Paul's Preaching at Corinth

Did Paul preach the same gospel at Corinth that he preached elsewhere? Everywhere else he taught, as part of the gospel, baptism for the remission of sins. One can go to Acts 16 and read two accounts, in the same chapter, of conversions made by Paul--Lydia and the Philippian jailer--in which, in both instances, those being converted were baptized.

Paul himself, in his conversion, was baptized. You may recall the words of Ananias to him, "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins." (Acts 22:16 NAS) I might add that it is hard to wash away sins if you do not have any to wash away so evidently Ananias felt that Paul still had sin in his life. Many modern-day preachers speak as though they know more about it than what Ananias did as they say men are saved at the point of faith without baptism and thus have no sins to wash away. They would have Paul saved and free from sin immediately after his experience with Christ on the road to Damascus. Ananias seems as though he would have disagreed with them.

There is a passage in 1 Corinthians that cause some people trouble on the subject of baptism--1 Cor. 1:14. Paul preached baptism, personally baptized some, was baptized himself, and yet here he says, in writing to the church at Corinth, "I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius." (NAS) What gives? That is a good question deserving a response.

We know Paul preached baptism at Corinth. How do we know? In Acts 18:8 we find the result of Paul's preaching there. The text says, "Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized." (Acts 18:8 NAS) I stop here and ask a question. If Paul was not preaching baptism at Corinth who was? Someone was as people were being baptized. However, if you will read Acts 18:5-8 you will see clearly the one doing the preaching was Paul. But we read 1 Cor. 1:14 and doubt enters our mind.

There is no need for doubt as will be shown. If Paul preached one gospel in one location that had baptism in it and another gospel in another location that did not then why should any of us listen to anything he had to say? He says, "Even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:8 NAS) If Paul preached more than one gospel he condemned himself by his very own words. That did not happen.

In the book of Galatians, Paul says in chapter 3:26-27, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (NAS) We need for our study to emphasize the words "baptized into Christ".

But first, what does the word "for" mean? Has Paul not tied faith in Christ directly with baptism with his second use of the word "for" in this passage? If you have faith in Christ you are baptized. If you do not have faith in Christ you are not baptized. It is that simple.

True faith in Christ demands baptism for the reason that Jesus taught it. You cannot have faith in Christ and yet lack faith in what he taught and commanded. (See Matt. 28:19 and Mark 16:16 on what Jesus taught on the subject of baptism. See also John 3:5.)

Let me ask some questions based on this passage--Galatians 3:27. Paul says, again, "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." What about those who were not baptized? Did they clothe themselves with Christ? Did Paul say for all of you who were not baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ? Is that what he said?

How does one get into Christ, the only place salvation can be found? Does not the text tell us clearly if we will only listen?

If Paul preached baptism once he preached it everywhere he went whether the text says he did or not. There is absolutely no choice but to infer that he taught baptism to both Lydia and the Philipian jailer (Acts 16) or else how did they know about it and why did they submit to it?

All of that said we need not make necessary inferences about baptism at Corinth for Paul, in writing to the church at Corinth, says in 1 Cor 12:13, "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." Baptized into what body? The body of Christ as per Gal. 3:27. Who was baptized? "We were all baptized," Paul says.

One may object and say that the body is the church (Eph. 1:22-23) so baptism is just about getting into the church. Baptism is about getting into the spiritual body of Christ and, yes, that is the church, but that is also the very thing Christ is the Savior of. "He himself being the Savior of the body." (Eph. 5:23 NAS) He has not said a word about saving anything else other than his body so one must be in his body.

One needs to get himself into Christ where salvation is and the road to doing that is certainly faith but not faith alone apart from repentance, confession of Jesus, and baptism for the remission of sins which places one in Christ. God adds one to his church but not randomly. He adds only those who meet his qualifications.

The reader should not confuse being in the church mentioned in the Bible with denominations. The thing Paul is discussing is not denominationalism which did not exist when Paul wrote and would not for hundreds of years to come. One is baptized into the New Testament church, the one Christ established and gave his life for and which will be saved on the last day. Everyone in the church will be saved provided they live faithful lives, a big if.

Now to the passage at hand which troubles some, 1 Cor. 1:14-17, Paul speaking, "I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, that no man should say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void." (NAS)

There are two points about this passage that we have to keep in mind lest we be led astray. (1) The problem at Corinth that Paul is discussing in the first chapter of First Corinthians is that of men making themselves disciples of various prominent men, evangelists, rather than of Christ, thus creating division. In verse 13 Paul says, "Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (NAS) "In the name of Paul" should read instead "into the name of Paul" (see the side margin notes in the NASB reference edition which lists the word "into" as the literal translation).

