Musick-al Notes

Musick-al note # 184             

       Once saved, is it possible that salvation can be lost?  What does the Scriptures say about this matter?  In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23), Jesus spoke of the hearts of men that hear the words of salvation and their response to those words.  Some hear the Word but do not receive it, others have no stamina (root) and soon fall away, others hear with joy but let other things crowd out the Word, but others take the Word and let it develop into fruit.   YES, salvation is offered but men lose it.  Some people turn from the Word because they have heard and believe teachings that are contrary to God’s Word. They do not even listen!  Others are so concerned and involved in worldly pursuits that they refuse to consider the Word as important.  Some begin but are deceived by worldly lusts or accomplishments and soon lose sight of God’s message, then fall away. Yes man can lose salvation in many ways. The Hebrew writer said it could be lost through neglect in Hebrews 2:1-3, “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.  How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord? He said it could be lost through unbelief in Hebrews 3:12-14 “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.”   One can be lost Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”  Following the doctrines of men will cause men to be lost for they make our worship vain (Matthew 15:9).”  Assuredly one can lose their salvation by unconcern, neglect, worldly affairs, changing priorities and/or false doctrines but lost is LOST, leaving a person outside the gates of heaven.   

             Gordon Musick

   Musick-al note # 183                     

            In days long ago, the prophet Jeremiah quoted the Lord who said, “stand at the crossroad and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).  Israel had strayed from God’s way into their own selfish ways unknowingly going to destruction as they followed false teachings. They were saying that they had the law of the LORD, not knowing that those leaders were handling His Word deceitfully (Jeremiah 8:8).  Which means that their leaders were changing God’s Word and leading them astray!  Destruction and despair followed for they turned from God to their own ways and refused to listen and obey Him.

            Has this never happened again?  Are men any different today when they are led by teachers who handle the Word of God deceitfully and never consider what is written in God’s Word? Shouldn’t we be like the Bereans who searched the Scriptures to prove Paul’s teaching to be true (Acts 17:11) to also prove our preachers and teachers are true to the Word of God? John wrote that these words were written that we might believe (Acts 20:31). We dare not follow any teaching, action, promotion, requirement or position that does not have its foundation in the Word.  To say that anything that is not prohibited is insufficient to our doing, believing and supporting it which would allow anything to enter our lives.  How much better to follow that which is written. Peter said that we have been give all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter1:3) so we should not add to nor take from those things that are written (Revelation 22:18-19).

            We must study the old paths – the words given by the Lord and His apostles to follow them in following Christ (2 Peter 3:2, 17).  Listen carefully to what you see and hear, then test each by the Word of God, for many use the Word deceitfully and follow their own agenda or direction to which they lead. God will judge everyone by the Word as He has given it. Note these verses (Psalms 119:89, John 12:48-50, Romans 14:11-12, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Hebrews 9:27), Seek the old paths, it is a good way, follow it and you will be blessed.

            Gordon Musick

Musick-al note # 182                 

         When God created man in the beginning, He came to the Garden of Eden and visited man at evening (Genesis 3:8). On this occasion because Adam and Eve had sinned separating from the sinlessness of God, being ashamed of their nakedness (Genesis 3:10), they hid themselves from God.  They had enjoyed all the benefits of God and enjoyed the Garden of Eden as long as they had not sinned, but after sinning, they were cast out of the garden. (Genesis 3:17-19).  A flaming sword kept them from returning to the place where they had fellowship with God and the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Since that time, God has shown His interest in man by providing him with approved avenues of worship as well as all that he needs to live in this world.  Man’s worship had kept him in contact with the God of Heaven.  Their sacrifices could never take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).  God finally sent His only Son into the world to save man from their sins and enable man to enter into heaven to live with Himself throughout all the ages to come.  The entire Bible story centers in Christ Jesus who was sent for this purpose (John 12:27).  He died on the cross for every man (Hebrews 2:9) paying the debt of sins (Ezekiel 18:4, Romans 6:23).  By His death we are able to have forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 1:7) in obedience to the Gospel of Christ..  He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father (Romans 6:4).  We can enter into Christ by baptism that we might be forgiven of our sins (Galatians 3:26-27, Romans 6:3-7).  Obeying His commands from the heart frees us from sin and makes us a servant of righteousness (Romans 6:17-18). He has promised to bring us to God and it is only by Him that a person can come into God’s presence (John 14:1-6, Hebrews 5:9).  When we come into God’s presence we can truly have fellowship with Him, however we do have fellowship with God in Christ today (1 John 1:3-7).  Yes, man was made to have fellowship with God and we shall enjoy face to face fellowship with Him in the eternal realm when we obey His Son, Jesus and live faithfully until death (Revelation 2:10).

