Many people in the Church take the term salvation for granted. We take the confidence that we have in our salvation in Christ Jesus for granted. If someone were to ask for reassurance on how they know they are saved, would you know how to answer them? Do you know how you know that you have salvation? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he eases our minds on our confidence in our salvation through Jesus Christ in his video, Salvation Pt. 4: How Do I Know I Have Salvation?
Romans 10:9-13 Ephesians 2:8-9 John 3:16 Psalms 24:1 1 John 1:9-2:1 1 John 3:3-10 Hebrews 10:26-29
How Do I Know I Have Salvation?
What is Salvation?
Salvation is the process of being forgiven and redeemed from sin.
How Do I Know I Have Salvation?
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:9-13
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world.
Many people in the Church take the term salvation for granted. How many of us would be able to explain what salvation is, why we all need it, as well as how to get/receive it to someone who has never heard? How can we spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth if we don’t fully know how to explain it ourselves? Peter told us to be ready to give a reason for our hope; therefore, wouldn’t why we need salvation and how we obtained it fall under that category? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he lays out the foundation for our salvation that all Christians should have in his video, Salvation Pt. 3: How Do I Get Salvation?
Acts 2:37–41 John 14:5–6 Ephesians 2:8-9 Isaiah 53:5 (KJV) Acts 10:34-35 1 John 1:9 1 John 2:1–6 Psalms 32:5 Matthew 11:28–30 1 Corinthians 10:13 Psalms 32:5
How Do I Get Salvation?
What is Salvation?
Salvation is the process of being forgiven and redeemed from sin.
How Do I Obtain Salvation?
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.” 40 And with many other words He bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received His word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:37–41
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
In the Christian world, we often talk about spiritual doors. We say that the doors God has opened for us, no one can shut. We cling to the idea that the good things God has for us no one can take away, but many of us don’t like the idea that we ourselves can take away those good things by our own actions. We don’t like the idea of the possibility of opening evil spiritual doors in our lives by participating in things that aren’t of God. Many Christians believe that the occult is just foolishness. That the Devil is just a toothless lion, but the Truth is he is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Therefore, could participating in darkness, no matter how innocent it may look, cause someone to open a spiritual door for the demonic to enter their lives? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the dangers of careless actions in his video, Can Participating in Halloween Open Spiritual Doors?
1Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10:1; 9
8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
1 Corinthians 16:8–9
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20
1. Communication with spirits 2. Agreement with spirits 3. Passageway in from one place to another 4. A transition or an opportunity (either for the person or for the spiritual being – whether that being is good or evil)
Spiritually Opening Doors to Evil
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.
Genesis 4:7
Spiritual doors are opened based on what we participate in. If we participate in the things of God, then the spiritual doors to be with God will be opened. If we participate in the things of evil, then the spiritual doors of evil to be with evil will be opened. Participating in occult practices, such as Halloween, opens spiritual doors to the demonic in your life.
Every year candy companies create special packaging, marketing, and products just for Halloween. It’s a spooktacular time. Many people think this is just good business, but what if there is something more to the Halloween candy we’re indulging in every year? What if there is something sinister behind Halloween candy? Could it be food sacrificed to idols? Join ArieRashelle as she shines a light in the darkness, searching for Truth in her video, Should Christians Buy Halloween Candy?
Matthew 4:8-9 Matthew 16:26 Revelation 2:14 Revelation 2:20 Acts 15:28-29 1 Peter 5:8
Should Christians Buy Halloween Candy?
Food Sacrificed to Idols
For some reason, we, the Church, overlook the possibility of eating food sacrificed to idols. In fact, we like to pretend like that isn’t for us, but look at what the Scriptures say about it.
Warnings Against Eating Food Sacrificed to Idols
The Church at Pergamum
14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.
Revelation 2:14
The Church at Thyatira
20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Revelation 2:20
Warning to the Church at Antioch
28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
Pumpkins are a beloved fall fruit. Everything is pumpkin spice for the fall season, even air freshener. Another beloved usage of pumpkins this time of year is carving them into Jack O’ Lanterns. Many Christians carve pumpkins this time of year with Scriptures or images of Jesus or just fun kid things like unicorns or puppies. If Christians aren’t carving pumpkins to be scary Jack’ O Lanterns but instead as a fun family night or a way of witnessing to the world, then is it really the same thing? Is it still wrong to carve pumpkins if it isn’t for Halloween? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he searches through Scripture for the answer to these questions and more in his video, Should Christians Carve Pumpkins?
