Suppose

Suppose it were true that a person once saved could be lost again.

Suppose such a person, to gain heaven, would then have to be saved all over again.

But suppose the person in question never did get saved the second time and, departing this life a lost man, went finally to the lake of fire–after having once been “saved?”

In what sense, then, was he first saved? From what was he saved?

Was he saved from the penalty of sin? No, for he did not escape the lake of fire.

Was he saved from the power of sin? No, for he fell back into sin and died a lost man.

And most assuredly he was not saved from the presence of sin. None this side of heaven have yet been saved from that.

From what was he saved then? The answer is: Nothing at all.

He may have thought he was saved. He may have felt saved. He may have acted as though he were saved. His friends may have thought he was saved. But, in the final analysis, he was saved from nothing.

Salvation, to be anything more than a mere term, must be everlasting. Any person who has been saved has been eternally saved. No one is saved until he is eternally saved. Anyone who dies in a lost condition never was saved at all.

Does this mean we must wait until after this life is over to find out? No. We may be saved now and know it. This is evident from such passages as 1 Corinthians 1:18, where the Apostle Paul refers to “us which are saved.”

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Mind Your Magistrates – Titus 3:1-2

 

Summary:

“Principalities” (3:1) are the “principal men” of a city (Acts 25:10,11).  Paul was willing to be subject to them even to death, because he understood the power of government is ordained of God, that “there is no power but of God” (Rom. 13:1).  Who’s to say husbands have power over wives?  Only God.  There is no power but what God gives.

So to resist the government is to resist the power of God, and resisting brings “damnation” (Rom. 13:2), or judgment from the government—up to and including the death penalty (Gen. 9:6).  So we should be “afraid” of the government’s “ministers” (Rom. 13:3,4), i.e., police officers, for they don’t bear a lethal weapon “in vain.”

God has always wanted His people to obey the government in every dispensation, and not be hasty to go live someplace else (Eccl. 8:2,3).  His people were always told not to stand up to the government (8:3,4), and if we don’t, that we’ll feel no evil thing from them (v.5 cf. Rom. 13:3).

We are free citizens of the United States, but “as free” citizens of heaven (I Peter 2:13-16), Peter says we have to obey the government to be “servants of God.”  That is, we shouldn’t look at it as serving the government, but as serving God who gave the government it’s power.

Someday our government might be conquered by another, but even then God’s people are told to obey the new government, just as God’s people in Israel were told to do when they were conquered (Jer. 27:17).

When Paul says to obey “magistrates” (Tit. 3:1), don’t forget some magistrates wrongfully beat and imprisoned him (Acts 16:19-24).  Paul took that joyfully (v.25), and so should we.

If you don’t obey the government, you can’t be “ready to every good work” (Tit. 3:1).  We’re not saved by good works (Eph. 2:8,9), but “unto” good works (v. 10).  But if you break the law and they put you in prison, you can’t be ready to do a lot of good works that can only be done as a free man.

When Paul says to “speak evil of no man” (Tit. 3:2) it looks like he’s changing the subject, but he’s talking about not speaking evil of dignities in government (II Pet. 2:10-12). That phrase “speak evil” means saying things like what we read in Psalm 41:5.  Also, if you lie about leaders in government you are speaking evil of them (cf. Ps. 109:2,20).  It is also speaking evil of them to call them evil-doers (I Pe. 3:16).  It’s one thing to disagree with one of a government policy, it’s another to say they are evil to have passed it into law.

“What if the government is plotting to do us evil”?  Even then, it is not our place to call our leaders evil (Job 34:18).  Paul knew that and lived by it.  Everything he said about his ruler was true, but he admitted that he had spoken “evil” of him in saying it (Acts 23:1-5).

There’s a reason the Greek word for “speak evil” in Titus 3:2 is blasphemo.  Since God has ordained government, it is blasphemy to speak against it.  It is what they charged Naboth with (I Ki. 21:13).  Now it was true he refused to sell the king his vineyard, but it wasn’t blasphemy for him, for the Law of Moses forbad it.  So to obey the king he would have had to disobey God—and that is the exception to the rule (Dan. 3:16).

