Archives For Discipleship

A Vital Question to Consider: Are You Really Saved?

April 22, 2015

The following salvation and membership testimony was shared with me by someone who wants to remain anonymous so that the focus of the testimony would be entirely on the Lord. I encourage you to read it carefully and examine yourself to see if you are really saved.

During my teen years, after moving to a new city and my parents desiring to join an independent Baptist church there, I was directed down the Roman’s Road in the Scriptures and prayed the sinner’s prayer with my pastor. But frequently after that time, when reading Scriptures I felt a drawing by the Lord to the Scripture verse Isaiah 55:1, “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The drawing power of that Scripture came time and time [again] during the following years, and I would think that I needed to draw closer to God, to re-dedicate my life to Him—but nothing changed inside. Seeing and hearing my peers at church discuss witnessing to their unsaved friends always put a hunger in my soul to be able to do the same, but I had not the words to say, a seeming inability to do so.

After some years passed following marriage and the Lord calling my husband to Bible school and directing him into a ministry, God graciously revealed what my continuing hunger was. One evening, specifically March 16, 1965, following God’s leading, my husband brought home from his study his large reel-to-reel tape recorder. He sat it on the kitchen table and told me to listen to the message on the tape preached by an evangelist, that it would be a blessing to me, and then went back to his study. The message concerned the evangelist’s own conversion after having been in evangelistic work for 18 years. The moment he stated God’s revelation to him of his own lost condition, my heart was pricked and I was stunned to realize that I, too, was lost. The unknown truth about my spiritual life was at last revealed to me.

Overwhelmed by the guilt and knowledge that all those past years I had not truly been who I thought I was (I actually did not know I was unsaved), and most of all with great sorrow over the fact that my husband unknowingly had married an unsaved person, I bowed my head and prayed for forgiveness and claimed Christ as my Savior. Joyfully, I called my husband on the phone and told him I had truly been born again—saved by the blood of Christ and my sins washed away! He told me that while he himself had been listening to this message on the recorder, the Lord had impressed on his mind “your wife is unsaved.” He then asked me if I would be willing to give my testimony in church the next morning.

At the end of that Sunday morning service, when the invitation was extended for anyone unsaved to answer God’s call for salvation, a hand went up and a 30-year-old lady stepped forward—the only daughter of one of the deacons, who in the providence of God, was visiting her dad that weekend from out of town (as she lived and worked elsewhere). She stated that she thought she was saved as a teenager but upon hearing my testimony realized her own lost condition and came forward to receive Christ.

Soon after that Sunday, I was baptized by immersion.

For a short time afterwards, I did wonder if my imagination had made up the fact that I had not been saved before and sought for assurance from the Lord regarding my salvation. He confirmed to me the reality of what happened in my life with verses from Matt. 7:21-23, causing me to realize with shock and sadness that there may be other people—friends, relatives, who will go out into eternity lost or who had departed this life, who all the while thought they were saved.

“Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven——-Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? [Taught Sunday School, worked in a ministry, even given a witness] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” He also gave me two precious verses, Isaiah 32:17, “That the work of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever.” And lastly, 1 Cor. 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.”

But for God’s grace, kindness and love, I had been in a position to go out into eternity lost and doomed—never knowing until too late my condition. Since that time, my heart’s desire has been to be used of God to help others see their need of Christ and that my testimony may be used by the Holy Spirit to touch the heart of an unsaved soul—perhaps there is someone here tonight who is right now in the position I was—you are traveling down life’s pathway completely unsaved under the false illusion that spiritually you are safe. Think on Matthew 7:21-23 again.

God brought me to [this city] to live, and He has given me the privilege of becoming part of a church that is winning and discipling people for the Lord’s glory and sending out laborers to other parts of the world to do likewise. I would like to be a part of [this church] to be used by the Lord as He directs and sees fit. “Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come.” Psalm 71:18.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Testimony
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What Jesus Wants Repeatedly Emphasized to His People in His Churches

April 21, 2015

Imagine that you go to church on a Sunday or Wednesday and hear that Jesus is going to come to your church and preach a week of meetings at your church. If that were to happen, what do you think Jesus would repeatedly emphasize in His week of meetings?

