Tag: salvation

Pastor’s Notes – November 19, 2022

Posted on by River Westlake Baptist Church

Westlake Gospel Campaign

 

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
– Acts 1:8 –

Over the last few months River Westlake Baptist Church has been conducting a city-wide evangelism program through the mail.  We have now successfully gotten the life changing, life saving Gospel of Jesus Christ into the households of every address in Westlake.  Praise God.

Join us in praying for the city of Westlake; that a revival of Biblical doctrine would govern this city, and that a revival of salvation would sweep through its streets and homes.

Acts 4:4 – “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”

 

Pastor’s Notes – March 23rd, 2022

Posted on by River Westlake Baptist Church

 

Ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
– Romans 1:16 –

 

Ecumenicism is sweeping through churches today and is rendering them impotent.  If churches won’t stand for God’s truth, who is going to?

Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Today unfortunately many churches and their people ARE ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  There are many people and churches that profess to believe the Word of God, but think that they must improve on the Gospel to make it more palatable to people.  They think that God couldn’t possibly have meant that we should actually tell people to avoid sin, to hold fast to the doctrines of God, and that the Word of God is the only standard of truth.  They don’t believe these things.

There are lots of churches that think they know better than God, so they will “improve” the clear teachings of the Word of God and make it more agreeable to people.  They think that they know what will “resonate” with people better than God does.  May God have mercy on them.

Churches that are ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are not actually churches, they are just meeting halls and social clubs.  This is why Christianity is so weak right now; because the Word of God is being compromised, and because people think that the Word of God needs to be improved, and they know just how to improve it… make it more agreeable to everybody.

God knows who is a true believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and who has a feigned faith.

Revelation 14:12 – “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

 

Pastor’s Notes – July 16th, 2021

Posted on by River Westlake Baptist Church

Predestination:

 

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?  and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?”
– Romans 10:13-14 –

Calvinism/Reformed Theology is sweeping through churches these days, but it will not sweep through River Westlake Baptist Church, because we understand that Calvinism/Reformed Theology is “ANOTHER GOSPEL.”  God does NOT predestinate approximately 85% of humanity to hell fire with no chance of salvation from their sins.  That is a Satanic belief. 

One of the many Calvinist/Reformed problems is their misunderstanding of the concept of Predestination.

When Paul is speaking to the Ephesians about them being predestinated, nothing Paul is saying is wrong (of course).  The problem arises when Calvinist/Reformed people think that this predestination that Paul speaks of is only for the Ephesians.  Everything Paul spoke to the Ephesians is true, but it also applies not only to the saved Ephesians, but to everybody else also.

Ephesians 1:4-5: “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”

Those saved Ephesians WERE chosen and predestined “to be holy and without blame before him in love.”  And they WERE “predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,”  but so was everyone else that has ever lived.

Here is the problem:  Being predestined for something doesn’t mean that it is going to happen.  We are ALL predestined to be reconciled to God.  Every single person ever in history, and every single person living today, was predestined or chosen to be “IN HIM,” and “that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”   But that doesn’t mean that we are going to be.  Most people will not “be holy and without blame before him in love.”  Why?  Not because they weren’t predestined, because they were, but because they do not BELIEVE who Jesus is and what He has done for us.  We get saved from our sins by our belief.

We were CREATED by God to be in fellowship with Him.  We were PREDESTINED by God to be in fellowship with Him.  But sin broke that fellowship with God, so now God commands us to be reconciled to Him, though Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

There is a massive misunderstanding about being PREDESTINATED.  Calvinists/Reformed people think the “Predestined” are only THEM; only certain people.  God has chosen and predestined us ALL “to be holy and without blame,” but that doesn’t mean that it is going to happen.  Just because something is “predestinated” doesn’t mean it is going to happen.  We either choose to believe on Jesus or we choose to reject Jesus,  We were all predestined to believe, but many, to their shame, choose not to believe.