Outside of that, not even the Jews going into the Tribulation to whom Peter wrote were to speak evil of the government, as Peter told them (II Pe. 2:10-12).  Some will, but Peter says that they “understand not” that they shouldn’t resist the government even if the Antichrist is on the throne, which he will be in the Tribulation.

I Think Also That I Have the Spirit of God

“What is your take on 1 Corinthians 7:40, where Paul says, ‘I think also that I have the Spirit of God’?”

The vast majority of things Paul taught in his epistles were things he himself had been taught by direct revelation of the Lord. However, he occasionally wrote things that the Lord had not revealed to him, such as:

“Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment…” (1 Cor. 7:25).

The Corinthians had evidently asked Paul about something concerning which he had received no revelations, so he gave his own personal opinion. Of course, his opinion was molded by his understanding of all that God had revealed to him, so it would have been a very sound opinion. But when he then wrote it in an epistle that became part of God’s Word, that removed all doubt that his personal conviction expressed God’s will.

You see, it was the job of the prophets to identify which epistles were canonical (1 Cor. 14:37). Paul mentions some epistles that they did not include in the Scriptures (1 Cor. 5:9; Col. 4:16), but when they did include 1 Corinthians, that tells us Paul did have the Spirit when he wrote it, and that his own personal “judgment” was also the judgment of God.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Grace Takes Over Where Mom Left Off – Titus 2:12-15

 

Summary:

Before Paul, “the grace of God that bringeth salvation” (2:11) only appeared to Jewish men (John 4:22).  But beginning with Paul, it now appears to Jews and Gentiles, teaching us how to behave (2:12).  But it teaches us differently than our moms taught us this.  When we were kids, we were under the law — Mom’s law (Pr. 1:8). It worked like the Law of Moses.  She punished us when we were bad (cf. Lev. 26) with the rod of correction (Pr. 22:15).  But when a child becomes an adult (cf. Gal. 4:1,2) parents correct them with words of correction, and God does too (II Tim. 3:16).

Jews learned to be godly under the Law, so legalists insist we teach the Law today.  They don’t understand how grace can teach us to be godly.  If you don’t either, consider that we shouldn’t presume on God’s grace just because we are immune from the prosecution of God’s laws (Eph. 5:3-7).

The word “godly” is a contraction for “God-like,” so “denying ungodliness” (2:12) means to deny anything in your life that is not like God.  “Lusts” (2:12) aren’t always bad in the Bible (Deut. 12:20).  The word just means to eagerly desire something.  But “worldly lusts” (2:12) are desires that are associated with the world that God says is going downhill fast (Eph. 2:2,3).

Ungodliness refers to actions, but worldly lusts refers to thoughts.  So Paul is saying not to sin and not to even think about sinning (cf. James 1:14,15).  We should live “soberly” instead (2:12).  Drunks are controlled by alcohol, and we should be controlled by the Spirit instead (Eph. 5:18), by obeying the things in the Book that the Spirit wrote.

Soberness also involves not thinking too highly of yourself (Rom. 12:3) — like a drunk!  Drunks also think they can live carelessly without consequences, that their legendary driving ability isn’t impaired by alcohol.  Christians who don’t think soberly think they can think about sin without falling into sin, and can commit sin without consequences.

When Paul says to live “righteously” (2:12), we are righteous (II Cor. 5:21) so we should live righteously.  We are accepted in Christ (Eph. 1:6) so we should live acceptably (Rom. 12:1).  We are unleavened by sin in God’s eyes, so we should live that way (I Cor. 5:7).

If you find that hard, maybe you are looking at all the ungodliness in the world instead of “looking for that blessed hope” (2:13) the Rapture (I Thes. 4:13-18).  This verse follows a verse that tells us to live godly because the way to stop sinning is to start focusing on eternity instead (Col. 3:1,2).

The resurrection of the dead has always been the hope of God’s people (Acts 23:6; 24:14,15; 26:6-8), but the Rapture is our blessed hope — to go to heaven without dying!