Of course, Jesus is not Himself going to come preach at any church, but we can know something about what Jesus wants emphasized in messages in His churches by noting what He repeatedly talks about in the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. In messages to three of the seven churches, Jesus spoke six times about a key figure that is active in Christian churches:

Rev 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Rev 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

Rev 2:24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Based on this biblical data, we can be confident that Jesus wants preachers and teachers in His churches continually to make His people mindful of the nefarious activities of Satan! Let us learn from these passages that we must keep this emphasis before God’s people continually.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exhortation, Preaching, Theology
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A Widespread, False Assertion about Corinthian Prostitutes and Paul’s Teaching about Head Coverings

April 18, 2015

Have you ever heard that Paul taught the Corinthians that it was shameful for women to cut their hair short or shave their heads because that was what the prostitutes in Corinth did? Pastor Minnick recently pointed out that Gordon Fee, who is a highly devoted egalitarian, wrote in his standard commentary on First Corinthians that there is zero historical evidence for that idea!

Here is what Fee has written about this very widespread false explanation for why Paul wrote what he did:

“It was commonly suggested that short hair or a shaved head was the mark of Corinthian prostitutes . . . But there is no contemporary evidence to support this view (it seems to be a case of one scholar’s guess becoming a second scholar’s footnote and a third scholar’s assumption).”1

The apostle Paul did not teach what he did in 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 because Corinthian prostitutes cut their hair short or shaved their heads. For a superb treatment of why Paul did teach what he did about head coverings and much more, I encourage you to listen closely to this recent message by Pastor Minnick: Harmonizing 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14.2

1 Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians in NICNT, 511

2 For clear biblical evidence that shows that Paul is speaking about an external head covering, see my post Haman, Head Coverings, and First Corinthians 11:1-16.

See also Why Christian Women Should Have Long Hair

What Is Hair as the Hair of Women?

Does God Care about the Length of Hair a Christian Man Has?

The Teaching of “Nature” (1 Cor. 11:14-15)

 

 

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Interpretation, Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Quotes
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How a Noteworthy Statement by King Solomon Helps Put Certain Limitations in a Right Perspective

April 13, 2015

First Kings 4:29-34 highlights the surpassing greatness of the wisdom that God gave King Solomon:

1Ki 4:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

 30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

 31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

 32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

 33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

 34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

These breathtaking statements relate the remarkable breadth and depth of wisdom that God gave to King Solomon.

In the very next chapter, however, we read that King Solomon sought out the services of Hiram king of Tyre to render necessary service for the building of a house for God’s name (1 Kings 5:1-6). In fact, Solomon himself declared that the Sidonians were uniquely skilled in a way that none of the Israelites was:

1Ki 5:6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.

From this statement by Solomon himself, we learn that the superlative wisdom that God gave Solomon did not extend to the skill of cutting timber!

The greatness of Solomon’s wisdom, therefore, included the skill of discerning what areas he (and all the others around him) was not especially gifted at and the skill of accurately assessing who had the skills that he himself lacked. From this noteworthy statement by King Solomon, we should learn that an important facet of living our lives wisely to the do the will of God in our lives is to recognize what areas God has not gifted us in and to avail ourselves freely of the services of those whom He has gifted in those ways.

Moreover, we should not feel that we are somehow stupid or unmanly or lacking if we are not able to do some specific tasks well, as many others may be able to do them. If someone who was so immensely gifted supernaturally by God as Solomon was yet lacked a high degree of a specific skill involving manual labor, we who have not been directly blessed by God to any degree comparable to what Solomon was have no need to feel ashamed or inadequate because we are not particularly skillful in doing certain or even many manual tasks well!

