Philippians ThreeNine Ministries

06/18/2026

The Bible tells us that we're all sinners, less perfect than God (Rom 3:23, 5:12).

To sin is to miss the mark of God's perfection. We have all violated His word and broken His commandments. The price that God demands for payment of sin is death. If you choose to pay for your own sin, you will have to die and spend forever separated from God in Hell (Ez 18:4, Romans 6:23).

God's Word also says that no sin can enter Heaven because Heaven is a perfect place and sin would bring death. Man must be sinless in God's eyes to enter Heaven (Psalm 5:4, Revelation 21:27).

There is absolutely nothing you can do to obtain the sinless perfection God requires for eternal life. No amount of good works or sincerity can give you the righteousness needed. The Bible says,

"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" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Because God loves you, He sent His Son Jesus Christ--God in the flesh-- to earth to take your place and make the complete payment for all your sin by shedding His sinless blood and dying on the cross.
Three days later, He came back from the dead proving the payment was accepted by God the Father (Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21).

All you must do to possess everlasting life is believe, or trust, that Jesus Christ alone paid the price for your sin (John 3:16, Acts 10:43, 13:39, Romans 4:5, 1 Corinthians 1:21, Philippians 3:9, 2 Timothy 3:15).

God promises that if you put your trust in Christ alone you will receive, at that very moment, everlasting life.
He cannot lie. Because He has promised it on the authority of God's Word, you can be sure of going to Heaven today (1 John 5:13).

Why not, right now, trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you do, He will give you eternal life and you'll be eternally secure.
Nothing can cause you to go to hell since eternal life is the gift of God which lasts forever. God cannot ever regret giving you eternal life since you are not earning it.

06/17/2026

God is Sovereign, Part 2

Salvation belongs to the LORD (Jonah 2:9).

a. God is in full control of who is saved and who is not.

b. He has laid out a clear way of salvation for all people, for all have sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:9, 23, 5:12).

c. God is for us, which means nobody can be against us (Romans 8:31). What does this mean?

d. It means those whom God has justified, nobody can condemn (Romans 8:33).

Christ is the One that died and is risen again, and He is at the right hand of God. For what reason? to make intercession for us.

a. "Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:34).

b. "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

c. "For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24).

Jesus: fully God and fully Man, in His  sovereignty became our High Priest, having offered Himself to God the Father on our behalf.

a. "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17).

b. "where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 6:20).

c. "who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself" (Hebrews 7:27).

By this, Christ secured eternal salvation for all people, and saves those who choose to believe.

a. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).

b. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17).

c. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" (Romans 1:16).

d. "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10).

Those who believe and are saved, Christ is sovereign to never lose them, to keep them, and to preserve them.

a. "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day" (John 6:39).

b. "who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:5).

c. "Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ" (Jude 1).

Finally, God in His absolute sovereignty seals all who choose to believe the gospel with the Holy Spirit until the day of (physical) redemption, which is His guarantee of our eternal security.

a. "who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee" (2 Corinthians 1:22).

b. "Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee" (2 Corinthians 5:5).

c."In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14).

06/16/2026

GOD IS SOVEREIGN

But what does that even mean? This is where etymology, the study of the meaning is words, is very important.

Sovereign: Supreme in power, authority, and independence. A sovereign is one who rules without being subject to any higher authority.

In general English, it can refer to:

1. A ruler or monarch who has ultimate authority over a nation.

2. A nation or state that governs itself independently ("a sovereign nation").

3. A person or being with supreme power, which is how the word is often used of God.

When we as Christians use the word sovereign, this is what we mean:

God Has ultimate authority over all creation.

He does whatever He wills (wants, desires) without being hindered by anyone.

God rules over nations, kings, nature, and history.

He is accountable to no higher authority because there is none higher than the eternal God.

Here are some Scriptures which speak of God's sovereignty:

"But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased" (Psalm 115:3).

"All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?" (Daniel 4:35).

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it" ( Isaiah 46:9-11).

The word sovereign is not in the KJV neither is it in the NKJV. In this case that doesn't automatically make it wrong to use, it is simply an updated term for the noun  potentate.

