Articles by Jason Patrick Hilburn
Two men on a deserted island know nothing about religion or the multitudes of churches that exist today. An airplane drops a box full of Bibles onto the island, they read the Bible, and they do what the Bible says to be saved through Christ.
If you asked them which church they are in, what would they say? Would they be in a denomination? If they only know the Bible and only follow the Bible, they cannot be in the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, etc.,… Read more
After all that God has done for us, He deserves all our love and dedication, but is that what we give Him? It is so easy to become distracted by the things of this world and completely focus on things that are not as important as eternity. Do we have our priorities straight? Are we focused on less important things in life more than the most important things? Are we majoring in minors?
If you are a faithful child of God, you are blessed in the greatest ways possible! Here are some of those tremendous blessings:
None of us are perpetually flawless, and, because we have all sinned against God, none of us deserve Heaven, but if we call ourselves CHRISTians and want to be where He is, we must do our best to aim for sinless perfection and truly repent when we sin. If you are turned off whenever a Christian or a Christian preacher mentions something about the necessity of obedience to God, I lovingly encourage you to study more about this in the Bible and honestly ask yourself why you have a negative attitude toward obedience.… Read more
Christ is the Head of His body, His church (Col. 1:18). Christians are described as members of His body, such as hands, feet, etc. (1 Cor. 12:12-27). If we consider ourselves members of Christ’s body, are we doing what the Head of the body commands? What if your body members refused to do what your head (your brain) told them to do?
Many Bible believers know not to steal, kill, etc., but false doctrine often goes under the radar and gets them (false plans of salvation, false ways of worship, false doctrines about Christ or His second coming, etc.), because, sadly, many do not know God’s Word well enough to recognize error (Mt. 22:29). Many sincere believers in Jesus have no idea that false doctrine caused believers in Jesus to be lost, such as Hymenaeus, Philetus, many Galatians, and others.… Read more
I once asked a woman working in a convenience store if she believed the Bible and if she believed in Heaven and Hell. She nodded her head and said she did. I then asked if she could tell me what I would need to do to go to Heaven if I had never become a Christian. Before she could answer, her female co-worker spoke up rather loudly and said, “Get down on your knees and pray.” … Read more
Christ finished His main mission on earth by giving His life on the cross, saying, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30), but today some are twisting His statement into a false doctrine. They claim that since Christ said, “It is finished” on the cross, there are no “works” (no actions) men can do today that will have any effect on their salvation. This has led some to the conclusion that baptism cannot be essential, and that once a person is saved, there is no work he is required to do.… Read more
If you believe the account of the penitent thief on the cross being forgiven proves that people do not have to be baptized today to become saved, here are a few questions to consider:
1. Can it be proven that the thief had never been baptized to have his past sins forgiven? (see Matthew 3:2, 5-6; Mark 1:4; John 4:1-2).
2. Is it possible to sin after baptism? (see Acts 8:12-ff).
3. Is it possible to be forgiven of sins committed after baptism?… Read more
Is your greatest happiness in the past, or in the future? If we live our lives always looking back, it’s like running backwards in a race we desperately need to win. That will only slow us down and make it very difficult to reach the goal. We cannot go back to the so-called “good old days,” but we can go somewhere even better. We are getting farther and farther from the past and our youth, but if we are faithful Christians, we are getting closer and closer to Heaven!… Read more
Did Jesus emphasize reading God’s Word? The following is from Matthew’s Gospel account:
“Have ye not read…?” (12:3).
“Or have ye not read…?” (12:5).
“Have ye not read…?” (19:4).
“Yea; have ye never read…?” (21:16).
“Did ye never read in the Scriptures…?” (21:42).
“…have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God…?” (22:31).
If we do not know the Scriptures well, we will be easily deceived and may even deceive ourselves into thinking we are saved when we are not.… Read more
The Bible is the Word of God.
If the Bible is the Word of God, the Quran is not the Word of God, because the Quran contradicts many fundamental concepts found throughout the Bible.
If the Bible is NOT the Word of God, the Quran is not the Word of God, because the Quran claims that the original words of the Bible came from Heaven (Quran 2:87, 136; 3:3; 4:163; 5:46), and that words from Heaven cannot be altered or corrupted (Quran 6:34; 6:115; 10:64).… Read more
Time does not wash away sin. Twenty years or more may pass after a sin is committed, and men’s memories may fade, but God’s memory does not. Children of God can deceive themselves into thinking they are fine or someone they love is fine, even when repentance has not occurred, but the blood of Christ is the only thing that can wash away sin, and simply waiting a certain length of time does not make one contact the blood.… Read more
How often have faithful members of the Lord’s church begun teaching a lost person, only to have someone else convince the potential convert that he does not need to listen? How often has someone been baptized into Christ, only to have friends or family convince him to leave Christ’s church and become a part of some group that is not in the Bible and not truly following the Bible? Statements or questions like the following are often posed to the person being pulled away: “Who told you that you had to be baptized to be saved?… Read more
When Jews in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost asked what they should do to be saved, Peter commanded them to “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…Save yourselves” (Acts 2:38, 40). In efforts to explain away the clear teaching of Acts 2 and the necessity of water baptism for salvation today, some claim that water baptism was only required for Jews, not Gentiles, and only for a temporary period.… Read more