 

 

 

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Exposition
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A Key Distinction That Many Believers May Be Missing

April 9, 2015

In their thinking about human sinfulness, many believers may often be missing a key distinction that Scripture repeatedly makes in both Testaments between two major categories of sins:

1. Samuel the prophet rebuked King Saul for his disobedience with instruction that distinguished between the sin of witchcraft/divination and the sin of idolatry:

KJV 1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

NAS 1Sa 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.”

2. The author of Second Chronicles relates the horrific sinfulness of king Manasseh by speaking of his idolatry (2 Chron. 33:3-5 and 33:7) in distinction from his involvement with occult practices (2 Chron. 33:6):

KJV 2Ch 33:3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

NAS 2Ch 33:3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

KJV 2Ch 33:4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

NAS 2Ch 33:4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD of which the LORD had said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”

KJV 2Ch 33:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

NAS 2Ch 33:5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

KJV 2Ch 33:6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

NAS 2Ch 33:6 And he made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

KJV 2Ch 33:7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

NAS 2Ch 33:7 Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;

3. When Paul the Apostle lists various works of the flesh, he distinguishes between idolatry (Gal. 5:20) and witchcraft/sorcery (Gal. 5:20):

KJV Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

NAS Gal 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,

KJV Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

NAS Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,

4. The apostle John likewise distinguishes the worship of demons and idolatry (Rev. 9:20) from sorceries (Rev. 9:21):

KJV Rev 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

NAS Rev 9:20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;

KJV Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

NAS Rev 9:21 and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.

These four passages that are from both Testaments (as well as other passages) teach us plainly that we must not think of idolatry and occult practices as if they were basically the same sin. In our consideration, therefore, of cultural issues that are hotly debated among believers, such as the propriety of using rock music for Christian worship, we must be careful not to lump idolatry and the occult together.

This distinction is vital to keep in mind because the disputed teaching in passages that speak about idolatry, such as 1 Corinthians 8-11, does not apply to instances of cultural issues that involve contact with the occult. Those who argue that eating meat offered to idols is no problem for Christians when that meat is eaten outside of the context of actual idol worship cannot legitimately extend that teaching to say that Christian use of things associated with occult practices are similarly not a problem for believers outside their use in actual occult practices.

Scripture categorically forbids believers from having any contact with the occult and its practitioners. None of the passages typically cited in discussions of Christian liberty apply to Christian contact with the occult and things associated with the occult, and believers must shun all such contact.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In CCM, Interpretation, Theology
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A Shocking Omission of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in Grudem’s Systematic Theology

April 3, 2015

In his very popular work Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Dr. Wayne Grudem devotes a chapter to a treatment of “The Gospel Call and Effective Calling.” In this chapter, he writes, “In human preaching of the gospel, three important elements must be included” (694). He says that these elements are the following:

I. Explanation of the Facts Concerning Salvation

II. Invitation to Respond to Christ Personally in Repentance and Faith

III. A Promise of Forgiveness and Eternal Life

These headings cover many essential aspects of giving the gospel to sinners, but unbelievably and inexplicably, Dr. Grudem does not say anything anywhere directly about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in this treatment of the subject, “The Gospel Call and Effective Calling”! How is it possible that a renowned biblical scholar like Dr. Grudem does not say that testifying to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is an essential fact that must be explained concerning salvation!

I was shocked when I first saw this omission years ago and could not believe what I was reading. I am still amazed that this lacking treatment of the gospel was published and has not been addressed for all the years that the work has been available. How could those who have proofed this work not have noticed the lack of any mention of the Resurrection in the chapter that explains what the Gospel call is?

Apparently, Dr. Grudem and others have thought that in giving the gospel, it is enough to say that Jesus Christ “is a Savior who is now alive in heaven” and who is Himself appealing to the sinner to come to Him.1 The Gospels2 and the apostolic preaching of the gospel throughout the book of Acts,3 however, show that this is not a sufficient testimony to the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Leaving it to sinners to infer the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is not how we should present the gospel to them.4 Explicit, detailed, and emphatic testimony to the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very essence of biblical gospel preaching!