The Greek noun is dynastes and this is where we get our English word "dynasty" from. In the KJV this noun is used 3 times and each time a different word is used.

The three words are mighty, "of great authority, and potentate. The NKJV uses the exact same words, while the ESV in Acts 8:27 changed "of great authority" to "a court official".

However, the ESV uses sovereign in two other places. In Acts 4:24 the KJV and NKJV only use the word Lord, ESV changed it to Sovereign Lord. They did this again in Revelation 6:10.

We do not know the motive for why this word was added, and ultimately it's not a bad thing in and of itself.

It only becomes a problem when those who hold to a reformed theology add to the meaning of the word sovereign and make God into Someone that He is not.

They hold to the very false doctrine of irresistible grace which teaches that because people are spiritually dead and unable to come to God on their own, when God intends to save someone, He inwardly and effectively calls them so that they certainly believe.

What this means: God makes people spiritually alive (regeneration) so they can believe the gospel. So instead of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to receive remission of sins, which is to be regenerated, they receive the remission of sins so they can believe. That is false.

Do people have the choice to trust in Jesus Christ to save them from Hell?

Before Paul became an apostle, he brutally murdered Christians who were a part of the church (Acts 8:3, 1 Timothy 1:13). He only believed because Jesus appeared to him from Heaven, in light that blinded him, and spoke to him (Acts 9:4). Did Jesus make Paul spiritually alive so that he could believe? Clearly not. Paul chose to believe when He learned that Jesus is really the Lord and is in Heaven.

All saved people were chosen to be saved by the foreknowledge of God. What that means is that because God knows the end from the beginning (Is 46:10), He chose to save those He knew would choose to believe.

Otherwise there is no need to preach the gospel and tell people to believe. God would make them spiritually alive and they would automatically believe the truth. After all, their view that sovereign means He makes some people able to believe while He makes others to not be able to believe. If that's really the case, why wouldn't God make them believe without a sent one to share the gospel with them?

They also believe nobody can know they have eternal life until their death bed, because of their other false belief called perseverance of the saints. So if someone believes for awhile and reads in the Bible that they can know they have eternal life, but later falls away from the faith due to extreme circumstances, they would claim that person was never saved at all or else they would've continued to believe. They believe the Christian must persevere in good works which they believe are direct evidence that they are Christians. But, what about the unbelievers who also live very moral lives?

We cannot tell believers and unbelievers apart based on the way they behave themselves morally. The apostle John wrote the gospel of John so that people would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and when they believe they would have life through His name (John 20:31).

Reformed theology also holds to the belief that to believe or place one's faith in Christ is a work, directly contrary to Romans 4:5.

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:5).

To be made alive spiritually is to be made righteous. The sinner would need to be made righteous prior to belief, according to the doctrine of irresistible grace.

"And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him (Abraham) saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir" (Genesis 15:4).

"And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:5).

"And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).

Abraham's faith in God's promise is what resulted in righteousness. Abraham was not made righteous until he believed God's promise.

God saves people who believe. God saves people when they believe. To be made spiritually alive is to be saved. Why then would we tell someone to believe to be saved? We wouldn't, because they would already be saved prior to believing.

06/14/2026

it is false to claim that the gospel of the kingdom required men to do more than believe to be saved.

Water baptism was and still is supposed to immediately take place after one believes and that fits the scenario in Acts 10:39-47.

"And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:44-47).

Why isn't belief mentioned here?

How many nations should repentance and remission of sins be preached in? Israel is only one nation.

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).

How many nations were they to go and baptize? All nations. Not simply Israel. When Samaria received the clear gospel they weren't Jewish but they were to be baptized.

Paul baptized about twelve men in Acts 19. Water baptism has never been a requirement to receive eternal life. Christ came to fulfill the law, and that means to complete it. He didn't abolish the law in the sense of just doing away with it, but rather He brought it to its end and in that way He did abolish it.

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4).

Do you think this is only for us Gentiles? Christ has been the end of the law since His blood established the New Testament.

