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Does Your Theology and Practice Properly Account for Hebrews 2:9 and 5:9?

April 24, 2013

Christian theology and practice is only as sound as it is in full keeping with all that Scripture teaches about any given subject or practice. Hebrews 2:9 and 5:9 are two verses that provide a good means of testing the soundness of one’s beliefs and living as a Christian.

Hebrews 2:9

The writer of Hebrews declares, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (2:9). This verse presents some key truths about the death of Jesus, including the following: (1) He became incarnate in order to suffer death; and (2) He tasted death for every man.

What the Scripture writer specifies about the latter truth reveals an even more profound truth—Christ experienced death on behalf of others by the grace of God. With this teaching, he asserts that God’s grace to Jesus was vital in His dying for others.

In my experience, this truth has very rarely been stressed; nearly always, it has been Jesus’ laying down His own life that has been stressed. Hebrews 2:9, however, unmistakably asserts that Jesus died by the grace of God that was granted to Him.

We, therefore, must conceive of the death of Jesus in full accord with all that Scripture reveals about it: not only His laying down His own life of Himself (John 10:18), but also His receiving grace from God to do so. Regardless of whether or not we can understand how both these points can be true, we must maintain in our theology and practice that both are true.

Hebrews 5:9

In chapter five, we encounter another similarly profound truth that we must properly reflect in our theology and practice:

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; ⁹ And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him (5:8-9).

These verses declare that Jesus was made perfect through what He suffered, and that His being perfected in that way was how He became the author of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him.

Strikingly, the author of Hebrews asserts that Jesus provides eternal salvation not simply by virtue of His intrinsic deity, which was true of Him throughout His entire life! Rather, His doing so vitally stems from what resulted from the suffering that He experienced as the God-Man. The profundity of this verse, as with 2:9, thus pertains directly to what we do with the truth of Jesus’ deity in relation to other vital truth about Him.

What a Proper Theology and Practice That Reflects These Truths Looks Like

The immensely profound truths revealed in Hebrews 2:9 and 5:9 require that we not overemphasize the deity of Christ in our theology and practice to such an extent that we fail to give other vital truths their proper emphasis. Discussions of the death of Jesus and His saving work must reflect not just His deity, but also the grace of God at work in His life and His saving people by virtue of what He experienced as the God-Man.

These truths, in particular, must shape how we evangelize people. We must not present Jesus’ death only as His exercising His divine power. Nor should we present Him as able to save people solely because He is God.

Instead, when we evangelize people, we should also emphasize the divine help that He received in His death. Moreover, we should present Him as the glorified God-Man who provides salvation to those who obey Him because of how He as the God-Man was perfected through His sufferings.

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Theology

Is Jesus As the Judge "The Bad News" about Jesus Christ?

April 12, 2013

The world detests the message that Jesus is the Judge. Sadly, many believers also may often have a mindset that views the truth of Jesus as the Judge as “the bad news.” Is the truth of Jesus as the Judge “the bad news”? If so, how is it bad news and for whom?

John 5 is a key passage in the Gospels that emphasizes the truth of Jesus as the Judge. A close examination of this passage provides a clear answer to our question.

The Primary Truth about Jesus in John 5

John 5 records at length Jesus’ interaction with an impotent man and certain Jews in Jerusalem. Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath. He did so as the Son of Man with the authority to forgive sins on the earth.

Observing the man who was healed carrying his bed on the Sabbath, the Jews confronted him about his actions, which they regarded as unlawful (5:9-10). The man defended himself by saying that the One who had healed him also ordered him to take up his bed and walk (5:11). The Jews inquired who it was that directed him to do so (5:12).

The man did not know who it was because Jesus had left the location (5:13). Later, Jesus found him in the temple and sternly charged him, “Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come to you” (5:14). The man left and informed the Jews that Jesus had made him whole (5:15). The Jews, therefore, persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him (5:16, 18) because He healed the man on the Sabbath and because they rejected His saying that God was His own Father (5:17-18).

