Articles by Jason Patrick Hilburn
Just because someone is sincere and religious, that does not mean that he is a saved child of God. Even if he believes in Christ, that does not automatically make him saved. There were sincere religious people in the Bible who were lost, and even people who believed in Jesus were still lost until they were “baptized into Christ” (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3; cf. Acts 2:36-41; 1 Pet. 3:20, 21).
The Ethiopian was sincere, but sincerely lost until baptism (Acts 8:26-39).… Read more
When Paul wrote his first inspired epistle to the church at Corinth, he wrote these words: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).
When reading the verse above, those who are familiar with the Bible probably automatically think of similar passages, such as Acts 2:38-47, when people were added to the church upon baptism, or Galatians 3:26-28, where Paul said we are “baptized into Christ” and “there is neither Jew nor Greek…neither bond nor free,” etc.… Read more
Can alien sinners (sinners who have never been saved) be saved before water baptism, or without water baptism?
Notice the Biblical order:
Romans can be a difficult book to understand. Even Peter said some of Paul’s writings are difficult to understand (2 Pet. 3:15-18), but one should not get discouraged like those of John 6:66. Be like Peter, who persevered (Jn. 6:67, 68). Sadly, Romans 10:9, 10 has been misunderstood or twisted by untold numbers of people. Some seem to think this is the only passage in the Bible telling man how to be saved, and many have interpreted this confession to be “the sinner’s prayer.”… Read more
The honest person will concede that repentance is required for salvation; however, when he does, he simultaneously concedes that John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, and Romans 10 do not explicitly state everything a person must do to be saved (because repentance is not mentioned in any of those passages). In fact, neither “repent” nor “repentance” is found in the Gospel of John or Ephesians at all, and repentance is only mentioned twice in the 16 chapters of Romans, though it is absolutely necessary for salvation.… Read more
The account of Cornelius’ conversion in Acts 10 does not support the false doctrine of “faith only salvation.” If one actually reads the entire book of Acts, by the time he gets to chapter 10 he has already read of thousands of people who were required to be baptized in water for their sins to be forgiven. In Acts 10 and subsequent chapters the reader will find even more people who were required to do the same.… Read more
Some say man is saved by faith alone without any acts of obedience. Is it not ironic that these who put so much emphasis on belief do not actually believe what God said? Those who teach “faith only” salvation are the very ones who do not have faith in what God said!
Any person interested in religion will inevitably be exposed to new ideas he has never considered. This is a natural part of the growth process. Some ideas that seem new may actually be ancient, being rooted in sound Biblical teaching (Jeremiah 6:16). Other ideas or teachings are new because they did not come from God, but man (cf. Matthew 15:9). What should one do when he is exposed to religious information that is new to him?… Read more
Not Jesus
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.… Read more
One of the great characteristics of God is His love for man and His desire that all should come to repentance and be saved (1 Timothy 2:3, 4; 2 Peter 3:9). Because of God’s love, He has often been very patient with people who were in ignorance or rebellion. However, as the Scriptures reveal the mind of God to us (1 Corinthians 2:10-16), we realize that God’s patience with man has its limits.
For example, God gave the people of Noah’s time one hundred twenty years to repent, as Noah was preaching to them and building the ark (Genesis 6:3; 2 Peter 2:5).… Read more