            Gordon Musick

Musick-al Note # 181            

          Being a Christian is the greatest thing that God ever planned for man for it is written in (1Corinthians 2:7-12). “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.  But God has revealed them us by the Spirit.” This was written to describe the blessings that would be given to those who become Christians.  Note what Paul said that he spoke these things which the Holy Spirit had taught (1 Corinthians 2:12-13). Paul in writing to the Ephesians said that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3) and enumerated several of them to finish that chapter. The person who would refuse to accept these blessings must either not believe that God cannot give them or else he does not want them.  Everyone should want to be a Christian in order to receive such great blessings.  But being a Christian is not just assenting to certain facts.  Being a Christian means that one not only believes revealed facts but he trusts God who gave the promises and is willing to sacrifice his own will and desires to submit to the will of God in obedience to His commands (Luke 9:23).  When God tells him to work and serve his fellow man, a Christians will do so willingly and freely because he loves his Lord who died for him. The crowning hope of every Christian is eternal life with God. All faithful Christians will receive this reward and be protected from the wrath of God (2 Thessalonians 1:6-12).  Are you a faithful Christian today?  If you want the rewards and the blessings of a Christian, you may do so IF AND ONLY IF you will obey God’s word to believe in Christ, repent of your sins, confess His name before men, and be buried with Him in baptism for the remission of your sins and live faithfully to the end of life (Romans 6:17-18, Titus 2:11-13).  If you love the Lord Jesus who died for you, you will do these things without question.  Become a Christian today!

             Gordon Musick

Musick-al note # 179        

         It comes as a surprise to a lot of people that the mercy of God has some stipulations before salvation is given to them.  And why not, God created the world and all that is in it including man whom he made in His own likeness (Genesis 1:26).  God, maker of mankind and giving to each a living soul, owns everything including our souls (Ezekiel 18:4).  Every man has corrupted his soul by sinning against God (Romans 3:23).  God has gone to great lengths to save every person even to giving His son to ransom them from eternal death (2 Peter 3:9).   Jesus took the sin-debt (Ezekiel 18:3, Romans 6:23) and paid the ransom price for our souls (1 Timothy 2:6) by his death on the cross.

        We can thank the Lord God for accepting Jesus’ death for the debt of sin of all men and raised Him from the dead to sit at His own right hand (Acts 2:30-33).  After Jesus paid the debt of sin for all mankind, He sat at the right hand of God and became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Hebrews 5:8-9).  What are we to do to obey God to save our souls?  Since God is the savior, He has the right to tell man what He wants man to do.  We have never been given the right to determine what we are to do – it is not a matter of man’s choice.  Read the Bible, God’s Word, and you will find no indication that in obeying God that He has ever asked, “What would you (man) want to do?” but only to do what God has asked.

        The New Testament, God’s will in Christ begins with faith in His Son (John 3:16).  Faith that determines our trust to follow Jesus.  He said we must repent of our sins (Luke 13:3, Acts 17:30).  We must also confess Christ Jesus as Lord (Matthew 10:32-33) and be buried (submerged) with Him in baptism (Colossians 2:12), then be raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-10).  It is in the act of baptism that God washes away that person’s sin (Acts 22:16) and gives new life to them. In being baptized, we become children of God in Christ (Galatians 3:26-27) and we are added to His body (1 Corinthians 12:13) which is His church (Ephesians 1:22-23).  One’s obedience to the Gospel is the beginning of our new life (Romans 6:4) in which we continue to hear the Words of Jesus that we may do them (Matthew 7:21-27). We are safe from the wrath of God that will come upon those who do not know God and who do not obey the Gospel of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

           Gordon Musick                                 

Musick-al Note # 179                                           

        Everyone needs the comfort, teaching, encouragement and spiritual strength derived from the Word of God.  When one fails to study the Bible regularly, they will lose interest in eternal life and never take the time to know it.  We must heed the Word to follow Jesus.

