DIVINE INSPIRATIONS

  Jesus the Good Steward: Five ways to follow his example Have you ever thought about what it really means to be a good steward? Stewardship isn’t just about money—it’s about how we manage everything God entrusts to us: our time, abilities, relationships, and even creation itself. From the very beginning, God has called his people to live as wise and faithful stewards.  Good stewardship lies at the heart of the command given to Adam and Eve in Genesis to be fruitful, subdue the earth and rule over everything. As God’s image bearers they were to reflect the heart of a benevolent God to the world in a caring and wise way (Genesis 1:26-28). It’s a charge that passes on to us. Yet, as we see from Genesis 3 onwards, humanity's stewardship has been marked by failure, as sin distorts our ability to care for what God has entrusted to us. But while many biblical figures illustrate stewardship in different ways, Jesus provides the ultimate example. Here are five ways in which Jesus show...

Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, such as Paul’s deliverance from prison (Philippians 1:19). More often, the word salvation concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance. When Paul told the Philippian jailer what he must do to be saved, he was referring to the jailer’s eternal destiny (Acts 16:30-31). Jesus equated being saved with entering the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24-25). What are we saved from? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, we are saved from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment of sin (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). Our sin has separated us from God, and the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Biblical salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin. We are saved from both the power and penalty...

Many people are looking for “steps to salvation.” People like the idea of an instruction manual with five steps that, if followed, will result in salvation. An example of this is Islam with its Five Pillars. According to Islam, if the Five Pillars are obeyed, salvation will be granted. Because the idea of a step-by-step process to salvation is appealing, many in the Christian community make the mistake of presenting salvation as a result of a step-by-step process. Roman Catholicism has seven sacraments. Various Christian denominations add baptism, public confession, turning from sin, speaking in tongues, etc., as steps to salvation. But the Bible only presents one step to salvation. When the Philippian jailer asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:30-31). Faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior is the only “step” to salvation. The message of the Bible is abundantly clear. We have all sinned against God (Ro...

  It continues to blow my mind how many Christians believe salvation can be lost. What surprises me even more is the vehemence with which people will cling to the idea. The issue is covered quite thoroughly on GotQuestions.org (see the links at the bottom of this post). So, there is no need to re-cover every aspect of this debate. But, here are a few points I think are worth emphasizing, based on recent conversations with salvation “lost and found” individuals. Point One: The loss of salvation in Hebrews — you can’t get it back! The most popular verses people who believe salvation can be lost will point to are Hebrews 6:4-6 and Hebrews 10:26-29. What most of them fail to understand, or admit, is that if these passages teach that salvation can be lost, they also teach that salvation, once lost, can never be regained. Hebrews 6:4-6 says that, “it is impossible...to renew them again to repentance.” Hebrews 10:26 says, “if we go on sinning...there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins...

  Sin is described in the Bible as transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4) and rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18). Sin had its beginning with Lucifer, probably the most beautiful and powerful of the angels. Not content with his position, he desired to be higher than God, and that was his downfall, the beginning of sin (Isaiah 14:12-15). Renamed Satan, he brought sin to the human race in the Garden of Eden, where he tempted Adam and Eve with the same enticement, “you shall be like God.” Genesis 3 describes Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God and against His command. Since that time, sin has been passed down through all the generations of mankind and we, Adam’s descendants, have inherited sin from him. Romans 5:12 tells us that through Adam sin entered the world, and so death was passed on to all men because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Through Adam, the inherent inclination to sin entered the human race, and human beings became sinners by nature...

  Forgiveness in the Bible is a “release” or a “dismissal” of something. The forgiveness we have in Christ involves the release of sinners from God’s just penalty and the complete dismissal of all charges against us (see Romans 8:1). Colossians 1:14 says that in God’s beloved Son “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The Amplified Bible translates the last phrase like this: “the forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins’ penalty].” God’s gracious forgiveness of our sin is to be the measure of our gracious forgiveness of others (Ephesians 4:32). To some people, forgiveness may seem like weakness or letting an undeserving person win, but it has no connection to weakness or even to emotions. Instead, forgiveness is an act of the will. Forgiveness is not granted because a person deserves to be forgiven. No one deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is a deliberate act of love, mercy, and grace. Forgiveness is a decision to not hold something against another person, d...