The goal and practice of the early church towards new converts is worthy of our attention and emulation. Early Christians were eager to teach the gospel to the lost and longed to baptize each person with whom they studied, so that the individual’s sins might be washed away by the blood of Jesus. They even urged, with persuasive words, a lost person…
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Posts by David Sproule (Page 226)
It is profoundly clear in the New Testament that baptism is a prerequisite for one’s salvation from sins and the eternal consequences thereof. It certainly takes some maneuvering to make Acts 2:38 say that baptism is NOT for the remission of sins and to make 1 Peter 3:21 say that baptism does NOT save. Bible teaching, in that regard, is plain. The…
One of the great parenting examples in the Bible is Eunice, who ensured that from Timothy’s “infancy/childhood” he was taught to know “the Holy Scriptures” (2 Tim. 3:15). So, how does a parent ensure that his/her child grows up knowing the Scriptures? There are at least two methods of teaching, and both are equally valid and equally indispensable in the teaching of…
If you wanted to travel from where you are to St. Louis, Missouri, how would you get there? First of all, what means of travel would you take? The options are numerous: plane, train, automobile, boat, bus, bike, horse, camel, hot air balloon, wheelchair, pogo stick, etc. Which one would you choose? Next, once you determined your means of travel, what pathway…
There was a time when a lack of clothing on a person’s body in public evoked a sense of shame-shame within that person’s heart, shame within his family and friends, shame felt by others for him, shame felt by others for his family and friends. In fact, the Bible speaks of such shame from nakedness, in both literal and metaphorical contexts. It…
The record of the early church reveals, “On the first day of the week…the disciples came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7). “What does ‘to break bread’ mean? Is it, for certain, the Lord’s Supper?” The expression “break bread” was an idiom that denoted the eating of a meal. Sometimes it is used in the Bible for a common meal, and sometimes…
Daniel was carried as a young man to the land of his enemies and was selected (along with three of his friends) to serve in the king’s palace. Wow! Talk about someone who needed those “three years of training” (Dan. 1:5) to know how to fit in with his new country and new job and new environment and new associates. He needed…
Do you know anyone who “worships God” but is not saved? Think about that for a moment. Do you know anyone who regularly goes to an assembly of worshipers and “worships God” but that person has not obeyed the gospel and is not destined for heaven? Someone might say, “Wait a minute! How can somebody ‘worship God’ every week and not be…