Tag: Forgiveness

AMERICAN GREED OR GOD

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Our Pilgrim ancestors came to the shores of America in search of freedom to seek and serve God according to their conscience. Others came seeking gold and material wealth. While God has given us all good things to richly enjoy, he wants us to put the spiritual above the material world.

About one hundred seventy-five years ago when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California, it caused the stampede of the Gold Rush. Many found fortunes and spent it all in worldly pursuit. The same thing happened on the Klondike at Dawson City, Canada and on the golden shores of Nome, Alaska in 1898-1900. Today the worship of wealth is called American Greed. Many who have trusted in their gold have been wiped out by an economic crisis. If one does not have God in his life what is left but despair and death?

Jesus taught his disciples to lay up their treasures in heaven where moth and rust does not corrupt and where thieves do not break in and steal. In an old folk song someone had the refrain, “some will rob you with a gun and others will rob you with a pen!” Many have been robbed by the pen of hucksters, greedy bankers and investment brokers. The greed and love of money is as old as man. Paul admonished Timothy to preach about this:

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs….Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs….Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:10, 17-19).

We do not need to be rich to miss heaven. All we must do is covet money and then after our coffers are full, worship it as our idol god. Let us all remember that God is worth more than all the gold in Fort Knox. Jesus taught: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” (Matthew 16:24-27). If we could become as rich as old King Midas and then be lost forever what would we gain?

 

Matthew 6:31-34
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Let us put Christ and his kingdom first and God will add the other.

Copyright © 2023 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

Shelby G. Floyd, Minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142. shelby@thefloyds.net

BALANCED HUMAN GROWTH

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Jesus Christ is the best example that I know of as to the kind of growth that God expects us to make. In Luke 2: 51, 52, when Jesus returned back to his hometown of Nazareth, at the age of 12, the Bible says that he was subject to his parents, and that he increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men. This is what we call a four-fold development or growth.

Jesus Grew In Wisdom

Jesus increased or grew in wisdom. What is that? Knowledge is one thing, and today we live in an age of knowledge explosion. In fact, they say that knowledge doubles about every ten years, at least the available knowledge. So there is so much to learn and to study today, and we can know very little about any one thing, even if we spend a lifetime studying it.
Jesus increased not only in knowledge but also in wisdom. Wisdom knows how to use the knowledge that you have, it is good judgment or making wise decisions. So Jesus grew intellectually in mind. Today there is an emphasis placed upon going to the university or college and getting a good secular education. Knowledge is good, but it is not only enough to know how to make a living, but we have to learn how to live. So we need to grow intellectually in mind or wisdom, but that is not enough.

Jesus Grew In Stature

Jesus grew in stature. That means that he grew in years or physically in body. You know this is natural. All that we have to do when we come into this world is to eat good food, drink water and exercise and we are going to grow in body. Today, there is an emphasis upon sports, upon recreation and physical fitness. You might go and exercise, lift weights and do all kinds of works to develop your body, but if you have a body that is strong and has grown physically and you have not developed these other areas which we have mentioned, then your growth is not complete, it is one sided. “Bodily exercise profits a little” (1 Timothy 4:8). But man is not a body with a spirit. We are rather a spirit dwelling in a body. The primary nature of man is spiritual rather than physical, even though we dwell in a physical environment.

Jesus Grew Spiritually

Jesus grew intellectually in mind, he grew physically in body, but then the Bible says that he increased in favor with God and with men. That means that he was able to grow spiritually in his soul toward God. That is where re¬ligion comes in. Religion is that system of things that binds man back to God. We have been alienated from God by our sins. The religion of Jesus Christ is de¬signed to reconcile us and unite us back to our maker and creator. So we must grow religiously and spiritually in our souls. Many people today have grown intellectually and physically, but they are mere pygmies when it comes to spiritual growth.

Jesus Grew Socially

But man is also by nature a social person. We are at our best when we work and live in proximity with our fellow human beings. Therefore, Jesus increased in favor with men. That means that he grew morally in heart, in life and in relationship with his fellow man. The story of the Good Samaritan has inspired more people to build hospitals, old folks’ homes and orphan homes than perhaps any other in the Bible. What is the lesson? We have to grow and develop in our relationship with other people. So we are emphasizing that spiritual growth involves growing in our souls and growing in our relationships to our fellow man. And after all, Jesus said those were the greatest commandments of all: to love God supremely and love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31).

Jesus then is our prime example of the kind of growth that every young boy and girl ought to be experiencing from the time they come into this world, mental, physical, spiritual and moral development.

