEP his commandments love Him, and those that are the children of God do obey for, “If God were your Father, ye would love me.” Except a man repent of living by lust to live by love, except a man turn from sin to righteousness, except a man turn from his evil ways, except a man have this change of heart, Christ says he is no child of God.

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church
www.GraceBaptistWPB.com

WILL A REAL CHRISTIAN PRODUCE FRUIT?
Some say that a real Christian may or may not ever produce fruit. Is this true, and is this what the Bible says?
The Bible has much to say on this topic. Let us examine a few of the passages and even correct some errors of interpretation which commonly emerge about these passages. Let us begin with John the Baptist:
Matthew 3:7-10

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
According to this passage, if you want to flee the wrath to come, but you do not bring forth repentance that produces good fruit, then it is going to end badly for you, and you will be cast into the fire.

Matthew 7:16-20
“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Here Jesus makes a universal statement that every converted person brings forth good fruit because of his conversion, and every wicked person brings forth evil fruit because his heart is evil. This is a solid principle laid down in absolute terms. Even good trees do not always bring forth good fruit, but they the all bring forth good fruit. Again, if there is no fruit, its fire and judgement for that person.

Matthew 13:8,23 The Parable of the Sower
“But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Regardless of the inept interpretations of this passage. If you just read the passage here, and in Luke 8, you will plainly see that there is only ONE kind of ground that is good. That is the one that produces fruit. All the others are bad. They did not lose their salvation, they made a false profession of faith. There was no hope of them ever producing fruit and the message of the parable is not that some sprouted, but that only one produced. The description of this ground here and in Luke 8 is that they “understood” and they had an “honest and good heart.” The rest did not have honest hearts when they “believed” in vain, or “received the word with joy.” These were bad ground the whole time, and never could produce fruit for the sower.

Matthew 25:26-30 The Parable of the Talents
“His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The servant who did wickedly and did not improve his talents was cast out into outer darkness for failure to give the master his return. This parable shows that if God does not get a converted heart, which is always accompanied by a changed life, then we are not saved and there will be no fruit and we can expect hell.

Romans 3:20-23
“For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

We are quick to point people to the last verse as a great verse explaining the consequences of sin, but few realize it is the conclusion of a passage describing the end of a life of sin, and a life of holiness. It shows the result of the broad path, the path that leads to destruction, that they had been on, but are now ashamed of, and have left it for the path of life, the narrow way, that bears fruit unto God. This passage is very plain that the end of a life of holiness is everlasting life and the end of a life of sin, unrepented from and unforsaken and served to the last, is death.

Galatians 6:7-8
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

Whatever the context of the preceding passage, this summary is a universal principle elucidated in Scripture and is immutable. You will reap what you sow. If you plant your crops in sin, you will die in your sins. If you plant your crops by the power of the Spirit, be assured, you everlasting life will be your harvest. Reaping life everlasting is clearly the result only of a life spent sowing in the Spirit. As one must be converted to sow in the Spirit, then one must bear fruit if they are converted, for all converted men go to heaven and are promised life eternal.

Passages could be multiplied without end, but these should suffice to settle the point. Now let us answer a few objections.
1. “What about the thief on the cross? What fruit did he bear?” First, the Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is faith. He had this fruit. Second, like His Savior, he witnessed a good confession that remains to this day. Third, he resisted peer pressure and publically called on Jesus to save him. Had he lived longer, he undoubtedly would have produced the proper fruit in its time. He did all we could have expected, and it is still quite a wonder that this man was obviously self-condemning and so much unlike the other man.

2. “What about the carnal church at Corinth. They never produced fruit.” This is blatantly untrue. Look at what Paul said of their lives, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) He says, very obviously, that “such were some of you, but…” They were one way, but now they are sanctified and changed. In verse 6 of chapter 1 Paul sates that the testimony of Christ was confirmed in them. So whatever may have become of them, they had been delivered from a sinful life and the testimony was confirmed. Not all of them were living in gross immorality, but only one man was named. Many would have us think that the church at Corinth was a brothel of unrepentant sinners. They certainly had problems and they permitted problems, but that does not mean they produced no fruit. The Bible says otherwise.