Both the Rapture and the 2nd Coming are called “glorious” (Tit. 2:13 cf. Mt. 24:29,30), but don’t confuse them!  The glory of the 2nd Coming is the “power” the Lord will use to defeat the Antichrist and judge the world.  The glory of the Rapture is that we’ll be spared that judgment!  Both comings will feature the coming of “the great God” (Tit. 2:13 cf. Rev. 19:11-18), but don’t confuse them!  God is great when He judges, and great when He spares His people judgment as well.

But if both comings are called great and glorious, how do we tell them apart?  Paul calls the Rapture the coming of “our Saviour” (2:13).  At the Second Coming, God’s people will be looking for the Judge (James 5:8,9) to come and incinerate creation (II Pet. 3:10-12) to clear the way for their hope, the new earth (v.13).  But Paul calls Him “our Saviour” at the Rapture because we’ll be saved from judgment. The Rapture will be the culmination of our salvation (Rom. 13:11).

Of course, these days many Christians are looking for the Tribulation and the Antichrist rather than Christ.  That’s Biblical (Mt. 24:3-33; Luke 21:25-28; Acts 1:9-11) but not dispensational.  God knew this would happen so had Paul tell Titus to teach the truth “with all authority” (2:15).

But Paul is only talking about the Rapture to help us deal with sin (2:12-14).  God was zealous to save you (Isa. 9:6,7), are you “zealous of good works” (Tit. 2:14)?

From A Father to His Son

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”(2 Tim. 2:1).

As Paul prepared to leave this life, he longed to leave Timothy with a few parting instructions to encourage him in the faith. The apostle knew that his young friend was easily discouraged. Of course, some of the circumstances Timothy faced as he defended the faith would be enough to dishearten the most seasoned veteran of the Cross today (Acts 19:23-41 cf. 1 Tim. 1:2,3).

Paul affectionately refers to Timothy as “my son.” Although Timothy was not Paul’s son in the flesh, the aged apostle had led him to the Lord; therefore, he was his son in the faith. As a result, there was a very special relationship between them. Timothy might have had ten thousand instructors in Christ, but he only had one spiritual father who loved him like a son. Thus, Paul challenges him to be strong in grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor toward those who are undeserving.

Timothy, “be strong,” don’t let others rob you of the grace that you’ve freely received. And legalism will do just this if we allow it. It’s the enemy of grace. Like the Pharisees, the legalist wants to set the standard, which he decrees to be the measure of spirituality. Legalists love to develop an unspoken list of do’s and don’ts for others to follow. You must conform to what they have established as acceptable behavior in regard to how you should dress or act, or what reference Bible you must carry, or how many church services you should attend throughout the week. Failure to conform is a sure indication that you are not very spiritually minded.

Beloved, God has given us the standard we are to follow in His Word; it’s called GRACE! Today, we are not under the Law, nor are we to submit ourselves to those who believe they are the final authority as to how the Christian life should be lived. Grace teaches us how to live; it is patient, understanding, and tolerant. Grace always leaves room for differences. It’s never judgmental (1 Cor. 4:5). So then, Timothy was not to allow anyone to rob him of the liberty he enjoyed in Christ, nor should we. “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Paul’s Advice For Servants – Titus 2:9-11

 

Summary:

Usually after addressing “servants” (v.9) Paul addressed masters (Eph. 6:5-9; Col. 3:22—4:1). But Titus was stationed in Crete, a newer work, and there were no masters yet. The gospel appeals more to base and despised servants (I Cor. 1:26-29) so they usually get saved first.

The reason Paul has to tell servants to obey masters is that all saved servants knew that “in Christ… there is neither bond nor free” (Gal. 3:26-28). But if that meant servants didn’t have to obey their masters, then wives didn’t have to obey husbands, for “in Christ… there is neither male nor female” (Gal. 3:26-28). This didn’t mean servants and wives were inferior for the Lord was “subject” to His parents (Lu. 2:51).

When Paul says that servants should obey their masters and “please them well in all things” (2:9) that means a servant should make himself a delight to his master (Isaiah 42:1 cf. Mt. 12:18). And what Paul says to servants is true for employees today. Employees should obey the boss, but if they please them well in all things they’ll make themselves a delight to him! And if all of God’s people did that, imagine what a testimony that would be to how Christianity can brighten the world!

