This is the most important question Christians can ask, because their eternal soul may depend on it!

The greatest deception which has been devised by Satan that has been accepted by a large number of Christians is the false doctrine of "once saved, always saved." This doctrinal theory assumes once a person is saved that there is nothing he or she could ever do to lose his or her salvation. Even if he should become fruitless and commit the grosses sins, this creed teaches that he is still saved. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The reason so many American Christians believe this lie is because of the undo influence John Calvan had over European Christianity. (And, of course, Europe influenced America.) Calvin was the first to popularize the concept that all Christians will persevere to the end.

Although God definitely promises to do his part to keep us saved to the end, this does not mean that we do not have a part to play. God promises eternal security, but not unconditional eternal security. Nearly all God's promises are conditional; that is, they are dependent in part on us for their fulfillment.

I just finished perhaps the best book I have ever read on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The title: "Are We Baptized With The Holy Spirit When Converted?" by W. H. Turner. Copyright 1947. It appears W.H. Turner was a missionary in China with the Pentecostal Holiness Church.

Probably safe to say this book is out of print. It came into my possession via my wife's grandmother who was a longtime Pentecostal. When she went to be with the Lord, my wife and I obtained several of her old books, and this was among them.

In the coming weeks I will work on typing this small book into a series of articles that I will post in the apologetics section of this site under "Holy Spirit Baptism". Please check back

Enduring to the End

In the world of competitive sports, many very good and promising athletes will compete for a title and even dream of obtaining the prize. However, relatively few will pay the price of the intense physical training and years of preparation that must take place prior to the competition. Even of those who try, many fall out of the race somewhere along the way.

The New Testament draws a parallel from this metaphor, as to the endurance required of believers. (Mat 13:18-23) If we would partake of the Prize set before us, we must remember the words of Jesus: "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Mat 24:13; 10:22; Mark 13:13)

Understanding Spiritual Gifts

The ministry of Spiritual Gifts originates in the New Testament, commissioned by our Lord Jesus Christ. After He established His church on the earth and ascended to Heaven, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to equip His church with power and spiritual gifts (Greek -- charismata) so that His disciples could continue to carry out His ministry objectives. While there are certain gifts of a spectacular nature that are often given greater attention, the New Testament mentions at least 21 that are provided to the church. These gifts are listed in Eph. 4:11, Rom. 12:3-7, and 1 Cor. 12:1-12,28, and are generally assigned to one of three categories, as listed below:

• Ministry (office) gifts: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher.
• Motivational (practical) gifts: Service, Exhortation, Giving, Leadership, Mercy, Helps and Administration.
• Charismatic (spiritual) gifts: Wisdom, Knowledge, Discernment, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation, Faith, Healing and Miracles.
  

Most churches and denominations accept some variation of the "motivational " and "ministry" gifts (perhaps with controversy over the office of apostle and prophet). However others completely reject the modern day operation of the 9 charismatic gifts listed in 1 Cor. 12:1-12. In brief, their view is taken from an interpretation of 1 Cor. 13:8-10, claiming that such spectacular gifts were only intended as a short-lived, supernatural lift to help the early church get started -- that they vanished after the last Apostles of Jesus died, when the scriptures took their place.