Pastor Shaun Marksbury

“Love and Liberty, Part 1” (1 Cor. 8:1–3) Series:               “1 Cor: Holiness from Messes” #28    Text:                 1 Corinthians 8:1–3 By:                    Shaun Marksbury                         Date:                May 24, 2026 Venue:              Living Water Baptist Church             Occasion:             AM Service   Introduction Over a hundred years ago now, mainli...

One of the more deceptive elements of our Christian walk arises from our own sense of performance .  Because God commands obedience and holiness, we often forget that only Christ can provide the righteousness we need for salvation.  We work, which isn't bad, but we focus on our striving. Let's consider this another way.  We may intellectually accept the premise that we are saved by grace through faith, and we would not openly boast, we sometimes live as though salvation is by works (cf. Eph 2:8-9).  We tend to either neglect or forget the good news of the gospel in our Christian walk. We confuse the categories of justification and sanctification in our lives. Consider this quiz (from here ) to examine how well you hold to the gospel.  With which are you absorbed? (Answer A or B)  1 (A) your personal righteousness, (B) The vicarious righteousness of Christ?  2 (A) the condition of your faith (B) Christ’s faithful obedience on your beh...

This is based on a paper submitted during my college days and serves as more thinking fodder on  Solus Chistus, " Christ Alone." -------------------------------------------- Is God really just? This question drills to the heart of the debate concerning the plight of the unevangelized. It's what people wonder when some say that the Gospel excludes any other means of salvation outside of Christ. Thus, it's a valid question if the Gospel is exclusive, for many have and never will hear the Gospel's message. Is God just in sending people to Hell who have never heard the Gospel? We will look briefly at two alternatives to an exclusivistic view[1] – pluralism and inclusivism. The number of people in the world who die without Christ is staggering. These numbers are accentuated by two facts. First, the number of actual Christians is probably only a factional to those living in "Christendom" (those who live in nations touched by the Gospel message and profe...