Servants must also be “answering not again” (2:9)—no backtalk! And when he adds, “not purloining” (2:10) that means no stealing, but a particular kind of stealing. In this context it means stealing by a breach of trust, one of the definitions of the word. Servants were often trusted with all their master’s money (Gen. 39:1-6) making it easy to purloin. If lesser servants were given 100 shekels to buy something, and it only cost 90, they could purloin the difference.

Instead, servants were to show “all good fidelity” or faithfulness (2:10). And while we don’t have masters and servants, plenty of purloining goes on at work — about 50 billion dollars worth a year! Compare that to only 14 billion stolen by men at gunpoint or by burglary. Employees also steal about 4.5 hours a week — 6 weeks a year from their employers. More billions lost! It’s easy to think, “They don’t pay me enough so I’m evening the score,” but Paul told slaves not to purloin — men who were paid nothing.

Servants were to do all this to “adorn” the doctrine of God (2:10), which means to beautify it (cf. Isa. 61:10). But which doctrine does their service adorn? Well, the phrase “God our Saviour” is associated with the doctrine of salvation (I Tim. 2:1-4; Tit. 3:3-5). It makes the doctrine of salvation look bad if servants don’t adorn it by serving well. If they do, people think, “If Christianity can make a slave want to be a delight to his master, it must be the religion of the true God.”

Servants and aged men and women and young men and women (Tit. 2:1-9) should adorn the doctrine of salvation by doing what Paul says because the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men — old and young men and women and servants — and brought them salvation! If they didn’t do what Paul said, it made salvation look bad!

But how could Paul say the grace of God that brings salvation had appeared to “all men”? The stars tell all men there is a Creator (Ps. 19:1-3), but knowing there’s a God isn’t enough to save anyone (James 2:19). Well, “all men” sometimes means all kinds of men (I Tim. 2:1-4). The grace of God that brought salvation had appeared to old and young men and women, servants and kings!

Of course, there was a time when the grace of God that brought salvation only appeared to Jewish men (John 4:22). But now Paul says it appears to “all men,” including Jews and Gentiles. That’s another meaning of the phrase “all men” in Titus 2:10, just as it is in I Corinthians 10:32,33. As Paul went forth preaching salvation, he didn’t have to ask if men were Jews or Gentiles as the Jews did in time past.

That didn’t mean Gentiles couldn’t be saved in time past. They saw the wrath of God that brought salvation to Israel at the Red Sea (Ex. 15:1-6 cf. Ps. 98:1-3) and the grace of God that brings salvation appeared to Rahab (Joshua 2). But today for Gentiles to see the grace of God that brings salvation, they must see it when saved men and women and servants adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

The Lord and the Canaanite Woman

“In Matthew 8:5-7, the centurion asked the Lord to heal his servant and He offered to do so. However, in Matthew 15:22-26 the woman from Canaan asked for her daughter to be healed, but He answered her not a word. I assume both were Gentiles. Why did our Lord give one response to the centurion but another to the Canaanite woman?”

During our Lord’s time here on earth He was “a minister of the circumcision” (Rom. 15:8). That’s why He initially declined the Syrophenician woman’s request, saying, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). He would have responded to the centurion in the same way if it weren’t for what we read about him in the parallel passage in Luke 7:2,3:

“And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

“And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto Him the elders of the Jews, beseeching Him that He would come and heal his servant.

Here we see that rather than approaching the Lord directly as the Syrophenician woman did, this Gentile knew his place under the kingdom program and knew that he had to come to God through Israel. Furthermore, we know that he complied with the terms of salvation for Gentiles under the kingdom program, for Luke goes on to tell us how the elders of the Jews besought the Lord on his behalf:

“And when they came to Jesus, they besought Him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom He should do this:

“For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue” (v. 4,5).

Under God’s kingdom program for Israel, if a Gentile blessed the seed of Abraham, he could count on the blessing of God in return (Gen. 12:1-3). It was on these grounds that the centurion approached the Lord, through the elders of Israel, and it was on these grounds that he found the Lord eager to bless him.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.