The entire conflict between these Jews and Jesus concerned what was and was not lawful to do on the Sabbath. The Jews judged Jesus as a lawbreaker and wanted to kill Him for what they regarded as His unlawful actions and for His stupendous assertion that they regarded as His making Himself equal with God (5:18).

Jesus’ response to them comprises one of the lengthiest records of His words (5:17; 19-47; 30 verses). The great length of direct discourse by Jesus that John records here stresses this passage greatly.

In effect, Jesus defended Himself before these Jews by making known that His actions were not unlawful because He is the One to whom the Father has given all judgment (5:22, 27). As the God-appointed Judge, He is thus the Lawgiver who decides what is and is not lawful.

Seen in this light, the entire passage (5:1-47) is primarily about Jesus as the God-appointed Judge. His explicit statement that what He said to these Jews was so that they might be saved (5:34) shows that this passage is an evangelistic account. Jesus’ profound emphasis on His judicial agency (explicit statements in 5:22, 27, 30; contextually throughout the passage) in His evangelizing these hostile Jews shows that Jesus held that His judicial agency was the central truth that He wanted them to receive in order that they might be saved (5:24).

John 5 Illumines What the Good News Is in Act 10

This analysis of John 5 provides help for us to rightly interpret Peter’s climactic statement at Gentecost that stated that Jesus is the One appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). Far from being the bad news to the Jews (John 5) and to the people at Gentecost (Acts 10), the truth of Jesus as God’s judicial agent was the central truth that sinners had to hear and receive at these occasions to be saved.

How can this possibly be? A closer look at Jesus’ words to the Jews reveals just how this was the case.

The God-Appointed Judge Who Raises People to Eternal Life!

In brief, Jesus emphatically and repeatedly asserted His judicial agency with great solemnity (“Verily, verily”; three times, John 5:19, 24, 25). As part of His explanation of His judicial agency, He taught that an hour is coming when all who are in the graves would hear His voice as the Son of Man to whom the Father has given authority to execute judgment (5:27-28). Those who would hear His voice would come forth to one of two fates: a resurrection of life or a resurrection of damnation (5:29).

Jesus thus taught that He as the God-appointed Judge is the One who would raise all dead people and that they would thereafter enter into their eternal destiny (5:25-29). The ones that had done good would enter into the resurrection of life; the ones who had done evil would enter into damnation (5:29). He closed this section of His witness to them by yet another explicit statement of His judicial agency by saying that He could not do anything of His own self; as He had heard of the Father, He did (5:30a). He added that His judgment was just because He did not seek His own will, but the will of the Father who had sent Him (5:30b).

With this teaching, Jesus made known that He as the God-appointed Judge would decide the fates of all dead people. Some He would raise to eternal life and the others He would raise to eternal damnation. His judicial agency, therefore, is only “bad news” to those who have done evil and die refusing to repent of their sins and believe in Him.

For those who have done evil and then repent of their rejection of Jesus’ equality with God by believing in Jesus as the One whom the Father sent with all authority to execute judgment, His judicial agency is the greatest good news that they could possibly hear. He is the Judge who will raise everyone one day and give eternal life to those who do good by hearing His word and believing on Him who sent Him to be that Judge (5:24)! To do so is to do good because they thereby honor the Son even as the Father, which is the purpose of the Father’s giving all judgment to the Son (5:22-23).

They will not enter into condemnation because He as the Judge will not condemn them (5:24). They have passed from death to life (5:24) because He as the Judge has already quickened them (cf. 5:21) and will one day assuredly raise all of them who die to the resurrection of life (5:29).

The Good News of the God-Appointed Judge Who Saves Those Who Repent and Believe in Him!

Based on this analysis, we understand that Jesus as God’s judicial agent is not “the bad news of Jesus Christ” to sinners who repent and believe the good news that He is the One to whom the Father has given all judgment. His judicial agency is the central truth that both Jesus and Peter gave to sinners that they might be saved in the two accounts treated above.

