Many people today believe that all religions are true. According to a recent Barna study, 58% of teens and 62% of adults agree with the statement, “Many religions can lead to eternal life; there is no ‘one true religion.’” It would be nice if everybody could be right about their religious convictions. After all, these are beliefs we often hold dear to our hearts. Nobody likes telling others that they are wrong about their deepest convictions. Yet simple reason and common sense tell us all religions cannot possibly true. However, in our day, common sense isn't too common.

Let's reason together and take a look at what the Bible has to say about getting to God. Even a half-hearted examination of different religions would quickly reveal that different religions make very different truth claims on a number of issues. By its very nature, truth is exclusive. It is not logically possible for all religions to be right when their core claims differ so radically. Either they are all wrong, or one is right.

Consider that Buddhists belief in no God, Hindus believe in many gods, and Christians believe in a triune God consisting of God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God. Just looking at these beliefs alone, we can see that all religions are not the same, nor do they all point to God. 
n fact, different religions don’t even claim to be the same. Every religion has its own specific idea of who God is (or is not) and how salvation may be attained. Yes, religions often agree on secondary, non-essential doctrines. But on core beliefs, they differ radically.

Unless we are willing to abandon the law of non-contradiction, Buddhism and Christianity cannot possibly both be true. God cannot both exist and not exist. There cannot be one God who exists as one person (Islam) and one God who exists as three persons (Christianity).

So all religions cannot be true. Despite our culture's love for pluralism and acceptance of everything, there can only be one true religion.  

This is where Christianity takes center stage. Biblical Christianity is absolutely unique among all the religions and philosophies of mankind. Its claim to be necessary for salvation is based squarely on the uniquely powerful evidences for its truth and finality. Actually, true Christianity is not a religion, but a person, Jesus Christ.

Christianity is unique and set apart from all others for several reasons. 

1. Only in the Bible is God revealed as the one eternal, personal Creator, who brought the entire universe into existence by His own Word.

All other religions start with the material universe as the only eternal reality, with their “gods” being essentially personifications of the natural forces which develop the universe into its present form.

On the other hand, the Creator-God of the Bible has all power and is Himself, therefore, not only the One who created the universe but also the One who establishes the basis for human salvation.

2. Christianity alone is centered in the historical events associated with a Person—the birth, death, resurrection, and imminent, glorious return of Jesus Christ. 

Other religions are invariably based on the teachings, rather than the acts, of their founders.

3. Jesus Christ alone, of all men in history, has conquered man's greatest enemy—death. The founders of other religions are all dead and their tombs venerated. The tomb of Christ is empty, and His bodily resurrection from the grave is the best proved fact of all history. The fact that He alone could overcome death demonstrates that He alone has all power. He Himself said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6).

4. All other religions of the world are fundamentally just one religion—one of salvation by works. Each religion sets up a particular set of religious rites, of commands and restrictions, and of ethical principles to follow, and then teaches that if a man does these things he will be saved. The human origin of each of these systems is indicated by the fact that each is humanly attainable.

The Bible, however, sets its moral and ethical standard as the very holiness and perfection of God Himself, and demands nothing less than this for salvation. Obviously, no man would invent a standard which was utterly impossible for any man to keep.

5. The man Christ Jesus, alone of all men who ever lived, maintained in every respect a life of perfect holiness and full obedience to the Father, thus demonstrating that He was the God-Man. He then died for the sins of all men and thus can offer full pardon and His own nature of perfect holiness to anyone who receives Him.

Christ alone offers salvation by grace alone, to be received only through faith in Him.

To the one who truly believes on Him, He then gives through the Holy Spirit a new nature, enabling that one to live a life pleasing to God.

There is no mere “religion” in all the world like this. Jesus Christ is the world's Creator, and its only true Redeemer.

“Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Christ alone was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin.
Christ alone is God incarnate.
Christ alone lived a sinless life.
Christ alone died a penal, substitutionary death
Christ alone rose from the dead triumphant over sin
Christ alone qualifies as Savior, and Christ alone is Savior.

In the words of the country preacher...."there ain't nobody like Jesus" 

Do you know Jesus today? Do you believe? That is what is necessary for salvation. The Bible tells us that God so loved the world......

Do you believe? For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Have you believed in your heart that Jesus is the only true Savior and way to get to God? Have you confessed that to Him with your mouth? If not, you can today. Call out to him and tell Him you believe and that you need forgiveness for your sins. He will cleanse you and transform your life. 
 

Growing up in a pastor's home and being in church since 9 months before I was born, I have always heard Christian people say that no sin is worse than another. All sins are equal in the eyes of God. 

One mistaken and unfortunate trend in many parts of the contemporary American Christian church is the propagation of “Christian” clichés that are neither Christian nor true. One of these is this very idea: no sin is worse than any other sin.

Sin is sin they say. Before I discuss some problems with this view, I first want to point out what is right about it. It is true that because God is perfectly holy, He detests all sin. It is not as if God takes murder seriously but merely gives theft a wink and a nod. God is morally perfect, and His heart is grieved by all sin. We should expect no less from a morally perfect and holy God who is worthy of all of our worship. God’s perfect character requires that He abhor all sin. As followers of Christ, as people who aspire to exemplify His character in our daily living, we should pursue holiness and avoid all sin.

It is true that no matter how great or small, all sins separate us from God and require forgiveness in Christ. The consequence of sin — any sin — is spiritual death. All sins leave us in need of redemption. 

James 2:10-11 For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty of breaking the whole law. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,”[b] also said, “Do not kill.” Now if you do not commit adultery, yet you kill, you have become a lawbreaker.

Simply put, that scripture tells us that if we break just one of God's laws or commandments, its the same as if we broke them all. So in that sense, yes, all sin separates us from God and we needed Jesus to dies as a substitute for our sin, But that does not mean that all sins are equal in His sight in the sense of consequences or punishment.

It is clear that there are degree of wrongdoing. The idea or belief that murder is morally equivalent to stealing a pack of gum is absurd for many reasons. For example, the level of harm is vastly different. If someone steals a pack of gum for me, that's not good, but I'm not dead....hello?!

