This is a question asked by preachers who teach that one is saved before and without baptism. It confuses people and even the one raising it may be confused. Are we talking about right as opposed to left, or right as opposed to wrong? Notice (if we’re talking about left and right):

LEFT                  RIGHT

Saved?               Baptized?

One might say, “Yes, I was saved first and then was baptized. So my baptism was on the right side (as opposed to left) of my salvation.”

But the answer changes when we’re…

Instruments of music were abundant under the Law of Moses (and in pagan religions). Their invention is first mentioned in Genesis 4:21. Many instruments were used in worship. There were specific commands to sing ad specific commands to play and one did not include the other. Our dictionaries also distinguish one from the other.

The Law of Moses was a covenant between God and the nation of Israel. It was not a covenant with Gentiles or with Christians. This law was done away at the death of Christ and those under it were discharged from it (Col. 2: 14-17; Rom. 7:4;…

After Jesus' death and resurrection, there were two disciples who were distressed about all the events they had witnessed.  The explained as much to a stranger they met on the road to Emmaus.  They were unsure about Jesus' death at the hand of the Romans and the Jewish leadership, because they believed Him to be the promised Messiah.  They were distraught about all the people had turned against such an obviously popular teacher.  Beyond all this, they were confused about the reports by some women that Jesus' tomb had been empty after three days. (Luke 24:13-24)

The stranger, who…

Human beings are often too clever for their own good.  Many of the problems that we face on earth are due to our own arrogance, and even sometimes our attempts out “outsmart” God and the world that He made for us.  We are experts at trying to exempt ourselves even from the responsibilities that we can readily see that we bear.

This mentality is seen in the man who approached Jesus and wanted to know, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25-37)  We know from this text that the man was a lawyer, which isn’t the…

When Jesus was being harangued by the Jews on Hanukkah (the Feast of Dedication) in John 10 (vss. 22-30) about whether He was the Messiah, His answer was that He and the Father were “one.”  This statement was so radical, that the Jews interviewing Him were ready immediately to stone Him for blasphemy.  Jesus' answer to them in this case is very interesting.

“Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him,…

So much of our national interest in productivity is actually about setting priorities.  We all have the same amount of time each day, but some people are perpetually accomplishing more than others.  Poor prioritization makes us seem very busy, without accomplishing the things that truly matter.  By spending our time on less-important tasks, we never accomplish those things that make the biggest difference.

This same problem is partially to blame on the lack of biblical literacy in the world today, and even in the church.  All people have the same amount of time, but only some people use that…

With the prevalence of media in our everyday culture, most of us recognize when we hear, "Do you feel lucky, punk?" that someone is quoting a movie.  The same goes with “Play it again, Sam,” and “I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto.”  The problem is that as popular as these lines are, they do not appear in Dirty Harry, Casablanca, or The Wizard of Oz.  They are misquotations that have lived on in our public conscience, albeit incorrectly.  This can happen so easily because we very often will rely on our memory of the movie instead of actually watching…

One of the hard things when teaching others about metaphor, simile, and allegory is trying to also explain that there are limits to how far one should take them.  Describing someone as a “bull in a china shop” is not intended to make a statement about their servingware shopping habits.  My wife will sometimes refer to the children as “full of beans” and invariably, one of them will inquire about their recent diet.  These simple misunderstandings may be innocent enough in making jokes and puns, but we must be careful that we do not bring these same problems to the…

So often in life, we seem to be our own stumbling block in getting things accomplished that we know we should.  We don’t exercise because we make up excuses.  We don’t save up because we find distractions.  We don’t accomplish some of our loftiest goals because we are afraid of failure.

What if we had the courage to accomplish things because God told us we could do it?  How much more could we do for God if we remembered that He told us to do it?  There are several places in scripture where God did just that for people.

Nature versus nurture, free will versus environment, personal responsibility versus predestination — these are all arguments that are often on our minds but are rarely solved.  Perhaps the reason they are never given a satisfactory conclusion is because the truth lies somewhere in the middle.  As humans, we don’t always like tension, and we want a solid answer that, in this case, might not be there.

Everyone has a background that is going to determine how they see the world, but humans are also free moral agents that can choose how to respond to what they see.  To complicate…

With our limited perspective and limited wisdom, it is sometimes difficult for us to understand God’s methods for bringing about His will.  This is one of the places that requires faith, because it is not a situation we can see and readily understand the purpose of.  We must have faith that God’s work is for the good, even when we cannot see His purposes.  We must have faith that His methods will bring about the best result.

We read about God’s character of goodness, righteousness, and honesty, and so we sometimes believe that he only people who should have…

We live in a culture that demands proof for any claims that are made.  Perhaps this is because with unlimited and immediate access to all manner of factual information, we believe that any claim must be demonstrable with only a few clicks and a quick search.  However, this mentality has a hard time dealing with statements of truth that are not limited to collected data points.  Further, this kind of ignorance can lead to unbelief because it makes us the arbiters of truth as we examine all of the facts.  This is not to say that a healthy dose of…

In coming into a new year, there is so much focus on looking forward, and letting the past go, that it almost seems dangerous for us as a culture.  There may be much that happened in the previous year that is imperfect, hurtful, or even dangerous, but that doesn’t mean it should be completely forgotten.  The reality is that we made it through all of that, because here we are.  Beyond that, there was much to be thankful for in the last year that will continue to be beneficial in the future.

When we forget the things that happen…