Blog of Victory Baptist Church of the Poconos
Why should the Bible be important to you? One reason is that the Word of God is always relevant.
Note that God’s Word was relevant for Jesus’ life:
“Stop thinking that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets, I have not come to destroy by to fulfill.”1
Jesus said stop thinking…” The word “think” means to believe, hold, consider, to regard something as presumably true. In the language of the NT He said, “Stop thinking…” Cease regarding that I have come to destroy the Old Testament. “Abolish” means to destroy, overthrow, or cause to cease to exist. The disciples may have thought that Jesus, as the Messiah, was come to destroy the OT Law. Jesus’ mission in life was not to do away with the OT law or prophets but to fulfill them. He came “‘to give the true meaning to” or “to provide the real significance of” the OT.
“The contention was so sharp between them that they departed one from the other.”1
In a classroom it is easier to judge by the face of a student whether an answer has helped or not. Replying to an email from a distance, there is no sure way to know whether my reply met a need or not. My cogitating mind has considered further about a group debating whether one indwelt by the Holy Spirit can apostatize so as to lose his salvation. So far, I have tried to stress that only God can tell whether a person is a true believer or just faking it. Then I endeavored to point out that many who have appeared to be commendable believers were not actually born again. In denying the Savior, they were but revealing the true condition of their souls.

Pastor Lloy Stevens, Victory Baptist Church
Sunday, 02/07/10, AM Service
Podcast: Download (35.5MB)
In this column we are talking about children who grew up in a Christian home, but have not followed the Lord. Last time we began to focus on how parents handle their God given authority over their children. As noted previously, how we handle the authority God has given us as parents is critical to the process of training. We have briefly considered the warnings of Ephesians 6:4. Paul writes, “And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” If we provoke our children to wrath we may be the very reason they reject our Christian training. May no child ever be able to point at his own father or mother to seek justification for his own rebellion against the Lord. But, let there be no doubt that such rebellion will never be condoned by God nor will stumbling over an unjust parent ever excuse a young person’s sin. Still, the Lord gives parent’s severe warnings of the necessity to perform their parenting obligations well.
“There shall be false teachers who shall bring damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.”1
After writing a reply to a reader, my mind continued cogitating on a part of my answer which may deserve further explanation to be fully appreciated by the present generation. The assertion read: In the last century as theological liberalism gained precedence in most of the denominations, only God could have distinguished between those who were believers taken in by false teachings and those who never had come to know the Lord. Those who continued to teach the fundamentals of the faith displayed loyalty to the Lord. Those who doubted or denied any of the foundational teachings of Scripture may have or may not have been true believers. That is not for us to judge.
This blog is sponsored by Victory Baptist Church of the Poconos. Our intent is to provide a platform for discussion, information, and podcasts of our Sunday A.M. Service
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