The right to life is fundamental. It is the most important right we possess. So murder is a morally worse act than stealing gum. The two actions are not morally equivalent, nor are they the same in the eyes of God. All sin does not have the same effect. 

There is a very strong biblical case that can be made against the claim that all sins are the same in God's sight. 

Let's read Matthew 23: 23-24 Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You tithe mint and dill and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. You blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

In this passage, Jesus rejects the claim that no sin is worse than any other. He told them that justice, mercy, and faithfulness are more important than giving tithes. And just for the record, He is NOT talking here about social justice. That's a podcast for another day.

The point of this passage is the the scribes and Pharisees focused on lesser matters of the law while neglecting the more important. Jesus did not hold that all sins are equal because His teachings here directly contradict this view.

In Luke 20: 46-47, Jesus teaches that there will be some people who will receive a greater condemnation or punishment than others. The scripture reads, "Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation."

And who did Jesus have in mind when he warned of hell’s greatest levels? We might think it would be Hitler or Stalin, but instead, Jesus tells us that it will be respectable religious people. In this passage it was directed at the most religious teachers of the law. 

Matthew 11 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who is exalted toward heaven, will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the Day of Judgment than for you.”

On the last day, he tells us, the judgment will be “more bearable” for Tyre and Sidon, and “more tolerable” for Sodom, than it will be for the citizens of these Galilean cities.

Tyre plundered Jerusalem after Babylon had laid it waste (Ezekiel 26:1–2), but better to be a marauding Tyrian on judgment day than to be a citizen of Chorazin. Sidon exulted with Tyre over the destruction of God’s chosen city (Isaiah 23:4, 12), but better to be a proud Sidonian on judgment day than to be a member of Bethsaida. The men of Sodom nearly battered down Lot’s door in order to commit homosexual acts (Genesis 19:4–9), but — can it be? — better to be a lecherous Sodomite on judgment day than to stand with the city of Capernaum.

As far as we know, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum were not renowned for their wickedness. These were small Galilean cities, neighbors to Nazareth. Capernaum was even Jesus’s “own city” during his ministry. The residents of these places were likely synagogue-attending, Torah-memorizing, Sabbath-keeping Jews. How could they possibly outdo Sodom in sin?

For this simple reason: when they witnessed the mighty works of the Messiah, God’s own Son, “they did not repent” (Matthew 11:20).

The worst sinners in this world, then, are not necessarily those who live in rank debauchery, but those who go on sinning when they have every reason and opportunity to repent. Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, for all their wickedness, lived and died in gospel darkness. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum saw the gospel’s blazing light — and they quietly closed the curtains.

It makes sense that because not all sin is the same, there will be greater degrees of punishment and reward. In fact, in Matt 16:27 saysFor "the Son of Man shall come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man according to his works." 

How many of you know that there will be some who have greater works than others? Some people have dedicated their lives to the service of Jesus Christ, while others give the bare minimum in their service to the Lord. Throughout the NT the scripture even talks about 5 crowns that will be given to believers, but not every Christian will receive all 5 crowns. 

It stands to reason that if there are greater rewards in Heaven and greater punishments in Hell, that all sin cannot be equal. 

Where we are all equal is at the foot of the cross. the Bible tells us that all of us have sinned and come short of God's standard of perfection. There is forgiveness in Jesus Christ for all sin except for one which brings me to my last point. 

If all sin is equal, then why does Jesus tell us in Mark 3:28-29 that there is an unforgivable sin? He said, 28 Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they speak. 29 But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal condemnation.”

Simply put, there is one sin that is greater than all others and that is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ. A person cannot reject Christ as Messiah and enter the kingdom of Heaven.

If you are still breathing today, you can be forgiven of your sins.  

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28–30)

Come to me. No matter how many years someone has merely dabbled with the gospel, no matter how many opportunities they have trampled, no matter how many sermons and exhortations they have despised, Jesus says, “Come to me.” He invites those who rival Sodom in their evil, and he invites those who compete with Capernaum for their apathy. He invites those who have blatantly hated him all their life, and he invites those who have quietly rejected him.

Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart. He does not delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). Rather, he delights when the wicked, after long years of refusing him, finally come, ready to repent and find their rest in him.

Not all sins, and not all sinners, are the same. But they all have the same remedy: the Savior who came, and lived, and died so that no one who feels the weight of their guilt need finally go to hell.

One of the most misunderstood and misapplied verses in scripture is Ephesians 4:26, which says, "be angry and sin not: do not let the sun go down on your anger."

I grew up in a Christian home. In fact I grew up in Southern Baptist home where I was in church 9 months before I was born. I have heard many sermons. 

For years, the only way I have ever heard Ephesians 4:26 preached is you shouldn’t go to bed angry at your spouse.  In other words don’t let the sun go down before you resolve any conflicts. He is not saying be mad at your spouse all day, just make sure you get it resolved before the sun goes down. That is NOT what this passage means! 

While I do think it is a great idea, and you are well advised to be at peace with your spouse on a daily basis, context is crucial. We have the habit in modern evangelical circles of taking passages of scripture and ripping them out of the context in which they were written. The surrounding versus say nothing about husbands and wives. 

The surrounding versus deal with speaking falsehood, not letting the devil have an opportunity, don’t steal, don’t lie, and don’t let corrupt communication come out of your mouth, among other things. They are dealing with sin and what happens when sin is in your life.  

While anger can be a sinful issue in our lives when it is allowed to grow into bitterness, resentment, wrath, and hatred, it is possible to be angry and not sin.  

Unlike the modern interpretations of this passage, husbands and wives are not mentioned anywhere in this chapter. We have a habit in modern Christianity of taking versus out of their original context kicking and screaming and we try to make them fit a particular theology or interpretation. This is not the way we should handle the scripture.

Look at the context. He has been talking about how we should live as believers and certain things we should eliminate from our lives. In verse 22 it says that we should put off the old way of life which is corrupt. Verse 25 says put away lying, he says to speak truth. He says in verse 28 not to steal anymore, but instead work with your hands. In verse 29 it says not to let corrupt communication come out of your mouth. He says don't grieve the Holy Spirit. Verse 31 says to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, outbursts, and blasphemies. 

