Rediscover the Gospel

Grace Romanian Pentecostal ChurchHouston, Texas - February 22nd, 2026

Matthew 25:14–30 (LEB) 14For it is like a man going on a journey. He summoned his own slaves and handed over his property to them. 15And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each one according to his own ability, and he went on a journey immediately. 16The one who had received the five talents went out and traded with them and gained five more. 17In the same way the one who had the two gained two more. 18But the one who had received the one went away and dug up the ground and hid his master’s money. 19Now after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20And the one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents. See, I have gained five more talents!’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ 22And the one who had the two talents also came up and said, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents. See, I have gained two talents more!’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ 24And the one who had received the one talent came up also and said, ‘Master, because I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter seed. 25And because I was afraid, I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours!’ 26 But his master answered and said to him, ‘Evil and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter seed. 27Then you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and when I returned I would have gotten back what was mine with interest! 28Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness—in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’  You probably heard that the parable of the talents is about doing good works, or using your God-given gifts and callings, and as a result, receiving rewards or judgment, to the extent of even losing your salvation. Indeed, if we read this story in isolation, there are a few apparent reasons why we might adopt this view. First, the three people who received the talents from the man going on a journey were all servants or slaves of the man, which could imply that they were already in the kingdom, saved, and born again. The throwing away of the third servant into the outer darkness from verse 30 as a result of his not using and multiplying what the master has given him can mean loss of eternal salvation. Second, the master gave each servant a different number of talents, expecting them to put it to work, steward it well, and multiply it. This can easily prompt us to think about the gifts, skills, and callings that God has given to each believer, which can be taken away if they are not used properly. Question: Is the third servant a genuine believer from the start, who didn’t do enough good works and lost his salvation as a result? Let’s suppose that this is the case and read Romans 4:4-5,Romans 4:4-5 (LEB)4   Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited according to grace, but according to his due. 5   But to the one who does not work, but who believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness,As you can see, we have a problem elevating the ‘parable of talents’ as ‘works’ in light of what Paul taught in these verses: we have a salvation by works and not by faith in Jesus’ sacrifice alone. And what about what Jesus said in John 6:28-29 regarding works? In these verses, Jesus was asked about the kind of works we need to do to please God. I want you to notice that Jesus tells them what pleases God. It wasn’t works (plural), but only one work, and that work was to BELIEVE:John 6:28-29 (LEB)28 So they said to him, “What shall we do that we can accomplish the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one whom that one sent.”Even Jesus refused to elevate works. Yes, we ARE made for good works. It’s who we are. However, the notion that our salvation depends on them and is a reward is not biblical. Now, let’s assume that the servant is a born-again believer who didn’t use his gifts as much as he should, and he didn’t fulfill his God-given calling on this earth. Does that mean God will take away those gifts or salvation from him? Romans 11:29 teaches us that „the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” We can conclude this parable is not talking about gifts and callings either. Is it then possible that this servant was someone who never knew the master in the first place? Is it possible that he may have had a resemblance of genuine saving faith, but without corresponding works? In other words, he had a faith that was dead, similar to what James discusses. Let’s look at a few hints in the text that this is so: 1.       In verse 26, the master calls him „evil and lazy slave.” Has Jesus or God ever called His children slaves, evil, or lazy? No.2.       This servant lives in the fear of judgment. 1 John 4:18 tells us that “perfect love casts out fear,” and believers are not supposed to fear judgment.3.       He misunderstands the master. This servant describes the master as a “hard man,” but that’s not how the master is presented in the parable. The other servants rejoice in his kindness and generosity. Clearly, this third servant didn’t really know the master, similar to the foolish virgins to whom the bridegroom tells, “I never knew you.” Next, let’s analyze the context of the parable of the talents. The whole discussion theme of Matthew 24 and 25 (the arrival of the Son of Man as a thief in the night, the abomination of desolation, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, the judgment of the sheep and goats) is the end of times, judgment, and separation. What exactly will be the determining factor or the criteria that will separate the righteous from the unrighteous at the end of times? It will be faith in the truth of the gospel that has accompanying works. Faith without works is dead, meaning that it was never there in the first place. The talents given to those three servants (in the context of the ten virgins) must then refer to the truth of the gospel given to all people in different measures of faith and understanding. The Parable of the Talents is not about believers being cast into hell for not doing enough good works or not walking in holiness enough. Instead, it’s about those who have been given the revelation of the Kingdom (referring to all people or, more specifically, to the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day) and have rejected it. They are the ones who receive judgment, not faithful Christians. The third servant represents those who have received the Word of God but have not accepted it with faith. They bury it by postponing it, denying it, or neglecting...