The Jews rejected His judicial agency and were not saved. The lost people at Gentecost believed in Him as that God-appointed Judge (Acts 10:42) and were therefore forgiven their sins by Him (Acts 10:43). They were saved by believing in the name of the One whom the Father sent as the Son of God (John 5:25), the Son (5:26), and the Son of Man (5:27), His judicial agent (5:22, 27, 30)!

By virtue of the judicial authority that the Father has given Him (5:22, 27, 30), Jesus gives eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him (17:2). He does so for those who believe that He died for their sins and that God raised Him from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-5; Rom. 10:9-10). Hear His own words about His judicial agency, acknowledge that you have done evil and are repenting, believe on the Father who sent Him with all judicial authority, and you will have everlasting life! You will never come into condemnation; you will have passed from death to life!

As the Son of Man, He has the judicial authority to forgive your sins (Luke 5:24; cf. Acts 7:56-60; 10:42-43) and to give you eternal life (John 5:24-29). He will save you by doing these things and much more (Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1). Believe the good news of Jesus Christ that includes the glorious truth that He is the God-appointed Judge and you will be saved!

In Evangelism, Exposition, Theology

The Value of a Tract on a Windshield

April 5, 2013

Most believers believe that tracts are a good way to share the gospel with people. For various reasons, however, many are often reluctant to pass them out personally to people.

Leaving tracts impersonally in various locations for people to find at a later point is an alternative way of evangelism that probably not many believers use very often today. My testimony of salvation shows that God does use this means of evangelism.

While living in Cookeville, TN, in 1989, I was working retail at a local K-Mart store. One day, I returned to my car to find a piece of paper that someone had stuck under my left windshield wiper.

I do not remember now whether I was annoyed at that time or not. I do remember removing the paper from my windshield and looking at what it was.

Finding the title God’s Simple Plan of Salvation to be interesting, I proceeded to read the tract. (I’m not sure now whether I read it right away or later on that day, but I did read it sometime that day.) Sometime soon after reading that tract as well as other materials, God saved me by convincing me of the truth of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead!

What’s more, if I am remembering correctly, I think that the tract was from Calvary Baptist Church in Cookeville, which turned out to be the same church that God led me to attend shortly after I was saved! I look forward to finding out in eternity who shared the tract with me that helped me to be saved.

We never know how God will use the tracts that we give to people and the tracts that we just leave in various places for people to find later!

In Evangelism, Testimony

The Vital Significance of the Spirit’s Remarkable Role in the Apostolic Gospel Preaching at Gentecost

February 17, 2013

Scripture provides more verses about Gentecost than about any other account of apostolic gospel preaching (Acts 10:1-48; 11:1-18; 15:7-9; 14; at least 70 verses total). The Spirit played a remarkable role in bringing about the preaching of the gospel on that occasion, as revealed by two key passages in Acts 10.

First, the Spirit spoke directly to Peter prior to his preaching at Gentecost:

Act 10:19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. ²⁰ Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.

This statement brings out three aspects of the Spirit’s work on this occasion. Not only did He send the three men who came to summon Peter to go back to Caesarea with them (Acts 10:5-8; 17-18), but He also directly spoke to Peter to inform him of that fact. Moreover, He commanded Peter to get up, go down to meet them, and go with them without questioning what was taking place (Acts 10:20).

The Holy Spirit thus was responsible for bringing about the evangelistic encounter at Gentecost in a unique way because Scripture does not record any other occasion that emphasizes in such fashion the Spirit’s work of directing an apostle to evangelize a specific group of people on a specific occasion.

Second, after Peter had come to Caesarea and met Cornelius, he preached the gospel to him and the others that were there with him (Acts 10:33; 15:7). While he was preaching, the Spirit fell on all who were hearing his message (Acts 10:44).

Doing this, the Spirit effectively ended Peter’s message, signaling thereby that these Gentiles had then heard precisely all that the Spirit wanted them to hear on that occasion. Scripture does not record any other instance of apostolic gospel preaching in which God determined supernaturally in such a way when the evangelist’s message would end.

