And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17

THE
SPIRIT’S
SWORD

Volume 21, Number 20
04/07/2019

Published by
Mt. Baker
church of Christ

Location:
1860 Mt. Baker HWY
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 30821
Bellingham, WA 98228
(360) 752-2692

Sunday:
Bible Classes..........9:30 AM
Worship..10:30AM; 6:00PM

Wednesday:
Bible Classes.........7:00 PM
All sing last Wednesday

Web sites:
Mt. Baker church
Bible Answers

Editor......Joe R. Price

Elders
Morris Bass
Rich Brooks

Deacons
Aaron Bass
Shane Bass
Mike Finn
Dan Head

In this issue:

• Gospel Meeting April 12 - 16, 2019
• When Are Sinners Saved?"
• Sermon Outlines:
  • Set Your Goal
  • Why Are You Angry?
• Noteworthy News: Grandmother Gives Birth to Grandchild

Gospel Meeting April 12 - 16, 2019

The Mt. Baker
Church of Christ

1860 Mt. Baker Highway • Bellingham WA

Invites you to our
GOSPEL MEETING
With Evangelist
Jerry Fite
(Pasadena, Texas)
APRIL 12 - 16, 2019

Saturday at 6:00 PM | Friday, Monday & Tuesday at 7:00 PM
Sunday, April 14^th at 9:30 and 10:30 AM; 6:00 PM

My Life in Fellowship With God

Friday:

What Is My Life Like in Fellowship with God?

Saturday:

Fellowship: To Receive, or Not Receive

Sunday Class:

Historical Perversions of Fellowship

AM Sermon:

Boundaries of Fellowship

PM Sermon:

Guidelines Within the Boundaries of Fellowship

Monday:

Can I Stand Alone?

Tuesday:

Raising Joyous Christians

(From I-5 take Exit # 255 and go East 4.2 miles)
For more information please call (360) 752-2692

When Are Sinners Saved?
Joe R. Price

There ought to be agreement on when sinners are saved. There can be, when hearts are open to all the Bible says about how and when sinners are saved. False hope thrives when false teaching flourishes about when sinners are saved.

Agreement on what the Bible teaches about when sinners are saved will not come by using the ecumenical approach of agreeing to disagree. Agreement will not come by simply accepting everyone as being sincere in their differences. Sincerely believing I am saved is not the same as actually being saved. We can be misinformed and deceived (Acts 26:9). So, we must have clear eyes and open hearts to receive truth on every revealed subject, including how and when sinners are saved.

God’s word can be understood correctly on this subject (Eph. 3:3-5; 5:17). We will make little progress toward unity if we cannot agree on this Bible subject. We can correctly understand and follow God’s word about being saved. The word of faith which the apostles preached is not above or beyond our grasp (Rom. 10:6-8). Truth is the only basis for confident unity with God and with His people, and we can know the truth He gave us (Eph. 4:3-6; Jno. 8:31-32).

Here are some of the answers religious people give to the question, “When are sinners saved?” They cannot all be correct. The full, complete Bible answer is the current one. Leaving portions of God’s answer out is not only misleading, it is false and spiritually deadly.

1. “Sinners are saved when sinners believe.” This is the faith only view of salvation. By quoting John 3:16 they believe they have exhausted the plan of salvation. They have not (Jas. 2:24).

2. “Sinners are saved when they believe, repent and trust in Jesus alone to save them.” This answer says that “saving faith” means repenting and trusting in Jesus alone to save (“You Can Be 100% Sure Of Eternal Life”). This view says if you do anything to help save yourself (like being baptized), then you are not trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation. If that is true, then it necessarily follows that obeying the command to repent also forfeits one’s trust in Jesus alone to save (Lk. 13:3, 5; Acts 17:30).

3. “Sinners are saved when they believe Jesus is Lord and confess God raised Him from the dead.” This conclusion is drawn from Romans 10:9-10. Without a doubt, faith and its confession are essential to be saved. This verse says so. Faith and its confession are “unto” (in the direction of, in order to) salvation. Without them, one remains lost in sin. But, what about repentance and baptism (Acts 2:37-38)?

4. “Sinners are saved when, by faith, they obey all the Lord’s commands for salvation.” This is the Bible answer. Sinners are commanded to believe in Jesus Christ (Jno. 8:23-24), to confess faith in Him (Rom. 10:9-10), to repent of sins (Acts 17:30), and to be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:37-38; 22:16). Jesus saves sinners when they believe and obey everything God’s word tells them to do to be saved. Until then, sinners remain lost (Acts 2:40-41).

Let us unite on the Bible plan of salvation. We must accept all the Scriptures say about how and when sinners are saved. We corrupt the gospel and doom ourselves if we leave out any part of it (Gal. 1:6-9). We please God when we lay aside every distortion of His word and unite on all of it.

You can find the complete outline of this sermon plus PowerPoint and MP3 Audio files at BIBLE ANSWERS

Set Your Goal
Joe R. Price

Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 1:3-7

1. Goal setting is important, Col. 3:1-2.
2. Goal (telos): “to set out for a definite point or goal…the conclusion of an act or state (termination, result)” (Strong’s); “end.” Examples: Rom. 10:4; 6:21, 22; Heb. 3:6.

