Monthly Archives: December 2025

Isn’t That Convenient

Posted on by under Christian Living, Culture, Doctrine

In today’s fast-paced world, convenience has become a significant aspect of our daily lives. The definition of convenience often involves little trouble or effort, and we tend to favor it because it allows us to avoid going out of our way and makes it easier to be lazy. However, convenience is not always beneficial.

While convenience can make our lives easier, it can also lead to negative consequences. For instance, it can cause us to overspend. Imagine needing something that costs $10, but you end up spending $50 to get free shipping, thinking you saved $4.99 in shipping fees. Additionally, convenience can lead to loneliness. With apps that allow us to order food and complete transactions without speaking to anyone, our electronic devices have made things easier but at what cost?

There was a time in the history of Israel when convenience became a significant problem. Solomon’s sins, as mentioned in 1 Kings 11:29-33, led to the division of the kingdom into Israel and Judah. Jeroboam took ten tribes to the North and, in an attempt to make worship easier for his subjects, he built and fortified a new capital city, Shechem, in the tribal area of Ephraim. He was more concerned about maintaining his power than the well-being of his subjects, fearing they would return to the house of David if they went to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices.

Jeroboam’s solution was to make worship easy for his subjects by setting up two golden calves, with one in Bethel and one in Dan. This act was reminiscent of the golden calf incident in Exodus 32. The people, preferring the convenience, accepted this new form of worship. However, this was not the worship the Lord desired. It was in the wrong place, in the wrong manner, with the wrong priests, and directed towards the wrong subject.

Choosing convenience over what God wants can lead to dire consequences. Jeroboam’s actions led to punishment in the days of Josiah, as prophesied in 1 Kings 13:1-2 and fulfilled in 2 Kings 23:15-16. Amos was sent to Israel with a message that they would be led away captive, as mentioned in Amos 7:10-13. If we choose convenience over God’s commands, our worship becomes vain and useless.

God desires what He wants, and it might not always be convenient for us. It may not be a convenient time or place, and there may be other things we would rather be doing. However, convenience does not please the Lord. Our heart and desire must be for Him, and we should want to do what pleases the Lord, even if it requires effort. Choosing convenience over God’s commands can lead to consequences we do not want to face. Instead, we should desire to be with Him in eternity.

Be Ye Doers of the Word

Posted on by under Article, Christian Living

The book of James often mirrors the Sermon on the Mount and offers much in the way of practical applications and Christian living. James 1:22-25, in particular, challenges believers to achieve a faith that goes beyond just hearing.  It is faith marked by action. This section begins with a call to action: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). The difference between hearing and doing is vital. James says that hearing the word without applying it can lead to self-deception. Simply nodding along to sermons or reading Scripture without having it affect our lives creates a false sense of security. One may feel they are in league with God but be mistaken.

In verses 23-24, James uses a well-worn metaphor: hearing the word without doing it is like looking in a mirror, walking away, and forgetting what has just been seen. The mirror symbolizes God’s word, the perfect Law of Liberty, which exposes our spiritual condition. If we fail to act upon this, what results is a lack of spiritual growth.  A mirror doesn’t change us; it only shows us what needs attention.

By contrast, the one who looks into the “perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:25). This “law of liberty” is the word of God, to which we must adhere.  Thus, we need to do by applying God’s holy word to our daily lives.  It ought to be the driving force behind who we are and what we choose to do.  If we want to grow closer to Christ, don’t just hear what the Lord has to say, do it!

Once We Are Saved, Are We Always Saved?

Posted on by under Article, Doctrine

            There are a significant number of people in the religious world today who believe that once we are saved from our sins, that we will always be saved.  In other words, once we are saved, we can never be lost again.  Within Calvinism, this doctrine is known as the perseverance of the saints.  To bolster their belief, several passages of scripture are used to ‘prove’ their case.  One such passage reads, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).  Does this passage really teach that once we are saved, we are always saved and can never fall away?

            These two verses of scripture are in a larger context where Paul is explaining to the brethren in Rome that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.  God is always going to love us.  We need not think that any tribulation or persecution that we might suffer is evidence that God has stopped loving us (Romans 8:35-37).  None of these things can separate us from God.  Even our great adversary, the Devil, cannot separate us from God, though he will certainly accuse us and try to condemn us.  If we belong to the Lord, then we have Jesus to intercede for us with the Father (Romans 8:31-34).  So, there is no external force that can separate the believer from God.

            But does this mean that we are always saved no matter what?  While no external force can keep us from God, we can.  No one else can pluck us out of the hand of God (John 10:29), but we can lose our salvation if we give it up.  Notice in Hebrews 2:1 that we need to give heed to what Jesus has said so we will not drift away.  Drift away from where?  We cannot drift away from a place we have never been.  The book is written to Hebrew Christians who have been saved.  Why warn them about drifting away if that is an impossibility?  One might say they were never really saved since they have drifted away, but Hebrews 6:4-6 shows someone who has definitely been saved who then falls away.  Peter also speaks of those who were saved who then went back into the world and were lost (2 Peter 2:20-22).  Paul says, “let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Again, why the warning if we cannot fall from grace?

            The Bible has many examples of those who had lost their salvation.  Judas, who was handpicked by Jesus to be an Apostle fell.  Demas fell, having loved this present world (2 Tim. 4:10).  Alexander and Hymeneus suffered shipwreck regarding their faith (1 Tim. 1:19-20).  You cannot suffer shipwreck if you were never on the boat!  Even Paul, an inspired Apostle, could lose his salvation (1 Cor. 9:27). 

While no one else can take it from us, it is important for us to remain faithful, so that we will not lose our salvation.  For, “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?” (Heb. 2:3).  We will not escape the wrath of God that is to come if we neglect, or count as worthless, the great salvation that God has given to those who obey Him.