Gospel e-Letter

Someone wrote to me, “You say that you believe and that you are saved right now. I suppose this is the result of some form of prayer said with sincerity and published by some Protestant or Evangelical group.” I would like to share my response about this important issue. No, I am not saved because I said a prayer. Many wrongly assume they are saved because they said the "sinner's prayer" or because they went forward in an evangelistic meeting or signed a card. This false idea is not much different from the Roman Catholic doctrine that a person is born again by submitting to water baptism. It is arguably worse than baptismal regeneration, for Christ did command his disciples to be baptized, but He never conditioned salvation on walking up an aisle and repeating a formula.

Is faith an active or passive principle? Does faith rest or work? Does it receive or give? I think that faith could be both active and passive, depending on the particular circumstances. Faith is an attitude of confidence, reliance and trust in another person. A patient lying on the operation table trusts the doctor if he does nothing and lets himself in the hands of the surgeon. Here faith is passive. Following surgery, the same patient will show trust in his physician only if he obeys his advice and takes the medicines as prescribed. Now faith is active. To take another example, picture a poor beggar sitting on the sidewalk. A rich man stops in front of him, reaches in his pocket and hands out some money. The beggar shows trust in the generosity of this man by simply receiving the gift, without attempting to pay or earn it in any way. Here faith does not work, it simply receives. But faith must work actively in other circumstance if it is genuine. Does an athlete really beli...

How is a person justified - is it through faith or by baptism? Clearly, it is the duty of every new believer to submit to the rite of baptism as ordained by the Lord Jesus. But we ask, did the Lord institute baptism as the means to obtain justification, or is it a sign of spiritual cleansing which is accomplished by faith in him? While there are several scriptures that teach plainly that we are justified by faith, it never said that a person is justified by baptism. So it seems reasonable to suppose that baptism signifies justification which had been previously received through faith. It is profitable to look at Cornelius’ conversion experience as a ‘test case’ in this regard. Is salvation preceded and obtained by baptism, or is it received by faith, and followed by baptism? Cornelius’ story is emphasized in Acts because he and his relatives were the first Gentile converts admitted into the church. (Please read Acts chapter 10; 11:1-18 and 15:7-11). An angel told Cornelius to s...

Justification is but one aspect of God’s purpose in salvation. In justification, God acquits the believer and frees him from condemnation and the punishment in hell. But that is not all. God also wants to save his people from the filth and practice of sin. The Father wants his children to be holy as He is holy. So then, from the very moment that he justifies them, he also renews their heart and begins a life-long project to shape them in the image of his Son. This aspect of salvation is called sanctification. In other words, justification has to do with legal standing in the divine court. God declares the believer righteous on the basis of Christ's sacrifice. Sanctification has to do with character and behaviour; God wants his people to become righteous, by the power of the Spirit working in them. While justification is based on the work of Christ on the cross on our behalf, and not on the merits of our works, sanctification involves the renewing of our thoughts, desires, spee...

Dear friends, Christmas is all about gifts. When I was a young boy my parents used to tell me that Baby Jesus will give me a toy if I was a good boy. Christmas morning was fantastic, waking up to find a toy and sweets on my bed. But then someone at school told me that it was not Jesus but my parents who brought me the gifts. The magic of Christmas was gone! Later on, I learned from the Scriptures that Jesus gives us life, our daily bread and everything we have. It was Jesus after all who gave me the gifts on Christmas morn! Moreover, I discovered that the greatest Gift is Jesus Christ Himself. God so loved the world that he gave his Son. “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Christmas day is too short to celebrate the grace and goodness of God. If we have received Jesus by faith, we have all life and eternity to enjoy and praise God for his amazing Gift. May the peace and joy of Christ be with you and your loved ones. Joe and Joanne, an...

Is faith enough for our justification, that is, to become right with God? Or do we need to add something more - such as the merits of our work? The Bible answers this important question directly: 'To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness' (Romans 4:4-5). Please read this scripture again and again until it sinks in your heart. What an amazing statement! It is the person ‘who does not work but believes’ who is justified. The Bible does not say that God justifies the man who both works and believes. No! God justifies the one who believes and does not work! Surely the Apostle Paul does not mean that a Christian should not do good works during his life. That would be contradictory to what he himself and the rest of the Bible emphasizes over and over again. But what does he mean? In what sense then are works excluded? Paul leaves out human works as the basis for justification . He does not allow the add...

(Gospel e-Letter - November 2013) We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ,  so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ (Galatians 2:16). Food provides nourishment to our bodies but it will not actually do us any good until we take it and eat it. Jesus, the living Bread, gives eternal life and forgiveness, but again, we will not experience any of his saving benefits until and unless we believe in him. The Scriptures repeated say that we are justified by faith. The Bible states that ‘everyone who believes is justified’ (Acts 13:39), the sinner is justified ‘through faith’ (Romans 3:25), ‘justified by faith’ (Romans 3:28), God justifies ‘by faith’ and ‘through faith’ (Romans 3:30), ‘justified by faith’ (Romans 5:1); a man is ‘justified by faith’ (Galatians 2:16), God justifies ‘by faith’ (Galatians 3:8), righteousness is ‘through faith’ and ‘by faith’ (Philippians 3:9). Faith requ...

[Gospel e-Letter - October 2009] Catholics continue to accuse Protestants of antinomianism, as if we teach that ‘faith alone’ implies that believers are not obliged to obey God’s moral law and abound in good works. Catholics hear us speak of justification by ‘faith alone’ but they do not listen when we insist that the faith that justifies is never alone in the life of the Christian, but is a living faith, working through love! The Westminster Confession summarizes the Protestant doctrine clearly, '[Faith] receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.’ If the Catholic charge were correct, it would be utterly fatal to Protestantism -- sola fide would be a false gospel -- for Christ Jesus certainly did not come to save sinners from the guilt and punishment of sin only, but from its power and pol...

(Gospel e-Letter - September 2009) Do you believe that faith leads to justification? Faith does not only lead to justification, faith in Christ actually and really justifies the ungodly. The Bible states that "everyone who believes is justified" (Acts 13:39), the sinner is justified “through faith” (Romans 3:25), “justified by faith” (Romans 3:28), God justifies “by faith” and “through faith” (Romans 3:30), we are “justified by faith” (Romans 5:1); one is justified “by faith” and again, “justified by faith” (Galatians 2:16), God justifies “by faith” (Galatians 3:8), righteousness is received “through faith” and “by faith” (Philippians 3:9). Do you believe that justification leads to good works? Yes, justification inevitably and most certainly leads to good works. We are not justified before God on account of the merits of our good works, but, having been justified by faith, we are at peace with God, and therefore God is pleased by our moral and spiritual sacrifices. A person ...

(Gospel e-Letter - February 2009) Why is it that in God’s plan, salvation is by faith and not in any other way? Why not include our good works and our obedience to his law, in addition to faith? The Bible gives us a clear and direct answer. In Romans 4, the apostle Paul shows how Abraham was justified by faith when he believed God’s promise. The same applies to all believers, all are justified by faith, and not on account of obedience to the law. Paul concludes that, ‘Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring’ (Romans 4:16). This then is the reason: it is ‘by faith, so that it may be by grace’! If God had conditioned justification on our obedience, his justice could not accept anything less than perfect and complete obedience to his law. That would have meant our doom and damnation, for no-one, except Jesus Christ, has ever kept the law perfectly. Elsewhere the same apostle reasons this way: All who ...