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Which Gospel?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

A friend asks: “Have you heard the good news?” and you reply: “What good news?” Naturally! All good news is not the same. Yet few people follow this procedure when they read in the Bible the phrase “the gospel” — which simply means “the good news.” They have been taught that “the gospel is the gospel” and “there is only one gospel,” but this is simply not so in the light of the Bible itself.

God has not proclaimed only one gospel, one item of good news, down through the ages, but many. He has qualified the word “gospel” by distinctive titles, just as a woman labels her preserves to distinguish the different goodies she has put up for the winter.

The “gospel of the kingdom” and the “gospel of the grace of God” are not the same, and certainly the “gospel of the circumcision” and the “gospel of the uncircumcision” are not the same.

When we come upon the phrase “the gospel” without any qualifying title, we should immediately ask: “Which gospel?” and invariably the context will provide the answer. Luke 9:6, for example, simply states that the twelve disciples went about “preaching the gospel,” but Verse 2 of the same chapter explains how the Lord had sent them “to preach the kingdom of God” — not the cross, but the kingdom, since He, the King, was in their midst. These disciples could not have engaged in “the preaching of the cross,” as Paul later did, for it was not until at least two years later that the Lord “began” to tell them how He must suffer and die (Matt. 16:21) and Peter “began to rebuke Him” (Ver. 22) and none of the twelve even understood what He was talking about (Luke 18:34).

But whereas “the gospel of the kingdom” had been committed to the twelve while Christ was on earth, “the preaching of the cross” (as good news) and “the gospel of the grace of God” was later committed to the Apostle Paul and to us (1 Cor. 1:18; Acts 20:24).

Today we do not proclaim the kingdom rights of Christ. Rather we proclaim “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

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Paul And The New Birth
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The Pauline revelation leads us into glorious truths respecting both our position and experience as believers. Indeed, the new birth itself, as it takes place in the believer today, is directly related to the divine baptism by which Christ and the believer are made one.

How was Christ made one with mankind? He was baptized into the human race. He did not merely come to dwell with men. He became man. How? By being born into the race. Was this by natural birth? No, by supernatural birth. He was begotten of the Holy Spirit. But His baptism into the human race did not end with His birth and life on earth. So fully did He become one with man, that He even died man’s death on the accursed tree. He was baptized into death (Luke 12:50) and, as we now know, into our death.

And it is there, at the Cross, that we become one with Him. The moment one looks in faith to Calvary, acknowledging: “He is no sinner; I am the sinner. Christ is dying my death”; that moment he becomes one with Christ; baptized into the crucified, risen Lord Himself (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:26,27) not only positionally, in the reckonings of God, but exponentially, by the Spirit. And thus a new life is begotten.

By natural birth? No, by supernatural birth. Some hold that the Epistles of Paul do not teach the new birth, but this is an error. His familiar word teknon, generally translated simply “child” in our English Bibles, means literally, “born one.” And he uses this word with regard to our spiritual relationship to God.

Furthermore, the Apostle teaches the very truth of the new birth in Titus 3:5, where he says:

    “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

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The Secret Of Spiritual Victory
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Believers in Christ have been made “free from sin” by grace (Rom. 6:14,18 ) in the sense that they need not, indeed, should not, yield to sin when temptation arises (Rom. 6:12,13). Believers have also been made “free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2) for Christ, in grace, bore the death penalty for them.

But no believer is free from what Paul calls “the law of sin which is in my members” (Rom. 7:23), that is, the old Adamic nature, with its inherent tendency to do wrong. Nor is he free from the conflict with the new nature which this involves. If the Christian would be truly spiritual and deal in a scriptural way with the sin that indwells him, he must clearly recognize its presence; he must face the fact that while, thank God, he is no longer “in sin”, sin is still in him.

But this conflict should not discourage us, for it is one of the true signs of salvation. It is unknown to the unbeliever, for only the additional presence of the new nature, along with the old, causes this conflict, for the Bible says about these two natures: “these are contrary the one to the other” (Gal. 5:17).

But not only is this conflict within the believer a sure sign of salvation; it also creates within him a deep and necessary sense of our inward imperfection and of the infinite grace of a holy God in saving us and ministering to us daily in helping us to overcome sin. And this in turn gives us a more understanding approach as we proclaim to the lost “the gospel of the grace of God”.

Paul’s epistles show clearly that there is nothing that will so help us to overcome sin and live pleasing to God as an understanding and an appreciation of what He has done for us in Christ. As we are occupied with these “things of the Spirit” we find ourselves “walking in the Spirit”, and Galatians 5:16 says: “WALK IN THE SPIRIT, AND YE SHALL NOT FULFIL THE LUST OF THE FLESH”. How much better to have our lives transformed by occupation with Christ (II Cor. 3:18 ) and our position and blessings in the heavenlies with Him (Col. 3:1-3), than to assume the hopeless task of trying to improve the “old nature”; always engaged in introspection; always occupied with the flesh!

