Category: Articles

Jesus gave a simple but profound answer to the question, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” in Matthew 22:36. Verse 37: Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

The word for love in this passage (“agapao”), and the similar word, “agape,” are each used over 100 times in the New Testament. In these passages, the Holy Spirit defines what it means to love God and others as He commands.

1 John 5:3 says “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” The verse before says “by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments.” In John 14:15, Jesus says “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Loving God does not mean living for ourselves and then claiming God is rewarding us by giving us all of our temporal desires. Rather, it means transforming our lives to become what He wants us to be. It demands change, sacrifice, hard work, and attention to every part of His Word.

This has a number of applications. On one hand, there can be a temptation to follow certain commands of God, or at least appear to on the surface, without a sincere desire to please Him. There are those who “go through the motions” when praying and worshipping (Matt. 6:7). There are those who do certain things merely to “impress” others (Matt. 23:5). Such have not truly given their lives over to God (cf. Rom. 12:1).

On the other hand, there can be a temptation to sincerely want to please God, but to try to do so by looking to our own ideas of what pleases God. Loving God as He commands demands digging into His Word to see what we need to change, how He wants us to think, how He wants us to speak, how He wants us to act, and who He wants us to be.

Jesus’ command to love our neighbors is likewise defined in Scripture. John 13:34: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. Just as Christ placed our needs ahead of what what was most pleasant or desirable for Himself, we must have this same care for others that leads us to do what we can to help them (1 Cor. 10:33; Phil. 2:4).

Such selflessness produces the fruit God desires (cf. Gal. 5:14). Loving others as ourselves leads to humility, honesty, patience, and kindness (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

As with many of God’s commands, understanding love requires “seeing the forest for the trees,” but also seeing the trees in the forest. The big picture is pleasing God and serving others, but the details of His Word tell us how to do this.

May we sincerely desire to please God and serve others, and may that sincerity be manifested in actions, thoughts, and words that please Him and help others in the way God’s Word commands.

– Michael Hickox

With any biblical subject, the complete teaching of God’s Word must be studied. Religious error often results from seeing part of the truth, while failing to see the complete truth. Notice a few “two-sided coins” of Scripture that demonstrate the need for examining the full picture on biblical subjects.

God’s Grace & Man’s Work: Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”

No submission to works gives us reason to boast. No matter how many good works we do, if we have sinned even once (which we all have – Rom. 3:23), we face eternal death without God’s grace (Rom. 6:23). Salvation is not earned by man’s work.

Yet, works are needed from us in order to receive the gift of salvation. Philippians 2:12 says “So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Salvation is not “by grace alone” and/or “through faith alone.” Works, among other things, are necessary in order to be saved (cf. Jas. 2:14-26). Salvation requires both God’s grace and man’s work.

More generally, salvation requires both the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and faith and obedience on our part.

God’s Love & Righteous Judgment: God’s choice to offer us salvation was motivated by love. He demonstrated love when His Son died for our sins (Rom. 5:8). Because of His love, God really will send the righteous to heaven (Matt. 25:46).

Yet, God is also a perfectly just God who really will send those who do not obey Him to hell (2 Thess. 1:5-9). The “righteous judgment of God” (2 Thes. 1:5) will not allow sin to be ignored, but the love of God allows sin to be forgiven when one submits to God’s terms for forgiveness.

God’s Providence & Man’s Free Will: One way God demonstrates His love for mankind is through His providence.

The “providence of God” is not a term used in Scripture, but the principle is taught. For instance, the apostle Paul prayed for the Philippian brethren to grow in love, discernment, sincerity, and righteousness (Phil. 1:9-11). Prayers such as these demonstrate an expectation that God works to help His children serve Him.

While God does work through His providence, this does not mean that He forces anyone to do right. God chose to create mankind with free will. God’s preference is to help us submit to Him, but we have “free will” and must choose to obey (cf. Matt. 23:37).

What Baptism Is and Is Not: Another two-sided coin of Scripture involves what baptism does and does not do.

Some teach that baptism is not necessary for salvation. God teaches otherwise.