Copyright © 2023 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved




Shelby G. Floyd, Minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142 

shelby@thefloyds.net

STEADFASTLY SETTING THE FACE

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

In the gospel according to Luke, Jesus resolutely determined to go to Jerusalem to face the suffering, humiliation, crucifixion, resurrection, and his ascension back to his heavenly Father in heaven.

He Steadfastly Set His Face

The biblical writer Luke in his account of the life of Christ described it like this: “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51 NKJV). In Luke 9:53 his proposed journey to Jerusalem is expressed by similar words: “…His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.”

The expression “set his face” is found in several of the newer translations and in many of them it is not found. In fairness, in some of them where this expression is not found, it is found and explained in a footnote. In some they do not even have footnote that this expression is found in the Greek text in which the New Testament was written.

Why am I writing about this? The point I am trying to make is that this expression “set his face” is found in the original Greek language in which the New Testament was written on our behalf. That language is: “autos to prosopon autou esterixen,” literally “he resolutely set the face.” (Luke 9:51). Because many of the translations simply say, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem,” this does not fairly represent the language of the original text. To “set the face” is a figure of speech that is very expressive of how “resolute” he really was!

Why was he so resolute that he set his face to go to Jerusalem? It was because he was swamped for time – his time would soon be over to live upon the earth. His time on earth was expiring soon and then he would be received up after his trial, cruel mistreatment, crucifixion on the cross, burial in a new tomb, and then raised from the dead on the third day. He then would later appear to his apostles and disciples and give them the great commission to go into all the world and to preach the gospel to all people (Matthew 28:18-20). Then he would be received up into heavenly glory to be with his Heavenly Father:

“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-11 NKJV).

I HAVE SET MY FACE LIKE A FLINT

Every Bible student recognizes the statement in Isaiah chapter 53 as referring to the Messianic Savior. He describes in great detail the humiliation, suffering and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we have in the book of Isaiah another great statement that describes the same event that Jesus went through as revealed in Isaiah 53– and that is Isaiah 50:5-9:

The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
6 I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
7 “For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is [a]My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
9 Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
The moth will eat them up. (Emphasis sgf).


Therefore, the prophecy of Isaiah 50:7 adds another dimension as to how Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. He was so determined and so resolute that his face was set “like a flint!” That simply means that his determination to carry out God’s will was like a rock. Nothing could stop him from carrying out his God-given commission to be the Savior of the world.

Therefore when you read the word of God, make sure that whatever translation you are using, it expresses the entire thought as found in the original language–“the jot and the title!” The common people today, as they have always been, are leery of people changing the word of God as they are changing a lot of other things also. The devil is hard at work trying to change the United States Constitution, the education system, the moral standards, and the landmarks and institutions that have stood us in good ways for over 200 years as a nation. Therefore it should come as no surprise that the devil is also at work trying to change the word of God. And that is the only thing that can defeat him. Remember when Satan tempted Jesus, he refuted him and drove him away by quoting the word of God, saying, “it is written!” (Matthew 4:1-11). Friends, “set your face like a flint” to live out the Christian life!

Copyright © 2023 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

 

Shelby G. Floyd, Minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142. shelby@thefloyds.net.

THE BIBLE OF THE REVOLUTION

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Previous to the American Revolution, England was burdened with debt from all the wars they had been fighting in Europe. They levied taxes on the Colonies on all documents—The Stamp Acts and of course The Tea Tax that was so onerous to the Colonies.


During this period England would not allow the Colonies to print the Bible. They had to be imported from England—another way to raise revenue for the Mother country. When the Colonies declared Independence, and engaged the British in the Revolutionary war, England refused to export any Bibles to America. Since the Pilgrims, Puritans, and the Colonists based many of their governing principles and their manner of life on the Bible, this famine of the word of God would not stand.


To remedy this need for the word of God, Robert Aitken, a printer in Philadelphia printed and published the New Testament in 1777. Then in early 1781 he petitioned Congress to publish the entire Bible.


Congress gave Robert Aitken approval to print the entire Bible and he printed this approval in the “Bible of the Revolution” as it known today. The Congressional approval reads:


“Resolved, That the United States in Congress assembled highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aiken, as subservient to the interests of religion, as well an instance of the progress of arts in this country, and they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper. Cha. Thomson, Secy.”


Our great country was founded and rooted in the English Bible. And the church of the Lord Jesus Christ that was established in America was also founded and rooted in the English Bible. Many of the problems of the country and the church can be traced to an apostasy from the word of God. Let us return to “the old paths!”

Thus says the Lord:

“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (Jeremiah 6:16 NKJV).

America, let all of us make America greater by reading the English Bible and “walk in it” every day of 2023!


Shelby G. Floyd, minister at the Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142    
shelby@thefloyds.net

WHAT IS YOUR SOUL WORTH?

