Know Your Bible

VOL. 15 July 16, 2017 NO. 18

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DO YOU FEEL SAVED?

Are you saved? How do you know you are saved? "I know I am saved because I feel it in my heart," many often say. But are the feelings of your heart the proper standard to determine your salvation? We do not use this standard in other matters. No one says of his bank statement, "I know it is right because I feel it in my heart," while they ignore to properly add and subtract from their balance. No carpenter says, "I know the board is 10 feet long because I feel it in my heart" - he checks the board with the proper standard, the measuring tape! But, when it comes to a matter far more important than bank balances and board lengths - salvation - many are willing to trust their eternal welfare to their feelings.

Can you trust the feelings of your heart to tell you whether or not you are saved? The Bible says "No!" "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool" (Prov. 28:26), for "the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jer. 10:23). "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12). Feelings are subjective, they change from person to person and even within the same person. Truth is objective, it remains fixed and does not change, regardless of the person or the year.

The way you feel about salvation does not change God's truth concerning it, just as the way you feel about math, does not change the truth of it. Whether or not you are saved is an objective fact, not subject to the whims of how you feel from moment to moment. So how can they know they are saved? The Scripture says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding" (Prov. 3:5).

You do not have to rely upon your own faulty and deceptive feelings concerning your salvation. The Lord has given "the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation" (2 Tim. 3:15). The knowledge and confidence of salvation can only come from the objective standard of God's Word. God will judge you by His Word, not by how you feel. Jesus proclaimed, "the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). What is your salvation based upon? Many people feel in their heart they are saved because they have "simply believed" in Jesus. While salvation certainly requires faith in Jesus, faith alone does not and cannot save according to God's Word.

James wrote, "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (Jas. 2:24). Other people have prayed and "asked Jesus to come into their heart" and now they feel they are saved. But nowhere does the Bible teach one must simply pray to Jesus in order to be saved.

God's Word teaches to be saved you must: hear the gospel (Rom. 10:17); believe Jesus is the Son of God (Mk. 16:16); repent of your sins (Acts 2:38); confess Jesus (Rom. 10:9; Acts 8:36-38) and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38; Mk. 16:16). Those who obey God's Word do not have to guess whether or not they are saved based upon the feelings of their heart. They know they are saved because their salvation is based on the unchanging Truth of God's Word.

—Wayne Green

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A HEALTH CARE REALITY CHECK

It's easy to get caught up in the political and social issues of our time. Currently, you can't turn on the TV or radio, or pick up a newspaper without being bombarded with news on the health care debate going on in Washington. Most of us probably have our opinions about the issues involved. Some might like more government control and financing of health care, and some might want less. Some might prefer that health insurance be mandatory for all, while others might like a choice in the matter. No matter what our feelings are on these and related issues, Christians need to remember to allow their thinking to be directed by their faith in God and the truths found in His word. Whatever Washington decides about healthcare, certain things will remain true.

Clean living leads to good health. The best health care plan in the world is to live like God says. He created us and surely knows what is best for us! "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones" (Proverbs 3:7-8).

Listening to wise parents promotes a long healthy life. Solomon said "My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh" (Proverbs 4:20-22). "Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth" (Ephesians 6:2-3) Health is a gift from God. It is the Lord who blesses people with good health and well-being.

As was mentioned earlier, we can certainly do things to promote our health. And the Scriptures indicate that doctors and pharmaceuticals also have roles to play in keeping us healthy (cf. Matthew 9:12; 1 Timothy 5:23; Luke 10:34; Jeremiah 51:8). But ultimately it is God who blesses us with health and healing. Let's not forget that! "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases" (Psalms 103:2-3). We may have all the money in the world, but the health and strength to enjoy it is a gift from God. Solomon observes, "As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor -- this is the gift of God" (Ecclesiastes 5:19).

No health care program is going to keep you from dying. We talk about health care as if it is going to prevent people from dying. It will not. You can take all the pills you want. Exercise, eat right and avoid risky behavior, and you will still die anyway! In the end, it won't matter what health care program our nation adopts. "No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, and wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it" (Ecclesiastes 8:8).

If our thinking is right, we'll be much more concerned about what happens after death than we are about what to do to prolong life -- for "it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

—Steve Klein

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Know Your Bible" is e-mailed weekly by the church of Christ which meets at 112 Roberts Avenue in Wise, Virginia. If you know of others who might benefit from the articles contained in this bulletin, we would be glad to have you submit their e-mail addresses and we will include them in next week's mailing. If you are receiving this bulletin and do not wish to continue to do so, please e-mail us with your desire to be removed from the mailing list and we will remove your address promptly. Continue to the bottom of this page and further instructions will be given as to how you may contact us.

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