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The Value Of Bible Study
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 3:15).

Timothy was a fortunate young man. His father was not a believer in Christ, but his godly mother made up for this lack as, day after day, from his earliest childhood, she taught him the Word of God. As a result he came to know Christ at an early age and later became St. Paul’s faithful co-worker and close associate in making known the wonderful “good news of the grace of God.”

In his very last letter the great Apostle Paul recalls Timothy’s “unfeigned faith… which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice”(II Tim. 1:5).

If only we had more such mothers and grandmothers today, with husbands to help them! If only our American children were not set adrift on a restless sea of human speculation, but were taught the eternal truths of God’s Word, the Bible!

We all need to “know the Holy Scriptures,” not only because they teach reverence for God and build moral character, but most of all because they “are able to make [us] wise unto salvation through faith… in Christ Jesus.”

The theme of the Bible, the Old Testament as well as New, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the riches of whose saving grace are unfolded to us in the Epistles of Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace. It was to Paul that God committed the preaching of the cross of Christ. He it is who tells us about the riches that flow from Calvary. He it is who tells us, by divine inspiration that:

    “…WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH [CHRIST'S] BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE” (Eph. 1:7).

    “THAT IN THE AGES TO COME HE MIGHT SHOW THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS” (Eph. 2:7).

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God: A Just Judge
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


How just are the judgments of God! In Rom. 2:16 St. Paul says: “God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” Notice carefully what this involves:

1. He will judge “the secrets of men.” In human courts there are often miscarriages of justice because all the facts are not brought to light. But at the “Great White Throne” there will be a Judge with “eyes… as a flame of fire” (Rev. 19:12), before whom no secret can remain hidden. (See also Heb. 4:13).

2. He will judge the secrets of men “by Jesus Christ.” Not the Father, but the Son will preside at the judgment of the unsaved. John 5:22 declares that “the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” and Verse 27 adds that the Father has given the Son this authority “because He is the Son of man.” This insures just judgment, for, men will be judged in that day by the One who loved them enough to become a man that He might understand and help men, and even die for their sins.

3. He will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ “according to my gospel,” says Paul. How eminently fair and just this is. If He judged men according to the law of Moses no one ever would be saved, for all of us have broken the Law. Moreover the children of fallen Adam, because of their depraved nature, cannot consistently keep the Law. Thus they will not be judged on the basis of that which they were unable to live up to. This is why He will judge men according to the good news proclaimed by Paul, which is the great truth that salvation is denied to no one who takes God at His Word and approaches Him in His way. His way for today? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

    “To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5).

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The Christian Home
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).

There is no place in all this world so wholesome and refreshing as a Christian home, a home where Christ is truly loved and honored.

This writer was brought up in such a home. There were ten of us: dad, mother and eight children. There was lots going on all the time, but a truly happy home it was, for dad and mother never let us get so busy with temporal things that we brushed eternal values aside.

On the basis that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4), we read some small portion of the Bible before every meal, and had family devotions before retiring at night.

Result: all eight children have blessed the dear dad and mother who led them aright, morally and spiritually, and best of all, taught them the importance of trusting in the Savior who died for all our sins. More: five of the children and many of the grandchildren have given themselves for full time Christian service, and have become pastors, college deans, Christian writers and missionaries in various parts of the world.

This is not because we are one whit better than others, but because we have experienced the help and grace of God in our lives. And it all began as, one day, a young American, like Joshua of old, came to a decision and declared:

    “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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Because He Loved Us
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Why did the Lord of glory
Leave His heav’nly home,
To come to earth and suffer here
For wrongs He had not done?

Why did He go to Calv’ry
To bear the shame and loss,
And give His life for sinners vile
Upon th’ accursed cross?

Why?…Because He loved us,
And longed that we might be
His very own — not only now,
But through eternity.
— C.R.S.

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Paul's Claims
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Paul’s Spirit-inspired claims for the distinctive character of his apostleship leave no room for doubt. Consider a sampling of these.

    Romans 11:13: “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I AM THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES: I MAGNIFY MINE OFFICE”.

    Galatians 1:11,12: “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is NOT AFTER MAN.

    “FOR I NEITHER RECEIVED IT OF MAN, NEITHER WAS I TAUGHT IT, BUT BY THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.”

    Ephesians 3:1-3: “For this cause, I PAUL, THE PRISONER OF JESUS CHRIST FOR YOU GENTILES,

    “If ye have heard of THE DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD, WHICH IS GIVEN ME TO YOU-WARD:

    “How that BY REVELATION HE MADE KNOWN UNTO ME THE MYSTERY….”