Baptism is "into Christ" (Gal. 3:27) and not "into" man. Only in Christ is salvation found. No one at Corinth was baptized into any man's name other than Christ. Paul was thus thankful he had not personally baptized many at Corinth "that no man should say you were baptized in ("into" is the literal translation--DS) my name." (1 Cor. 1:15 NAS) Any person baptized into a name other than Christ would not be a Christian. Paul was addressing Christians, Christians who were becoming disunited, Christians who were dividing.

He says that in light of what was going on there. Had he baptized more then the more likely there would be those claiming to be of Paul and Paul wanted no part of this division in the church that was occurring. His point was that men are baptized into Christ, not into a man, and thus should wear the name of Christian only. There is no such thing as being of Paul, or of Apollos, or of Cephas, and it is wrong to claim allegiance to such and divide the church.

(2) The second thing we must understand is that just because Paul did not do the baptizing does not mean that his helpers such as Timothy and others did not do so on his behalf in rendering aid to him in his work. We know both Silas and Timothy were with him in Corinth (see Acts 18:5-8). We have another account of this very thing with Jesus. John says, "When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were) he left Judea." (John 4:1-2 NAS)

We need to use our common sense. Paul is not going to preach baptism and then not see that it is done when people respond to his preaching. None of us think that Peter personally baptized the 3,000 who responded to his preaching on the day of Pentecost when he preached baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). We are sure he had help. If we were to find Paul had men traveling with him who did this work why should we be shocked? 1 Cor. 12:13 certainly proves someone was doing the baptizing there.

I think we have pretty much covered the ground that needs to be covered concerning what happened in Corinth with regard to Paul's preaching and practice. The same thing happened at Corinth that happened everywhere else he preached -- the same gospel, the same baptism for those who believed.

One final comment – why did Paul say Christ did not send him to baptize? Because any man can baptize another. It is a physical act as far as immersion is concerned. Anyone could do that for another but not every man could preach the gospel with Holy Spirit inspiration as could Paul. That was his main mission and others could follow up his preaching by baptizing those being converted.

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I Don't Go To Church Much Anymore

I suppose it could be said of many people, "I don't go to church much anymore." I wonder why? Old age with infirmity and ill health will certainly slow one down but I am thinking more now of the many who simply have quit attending church services not having any reason for doing so. Their health is fine. They have just quit going.

I know of one who said she rarely goes anymore who went on and said, "But I am as close to God as ever." How does she know that? How can she know it? Did God tell her? Did she read it in scripture? Or, did her emotions and that alone tell her this? To ask is to answer.

Many people's faith does not rest on God's word but on their emotions. Their conscience does not bother them because their emotions tells them all is well. However, the faith of the Bible rests on God's word and that alone. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)

Every person's prayer to God ought to be Father, let me see myself as you see me. Let me look through your eyes, which in this case is his word, so that I might see myself as I am and not as I think I am. Let me cease measuring myself by my standard of measurement and accept with purity of heart whatever your word tells me about myself be it good or bad.

If God gives me a command and I habitually ignore it, how can I say I love God and it's okay with my soul? "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some...for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." (Heb. 10:24-25 NKJV—the reader would do well to read on through verse 31) This passage is destructive of the idea that one can ignore church services and still be close to God. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." (1 John 5:3 NKJV)

Some may say, "That is just your interpretation." That is pretty much the standard line that is used against any doctrine of the Bible that does not satisfy the one who wishes to ignore what it teaches. It doesn't matter if a teaching is so clear a third grader could not misunderstand it if it does not satisfy the longing of the one who wishes to discard it. It is "just your interpretation." We have become a dishonest people. We are dishonest with the scriptures, with God, and even with ourselves.

Many others have reached the point, and many more are headed that way, where they no longer make any claim to faith in Christianity and look with scorn on anything from the Bible. While they still claim love as their own it will be love as they alone define it and they are not about to let the book of God define it for them. It will be defined by what they feel in their hearts. But, here is the problem:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings." (Jer. 17:9-10 NKJV)

We will be judged by our ways and doings when put up against the word of God, not by our deceitful hearts.

"The word I have spoken will judge him in the last day." (Jesus speaking, John 12:48 NKJV)

We are going to be judged by the word of God, not by our inward feelings or emotions.

