Of all things, we cannot afford to take foolish chances on the salvation of our souls.  The apostle Peter admonished, “…Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure….” (2 Peter 1:10).

      There is one way to make sure: Build your spiritual house on the solid rock of God’s word as revealed through Christ.  Jesus said, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). He further said (vs. 26-27) that to not heed His word was to build upon a foundation of sand, and, when subjected to the same elements, one’s “house” (life, soul) would fall, and great would be that fall.

     Are you building aright? Look to the word of God to see.  Sadly, even “Christian” churches are abandoning God’s word as authoritative.  As a case in point, Chelsea Clinton recently claimed that abortion is a Christian response to an unwanted child, adding that she is a Christian, being a member of a particular denomination.  Obviously she, as many in our secular-minded world today, believes her church has the right before God to decide what is, and is not, Christian, regardless of what the Bible teaches.  If the taking of the life of an innocent unborn baby is the Christian thing to do, certainly to oppose such must be “unchristian.”   What should we learn from this? Don’t depend on church dogmas, and don’t even depend upon your personal feelings, for “The heart is deceitful above all things…” (Jeremiah 17:9).  Safe guidance comes not from within us, but from God’s inspired word, the Bible.  It is His word that will judge us in the last day (John 12:48).

     Follow the commendable example of the Bereans, who, when they heard Paul preach, “searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11.  The Bible referred to them as “noble,” for they were true seekers for truth.  

 

                               Ronald Bartanen is the preacher at the Arthur (IL) Church of Christ