Our Chicago papers, recently, carried two interesting front page items; one about Timothy Nolan, a Chicago policeman who pleaded in vain for help while he battled two toughs. Sixty people stood about, watching him fight for his life, but not one of them helped him or even bothered to call another policeman. They just stood and watched.

The other item was about a twelve-year-old girl, named Susan Benedict, who had come from Clinton, Wisconsin, to visit Chicago. As Susan sat in the Greyhound Bus Station at Clark and Randolph, a thief grabbed her purse and ran. Perhaps it was because she was a sweet, defenseless twelve-year-old, but in any case, about a dozen people who witnessed the incident, followed the thief until one got a policeman, who caught the thief and returned the purse to the little girl.

It is a very frightening thing not to be able to find help when it is desperately needed — and just as wonderful to have help when it is needed.

Thank God, He is always ready to help us in our deepest need — the salvation of our souls. Are you afraid that your many sins have placed you in a position beyond help — that you have sinned too greatly for God to forgive you? Then listen to Eph. 1:7, where the Apostle Paul says, by divine inspiration:

“We have redemption through [Christ’s] blood, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE.”

Rom. 5:20,21 will give further encouragement along this line:

“…WHERE SIN ABOUNDED, GRACE DID MUCH MORE ABOUND, THAT AS SIN HATH REIGNED UNTO DEATH, EVEN SO MIGHT GRACE REIGN, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Paul knew this by experience, for he was the leader of the world’s rebellion against Christ, but he was saved in one moment by the grace of God. This is why he says:

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:15).

If God saved the “chief of sinners,” He is surely willing to save you, “for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

Never let the devil deceive you into supposing that God planned sin as “a gracious means to a glorious end,” for then salvation from sin would be simple justice, not grace. No, you cannot legitimately charge God with your sin. It is to the guilty, the undeserving, far and wide, that God offers “the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

There are two significant phrases in Eph. 2 which shed clear light upon the character, the nature, of grace. They are found in Verses 2 and 3, which speak of the unsaved as “children [Gr., huiois, full-grown sons] of disobedience” and “children [Gr., tekna, born ones] of wrath.”

Meditate for a moment on these phrases: “Children of disobedience” and “children of wrath.”It is against this dark, black background of deserved wrath, that we read further:

“BUT GOD, who is RICH IN MERCY, for His GREAT LOVE wherewith He loved us,

“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [given us life] together with Christ (BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED),

“And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

“That in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS” (Eph. 2:4-7).

Somehow it takes a load off one’s heart and mind to come to the end of his rope, as it were, and admit that he is a sinner, deserving God’s wrath. How sweet to the ears of such is the wonderful message of redemption by grace, through the finished work of Christ at Calvary. We were all the “children [full-grown sons] of disobedience”: and therefore “by nature the children [born ones] of wrath”: “But God!” When hope seemed gone, He intervened and now offers salvation to all by grace, through faith.

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

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

There are three misconceptions that most people entertain about the law of God and its Ten Commandments:

1. Most people have a vague notion that the law always was in existence and that it must have been given to the first man, Adam, or soon after. Actually, God gave the law to Moses for Israel about 1500 B.C., after about 2500 years of human history had elapsed (John 1:17). So mankind lived on earth for about 2500 years without the law or the Ten Commandments.
2. Most people suppose that the law and the Ten Commandments were given to mankind in general, while, in fact, it was given to Israel alone (Deuteronomy 5:2,3).
3. Most people suppose that the law and the Ten Commandments were given to help us to do right. Even some clergymen teach this, although the Bible clearly teaches that they were given to show us that we are guilty sinners.

It is true that the law, while given to Israel, also shows the Gentile that he is a sinner. This is why Romans 3:19 says:

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought in guilty before God.”

But most important of all: Few people realize that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins to deliver us from the just condemnation of the law. This is taught in the following Scriptures:

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

“For God hath made Him to be sin for us, [Christ] who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (IICor.5:21).

“For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE” (Rom.6:14).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

Have you ever wondered how the pagan world got that way: idol-worshipping, wicked, gripped by superstition and fear?

The Bible supplies the answer in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Three times in Chapter 1 we read of the Gentile world: “He gave them up… He gave them up… He gave them over….” Why? Because they had given Him up: “And even as they did not wish to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient [becoming]” (Rom. 1:28).

It would have been difficult to believe 30 or 40 years ago, that our young people would be dancing to the wild, exotic music of pagan lands (if this can be called music), or that our studios would be selling the twisted, hideous paintings of pagan art (if this can be called art).

When you wonder why the lovely melodies and harmonies of yesteryear have given place to the noise and din of today’s “music”; when you wonder why the beautiful paintings of those days have been largely replaced by the masterpieces of chaos that surround us now — why in so many ways we seem to be reverting to paganism — read Romans 1.