In his own thinking and practice, every reader of this leading theological work needs to correct this omission in Dr. Grudem’s teaching concerning the gospel call. Those who are responsible for training future leaders must take care to address this matter with those that they train for gospel ministry who have encountered this teaching by Dr. Grudem.

1 After quoting Jesus’ invitation to sinners that is recorded in Matthew 11:28-30, Dr. Grudem writes in this regard,

It is important to make clear that these are not just words spoken a long time ago by a religious leader in the past. Every non-Christian hearing these words should be encouraged to think of them as words that Jesus Christ is even now, at this very moment, speaking to him or to her individually. Jesus Christ is a Savior, who is now alive in heaven, and each non-Christian should think of Jesus as speaking directly to him or her (694).

2 Every Gospel ends with extensive testimony to the bodily resurrection and post-resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28; Mk. 16; Luke 24; John 20-21).

3 Explicit mention of the resurrection is part of the climactic content of key evangelistic messages that are recorded in the book of Acts (Acts 2:31-32; 10:40-41; 13:30-37; 17:30-31).

4 Paul told the Corinthians that the gospel that he preached to them was the message that included testimony that Christ “rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4). He did not relate that he had testified to them that Jesus was alive—he had borne witness that God raised Jesus from the dead (1 Cor. 15:15).

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Christian Books, Gospel, Theology
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An Important Warning about Entering Certain Discussions on Social Media

March 28, 2015

Although opportunities to jump into discussions on social media abound, how should we decide whether we should enter a particular discussion that we come across that is of interest to us? Proverbs 26:17 provides some wise counsel that we would do well to consider carefully before entering into an online discussion.

Divine Advice to Those Who Pass By a Situation involving Strife

Through teaching that God inspired King Solomon to give, God warns those who pass by certain situations to avoid unnecessary involvement:

Pro 26:17 He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

Charles Bridges aptly explains this important teaching:

Even with Christian intentions many of us are too fond of meddling with strife not belonging to us. We constitute ourselves too readily judges of our neighbour’s conduct. Neutrality is often the plain dictate of prudence. Un-called for interference seldom avails much with the contending parties; while the well-meaning mediator involves himself in the strife to his own mischief.1

Jay Adams concurs:

In verses 17 through 19 you meet two kinds of troublemakers. The first is the one who loves quarreling so much that he will even become involved in disputes that have nothing to do with him. To do so is like grabbing a dog by the ears (presumably not Fido, but someone else’s dog who is anything but friendly). He will get a reaction: often a hostile, possibly harmful one. He brings trouble on himself.2

Heeding God’s warning given in Proverbs 26:17 will save us from much unnecessary trouble in our lives.

Application to Discussions on Social Media

God does not want us to meddle unnecessarily in strife that does not belong to us. When we encounter discussions on social media on subjects that interest us, we must take care not to jump in simply because the discussion is about something that we have an opinion about that we want to share.

Rather, we must gauge carefully the nature of the interaction that is already taking place between those who are discussing the subject. Especially if the discussion is of a heated nature and concerns something that does not have some direct pertinence to us, we often would do well to be slow to get involved.

If we know one or more of the combating parties personally, often a better approach is to message those people privately and share our thoughts with them that way. I have used this approach a number of times and commend it to you as a way for you to avoid unnecessarily entangling yourself in an online discussion in a way that results in your being attacked for what you say.

1 Proverbs, Geneva Series of Commentaries, 494; words in bold are in italics in the original

2 Proverbs, The Christian Counselor’s Commentary, 200; words in bold are bold in the original

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship
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Excellent New Song from Psalm 40

March 26, 2015

Mrs. Esther Arnold from my church has written an excellent new song from Psalm 40. The music and an audio of my church singing the song are available here under the heading “Savoring Psalm 40.”