Two subsequent references to this supernatural event underscore the importance of this work of the Spirit at Gentecost:

Act 11:15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. ¹⁷ Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? ¹⁸ When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Act 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; ⁹ And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

In fact, these two passages were the basis for my coining the term Gentecost because they explicitly link what happened at this evangelistic encounter with what happened at Pentecost.

CONCLUSION

The teaching of these two passages about the Spirit’s unique work in connection with Gentecost (Acts 10:19-20; 44) and the subsequent references to that work (Acts 11:15-18; 15:8-9) provide us with explicit statements that point to the unique importance of what happened at Gentecost. This information strongly suggests that a thorough examination of Peter’s gospel message at Gentecost is essential for us to have a proper understanding of what we are to do in preaching the gospel in our day.

In Evangelism, Gospel, Ministry, Preaching

Learning from A Conversation between Two Babies in the Womb!

January 19, 2013

The following was shared today by a friend on FB. He cited www.guadaluperadio.com as its source. If you do not know Spanish, see the translation below (I used GoogleTranslate and Spanishdict.com to do the initial translation and then I tried to smooth it out as best as I could). This is a tremendous analogy!

En el vientre de una mujer embarazada se encontraban dos bebés. Uno pregunta al otro:

– ¿Tú crees en la vida después del parto?

– Claro que sí. Algo debe existir después del parto. Tal vez estemos aquí porque necesitamos prepararnos para lo que seremos más tarde.

– ¡Tonterías! No hay vida después del parto. ¿Cómo sería esa vida?

– No lo sé pero seguramente… habrá más luz que aquí. Tal vez caminemos con nuestros propios pies y nos alimentemos por la boca.

– ¡Eso es absurdo! Caminar es imposible. ¿Y comer por la boca? ¡Eso es ridículo! El cordón umbilical es por donde nos alimentamos. Yo te digo una cosa: la vida después del parto está excluida. El cordón umbilical es demasiado corto.

– Pues yo creo que debe haber algo. Y tal vez sea distinto a lo que estamos acostumbrados a tener aquí.

– Pero nadie ha vuelto nunca del más allá, después del parto. El parto es el final de la vida. Y a fin de cuentas, la vida no es más que una angustiosa existencia en la oscuridad que no lleva a nada.

– Bueno, yo no sé exactamente cómo será después del parto, pero seguro que veremos a mamá y ella nos cuidará.

– ¿Mamá? ¿Tú crees en mamá? ¿Y dónde crees tú que está ella ahora?

– ¿Dónde? ¡En todo nuestro alrededor! En ella y a través de ella es como vivimos. Sin ella todo este mundo no existiría.

– ¡Pues yo no me lo creo! Nunca he visto a mamá, por lo tanto, es lógico que no exista.

– Bueno, pero a veces, cuando estamos en silencio, tú puedes oírla cantando o sentir cómo acaricia nuestro mundo. ¿Sabes?… Yo pienso que hay una vida real que nos espera y que ahora solamente estamos preparándonos para ella…’

English translation from GoogleTranslate and Spanishdict.com, which I have attempted to smooth out:

In the belly of a pregnant woman were two babies. One asks the other, “Do you believe in life after birth?”

“Of course. Something must exist after delivery. Maybe, we’re here because we need to prepare for what will be later.”

“Nonsense! There is no life after birth. What would that life be?”

“I do not know but surely … there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk on our own feet and nourish ourselves through our mouths.”

“This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And eating by mouth? That is ridiculous! The umbilical cord is where we eat. I tell you one thing: life after delivery is excluded. The umbilical cord is too short.”

“Well, I think there must be something. And maybe it’s different from what we are used to here.”

“But no one has ever returned from beyond postpartum. Delivery is the end of life. And, after all, life is but a harrowing existence in the darkness that leads nowhere.”