I don't want to give you a greek lesson today, but I do want to let you know that verse 26, when he says be angry, that is in the imperative mood, which means it is a command. He is commanding us to be angry. And yes, we can be angry and not sin. 

As believers, we know that Jesus did not sin. He lived a perfect life while He was on the earth. Yet, the scripture tells us that He fashioned a whip and drove the money changers out of the temple because He was angry they had made the house of worship a den of thieves. He was furious, but He did not sin. It is possible for us to be angry and not sin. 

He is commanding us to be angry over our sin.

While I do think he is saying that we should put away vengeful anger and not hold on to it, He is saying be angry at your sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Don’t quit hating your sin. Don’t stop being angry over your sin. Because if you stop being angry over your sin, you will give the devil opportunity. 

Simply put, don’t get comfortable or numb over sin. Sin has no place in the life of a believer. May God help us to continually confess and repent. Stay angry over YOUR sin!

Not letting the sun go down should remind us of an OT story. Remember when Joshua was fighting with Israel over the 5 kings of the Amorites, the scripture says that the sun stood still for a period of 24-hours.  

Joshua 10:11-14 says, 11 As they fled from Israel on the downslope from Beth Horon, the Lord hurled large hailstones down upon them from the sky as far as Azekah. They died, and in fact more died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.

12 On the day the Lord gave over the Amorites to the children of Israel, Joshua spoke to the Lord and said in full view of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon;
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 So the sun stood still,
and the moon stood in place
until the people brought vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the book of Jashar?

The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a full day. 14 There has not been a day like this either before or after it, when the Lord obeyed a man, for the Lord waged war for Israel.

As long as the sun was up, Israel experienced victory. Joshua and Israel were victorious over the Amorites. So how does that relate to the sun not going down on your anger in the New Testament? We should never allow the sin of complacency to infiltrate out lives. Sin should not have a place in the life of a Christ follower. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give place to the devil.  

I do want to go ahead and answer the question up front and say, yes, the OT does still matter to us today for faith and practice in the Christian life. Although we do not have the time to address all of the challenges to the importance of the OT, I do want to spend a few minutes explaining some reasons the OT is still applicable for us today.

1. The Old Testament is the Framework of the Work of Christ

The fundamental reason the OT still matters is because we cannot properly understand the work of Christ without it. What Christ came to do doesn't make sense if the OT background and foundation is properly laid.

Consider, for example, the most foundational claim that Christ shed His blood for our sins. We use this statement, and proclaim it to others, without always recognizing that it only makes sense in light of the OT. 

The statement presumes the definition of sin (breaking God’s law), the seriousness of sin (God is holy), a penalty for sin (blood must be shed) and a substitute for sin (the death of a pure sacrifice in our place). All these categories come from, and are defined by, the OT.

Keep in mind that NT authors referenced the scriptures. They would say things like, "as it is written" or "you have heard it said." They were referencing the OT scriptures. They didn't not have completed copies of an Old and New Testament. Many times all they had to reference was the Torah, or the books of law. 

Think of the person and work of Jesus Christ. New Testament authors are often keen to set the story of Jesus within the larger story of OT Israel. Thus, Matthew, the first book of our New Testament, begins his Gospel in a classically OT manner: with a genealogy (1:1-17). In essence, Matthew is telling us that the story of Jesus begins in the OT with Abraham, with David, with the story of Israel.

That means the story of Jesus is not so much a new story but the ending of an older one. One of the reasons people don’t understand the message of the NT is that they don’t understand the message of the OT.

But we must remember that the OT does not merely anticipate Christ. On the contrary, Christ is actually present in the OT itself, visible in the types and shadows therein. Christ is not just the main subject of the NT; he is also the main subject of the OT! Thus, Jesus could say, “Everything that was written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). This is the fundamental reason why Christians should preach from the OT. If they preach from the OT, they will be preaching Christ.

2. The Old Testament is the Framework for Our Identity as Believers

The OT is relevant not only because it explains who Christ is (and why he came), but it also explains who we are. The OT lays out critical categories for understanding our identity as followers of the God of Israel.

Unfortunately, this is often missed. With the influence of dispensational theology in modern evangelicalism, a sharp separation is often made between Israel and the church. Thus, Christians rarely view their identity in OT categories.

But the NT writers saw a deep connection between what God started with Israel and what He continued in the church. Indeed, the NT writers repeatedly identify Christ-followers as those who are the true Israel.

Take, for example, Paul’s remarkable statement in Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” For many first-century Jews, you were only the offspring of Abraham if you were physically/genetically related to him. In contrast, Paul’s statement lays out the mind-blowing truth that the true “offspring” of Abraham are followers of Jesus.

And this is not the only place he does so. Elsewhere, Paul defines Christians in the most OT of categories, namely as the “circumcised” ones: “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).

The apostle Peter does the same thing. He describes Christians in categories typically used for OT Israel: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

This pattern reminds us that we need the OT to understand our identity as believers. By faith, we have been “grafted in” (Romans 11:17) to the Abrahamic tree and are counted among God’s true Israel.

The Old Testament is a Guide for the Christian Life

The third and final reason the OT still matters is how it functions as a guide for the Christian life. The NT writers continually draw upon the OT as an abiding authority for believers in Jesus.

The Ten Commandments, for example, are regularly cited and applied to new-covenant believers (e.g., Romans 13:9; Ephesians 6:1-3; James 2:11). Wisdom books like Psalms and Proverbs are repeatedly utilized (e.g., Romans 13:20; 1 Corinthians 3:19-20; James 4:6). And, of course, the countless stories of OT figures are laid forth as examples to emulate (Hebrews 11:1-40) or avoid (Romans 10:6).

The fact that the OT is still profitable to new-covenant believers can be seen perhaps most clearly by Paul’s statement that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). When Paul described “Scripture” in this way, he had in mind the Old Testament!

Of course, this does not mean all portions of the OT still apply under the new covenant. The entire cultic system — animal sacrifices, temple worship, purity laws — is completed and fulfilled by Christ. Likewise, civil laws that governed Israel during its tenure as a geopolitical nation are no longer binding given the nature of the new-covenant church.

