Tag: Southern Gospel Radio

Entering the Kingdom Takes Resolve

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JEFF TURNER

People may imagine heaven as calm and untouched by conflict. Yet the Bible gives a different picture. In Matthew 11:12, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven faces violence, and people take hold of it with force. This does not mean heaven is attacked in a physical way. It points to the hard and demanding choice a person must make to enter God’s kingdom.

Following Jesus is not something that happens by accident or comfort. It is not a simple path that fits easily into everyday life. Jesus explained that anyone who wants to follow Him must deny themselves, take up their cross, and walk in His way. That choice brings deep change. It means turning away from a life centered on self.

The Bible describes how a person must give up control over personal desires, plans, and goals. It speaks of letting go of possessions, ambition, and even close ties when they stand in the way of obedience to Christ. This kind of turning is painful because it goes against human pride and self-rule.

Real repentance involves force against one’s own will and sin. Those who enter the kingdom do so by breaking from their old life and placing themselves fully under Christ’s authority.

Remorse is not the same as repentance

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JEFF TURNER

I suppose that when people think about real repentance, Judas Iscariot is not often named. Yet the Gospel of Matthew tells us that after Jesus was judged, Judas felt deep regret. He took the thirty silver coins back to the religious leaders. This shows both a feeling and an action that many people connect with repentance.

But doesn’t this story go further? The Bible does not say that Judas turned back to God for forgiveness. I read that he felt sorrow over what happened. He did not have a change of heart that leads to salvation. Feeling bad is not the same as repentance that brings new life.

Judas did not see himself as a sinner who needed mercy. His sadness came from regret, not faith. He had followed Jesus for the wrong reasons from the start. He wanted wealth, influence, and a high place in what he hoped would be a new kingdom. His choices were driven by greed. Because of this, Jesus once said that one of His followers was like an enemy.

Repentance often includes sorrow, but it does not stop there. It leads a person back to God. Judas never returned to Jesus. Instead, he ended his own life. His actions show that regret alone is not enough.

Understanding sin in the Christian life

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JEFF TURNER

When Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth, he addressed problems of fighting and jealousy among them. He told them they were acting in a fleshly way. Some readers have taken this to mean there are two types of Christians. They think some believers are spiritual while others are carnal Christians who are saved but don’t grow spiritually. I think this understanding misses Paul’s actual message.

The word carnal simply means sinful. The root of the word is the same as flesh. It describes an action, not a permanent state. When someone says they are a carnal Christian, they are really saying they are a sinning Christian, as if this were an acceptable identity. This contradicts the basic meaning of Christianity itself. Jesus came to save people from their sins. This includes both the punishment that sin brings and the control that sin has over a person’s life.

When someone becomes a Christian, sin no longer has power over them. They have been set free from its grip. However, Christians still commit sinful acts because they live in bodies that are not yet fully redeemed. Believers have a new nature inside an old body. They are waiting for the day when Christ returns and their bodies are made new. Until then, Christians will sometimes think and act in sinful ways because of the old nature that remains.

The answer is not to accept sin as normal. Instead, Christians should recognize their sins, turn away from them, and receive the forgiveness God offers.

God’s promise and Israel’s future

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JEFF TURNER

Some people today speak with strong views about what God plans to do with Israel. A key place in the Bible for this discussion is Romans chapters nine through eleven. In these chapters, Paul explains that God keeps His promises and does not turn away from what He has said before. Near the end of chapter eleven, Paul writes that all Israel will be saved. This line has often caused confusion.

The Bible is clear that there is only one way to receive salvation. A person is saved by faith in Jesus Christ. This rule does not change for any group of people. When Paul speaks about Israel being saved, I believe he is pointing to a future time when Israel as a nation will turn to Christ.

The book of Revelation gives more detail about this future. It describes one hundred forty-four thousand Jewish believers, made up of twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes. These believers will come to faith in Jesus and will share the gospel with both Jews and Gentiles across the world. Revelation speaks about them more than once.

Revelation chapter eleven also speaks of a strong spiritual turning in Jerusalem. When two witnesses preach there, the city responds by giving glory to God. The Old Testament prophets add that during Israel’s salvation, two-thirds will face judgment, while one-third will remain. That group will receive the blessings of Christ’s kingdom.

The urgency of baptism for new nelievers

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JEFF TURNER

When someone becomes a Christian, an important question comes up: how quickly should they be baptized? I believe the Bible gives us a clear answer through the actions of early believers.

In the book of Acts, we read about Philip meeting an Ethiopian official. After Philip explains the gospel, the man puts his faith in Jesus. Right away, the Ethiopian asks to be baptized, and Philip baptizes him on the spot. This wasn’t unusual in the early church. Getting baptized immediately after believing in Jesus was the normal practice.

The Ethiopian himself made the connection between faith and baptism. He asked what would prevent him from being baptized, showing he understood this was the next step. The apostle Paul later wrote about one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, linking them together as inseparable parts of following Christ. Baptism and faith belonged together in the minds of early Christians.

Some churches in history created long waiting periods before baptism, sometimes lasting months or even years. But this approach doesn’t match what we see in Scripture. On the day of Pentecost, three thousand people believed and were baptized on the same day. The Bible doesn’t suggest any delay between these two events.

For anyone who has trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior but hasn’t been baptized yet, the message is direct: this needs to happen soon.