“Well, I do not know exactly how it will be after delivery, but I’m sure we’ll see our mom, and she will take care of us.”

“Mom? Do you believe in mom? And, where do you think she is now?”

“Where? All around us! We are in her and through her is how we live. Without her, the whole world would not exist.”

“Well, I do not think so! I’ve never seen mommy, therefore, it is logical that she does not exist.”

“Well, but sometimes when we are silent, you can hear her singing or feel her caressing our world. Do you know? … I think there is a real life that awaits us and only now we are preparing for it … “

In Apologetics, Parables, Spanish

Every Believer Should Learn from John 5 How to Be Like Jesus in Evangelizing Sinners

October 30, 2012

John 5 is probably not a chapter that many believers turn to when they think about how they should evangelize people. A close look at the passage, however, reveals that it is a very valuable account from which we should learn how we are to evangelize sinners.

Many points establish the vital evangelistic importance of John 5. First, a direct statement from Jesus shows that it is an account of His evangelizing sinners: “But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved” (John 5:34). We, therefore, must learn from this passage how we are to be like Jesus in evangelizing sinners.

Second, a comparison of John 5 with John 3 and John 4, two texts which typically receive far more attention than John 5 does in discussions about key evangelistic texts, brings out the importance of John 5. The evangelistic account in John 5 (5:1-47 [47 verses]) is more than twice the length of the Nicodemus account (John 3:1-21 [21 verses]) and five verses longer than the Samaritan woman account (John 4:1-42 [42 verses]). If, then, we consider John 3 and 4 as significant for our learning to evangelize sinners the way Jesus did, we should much more consider John 5 to be so.

Third, John 5 shows that Jesus emphasized His agency in His witness to an extent that is widely lacking in the evangelistic practices of our day. In addition to two direct statements of His inability to do anything “of Himself” (John 5:19, 30), Jesus stressed that He was sent by the Father (John 5:23, 24, 30, 36, 37, 38), that He was given His authority by the Father (John 5:22, 27), and that He had come in His Father’s name (John 5:43). Thus, He communicated His agency at least eleven times in His evangelistic witness on this occasion!

We must, therefore, learn from Jesus Himself that evangelizing sinners properly does not consist only of testifying to His deity. A proper evangelistic witness stresses both His deity and His agency.

Fourth, Jesus specifically emphasized His judicial agency as part of the truth that these sinners were to believe in order to be saved. He did so by His juxtaposing key statements: (1) He highlighted that their right response to God’s doxological purpose (John 5:23a) for giving all judgment to the Son (John 5:22) would be to honor the Son even as they honored the Father (John 5:23b) and that their failing to respond in that way would be to dishonor the Father (John 5:23c); (2) He then solemnly declared that believing His message, which included that vital teaching about the doxological purpose of God for making Jesus His judicial agent, was how they would have everlasting life and not come into condemnation (John 5:24)!

Jesus, therefore, evangelized these sinners by underscoring to them His judicial agency as part of what He said to them so that they would be saved (John 5:34). Believers must learn from Jesus to include testimony to His judicial agency as part of their evangelistic witness to sinners (cf. Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom. 2:16).

Fifth, Jesus testified at length to His central role in bringing about the future bodily resurrection of the dead (John 5:25-29). When we evangelize sinners, we thus should not just talk about Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead.

Rather, we should also tell them that Jesus will bring about the bodily resurrection of all the dead (John 5:28) to either life (John 5:29a) or damnation (John 5:29b). Based on that fact, we should then urge them to come to Him, so that they may have eternal life (John 5:40).

Sixth, even though the sinners whom Jesus was testifying to were seeking to kill Him (John 5:16), Jesus still evangelized them by confronting them directly with hard truths about themselves that they needed to hear in order to be saved. He informed them that they were not rightly related to His Father because they did not have His word abiding in them (John 5:38). He revealed that they did not have the love of God in them (John 5:42).