"But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." (Matt. 7:26-27 NKJV)

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father in heaven." (Matt. 7:21 NKJV)

"He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him." (Heb. 5:9 NKJV)

But, then, as stated earlier, in our society today "that is just your interpretation."

The Bible does not teach we can be saved by perfect commandment keeping, we are saved by grace, but neither does it teach we are free to ignore God's commands and tell ourselves fantasy stories about how it is well with our soul.

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Faith As A Driving Force

Most people are fairly confident they know what Christian faith is. It is what you believe to be true about Christ being God's Son. That, however, is only a portion of scriptural faith. There is a lot to faith other than just what one believes with the mind, as important as that is.

Faith is not just thought but action. It is a driving force, an inward power that drives a person to act and do, to sacrifice, to seek, to suffer, to endure, to commit, and drive on when there appears to be no longer reason or common sense in doing so.

Much is made about the faith people have. What I have observed over the years is that many who speak of their faith seem to have a faith that by all outward appearances has driven them to do nothing. It is as dead as a doornail by all outward measurements. Many who talk about their personal faith cannot even make it out to worship once a week, but they are saved by faith.

But the response is made, you are judging, you do not know my heart. What I do know is that James says, "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?" (James 2:14 NKJV) You know that is a rhetorical question; to ask is to answer. James later says "faith without works is dead." (James 2:20 NKJV) Can one be saved by a dead faith? The demons had a dead faith. (James 2:19)

What kind of faith saves? "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." (James 2:24 NKJV) The faith that saves is thus a working faith, a faith that leads to action, to doing; to be specific, it is a faith that obeys.

So many emphasize faith and grace to the extent that works (obedience) is discounted. Who needs to obey? Just believe is the cry. That is not what Jesus taught.

Jesus taught that a failure to obey was a failure to love. Hear Jesus: "If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15 NKJV) "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me." (John 14:21 NKJV) "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word." (John 14:23 NKJV) "He who does not love Me does not keep My words." (John 14:24 NKJV) Paul says, "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed." (1 Cor. 16:22 NKJV)

Jesus again says, "why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46 NKJV) He is "the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." (Heb. 5:9 NKJV)

Thus salvation by faith without works of obedience would also be salvation without love for God. Faith-only advocates will not have baptism as an element of salvation, for they fear it is a work. Well, no more so than repentance. When the Bible teaches we are saved by grace through faith and not of works, Eph. 2:8-9, is that passage teaching we are saved by disobedience because to obey would be a work and we cannot be saved by works? Is that what it teaches?

When one interprets a passage of scripture in such a way that puts it into conflict with other scriptures, it is time to go back and do some rethinking. That is exactly where those are at who interpret Eph. 2:8-9 in such a way as to make it exclude baptism or any work whatsoever. James teaches you can try to get to heaven by faith alone, but it will not work — not without works. Paul, the author of Eph. 2:8-9, was himself baptized to wash away his sins (Acts 22:16) but never once complained to Ananias, the one sent from God who directed him to do it. Paul never replied to Ananias, "I can't do it, for it would be salvation by works."

But my goal in this article (I have allowed myself to be sidetracked) is to show how scriptural faith drives a man to obedience, to suffering and sacrifice, and all the other things mentioned earlier in this article. Abraham's faith drove him so strongly that it forced him to sacrifice Isaac his son. Only God's direct intervention prevented the deed from being done.

In the faith chapter of the Bible, Hebrews 11, we find this (speaking of how others were driven by faith):

"Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented — of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith …." (Heb. 11:35-39 NKJV)

The passage has reference to men and women of faith under the Mosaic dispensation of time.

Those mentioned in the Hebrews passage quoted had a choice. They did not need to suffer those things. In fact, the first verse quoted speaks of not accepting deliverance, but why not — because faith is a driving force in the person's life that has it. It is not just a feeble thought or opinion. It will force you to obey when it becomes as strong as God desires it to be.

Paul speaks of his own life as a Christian in the New Testament and says:

"Are they ministers of Christ? — I speak as a fool — I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." (2 Cor. 11:23-27 NKJV) What would drive a man to endure such things? He could have stopped preaching and evangelizing at any time and ended the persecution had he so desired. What drove him on? One word — the word "faith" drove him.

But what is faith — this inward driving force within a man or woman that drives them to such extremes? The Hebrew writer says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1 NKJV) I want to note the words "assurance" and "conviction." After Paul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus, do you think he had assurance and conviction? Our faith needs to become what Paul's was.

