The theology of universalism, also referred to as the doctrine of “inclusion,” is the belief that all people will eventually find salvation and reconciliation with God and will eventually go to heaven sometime after death. Additionally, there are those who teach that even Satan and demons can be saved.
Mormonism certainly appears to be closely related to Christianity. It claims to follow the Bible. But there is a major difference—Mormonism does not teach that Jesus is the only way to salvation.
Certainly no man that has made Jesus Christ the Lord of his life can have both a demonic spirit and the Holy Spirit in his human spirit. The same man, however, may have a demonic spirit influencing his body and mind.
No. As important as water baptism is, we know from multiple scriptures that it’s not what saves a person. What does save a person is the new birth resulting from faith in the shed blood of Jesus, confession of Him as Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead (Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:22; Revelation 1:5; Romans 10:9-10).
Some have thought Acts 2:38 tied water baptism to salvation. It says, “You must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The New Age movement is one of many religions and belief systems in the world today. Here’s the problem—all religions and non-Christian belief systems teach that we have no need of a savior or that we can earn salvation by good works or attaining higher spiritual levels.
Generally speaking, we tithe on our income. Loaned money from a bank or lending institution is not income, but debt that must be paid back with interest. Therefore, loans are not sources of income, but sources of expense that would not require a tithe.
Harmless fun is certainly what many parents would label trick-or-treating and other Halloween observances. Some Christian parents are aware of a darker side to what presents itself as innocent fun.
That’s why each year during Halloween, Christian parents may struggle between letting their children participate in what the world calls “harmless fun” and being led by their own concerns about the spiritual significance of Halloween. Even though Halloween can seem harmless, it does have dark pagan roots, and as believers we should never celebrate fear and terror.
The enemy tries to discourage or confuse all believers on this issue. Think about it: Anytime he can get believers to spend time wondering if they are saved is time he is keeping them from discovering how much authority this new life gives them over the kingdom of darkness.
Here is some really good news—you can know without a doubt that you are born again!
True Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with God.
Religion is any system of attitudes, beliefs or practices to honor or appease a god or supernatural force regarded as creator and governor of the universe. The number of religions and belief systems in the world today is in the thousands. God is not interested in religion. He is interested in our hearts. He wants to have a relationship with us because He loves us.
The Bible is clear. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). This declaration by Jesus answers the question whether all faiths lead to God. Salvation can only be found in Jesus.
Praise God. Praise Him in the morning. Praise Him at noon. Praise Him at night. If you've never praised God in your life, then get started right now. Praise Him for freedom. Praise Him for healing and Calvary. Praise Him for the Name of Jesus.
You ought to be shouting your way to work and shouting your way back home! If there's anything the devil can't stand, it's praise.
What would you say is the single, most outstanding thing about God? What's His most important characteristic? Some people would say it's His power. Others, His holiness. But God Himself would give a different answer.
You can find that answer in Exodus 33. There Moses is asking God to show him His glory.
Now the word glory could literally be translated "heavy weight." It refers to the heaviest, biggest, grandest thing about someone. It's the sum total of their worth.
If I could give you a gift this Christmas, the Word is what I'd give you. I'd rather give it to you than a check for a million dollars. Because you can run through a million dollars real quick, but the truth of God's Word never quits—and it will get you out of situations a million dollars can't get you out of.
Ken and I are just ordinary people. But when we latched on to God's Word, we latched on to something out of the ordinary, something that changed our lives. Every area of our lives.
That word abide is so important. When Jesus told us to obey His commandments and keep His Word, He wasn't just telling us to follow a bunch of religious rules and regulations.
He was telling us to allow His Word—which is a living thing!—to make its home within us. He was telling us to spend time with it, to meditate on it, to fill our minds and our mouths with it, and to let it guide our every action.
When you're up against the wall, don't start begging God to break through it for you. That's not the way He works. He'll give you the plan. He'll give you the power. And He'll guarantee the victory. But your hand, not His own, is the instrument He's going to use to get the job done. You're going to have to stretch forth your hand by speaking and acting on the Word, even when circumstances are against you.
Don't center your attention on what you can see in this natural, physical sense realm. Everything you see is temporal and subject to change. So, put your faith in the unseen eternal realm. The things which are eternal are not subject to change.
God's Word is eternal and it contains 7,000 promises to cover any circumstance you'll ever face. And, no matter what happens in this shifting, changing world you live in, those promises will forever be the same.
I used to worry about making decisions for God. I used to be afraid to step out on faith and declare I was going to do something new that He’d shown me to do. I’d think, What if I fail? I was so scared of failing, I’d muddle around in indecision for weeks. Then one day I found out it wasn’t my power that was going to carry it out anyway. But it took my decision to move God in on the scene. Once I decided what I was going to do, and committed myself totally to it, God backed me!
Have you ever noticed that you are sometimes aware of certain things even before you know what the Word says about them? That’s because the Holy Spirit is inside you teaching you the truth. He speaks into your spirit. Then your spirit relays His promptings to your mind. Suddenly, you’ll have a new thought. I need to forgive that person, you’ll think, or I need to stop saying those unkind things.
One of the problems that hung around me for years was poverty. But I remember the day I decided I wasn’t going to be poor anymore. I was reading in the Word where it says that the blessing of Abraham has come upon the gentiles by Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:14). Then I got down to the 29th verse where it says, “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Suddenly the truth hit me. I got so excited I could hardly stand myself.
Words won’t work without faith any more than faith will work without words! It takes them both to put the law of faith in motion.
Many believers don’t realize that. They’ll continually speak words of doubt and unbelief, then they’ll jump up one day and say a couple of faith words and expect mountains to move—and to their dismay, they don’t.
Why not?