Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Tomorrow?

A little over 15 years ago I was sitting in the plush conference room of an attorney who was being paid $100/hour to do some work for us. He was probably around 42 years old at the time. We began to discuss church and he told me that he used to be a deacon in a prominent church in town but had grown disillusioned with church quarrels and such, so he wasn't attending very much at that time. So I asked him "the question". I said, "If you were to die today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven?" We talked about salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ for the next thirty minutes as the files on the table lay untouched. He told me it had been many years since someone had engaged him in a conversation about the things of God and of eternity.

I could tell he was touched that I had been willing to talk to him about things that really mattered. It wasn't easy to take the step of faith to start a spiritual conversation with him. He was a successful professional, and I was only a poor student at the time. The setting was a bit intimidating from my perspective. He was in his element, and I was completely dependent upon his advice and expertise. But God enabled me at the time to dare to enter into forbidden territory. I felt good about the encounter.

Our family moved to another town and about 3-4 months later I called the attorney's office to ask some questions about legal matters. I asked the receptionist if I could speak with our attorney on the phone. The attorney's partner answered instead. He said, "Didn't you hear about him? He died of a heart attack on the golf course 3 months ago." I was shocked. Then I thought back to our conversation and wondered if this man was ready to meet God when he died. I realized how critical it was that I spoke up about Christ when I had the opportunity. James 4:13-14 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

No one knows if they will see tomorrow come. The unbeliever does not know, and therefore ought to begin seriously seeking God immediately. The believer does not know if tomorrow will come either. When we have an opportunity to witness and tell others about the best news the world has ever known, then we ought to step out in faith and speak up about our faith. We don't know if we will ever have "tomorrow" with that person. I wonder how differently we would all live if we didn't presume upon tomorrow.

If you are not certain that you know the Lord and have eternal life then listen to Isaiah the prophet: "Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon." (Is. 55:6,7)

If you are a believer and you are certain about the eternal destiny of your own soul, listen to Colossians 4:5-6 "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Friday, December 15, 2006

How Are We Saved?

In Acts chapter 15 the leaders of the church were called upon to test the spirits and deal with a critical issue that had serious ramifications. This issue is still a problem in the church today. In fact, some would say that it is THE issue by which the church stands or falls. We are talking about how a person is saved from sin and obtains eternal life. Acts 15:1 says that “certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” Paul and Barnabas had finished the first missionary tour and had returned to their home church, the sending church, at Antioch. Some converted Jews who were from Judea traveled to Antioch and began to teach something that Paul and Barnabas had not taught. They said that unless a Gentile was circumcised, he could not be saved.

Circumcision was the sign of the covenant in the Old Testament. God Himself had ordered Abraham to be circumcised and to also apply that sign to his household. From that point on, all males were to be circumcised from birth as a sign of salvation. Paul in Romans 4:11 tells us what circumcision signified – he said that for Abraham it was “a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.” For Abraham, circumcision was a sign pointing to something he already possessed – righteousness before God. Abraham did not obtain this righteousness by the rite of circumcision, but through faith only. Circumcision did not add anything to his standing before God. Yet Acts 15:1 tells us that these false teachers were saying that circumcision was absolutely necessary for salvation. There are some today who teach that baptism, or church membership, or some other outward ceremony is necessary to salvation. Or they say that you have to perform good works or you must join their church in order to be saved. The truth of course is that eternal life is a free gift. That gift is wrapped in a person, the Lord Jesus. Therefore a person is saved by Christ alone. That salvation is received by faith alone. Any time anyone seeks to add something to Christ or to faith as being necessary for salvation, he or she is striking at the very heart of the Christian faith and is in fact preaching another gospel altogether.

The Lutheran commentator, R.C.H. Lenski, said that “To add anything to Christ as being necessary for salvation, say circumcision or any human work of any kind, is to deny that Christ is the complete Savior, is to put something human on a par with Him, yea to make it the crowning point. That is fatal.” Imagine you have a bridge that is 10 miles long and one section of it, which is one mile long, is made of defective material which is known to collapse with a small amount of weight on it. Would you trust that bridge to hold you up and take you to your destination? If you are trusting in anything other than the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, for your eternal destiny, you are putting your faith in defective material that will collapse on the Day of Judgment. Many people try to add something to Jesus for salvation, but this will not work. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." What are you trusting in for your eternal destiny? Jesus Christ is the only bridge to eternity with God.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Finding Salvation

I received a very insightful email today from my friend in Finland. We met many years ago in Columbia, SC while he was studying at USC. Thankfully, we are still in touch and have great conversations via email. I am thankful for his friendship and his love for the Lord. He pondered the various ways in which people begin their spiritual journey toward Christ. He said, "some other people start spiritual journey not with Luther's profound sense of guilt, but with a search for Meaning in life. They find that Christ, the Eternal Word, gives coherence to creation as well as purpose to history and mankind."
He mentioned several other ways by which people start on the path to Christ. His last paragraph describes his own experience
:

"
I am also a believer in a sixth way to find salvation. Better to call it a group of 'unconventional ways', since there are numerous ways, often improvised from some pertinent crux in life that causes a turn towards spirituality, and hopefully towards Jesus Christ. This is the way I have taken – this way has its ups and downs, lefts and rights – it goes from low bottom misery to highest heavens. I am never sure what makes me walk, but every time I stop some new turn of events in life puts me go forward, and at the same time someone draws me – and it is God´s Eternal Love."
What a blessing to have a brother in Christ in Finland, where I hope to visit one day!