Those on the Day of Pentecost were told by the Lord’s apostle, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Before becoming a Christian, Saul of Tarsus was told by Christ’s messenger, Ananias, “Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Baptism is necessary for one to get “into Christ” (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27), and is thus necessary for salvation (1 Pet. 3:21).

While we must not de-emphasize the necessity placed by God on baptism, we must not make baptism out to be something that it is not.

For instance, God does not promise that baptism washes away unrepentant sin. Notice that in Acts 2:38, the command “Repent” is connected to the forgiveness of sin, just as baptism is. Upon being baptized, we must steadfastly submit to Christ’s doctrine revealed through His apostles (Acts 2:42). Even if we do this initially, we can fall “away from grace” (Gal. 5:4) if we later turn away from God.

These examples help us to see that we must look at the totality of what Scripture teaches on any subject. May we examine God’s Word in this way, viewing every side of each biblical “coin.”

– Michael Hickox

James 5:16 (KJV): Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

James 5:16 is comforting for the faithful Christian. The words “availeth much” stress the power of prayer.

It is significant to note that there are some qualifiers placed around the prayer that avails much though. Notice that James 5:16 does not say “prayer availeth much,” but rather “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” For our prayers to be effective, there are some things needed on our part.

For instance, for our prayers to be effective, we must live righteously.

This point is brought out strongly in 1 Peter 3:12, which says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” God does not promise the unrighteous that their prayers will be effective. In fact, His face is against the unrighteous.

Part of living righteously involves becoming a Christian as God commands. This takes place when a repentant believer is baptized “into Christ” for the remission of his or her sins (Gal. 3:27; cf. Acts 2:38).

Being righteous involves more, though, than becoming a New Testament Christian. It involves living in obedience to God’s commands (1 Pet. 3:8-16). This is needful for God’s ears to be open to our prayers.

Something else that is needed for our prayers to be effective is to pray with the right motives. Notice James 4:3: You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.

A different application of praying with the wrong motives is seen in Matthew 6:5. There the Lord said, “When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.”

Some in Jesus’ day were hypocritical when praying. They prayed to “impress” others with their words. Matthew 6:7 continues this thought. There Jesus said, “In praying, don’t use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.” The point here is not that it is wrong for others to hear us when we pray, or that we cannot repeat words in a prayer. Rather, the point is that we must be sincere and mean the words we pray.

In addition to sincerity and purity of motives, prayers that avail much are also prayed with faith.

Notice what is said in James 1:5-7: But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given tohim. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.

Whether praying for wisdom or something else, one who prays without faith should “not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.” We must trust God’s power and promises when we pray.

If we trust what God says about the power of prayer, we should pray with frequency. Prayer should be a continual practice of ours in good times and bad.

How wonderful is it to know that God wants us to cast our cares on Him (Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 5:7)? It is sad when such a privilege is ignored. As the hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus says, “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer.”

An important thing to keep in mind when praying is that God answers prayer according to His will (cf. 2 Cor. 12:8-9). An attitude to have when praying is, “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

So it is important to consider the high value Scripture places on prayer, but it is also important to consider what is needed from us in order for our prayers to be effective. May we live righteously and pray properly, and thus fully enjoy the blessing God offers of prayer that avails much.

– Michael Hickox

After Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3, Adam was questioned by God. He told God “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (verse 12). When God asked Eve about this, she replied, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (verse 13).

While both rightly confessed “I ate,” their confessions were prefaced with a blame on someone else. With Adam, it was the woman who God gave him. With Eve, it was the serpent.

Eve was a negative influence on Adam, and the serpent was a negative influence on Eve. Yet, Adam himself chose to sin, and so did Eve. Their disobedience was encouraged by others, but it was their disobedience.

As a creature created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-27), mankind has the ability to reason according to God’s truth. We have the ability to distinguish between what God says is right and what God says is wrong. Moreover, we have the ability to choose to do what He says is right.

God could have created us as “robots” that merely act as they are forced to, but He did not. Instead, He created people who have “free will” to obey or disobey.

