First Baptist Church of New Carlisle, Ohio has a rich and unique history in our community. Since 1955 we've been establishing ourselves as a lighthouse for Jesus Christ in our hometown of New Carlisle, Ohio.

We have Bible Study at 9:15 am and Worship Service at 10:30 am every Sunday. Childcare/nursery provided for all services. Wednesdays we have Prayer Meeting at 7:00 pm and Revive Student Ministries for youth at 7:00 pm

Monday, August 24, 2015

Question: Can a Christian lose salvation?

Answer: First, the term Christian must be defined. A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer or walked down an aisle or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what makes a Christian. A Christian is a person who has fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and therefore possesses the Holy Spirit (John 3:16Acts 16:31Ephesians 2:8–9).

So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? It’s a crucially important question. Perhaps the best way to answer it is to examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation and to study what losing salvation would entail:

A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). A Christian is not simply an “improved” version of a person; a Christian is an entirely new creature. He is “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be destroyed.

A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18–19). The word redeemed refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. We were purchased at the cost of Christ’s death. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase of the individual for whom He paid with the precious blood of Christ.

A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). To justify is to declare righteous. All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” what He had previously declared. Those absolved of guilt would have to be tried again and found guilty. God would have to reverse the sentence handed down from the divine bench.

A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life is the promise of spending forever in heaven with God. God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal life would have to be redefined. The Christian is promised to live forever. Does eternalnot mean “eternal”?

A Christian is marked by God and sealed by the Spirit. “You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13–14). At the moment of faith, the new Christian is marked and sealed with the Spirit, who was promised to act as a deposit to guarantee the heavenly inheritance. The end result is that God’s glory is praised. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to erase the mark, withdraw the Spirit, cancel the deposit, break His promise, revoke the guarantee, keep the inheritance, forego the praise, and lessen His glory.

A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). According to Romans 5:1, justification is ours at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30, glorification comes with justification. All those whom God justifies are promised to be glorified. This promise will be fulfilled when Christians receive their perfect resurrection bodies in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.

A Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says happens to us when we receive Christ would be invalidated if salvation could be lost. Salvation is the gift of God, and God’s gifts are “irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). A Christian cannot be un-newly created. The redeemed cannot be unpurchased. Eternal life cannot be temporary. God cannot renege on His Word. Scripture says that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2).

Two common objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation concern these experiential issues: 1) What about Christians who live in a sinful, unrepentant lifestyle? 2) What about Christians who reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these objections is the assumption that everyone who calls himself a “Christian” has actually been born again. The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a state of continual, unrepentant sin (1 John 3:6). The Bible also says that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he was never truly a Christian (1 John 2:19). He may have been religious, he may have put on a good show, but he was never born again by the power of God. “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:16). The redeemed of God belong “to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4).

Nothing can separate a child of God from the Father’s love (Romans 8:38–39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28–29). God guarantees eternal life and maintains the salvation He has given us. The Good Shepherd searches for the lost sheep, and, “when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home” (Luke 15:5–6). The lamb is found, and the Shepherd gladly bears the burden; our Lord takes full responsibility for bringing the lost one safely home.

Jude 24–25 further emphasizes the goodness and faithfulness of our Savior: “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

"Can a Christian lose salvation?" (n.d.). Retrieved [August 24, 2015], from http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-lose-salvation.html.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Through the Fire - By Ken Lawler

Have you ever wondered about those preachers (mainly on TV) who stand in front of packed churches telling the people about this "name it and claim it" religion where God just can't hardly wait until you get up in the morning so He can start blessing you another day?  For some strange reason there have been days in my life where those blessings have been few and far between, or completely missing.  Some of you have travelled the same road I have and know exactly what I'm referring to.  What brought this subject up was Dolly on the piano learning how to play Through The Fire by Gerald Crabb.

One of the neat things about the Bible is that if some character, (even the heroes of faith listed in Heb. 11), have a wart or flaw the flaw is pointed out so all of us can know about it.  There are a few people in the Bible that there is nothing derogatory said about them.  If they had some flaw in their character we're not told about it.  You would expect these individuals to breeze through life if these modern day preachers knew what they were talking about.  One of these "perfect and upright" people was Job, and look what happened to him!  Another was Daniel; another was Joseph; and three more were the Hebrew boys named Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.  You know these last three better by the names given to them by the Babylonian prince of the eunuchs: Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

Joseph's only "flaw" was being his father's favorite son from his father's favorite wife, neither of which were his fault.  He may have seemed to be an arrogant little twerp to his brothers (ten of them were half-brothers), but the Bible doesn't imply that.  Yet he was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery by them, unjustly imprisoned in Egypt, and left to cool his heels in a dungeon.  Not too many blessings from God there.