But even the abrogated portions of the OT can still have an abiding relevance. Even though we (obviously) do not offer animal sacrifices today, we can still see how the animal sacrifices prefigured Christ and pointed toward His redemptive work. In that sense, these portions are still important for the church to know and understand.

Conclusion

We can all acknowledge that the OT can be difficult to understand sometimes. There are portions that are confusing and maybe even troubling. As a result, we may be tempted to think the church would just be better off without it.

In the midst of all the attacks on the OT today, we must remember that the OT lays the foundation for Christ’s work, shapes our identity as believers, and is a faithful guide to the Christian life.

We should remember the words of Jesus about the OT Scriptures: “Until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18).

The entire word of God is relevant for us today. If we allow for freedoms to dismiss any part of scripture, where does that stop? If the OT writings can be written off was old and irrelevant, couldn't the same be applied to the NT? You see, we must take the WHOLE word in order to understand the greater context of the work of Jesus Christ and His coming Kingdom. 

The virgin birth of Jesus through Mary is a doctrine that is crucial to biblical Christianity. On this doctrine hangs original sin, the inspiration of Scripture, who Jesus was, and what Jesus did through salvation. To deny the virgin birth is to deny these other doctrines as well.

Scripture describes the event for us. In response to Mary’s question, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin” (Luke 1:34), Gabriel says “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you...” (Luke 1:35). Matthew 1:20 says "…For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.”

Scripture teaches that Jesus was fully human, with a physical body. This He received from Mary. At the same time Jesus was fully God with an eternal, sinless nature (John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14-17).

Romans 5 indicates the sin nature is passed down from generation to generation through the father. But Jesus was not born in sin, He had no sin nature (Hebrews 7:26). He was the Holy One of God since He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Because He was the Son of God, He partook of the divine nature.

Simply put, all of us were born into sin from the moment of our birth. The psalmist himself said that his mother conceived him in sin. It all started in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the forbidden tree, their sin was passed down to every man that would be born thereafter. 

Romans 5:19 tells us "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." That one man who disobeyed was Adam and because of that we are all born into sin. This makes us enemies of God because we have all transgressed God's law. 

So why is it so important that Jesus be born of a virgin? Seed comes from men and if Mary had been impregnated through any man on the earth, the child would have inherited the same sin nature as every other man.

The virgin birth circumvented the transmission of the sin nature and allowed the eternal God to become a perfect man. the Bible says that what was conceived in Mary was of the Holy Spirit, not a sinful man. This work of the Holy Spirit, bypassed the sinful human race and got a child on the earth who was not born of the corruptible seed of man. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Heavenly Father. He also never sinned, which qualified Him to be a righteous substitutionary sacrifice for sinners. Christ was fully man—therefore able to die—and fully God. 

Scripture says that His name was to be called Emmanuel, which means God with us. God wrapped Himself in the person of Jesus Christ and came to live as a real man. Because of His sinless life and substitutionary death on the cross, anyone who comes by faith in His work can be saved from their sin and reconciled to God. In effect, it reverses what Adam did to us through His sin. While we still suffer the effects of sin while we are on this earth, one day we will ultimately be saved from sin, death, sickness, and the curse of sin for eternity. 

The virgin birth is also important because it affirms the inspiration and authority of Scripture. If we deny the teaching and say it’s a myth, then we undermine the rest of the Bible. Isaiah 7:14 says, “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

This was prophesied some 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. To deny the virgin birth is to deny the work of God and to deny that Jesus is the Messiah. The virgin birth is important because it shows us that salvation must be from God. It shows we have no part in undoing the sin curse. Only He can save us. Humanity couldn’t produce its own redeemer—salvation had to come from outside in order to make right what Adam set wrong so many years ago.

Do you believe in the virgin birth? It is crucial for a proper understanding of scripture and salvation from Christ. 

Do you know Jesus Christ, if not you can know Him. the Bible says that if you will confess with your mouth.......

Call out to Him in repentance of your sins and ask Him to save you from Hell and from your sins.

There is still so much happening with the presidential election, even though most of the fake news media outlets have declared Biden as president elect. Much litigation is still happening with the Trump campaign. In recent events, videos have surfaced of the corruption in Georgia where suitcases of ballots were unloaded as soon as republicans observers were dismissed from the room. 

I have never seen such blatant corruption and fraud in all my life. And what are most Elected Republicans doing, turning a blind eye to it.

I am still praying and holding on to hope that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of Trump and make the state legislatures choose who their electors will vote for considering all of the fraud. But time will tell.

So what happens if Biden becomes president? We are in for some tough times. I don’t say that to make people scared, but it is a dose of reality. We are looking at days that resemble the Obama years in progressive and socialist tendencies. 

The upcoming senate elections in GA will determine what gets done during the first couple years of his presidency. Oh if the Senate remains in Republican controlled, then it might end up being a lame duck session for the first couple of years. If the Democrats take control of the Senate, America may be a thing of the past. I don’t say that lightly or tongue in cheeck. If Democrats control the house, Senate, and the presidency, they could fundamentally change America. 

It will look a lot like the Obama years. Pallets of cash to Muslim nations for the development of nuclear weapons, socialism, pandering and giving in to BLM and ANTIFA. There will be the erosion of the 2nd amendment as well as other personal liberties. 

This will come in the form of school curriculum to indoctrinate young people on how to hate America. There will be talks of reparations for slavery. There will be higher taxes with our monies going to fund abortion on demand, transgender reassignment surgeries....

There will be moves made to pack the Supreme Court with radical justices to carry out the Democrat’s bidding. Climate change and the green new deal will be at the forefront of talks. China will once again own the USA as well as making allies of nations like Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Peace between Israel and Palestinians will end and there America will side with the Palestinians instead of our long standing alliance with Israel. 

I know all this looks grim, but putting aside all of the corruption, cheating, and voter fraud, we had many “Christians” vote for Biden because they didn’t like Trump’s tweets or potty mouth. How a Christian can vote for a person as morally compromised as Biden is beyond my comprehension. 