I. GOD’S PURPOSES (GOALS) MUST BE OUR GOALS.

A. God’s Purposes Accomplish Good Things, Gen. 50:20; Jas. 5:11.
B. God Turns the Evil Goals of Men and Uses Them to Accomplish Godly Purposes, Acts 3:13-15; 2 Cor. 4:7-15;
C. We Must Make God’s Purposes Our Own, Rom. 8:28, 35-37.

II. PURPOSE OF GOD’S COMMANDMENT.

A. Not to Enslave or Oppress Us, but to Free Us from Sin’s Bondage, Jno. 8:31-36.
B. Not to Elevate Some Over Others, Lk. 18:9-14; 17:10.
C. Not Outward Compliance, but Inward Commitment, Phil. 2:12-13.
D. The Purpose of God’s Commandment is Love, 1 Tim. 1:3-5.
1. From a pure heart, Jas. 4:8.
2. From a good conscience, 1 Tim. 1:18-19.
3. From sincere faith, 2 Tim. 1:5; 2 Pet. 1:7.

III. YOUR GOAL, Col. 3:2.

A. The End (Goal) of Faith is the Salvation of Your Soul, 1 Pet. 1:8-9; 1 Cor. 9:25-27.
B. The End (Result) of Rejecting and Opposing the Truth is Wrath, 1 Thess. 2:16.

Conclusion

1. Aim of life, Eccl. 12:13.
2. Our goal is to please God, 2 Cor. 5:9.

You can find the complete outline of this sermon plus PowerPoint and MP3 Audio files at BIBLE ANSWERS

Why Are You Angry?
Joe R. Price

Scripture Reading: James 1:19-22

1. Anger retained is sin, Eph. 4:26. Whether a settled disposition of agitation (Col. 3:8) or an outburst of fury (Gal. 5:20) – a work of the flesh.
2. But, why are you angry? cf. Gen. 30:1-2

I. ANGER CAN DEVELOP AND ERUPT FROM MANY SOURCES.

A. When Others Don’t Do What We Demand of Them, Num. 24:10; 2 Pet. 1:5-6.
B. Envy, Jealousy and Selfishness are Triggers of Anger, Gen. 4:3-7; Phil. 4:11-13.
C. Guilt and Shame Can Lead to Anger, Acts 7:54; 2 Sam. 11:5-7, 13; Psa. 32:8-9.
D. Frustration Leads to Anger, 2 Sam. 6:6-9.
E. When Our Expectations Are Not Met, 2 Kgs. 5:10-11, 13.
F. When We Are Sinned Against, Prov. 25:23; 1 Pet. 2:21-23; 2 Cor. 6:3-6.
G. Unresolved Issues with Others Can Lead to Anger, Matt. 5:21-26.

II. KNOW THE DANGERS OF ANGER AND REFUSE TO BE ANGRY.

A. The Quick-Tempered Person Acts Foolishly with Evil Intentions, Prov. 14:17.
B. Anger Drives Away Those Who Should be Close, Prov. 21:19 (Phil. 2:1-4).
C. Anger Aggravates Problems and Leads to More Sin, Prov. 29:22 (Jas. 1:20).
D. Anger Rests in Bosom of Fools, Eccl. 7:9.

III. GOD SHOWS US HOW TO BE SLOW TO ANGER, Psa. 103:8-12.

A. God is Slow to Anger.
B. Learn Discretion and Overcome the Impulses that Lead to Anger, Prov. 19:11; 29:11.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Current events in the light of Scripture)

Grandmother Gives Birth to Grandchild
Joe R. Price

As if we needed more evidence that the family as God arranged it is in serious trouble, we just read that 61-year-old Cecile Eledge gave birth (as the surrogate mother) for her son Matthew Eledge and his husband, Elliot Dougherty (“61-year-old gives birth to own grandchild, allowing ‘married’ gay son to have family,” lifesitenews.com).

Predictably, accommodating the sin of homosexuality by legalizing same-sex marriage has only made it more socially acceptable. The agenda of the LGBTQ community is not merely tolerance, it is approval and integration into the fabric of society. The family structure is being redefined before our eyes (Gen. 2:21-24; Eph. 6:1-4).

Political, religious and social commentator Rod Dreher observed,

A few years ago, in conversation with some professors at a conservative Christian college, one of them told me that he didn’t expect that most of his students would ever be able to form stable families. This shocked me. It genuinely did. I wouldn’t have expected to hear that from a professor at a secular school, much less at a conservative Christian one. But he said it, and there were nods all around the room. I asked him why not? Why wouldn’t these students be able to form stable families?

“Because most of them have never seen one,” he said.

Kids today are raised in a world in which words like “family,” “mother,” “father,” “wife,” and “husband” — words that have had a fixed (but not rigid!) meaning for time immemorial — no longer signify anything permanent, and are no guideposts to help one get through life. (“Modern Family,” theamericanconservative.com)

We must be the salt of the earth in our families, at work, at school, and in our associations with others (Matt. 5:13). Christians must live, preserve and advocate God’s truth concerning the family. Put your trust in God (Psalm 11).

The Spirit's Sword is a free, weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA
Send all questions, comments and subscriptions to the editor at: ssword@bibleanswer.com