This is why the one and only gospel came to the Jews first, then when they rejected it the gospel came to the Gentiles.
The Gentiles believed (Acts 10:43-44) but later this is called "repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18). Paul himself later called it repentance to the acknowledging of the truth (2 Tim 2:25).

The point Paul was making in 1 Cor 1:13-17 is that he's thankful he didn't baptize most of them because of how divided they were,

"Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Corinthians 1:12-13).

They were all baptized but he was glad it wasn't all by him so they wouldn't claim they were following Paul instead of Apillos, Peter or Christ.

The one true gospel was in fact shared by Peter in Acts 10 as we see that clarification in Acts 15:7-11.

Earlier Paul preached the gospel to Jews and Gentiles both as Luke recorded in Acts 14:1, and many of the Jews and the Greeks believed. However, there were still other Jews which did not believe and were hostile toward the gospel and the messenger.

The repentance for the remission of sins is better stated as the baptism at the remission of sins. We find the Greek adjective "eis" translated "for" in Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3 and the same exact word is used by Jesus in Matthew 12:41 and Luke 11:32 but the translators used the word "at" which would do a lot of justice to Mark 1:4, Luke 11:32 and Acts 2:38.

But this translation was made in 1611 and the NKJV followed suit with the usage of the word "for" in those passages. It's not my place to say the translators were wrong, but I do believe this things could have made understandable the Scriptures more simple.

Water baptism is for today, and there has always been only one true gospel.

"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8).

06/14/2026

While most Protestants view water baptism as the outward expression of one's faith, other religions like Churches of Christ, International Churches of Christ, Christian Church, international Christian Church, Lutheran, and most Orthodox believe it is mandatory for regeneration.

One verse in particular they use to teach this is John 3:5. Let's read that in its context to see whether Jesus is teaching that one must be water baptized to receive eternal life, or not.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?" (John 3:3-4).

Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again, but Nicodemus thought Jesus was referring to natural birth. This is why he asked Jesus how he could be born again when he is old. He bears this thought out when he asked if a person could enter their mother's womb a second time to be born again.

Jesus' response to Nicodemus in verse 5 is based on Nicodemus' question about the natural birth.

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).

Jesus refers to being born from his mother's womb as being born of water, since the amniotic fluid during the woman's third trimester is between 98-99% water. This is why here in the states when a woman goes into labor we say "her water broke."

So to say "born of water" is not far at all from saying that a woman's water broke.

Jesus continues to make this point in His next statement, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).

This is Jesus clarifying that to be born of water which is to be born of the flesh. To be born of the flesh is the natural birth, while to be born of the Spirit is being made spiritually alive by God's Holy Spirit being inside of the believer.

Here are a few statements about flesh that apostle Paul made:

"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:8).

"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption" (1 Corinthians 15:50).

Now we can clearly see that to be born of water is the first, natural birth in which we enter the world. It is not water baptism..

First birth– water / flesh.
Second birth– born of the Spirit.

06/13/2026

Walk by faith and not by sight. Fear reveals lack of faith while faith reveals lack of fear.
Fear stands for "false evidence appearing real".

06/12/2026

"If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

Is loving the Lord a condition of salvation?

Jesus was speaking to His disciples when He said this, which tells us He was not telling them how to have eternal life, which lasts for all eternity.

What would happen if they wouldn't keep Christ's commandments? Would Jesus lay go of them and send them to Hell? Would they be finally lost?

Friends, everlasting life lasts forever. It is the gift of God which the sinner receives when He trusts in Jesus Christ. The most important thing is that the sinner needs to understand why he cannot save himself. Once we understand that no sin at all can enter into Heaven, we can better understand why Jesus died on the cross and what that accomplished.

"Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" (Proverbs 20:9).

We cannot make our heart clean, which means to be pure from our sins. This means the solution to entering Heaven is being pure, from our sins. We have to be purified in order to be pure.

"And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe" (Acts 15:7).

What did Peter say the Gentiles did in response to the gospel? Keep Christ's commandments? No, he said they believed.
What happened when they believed?