3. “What about all those who never produce visible fruit, and we know they are saved?” Allow me to ask, how do you know anything about someone’s salvation? Do you base it on a mere profession? The Bible says plainly that many will “draw near with their mouths, but in deeds are far from Me.” Again, “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” And again, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” If you base your assurance of someone’s salvation on a mere profession of faith in spite of their fruitless life of sin, then you go beyond the Scriptures. You take it into your own hands to judge of their salvation that which is against the words of Jesus, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Look how many times that the Bible says words alone, without a changed life, hide a bad unconverted heart.

4. “This makes you judge of another’s salvation.” On the contrary. We are already judges of another’s salvation. Do you not object because you think they are saved already? Who made you a judge of another’s salvation? You are one already. You have made your decision and object to the use of Bible passages to judge the heart. Your evidence is their mere profession. In fact, you take empty words you know are empty because they have no accompanying fruit with them. Yet, you are sure you have judged their salvation. You have judged their salvation by the fruit of their profession. You have taken the profession as fruit enough and decided they are saved. Who made you inspector of their fruit? God did. You have decided that on your own accord, because, by nature, we must decide. It is in us to do it as much as it is in us to decide of someone is truthful or untruthful. However, you have based your decision where God does not permit, on a mere profession of faith, rather than a changed life.

5. “What about those who want to be baptized and just got saved? Should we take them at their word?” Yes, we should and here is why. First, when we baptize someone, we ask them if they have received Christ. We ask them if they understand the symbolism of baptism, that is, do they believe they have died with Christ to their old life and are alive to walk in newness of life. In other words, have they repented from their sinful life? If they answer in the affirmative, we take them at their word and baptize them. What is the difference? If a professing Christian is asked if they are dead to their old life, and really believe they are alive to the new life in Christ, and they know they have never had a changed life, they will usually answer they are not. If they answer that they are changed, yet you know they are not, then you can call them out on their self-deception and point out that they have no fruit for their profession. Therefore, like the thief on the cross, the new convert should have a good profession, be self-condemning, resist peer-pressure and come out for Jesus claiming His grace as a deliverance from sin. If they can make this basic Christian profession, they can be baptized. If they lied, or are self-deceived, the evidence will arise shortly.

In all, we see that those who claim there is a such thing as a Christian who never bears fruit, make a claim foreign to the Bible, and only profitable to those who live in sin. What use is assuring those who have no visible fruit, that they are definitely saved, when you know they have never had a new heart, a changed life, or what the Bible calls a new birth? Yes, this is what is means to be born again. It means to have a conversion that changes the very heart from the service of sin, to the service of God. When we speak of being born again, we talk of being dead in sin, and becoming alive from the dead of sin to new life in Christ. Without a change, there is no conversion, meaning a turn. There is no reconciliation, meaning an end to the enmity between man and God, by the putting away of God’s wrath, and the putting away of the rebellious heart. There is no new heart with the law written on it. There is no returning, like sheep having gone astray, to the Shepherd and Bishop (Overseer) of your soul. There is no circumcision of the heart by the putting away of the deeds of the flesh. There is no turning from the power of Satan to the Power of God. All these are description of getting saved. If we only use the one term, we may believe that there is no more to “getting saved” than believing a few things from the Bible about Jesus. On the contrary, there is far more that happens to a person when they are born from above. Their lives change by the power of God. They have the Spirit of Christ in their hearts which changes them from the inside, where their deepest affections are to the outside, where their outward fruit is seen. The kingdom of God is mysterious in the man, but it is not invisible. God changes His own so that they will partake in His holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church
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God's Grace In Saving Sinners
Or
WHAT GOD DOES NEXT WILL AMAZE YOU,

We do not like to call lost men sinners anymore. It offends them. It is difficult to admit to a problem nobody want to affirm that you have. However, the heart of sinners has not changed since Bible times. Sin is still sin, and rebellion is still rebellion. We just do not want to preach the gospel. Sure we want to preach the grace of God, but that is only part of the gospel. The medicine does no good without the cure.

