Category: Articles Page 1 of 11

“4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” Ephesians 2:4-5

In the midst of the deplorable condition of man by nature, dead in trespasses and sins, and apart from God (Eph. 2:1-3), the Lord intervened in a dramatic way – “But God” – to show his mercy to undeserving sinners. But God did not stop with just showing mercy upon his children and not exacting the fullness of the judgment upon them that they had justly earned, but he went even farther to give them grace – unmerited favor – that they had done nothing to deserve. Mercy is God “not giving” us what we “do deserve”, and grace is God “giving” us what we “do not deserve”. Mercy saved us “from hell”, but grace saved us “to heaven”. We are thankful for “mercy” to escape the damnation of hell, but it’s through the exceeding riches of God’s “grace” that we have been blessed to be raised up to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6).

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   In response to Solomon’s idolatry later in his life, the Lord chooses a man named Jeroboam to lead a rebellion to rend the kingdom and lead 10 of the 12 tribes apart from the rule of Solomon. When Solomon gets wind of this revolt, he attempts to kill Jeroboam, but he flees into Egypt for safety until Solomon’s death. When Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, takes over, he makes very foolish decisions to oppress the people, listening to his young friends instead of the wise sages that counseled Solomon. During this time, Jeroboam has returned and leads a rebellion of the northern 10 tribes that become known as “Israel” going forward, and the 2 tribes of Judah and Benjamin still under Rehoboam’s rule are known as “Judah” going forward (see 1 Kg. 11-12 for this whole account).

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“And he (Jehoshaphat) walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.” (1 Kg. 22:43)

God’s people are very susceptible to creating our own personal high places that we don’t see as a problem in our lives, while it actually stands in direct opposition to God’s word. These high places can take many forms in our lives and hearts, and your secret high place might look different than mine. Regardless of what form it takes, God’s word upholds that any high places that detract from singular devotion and worship of God, anything that detracts from obedience to the greatest commandment to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, is something that needs to be purged from our hearts and purged from our lives. We see examples in the Old Testament of incomplete obedience, a willingness to purge out some high places but to allow others to remain. We need to allow the Lord to search our hearts and give us clarity of any high places in our lives that are restricting us from singular devotion to Jesus Christ.

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As we begin to make New Year’s Resolutions for the upcoming year in 2025, arguably no resolution is more important than a renewed commitment to the reading and study of God’s word. We hope you will embark with us on this one-year Bible reading plan designed to read your Bible all the way through in the next year.

Click here to view and download a PDF of the 2025 One Year Bible Reading Plan

To aid you in reading God’s word, you might consider downloading this Bible Timeline of the Old and New Testament to place each passage of scripture in the appropriate historical context.

Click here to view and download a PDF of the Biblical Timeline of the Old and New Testament

Common to Man

It is inevitable that we will experience periods of discouragement in our lives. This world is fallen and cursed due to Adam’s sin and our further transgressions. Troubles and tribulations that can lead to discouragement are inevitable in our lives. In this world, we “shall have tribulation”, but in spite of that, we can still “be of good cheer” because Christ has “overcome the world” (John 16:33). Prolonged periods of discouragement can lead to depression. As the word implies, “depression” means a state of being “pressed down”. We feel the heavy weight of fears, doubts, our own sins, this world, and many other things. The heavy weight of this world’s burdens can press us down to remain in a low, depressed emotional and spiritual state. If prolonged depression is not addressed and corrected, we could even begin to have suicidal thoughts. We can feel that our life is not even worth living anymore. This natural progression from normal discouragement to prolonged depression to suicidal thoughts is not uncommon. Being so overwhelmed with the pressures of this world and desiring a permanent relief from that pressure is a common response for God’s children. There were times that Moses (Num. 11:15-23), Elijah (1 Kg. 19:4), Job (Job 3:11-22), and Jonah (Jonah 4:3-9) all requested for God to take their life. These men were all good, godly, righteous men, and bold in the faith at different times in their life. However, they reached a point where the weight of their trial was so great that they desired to die. These thoughts are truly common to man. Thankfully, the scriptures give us the remedy to rise from our depressed state to “renew our strength and mount up with wings as eagles” to soar over the trials of this world (Isaiah 40:28-31).