Bible faith is meant to develop and grow and become strong. The Bible says Abraham's faith was so strong that he believed God would raise Isaac up from the dead in order to fulfill the promise He had made that "In Isaac your seed shall be called." So Abraham would sacrifice Isaac in full faith that God would raise him back up from the dead. (Heb. 11:17-19)

But I think we have perhaps as strong a statement of faith as we will likely find anywhere in a statement Job made when he said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15 NKJV) This is the degree of faith that we all ought to seek to attain.

When we are able to say, "Father, do with me as You will, yet You will always be my hope," then we can find comfort in the most difficult situations life may bring to us. Too often our faith is of the fair-weather variety. When life begins to go sour on us, our faith starts to vanish. We begin to doubt God and start losing faith.

As long as our faith is not tested, it is fine, but it will not stand the test when tried. The test is often obedience, and obedience under trying circumstances. There is no test if obedience is easy with no trial to it.

When Jesus was explaining the parable of the soils, He spoke of the kind of faith we are inclined to have and must fight against. He said, "He who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles." (Matt. 13:20-21 NKJV) It is a faith that cannot stand the test.

Peter speaks of our faith being tested by fire and of its preciousness. (1 Peter 1:7 NKJV) Then a little later he says to those to whom he wrote, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you." (1 Peter 4:12 NKJV) James goes so far as to say, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4 NKJV)

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12 ESV) Remember, love equals obedience.

Do you remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego? They were to be cast into the furnace of fire unless they worshipped the idol Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Here is part of the account of what happened:

"'But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?' Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.'" (Dan. 3:15-18 NKJV)

Did you get the part where they said "if not"? This reminds me of Job's statement in Job 13:15, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (NKJV) These are men whose faith has reached a point of such strength that they are able to say, even if God lets me die, so what? I will trust in Him. I will be faithful. When one gets to that point in their life, fear and worry are pretty much gone from life. What is to fear if one does not fear suffering or death? "I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Heb. 13:6 NKJV)

Faith can overcome poverty, sickness, betrayal, desertion, homelessness, ill-treatment, pain, sorrow, suffering, persecution — every ill known to man. We feel sorry for the wrong people oftentimes. We feel sorry for others when our sorrow ought to be for ourselves and our lack of genuine Bible faith.

I close with the words of Job describing the faith he still had after losing everything:

"The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21 NKJV)

"Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10 NKJV)

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15 NKJV)

When it seems God has deserted you and no longer cares, will you still trust Him? If not Him, whom will you trust? Where will you go? For me, and for you, we must ask ourselves "is my faith driving me?" If not we need to strengthen it.

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Giving An Account

It is hard for us as human beings to grasp what it will be like to be judged by Christ on the Day of Judgment. It is beyond our comprehension what that day will be like, the sights we will see that day, the raw emotions that will be displayed by us all.

So much has been made of the grace of God and God's love that it is hard to come to grips with the idea of judgment, but James in writing to Christians says, "Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!" (James 5:9 NKJV) So he is. "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.' So then each of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. 14:10-12 NKJV)

If the Bible is true, and I say that without a doubt in my mind, then every person who has ever lived or will live in the future, or who lives now, will someday be found on their knees at the feet of Jesus, the creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is. I cannot imagine the terror of one who is forced into that situation knowing that he or she has lived a life of rebellion against God. Terror is too mild a word for that experience. Perhaps horror would be a better word.

Can a man fight against God and hope to win? If not, should we not consider the life we ought to be living? We have today. We ought to make use of it for "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2 NKJV) Today is the day God will accept us if we willingly accept him by faith and obedience to the gospel. But as life has well taught us, today is here and gone tomorrow. Time flies. We have all been to the cemetery too many times to fool ourselves into thinking that today will last indefinitely. Our last day on earth shall arrive gradually with expectation or come as a surprise like a bolt of lightning out of the blue, but when that day does arrive, as it will, then we pass from today into tomorrow and into too late--too late to obey the gospel and live life eternally with God in heaven.

If I could beg you to obey the gospel, and it would do any good, I would do it, but that is not how it works. Why? Obeying the gospel to please me would do you no good. Gospel obedience must be from the heart, sincere in its desire to please God, not a man. As Paul wrote to the Romans, "You obeyed from the heart" (Rom. 6:17 NKJV) and so it must be with us all. In Christianity, it is folly to think of using force of any kind to convert people. In the Muslim world that might work, at least they have practiced that, but not in the faith God requires as found in the Bible.

