Author: Calvin L Passmore

Every Christian must pray and read and study the bible from cover to cover so that they may be able to give an answer when they are confronted by false doctrine. Those who promote false doctrines are counting on the fact that most people don’t study or even read their Bibles from cover to cover on a regular basis. Too many who name the name of Christ are not able to unashamedly show themselves approved unto God by rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Because of this Satan’s ministers who like their father the devil are transformed into ministers of Righteousness and with their father they go to and fro, walking up and down through the earth as a lion seeking who they can devour.

Job 1:6-8 (KJV)

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

1 Peter 5:8 (KJV)  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (KJV)

13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The birth, death and bodily Resurrection of Jesus who is the only begotten son of God, is the living word of God, who was God and was with God in the beginning. He is also the second person in the godhead by whom everything was made and who now sits at the right hand of god making intercession for us.

Why? To what end and purpose?

Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

And because….

Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord is available to all mankind. We need only believe and confess that we believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

John 3:16-18 (KJV)

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Romans 10:9-10 (KJV)

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

And why should we want this salvation?

First and foremost, to escape eternal condemnation and damnation in hell which according to the following scriptures is a real place of torments under the earth

Matthew 23:33 (KJV)  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Luke 16:22-23 (KJV)

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Mark 3:29 (KJV) But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

Numbers 16:32-33 (KJV)

32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among i congregation.

Since all have sinned, all are guilty of a debt that can only be remitted or paid  by the shedding of blood.

Hebrews 9:22 (KJV) And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Jesus Christ, who was without sin, took our place as the sacrificed lamb whose blood paid our debt in full and took away the sins of the world.

John 1:29 (KJV) The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Of course, there is much more to be said about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but this received and believed is the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation.

This Old Testament prophesy tells us neatly what the gospel is….

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

That prophesy foretold Christ being made an atonement for our sins and that along with the remission of sins there would also be healing. This is fulfilled in Matthew chapter 8…

Matthew 8:16-17 (KJV) When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

That brings is to the second reason for salvation which is abundant life right here on earth. Eternal life starts the moment you believe and truthfully confess that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

Notice that the fulfillment of the old testament prophesy that foretold our saviour and our salvation included healing along with Christ being bruised for us taking our sins.

Matthew 8 is even more clear about this for it says that the healing that he did was the fulfillment of that prophesy even neatly restating the entire prophesy by simply saying

“Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses”

Reading this in both Isaiah and Matthew we see that salvation and healing are tied tightly together.

Even Jesus himself, when asked if he was the messiah by those men that John the Baptist had sent to him declared to them as proof the healings and the miracles along with the gospel being preached…

Matthew 11:2-6 (KJV)

2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,

3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:

5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

In one sentence, the Gospel is that Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God took the sins of all the world upon himself and that he was put to death in our place and rose from the dead on the third day. but it is also that he took our sickness. Therefore, as the gospel is the power of God unto salvation by default it is also the power of God unto healing for, according to the above scriptures, healing and salvation are bound together.

Galatians 3:13-14 (KJV)

13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Finally, there is no “sinners’ prayer” in the Bible that needs to be recited as a requisite to salvation. You only need to believe and confess that you believe that Jesus Christ is the Christ and the son of the living God. As Simon Peter did here.

Matthew 16:16 (KJV) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

For a more detailed explanation of salvation please refer to the statement of faith page on gospelinamerica.org. Also refer to the messages on healing.

I recommend that every Christian own and read a good theology textbook such as

“Systematic Theology” by Wayne Grudem ISBN 0851106528

Or my favorite “What the Bible Teaches” by R.A. Torrey

ISBN 0883684004.

L

People often say don’t judge me or don’t judge others but they have no idea what they are saying or what the Bible means when it says to judge not. That does not mean that we don’t recognize sin when we see it and it certainly doesn’t mean that we should bury our head in the sand when we see something is wrong. What it actually means is that we should forgive and that we should not condemn and that we should not pass judgement on someone because of the sin that we actually do see.

Luke 6:37 (KJV) Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

In fact, Jesus also, himself tells us to judge, but to do so righteously based solely on the facts and not on first appearances.

John 7:24 (KJV) Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

It is impossible to be holy as he is holy, living a completely biblical life when you don’t see and acknowledge the obvious. We must be able to speak to every ungodly situation and say “it is written”

How would we even witness and share the gospel to someone if we don’t even recognize the need for it in the lives of our fellow man.

The Bible tells us who we should keep company with, who we should not marry, who are false prophets, and how to recognize the spirit of the antichrist. The Bible also tells us to have our senses exercised to discern between good and evil and even when to put someone out of the church. How do we follow these things without first coming to a conclusion about what is wrong?

In fact, we cannot even forgive as we are commanded to do without first recognizing (which is essentially what judging is for the saint) that a wrong has been done. Also, along those lines, how do we judge someone to be repentant after they have sinned or safe to be around or adequate to be yoked with in any business if we don’t judge.

In other words, if we cannot judge, then by default we can acknowledge neither unrighteousness or righteousness.

Do we not call a drunkard a drunkard or an idolater an idolater or a fornicator a fornicator? Do we not reprove and rebuke? Of course, we do.

Only the devil would distort the Bible in this manner and tell us to ignore the obvious. But we should always answer with “It is written”.

Romans 5:1 (KJV)  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Proverbs 28:9 (KJV)  He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

Whatever is on our heart to speak and whatever we need, God knows what we would say before we would say it…

• Psalms 139:4 (KJV)  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

He knows what we need before we ask…

• Matthew 6:8 (KJV)  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

And, understanding that we don’t even know what we should pray for, the Spirit of God helps us by making intersession for us in ways that we can’t even utter.

• Romans 8:26 (KJV)  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

God is not far from us. He knows and He hears and He even improves on that which we would ask

If married Christians would readily treat each other with the love, unity and consideration that God requires of Christians, one toward another and toward mankind in general, then their marriage would be a paradise. this is especially important when you feel you spouse is at fault in any issue. Here is what we can learn from just one verse of the Bible, 2 Timothy 2:24 (KJV).
It says that the servant of the Lord must not strive, so don’t strive with your spouse. It says that you must be gentle unto all men, so be gentle with your spouse. It says that you must be apt to teach, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, so be always be prepared, willing and inclined, with great humility, to instruct your spouse in that which they are mistaken about when and if they are ready to receive from you. And by the way, it is not usurping authority (2 Timothy 2:12 KJV) for a wife to tell her husband that he is hurting her or that he is hurting the children or that he is hurting himself or that he is about to step in front of a bus. Husbands should listen to their wives and wives should listen to their husbands. Another Bible verse, Hebrews 12:14 (KJV) tells us to follow peace with all men and holiness. All men would include your spouse. Therefore living a Christian life requires you pursue peace with holiness with your spouse. The verse even says that without these things no man shall see the Lord, which is to say that they cannot possibly be a Christian. Are you a Christian? If so then in addition to all the scriptures that tell a husband and wife how they should love and relate to one another, if we would also remember to treat our spouse they way the Bible tells us to treat other Christians and mankind, our marriages would be a paradise.

Doctrine is a set of beliefs under a religion that is at the core of the religion and cannot be changed. Theology is proposed understanding from interpretation of doctrine. It is the secondary rules and life application that comes from the exploration of doctrine