Category: Articles Page 3 of 13

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?”

Do All Things Work Together for Good?

“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.

Romans Road to Salvation

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.

Is The Sinner’s Prayer Biblical?

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.

Does God Love the Whole World? Election & John 3:16

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)

“It Is Finished” – A Past Tense Salvation

On December 26, 2024

When we consider eternal salvation, as Primitive Baptists we simply take Jesus at his word on the cross when he declared “It Is Finished”! We must then ask, what did Jesus actually finish on the cross? Did Christ just do his part of salvation and now he is waiting and dependent upon the sinner to believe to actually be fully saved? No, the Bible teaches that Jesus completed all the requirements for eternal salvation on the cross. Let us consider together the many verses that present the “past tense” nature of our eternal salvation – that Jesus has “finished” our eternal salvation and we rest in Jesus’ finished work of salvation today.

The Mystery of the Incarnation

On December 10, 2024

As we approach the Christmas season, we will see many portrayals of the nativity scene depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. It is easy to view this typical nativity scene with a great deal of sentimentality of a cute, little baby in a manger, and we might miss the gravity of what truly occurred. That little babe wrapped in swaddling clothes in an obscure manger in Bethlehem was not just any other cute baby. That little newborn child was God manifest in the flesh! The baby that would grow up to be Jesus of Nazareth was “very God of very God”! It is almost inconceivable to think that the eternal, omnipresent, sovereign God who rules over this entire universe condescended to this earth and took the form of a newborn babe that had to be nursed, carried, and changed like any other infant. Truly, great is the mystery of godliness that God was manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).

Mixtures of Joy & Sorrow

On November 22, 2024

As we move towards the conclusion of yet another year and reflect upon the last twelve months, most likely we can say along with the hymnwriter, “mixtures of joy and sorrow I daily do pass through.” As we reflect and take inventory of the last year, I hope we can see the happy, joyful moments that we have been blessed to enjoy by God’s grace. We need to count our many blessings, name them one by one, and it should not surprise us what the Lord has done, but sometimes we need to be reminded of just how much we have been blessed by individually counting (maybe even writing down) our blessings one by one. I hope we can thank the Lord for his blessings, care, provision, and grace in our lives, not just in the last twelve months, but throughout our entire lifetime.

7 Simple Daily Goals for the New Year

On January 4, 2024