Be Faithful

Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Revelation 2:10b NASB

Jesus said that if we are “faithful until death”. He will give us “the crown of life”. He is saying that if we are faithful to Him in this life until we die, we will have eternal life with Him. Sounds conditional doesn't it? That's because it is. If we hope to be with Jesus in eternity then we was must live this life to His glory. We must remain faithful in our relationship with Him.

Over the past few days we have looked at several different topics concerning salvation. Hearing the gospel, believing in Jesus, repenting of our sins, confessing that Jesus is the Son of God and being baptized. The last subject in this discussion is faithfulness.

We know that a relationship cannot last if both parties are not faithful to that relationship. If one becomes unfaithful in the relationship, the relationship will never be the same. What Jesus wants us to know is that when we commit to Him it is for life. He wants us to be dedicated to Him for life.

Jesus made this clear during His earthly ministry as well; But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62 NASB Jesus was speaking in response to a statement someone had made; "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." Luke 9:61 NASB Jesus wanted His followers to understand that following Him was their priority for this life in order to join Him in the life to come.

So we see that, once we make that commitment to Jesus it is for a life time. If we lose our faith and we walk away we will not be in relationship with Him anymore. Remember He said “Be faithful until death”. That statement doesn't allow for a temporary faithfulness or on and off again faith. He wants us to be as faithful to Him as he is to us.

Paul said this in 2^nd Timothy chapter 2 and verses 12 and 13; “If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” Paul understood that Jesus faithfulness will never cease, but we are capable of denying Him and losing our opportunity to reign with Him. Paul knew it was a matter of endurance, seeing it through to the end. That is how our faith is to be; enduring till the end.

© 2012 Leo J. Woodman

Be baptized

Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38 NASB

Peter makes it clear in his response to his hearers on the day of Pentecost that baptism is essential for the forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism followed after several things occurred first. They had heard the gospel message about Jesus. When Peter finished his gospel sermon they believed in Jesus. “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, " Brethren, what shall we do?" Acts 2:37 NASB That is when Peter gave them the answer in verse 38. Peters audience had become convicted of their sins and wanted to know what to do about it. Peter gave them a straight forward answer. He told them to do just what Jesus had told His apostles to do to make disciples. Read Mark 16:15,16 and Matthew 28:19,20. The day of Pentecost is the first time we observe the disciple making process.They were making disciples from all around the world that day, “Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.” Acts 2:5 NASB

That first gospel sermon produced thousands of new disciples. “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:41 NASB Visualize that, thousands converted in one day.

The apostles also followed through on the other part of the great commission, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” Matthew 28:20a NASB The apostles got right to work on teaching all of these new disciples what Jesus had taught them. “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42

As we look at the making of disciples we have to realize it's not the teacher that really makes a disciple and it's not the individual that adds themselves to the body it is the Lord that does the adding. “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47b Did you catch the last part of verse 47 it says “those who were being saved”? So it appears the way one is saved is through baptism. Peter wrote about this later in his letter to the church. Read 1^st Peter 3:20,21 “baptism now saves you”.

It is obvious that baptism is significant for the removal of sins. If one wants to be free of their sins, one must be baptized.

Tomorrow we look at the importance of remaining faithful to Jesus.

© 2012 Leo J. Woodman