    Colossians 1:25: “…I am made a minister, according to THE DISPENSATION OF GOD WHICH IS GIVEN TO ME FOR YOU, to fulfill [fill full, or complete] the Word of God”.

    I Timothy 2:5-7: “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus;

    “Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

    “WHEREUNTO I AM ORDAINED A PREACH-ER, AND AN APOSTLE (I SPEAK THE TRUTH IN CHRIST, AND LIE NOT); A TEACHER OF THE GENTILES IN FAITH AND VERITY.”

    Titus 1:2,3: “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie; promised before the world began;

    “But hath in due times manifested His Word THROUGH PREACHING WHICH IS COMMITTED UNTO ME, according to the commandment of God our Saviour.”

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Liberty Not License
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The fact that we are given perfect liberty in Christ does not mean that we should spend our lives in gratifying our own fleshly desires. Just the opposite is the case. Believers have been delivered from the bondage of childhood and given the liberty of full-grown sons in Christ (Gal. 3:24; 4:1-7), and this advance from infancy to maturity in itself implies the acquisition of a sense of responsibility.

The doctrine of our liberty in Christ does not support, it rather refutes, the false theory that those who are under grace may do anything they please. Paul was “slanderously reported” in this connection (Rom. 3:8 ), but there were carnal believers then, as there are now, who actually did use their liberty as license to gratify their own desires. To turn from liberty to license in this way is fully as serious an error as to turn from liberty to law.

Many a believer, motivated only by his own fleshly desires and not at all by love for Christ or others, has indulged in pleasures of the flesh and of the world, justifying himself on the ground that he is under grace and has liberty in Christ. Taking others down with him in his spiritual declension he complains of any who would help him, that, “They are trying to put me under the law”.

Such are actually guilty of departing from grace, for “the grace of God…hath appeared”:

    “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world;

    “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

    “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

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Cremation
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


    “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” — Psalm 90:10

With the rising cost of funerals these days many families are faced with the decision as to whether or not cremation should be considered as a viable option to burial. Many have concluded that this is an acceptable alternative since the matter is not addressed in Paul’s epistles, and we are living under grace. While there does seem to be liberty here, perhaps it is the better part of wisdom to consult the whole counsel of God.

In Biblical times cremation of the body was primarily identified with the pagan nations of the world. According to the Old Testament there were a few isolated occurrences of this practice, although they always seem to be associated with judgment or cases of emergency rather than merely disposing of the body (Josh. 7:25,26; I Sam. 31:6-13).

Consequently, cremation was more the exception than the rule.

Throughout the Scriptures it is said that they buried their dead.

    “Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah…”

    “Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.”

    “And the young men arose, wound him [Ananias] up, and carried him out, and buried him.”

In keeping with the Word of God, we believe it is preferable to bury our loved ones even though we may have liberty to do otherwise. Of course, the additional financial burden can be eased by planning ahead for our inevitable departure. The services that normally accompany a funeral bring the unsaved face to face with their own mortality.

Thus, the occasion, heartbreaking as it may be, has often been used of the Lord to bring many sons to glory. Whatever your conviction may be on the matter, it is important to heed the words of the Apostle Paul:

    “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5).

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The Conflict Between the Old and New Natures
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Concerning the conflict continually going on between the old and new natures in the believer, St. Paul says:

    “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:17).

Regarding this conflict in his own personal experience, he writes:

    “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

    “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

    “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Rom. 7:19,22,23).

It has been taught by some that we need not experience this continual strife between the old nature and the new. They say: “Get out of the 7th of Romans into the 8th.”

We would remind such that the Apostle Paul wrote Romans 7 and Romans 8 at the same sitting; that in the original language the letter goes right on without interruption — without even a chapter division.

Thus the same apostle who exclaims: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1) refers in the same letter, only a few sentences before, and in the present tense, to “the law of sin which is in my members,” and freely acknowledges the present operation of that law in his members, as we have seen above.

How then shall we get out of the 7th of Romans into the 8th? Paul experienced both at the same time, and so do we, for while we are free from the condemnation of sin, sin itself nevertheless continues to work within us, and we must constantly “mortify the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13).

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Rightly Dividing The Word
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


It is not enough to use the Bible as a grand book of wonderful sayings from which we may choose what we wish for our inspiration, nor will one who truly realizes that “God hath spoken” ever hold so shallow an opinion of the sacred Scriptures.

“The Word of truth” must be “rightly divided”; for while it is all given for our spiritual profit, it was not all addressed to us, or written about us. Thus one who truly desires to understand and obey God’s Word will seek first to determine what Scriptures are particularly related to him and will study all the rest in the light of these.