People come to Christ in many different ways. God has a unique plan for each one of those who are His. Salvation is the common need of all people. The path by which they come to Christ will be different for each person. However, there must be some things in common to all.

1) Every person who comes to Christ must understand something about God, and must believe in His existence. Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
2) Every person must understand that they have sinned, i.e. transgressed God's laws, and therefore are guilty, deserving of His wrath. The degree of the feeling of guilt will vary. Luther's was extreme, while others will be more mild. But still, the reality of guilty and wicked hearts must be dealt with by each one. I believe that most people in the world will not feel their need of Jesus until they feel their sin and guilt, and become aware of the danger they are in.
3) Every person must understand that salvation is a gift of God's grace, which cannot be earned by any effort on our part. This gift can only be received. All credit goes to God and to His Son who died and rose again. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
3) Every person must come to Christ for himself, and trust only in His death as the payment for sins and also believe in the resurrection. (Romans 10:9,10)
4) Every person must repent of sin as they come to Christ. They must turn around, have a change of mind and heart, and the proof will be a new life. In Luke 13:3 Jesus said, "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
5) Every person who comes to Christ must seek to find out what pleases the Lord. This can only be discovered from the Bible. Therefore, the follower of Jesus must study the Scriptures, in the context of the church, where fellowship and corporate worship take place. Every believer should try to imitate Ezra the scribe of the Old Testament. Ezra 7:10 "For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel." We study, we put into practice what we learn, then we pass what we learn on to others. Especially we must obey the Great Commission and preach the gospel to all nations. This is the great challenge of all believers and all churches. Not simply to exist for ourselves only, but to proclaim the wonderful, liberating message of salvation in Christ alone. When a person believes in Christ, he becomes a new creature. When many people in a nation become new creatures, then that nation can be changed also. Change the heart of man, and change the soul of a nation. And as we fulfill this commission, we eagerly look forward to His triumphant return!

Monday, December 11, 2006

Be Saved

In the book of Acts there is a question posed by a jailer to the apostle Paul and his friend Silas. That question is one that every person ought to ask and seek an answer to. The jailer asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Have you ever asked that question, or thought about this matter of salvation? The word "saved" is a broad term of course. The basic meaning of this word is "to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction". A person would only need to be saved or rescued if he or she was in some sort of danger. About 20 years ago the house we lived in had a goldfish pond in the backyard. The small pond was actually quite deep with steep, slippery sides. When our daughter Hannah was two years old she wandered around to the back yard without my wife realizing it. Less than a minute had passed when my wife Deby noticed Hannah was missing. Deby bolted out the door and headed straight for the goldfish pond to find Hannah floating face down in the water, flailing her arms helplessly. Hannah needed to be saved. She was in danger. She could not save herself, but needed someone else to rescue her. Deby jumped in and scooped her up to safety in an instant.


Do you need to be saved? Perhaps you don't think you are in any danger at this moment in your life. The Bible declares that all men and women are in fact in grave danger and therefore in need of rescue from that danger. The danger is this -- that if a person dies unsaved, he or she will spend eternity separated from God in torment and agony. This danger is not something the average person is aware of, although most people have at least thought about it at some time or other. The Bible says that there will be a day of judgment at which point a person's eternal destiny will be fixed. There will be an eternity of heaven or hell for every person who has ever lived. Hebrews 9:27 says that "it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment."

At the final judgment, God will declare to the unsaved, "I don't know you… Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire" (Matt 25:12,41). The wicked in hell are excluded from God's loving presence and the "life" for which humans were originally created (John 5:29). The damned are "thrown outside, into the darkness" (Matt 8:12; 22:13). The Bible calls this "the second death" (Rev 21:8). There is no escape for those in hell. Revelation 14:11 says "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night."

While there is no escape from hell for those who are in it, there is a way to escape having to go there. When the jailer asked Paul and Silas "What must I do to be saved?", Paul's answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Because you have sinned against God, you will be guilty on the Day of Judgment. Jesus Christ died in order to remove the guilt of all those who would believe in Him. He rose again from the dead so that believers would be saved. Romans chapter ten says: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." I hope that you will begin to think about eternity and what will happen to you after death. Your body will die, but your soul will live on in heaven or in hell. I hope you will seek to “be saved.” If you are a believer, I pray that you will be concerned about the danger that lost people are in, and that you will be concerned enough to do something about it.

For more information about salvation:

http://www.trinitylectures.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=28