What is our answer to the many confused persons who keep asking: "How can we know that we have come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ"" First, we stand together on the basic truth that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. A second fact is that men and women are saved by faith in Christ, alone; without works and without our merit. However, the fact that Christ came to save sinners is not enough-that fact in itself cannot save us. Now, in our day, the issues of believing faith and the gift of eternal life are clouded and confused by an "easy acceptance" that has been fatal to millions who may have stopped short in matters of faith and obedience. Faith is believing and receiving, as in Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved;" and as in John 1:12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name."

A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

FAITH AND OBEDIENCE

For Reading and Meditation:      2 Peter 1:1-11It is one thing to accept the faithfulness of God as a clear biblical truth; it is quite another to act upon it. God has given us many great and precious promises, as our text for today puts it, but do we actually count on them being fulfilled? We have to be careful that we do not hold God to promises He has not given. I have seen a good deal of heartache suffered by Christians because someone encouraged them to take a statement from the Word of God, turn it into a "promise," and urged them to believe for it to come to pass. Then, when nothing happened, they became deeply discouraged. One woman told me that many years ago she had taken the words found in Acts 16:31 - "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household" - and claimed them as a promise. When her husband and son died unrepentant she was devastated. I pointed out to her that even God cannot save those who don't want to be saved, and that the promise given by Paul and Silas was for the Philippian jailer, not anyone else. There are hundreds of promises that God has given in His Word that we can claim without equivocation. "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5, KJV) is just one among many. Someone who has counted all God's promises in the Bible numbers them as being over 3,000. That ought to be enough to keep you going if you lived to be a hundred. Be careful, however, that it is a general promise you are banking on, not a specific one.Father, I have Your promise that You will guide me into all truth, so my trust is in You that You will give me the wisdom to discern between a promise which is general and one that is specific. In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Hebrews 1:1-12</li><li>Hebrews 13:8</li><li>2 Corinthians 4:18</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Why is Jesus so dependable?</li><li>Where do we fix our eyes?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

" he has given us his very great and precious promises " (v. 4)

"Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31 This gospel for a man with a sword at his throat is the gospel for me. This would suit me if I were dying, and it is all that I need while I am living. I look away from self, and sin, and all idea of personal merit, and I trust the LORD Jesus as the Savior whom God has given. I believe in Him, I rest on Him, I accept Him to be my all in all. LORD, I am saved, and I shall be saved to all eternity, for I believe in Jesus. Blessed be Thy name for this. May I daily prove by my life that I am saved from selfishness, and worldliness, and every form of evil. But those last words about my "house": LORD, I would not run away with half a promise when Thou dost give a whole one. I beseech Thee, save all my family. Save the nearest and dearest. Convert the children and the grandchildren, if I have any. Be gracious to my servants and all who dwell under my roof or work for me. Thou makest this promise to me personally if I believe in the LORD Jesus; I beseech Thee to do as Thou hast said. I would go over in my prayer every day the names of all my brothers and sisters, parents, children, friends, relatives, servants, and give Thee no rest till that word is fulfilled, "and thy house."

Another classic from the pen of C.H. Spurgeon that will challenge and inspire you on your daily path to Heaven.

Charles Spurgeon's Faith's Checkbook

What of My House?

And is this so difficult? Does your heart find itself competent to everything, rather than this? Oh, what a reproach to you! In fact, it is impossible to conceive of any more severe condemnation than that which you pass upon yourself, and day by day reiterate, while you continue not to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You are asked to take his righteousness in preference to your own, his wisdom rather than your own; his influence at the throne of God rather than your own. You are asked to become the servant of Christ, rather than continue the servant of sin; to be the friend of Christ, rather than the friend of Satan; and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to free you from the control of unclean spirits. You are asked to choose him whom the good have chosen; him whom all the angels, the most exalted of finite beings; whom God himself has chosen. You refuse; and choose rather to identify yourself with the multitude that crucified him. The blackest catalog of crimes cannot more truly condemn a man, than the fact that you believe not on Jesus Christ condemns you. Your character comes out dark, base, odious, by this one fact. In vain you pretend to have love for your fellow-men, while you declare, as you emphatically do, " Not this man!" "Were a vessel freighted with provisions to approach an island whose inhabitants were dying with starvation, what would you think of him who should refuse to co-operate in bringing her to shore?" And what must be thought of him who cannot believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? You may for the present be deemed respectable; but a day is coming when Christ will be known as the touchstone of morality, and all who are without affinity with him, will be known as utterly reprobate.

A daily devotional written by a Baptist Missionary to India, Reverend George Bowen (1816-1888) over 150 years ago.

Bowen's Daily Meditations

" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." - Acts 16:31. 

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved —you and your household.”

They replied, “Believe<cr>1</cr> in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved<cr>2</cr> —you and your household.”<cr>3</cr>

Acts 16:31

 31 They replied, “Believe   in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved  —you and your household.”  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved —you and your household.”

 They replied, “Believe   in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved  —you and your household.”  

Bible Verse of the Day

February 4, 2023

Acts 16:31 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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