All this is the natural result of a departure from God and His Word. Yet there is hope and assurance and joy in store for any individual who will yet heed the message of God — particularly in the Book of Romans. Here we read how Jew joined Gentile in rejecting Christ, and God had to give them all up. But listen to this passage from Rom. 11:32: “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief THAT HE MIGHT HAVE MERCY UPON ALL.”

That is, He gave up the Jewish and Gentile nations so that He might show His grace to any individuals who might turn to Him by faith in Christ, thus reconciling both (Jewish and Gentile believers) unto Himself in one body, by the cross (Eph. 2:16).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

Many people suppose that salvation is God’s reward to those who do their best to live good lives. This is not so, for God’s Word says of those who are saved:

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (II Tim. 1:9).

Referring to this “salvation which is in Christ Jesus,” St. Paul says:

“It is a faithful saying, for if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him” (II Tim. 2:10,11).

In other words: The believer, viewing Calvary aright, has “died with Christ.” Viewing the Cross, he has said: “This is not Christ’s death. He was no sinner. He had no death to die. He is dying my death!” And so by faith he is “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). The penalty for all his sins has been fully paid, for he died — in Christ, and thus has also risen with Christ “to walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:3,4).

This is all God’s doing, and only now is the believer in a position to do good works that will please God. Thus the Apostle writes of believers, in II Tim. 2: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us” (Ver. 12). When the believer’s service for Christ is reviewed some, indeed, will “receive a reward,” but others will “suffer loss,” though they themselves will “be saved, yet so as by fire” (I Cor. 3:14,15).

It will be deeply embarrassing, in that day, for unfaithful Christians to face empty-handed the One who gave His all, Himself, to save them. Yet salvation is by grace, thus the Apostle hastens to conclude his statement in II Timothy 2, with the words:

“If we are unfaithful, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself” (Ver. 13)

Thus our rewards as believers depend upon our faithfulness, but our salvation, thank God, on His!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

Grace be to you and peace
Though days be dark about us.
God’s working out His plan
All enemies regardless.

We know that Bethlehem’s Babe
Once crucified, is risen
And seated now above,
At God’s right hand in heaven.

And soon He’ll come again
His loved ones to deliver.
We’ll share His glory then
Forever and Forever.

So while we watch and wait
O, may His love constraining
Help us to live for Him
In all the hours remaining.

— C.R.S.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

It is impossible, and unnecessary, to reconcile friends. Reconciliation postulates alienation. It is only after men become alienated that we may try to reconcile them. Thus the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles to God “in one body” could not begin until Israel, along with the Gentiles, had been alienated from God. This is why the Apostle Paul declares in Rom. 11:15 that “the casting away of them is,” or opens the way for, “the reconciling of the world.” Thus “God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all” (Rom. 11:32). Little wonder the Apostle goes on to exclaim:

“O, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Ver. 33).

So now the wonderful message from God to a lost world is one of grace and peace, and it is with these words that the Apostle Paul opens all of his epistles signed by his name. In Ephesians 2, where he declares that we were all “the children of disobedience,” and therefore “by nature the children of wrath,” he goes on to tell of the riches of God’s mercy and love and grace, and says:

“And [He] came and preached peace to you [Gentiles] which were afar off, and to them [Israelites] that were nigh” (Ver. 17).

What a blessing to enjoy peace with God, to be reconciled to Him! But this is possible only as we commit ourselves to Him who was “delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification.” Indeed, Paul follows these words in Romans 4:25 with the declaration:

“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

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 (IICor. 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!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

It is an interesting fact that in this day of godlessness and lawlessness so much is being said about what we all deserve! Ads in the newspapers and commercials on radio and TV ask:

“Don’t you deserve the very finest automobile?”

“Don’t your children deserve the best?”

“Doesn’t your baby deserve Pampers?”

And even, “Doesn’t your dog deserve Alpo?”

Well, do you really deserve the finest car? Please don’t answer that! Do your children deserve the best — always? If so you surely have model children — not at all like their parents! And does your baby deserve Pampers? That’s funny! And does your dog deserve Alpo? That’s ridiculous! Dogs do not “love” or obey you from any moral consideration, nor, for that matter, does your baby, lovable as the darling is. And as to you and your children — including the baby, the Bible has something to say on this subject.

The Bible says that “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for that ALL have sinned [i.e., in Adam]” (Rom. 5:12). You and I were “in Adam” when he sinned. When he sinned, we sinned. Deny this and you might as well agree with the murderer who argued: “My feet and legs didn’t do it; my ears and nose didn’t do it; only my one hand and one or two other parts of my body did it, so the rest should go free.”

We believers in Christ should thank God that our blessed Lord took upon Him our just desserts when He died for our sins at Calvary. This is why God’s Word says:

“We declare, I say, at this time, His righteousness for the remission of sins… that [God] might be just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.

“Where is boasting then? It is excluded” (Rom. 3:25-27).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.