If I may take a moment of your busy time and preach to you the gospel, I hope to display to you the grace of God. In order to do that, I have to set one thing right. Most all people, professing Christians included, have a dismal misunderstanding of sin. They think it is an outward act. In truth, sins like lying and theft and murder and Sabbath breaking are outward acts. However, Jesus told us that sins proceed from the heart. Matthew 15:18 "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man." And, Mark 7:21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders." So there is something far deeper going on than the outward act. The heart is corrupted. The outward acts are poison because the well is poisoned. The fount flows from a bad spring. All those bad outward acts flow from a heart that God says is at enmity with Him. This means we have set ourselves against God as His enemies. Our goal is to please self. His goal is to do right. Our goal is to find pleasure. His is to promote real happiness. Our aim is selfish. His is holy. We have two different ends we are aiming at. So what does this mean? It means your heart, as a sinner, is as wicked as it can be. You have promoted yourself to the place of God. You have rejected God and replaced His will with your own. Rather than live for His pleasure you have lived for your own selfish pleasure. You sinned just like Satan, and asked to be worshipped in God's place and get His glory. You snubbed your nose at Him and said you want your own will to be done in the place of His will. You cannot be more selfish, more wicked, ormore against the good plan of God than you are.

So how does God then treat you? Does he cast you out like the rebel that you are? Does He take pleasure in your downfall, when you die without a change of heart? No, He says, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die.” God desires every man to repent and turn from his rebellion to love Him. Alas, we have such hard hearts we will not come home. We will not do right. For we know there is a death sentence upon our heads, and that the wrath of God abides on us, for the wages of sin is death. We are doomed and we have hard hearts. What God does next will amaze you.

You would think he would come and flog us. You would think when He sees us all destroyed by our own sin that He would say, “See, I told you not to leave my house. Look at you. This proves that you are not fit for my house.” Yet, this is not at all what He did. Instead, He executed the only plan that could make you fall down on your knees and cry for mercy, knowing you will receive it. He saw you were condemned to die. He saw you were helpless to free yourselves from the bondage of sin. He knew you would clutch the sin which would kill you even if it mean you must clutch it all the way into hell. So He chose to take the wrath of God for you. He stepped out of heaven. He lived as a man, and innocently died the cruel death you deserved. You deserved that cross. It was yours. You deserved to have the face of God turned away from you forever. You deserved to be forsaken and alone. Yet, Jesus, God in the flesh, chose to die for your sins that you might live unto God. To set you free from the bondage of sin, He had to set you free from the penalty of sin. So He died for you. He became sin for you, though He knew no sin Himself. He bore your burden before His Father and the full wrath of God was poured out against sin. When the blood of God was shed, it was shed as an offering for your soul. He did not push you away, He stood in your place so you would repent and turn from the love of sin to the love of Christ. Now He waits your decision. Will you trust Him as the Savior from sin? Do you believe yourself to be a rebel in need of a suffering Savior? Your sins are not outward. You sins are inward. As a sinner, your heart is in rebellion against God. This is why God says we need to be born again. We need a new heart. We need to be converted. You will never see God in heaven, until you get before Him and own His death as what you deserve for sin, until you hate sin, and turn your heart to God. Do you believe He died for you? Do you believe that your heart is wicked until you repent? Do you believe that it would be fair for God to send you to hell for your rebellion? And do you also believe that God loves you so much that he died so you could have life? Do you believe that He gave Himself on the cross and rose again from the dead that He could pay for your sins, and come into your heart and, from within, give you power to live unto God? This is what He did for you. When you were without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. When He runs to meet you, it will not be with a whip in His hand to teach you a lesson. It will be with His arms open to receive you, with a full pardon, total forgiveness. He will put a robe upon your back, and a shoes upon your feet. He will welcome you with love. The choice is yours. This is the grace of God extended to sinner. That is why He calls them saints, because He turns their hearts by His blood and washes them white as snow, and brings them to His house to live as His own children forever. Where will you spend eternity?