Sad to say, however, there are many who fail to give the Book of God the respect and reverence it deserves. They flip it open at random, let a finger light upon the open page and then read the verse indicated to see if perchance they may find leading from the Lord in that way. And if it doesn’t “work” the first time they try it again and again until it does “work.” They use “promise boxes” in the same way, on the basis that “every promise in the Book is mine.” They take passages out of their contexts, “spiritualize” them, and give them “private interpretations.” Finding “precious passages” anywhere at all, no matter to whom addressed or when or why, they place their own constructions upon them and claim them as promises of God to them! To take isolated statements from the writings of men and use them in such a manner would be considered dishonest, but even Bible teachers do it with the Word of God!

The Word, rightly divided, is of supreme importance to the Church at large as well as to the individual believer, and it is because this fact has not yet been sufficiently recognized that we have not experienced the true, heaven-sent revival that the Church so sorely needs.

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The Visiting Preacher
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Paul and Barnabas had seated themselves in the large synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. They were soon recognized as “clergymen,” however, for “after the reading of the law and the prophets” they were asked whether either of them might have some word of “exhortation” for those who had gathered.

These details are important, for as Moses, in giving the Law, had declared God’s moral standards, the prophets had for centuries challenged the people to obey the Law and had warned them of the dire consequences of breaking its commands. Hence, in the synagogues passages were generally read from the Law and the prophets, and the religious leaders would then “exhort” the people to heed the prophets and obey the Law.

Paul and Barnabas, the visiting preachers, therefore, were asked whether either of them had a “word of exhortation for the people.” Paul responded to the invitation but, rather than merely exhorting his hearers to keep the Law, he proclaimed Christ, who in love had died for all lawbreakers, closing with these words:

    “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38,39).

How we need this message today! We may forever exhort one another to keep the Law, but who of us has not already broken it? Let us thank God, then, that He is a loving Savior as well as a just Judge and that as God the Son He paid for our sins Himself at Calvary so that we might be “justified freely by His grace.”

    “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13).

    “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

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Grace, Faith And Salvation
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The largest segment of the organized Church has long opposed the teaching that salvation is by grace, through faith alone. She teaches that it is by grace, through faith and good works, protesting that we do not place the proper stress on good works, and that she does place as much emphasis upon grace and faith as we.

One advocate of this religious denomination agrees that men cannot be saved without Christ or faith or grace, but objects that the grace of God, accepted by faith in Christ, is not enough to save.

He says: “All men are born in original sin, and all must be cleansed by Baptism. In Baptism, Grace is implanted in the soul by God and confers the right to heaven.”

But what about the thief on the cross, who looked to Christ in his dying moments and never had an opportunity to be baptized? Was he not saved? (See Luke 23:42,43).

If, according to Heb. 10:4, it is not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins (even though required by God), could this writer explain to us how any amount of water could possibly wash away one sin or right one moral wrong?

But one might gather from the above quotation that the baptized soul at least is safe and secure, since the grace implanted by God “confers the right to heaven.” But not so. “The Church” never gives her devotees true peace or assurance; never sets them free. “The right to heaven,” conferred upon the baptized person, is the right to strive for it! This writer goes on to say, “We worship God by the practice of our religious duties in order to obtain our salvation.”

How satisfying and reassuring is the Word of God itself on this subject:

    “Now to him that worketh [i.e., for salvation] is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

    “BUT TO HIM THAT WORKETH NOT, BUT BELIEVETH ON HIM THAT JUSTIFIETH THE UNGODLY, HIS FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Rom. 4:4,5).

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The Accomplishments Of Calvary
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Three times in Romans 5 we read that Christ died for us. Verse 6 tells us that He died for us in our weakness, Verse 8 that He died for us in our sin, and Verse 10 that He died for us in our rebellion.

First, Verse 6 says: “For when we were yet WITHOUT STRENGTH, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”.

Men sometimes try to make themselves acceptable to God by human effort, but they never succeed. We can’t walk or run to heaven, we can’t even fly there, and we certainly can’t climb there — not even by doing good works, for good works is what we ought to do, and we should not expect them to counter-balance our sinful thoughts and deeds. Anyway, heaven is God’s and He says we cannot gain it by works:

    “For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9).

Next, Romans 5:8 says: “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet SINNERS, Christ died for us”.

Many people feel shut out of heaven, not merely because of a sense of helplessness, but because of a sense of sinfulness and condemnation. To such God proclaims the glad news that “Christ died for sinners”, and “came into the world to save sinners” (I Tim. 1:15). At Calvary He paid the just penalty for sin — for the sins of all mankind — so that we, by faith, might be “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

But Romans 5:10 goes even further, offering hope and grace to those who have resisted God’s grace and rejected His Son, for here the greatest Christ-rejecter of all time, now gloriously saved and changed, declares:

    “When we were ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10).

And so the helpless, the sinful, yes, and the rebellious, can find acceptance with God if only they will turn from their sin and failure to Him. “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED…” (Acts 16:31).