eternal security

How Do I Know I’m Saved?

October 12, 2016 by Paul Ellis

“Are you saved? Are you sure?” These questions are sometimes used to scare people into signing up for works-based insurance, which is bad. But the questions themselves are legitimate. In scripture we are exhorted to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5). As I have explained elsewhere, this does not mean […]

Why is the Narrow Gate Hard to Enter?

June 22, 2016 by Paul Ellis

What is the narrow gate? You probably know the answer to this question – the narrow gate is Jesus – but what does it mean to find the narrow gate, and why did Jesus say many would try to enter and fail? Make every effort to enter through the narrow gate, because many, I tell […]

Your Unbreakable Union with Christ

January 6, 2016 by Paul Ellis

Some Christians understand their union with the Lord but only half way. “Sure, God is with us, but sometimes he isn’t. He comes and he goes.” It’s true that in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came upon certain people at certain times, but that was then and this is now. Jesus said the Holy […]

Patient Endurance (Revelation 14:12)

December 16, 2015 by Paul Ellis

A reader asked for my thoughts on the following passage: This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. (Rev 14:12, NIV) When I was a younger man I might’ve preached a message on this verse that went something like this: “You gotta hang […]

Religious Gangsters (Matthew 7:21-23)

October 6, 2015 by Paul Ellis

A scripture that worries some Christians, but shouldn’t, is this one: Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in […]

The Testing of Your Faith

August 26, 2015 by Paul Ellis

What goes through your mind when you see men in orange jumpsuits waiting to be killed for their faith in Jesus? Do you think, “I could die for Jesus,” or “Thank God that’s not me”? The earliest Christians faced the lions of the Roman circus and persecution remains a fact of life many Christians today. But most of us are’t being threatened […]

Continue in the Grace of God

March 24, 2015 by Paul Ellis

In the New Testament we are exhorted to continue in God’s kindness (Romans 11:22), continue in the faith (Colossians 1:23), continue in the teaching of Christ (2 John 1:9), and continue in what we have learned and been convinced of (2 Tim 3:14). In short, we are to continue in the grace of God: When […]

Consider the Severity of God (Romans 11:22)

March 10, 2015 by Paul Ellis

Whenever I tell people about God’s goodness, I can just about guarantee that someone will call for balance and say I should also preach on God’s severity. Then they will quote this verse: Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his […]