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church

How Far Can a Man Go and Still Be Lost?

This question is one that everyone should take a keen interest in. It gets to the very root of the matter of your soul. How far can a person go in religion and still be lost? How much can a man get involved with the programs, engage in the lingo and attend the services of his local church and still be outside of true religion? I hope to answer that question here.

1. A man can believe that there is one God and still be lost. The devils believe it. So says the Word in James 2:19. “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” So to be right down the line perfectly aligned with the Bible in every doctrine you believe is a possibility. For if you believe one truth, you can believe any truth. Yet, sadly, you can believe all these truths and still be lost.

2. You can do many good works for God. This was the situation that Jesus described of some at the judgment. He said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Sadly, they had good works enough to get into heaven, or so they thought. They even went beyond anything that you ever did and prophesied in the name of the Lord and even cast out devils in His name. Still, there they went, off to hell. They got so close, but could not enter in.

3. A man can get baptized and still be lost. Baptism is an outward symbol. No offense, but I could baptize my dog, and that would not make him a Christian. It would just make him wet. And that is the same thing that will happen to you if you get baptized without being born again. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” So, you can get baptized and still end up in hell.

4. You can join the church and still be lost. There were many who joined the churches, even in Bible times, who were not saved. Jesus said there would always be wheat with the tears. That is, there would always be the real harvest with the weeds growing together. Just because you are a member of a church does not mean you will be saved.

5. You can call upon Jesus. Even though the Bible says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” not all calling on the Lord is genuine. Take for example those who waved the palm branches at Jesus as He entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. They said, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” Hosanna means “save now.” They were calling on the Lord to save them. Then, in less than a week the same people were crying out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” So just because the words came out of your mouth and you felt like you meant it, does not necessarily mean you are saved.

6. There are some things you cannot have unless you are saved. Allow me to show them to you so you can be sure you have these. The Bible says that the blood of Christ will “purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Have you gotten a clean conscience by repenting of sin and turning to the loving service of Christ? The Bible says that we are to “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Have you sought to invite Jesus into your heart so He can make you holy? Do you seek holiness or just talk about it once in a while when the subject comes up. Unless you are saved you will never be holy, because you need Christ to be holy. The Bible says that “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” You cannot do this unless you are a Christian. Have you put God first? The Scriptures say that a saved man will be led by the Spirit. Does the Holy Spirit of God lead you to put the deeds of the body to death and serve God in newness of life? “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:13-14.

7. How to be saved. If you are not sure that you have these Bible promises, then be sure now that you are saved. Here is what you must do. Understand that as a sinner you are without God and will always be without God. Jesus knows your sin and that you have not yet submitted to Him, but should. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, came to earth to pay for your sin and purchase your pardon. Now you may come and ask for mercy. Jesus will freely forgive you, come into your heart, and fulfill all the above promises and more. Have you bowed at His feet as a guilty sinner and asked for His free forgiveness through His blood? Have you invited Jesus to become your Shepherd and Overseer and Savior of your soul?

Proving the Deity of Christ
Or Why We Call Jesus God

Most people believe that Jesus is God, but can you prove He is God from the Bible? Our opinions do not matter, and they certainly cannot be passed to the next generation. We need solid proof from God’s inspired Bible, so we can stand on good ground and keep the truths given to us by God for this generation and those to follow. I encourage you to take just a moment and read through this essay to be sure your beliefs are founded on Bible truth.

Let us start with an obvious statement. Jesus is either God, or He is not God. From here we can easily define our terms and get simple proof from the Bible. What does it mean that Jesus is God? It means that He is the Creator of all things. It means He has no Creator. He is the maker of everything, and owes His existence to no one. We call this being “self-existent.” If He is God, then He has always existed, is the greatest being, and is to be worshipped.

