SIMPLE BIBLE FACTS

In this tract, I would like to set forth for your consideration 15 basic Bible facts. I call them basic because they are foundational in God's Word, and they are absolutely vital to our salvation. They are not hard to understand; in fact, they are very clear. 

1. Man is a sinner. In Romans 3:23, Paul wrote, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Now you might ask, "Just exactly what does that mean?" Paul means that every accountable person, every person able to tell the difference between right and wrong, has sinned. We know that in his statement Paul did not have infants and babies in mind, for if he did, that would put him in opposition to what the Lord said in Matthew 18:3, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." When a person is born, he or she enters into this world totally without sin. But at some point in their lives when they reach what can be called the "age of accountability," when they can choose between right and wrong, they will sin. Sin, according to I John 3:4, is a violation of God's law. When that happens, from that point on, they stand in need of a Savior.

2. Jesus is that Saviour. In Matthew 1:21, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said of Mary, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins."     In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." And so, my friends, the Saviour that all men need (for all are sinners), is Jesus. But He will be your personal Saviour only if you comply with His terms of pardon. Jesus said, "Not everyone 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." And again, the Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 5:8-9, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." He is the Saviour for those who obey.

3. The gospel is God's power to save. In Romans 1:16- 17, Paul wrote, "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. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Now you might be asking yourself, "Well, just what is the gospel?" 

My friends, the gospel contains facts to be believed. I Corinthians 15:1-4 gives a kind of capsule summary of those facts when Paul writes, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand: By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."

The gospel also contains commands to be obeyed. Paul made this clear in 2 Thessalonians 1:8, where he wrote, "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." My friends, you can't obey facts - but you surely can obey commands.

The gospel contains promises to be enjoyed, as well. Peter spoke of the promise in Acts 2:39. In order for the gospel to save anyone, he must believe the facts, obey the commands, and thus enjoy the promises.

4. The gospel is to be preached. In Mark 16:15, Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Paul made the importance of preaching the gospel so very clear in Romans 10: 13-17: "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? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith “Lord, who bath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." So we learn that before a person can be saved, he has got to hear the truth.

5. Upon hearing, one must believe. Belief is fundamental. Without it a person is lost. Jesus said in Mark 16:16, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

6. The Lord demands repentance. Jesus said, "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3 & 5). Again, from Acts 17:30 we read, 'And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." This is also fundamental. Without repentance a person is lost. Repentance is a change of heart that is manifested in a change of fife. It is a turning away from one's sin and a turning to the Lord in conduct.

7. Man must confess faith in Christ with the mouth. Can that truth be made any clearer than it is in Romans 10:9-10? Paul wrote, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God bath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." The Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8 is a classic example of this.     When he asked Philip, "What doth hinder me to be baptized? Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." That is an example of confessing the Lord Jesus with the mouth. Confession is fundamental. Without it, a person is lost.

8. Baptism saves! How do I know this? Because it is specifically what the Bible says. In I Peter 3:21, Peter wrote, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth  also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Does baptism only, or alone, save? No! But then Peter did not say that. He did say, I... baptism doth also now save us." When does baptism save? Only when one recognizes that it is a command of God and thus obeys it after believing in Jesus, repenting of his sins, and confessing Jesus as the Son of God. Saul had believed, repented, and confessed the Lord - but what washed away his sins? Acts 22:16 tells us, "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."

Just as belief, repentance, and confession are fundamental, so is baptism in water for the remission of sins. Since the Bible clearly says, "Baptism doth now save us," without it, a person is lost.

9. Bible baptism is a burial in water. Romans 6:3-5 states it this way, "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." My friends, sprinkling or pouring a little water on somebody's head is not Bible baptism. Sprinkling or pouring does not constitute a burial. Would you be pleased with a cemetery that sprinkled a little dirt on someone and called it a burial?

We know that this baptism is in water for Peter specifically said, "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, " in Acts 10:47.

10. Baptism is what puts a person into Christ. How do I know that? Because again it is specifically what the Bible says. From Galatians 3:26-27, we read, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Can that be made any clearer? If you wanted to say that baptism puts us into Christ, how would you say it that would be any clearer than, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ"? Baptism is the final step in getting "into Christ."

11. Baptism puts a person into the church through the operation of the Lord. In I Corinthians 12:13, Paul wrote, "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." How can a person get into the body of Christ without baptism if we are all baptized into the body?     In baptism my friends, it is God who is operating. Again from the pen of Paul, Colossians 2:12 tells us, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." According to Ephesians 1:22-23, the body is the church.

12. Jesus established the Church. He said in Matthew 16:18, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Jesus said He would build His church. But how many churches did Jesus build? Just one. The body is the church and Ephesians 4:4 tells us that there is but "one body." How important is the church? Well, let's read Paul's statement to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Jesus died for the church, and according to Ephesians 5:23, He is the head of the church and the Saviour of the Body. If you want to be saved, you must be a member of the church that Jesus built.

13. A person must be a Christian only. Not a hyphenated Christian, just a Christian. Peter wrote in I Peter 4:16, "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf" In Acts 4:12, Peter said, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Why would anybody want to wear a name other than Christian? Paul talked about that in I Corinthians 1:12-13 when he wrote, "Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" Denominational names are divisive and wrong.

14. God demands true worship. In John 4: 24 our Lord said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. " While we won’t take the time to go into it very completely, it will suffice to say that God wants to be worship according to His truth, not according to what man wants. Worship is not for man’s entertainment. The Christian must assemble each first day of the week for the purpose of partaking of the Lord’s Supper and giving as he has been prospered, because that is what the New Testament teaches. They will also engage in singing, prayer, and the study of God's Word.

15. A person must be faithful unto death. This idea that once a man becomes a Christian he or she can live any way they want, do anything they want, and never lose their salvation is just not true. In Revelation 2:10, the Lord said, "Be thou faithful unto deatf4 and I will give thee a crown of life." In John 8:3 1, Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed."

    So here then are just 15 basic Bible facts that can set you on the road to heaven. What will you do about them?