The Great Love of God.

Did you know that God loves and cares for you today? Since creating humans God has never stopped loving humanity. Paul teaches that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom.8:38-39). We must understand that God never fails on his part. Humans make the decision to turn away from God. For example, Adam and Eve had everything they needed with only one restriction. They were commanded not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). But, what did they do? They turned to their own desires and sinned by eating from the forbidden tree. God created us with a free will and he wants us to choose to love and serve Him (Josh. 24:15). By examining the Book of Judges, you will learn that during prosperous times God’s people kept turning away from him and worshiping idols. When troublesome times came, they would repent and turn back to the living God by praying for deliverance. Consistently, God would have mercy on them and deliver them from their troubles. However, at one point, God was growing weary of his children falling away and told them to call on their idols to deliver them. But, they confessed their sins and they truly repented, putting away their idols and began to serve God once again. Due to God’s great love, he could no longer endure their misery so he delivered them once again (Judg. 10:12-16). God’s demonstration of love and mercy toward those who truly repent and serve Him should comfort and encourage us.

The greatest love that God showed for humanity was when he gave his best for us even though we did not deserve it (Rom. 5:8-9). Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). Jesus came into this world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15; Lk. 9:56). God desires everyone to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). What is truth? It is the Word of God (Jn. 17:17), which is able to set you free (Jn. 8:32), and save your soul (Jas. 1:18-21). The Word of God supplies us with everything we need to be complete (2 Tim. 3:16-17) and gives us all the things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). The Word of God has been put to the test by people in regards to its accuracy in history, science, math and its overall consistency. No matter how hard humans have tried to disprove the Bible, it has stood the test of time. The Bible is an amazing book. The Bible was written by about 40 inspired authors over a period of 1600 years on three different continents and in different languages. Yet the Bible stands in complete harmony with itself. The same cannot be said about any other book that humans have written because the Bible is the Word of God. In fact, there is a great deal of scientific foreknowledge in the Bible that people could not possibly have known during that time unless God had told them. For instance, the earth is round (Is. 40:22). There is an empty space in the north without a single star to be found which is a recent discovery, yet Job knew long ago (Job 26:7). The water cycle was not understood until the sixteenth century, yet God mentioned it long ago (Eccles. 1:7; Job 36:27-29). It wasn’t until the 1800s that people started having the ability to explore the depths of the ocean, yet God speaks about the depths of the ocean and mountains being there (Ps. 33:7; 2 Sam. 22:16; Jonah 2:6). So, there should be no doubt that we possess the Word of God today. We should take it very seriously and study it to discover what our Creator wants from us. He wants us to study His Word (2 Tim 2:15), grow in knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18), obey his commands (1 Jn. 5:3; Jn. 14:15), believe in His Son (Jn. 8:24), repent (Lk. 13:3), confess Jesus as Christ (Rom. 10:9-10), be baptized for the remission of sin (Acts 2:38) and live a faithful life until death (Rev. 2:10). Please refer to the chart below.

If you would like to learn more about the Word of God, please do not hesitate to call us at 580-657-4455 or email us at lgchurchofchrist@cableone.net.

In Christian love,

The Lone Grove Church of Christ

SALVATION

In order to be saved one must be in Christ’s body, but how?

All these things working together. Hear the Word of God. Rom. 10:14,17; Acts 8:5-6 Obey the Word of God. 1Jn. 5:3, Jn. 14:15, Heb. 5:9, Mat. 7:21; Rev. 22:14; 2 Th. 1:7 Believe having faith in Christ Jn. 8:24; Heb 11:1,6; Mk. 16:16 Repent of your sins Lk 13:3; Acts 17:30; 2Pet. 3:9 Confess Jesus Christ Mat. 10:32-33; Rom. 10:9-10 Be baptized into Christ Acts 2:38; Mk.16:16; 1Pet. 3:21; Acts 22:16; Col. 2:12

Things found in Christ. 2Tim. 2:1 Grace 2Tim. 2:10 Salvation Eph. 1:3 Every spiritual blessing Eph. 1:7 Redemption and forgiveness of sin 1Jn. 5:11 Eternal life Rom. 8:1 No condemnation In Christ = being in his body and being saved. The body of Christ. Eph. 4:4 There is only one body 1Cor. 12:12 The body is made up of many                      individual members Eph.1:22-23 The church is Jesus body Col. 1:18 Jesus is the head of the body Eph. 5:23 Jesus is the savior of the body

At the point of baptism one is put into the body

1Cor. 12:13 and put into Christ Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3

Eph. 4:5 tells us there is only one baptism that saves, but which one?

Water Baptism Mat. 28:19 The disciples administer it Acts 10:47-48 A command to be obeyed Acts 8:12-13, 38 Philip water baptized

Holy Spirit Baptism Mat. 3:11 Jesus administered it Lk. 24:49 It was a promise not a command Acts 2:4; 11:15 Happened only twice

Water baptism is the one that saves (1Pet. 3:21). Mat. 28:19-20 teaches that baptism is commanded by Jesus and is to be done until the end of the world by the disciples. If Holy Spirit baptism saves then why did Philip, an inspired man, only water baptize the people of Samaria (Acts 8:14-16) and the Eunuch (vrs 38) and then leave them in a lost condition? Why did Ananias tell Paul to arise and be baptized and wash away your sins (Acts 22:16) if Holy Spirit baptism is what saves? Why would he have to arise when the Holy Spirit could fall upon him in any position? The answer is easy. It is the obedience to water baptism that saves and is administered by humans. However, Holy Spirit baptism cannot be obeyed because it’s a promise that Jesus fulfilled. There’s nothing magical about the water. When we put our faith in the working of God (Col. 2:12) and obey from our heart the Word of God (Rom. 6;17), we are being baptized into Christ having our sins washed away, being united with Christ in His death (Rom 6:2-11). We are raised a new creature and have been added to the body of Christ by God. (Acts 2:47). Baptism followed by a faithful Christian life is evidence of our salvation (Rev. 2:10).