However, if He is not God, then He is a created being. He owes His existence to His Creator. He is not self-existent. He had a time when He came to be, and time when He did not exist. He is not the Highest Being and, therefore, it would be blasphemy to worship Him. He is a high order of being, but not the highest. This is all true if He is not God. So let us see how the Bible treats Jesus, and see if we can determine if He is treated as God or as a lesser being.

Many cults, including the Jehovah’s Witnesses, point to Jesus’ statements as a man to prove that He is less than God. For example, they point to the fact that Jesus prayed, and claim that God could not pray to Himself. They point to the fact that Jesus did the will of His Father and not His own will, therefore they claim He is not God. Also, they reference that Jesus claimed, “My Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28). This they feel is sufficient proof that Jesus is less than God. However, it is not enough to prove that He existed for a period of time in a subordinate role. For, if He is God, and if there is a Trinity, then He could submit as a Son to His Father, and still not cease to be God. Where these have been mistaken is that it is not enough to prove Jesus was submissive to His Father. This only proves that Jesus was humble. The only way to prove He is not God is to prove He does not meet the criteria of self-existence. So let us quickly see how Jesus is described in the Bible and see if He is indeed self-existent.

Let us start with His origin. According to the Bible, Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem, but He existed before this event. Here is how the Bible describes the origin of God (Psalm 90:2), “Ps 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Notice that God is FROM EVERLASTING, because He has always been. Here is how the Bible describes the origin of Jesus, (Micah 5:2), “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Note that Jesus if also, FROM EVERLASTING. He has no beginning. This is proof enough that Jesus is self-existent, has no beginning, and is God. However, let us not stop there.

Next we will look at His power. According to the book of John (1:3), “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” If Jesus was a created being, then this statement is false, for He created everything. Nothing that was made was without Him. Since He could not have created Himself, we can obviously conclude that He is not a created Being. He made everything. This means that He is the Creator. Notice the article “the” Creator. There were not two creators of all things. Everything owes its existence to Him. This is reinforced in Colossians 1:16, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses, in an effort to conform the Bible to their teachings have inserted the word “other.” So theirs reads, “All OTHER things.” It is too obvious that if He created all things, then He is Almighty God. So they changed the words and the meaning of the text to fix that.

Again, we see that Jesus is treated with the language of God. In Genesis, the self-existent God is introduced, “In the beginning God…” In John 1:1, Jesus is substituted in the place of God the Father, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here we have Jesus elevated to the highest position. Where Genesis introduces us to the Creator, John introduces us to the Word, the visible expression of the invisible God. As a word verbalizes the invisible thought, so Jesus brings into view the invisible God. He is given the highest honor, “In the beginning.” This is conclusive that Jesus is the Creator God. Jesus is not a god, He is God. We cannot believe that Jesus is a lesser god, that he is a subordinate god. That makes us polytheist. We believe in one God and one God only. “The Word was God.” Therefore, Jesus is God, coequal with the Father.
Should we then worship Him as God? According to the Father, yes. In Hebrews 1:6 the Father commands the angels to worship Him, “And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” The only being that can be worshipped is the highest being. So if the angels worship Him, so must we. In verse 8 we read, “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” The Father calls the Son, “God.” There is only one God. The testimony of the Scripture is that it is Jesus.

Many other proofs could be set forth, but one more must suffice or we would spend an eternity searching this out. Jesus, is known by His names. In Isaiah 9:6 it is said of Jesus, “his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Let us take just one of these names, “The mighty God,” and consider it very briefly. Jesus is the Mighty God. This is enough for the thinking person to conclude that He is the Almighty God. However, some will say that Jesus is only the mighty God, while the Father is the Almighty God. Leaving aside the obvious problem of becoming polytheist if we were to accept that answer and having to deal with a big God and a little god, let us ask the question instead, who is THE Mighty God? There can only be one, for it does not say, “A mighty God,” but “THE Mighty God.” All you have to do to find out who is the mighty God is to turn one chapter over and see it in Isaiah 10:21, “The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.” In verse 20 we are told that Isreal “shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.” They will return to Jehovah the mighty God. So the mighty God is Jehovah. It is Jesus.