Where does a man run to get away from God? "Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there." (Psalms 139:7-8 NKJV) Jonah tried running away from God but did not get far. I guess one could say that he got far enough to realize running was not going to work. Yes, we can run from God, but we can't outrun him, cannot hide from him.

When the Lord returns in judgment he "will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts" (1 Cor. 4:5 NKJV) for "he knows the secrets of the heart." (Psalms 44:21 NKJV) Yes, he knows your evil thoughts (Matt. 9:4), and we will be judged for those, see Matt. 15:18-19. "God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." (Rom. 2:16 NKJV) "All things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Heb. 4:13 NKJV)

What I have written so far I have written both to the saint (the Christian) and to the sinner (the one who has never obeyed the gospel). But, I want to direct my words now to those who are Christians. Be forewarned, "The Lord will judge his people." (Heb. 10:30 NKJV)

"If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." (Heb. 10:26 NKJV) The writer here is speaking to those who are guilty of "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." (Heb. 10:25 NKJV) The entire book of Hebrews is directed primarily to a Christian audience. The writer closes this section of his writing by saying, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb. 10:31 NKJV)

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul begins by talking about the journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land. He speaks of some of the sins God's people fell into during that period and of the consequences of those sins saying, "With most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness." (1 Cor. 10:5 NKJV) Then after recounting a number of those sins, he says, "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor. 10:11-12 NKJV) Paul is writing to Christians when he makes this statement. The book of 1 Corinthians is addressed "to the church of God which is at Corinth." (1 Cor. 1:2 NKJV)

So all of mankind, saint and sinner both, shall stand before Christ on the day of judgment and give an account of their life. (2 Cor. 5:10)

Salvation is free in that we do not earn it, nor do we deserve it, but neither can we take it for granted or be indifferent about it. The Hebrew writer makes this clear when he speaks of "a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. 10:27-29 NKJV)

In the letter that was to be delivered to "the angel of the church in Thyatira" (Rev. 2:18 NKJV), Jesus said, "I am he who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works." (Rev. 2:23 NKJV) Yes, the message is to Christians, and I could not help but be reminded as I read this passage, reminded again of what I have heard over and over again, that works do not matter, it is all grace. Jesus did not teach that.

God "'will render to each one according to his deeds': eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil." (Rom. 2:6-9 NKJV) Jesus is "the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him." (Heb. 5:9 NKJV) No person can be saved without the grace of God, but to imply the Christian has no obligations to meet for salvation, God's grace will just cover it all, is a perversion of the truth.

Matt. 7:22-23 ought to be an eye-opener to all who will give it serious consideration. Jesus says, "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (NKJV) He is speaking, of course, of the Day of Judgment. Here is a group of men who had some religion about them. Were they lying to Jesus about the things they had done? I cannot conceive of a man who would be that big a fool at the Day of Judgment to lie to Jesus knowing what was at stake and knowing with whom he was dealing. I thus take them at their word as did the commentators I consulted on this passage. Furthermore, Jesus does not take them to task for lying to him.

So, what is the point? Simply this--a man may claim to be on the Lord's side, he may do things that appear to be good and positive, and they may be up to a degree, and yet the bottom line is despite appearances, despite one's own 'I am satisfied with my religion,' the man is lost. Yes, a regular churchgoer (figuratively speaking), a religious man, who is lost. Why is he lost? Because he practiced lawlessness. What is lawlessness? "Sin is lawlessness." (1 John 3:4 NKJV) Now note the text in Matthew says nothing about whether or not this sin was deliberate or not. Sin does not have to be deliberate to be sin. Many who crucified Christ or were in favor of it did it in ignorance, Peter says so in Acts 3:17, but it was nevertheless a sin as was Paul's later persecution of Christians before his conversion.

Who will be saved on the Day of Judgment? "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (Matt. 7:21 NKJV) Note this is the verse just before Matt. 7:22-23 quoted above, just before Jesus denies entry into heaven of those who had done many good works in his name but who practiced lawlessness.

Yes, "the Judge is standing at the door!" (James 5:9 NKJV) He is expecting you. He "was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead." (Acts 10:42 NKJV) The day is appointed (Acts 17:31). Christ will be there. You will kneel and confess that Jesus is Lord and answer for your life. Are you ready? If not, what are you going to do about it? Surely you are not going to fritter away the time you have left, are you? We will all, every one of us, give an account.

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