Jeremiah 13:23 Exodus 32:2–6 John 10 Isaiah 5:20
Should Christians Carve Pumpkins?
The Origin of Jack’ O Lanterns
The legend of Stingy Jack
The Devil heard about Stingy Jack, and one night he went looking for him to see if the stories were true. When Jack saw Satan, he realized that Satan had come to claim his unredeemed soul. So, Jack asked for one final request before Satan took his soul to Hades. His request was to have one last drink of ale at the pub.
Satan, seeing no reason why he shouldn’t, took Jack to the local pub and gave him some drinks. To Satan’s surprise, when the drinks were finished and it came time to pay, Jack asked Satan to pick up the tab. Jack, being the sly cheat he was, talked Satan into turning himself into a silver coin so that they could rip off the pub. Impressed, Satan agreed. Jack then took Satan, who was now a silver coin and put him in his pocket next to a silver crucifix, preventing him from changing back into his original form. Unable to change back, Satan had no choice but to agree to Jack’s demands that he would not bother him for 10 years.
When the 10 years were up, Satan went looking for Jack again. As Satan was preparing to take Jack to Hades, Jack asked for one last apple to eat to satisfy his hunger before his eternal damnation. Once again, Satan obliged and climbed up the apple tree. Jack then quickly carved a crucifix into the trunk of the tree, once again trapping Satan. Unable to go free, Satan once more agreed to Jack’s terms; this time, Satan had to agree that he would never be able to take Jack to Hades.
Eventually, Jack died from alcoholism. As his soul was preparing to enter Heaven through St. Peter’s Gates, God stopped him and would not let him in. His deceit, lies, drunkenness, and wickedness had finally caught up with him, and Jack was unable to enter Heaven. So, Jack, now without an eternal home, went to the Gates of Hades begging to enter, but Satan refused, honoring the promise he had made those many years ago.
Now without a final resting place, Jack was doomed to roam the Earth, becoming a permanent citizen of the Netherworld. Stuck in the darkness of the Spirit Realm, Jack asked Satan how he would be able to see where he was going, as he had no light. So, mockingly, Satan threw him a burning coal to light his way. Going back up to Earth, Jack took a turnip (his favorite food), carved it, and then placed the burning coal inside of it. He began his eternal punishment to endlessly walk the Earth, never finding a resting place. The once Stingy Jack soon became known as “Jack of the Lantern” or “Jack O’ Lantern.”
People In Ireland and Scotland began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them in windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the Jack O’ Lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make the perfect Jack O’ Lanterns.
Carving Pumpkins (Jack O’ Lanterns) Today
The origins of carving pumpkins (Jack O’ Lanterns) is in the occult. In other words, it’s not of God. That which is not of God is evil, and we, Christians, should take no part in it.
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
Everyone has heard of the Grim Reaper. He’s literally the personification of Death from many mythologies that is said to come to collect his victim’s soul. While we’ve all heard of the Grim Reaper, we’ve also all wondered if the Grim Reaper was really real at one time or another. Is this really an evil spirit that comes to collect people’s souls, or is this just a far-fetched myth? Join ArieRashelle as she searches through Scripture to find the Truth in her video, Is The Grim Reaper Real?
Revelation 6:7-8 Revelation 20:14 1 Corinthians 15:26 Revelation 14:14-16 Ezekiel 37:11 John 19:40 Revelation 1:18 Luke 23:50-53 Luke 24:12 John 10:10
The Grim Reaper
Who is the Grim Reaper?
The Personification of Death
The Grim Reaper is Death personified. He comes to collect the souls of his victims and takes them to the afterlife. We see that there are a few instances of the personification of Death, as well as the punishment of this seemingly evil spirit.
8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
Revelation 6:8
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second Death, the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:12-14
The Spirit of Life
Not only is there a spirit of Death, but there is also a spirit of life.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and Death.
We’ve all heard that we all need salvation, but how many of us can truly say we understand and know why that is? If we were asked by someone who has never heard, would we be able to explain it to them? This should be the foundation that every Christian has, but sadly many of us don’t have this foundation. Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he lays the foundation to fully explain why we need salvation in his video, Salvation Pt. 2: Why Do I Need Salvation?
John 3:16-18 Romans 3:23-25a Romans 6:23 Isaiah 64:6a Romans 3:10–12 Malachi 3:6 Matthew 19:3–9 Romans 3:19–20 Romans 5:12; 18-21 1 Corinthians 15:45 Ephesians 2:3 Psalms 58:3 Matthew 25:41
Why Do I Need Salvation?