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Music Ministry, Music
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How to Apply Romans 14:1-15:13 Properly to the Debates about Christian Music: Part I

March 21, 2015

Many evangelicals as well as other Christians use Romans 14:1-15:13 frequently to challenge the views of Christians who hold conservative music positions. Typically, these believers who hold non-conservative music positions regard themselves as the strong believers of this passage and view those with conservative positions as the weak believers spoken of here.

To apply Romans 14:1-15:13 properly to any disputed area of Christian belief and practice requires thorough attention both to the larger context of the book of Romans and to the nature of the issues under consideration in this passage. Through giving such attention to this passage, we are able to assess correctly the validity of the common contention that those with conservative music positions are the weak believers of this passage.

In Part I of this series, I consider how putting Romans 14:1-15:13 in its larger context of the book of Romans is necessary for determining its proper application to the debates about Christian music. In Part II of this series, I intend to examine how the nature of the issues under consideration in Romans 14:1-15:13 itself bears upon its application to the debates about Christian music.

Romans 14:1-15:13 in Light of Its Larger Context of the Book of Romans

God did not give Romans 14:1-15:13 as a self-contained revelation of His mind about how to handle the issues that Christians debate; He gave this passage as part of the whole book of Romans. We can only rightly understand and apply this passage, therefore, when we properly relate it to other teaching by Paul in the book of Romans that has direct bearing on what sort of issues are in view in this passage.

The following six points bring out various aspects of Pauline teaching in the book of Romans that directly relate to the debates about Christian music:

1. Inventors of Evil Things — Paul taught that reprobate humans are “inventors of evil things” (Rom. 1:30). I have previously discussed (in this post) the relevance of this statement for the debates about Christian music. Concerning what issues Romans 14:1-15:13 pertains to, we can be certain that the teaching of this passage does not apply to issues concerning musical styles that evil humans have originated as inventors of evil.

2. The Whole Creation is in Bondage to Corruption — Paul testifies that the entire universe is under the bondage of corruption:

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

To support their music positions, many Christian proponents of non-conservative music positions espouse views that in effect exempt instrumental music from the effects of the Fall of man. Scripture, however, provides no basis for holding that the bondage of the whole creation to corruption has not affected human creation of and use of instrumental musical styles.

3. Conformity to the World — Paul commands believers not to be “conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). Many of those who hold non-conservative music positions in effect argue that this teaching does not apply to the instrumental musical styles created by humans who oppose God because they hold that all musical styles are inherently good and fit for human use by virtue of their being divinely created. Not only is there no Scripture to support such a view about the necessary inherent fitness of all musical styles, but also Scripture provides revelation that refutes the validity of such an assertion.

4. Casting off the Works of Darkness — Paul commands believers to “cast off the works of darkness” (Rom. 13:12). Scripture teaches that Satan is the prince who is energizing and ruling over the darkness of this evil world (Eph. 2:2; Col. 1:13).

Many rock musicians have testified to the controlling and originating role of demons in the production of their music. We can be certain that Paul never intended Romans 14:1-15:13 to be applied to things and practices that entail humans engaging in such demonically sourced works of darkness.

5. Turning from Dissolute Living — Paul enjoins believers not to live dissolute lifestyles:

Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Those who have originated rock music are infamous for their evil lifestyles, and they have testified that they created this music with the intent of promoting such wicked lifestyles. We can be certain that Romans 14:1-15:13 does not apply to music and other things that are so closely associated in these ways to people who live and promote such dissolute lifestyles.

6. Making No Provision for the Lusts of the Flesh — Paul directs believers not to make any provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts (Rom. 13:14). Because testimony directly from rock musicians abounds that they created their music for the purpose of influencing people to fulfill various lusts of the flesh, we can confidently hold that Romans 14:1-15:13 does not apply to such music that was specifically created to have these effects on people.

