Bible Basics

Give God The Glory

The leper Naaman was told by God to dip seven times in the Jordan River and his leprosy would be healed. This he did and was cleansed of the disease (see 2 Kings 5:1-17). While it was God’s power that had been the means of his cure, his dipping seven times in the Jordan was but the condition imposed by God to access His power. Realizing he had been healed by the power of God and not by anything he had done, Naaman gave God all the glory (v. 18). So it should be with us today. Jesus Christ is God’s gift to the world (John 3:16). But Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15, 16). The gift of salvation in Christ is to the world, and all in the world who will meet God’s conditions will be saved. However, those that refuse to meet these conditions are lost in their sins, for “he who does not believe will be condemned” (v. 16). Just as Naaman could not be healed of his leprosy until he met the conditions of God, neither will God save us until we meet the conditions of believing in Christ and having enough faith in Him to be baptized into Christ. It is an exercise in futility to try to limit “faith” to anything less than a whole-hearted effort to serve the Lord, and foolish indeed to try to remove God’s conditions of salvation.

                                                                                                               -- Clark Dugger

Bible Basics