Here are just a few examples that Jesus is treated as self-existent. In the Bible He has no beginning and no end. He is the Creator of all things. He is to be worshipped. He alone was at the beginning. He is the Mighty God. The most important question then is this, have you bowed your heart before Him and in worship asked His forgiveness for all your sins. As a Spirit, He could not die for you. So He took on flesh, was found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross for your sake and mine. Will you trust Him today as the Savior of your soul and the God of your heart. He alone can come into your heart in the person of the Holy Spirit and give you the power to live a godly life. Will you ask Him to save you and worship Him as your God? I hope you will. God bless you.

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church

4 Things the Bible Does NOT Say About Losing Your Salvation…and one thing it does say.

So many people have built doctrines on what the Bible doesn’t say. But sometimes when the Bible is silent it is profoundly silent. For instance, consider these things that the Bible does not say about losing your salvation:
1. The Bible says nothing about how to born a third time. Being born once is in the Bible. Being born again is in the Bible. Yet, where does it say anything about being born again-again? We must be born of the flesh. That happens once. We must be born of the Spirit that happens once. There is no mention of that ever happening again, any more than you can enter back into your mother’s womb and be born–again. What is impossible in the first is impossible in the second as well.
2. The Bible says nothing about being re-Baptized. Every believer is to be water baptized upon profession of their faith. This is the symbol that they have been saved to walk in newness of life. Should you be lost after you are saved, you would need to be baptized again. There is no reason why your baptism would still be good if your salvation went bad. The absence of instructions on how to re-baptize someone after they get re-saved shows us that it does not happen.
3. The Bible says nothing about being re-Adopted. When we are saved, we are adopted into the family of God. God is our Father, Christ is our brother. We become an inheritor of all things in Christ by His righteousness alone. Now should we lose our title deed to that, we would need to be re-Adopted. There is no precedent in Scripture for an un-adoption or a re-adoption. Once you become an heir, it is a legal principle. It is yours by God’s grace. He gives no instructions as to how to get back into the family if you were to be kicked out.
4. The Bible says nothing about quitting your church. If you are lost, you are not to be a member of a church, you are to get saved and then join a church. If you were to lose your salvation, in good faith, it would be your duty to immediately quit your church, get saved and ask to rejoin the fellowship as a new member. Now, there is no such thing in Scripture, but we know that true church membership is supposed to be for the saved. If you could lose your salvation, you would have to rejoin the church.
Now, having shown these things, let us quickly proceed to what the Bible does say about losing your salvation, and it will show why the Bible says nothing on the above topics. Please read Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” This passage teaches that if it were possible for you to partake of salvation and fall away, and become lost, it would be impossible for you to be re-saved. This is because you would need to re-crucify Christ. Under this hypothetical situation it would be clear that your sins were not all covered with the first crucifixion, therefore you would need a new one to cover your new sins. Since this will never happen, you could never be re-saved. Christ death covers all our sin. You cannot lose your salvation any more than you can re-crucify Christ. If you are truly saved you will never be lost, but you will be so changed that you will not use that as an excuse to live as you please. For you love Jesus and do not want to dance in His precious blood poured out for the cleansing of your sins.

Pastor Dukes
Grace Baptist Church

Hipster Christianity vs. Real Christianity

1. The Hipster Christian believes that he is a sinner. He believes that his life is a mess. After all, we're all sinners, right? He knows he is a sinner and either wears it as a badge of honor, or publicly flogs himself by constantly reminding others how sinful he is.