Look at the other four guys I mentioned, probably teen-agers taken from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar into captivity in Babylon.  When you read in Dan. 1:7 that the man in charge of them was 'the prince of the eunuchs,' it implies that Nebuchadnezzar had them castrated.  How's that for being the apple of God's eye?  Daniel's devotion to God got him thrown into a lion's den.  The three young friends of his were equally devoted to God and it got them thrown into a furnace.

That brings me to the title of this article.  Notice God did not protect Daniel from the lion's den; He protected him in the lion's den.  God did not protect the three Hebrew boys from the furnace; He protected them in the furnace.

Gerald Crabb hit the nail on the head when he wrote the song Through The Fire.  Look at these words:

"He never promised that the cross world not get heavy, and the hill would not be hard to climb.  He never offered our victories without fighting, but He said help would always come in time.  Just remember when you're standing in the valley of decision and the adversary says 'give in,' just hold on.  Our Lord will show up, yes, and He will take you through the fire again."

There's an old hymn titled God Leads Us Along and the chorus says, "Some thro' the waters, some thro' the flood, some thro' the fire, but all thro' the blood."

We're all delighted we get the privilege of eternity in Heaven by going "through the blood," since it's Jesus' blood, not ours.  We're not so gung-ho about the possibility that we might have to go "through the waters, flood or fire."  In Isaiah Chapter 43 the subject is "Redeemed and Restored Israel," and Verse 2 says:  "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:  when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."  A couple examples of God's people having to go through the waters/rivers are Noah and his family during the flood, and Israel crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan River during their escape from Egypt.

We've all heard numerous sermons from Mark Chapter 6 about Jesus and Peter walking on the water.  There's something in that passage that I've never heard anyone elaborate on.  In Mark 6:45, Jesus tells His disciples to get in the boat and go across the Sea on Galilee.  We know from the text that they had fed the crowd an evening meal (so it was late afternoon) and it says straightway, or right after that, Jesus sent them out onto the lake.  He came walking on the lake, "about the fourth watch of the night."  This was the watch just before dawn, so they had been out there rowing all night.  What's really interesting, and that I've heard no one comment on, is the last phrase in Verse 48.  He is walking toward their boat and it says, "and [He] would have passed by them."  You get the impression that if they had not cried out to Him, He would have walked on to the other side and left them out there rowing in the storm.  Apparently the only reason He got into the boat and calmed the storm is they "cried out [to Him]."

So when The Lord tells you to go through the water, the flood, or the fire you need to know that you can cry out to Him and He may get in the boat with you; and calm the storm.  If you have been rowing your boat into the wind for a while and making little progress, that may be the reason;  ask Him to get in your boat.

Kitchen Korner (Sausage-Stuffed Jalapenos) - By Dolly Lawler

If in your garden you have a crop of jalapenos ready to harvest, one thing you might want to try is this recipe.  We made these stuffed jalapenos and ate them as a meal. (They are actually an appetizer.)  Although they are to be baked, we ate some unbaked and liked them just as well that way.  If you are hesitant to make these because you think they will be too hot, they're not.  They are just spicy enough to make them "plain ole good."  We had only eaten a couple of them before we decided the recipe was definitely a keeper and we'd be making them over and over again.

SAUSAGE-STUFFED JALAPENOS
(Wear disposable gloves when cutting hot peppers; the oils can burn skin.  Avoid touching your face.)

1 lb. Bob Evans Sausage (or other bulk pork sausage)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese
22 large jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded

Instructions:

1.  In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.

2.  In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and Parmesan cheese; fold in sausage.  (Folding is not as easy as it sounds; I had to use my hands to mix.)

3.  Spoon about 1 Tbsp. into each jalapeno half.  (I lightly pressed the mixture into the jalapenos halves using my thumbs.)  Place in two ungreased 13x9-in. baking dishes.

4.  Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 15-20 minutes or until filling is lightly browned and bubbly.

5.  Serve with ranches dressing on the side if desired.

Please submit a favorite recipe to:
lawlers@windstream.net