THE BEACON - Electronic Edition - 7/16/02 Do You Feel Saved? Are you saved? How do you know you are saved? "I know I am saved because I feel it in my heart," many often say. But are the feelings of your heart the proper standard to determine your salvation? We do not use this standard in other matters. No one says of his bank statement, "I know it is right because I feel it in my heart," while they ignore to properly add and subtract from their balance. No carpenter says, "I know the board is 10 feet long because I feel it in my heart" - he checks the board with the proper standard, the measuring tape! But, when it comes to a matter far more important than bank balances and board lengths - salvation - many are willing to trust their eternal welfare to their feelings. Can you trust the feelings of your heart to tell you whether or not you are saved? The Bible says "No!" "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool" (Prov. 28:26), for "the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jer. 10:23). "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12). Feelings are subjective, they change from person to person and even within the same person. Truth is objective, it remains fixed and does not change, regardless of the person or the year. The way you feel about salvation does not change God's truth concerning it, just as the way you feel about math, does not change the truth of it. Whether or not you are saved is an objective fact, not subject to the whims of how you feel from moment to moment. So how can they know they are saved? The Scripture says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding" (Prov. 3:5). You do not have to rely upon your own faulty and deceptive feelings concerning your salvation. The Lord has given "the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation" (2 Tim. 3:15). The knowledge and confidence of salvation can only come from the objective standard of God's Word. God will judge you by His Word, not by how you feel. Jesus proclaimed, "the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). What is your salvation based upon? Many people feel in their heart they are saved because they have "simply believed" in Jesus. While salvation certainly requires faith in Jesus, faith alone does not and cannot save according to God's Word. James wrote, "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (Jas. 2:24). Other people have prayed and "asked Jesus to come into their heart" and now they feel they are saved. But nowhere does the Bible teach one must simply pray to Jesus in order to be saved. God's Word teaches to be saved you must: hear the gospel (Rom. 10:17); believe Jesus is the Son of God (Mk. 16:16); repent of your sins (Acts 2:38); confess Jesus (Rom. 10:9; Acts 8:36-38) and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38; Mk. 16:16). Those who obey God's Word do not have to guess whether or not they are saved based upon the feelings of their heart. They know they are saved because their salvation is based on the unchanging Truth of God's Word. by Wayne Greeson ______________________________________________ Baptism Comes Before Salvation I have been accused of over emphasizing the part baptism plays in the salvation of sinners. In view of what the Bible teaches, I do not see how this could be possible. There are five passages in the New Testament which mention both baptism and salvation in the same verse (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:4; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21). In all of these passages, water baptism precedes the remission of sins. Do you know of a passage where the order is reversed? Mark 16:16 contains two conditions for salvation: faith and baptism. It also contains the conditions for damnation: a lack of faith. If you want to know what you must do to be lost, it will tell you -- all that is necessary is a lack of faith. If you want to know what to do to be saved from your past sins -- it commands you to believe and be baptized. In Acts 2:38 Peter told a group of believers to "repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Our Baptist friends often focus on the word "for" in this passage and insist it means "because of," even though it is never translated that way in any reputable translation of the Bible. We have to remind them that if baptism is "because of" the remission of sins, then so is repentance. Baptism and repentance are joined by the little word "and." Whatever one is "for" the other is "for." After we are buried with Christ in baptism, we are raised to walk in a newness of life (Romans 6:1-4). This new life comes after baptism in water. Many preachers want to "bury" the "new man," since they claim the newness of life comes before our "burial." Three days after the Lord appeared to Saul of Tarsus, Ananias told Saul to "arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins" (Acts 22:16). Many preachers today claim Saul was saved three days before Ananias met him. Ananias must not have known it, for he told Saul how to "wash away" his sins. If Saul had been saved on the road as some preachers claim, he must have been the most miserable saved man in the Bible. Saul was blind and spent three days praying and fasting until Ananias arrived. 1 Peter 3:21 states "baptism doth also now save us." However, baptism is not the only condition for the salvation of the alien sinner. Other requirements must be met, like faith, repentance and love. I do not know of anything "alone" that will save a sinner, not even faith (James 2:24). by David Padfield ______________________________________________ A Servant's Heart Our Lord taught that if we would be truly great in His kingdom, we MUST develop a servant's heart. "But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant" (Mt. 23:11). If we understand this truth, then we will be working more and more to acquire the attitudes and characteristics of a servant. What are some of these? If I possess a servant's heart, then I will be ready and willing to do any job that needs to be done even when it is not the job that I really wanted to do. Some tasks are difficult and receive little recognition, but I'll do these anyway. After all, I shouldn't be doing my works to be "seen of men" (Matt. 6:1ff). With a servant's heart I will worry less (ultimately none at all) about how others serve me, and I will be more interested in finding ways to serve others. "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (Matt. 20:26,27). As a faithful servant, I will not be rebellious against God, the things taught in His word, or to those who are in authority over me (elders, parents, employers, etc.). To do so would be completely contradictory to the whole notion of servanthood (1 Peter 5:5-7). As I grow in these attributes of a servant, I will begin to see myself and my needs as less important in the "bigger scheme" of things. "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (Romans 12:3). And finally, as a servant who is seeking to please God, I will grow in the realization that my work is never done - that I have never done as much as I could have or should have done. "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we nave done that which was our duty to do" (Lk. 17:10). - by Greg Gwin ______________________________________________ Trends . . . Church attendance has remained stable while participation in virtually every other form of traditional activity - including the frequency of watching television, exercising, reading for pleasure, and spending time with the family - has declined in recent years. - via Barna Research, 3/21/2000 1 Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." _____________________________________________ Some quotes worth pondering . . . "A Christian shows what he is by what he does with what he has." "A great man is always willing to be little." - Ralph Waldo Emerson "But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant." (Matthew 23:11) - Jesus Christ ______________________________________________ News from Collegevue . . . July 14, 2002 It's great to see you here today. We always love to join together with our brothers and sisters here at Collegevue as we worship God and study from His Word. And, the presence of visitors makes our assembly even more special. Thanks for coming and, if you are visiting, please come again soon. BAPTISMS: We rejoiced this week to see Megan Dvorak be baptized into Christ on Wednesday night, and Katie Kasun on Thursday. What a joy to see these precious souls obey the gospel. We pray they will have long and fruitful lives in the Lord's service. Pray for the sick, including: Alvin Lunn and Coletta Poole (both had surgery last week), Sheila Tucker (scheduled for surgery on Tuesday), Kermit Abner, James Sanders, Robert Vick, Nancy Jo Hughes (Joan LIndsey's mother in MRH), Greg Gwin's father (will have surgery tomorrow in Louisville), and others. Our big news this week concerns our Summer Bible Series which will begin in one week. Some things to remember: - Classes for ages 2 and up, including adults - 7:00 - 8:00 Monday through Friday - Bob Myhan will teach the adult class on Romans (he will be here next Sunday as well to begin his work with us). - Next Sunday afternoon we'll meet to canvas nearby neighborhoods with invitations. - Announcements are available for you to use in invitings others. - Of course, YOU plan to be here! Figures for the week of 7/7/02: Sun.: AM, 167; PM, 136; Wed., 109; Contrib., $3184 ______________________________________________ "The Beacon - Electronic Edition" is sent out weekly from Columbia, TN, and contains articles and information taken from the most recent "paper" bulletin of the Collegevue Church of Christ. We hope you will use this material in any way you can that will glorify our Father. Please give proper credit to the respective authors. - Greg Gwin ggwin@edge.net