Photo by Yannick Pulver on Unsplash
Over the years as a Christian, I have had the privilege of sharing my faith with several people on a one-on-one basis.
(By the way, if you are a Christian, I believe there is a degree of joy and level of maturity in the faith you may never experience, except in the regular practice of sharing your faith with others.
However, you need to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be an effective witness for Christ. The Holy Spirit makes the Word you speak to be alive. He is the one that brings conviction to a person’s heart (See Acts 1:8; Mk 16:15-20).
Usually, after establishing a friendly rapport with the person I want to share the gospel with, I would desire to know if the person is a Christian. Otherwise, I could ask, “If you were to die now, are you sure of where you would be going?” In many cases, some would say, “Yes I’m going to heaven. I am a Christian because I go to church, and I do not do bad things.”
Some others would hinge their assurance on a ‘Christian’ pedigree. “Since my parents are Christians, I am a Christian also.”
Such statements might be socially and religiously acceptable, but God’s Word, which is the final authority on issues of the Christian faith, disagrees with such positions. The Bible is very clear about how a person can become a Christian or a child of God.
As simply as possible, I would kindly try to explain that, from the Biblical perspective, salvation has nothing to do with our goodness or holiness or our parentage.
Salvation does not depend on Christ plus your good works, but faith in Christ alone. Becoming a Christian or being saved from sin is wholly a function of the redemptive work of Christ. That is, of what Christ did for us from the cross to the throne.
And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favour and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. God saved you by his special favour when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it –Ephesians 4:7-9, NLT.
The Bible likens becoming a child of God to a rebirth: “They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God (John 1:13 NLT). Or, as another translation puts it, “They were not God’s children by nature or because of any human desires. God himself was the one who made them his children” (CEV).
Birth is usually the product of someone’s seed (sperm). The Word of God is likened to such a seed that is capable of reproducing life:
Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ 1 Peter 1:23-25
“Now this is the word, which by the gospel is preached.” Becoming a child of God is through the incorruptible seed of the Word of God. The seed of man is corruptible and subject to fading away. Also is its offspring. But the seed of God abides forever.
Salvation is about God’s unmerited favour. Let us suppose that you get to the gates of heaven and you are asked why you should be granted entry. If you said that your reason is that you go to church and you do not do bad things, you are indirectly saying that the blood of Christ is not necessary or adequate for your salvation. As a result, you will be liable to split hell wide open. Without Christ and Christ alone, no one can be saved. Not even the Pope! Salvation is God’s unmerited favour. It is a gift to humanity.
The word to save is derived from an Old Testament Hebrew word that carries the connotation of help, healing, deliverance, prosperity, victory; to rescue and to defend, to free or to bring succour and to save. It is used in different contexts to carry these meanings. The New Testament Greek equivalent carries the same connotation.
There is an interesting narrative in the Bible that buttresses this point. It is an event recorded in Acts chapter 3. Peter and John went to the Temple at the time of prayer. At the Temple-gate called Beautiful, they meet a man lame from birth, a beggar who asked them for alms.
Peter responds, ‘we do not have silver or gold, but we give you what we have,’ “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” The man was healed and it caused no small stir.
What I want you to pick out in this story is the response by Peter: Why look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk (v12).
Furthermore, he states that it is Jesus’ name and faith in His name that made this man strong… faith through His name has given him this perfect soundness” (v16).
Peter is saying here, ‘it is not through our (that is his and John’s) power, goodness or holiness that this man got healed but through the name of Jesus and faith in His name.’
You can only depend on “the incredible wealth of God’s favour and kindness towards us”, and believe in the name of Jesus for your salvation, help, healing, deliverance, prosperity, victory, and rescue; to defend you, to free and bring you succour, and to save you. Because
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved -Acts 4:12.
Friend, in the second part of this podcast, I would share, among other things: Closing your heart to Satan’s lies; The Essence of Salvation; How you can receive salvation.
Until then do not forget to keep living, loving and learning.
God loves you, and so do I.