Objections Against Eternal Salvation (Part XII)SuicideMany Christians have wondered at least once in their lives: Is suicide an unpardonable sin? Do believers who commit suicide lose their salvation and go straight to hell? Most people, even believers, answer “yes” to this question because suicide leaves no room for repentance; a person enters eternity with unconfessed and, therefore, unforgiven sin. Such a conclusion is based on the assumption that believers’ sins are forgiven in time, depending on their confession of, and that their salvation fluctuates and is not final until they die with all their sins confessed. However, the Bible teaches all sins—past, present, and future—are forgiven and erased through faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. One’s eternal destiny is sealed and set at the time of justifying faith, it has already, and forever, been determined at the time of salvation. Moreover, numerous instances of sudden death may bring Christians into eternity before they have the opportunity to confess and repent. As theologian Robert N. Wennberg puts it, “What about the heart-attack victim who dies while brutalizing his wife or amid an adulterous liaison? Does his failure to repent in this life forever remove the possibility of forgiveness in the next? And must we not pass from this life with unconfessed and unrepented sin lest we never find forgiveness and reconciliation with God in the next?” Common sense reveals that many, if not most of us, will die with sins we have not asked for forgiveness of. Repentance itself does not seal us into the Heavenly Kingdom—the Holy Spirit is such a seal (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). For a more in-depth study about future sins and confession of sins, I recommend reading another book, written by me, entitled The Glory of Righteousness.People’s perspective on suicide and salvation is probably also significantly influenced by the mortal sin position found in the Roman Catholic Church, which views suicide as a lethal sin, maintaining a distinction between unpardonable and pardonable sins. The former separate a person from God’s grace, while the latter, equally serious, do not. Mortal sin is considered a severe offense that merits eternal damnation if not repented and forgiven before death. This creates a system of major or minor offenses within Catholicism. It also creates a framework where living in a state of grace is like a moving target for the believer, like a daily struggle to stay in God’s good graces. Complete and total forgiveness is conditional and requires strict repentance. The Roman Catholic position affirms that taking your own life deliberately and without remorse incurs eternal damnation.Is suicide considered a sin in the Bible? The most basic definition of suicide is that a person intends to die or acts on the desire to die. This person pursues a course of action for the express purpose of ending their life. In this definition, suicide is a sin because it is murder and comes against one of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). Although we don’t instinctively think of murder in this way, unlawfully taking one’s own life does not differ morally from taking another’s. However, we should also keep the following important aspects in mind. Suicide is mentioned only six times in the whole Bible. In none of these cases is an explicit moral evaluation or judgment rendered as to whether it is right or wrong: the case of Abimelech in Judges 9:50–57; Samson in Judges 16:28–30 (although some are not convinced this is suicide in the strict sense of the term); King Saul and his armor-bearer in 1 Samuel 31:1–6 (2 Sam. 1:1–15; 1 Chronicles 10:1–13); Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:23; Zimri in 1 Kings 16:18–19; and Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27:5.There are also cases of apparent suicide, that are morally permissible. For example, the soldier who fights the enemy in a time of war, knowing he most likely will die, is not guilty of committing suicide. As Wennberg puts it, he is not choosing this act as a means to his death “but rather is accepting a foreseen, yet unwelcome, consequence of what he is doing.” In a sense, then, the soldier is engaging in a suicidal act but is not committing suicide. What about the case of a soldier who falls on a live grenade to save his friend’s life, or when a destitute mother stops eating what little food remains so her child may live? What about a Christian in the third century who was given a choice: either deny Jesus or be thrown to the lions? By refusing to give up on Jesus publicly, the believer chose a course of action he knew would result in his death (even though it was not his conscious intent to die), but that would not be considered suicide because the death he chose was an unintended side effect of his fidelity to Christ. What about Jesus, the Messiah, Who willingly fully chose to allow Himself to be killed? Can He be accused of taking His own life? Of course not!Is suicide a sin? Yes, in many instances, this is a serious sin that violates God’s expressed will concerning the sanctity of life. However, even in this case, there is no evidence in the Bible to conclude that it is beyond the reach of the forgiveness obtained for us at the cross of Christ. In other words, suicide is not an unpardonable sin or one that forfeits someone’s eternal salvation. Family and friends of a believer who has committed suicide should never worry about whether their loved one is still saved. Finally, Romans 8:38–39 says nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, not even death:Romans 8:38–39 (NKJV)38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ConclusionThe teaching about the eternal security of believers in Christ usually generates two types of responses and places people in two categories based on them. The first consists of people who become offended and angry with this teaching. These are the religious and self-righteous ones who behave like the older son from the parable of the prodigal son, not knowing the love of the Father. Although they might be born again as well, their image of God is more of a One Who is harsh and judging than a loving Father, and because of that perspective, they treat other fellow believers in the same way they perceive divinity. They become harsh critics or pride themselves on the good deeds they do. They think God loves people and bears with their sins only until they become born again, but after that, they are supposed to be perfectly holy in their actions. Otherwise, He will punish them or cancel their sa...