Conclusion

An examination of the larger context of Romans 14:1-15:13 within the book of Romans shows that Paul provides teaching in at least six passages that addresses considerations that show that issues that involve these considerations are issues to which Romans 14:1-15:13 does not apply. Because all six of these passages have direct bearing on certain aspects of key issues involved in the debates about Christian music, believers who hold conservative music positions because they heed the application of these passages to these issues are not the weak believers spoken of in Romans 14:1-15:13.

See my post Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM for much more biblical information about issues concerning what music God accepts in corporate worship.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In CCM, Exposition, Theology
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How “Inventors of Evil Things” (Rom. 1:30) Applies to Our Assessment of Certain Musical Styles

March 19, 2015

The apostle Paul concludes Romans 1 with a lengthy list that relates various sinful aspects of the evil lifestyles of humans who have depraved minds because of God’s judgment upon them:

Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

In the midst of the numerous specific vices that Paul names here, he writes that these people are “inventors of evil things” (Rom. 1:30). This statement has great importance for our understanding of how we are to assess certain musical styles, as can be seen by the following observations that are based upon it in various ways:

1. Paul says that these evil people invent evil things. Whatever things Paul has in mind here, therefore, cannot be said in any sense to be things that are created by God.

Scripture provides no evidence for saying that rock music was created by God, and it provides key teaching about human creative activity with things that were created by God that shows that no product of such human creative activity must necessarily be something that is fit for human use (see this post). Saying, therefore, that Romans 1:30 does not apply to rock music because rock music was created by God is an invalid argument against applying Romans 1:30 to our assessment of rock music.

2. Paul does not bother to specify at all what these evil things are that these evil people invent. Because he does not do so, we learn that there are humanly created evil aspects of these people’s lives that Paul had in mind that he did not believe he had to list out for his readers.Without his specifying what these evil inventions were, Paul expected his readers to know what these evil things were that these evil humans had invented.

Furthermore, his not specifying these evil aspects of the lives of these reprobate humans shows that this is another instance (cf. “and such like” [Gal. 5:21]) when Paul communicates to his readers that Scripture does not provide an exhaustive listing of human sinful activities. This very important observation shows that Scripture does not have to say explicitly that some human practice or invention is sinful for us to be able to say legitimately that it is unfit for human use.

The fact that Scripture does not say anything directly about rock music does not mean that we cannot say that we should reject it. Romans 1:30 and other passages provide believers with ample justification to reject rock music categorically.

3. When evil human beings who reject the knowledge of God and manifest in their lives many of the evils listed here specifically say that they have invented things to promote many of the very evils that are listed here, believers must heed what they say and not have anything to do with such evil things that these people have invented. Because many of the evil people who originated rock music and popularized it have testified directly of their evil intent in what they were doing, God-fearing Christians should reject rock music categorically as an evil invention of those who are “inventors of evil things.”

4. Careful Christians who reject rock music and all other styles of music derived from it based on the application of Romans 1:30 (and its surrounding context) to such testimonies do not have to be able to explain (with specific explanations about the music itself) why these styles are evil to know that they are evil. Scripture never places such a burden on believers, and it is sufficient to make such assessments based on the authority of the many statements by God that repeatedly tell believers not to fashion themselves according to the practices of the wicked (for example, Ps. 1:1; Rom. 12:1-2).

5. Because Paul gave this revelation about reprobate humans who are inventors of evil things in the same book that he gives his teaching about certain things that believers disagree upon (Rom. 14:1-15:3), we can be certain that Paul’s teaching about those questionable things does not apply to Christian use of any of the evil things invented by the evil people that he speaks of in Romans 1:30. Romans 14:1-15:13, therefore, does not justify Christian use of rock music and other styles based on rock music simply because believers disagree about the propriety of doing so.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In CCM, Interpretation, Theology
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