And soon once all of his policies begin to be enacted come into place, we’ll here Christian people say, “well if I had known he was for abortion, or if I had known he was for children getting sex change operations or boys using girl restrooms, I wouldn’t have voted for him. But it will be too late.

All a person had to do is open their eyes and see, but orange man bad right?

And there are implications for the believer. These include church lockdowns because of COVID. Mask mandates and the list goes on and on.

We haven’t even mentioned that he wants a path to citizenship for all illegal immigrants. And this could potentially go unchecked. And then there will be so many who voted for him who start whining and crying and al I can say is shut up!! You should have been an informed voter and actually looked at the issues. 

What concerns me greatly is our alliance with Israel. There has always been tension between the Jews and Palestinians. 

The Palestinians, who are largely Muslim, believe they are entitled to the land because of Ishmael. But we know from scripture that the child of promise was Isaac and not Ishmael. The land was given to the Jewish people and God blessed them and told them they would forever occupy that land. 

The whole of the Bible is centred around ISRAEL. It is HIStory, — God’s record of His chosen people, past, present and future. The Bible is the history of the nation whom God called “The apple of my eye”. Zec 2:8 For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “In pursuit of glory I was sent to the nations who plundered you, because “whoever injures you, injures the pupil of my eye.” (ISV). 

Nations of the world today should be very very careful of how they treat Israel, because world history shows that when a nation blesses Israel and treats them well, they in turn are very blessed and prosper exceedingly. The latest nation to be blessed because of their stand for Israel was the USA. 

But I am afraid that I’m a Biden presidency that he will cater to the Palestinians who do not hold a rightful place in the land. This doesn’t bode well for the United States, because those who stand against Israel will be destroyed. 

Our relationship with Israel isn't the only thing that is in jeopardy. The Biden administration wants abortion demand even up to moments after birth. This is in direct violation of the scripture that affirms the sanctity of all human life. Psalm 139 specifically tells us in verses 13-17

You brought my inner parts into being;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise you, for You made me with fear and wonder;
marvelous are Your works,
and You know me completely.
15 My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
and intricately put together in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me unformed,
yet in Your book
all my days were written,
before any of them came into being.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!

The only hope we have is that the Supreme Court holds a conservative majority not including Justice Roberts who we can thank Bush for nominating a liberal to the court. What an embarrassment. 

So what do we need to do as Believers? First we need to pray. the Bible instructs us to pray for our leaders. I am specifically praying for God to save them or remove them. whether that is from office or permanently. We need to pray, pray, pray. Second, we need to be active and involved in the political discussion. Don't be like some of this Christians who are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good. 

We were designed for and left on this earth to help get the God in and on the earth. We need to let our voices be heard to our elected officials. We also need to pray for our current President. I am praying that justice prevail and that corruption and fraud to not prevail. I am praying that God intervenes. What about you? 

Then there comes a time when Christians must resist tyranny. We have a duty to resist government when it commands what God condemns or condemns what God commands. We cannot let corruption, fraud, and wickedness to dissuade us from fighting for what is right. For fighting for getting God's will on the earth. Some are just waiting for Christ to come back and are willing to let evil prevail. I for one will not submit and allow Evil to reign. God has a mission for us to do while we are here and it is time we get busy doing it. 
 

Things are much different now then when I was in school. We were required to take a civics class in high school. It covered everything from the 3 branches of government, how laws are made, the role of Congress and the Senate, the Supreme Court, the electoral college, and many more important roles of the government. 

And man am I thankful that we had to take it. In fact every student should be required to take civics before they graduate. They should also be required to take personal finance as well, but that’s a topic for another show. 

We obviously don’t have time to dive into everything concerning government, but I didn’t wanna to touch on the electoral college today. 

The Electoral College was created by the framers of the U.S. Constitution as an alternative to electing the president by popular vote or by Congress. Each state elects the number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators—two from each state—plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes. There are currently 538 electors in the Electoral College; 270 votes are needed to win the presidential election.

Several weeks after the general election, electors from each state meet in their state capitals and cast their official vote for president and vice president. The votes are then sent to the president of the U.S. Senate who, on January 6 with the entire Congress present, tallies the votes and announces the winner.

The winner of the Electoral College vote is usually the candidate who has won the popular vote. However, it is possible to win the presidency without winning the popular vote. 

The Electoral College is not a place, it’s the process that takes place to election the President of the United States as set forth by the Constitution. 

Why is this such an important process? What makes it different than just taking the popular vote? We’ll, the answers gives you an idea why Democrats want to abolish not only the electoral college (which would have to be done by constitutional amendment, and that requires being ratified by 3/4 of the states) but they also want to destroy the constitution. Why? Because that would keep them in power. 

You can think public school education, or lack there of, for removing things like history and civics from the classroom and we’ve raised generation generation of young people that don’t know anything about government, how it works, or how brilliant the founders were in setting up our system.

Why not just vote and whoever gets the most votes wins? 

I don't want to dive to deep into the process, but it comes down to population distribution among the states. The founders were brilliant in designing a system that not only ensures federalism, which is the diffusion of powers among federal, state, and local governments rather than a strong central government, but they wanted to ensure that each state had equal representation of votes. Remember, we are a representative republic, not a true democracy.  

Let's look at population. I live in Mississippi, and yes, we have shoes, we can read, and we have all of our teeth....well most of us anyway....and the population is around 3 million. The smallest state by population is Wyoming at around 600,000 people. On the other hand, California is the largest state by population with approximately 40,000,000 people. #2 is Texas with almost 30 million, followed by Florida with around 22 million, and then New York with 20 million.  

If we decided the presidential election by popular vote, simply put, the largest states would determine the presidency each year. That means Mississippi's votes would count less than California.  

Smaller population states like Wyoming, their votes would significantly matter less than California. Simply put, it means that California, New York, Texas, and Florida would decide who was President every four years. By having an electoral college, it evens the playing field for smaller states.  

So why do Democrats want to get rid of the electoral college? Just look at the makeup of voters in states like California, New York, and Florida. California and New York almost always vote majority democrat. Florida is a toss up each year and Texas is usually a red state. Considering that this year, not considering any election fraud, it is estimated that President Trump got over 73 million votes. That means that California, New York, Florida, and Texas alone cold decide who would be president.  That hardly seems fair for smaller states.