Objections Against Eternal Salvation (Part XI)Divorce and Remarriage – IntroductionDivorce has long been a complex and controversial topic in the church. In our culture today, many people are affected by it in one way or another. We all know someone, whether a family member or close friend, who has experienced the pain of a broken marriage. Or maybe you have gone through or are going through a divorce right now. If so, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how painful and devastating it can be for both the adults and children involved in the situation. Moreover, as a child of God, I am sure you may have asked yourself more than once: “Will God still forgive me if I get a divorce or remarry? Will I remain saved, or will I lose my salvation forever?” Those are all good and pertinent questions, especially for believers who have already been through it or are planning to. First, we need to find out from the Bible which cases of divorce or remarriage are sins. Second, for those situations where separation from the marriage partner is a sin, we must determine, again with the help of Scripture, whether that kind of sin is unforgivable and may cause believers to forfeit their eternal salvation. Sexual Immorality & the Unbelieving SpouseThere are two definite instances in which divorce is allowed by God and not considered a sin in Scripture. The first admissible reason, depicted by Jesus in Matthew 5:31–32 and Matthew 19:9, is unfaithfulness through sexual immorality, which applies to both spouses:Matthew 5:31–32 (NKJV)31 “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.Matthew 19:9 (NKJV)9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”Some spiritual leaders in the body of Christ today contend that, based on these two passages, only sexual immorality is a valid reason for dissolving a marriage. If that’s the case, then the apostle Paul contradicted Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 7:15, he adds a second situation in which divorce is not a sin, that of an unbelieving spouse wanting to separate:1 Corinthians 7:12–15 (NKJV)12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace.Later, we will see that when Jesus says in Matthew 5:31–32, Matthew 19:9, and Mark 10:2–12 that a man should not separate from his wife for any other reason except sexual immorality, he is addressing a specific hot debate of His day on this topic that was based on Deuteronomy 24:1–2. Physical & Emotional AbuseYou may ask: “What about physical abuse, emotional abuse, or the neglect of a spouse? Are any of these acceptable reasons for divorce? What does the Bible say about this?” There is no easy answer because the Bible doesn’t have a clear-cut, black-and-white answer to this dilemma. Here is where things get complicated and into the gray area; that’s why we need to rely on the Holy Spirit to give us revelation and understanding of His heart. If we look carefully at Scripture with an open and sincere heart, we will discover that it has a solution to this challenging issue.First, through a few examples, I invite you to observe that, as a general principle, God’s love and mercy are always greater than His justice.Without diminishing His righteousness and punishment for sin in any way, He is always in the business of encouraging, building up, and restoring people’s lives despite their mistakes and failures. He always rejoices to see His children happy and well. Even in Old Testament times, during the Law of Moses, when God seemed very cruel and harsh in His punishments for people’s acts of disobedience, He still did everything out of care for them and because there was no other way to accomplish what He needed to accomplish for humanity. When we become parents, we can understand and experience a glimpse of God’s heart for His children. No matter how bad children can be and what evil things they might do normal fathers and mothers will never give up on them, and they will always do everything in their power to see them well and happy. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God could have left them to die forever according to His justice and never redeem them. However, because of His great love, He found a way, though painful, tedious, and costly, to save humanity from eternal destruction without lessening His righteousness. In Matthew 12:1–8, Jesus’s disciples plucked off heads of grain and ate them on the Sabbath because they were hungry, and the Pharisees accused them of doing something unlawful on the day of rest. Let’s see what Jesus’s response was:Matthew 12:1–8 (NKJV)1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”Jesus first reminds them from the Old Testament of the occasion when King ...

