How We Christians Stay Connected

Just as we take being constantly connected to the Internet for granted, we also take our connection to our Lord and Master as a given. Like 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (BBE) says, "Keep on with your prayers."

Praying without ceasing doesn't mean we must be on our knees all day long. It's the attitude of knowing Christ is always with us and all we need do is pray and trust in him. When Jesus said he would return to his disciples in a little while, he commanded them in John 16:23 (BBE), "And on that day you will put no questions to me. Truly I say to you, Whatever request you make to the Father, he will give it to you in my name."

Christ also promised his disciples, and us by extension, in Matthew 28:19 and 20 (BBE), "Go then, and make disciples of all the nations, giving them baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to keep all the rules which I have given you: and see, I am ever with you, even to the end of the world."

In the old days of the Internet, people had to use their phone lines and a modem to connect. It was slow and often unreliable. Downloading files was the same way.

So it was that the Spirit of the Lord would come on certain people and then leave. As the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 20:14 (BBE), "Then, before all the meeting, the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and one of the family of Asaph;"

Sometimes the Spirit of the Lord stayed with people while departing from others. We read in 1 Samuel 16:13 and 14 (BBE), "Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah. Now the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him."

But praise God that we need not worry. The Holy Spirit, also known as the Spirit of the Lord, is our seal of salvation. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:13 (KJV) "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"

What a joy it is then that we are always in touch with our Master. He, and the two other members of the Trinity, are with us always. And nobody can rob us of them, as I found out personally.

I'll be writing more about the permanent connection we have with the Trinity in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Unlike unconverted sinners, we have the astonishing privilege of being joined to the creator of the universe.

On Thursday, I'll be posting about something that sounds like a new dance craze. It's in fact the sign of a person being truly born again.

The Unforgivable Sin Error

One of the biggest mistakes people make is fretting that they committed the unforgivable sin. Worse yet, some preachers teach this error as biblical fact. So, what is this unforgivable sin?

One passage trotted out is Hebrews 6:4 to 6. The Bible in Basic English renders it this way. "As for those who at one time saw the light, tasting the good things from heaven, and having their part in the Holy Spirit, With knowledge of the good word of God, and of the powers of the coming time, And then let themselves be turned away, it is not possible for their hearts to be made new a second time; because they themselves put the Son of God on the cross again, openly shaming him."

Some ministers teach that one sin can nullify a person's salvation. Cults, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, claim that people can't be baptized until they're on their death beds in case they sin afterward.

The problem is that they don't understand salvation and God's power to keep people saved until the Day of the Lord. Ephesians 1:13 (KJV) plainly states about our faith in Christ, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"
Paul likened our salvation in Christ to being married to a new husband after the old one died. And since God hates divorce, he won't disown those who place their trust in Christ's redemptive work on the cross. Romans 7:4 (KJV) says, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."
Ephesians 4:30 (KJV) shows that this seal will last until Christ comes for us at the last day. "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."(

I could write so much more of our assurance of salvation but I'll save it for my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? I agree with John MacArthur that if we could lose our salvation, it would have happened a long time ago.

On my next post, I'll be writing about how we bring our sin with us wherever we go. There's no escape from it.

Jehovah's Witnesses and Works

One mark of a cult is the use of fear to keep members in line. In the case of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, they use the fear of members losing their salvation and being annihilated during Armageddon.

But we can easily find in the Bible that we need not worry about God abandoning us if we don't work hard enough to please him or some human institution. Hebrews 13:5 (KJV) reminds us to, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.'"

But some folks will mention Hebrews 6:4 to 6 which says, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."?

The writer of Hebrews referred in that passage to those who weren't serious about their faith in Christ. These are those who were mentioned in 1 John 2:19 (KJV) which says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

We need not worry about losing our salvation if we truly repented and yielded our lives to Jesus. Ephesians 1:13 (KJV)reminds us that Christ, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"

I could list many more verses which show that we can't be snatched out of Christ's hand but I'll save them for my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Along with those who have a false assurance of eternal life, some live under the burden of fear that they won't be in paradise. I want people to be sure of their place in heaven.