Since the majority of these states vote Democrat, no wonder why Democrats want to do away with the electoral college. It would almost ensure that a Republican president would never be elected again barring a demographic shift in population. 


It is because we have raised a generation of young people who aren’t taught history and civics, they are ignorant of our form of government and are easier led down the path of socialism. I mean who doesn’t was free stuff? But what they don’t realize is that it is not free. Someone is paying for it. 

Is there a Christian form of government? Does the Bible speak to the issue of government? The answer to these questions is “Yes.”

The issue has certainly been debated over the years, as to whether or not these questions can be answered, and it comes down to whether there is evidence to support that America’s Constitutional Republic is a Biblical form of government.

There are numerous biblical principles that speak to a form of government and give us biblical direction on how a biblical government might be established. Ideas that come directly from Scripture, either by direct edict from God or by principles extrapolated are as follows (not exhaustive):

* Humans, as image bearers of God, have a right to life

* Humans have a right to private property: if stealing is wrong, that implies that people have a right to have sole possession of certain goods.

* Humans have a right to self-defense to protect said rights to life and property

* Government is a God-ordained entity which has been given authority by God to punish evil and promote good (1 Peter 2:13-14).

We can even see representative government in scripture. In the Scriptures, we read about the travels of the nation of Israel in Exodus through Deuteronomy. In Exodus chapter 18, Moses was speaking to his father-in-law and it became apparent that Moses was being worn out by all the needs of the people. Jethro gave Moses advice (which is then reiterated in Deuteronomy 1) which, when implemented, turned the Hebrew nation into a representative government of sorts. 

Jethro told Moses to “select out of all the people, able men who fear God, men of truth, those hating dishonest gain; and you shall place them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. Let them judge the people at alltimes; and let it be that every major dispute, they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their place in peace.” The passage goes on to say that Moses implemented this plan. Ancient Hebrew historical texts shed further light on the system which was established what could be called the Hebrew Republic.

We also see in the New Testament that churches were established as elder-led communities. While the Apostles clearly had much authority over church affairs, they also allowed for much republican rule.

God desires to execute His government in the universe through the church; the divine government among God’s people is not democracy or autocracy but theocracy, God Himself ruling and reigning through some agents.

This is how God ordained things, and even if we don’t agree with the way God runs things, we cannot but say Amen to His arrangement.

Our God is the One who rules and reigns; He has a government in the universe, and there’s also a government in the church.

God is still governing and administrating in this age according to His economy; He governs and administrates in the church, and judgement begins from His own house.

God’s intention is to execute His government in this universe through the church; He first heads up a group of people – the church – and then through the church He heads up all things in the universe in Christ.

The divine government among God’s people is not autocracy (which is a form of dictatorship) or democracy (which is the voice of the people and their decision) but theocracy (government by God according to what He is).

The divine government among us today in the church life is a theocracy (Rev. 4:2; 5:6); theocracy means that God governs among us according to what He is (Psa. 89:14).

We don’t have democracy in the church; God’s administration among the children of Israel was a theocracy, which means that God Himself came to govern, to rule, to administrate, the people directly – yet through some agents (Deut. 1:9-18).

These agents were the priests and the elders working together for God’s theocracy.

The priests received the word from God, they had God’s judgements, and they passed these on to the elders to execute that judgement among God’s people; the elders depended on the others to help them accomplish that.

Our country may have a democratic system or an autocratic system, but in the church life as the divine kingdom there’s no place for autocracy or democracy – here we have only theocracy!

1 Samuel 8

There’s a reason that we have messed up. There’s a reason we have the election mess that we see happening. It is partly because we are trying to live by a system of government that God has not prescribed. Now for the sake of this podcast, I don’t want anyone to leave today thinking that I believe a representative republic is anti-God or not blessed by God. 

There is no doubt that Hod has truly blessed America and has His hand on this nation, but God ultimately wants to be king. When Christ returns we will not be led representatives. Christ Himself will rule and reign. This is the system of govt that God desires, no matter what we may think is best. 

I hope this podcast has been helpful.

There is so much happening with the presidential election, litigation, and the Trump team making their case of voter fraud and corruption. They are collecting witnesses who have signed sworn affidavits testifying of their witnessing fraud, ballots being brought in by the thousands, poll workers bubbling in ballots, and many more what I would call voting mischief. This even includes a tweet by president Trump that stated

Donald J. Trump
@realDonald Trump
"REPORT: DOMINION DELETED
2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES
NATIONWIDE. DATA ANALYSIS
FINDS 221,000 PENNSYLVANIA
VOTES SWITCHED FROM
PRESIDENT TRUMP TO BIDEN.
941,000 TRUMP VOTES
DELETED. STATES USING
DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS
SWITCHED 435,000 VOTES
FROM TRUMP TO BIDEN."

Dominion Voting Systems Corporation is a company that sells electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and tabulators, in the United States and Canada. But what the lame stream news media will not tell you is that they have ties to Venezuala, Germany, China and other foreign governments. They have used this system to rig elections. 

The claim: Dominion Voting Systems deleted votes for Donald Trump, switched votes to Joe Biden

Multiple conservative news sources have claimed this week that vote counting software from Dominion Voting Systems deleted votes for President Donald Trump or switched votes to President-elect Joe Biden.

OAN’s Lilia Fifield made the claim on air earlier this week, per a clip on Mediaite. 

"Election systems across the country are found to have deleted millions of votes cast for President Trump," she said. "According to an unaudited analysis of data obtained from Edison Research, states using Dominion Voting Systems may have switched as many as 435,000 votes from President Trump to Joe Biden, and the author also finds another 2.7 million Trump votes appear to have been deleted by Dominion including almost one million truckloads in Pennsylvania alone."

Of course every news media outlet is reporting that this information is false information. According to CBS News, President Trump and campaign surrogates have claimed, without evidence, that widespread voter fraud occurred in the key battleground states that gave President-elect Joe Biden the necessary Electoral College votes to become the projected 46th president of the United States. The latest claim, that Dominion Voting Systems, a voting software company used in 28 states, deleted and switched votes intended for Mr. Trump, also does not hold water. 