"And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us" (Acts 15:8).

Peter said God gave them the Holy Spirit.
What did that result in?

"And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9).

When we heard the gospel, we believed it. When we believed the gospel, God gave us the Holy Spirit. By giving us the Holy Spirit, God purified our hearts by faith.

To receive the Holy Spirit and have one's heart purified by faith is to be made a child of God (John 1:12) which is also to be born of God (John 1:13).

"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26).

To become a child of God is to receive remission of sins (Acts 10:43).
To receive remission of sins is to be forgiven of all trespasses (Col 2:13).
To be forgiven of all trespasses is to be redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13), which is to be redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), which is to be justified from all things (Acts 13:39). To be justified from all things is to be freed, or more literally justified from the sin (Rom 6:7), which is to not have sin imputed to us (Rom 4:7), which is to have righteousness imputed instead (Rom 4:6). This is also to pass from death unto life (John 5:24), which is to have one's sins taken away (John 1:29, 1 John 3:5, Heb 10:4, 11), which is to be perfected forever (Heb 10:14).

Jesus Christ was judged for all the sins of the believer, and the believer is made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21). The believer will not come into condemnation (John 5:24b), which is to never perish (John 3:16).

06/11/2026

When it comes to the topic of overcoming, the context of the passage or passages being addressed will always determine the meaning. There is no blanket meaning that covers the topic of overcoming, and this is why we are making this series on who overcomes, and what it means to overcome.

"Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks" (Revelation 2:1).

Note first: this is to the church in Ephesus where Paul spent quite a bit of time. This was a large city and a seaport. It was a very immoral city and the location of the great temple of Artimas, Latin–Diana (Acts 19:27).
This city had a population of about 250,000.

The seven stars are the angels / messengers of the seven churches, and some people believe these angels / messengers were the pastors of these churches. The seven golden candlesticks were the seven churches themselves.

"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars" (Revelation 2:2).

Notice Jesus doesn't address their beliefs but only their works. Maintaining good works are important to the Christian as trusting in Christ as Savior is for the unbeliever.

"This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men" (Titus 3:8).
Paul was referring to Christ when he said "believed in God".

When Jesus said "thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars" He is referring to unsaved people calling themselves apostles but don't trust in Christ alone for salvation. Much like the false apostles in the Pentecostal holiness movement that emerged around 1900.

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

There are no modern day apostles or prophets.

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:19-21).

"And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Revelation 2:3-5).

To repent means to change the mind. It is evident that they didn't change their minds about leaving their first love, as that city is in ruins today. That church location is no longer in existence. This does not mean people lost or forfeited the free gift of eternal life. We know from Ephesians 1:13-14 that after they believed they were sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.

"But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Revelation 2:6-7).

The Nicolaitans were a heretical group in the early church who taught that immorality and idolatry were acceptable. They practiced unrestrained indulgence.

They needed to overcome the things that caused them to leave their fellowship with Christ. This means they became unfruitful, meaning they weren't shining their light to the world the way they used to.

"And that (Seed, the Word of God) which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection (maturity)" (Luke 8:14).

The promise of being able to eat from the tree of life was already a promise to all believers.

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:14).

At this point in time all believers will keep Christ's commandments because we will have been glorified by that time. In light of this fact, these believers were encouraged to overcome the world in their every day lives. It is possible that the believers who don't overcome may not be able to enjoy the tree of life to the extent others will, but that is only speculation.

06/11/2026

The NKJV has arrived on the Literal Word app and website!

• Fully formatted New King James Version (NKJV) bible text and official footnotes
• Includes integrated Hebrew/Greek lexicons and cross-references
• Still 100% free with no ads

👇 Download the app or read online. Link in comments.

06/10/2026

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/obituaries/aylmer-qc/christopher-mcgowan-12916203?utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwZnRzaASVwhRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeRjsj9WaTMJ1qETpne6UTpmARaDkwEf8qphT17nT0KL43QC0QRCxEY612R0s_aem_nqX6P0GQCGGDB3VREGwB-w

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