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By


Shelby G. Floyd

The sole goal of most people today is how much profit they can accumulate of this world’s goods and riches.

Jesus taught that we should value our soul over everything else in this world: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul’” (Matthew 16:26)? According to Christ there is no profit if one could gain the whole world (which is impossible), and then end up losing one’s soul.

What is the soul of man that Jesus is talking about? The word “soul” is translated from the Greek word psuche. This word literally refers to our “breath of life” without which we would be dead. By extension it refers to “the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life” (Thayer, p. 677). An example of this use is in the book of Hebrews where the overseers watch out for the souls in the congregation: “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17 NKJV).

In many passages of scripture the soul refers to that part of man distinguished from the body which is not dissolved by death. In this sense Jesus warned, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28, NIV). The term “hell” is from the Greek geenne, and pronounced Gehenna—the place of everlasting punishment!”

Each person had better wake up and take care of the soul. Our soul will live forever. Our soul will have no end and is either destined for eternal joy or woe.

The soul of man cost God the price of the life and blood of his unique Son: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NIV).

God has revealed his plan of salvation to redeem the soul of man from the ravages of Satan and sin. Sinner friend, take the time to learn the conditions of salvation and act thereupon in obedience. Trust and obey!

Copyright © 2022 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

Shelby G. Floyd, Minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142.


WHOLEHEARTED RELIGION NO. 2

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Good morning. We are glad to see all of you and thank you to our visitors who have come our way. We hope that you will feel welcome and will come back and be with us again.

About three weeks ago I spoke to you on “Wholehearted Religion,” and we pointed out at that time that there are Bad Hearts, Good Hearts and Obedient Hearts. Today we want to continue our discussion of Wholehearted Religion. When God rejected King Saul, the first King of Israel, he was looking for a new king and David had a lot of brothers. And they marched each brother in front of Samuel and God said no, he is not the one. Finally they came to David who was the youngest of all of the boys and God chose him. Then God said to Samuel, “The Lord sees not as man sees for the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

And so today we want to talk about wholehearted religion. We must admit that there is a lot of halfhearted religion today! I do not believe that we will make it to heaven if we serve God in a half-hearted way. Therefore we are talking about serving God with all of our heart—with the complete heart! And the word heart, translated from the Greek word kardia is found 156 times in the New Testament. God wants us to serve him from the very center of our being. He wants us to serve him with our EGO and with our ID—with our conscious and with our subconscious heart. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:4-6 and said, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment” (Mark 12:29-30 NKJV). So today we are exploring what is wholehearted religion. It is serving God with your entire being.

WHAT IS THE BIBLE HEART?

What is the Bible heart? We have before you on the screen a chart that shows you what is the Bible Heart! The Bible heart is the Seat of the Intellect! The Bible Heart is the Seat of our Emotions. The Bible Heart is made up of my thinking process, my emotional nature, and the Bible heart is the Seat of my Willpower–what we choose and determine to do in life. And in the last place, the Bible heart is the Seat of our Conscience. Now we plan to discuss each one of those areas of the Bible heart and if we serve God with all four areas of the Bible Heart, then that is what I would call “Wholehearted Religion!”

Religion is that which binds us back to God because we been separated from God by sin (Isaiah 59:1-2). So we want to be bound back to God with “wholehearted religion!” Therefore let us examine “THE EXERCISES OF THE BIBLE HEART.” Continue reading “WHOLEHEARTED RELIGION NO. 2” →

BIBLE BAPTISM

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

While Paul was at Corinth on his second evangelistic journey, “… many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized” (Acts 18: 8). Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching and testifying that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 18:5). This account of the conversion of the Corinthians is in harmony with all the other conversions in Acts of apostles.

Before Jesus left the earth, his last instructions to the apostles were to, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16).

Later when Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthian church, he stated that he was thankful he had not personally baptized a great number of people. This was because he did not want anybody to say that he had baptized them into his name:

“I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that
you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:14-17).



We are to be baptized into the name of Christ for the forgiveness of sins: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt. 28:18-20).

Therefore, we can be called Christians and honor him who died for us (Acts 11:26).

Shelby G. Floyd, Minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142
Shelby@thefloyds.net

THE ICON OF THE INVISIBLE GOD

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Icons are everywhere today. They are on computers, computer tablets and smart cell phones. They are used in television and mailing advertising. They are very helpful in many ways by simplifying what we search for in the technological world of the twenty-first century. Sometimes this is not the case, because there are so many of them that it is often confusing to find them and distinguish them one from another by what they represent.