"There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised," said a statement posted Thursday by the federal agency that oversees election security, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The joint statement, from the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees, called the 2020 election "the most secure in American history." 

Sidney Powell is a former federal prosecutor and current attorney of General Michael T. Flynn. A veteran of 500 federal appeals, and member of the Trump legal defense team tells us something totally different. In an interview with Lou Dobbs, she had a lot to say about the Dominion voting system and I want you to listen to several parts of his interview. 

Interview Clip #1

Notice he said robust auditing and canvassing systems have been put in place. Give me a break. If that were true, dead people would not have voted. If that were true, there would not have been more votes than registered voters in some states.

Clip #2

We are witnessing a level or corruption and blatant disregard for the rule of law in this country. And this goes to the deepest levels of government. She is talking about governors and mayors getting payoffs and kickbacks to use the Dominion voting system. Is there any wonder why all of a sudden when we went to bed election night thinking Trump would win that we woke up to Biden being ahead in most swing states?

Clip #3

She is right that Christopher Wray, the current FBI director needs to be fired. She is right that officials in charge of elections at Homeland Security should resign or be fired immediately.  

Clip #4

For 4 years the Democrats have refused to accept that Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016 and that Donald Trump won. For 4 years they have despised the fact that he has put America first and has done exactly what he said he would do. They despise the fact that they cannot control him. They despise the fact that he is an outsider. They have falsified documents, lied, tried to pin Russian collusion to him and have failed at every turn.  

Yet we have Hunter Biden who sold his then VP father's influence to pocket millions from Ukraine, Russia, China and who knows who else.  

It's about time someone releases the Kraken! They need to release more than the Kraken. They need to drop an atom bomb on the corruption from the left and secure not only another 4 years for president Trump, but totally destroy the radical left and the media for being complicit in covering for them. The mainstream media is nothing more than a propaganda arm of the Democrat party. 

Of course this is a Christian Podcast and so how does all of this tie into the Christian response? Throughout the last week I have scoured the internet and social media feeds looking for factual information related to the election and what I found in the process were many Christians who obviously have had some poor biblical teaching in their lives because they have either misapplied or misunderstood the sovereignty for God. 

How many of you have seen a post or maybe you have even posted something similar yourself, that we shouldn’t be worried because God is in control, you know, This was all part of his plan? 

Do what? You mean to tell me that confusion, corruption, fraud, and what we are seeing happening is a result of God doing this? Give me a break. 

God didn't do this, sinful humanity did. Listen, God uses men and women to accomplish His will on the earth. 

All throughout scripture whenever God wanted to accomplish something on the earth, how did He do it? God didn’t build an Ark. God didn’t plead for the Israelites in Egyptian slavery before Pharoah. No, He always used people. He used Noah. He used Moses. He used Abraham, Sarah, Jonah, Elijah, Joshua, Caleb and on and on. God chooses to use the human agency to get His will accomplished on the earth. He still uses men and women to get His will in and on the earth.

The only time we ever see God bypassing man to accomplish something is in judgment. God is sovereign. God is all powerful and all knowing and He does interject Himself independent of man’s will on the earth, but that is in judgment. He has never, nor will He ever need you or me to help Him in judgment. 


1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.

God’s will is not automatically being done on the earth. God’s will, through His power, is being done through His body, the Church, on the earth. 

God has the power to change any situation in this world. Amen? God has the power to reverse any work of the devil. Amen? What I want us to see is that we have the authority.

When we yield our authority to God’s power, then by God’s power we can accomplish God’s will on the earth.

Matthew 16:13-19

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar–jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

That is powerful. 

Look at 3 things there quickly:

1. Jesus builds the church

How does Jesus build the church? Jesus doesn’t build the church without us and we need to quit trying to build churches without Him?

If we didn’t have some partnership with the Lord where He is using us, can I get a witness the work would have been through by now? If Jesus was doing this thing all by Himself, wouldn’t it stand to reason that it would have already been accomplished?

2. The gates of hell will not prevail against it

What are gates in the Bible? Gates are positions of power and authority. 

Proverbs 31 Virtuous woman…….

Talks about this woman buying real estate, she’s cooking, she’s sewing, she’s taking care of her family…..then it says her husband is known in the gates where he sits among the elders. I like that…..it says she’s doing all the work and he’s sitting. Amen! Everybody needs a wife like that Amen? Come on ladies, cast that down. I’m just kidding!!

What does it mean he is sitting at the gates. It was a position of power, a manager, a mayor (so to speak). It was a position of authority and power. 

What is Jesus saying about the gates of hell will not prevail against the church? He is saying that the powers, the principalities, will not win against the church that He builds. The church will overcome.

3. I give unto you the keys of the kingdom

He didn’t just give the keys to the apostles. He didn’t just give the keys to Peter. He gave these keys to the church.

Jesus says, I’m gonna build my church the powers of hell won’t overcome it, and now you have a role to play in this thing, I’m giving you some keys. You’ve got to bind some things and you’ve got to loose some things.

If we don’t bind some things on earth they won’t get bound in heaven. If we don’t loose certain things on earth they won’t get loosed in heaven.

There is such a profound misunderstanding at large in the body of Christ and religious circles concerning the sovereignty of God that it saddens my heart. 

Many people have grown up with an understanding that God is sovereign, but they misapplied the sovereignty of God and the authority God has given man in the earth.

God is sovereign. Let me make that clear. Sovereign means supreme authority. God has supreme authority and rank. He answers to no one. But in that sovereignty, He has delegated certain responsibilities to you and me and certain authority to you and me on the earth.

When God gives us a free will, He allows us to exercise that free will even if it brings harm to us. Even if we will get hurt by doing something stupid. God will not override your free will. 

In 1 Samuel 8, and I want to encourage you to go and read this full chapter, Israel wanted a king. They asked Samuel to ask God for a king. God told them, and I am paraphrasing, they don’t need a king, I want to be their king. So Samuel went back and told them. Listen if you are given a king, he’ll make you servants, he’ll take your crops, your vineyards for himself, essentially you’ll be slaves and have nothing. Then you’ll come back to God and cry out because you need deliverance and God is not going to listen. They insisted anyway and God gave them some ungodly kings. God let them have their will and they paid a dear price for hundreds of years because they would not listen to God. God will give you what you want even to your own demise. 