Jesus exposed the reality that their receiving honor from one another and not seeking the honor that only God can provide made them unable to believe what they needed to believe in order to be saved (John 5:44). He even challenged them that their trust in Moses was not what it needed to be because they did not really believe what Moses said as they should have (John 5:45b-47).

We must learn from Jesus to confront people in a similar manner with the truths that they really need to hear to be saved. We must also learn from Him to persist in evangelizing hardened people, as God providentially provides us opportunities to do so.

Given the many vital truths that John 5 reveals about how Jesus evangelized sinners, every believer should carefully learn from John 5 how he is to be like Him in evangelizing sinners.

In Evangelism, Exhortation

Learning from the Salvation Experience of Rahab

August 11, 2012

Scripture includes Rahab among those whose faith God highlights for our profit: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace” (Heb. 11:31). The inspired account about Rahab and her dealings with the Israelites (Josh. 2:1-24; cf. 6:25) illustrates several aspects of how a sinner is saved.

First, her faith resulted from her hearing about what the Lord had done in delivering His people and in destroying others (through His chosen judicial agents, the Israelites):

⁹ And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

Rahab was not saved by hearing a message only about the Lord as the One who saves those who are His; she heard a message that also informed her of the Lord as the One who judges those who are wicked. Every sinner should be given clear teaching that solemnly testifies to both truths (cf. Acts 10:42-43; 17:30-31).

Second, her faith included her believing that what the Lord and His chosen judicial agents (the Israelites) had done was righteous. This point is clear from her willingness to receive the Israelites in peace instead of informing the authorities of their presence and turning them over to them.

To be saved, a sinner must be persuaded that God has been and always will be just in everything He has done and will do. In particular, he must be prepared to acknowledge the righteousness of God in how He saves repentant sinners and destroys the unrepentant wicked.

Third, her faith evidenced her turning from whatever her former religious beliefs had been to believing in and confessing the Lord as the God of heaven and earth:

¹¹ And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Such acknowledgement of the uniqueness of the Lord as the only true God is essential for the forgiveness of one’s sins (Rom. 10:9-10).

Fourth, having publicly confessed who the Lord was, she asked for mercy from His judicial agents:

¹² Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: ¹³ And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

With the exception of those who cannot knowledgeably pray to Him, God grants mercy only to those who ask Him for it.

Fifth, they covenanted with her to grant her mercy in the future judgment that would come on the sinners among whom she lived—provided she continued to act in keeping with her initial proper acceptance of God’s message and of His agents:

¹⁴ And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

¹⁶ And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

¹⁷ And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

¹⁸ Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.

¹⁹ And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

²⁰ And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

²¹ And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Her salvation experience thus included repentance and faith (cf. Acts 20:21), public confession of the Lord (cf. Rom. 10:9-10), a request for mercy from God (mediated through His judicial agents; cf. Acts 10:42-43; Rom. 10:13), and doing works fitting for saving repentance and faith (cf. Acts 2:38; 26:20).

These same elements will characterize the salvation experience of every sinner who repents toward God, believes in Jesus Christ, and manifests the genuineness of his salvation by persevering in the faith to the end. Those who do so will, like Rahab, not perish eternally with those who do not believe.

In Evangelism, Theology

On Guiding Couples in Saying Wedding Vows versus Guiding a Sinner in Praying “The Sinner’s Prayer”

July 30, 2012

As far as I can remember, almost every wedding that I have attended has included the couple’s saying wedding vows to one another. In the vast majority of cases, they were led in those vows by someone else who directed them to repeat the vows after him.

I do not recall anyone objecting to this practice, which has, as far as I can think at this time, little to no explicit biblical support. Yet, a seemingly increasing number of people today object to a minister’s leading sinners to pray “the sinner’s prayer” and cite the supposed lack of any biblical evidence for doing so as an important aspect of their justification for objecting to the practice.

As I have argued elsewhere, there is biblical data that in principle supports a gospel minister’s appropriately guiding someone in praying a sinner’s prayer. Those who object to the a minister’s doing so, therefore, would do well to examine their perspectives about both practices and determine if there is a lack of consistency in their thinking that warrants a reassessment of their perspectives about guiding a sinner in praying “the sinner’s prayer.”