      “Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and it more abundantly”.  He also made it clear that to have that life, a person must accept the teaching of Christ in loving faith and willing obedience to all His commands (John 14:15, Matthew 7:24-27). Everyone should recognize that Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice on the cross to ransom all men from their debt of sin (2 Timothy 2:6).  The tremendous gift of having the debt of sin paid (Ezekiel 18:4, Romans 6:23) must be received by every person by their following Jesus in faith and in obedience to him. Our response must be more than declaring that we love Him and call Him our Lord (Luke 6:46).  We must obey him in all things. A person who believes that Jesus is the Christ and turns from sin to begin a life freed from sin will be baptized into His death and that we are raised by faith in the operation of God, having forgiven us all trespasses.” (Romans 6:3-11).  Paul said that baptism makes us Children of God by putting on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). The doctrine of salvation before baptism makes the death of Christ inconsequential and the command to be buried with the Lord an empty, meaningless ritual. 

It must grieve the Lord to hear people declare that they love him then say that his commands are meaningless and do not obey them (John 14:21-26). To accept the teaching of Christ, follow those teachings faithfully and you will be blessed by him. (Matthew 7:13-14, John 10:9-10, John 10:27-30, 14:6, 23-24).

      Consider well the teachings of Jesus and the apostles who said that as there were false prophets in Israel, so false teachers will be among believers in Christ (Matthew 7:15, 2 Peter 2:1-3).  Paul wrote that false teacher would change the message, causing it to no longer be truth (Galatians 1:6-9).  Be careful to follow the truth by following the Word of God..

               Gordon Musick

Musick-al Note # 178           

         Jesus statement in Matthew 5:13 arrests one’s attention so that it is difficult to read further.  Should we re-read the passage it does say what we thought, but it is still hard to comprehend.  Does salt lose its saltiness?  How then can it be called salt?  If not salt, what is it then?  Sand I suppose.  All would agree that Jesus was speaking of disciples being the salt of the earth, the saving influence, the enhancer of life.  Changing the figure from salt to Christians, we can answer those nagging questions that form in our minds.  A Christian’s influence is to preserve humanity and enhance every life.  Can a Christian lose his influence?  To be sure.  Here is a “Christian” wife who must attend services alone.  She wonders why her husband is not moved to obey the gospel for many had spoken to him about his soul.  At home, she nags and nags, in public she belittles him, in speech she is sharp tongued and short tempered, nor does she ever read the Bible and pray.  Did her spiritual life ‘save’ him or ‘enhance’ his life and love? She has lost her ‘saltiness’ as far as he is concerned because her influence did nothing to bring him to salvation.

         Here is a “Christian” man who sometimes serves at the Lord’s Table, leads a prayer and appears righteous on Sunday.  Monday, he curses, swears and rages because of a mistake of an employee.  Tuesday, he lies and cheats on his business deals.  Wednesday, he “puts over a “slick deal” and charges a fellow Christian twice over what he should have. Thursday, he spends the day fishing with a “prospective customer” (an old buddy).  Friday, his drinking is so bad he is sent home to “rest”.  Saturday, he is unfit for human eyes, alternately sleeping, drinking and raging.  Has his spiritual life worked to ‘save’ a friend or enhanced their lives?  Has his conduct brought sweetness and goodness to his family and acquaintances?  He has lost his ‘saltiness’ because his influence does more harm than good and even brings shame upon the Lord’s body. Jesus said, “Salt that has lost its saltiness is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of man.”  Doesn’t this reveal what the “Christian” is when he has lost his influence in evil living?

      Is there no remedy?  Yes, when Man repents and makes his influence good instead of evil. God will forgive even the vilest person when they believe and obey His Word. They can become an influence to save themselves and others as well as to enhance their lives.

                   Gordon Musick