So many people are misapplying the sovereignty of God and they believe everything that happens is God’s will. They think, because God is all powerful and all knowing it must have been His will for this to happen or it wouldn’t have happened. This happened, God allowed it so it must have been His will. 


That’s a misunderstanding of the sovereignty of God. God allows a lot of things He doesn’t will.

Listen to me today. Everything that happens on the earth does not mean it was God’s will.
I hear so many people say things like this, “well if God wants it to happen, it will happen.” 

It makes sense doesn’t it? I mean, God is all powerful, He’s all knowing, He’s supreme. It just makes sense that if He wants it to happen it will. Here’s the problem. God will NEVER violate man’s free will. God’s sovereignty will not violate man’s free will.

God looked right at Adam and Eve and said “you can go anywhere you want to go, you can eat of any tree you want to eat, but do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” 

How many of you know what God’s will was in that situation? What was His will? For them not to eat. God’s will is always His word. Do not eat of the tree. I’m not going to stop you. My sovereignty will not override your free will. But just know this, if you eat, there will be consequences. You will die.

God allowed them to eat of the tree, but we better never misunderstand the sovereignty of God and say that God willed for them to eat of the tree. God didn’t will for them to sin. God willed for them not to sin and He even told them. 

God has given us a free will. He has given us authority and dominion on the earth. He has given us certain responsibilities and one of them is He’s given us a set of keys and He says if you want something bound by me in Heaven, you’ve got to bind it on the earth. If you want me in Heaven to loose certain things, you’re going to have to loose some things.

Illustration:

I used to know this guy who worked as a janitor. He had this huge set of keys. If you didn’t know what a janitor was or did and you saw this guy with all these keys you might would think that he was the boss. He can go into any room he wants to at anytime because he has the keys. 

He wasn’t the boss, but he has authority from the boss to lock and unlock. If he didn’t exercise his authority, things didn’t get locked and things didn’t get unlocked. 

God is the power. God is the boss, the owner of everything but he gave us a set of keys and authority and he told us to lock some things, unlock some things, bind some things, loose some things…..

God’s will is not just automatically done. If God’s will was automatically done why did He tell us in Matthew to pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven? 

We have a responsibility, we have a role concerning the will of God on the earth. God’s will is not automatic. 

It's not God’s will that any should perish but that all come repentance. 

It’s not God’s will for there to be murder and rape. It’s not God’s will for there to be terrorism and radical Islam? So what is the response to all of that? Because it happens, God wills it? No! 

That’s why God set up governments and powers and authorities of man. Why? To punish evil doers. That’s why we have armies and weapons. To fight evil. And one of the problems we are having…...why there is so much rape and murder and evil…..yes, ultimately we know it is the wickedness of man…...but the reason why it’s out of control is because man isn’t fulfilling the role of getting God’s will on the earth by doing what He put us here for. 

Many are just sitting back thinking Gods going to do all the work. They have a go up mentality instead of a grow up and work mentality. We are the tools that God uses in and on the earth. 

So did God cause the current election debacle, no, man did. Can He use it for His good? Certainly he can. But we have been called to fight and carry out his mission while we are here. Are you doing that?

There are certain denominations and groups of believers that hold to the belief that in order to be saved a person must be baptized.
This belief is known as baptismal regeneration. This is an unbiblical belief and the scripture has much to say about it.

Before we go further, let's define baptism. Baptism is the immersion of a person in water after they have placed faith in Jesus Christ. There is no mention of baptizing babies, sprinkling, or any other form of baptism in the Bible. In fact, the word baptism literally means to immerse. Christian baptism is the means by which a person makes a public profession of faith and discipleship.

Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Romans 6:3-4 declares, 

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

The action of being immersed in the water illustrates dying and being buried with Christ. The action of coming out of the water pictures Christ’s resurrection.

Requiring anything in addition to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation is a works-based salvation. To add anything to the gospel is to say that Jesus’ death on the cross was not sufficient to purchase our salvation. To say that baptism is necessary for salvation is to say we must add our own good works and obedience to Christ’s death in order to make it sufficient for salvation. Jesus’ death alone paid for our sins (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus’ payment for our sins is appropriated to our “account” by faith alone (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9). Therefore, baptism is an important step of obedience after salvation but cannot be a requirement for salvation.

Yes, there are some verses that seem to indicate baptism as a requirement for salvation. However, since the Bible so clearly tells us that salvation is received by faith alone (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5), there must be a different interpretation of those verses. Scripture does not contradict Scripture. In Bible times, a person who converted from one religion to another was often baptized to identify conversion. Baptism was the means of making a decision public. Those who refused to be baptized were saying they did not truly believe. So, in the minds of the apostles and early disciples, the idea of an un-baptized believer was unheard of. When a person claimed to believe in Christ, yet was ashamed to proclaim his faith in public, it indicated that he did not have true faith.

If baptism is necessary for salvation, why would Paul have said, “I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius” (1 Corinthians 1:14)? Why would he have said, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17)

My default will always be the thief on the cross. There were two thieves that hung on either side of Jesus. One was arrogant and we know he died and went to hell. Luke's gospel records the other their asking Jesus to remember him when He comes into His kingdom. Jesus' response was, "this day you shall be with me in paradise. The thief was never baptized yet Jesus told him he would be with him in glory. So baptism cannot be a requirement in order to enter the kingdom of God.

Baptism is not necessary for salvation. Baptism does not save from sin but from a bad conscience. In 1 Peter 3:21, Peter clearly taught that baptism was not a ceremonial act of physical purification, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. Baptism is the symbol of what has already occurred in the heart and life of one who has trusted Christ as Savior (Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12). Baptism is an important step of obedience that every Christian should take. Baptism cannot be a requirement for salvation. To make it such is an attack on the sufficiency of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Simply put, we don't get baptized to get saved, we get baptized because we are in right relationship with Jesus Christ and want the world to know that we identify in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Amen!