The Real Christian also confesses himself to be a sinner. He has repented and abhors his sin. He is ashamed of his old life and does not brag about how sinful he is, yet he will not deny himself to be the chief of sinners. Since sin no longer defines him, he finds his identity in Christ. He is pure in heart and to the pure all things are pure. His delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He loves righteousness and hates lawlessness. He hates every false way, and refuses to get off the paths of righteousness, the highway of holiness, just because he can. If he falls, he gets back up, even if he falls seven times. Yet he still expects to be rewarded for his righteousness, though he knows that he does not have as much as he would like. Still, he knows that the fruit of the righteous, whatever amount he does have, are by Jesus Christ.

2. The Hipster Christian believes that Jesus lived a righteous life and died for the sins of men. He lays great stress on the fact that Jesus obeyed for him. He emphasizes the freedom this gives him. He trumpets that he no longer must earn God's favor. He says that this liberating truth will deliver him from all the external pressure of living up to an unreasonable standard. He believes Christ's obedience so satisfied the Father that Jesus no longer cares how he dresses, what he sees, what music he listens to, what he drinks or smokes, or about any mere externals, for God looks on the heart, he says.

The Real Christian also believes that Jesus lived a sinless life. He affirms that Christ's death provides him with a righteousness he cannot earn. Yet, he hungers and thirsts after righteousness, and, unlike the Hipster, he is filled. He loves the law of God from the heart. Rendering obedience is not grievous for him. The Real Christian does not want to use the grace of God as a covering to hide in sin. He wants the blood of Christ to purge his conscience from dead works to serve the living God, and to cleanse him from all unrighteousness. He pursues inward and outward holiness, not because he is a Pharisee, but because he wants to be like his dear Savior, and be conformed to His image. He separates himself from worldliness, not because he is pressured to by tradition, but because God promised that if he would come out from among the world His God would receive him, and be a Father to him, and he would rather have his Father’s favor then the world.

3. The Hipster Christian believes in being "missional." That is, he must make the Bible relevant so lost people will be saved. This means he must go to the same movies, read the same books, talk the same way, and get tattoos and piercings like the world or else they won't listen. Besides, he likes that edgy stuff anyway. He must have enough worldliness to attract the world and not scare them off with that old traditional hymn singing, suite wearing, hell preaching Christianity that has long since found its way to the "antique" section of history.

The Real Christian believes in evangelism. He still believes that they must go into all the world and preach the gospel. He believes that God will bless a holy life with success. He would rather have God’s blessing than compromise. He knows the way to win the lost is to be in the world, but not of the world. He believes that the greatest Soul-Winner is without sin and separate from sinners, and that holiness draws people to God, whereas worldliness draws people to try to add God to their sinful lives. He wants, as much as possible, to win sinners to God the same way Jesus did, by being harmless and blameless, circumspect and self-denying. He wants to show them that Christ has real power over sin. He does not believe that Jesus was a partier who hung out with sinners for fun. His Jesus is too holy to be of such low character. He knows Jesus did not come to man to party, but to seek and to save the lost.

The Hipster has created a new “Jesus.” His modern, skinny jeans Jesus would easily mingle with the worldly church. He would not judge them. He would want them to feel comfortable just as they are, even if they are in a beer t-shirt. The last thing their Jesus would do is make sinners uncomfortable. In fact, he would probably put on a "Jesus is my homeboy" t-shirt to preach his sermon, just so they know He is cool. The truth is, today's hipster Jesus could fit in well anywhere without offending anyone except the righteous, and Hipster Christians can fit in anywhere except into heaven, because there it is actually holy. God does not need the current standard of cool to win souls. He has not been cool for 6000 years. His uncool Christians have offended people the entire time with their holy living and loving ways. Real Christians have held that men must be born again, live a holy life, and separate from sin or they should not think they have begun the Christian life. For this they have paid with their lives, their property, their back given to the whip, their homes burned, their cheeks punched, their blood shed, and they go rejoicing that is was all for Jesus’ sake. But for some awful reason, now the Hipster must remake God in his own worldly image so people will receive Him. The real Christian knows that if you do not repent and believe the same old "uncool" gospel that makes sinners holy, you will die and go to hell. Then you won't think you are very cool. Reject Hipster Christianity and be a Real Christian.

