Sure Salvation

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How to Overcome Doubt

Q: I have been saved before, but I keep falling back into sin. I have repented so many times I think the Lord does not hear me anymore. How do I really know that I am a saved person?

Q: I've been struggling with doubt about my salvation for many years, but now, I believe the Holy Spirit led me to your site to get a clear understanding of salvation based on God's Word rather than how I feel.

A: Praise the Lord! Now learn by heart the Bible verses on assurance of salvation. Start with: 1 Jn. 5:1, Jn. 3:16, Jn. 5:24 and Jn. 6:47.

There's a series of three articles on assurance of salvation that will help you.

There's another three part series here on growing in Christ

Remember: Feelings are a fickle mistress. Faith is what counts.

Can Christians eat pork?

Q: Is it written in the Bible? I'm curious about eating pork, shrimps or crab, is it unlawful for Christians to eat those kind of foods? Amor (Middle East)

A: There are many food restrictions in the Old Testament. Read Lev. Ch. 11. However, Christians are not under the Old Jewish Law.

Christians are under the New Covenant, not the Old Covenant.

Christians are free to eat pig meat, shrimps, and crab (Mk. 7:19, Ro. 14:14-20), but the Holy Spirit does give us some guidance when we eat with Jewish believers, or Christians who have not fully understood the New Testament.

For example, when an old Jew gets saved, somebody who's avoided eating pork all their life, they may find it repulsive to see me eat a bacon sandwich. So, because my eating pig meat would offend his (weak and as yet uneducated) conscience, I would not do so.

This is the purpose of the letter in Acts 15. It is solely about consideration in fellowship, not reintroducing the Jewish food laws. This ground is also covered very tenderly in Ro. 14:19-23 and 1 Co. Ch 8.

Where I live, my friends eat; rats, bats, grubs, snakes, ant and bee larvae, and all kinds of creeping and leaping things. Live giant roaches are sold strapped in pairs at my village market. When a dog is killed on the road, people race to grab the carcase, to eat. This includes the Christians too!

Would you like an invitation to our next Fellowship Pot-Supper?

Perhaps now you see why the Jewish Christians wanted the Gentile Christians to tone down the pig-scoffing in their presence? You see, it is a matter of loving fellowship, not food laws.

(If you are wondering, they all taste like chicken... except the roaches.)

The Holy Spirit has now pronounced all food "clean". Mk. 7:19, Ro. 14:14-20

The SDA cult revel in forcing Jewish food laws onto the gullible. You won't fall for that now will you?

Can a husband baptize his wife?

Q: Can a deacon baptize his wife? Nathaniel

A: If she has first been truly born again, yes of course, because Christ commanded every believer to proclaim the Gospel, and baptize believers. Mtt. 28:19-20

Must a pastor have a covering?

Q: Is it a law that you have to "have a covering" if you are a pastor in the local church. Timothy

A: Your use of the word "law" is worrying. The only "law" laid down under the New Covenant is the Royal Law of love. See Jas. 2:8, and verse 12 reminds us that this is the law Christians will be judged by. Make sure you understand the difference between the Old and the New Covenants.

By "have a covering", I take it you mean, not head covering, but somebody in authority to whom the pastor answers. It is certainly not a law, but always a good idea, so long as the authority is sound. The danger is the oversight can become overbearing, and lean towards legalism. (Tit. 1:7) So the overseer, a person or committee, must be thoroughly trustworthy.

I've seen several pastors go off on a tangent, and their fellowships subsequently dwindle. Something they would have avoided if they had been "covered" by sound people. 1 Tim. Ch.3 lays down guidelines for this sort of thing within a fellowship; and it is clear Paul and Timothy were keeping a watchful, loving eye on the overseers themselves.