It is the little things upon which great truth rests.

         I heard a man on the radio today quote the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and then go off about how our Constitutional rights are being violated. The First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The man on the radio got pretty wound up about churches having to be closed and about Twitter and Facebook restricting what videos can be played and about protesters who are upset about lock down rules being harassed by the police. But, again, it is the little things upon which great truth rests. There are no Constitutional rights being violated. The first word of the First Amendment says “Congress.” Churches being closed and police breaking up protests are actions of state and local agencies. Congress has nothing to do with it. The federal government has given guidelines, but the states are doing what they see as necessary, which is what the framers of the Constitution had in mind. And, Twitter and Facebook are private companies and are not associated with Congress at all. To me, I do not agree with these restrictions, but to say they are unConstitutional is wrong.

         It is the little things upon which great truth rests.

         2 Timothy 3:16 says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: For me, that is enough. All Scripture is from God. I am not messing with it. When translation takes place from one language to another, the wording is readjusted a little to fit the grammatical make-up of the language the work being translated from to the language it is being translated too. In this case, a direct word for word translation from Greek to English of 2 Timothy 3:16 reads like this; Every Scripture is God breathed and profitable for instruction for conviction and for training in righteousness. (The root word in Greek for ‘inspire’ also means ‘breath,’ so saying ‘God Breathed’ is the same as saying inspired.) Means exactly the same in English as in Greek. However, in two very highly regarded English translations we have something different. Both the Revised Standard Version of the Bible and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible say,  All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. But the footnote to that verse gives what they believe should be the proper translation, which is, Every scripture inspired by God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Most would say that there is no real difference, but in the actual Scripture it says all Scripture is inspired while in the footnote it can be read that only inspired Scripture is good, insinuating that some is not inspired. What parts are not inspired? Your choice, whatever you do not feel comfortable with. There is nothing in the Greek that allows for that translation, but it is there in the footnote.

         We tend to believe whatever we read or hear on the internet or the television or the radio. It only takes a little bit to research things or read a little deeper. It is very hard for a writer or a broadcaster to keep personal belief out of the equation. But the truth is out there. It is true in politics and it is true in theology and it is true in selling paper towels. We believe without knowing all the facts.

         Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, I was looking for a Bible college to attend. In that time people did not have computers in their homes. You had to get special magazines to look for colleges and then you had to send an inquiry letter to the school to get information. What you can now do in an evening took over a month back in the day because you were dealing with the Post Office. Anyway, one of the schools that responded to me was in Ontario, Canada. I took my pastor’s advice and turned to the section of their catalog that had their beliefs listed. This particular school had fifteen things you had to do to be saved! I was stunned. I burned that catalog in the backyard burning barrel. However, they backed up each point with Scripture. For someone unsure of their own selves or Scripture, they could have been drawn into falsehoods.

         Many of us have encountered people who believe that a person has to have faith to be saved, but we also need to be baptized. Mark 16:16 says, Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And Acts 2:38 says, And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, this means we must be baptized to be saved, right? Yes, that is what it says. But, the Greek work ‘baptizo,’ from which we get ‘baptize,’ means to be overwhelmed, or totally immersed. We can be totally immersed in the Holy Spirit. We can be totally immersed in a good book. We can be totally immersed in love. You only know what the writer is talking about by the subject of the sentence. In Mark 16:16 the subject is ‘believe.’ We must be totally immersed in belief (which would bring repentance) to be saved. In Acts 2:38 we have to be totally immersed in our repentance (which requires belief) to be saved. It doesn’t require water to be immersed.

         Salvation is a gift. In Acts 16, when Paul and Silas are in jail, an earthquake comes and releases all the prisoners. The jailer rushes in and draws his sword to kill himself (because his bosses would do worse to him than just killing him) and Paul shouts out to not harm himself, all the prisoners were there. The jailer realizes his life is now in the hands of Paul and Silas, so he calls out, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ He was asking about physical salvation, but the answer was about Spiritual salvation. Paul and Silas answered, ‘Believe on the Lord and you will be saved, you and your household.’ (It seems to be a Biblical theme that when the husband/father comes to Christ, the rest of the family follows.) All the jailer had to do was believe on Christ. Believe that Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sin and rose up from the dead to ascend to heaven to prepare us a place.

         Do you know you are going to heaven at the end of this life? If you don’t, take a moment and ask the Lord to save your soul. Jesus said no one can go to the Father except they go through Him. You don’t have to clean up your life first. You don’t need to be baptized. You don’t need to join a church. Just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

         It is the little things upon which great truth rests.