What is Salvation?
Salvation is the process of being forgiven and redeemed from sin.
What If I Haven’t Sinned?
We all have sinned. Either lying, stealing, lusting, gluttony, greed, etc. all of us have sinned to some capacity, this is why we all need salvation.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.
Romans 3:21-25
Because we have all sinned, we all deserve death because sin brings spiritual and physical death to those who give in to it.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
Even though sin leads to death, Christ has given us the option of salvation in Him because He died for all who would believe.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Those who grew up in the Church are familiar with the term salvation and what that means. In fact, many of us take it for granted and expect everyone to know what it means to accept salvation and be saved. If someone were to ask for a definition of salvation, would you be able to give it? Are you someone who doesn’t fully understand what salvation is and wants to build a strong Christian foundation? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he searches through Scripture for the best definition in his video, Salvation Pt. 1: What is Salvation?
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalms 18:2
11 I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.
Isaiah 43:11
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Webster’s Dictionary Definition of Salvation
1. A saving or being saved from danger, evil, difficulty, destruction, etc.; rescue
2. A person or thing that is a means, cause, or source of preservation or rescue
3. Theol. Deliverance from sin and from the penalties of sin; redemption
Webster’s Dictionary Definition of Redeem
1. To buy back
2. To get back; recover, as by paying a fee
3. To pay off (a mortgage or note)
Salvation means to be redeemed which means to be purchased back.
Redeemed or Purchased Back From What?
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all menbecause all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Everything that God does and decrees has a meaning. From the 6 days of creation to the 7 seven feasts decreed in The Law, everything that God has set has a purpose. There are seven feasts decreed by God; Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths) is the last feast to be celebrated in the year. If all the feasts have a purpose, what’s the purpose of Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths)? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he searches through Scripture to find the meaning behind the Feast of Ingathering in his video, What Does Sukkot Foreshadow?
Leviticus 23:39–43 Zechariah 14:16–19
What Does Sukkot Foreshadow?
Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths/Ingathering)
39 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
Leviticus 23:39-41
During Sukkot, We Look Back To…
Sukkot looks back to the time when the people of Israel had to dwell in booths after the LORD brought them out of Egypt.
42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 23:42-43
During Sukkot, We Look Forward To…
Sukkot (the Feast of Ingathering) foreshadows the millennial reign of Christ when we will dwell in temporary homes until the Judgment and the new earth. On the new earth, we will spend eternity with God and He with us.
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years [the Millenial Reign].
Revelation 20:1-6
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4
Sukkot foreshadows the Millenial Reign of Christ because, during that time, we will temporarily live on this temporary earth for a thousand years with God. This is also the only feast celebrated during the Millenial Reign of Christ because it is the only feast that hasn’t been fulfilled at that time.
Christians are told to be the light of the world and salt of the earth, but if we don’t know what the earth and the world truly are, how can we follow Jesus’ instruction properly? So, then is there a difference between the earth and the world? If so, what’s the difference between the earth and the world? Join ArieRashelle as she searches through Scripture to find the answer to these questions in her video, What’s The Difference Between The Earth and The World?
Matthew 5:13-16 Psalms 90:2 Jeremiah 51:15 1 Corinthians 15:46 Genesis 1:1 1 Samuel 2:8 John 4:24 John 1:14 1 Corinthians 15:23 John 20:26-29 Acts 1:9-11 Genesis 5:24 2 Kings 2:11-12 John 15:19 Genesis 9:14-15 Joshua 1:2 1 Samuel 2:8 Job 34:13 Psalms 24:1 Revelation 20:1-6 Revelation 21:1-4 John 3:16-17 John 1:29 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 John 15:19
What’s The Difference Between The Earth and The World?
The Explanation of the Earth and the World
The Earth
The earth is the physical body, if you will, because it often represents the physical bodies of mankind.
57Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
Genesis 41:57
27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
Psalms 22:27
It’s the physical ground that our physical bodies came from.
5When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Genesis 2:5-7
47aThe first man was from the earth, a man of dust;
1 Corinthians 15:47a
The earth is the physical ground that our physical bodies walk and live on.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26-28
19 I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
Psalms 119:19
The World
The world is the spiritual, if you will, because it often represents the souls of mankind.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever; He has established His throne for justice, 8 and He judges the world with righteousness; He judges the peoples with uprightness.
Psalms 9:7-8
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Mark 16:15-16
The world also represents the spiritual realm where our souls dwell.
23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.“
John 8:23
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than He who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