But there are some icons that are so well known that everyone can identify who or what they stand for or represent. Almost everyone can identify the icons for IBM, AT&T, GM, Apple, Microsoft, and Goggle etc. In the religious world we only have one God that everyone needs to know and identify. The one God is invisible and so we need an icon to be an exact image of God the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is the image (icon) of the invisible God.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.                                                                                        Colossians 1:15 ESV

When Paul says that “He is the image of the invisible God” the reference is to Jesus Christ, God’s beloved and only begotten Son. The word “image” in the original Greek is [eikon], from which we derive the English word icon that is so familiar today. So Jesus Christ is the visible ICON of the invisible God who created everything.

We have no visible photos of what Jesus looked like outwardly, but we have a perfect moral image of him in his speech, attitude, worship, prayer life and the way he treated his fellow man. If we want to know what “the invisible God” is like we only need to study the perfect God-man—Jesus Christ! The word [image—eikon] used in Colossians 1:15 is applied to Christ “on account of his divine nature and absolute moral excellence” (Thayer, page 175).

When we see and have a mental and moral picture of Christ, then we see the Father, for he is the exact “image” of the Father. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ and the harbinger of the grace and truth that Christ came to reveal. Of him John said, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18 NKJV).

After Jesus announced that he would die on the cross and go back to the Father, Philip asked him to show them the Father. That question elicited this answer from Christ: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’”(John 14:9)?

Dear friend, Christ Jesus then is our ICON of the invisible God! Learn, love, worship and serve him forever!

Copyright © 2022 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved





Shelby G. Floyd, Minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142 Shelby@thefloyds.net

ARE YOU MAD, SAD, OR GLAD?

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

 

Psalm 122:1 | joshtinpowers | Flickr

David, the second king of Israel wrote most of the Psalms. These Psalms indicate that David was a very spiritually minded man of God. For example he wrote:

Psalms 122: 1
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
NKJV

David was glad when someone said, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Some today may be sad or even mad, instead of glad, when it is time to go into the house of the Lord.

For Christians “the house of the Lord” is “the church of the living God” (1 Timothy 3:15). We should be glad to be present with the assembled people of God. If our hearts are filled with gladness we will enthusiastically join our brothers and sisters in regularly stated worship. How can we be glad if our seat is empty at worship about half the time?

It is very difficult to build up the local congregation unless every member is interested in doing so. Today, as it always has been, some are zealous for the Lord’s cause while others are lukewarm (Revelation 3:14-16). We must encourage each other to be zealous for knowledge and the work of seeking and saving the lost:

Romans 10:1-2
Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
NKJV

Zeal is enthusiasm. Enthusiasm means that we are on fire for the Lord because God is in us. Nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished without enthusiasm. The greatest work we can do is to work for the Lord during our short pilgrimage on the earth. “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58, ESV). When we zealously devote ourselves our work will never be in vain.

The early Christians were called “devotees” because they were fully devoted to the cause of Christ: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Let us all be so devoted that we will be glad to go to the house of the Lord. 



Shelby G. Floyd, Minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142

THE LOVE OF GOD

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Near the close of Paul’s brief letter to the young preacher Titus, he penned these words:

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7; NKJV).

SINFUL MEN NEED SALVATION

First we notice why salvation is needed by the human race.  In verse three Paul describes the way people lived without God:  “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). That is not a pretty picture and deep down most people would not like to live like that. Sin is universal, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, every person accountable for their attitude and actions needs salvation from sin.

GOD’S LOVE IS THE BASIS OF SALVATION

Lost sinful man was without hope until the kindness, love, mercy and grace of God appeared to man in the person of Jesus Christ. If man is to be saved or pardoned from his sins, God must save him. When the Christ was born it was stated that his name would be JESUS—Savior, “for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). God’s part in the salvation of man is the large part: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…” (Titus 3:4-5). While no work of man’s righteousness can be the basis of salvation, this does not mean that man has no part in his salvation.

Someone made the ridiculous statement that salvation is “by grace alone, through faith alone, to God alone be the glory!” If salvation is by any one of these alone, it excludes the others. Salvation “by faith alone,” as taught by the followers of John Calvin is “the doctrine of devils.” According to James the devils have “faith only” and are lost: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead” (James 2:19-20)? Furthermore, James teaches just the opposite of the “faith only” of Calvin and his “fellow travelers! After illustrating that Abraham, the father of the faithful was justified by his works growing out of his faith when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar, he declared, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). Salvation from sin is “not by faith only.” I prefer James over Calvin and demons!

Copyright © 2022 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

Shelby G. Floyd, minister, Heartland Church of Christ, 1693 West Main Street, Greenwood, Indiana 46142
, , , , , , , , ,