Salvation in the Old Testament and Apostasy Cases in the BibleWhat about the cases recorded in Scripture as actual apostasy in the faith? Among such examples are Lot, King Saul, Solomon, Judas Iscariot—Jesus’s disciple—Ananias, Hymenaeus and Philetus, Demas, etc. First, let’s deal with the Old Testament individuals who lived before Jesus’s death and resurrection. About some of the more prominent figures of the Old Testament, like Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the other prophets, we know for sure that after Jesus’s death on the cross, they became saved. However, on what basis? Moreover, what about all the other less-known people whose names were not mentioned in the Bible but who were still part of God’s people? Were they saved after the cross? If yes, how? On what basis? If not, why? How did redemption touch the lives of Ruth and Rahab? These are essential questions. Personal salvation by grace, through faith in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, may not have been as clear at the time of Noah as it is to us today. The Lamb of God, Who takes away the world’s sins, came to the nation of Israel approximately four hundred years after the Old Testament canon was closed. How, then, could there be a clear object of faith?A common misconception about the Old Testament way of salvation is that Jews were saved by keeping the Law. But we know from Scripture that this is not true. Galatians 3:11 says:Galatians 3:11 (NKJV)11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”Some might say this verse applies only to the New Testament, but Paul is quoting from Habakkuk 2:4, where it says,Habakkuk 2:4 (NKJV)4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.Salvation by faith, apart from the Law, was an Old Testament principle. Paul taught the purpose of the Law was to serve as a “tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). Also, in Romans 3:20, Paul made the point that keeping the Law didn’t save Old Testament or New Testament Jews because no one can be declared righteous in His sight by observing the Law. The Law was never intended to save someone; the purpose of the Law was to make us conscious of sin. If people’s salvation in the Old Testament was not through the keeping of the Law, then what was it through? The answer to that question is found in Scripture, so there can be no doubt regarding this issue. In Romans 4, the apostle Paul clarifies that salvation in the Old Testament was the same as in the New Testament, which is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. To prove this, Paul points us to Abraham, the forefather of the Jewish people, who was saved by faith and not by works: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). Abraham could not have been saved by keeping the Law because he lived over four hundred years before it was given! Also, circumcision was not introduced to Abraham and his descendants until Genesis 17, that is more than ten years later. Romans 4:13-16 says this:Romans 4:13-16 (NKJV)13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.Here, we see that the promise of becoming heirs of the world, or the promise of salvation, was not made only to Abraham but also to his descendants who came through Isaac. And this didn’t come through the Law, but through the faith of Abraham. All his descendants, from Isaac to Christ, received salvation after the cross federally because of Abraham’s faith and covenant with God, even though some of them did not fully walk with Him. Abraham was the federal head of their salvation through faith. To prove that God fulfills the promises made to a federal head in the descendants’ lives even though they are not always pleasing to God, I will provide a few examples. First, Noah was saved from the flood’s destruction with all his family (wife, sons, and daughters-in-law) although the Bible doesn’t say anything about their relationship or devotion to God. They were saved because of Noah. Second, in 2 Kings 10:30-31, God makes a powerful promise to King Jehu that his sons will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation without adding any conditions or disclaimers:2 Kings 10:30-31 (NKJV)30 And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.After God gave that promise, even King Jehu, himself, to whom the promise was given, didn’t walk according to the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart. Did God revoke His promise to him or his sons because of his sins? Absolutely not! Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, reigned seventeen years over Israel in Samaria, although he did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 13:1-2). Then, Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and the second generation descendant of Jehu, reigned for sixteen years over Israel in Samaria, although he did what was evil in the eyes of God as well (2 Kings 13:10-11). Moving forward, in 2 Kings 14:23-24, we see the third generation of Jehu, Jeroboam the son of Jehoash, beginning to reign in Samaria, and he does it for forty-one years although he also did evil in the eyes of God and caused Israel to sin. Lastly, in 2 Kings 15:8-9, the Bible says that Zechariah the son of Jeroaboam (the fourth generation of Jehu) reigned over Israel in Samaria for six months....