In Evangelism

Evangelism Testimony 7.26.12

July 26, 2012

This week, I had a great opportunity with a friend to witness to a middle-aged Spanish man. When we first started to talk to this man, he said that he did not want to talk about religion. He said that he respects other religions, and that he was a Catholic, and that he did not want to argue about religion.

I thought this witness was not going to go anywhere after hearing him say these things to us. My partner and I kept talking with him, however, and he opened up to us and shared much about his life.

Hearing how God had spared him on one occasion from being shot point-blank in the head by a rifle, I challenged him that God in His goodness had spared His life for a reason. As we continued to talk, he became friendlier and more open.

I asked him if he knew where he would go when he would die and shared with him a Spanish tract that has that question as it title. I even tried witnessing some to him in Spanish. Even the few points at which I was able to share something with him in Spanish seemed to help reach him, which was an encouragement to me in multiple ways.

A turning point came when I asked him if he had ever sinned. He replied that he had not. I was surprised to hear him answer that way, so I asked him if he had ever lied. He said that he had not.

Undeterred, I then asked him if he had ever looked inappropriately at a woman whom he was not married to and engaged in unrighteous thoughts in relation to her. God used that query to set him back, but he still tried to avoid acknowledging fully his sinfulness.

As our conversation continued, I challenged him about what happened on the Cross and testified to him about the Resurrection. I warned him that he would one day stand before Jesus, the God-appointed Judge, and give an account to Him for his sins.

We spent nearly our entire visitation time witnessing to this one man. We left with him assuring us that he would read the tracts that we gave him.

What started out seeming to be a very unpromising contact turned out to be an excellent witnessing opportunity! Please pray that this man will yet be saved.

I praise God for giving us another opportunity to share His glorious truth at length with another needy person!

In Evangelism, Testimony

Praying to God is Necessary for Obtaining Salvation through the Forgiveness of One’s Sins

July 24, 2012

It is very disturbing to read recently the statements that some Christians are making that either directly assert or clearly imply that praying to God is not necessary for salvation. According to these believers, people only need to repent and believe to be saved—they do not have to pray.

In order to be saved, a person must have his sins forgiven, and many passages in Scripture make clear either explicitly or implicitly that praying to God is necessary for obtaining forgiveness of sins:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14).
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah (Ps. 32:5).
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (Ps. 86:5).
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy (Prov. 28:13).
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? (Jon. 3:5-9)
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 18:13-14).
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise (Luke 23:42-43).
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee (Acts 8:22).
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. . . . For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom. 10:9-10; 13).
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

With the exception of babies, small children, and some others who lack the mental capacity to pray knowledgeably to God, praying to Him (either silently or aloud) is clearly necessary for the forgiveness of sins. Scripture does not support teaching that asserts that a person can be saved without praying to God.

Furthermore, a wrong handling of various salvation accounts in Scripture has resulted in the erroneous view that people are saved by repenting and believing without praying. The lack of explicit mention of a sinner’s praying to God in a condensed summary of how that person was saved is not evidence that they were saved without praying (see my post Learning Interpretation from an Examination of Jonah 3 for an example of an account that lacks such explicit mention but still makes clear that the people did pray to God).

Moreover, an unwillingness to pray to God for forgiveness shows a lack of genuine repentance (Acts 8:20-24; see my post Forgiveness of Sin through a Directive Both to Repent and to Pray for a detailed explanation of this point). A genuine belief in God includes “crying mightily unto God” (Jon. 3:5-9 [see Learning Interpretation from an Examination of Jonah 3]; Rom. 10:9-10; 13).

Saving repentance and faith includes praying to God for the forgiveness of one’s sins. Praying to Him is necessary for obtaining salvation through the forgiveness of one’s sins.

In Evangelism, Prayer, Theology

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