While God chooses not to force us to obey Him, Satan cannot force us to disobey God. Satan tempts and deceives, but our “free will” allows us to say “no” (1 Cor. 10:13).

This brings us back to Adam and Eve. Even before eating the fruit, the two had enough reasoning capacity to decide to do right or decide to do wrong. They were each responsible for the path they chose. Eve did not force Adam to sin, and Satan did not force Eve to sin.

“Following blindly,” as Adam did, will not be an acceptable excuse on the Day of Judgment. Yes, “many” are headed down the broad path that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13), but reasoning, “everybody else was doing it” will not be acceptable when we stand before Christ. Others can have a tremendous influence on us, just as we can have a tremendous influence on others. But no one can force us to sin. We do so willfully.

Giving into deceitful lust and pride, as Eve did, will not be an acceptable excuse on the Day of Judgment either. Yes, Satan is vicious (1 Pet. 5:8). He was punished for his role in Eve’s sin (Gen. 3:14-15), and will not “get away” with his lies and deception in the long run (cf. Rev. 20:10). But we must not merely blame Satan every time we sin. God urges us to resist Satan (Jas. 4:7).

The point is that we have the ability to choose obedience, and we therefore have the responsibility to choose to obey God. No matter what the majority does, and no matter what the wisdom of the world promotes, we have no excuse if we fail to heed God’s message.

May we each personally accept the responsibility we have for obeying God.

– Michael Hickox

Acts 17:11: Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

On Paul’s “second missionary journey,” he faced opposition in nearly every city he visited. When he arrived at Thessalonica, he taught at a Jewish synagogue for three Sabbath days, and “Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women” (Acts 17:4). Certain of the Jews, though, rejected the teachings of Jesus, and set the city in an uproar (verse 5). These Jews, like many others, opposed the Messiah who was the very fulfillment of the law they claimed to follow (Matt. 5:17).

The Jewish Bereans described in Acts 17:11, however, did not oppose Christ. They were eager for the truth, regardless of its implications.

Why is it that so many reject needed change, instead of eagerly desiring truth like the Bereans of Acts 17:11?

“God is not a God of confusion” (1 Cor. 14:33). The plan He instructs us to follow is clearly taught in His Word. Man’s resistance to God’s teachings cannot be explained by His Word being too difficult to understand. Here are a few of the things that perhaps do help to explain it.

Ignorance – Many desire God to speak to them, yet rarely pick up the book through which He does. Many seek self-help, yet disregard the book that provides “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). Many are looking for hope, yet neglect the words of eternal life (John 6:68). We can choose to dedicate adequate time to studying, or we can choose to look for excuses (cf. Luke 14:18-20). The Bereans chose wisely (cf. Acts 17:30).

Trusting People More than God – Some are diligent in studying, but reject God’s teachings when they conflict with things taught by men and/or women who are trusted.

Fellow Christians can be a big help in understanding the Bible, but if something a man or woman says conflicts with what God says, God’s Word must reign supreme.

Fear of Rejection – There can also be a temptation to reject God’s teachings out of fear of how others will react. Consider the attitude of certain rulers in John 12:42-43: Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed in Him, butbecause of the Pharisees they didn’t confess it, so that they wouldn’t be put out of the synagogue, for they loved men’s praise more than God’s praise.

In hindsight, it’s easy to see the foolishness of these chief rulers, but if we’re not careful, we can fall into the same trap as them.

Pride of Life – Some fail to change out of pride. If we are too proud to admit the need to change as God requires, God will humble us on the Day of Judgment (Matt. 23:12). Instead of being defensive when others try to help us save our souls, we should be humble and thankful.

The individuals from Berea described in Acts 17:11 were not overcome by these problems. They properly prioritized study of God’s Word. They did not refuse to make needed changes. They accepted God’s Word even if it proved their preconceived notions or prior beliefs wrong. These Bereans simply listened to what was taught, compared it to God’s Word, and changed their views to fit what He teaches (Acts 17:12).

May we all follow this example and examine “the scriptures daily” with a heart that eagerly desires the wonderful truth God has given us.

– Michael Hickox