Many Americans are becoming convinced that the sights we are witnessing in our world, and especially in our own country, are a signal that the end times, which we have read about in our Bibles and have so long believed, are upon us. I, for one, am in that number.
I’m sure many people are re-affirming their faith as they anticipate that the second coming of Christ is nigh at hand. The Rapture, after all, is the hope of the Church. Personal diligence to be ready for the Lord’s return is according to Scriptural admonition. Jesus said, “When you see these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).
What I would like to stress to my readers now is the point that I have been making throughout this site. Mere belief in Jesus is neither sufficient to be saved nor to make it in the Rapture (James 2:14,19-20). Jesus assured us that every person must be born again (John 3:5). He is coming back for the Church He established on the Day of Pentecost (Matthew 16:18; 15:13-14). Paul described it as a “glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). First and foremost among the Church’s integrity is its faithfulness to the salvation terms of the covenant, as announced on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-39).
The Scriptures admonish us to make our calling and election sure (2Peter 1:10) and to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith (2Corinthians 13:5). One way for us to do that is to check our salvation experience by the examples of salvation provided in Acts. What did they do? What salvation tenets did they obey? Were they baptized? What baptismal formula did they receive? How did they receive the Holy Ghost? Should anything about our salvation experience be different from theirs? If God provided the first Christians as a salvation model for us, should we not follow their conversion example?
I strongly encourage you to fulfill Acts 2:38. It is the Christian plan of salvation. And, I encourage you to be a part of an Apostolic Church.
Along with this blog post, I intended to post a Bible lesson, entitled, What Is Saving Faith In Christ? But, in the wake of COVID, I’m still too weak to polish it for publication. I will publish it on the website soon and will include a link to it here.