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church

No Laughing Matter

There is a great mistake being made by countless Christians every day. The wise King Solomon tells us, “Fools make a mock at sin.” Proverbs 14:9. However, it seems that regularly, Christians watch movies and TV shows that have only one purpose, to mock sin. They laugh at sin on Facebook videos and YouTube. So many occasions exist for this, that one would think this verse of Scripture did not exist. Sin is a shame. To laugh at it, is to glory in our own shame.
Wicked men love to see faults in Christians. So we ask, “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?” Friend, if you are tempted to give a laugh, or a smile or in any other way approve of that which God calls sin, we beg you to consider these few important thoughts.

1. He who laughs at sin laughs while God frowns. “God is angry with the wicked everyday.” Psalm 7:11. What is it that angers Him? What is it that grieves His Holy Spirit? What is it that causes His sword to be whetted and prepared to execute vengeance on sinners? "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Romans 1:8. If man’s wrath is fearful, and “the king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion,” how much more fearful must be the wrath of the Almighty God who stands against all ungodliness and never laughs at it.

2. He who laughs at sin, laughs at all the miseries of mankind. We are surrounded by innumerable reminders of man’s miseries. Sickness and pain fills every hospital. Prisons are overflowing with criminals who have hurt themselves and others. “The misery of man is great upon him.” Ecclesiastes 8:6.

3. To mock at sin is to mock at death. For we know that “sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” Romans 5:12. And death has made this world a world of multiplied sorrows. Grave yards abound with some of our dearest loved ones. Tears have flowed at the graveside of the precious. If we could collect all the dead into one vast pile, and asked “Who slew all these?” [2 Kings 10:8] The answer must be, “Sin slew them all.” Then will we laugh at this, the greatest, bloodiest killer of all?

4. For a man to laugh at sin, is to laugh when he should mourn. Would you laugh at your own disease that soon will deprive you of life? Sin is a poisonous disease that is fatal too, that is unless the Balm of Giliad (the blood of Christ) is applied in time. Sin brings guilt. It brings shame. When a man laughs at sin, he laughs at the very scam by which he cheats himself out of his dignity, his good conscience, his health, and his future happiness. A mark of a fool is that he laughs at his own destruction.
5. To laugh at sin, is to laugh at the sorrows of Jesus. Considering that Jesus is the divine and most glorious person, that He is the most beautiful and holy One, it is the highest offense that we should mock His suffering. No one has ever suffered like Jesus. He was treated so disrespectfully. He was blindfolded and beaten. He was spit upon and made fun of. He was hung naked to suffer upon the cross, and in His dying moments, they spit upon Him. As He hung there, passing strangers hung their heads, the chief priests and scribes sarcastically called out, “He saved others – Himself He could not save.” Even the thieves that were crucified with Him mocked and ridiculed Him.
After all this sarcasm and hate cast upon our sweet Savior, the Lamb of God, can you then join in with these to insult Him too? Can you make light of Jesus and make light of His prayers, His tears, His groans, and bloody sweet. Can you follow this scene? Can you consider the agonies of our Savior? Then can you still laugh at sin?
I pray you will consider that we live in a world where those who are supposed to be mourning for sin, have come to laugh with the world at sin. Abounding in our entertainments are jokes and mocking at every sort of sin. Please consider how God would have you to feel and act toward such things. Let us not further injure our Savior or our testimony. Let us glorify him in all we do.

*Adapted from a tract written in the 1800’s by the American Tract Society called entitled “Sin No Trifle”

Pastor Troy Dukes
Grace Baptist Church

End Times and Current Events

General Category => Audio Section, Scott Johnson, Bryan Denlinger, others... => Topic started by: Psalm 51:17 on February 16, 2015, 08:25:32 pm