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Why do bad things happen to good people? This question is commonly asked in response to some tragic event that, in our opinion, unfairly touches the lives of those who are trying to live in a godly way. This question is actually indicative of an incorrect perspective of the reality of this world. The answer to this troubling question is that bad things don’t happen to innately good people – in our nature we are “bad people”, not good people; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Rom. 3:12); no one on this earth is good by nature. There is only one exception to that universal rule of original sin and man’s innate “badness” instead of goodness, and that is Jesus Christ. The truth is that bad things have only ever happened to a truly “good man” one time – when the perfectly good, sinless Son of God was unjustly condemned by men and gave up his life to save his people from their sins. Therefore, we need to ask a more appropriate question from the proper perspective. Since all of mankind is innately bad by nature, the proper question then is: “Why do good things ever happen to bad people?”

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“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

The Holy Spirit gave God’s people some amazing, comforting truths in the eighth chapter of Romans. However, it has become commonplace in Christian culture today for Romans 8:28 to be used in a very broad and general sense to try to comfort God’s people in tragedy, extending far beyond the immediate context of the verse. Oftentimes, well-meaning believers attempt to use Romans 8:28 to try to explain some bad circumstances that occur in life – a tragic, sudden loss of a loved one, a terminal diagnosis, a global pandemic, wars, violence, crime and unrest, or any number of other bad things in this world. They attempt to teach in a very general way that “God is working all things together for your good”. This incorrect portrayal of this text tells the struggling child of God that the Lord has caused this event, but it’s okay because ultimately God is using this – just like how supposedly God uses all things, all events in this life without exception – to work together for your ultimate good. While it is true that God’s motivations and goals in his actions are always the good of his children and God can use challenging circumstances for your good, scripture does not support that all events without exception are working together for our good. Let us rightly divide Romans 8:28 together to understand that not all events without exception are working for our good, but rather all things that GOD DOES are working together in synergy for the good of his children.

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It’s commonly taught in “decisional Christianity” today that one can follow the “Romans Road to Salvation”, ultimately confess and believe on Jesus Christ and be saved to eternal life. This supposed road to eternal salvation follows certain verses in the book of Romans culminating in Rom. 10:9, calling upon the sinner to confess and believe on Jesus Christ and pray the Sinner’s Prayer to be saved. This Romans Road to Salvation – which we will call the “Free Will Romans Road” for clarification purposes – is generally centered around five questions and corresponding verses from Romans to answer each question.

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It is commonly accepted and taught in Christianity today that one must choose to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved to heaven. As the confirmation of this belief to secure eternal life, they are called upon to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” and invite Jesus into their heart and accept Christ as their Personal Savior. Therefore, let us consider this question together. Is praying the “Sinner’s Prayer” for salvation a biblical command? The scriptural answer is both “yes” and no”. Yes, born-again sinners are called upon to pray unto God and confess Jesus as our Savior. No, this prayer does not result in gaining eternal life. The praying of this prayer does not initiate the new birth or change one from dead in sins to life in Christ. No, the praying of the Sinner’s Prayer is rather the “evidence” of eternal salvation (John 5:24), not the “cause” of eternal salvation. This prayer does not cause the new birth in the sinner’s heart, but this prayer does give peace and assurance to the soul of the already born-again child of God who is burdened and convicted over their sin. There is a salvation and deliverance for the child of God in praying the Sinner’s Prayer, but that salvation occurs in their heart and in their life here, not in gaining eternal life. Belief, confession, and prayer are always the “evidence” and “effect” of the new birth and eternal life, never the “cause” of gaining eternal life in heaven. We will consider the proper treatment of the Sinner’s Prayer according to the word of God.

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As Primitive, Original Baptists we strive to uphold the teachings of the original church as we see presented in the New Testament scriptures. One of the distinctive doctrines that we find in the scriptures that Primitive Baptists uphold is the doctrine of “unconditional election”. When some people first hear of the doctrine of election, I have seen it cause a good deal of anxiety and confusion when this doctrine is not properly understood. One of the first rebuttals I will usually hear against election is that “God could not have chosen a people to salvation before the world began because John 3:16 says that God loves the whole world and offers salvation to any that will believe in Jesus Christ.” It is true that John 3:16 does say that God loves the world. However, we will consider the rightly dividing of that verse in context to see that Jesus is not teaching Nicodemus that God loves everyone without exception, but that God loves the world without distinction, particularly that God has a people outside the natural Jewish nation among the Gentiles. I believe we will see that John 3:16 is not an invitation to eternal life to anyone that is willing to believe, but that verse is an assurance text to all that do believe that they already have eternal life through Jesus Christ. We want to have a thorough discussion together of how to properly reconcile the doctrine of unconditional election with the verse in John 3:16. We hope you can read this article with an open mind, considering the scriptures referenced, and study these things out for yourself to see if these things are so. “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” (2 Tim. 2:7)

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