Getting Motivated

I'd like to discuss the 6 Motivations for being a soul winner. Making an effort to win souls to Christ is work, make no mistake about it. Well, when you go to your job and put in time working don't you expect to be paid? Of course you do or else it would be called volunteering. It is the same in soul winning. It is a work we can, and should, do to earn rewards in Heaven (much like being paid at work). Many people get the idea that Heaven will be the same for everybody. This is not so. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." If Heaven is the same for everyone, then Jesus' statement makes absolutely no sense at all. Question, what is the only thing from this earth that is going to be in Heaven? .... Answer: people.

With this in mind, let's think about 6 motivations for Soul Winning. The primary scripture reference is from 2 Corinthians 5:9-20 which states,

"9 Therefore, we labor, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
11 Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.
12 We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.
13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.
14 For the love of Christ constrains us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

To make these a little easier to remember I will make each point start with the letter "C".

1) "Compulsion."
Look again at the scripture in verse 9. We labor to win souls so that we may be pleasing to Him. We are compelled to win souls so that when we stand before God to give an account of how we lived, we will be pleasing to Him.

2) "Compensation"
Look in verse 10. Much like the first point, we must appear before the judgement seat of Christ. This is where we will earn compensation or crowns for work done. There is no negative here. The judgement is to see whether you have earned rewards or not and, if so, what kind and how many.

3) "Conviction"
Look in verse 11. Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. There has been some half truths taught about God in recent years. All I ever hear is "God is Love." While this is true, God is also a God of Judgement and He will require payment for all sins. And if we talk about the Love of God without talking about the wrath of God, we are only giving half of the truth and when a half truth becomes the whole truth, it becomes an untruth. The good news is that when we get saved through Jesus, the payment is made on our behalf, but for the lost souls, they will have to stand at the Great White Throne Judgement and God will be judge, jury and executioner for the lost. As children of God, we have already settled out of court. It is the terrorizing thought that potentially one of our loved ones will be sent to eternal torment in Hell that should motivate us to witness to them.

4) "Compassion"
Look at verse 14. For the love of Christ constrains us. As a child of God, we know, appreciate and are so grateful for what Jesus did for us we can't help but want to tell others about it. Sadly, a person is more likely to go tell someone how they saved $2 on a sale at Kohl's then they are to go tell someone how they were saved by Christ.
Remember the conversation between Christ and Peter not long after Peter denied Christ? It is in John 21:15 "So when they had dined, Jesus said to Peter, Peter, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these? He said unto him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love thee more. He said unto him, Feed my lambs." Well, if we say we love Jesus, we should "feed the lambs".

5) "Commission"
Look at verses 18-20. We are given the ministry of reconciliation. Another popular scripture for this is in Matthew 28:18-19 " 19 Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." This, of course, is the Great Commission.

6) "Count Down"
One of the sneakiest thing Satan can do to people is to get them to procrastinate and let them be ok with putting things off for another day. The problem with this is that we don't know if we will have another day on this earth. All the soul winning we will ever do, will be done on this earth. Once we get to heaven, it's too late. The Bible has several verses which speak of the urgency in winning the lost to Christ.

2 Corinthians 6:2 "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation".

James 4:14 "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."

Proverbs 27:1 "Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth."

Hebrews 3:13 "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is still called 'Today,' so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

Unbelieveably, even Pharoah had the "tomorrow syndrome". When God was bringing the plagues to Egypt to let the Israelites go, one of the plagues was frogs. There must have been millions of them because the Bible says they covered the land of Egypt. Pharoah then told Moses he would let the people go if he would take the frogs away. When Moses asked him when he wanted this done, Pharoah said "tomorrow". Incredibly, he wanted one more night with the frogs.

Exodus 8:9-10 "9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?" 10 Then he said, "Tomorrow."

Sadly, many lost people intend to get saved........ tomorrow. Most want at least "one more night with the frogs". Almost as sadly, many Christians intend to witness to a lost person............. tomorrow.

I think perhaps this factor of count down is the most important motivation. We never know when
a) a person we need to witness to will die and
b) when we will die. No one is ever promised tomorrow.

Psalms 118:24 says "This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

We only get one "Today" each day, let's try to make the most of it. Let's be thankful we are given each day and live like it could be our last... because it just might be.

Cheerios That Make God Want To Vomit

I woke up last Saturday Morning with a mild headache. As the morning wore on, the headache intensified. I mistakenly thought that if I ate something, I might feel better (even though I was not hungry). Since it was morning, I opted for a bowl of Rice Krispies (The generic Food Lion brand version) and I ate that down with no problem but I felt no better also. In fact, I started to feel worse. Finally, it all came to an end when I deposited the once eaten cereal back into the same bowl from which it came. I disposed of the vomit and went into the bedroom for a nap. Four hours later I woke up and felt good as new. It ended up being something that seems to afflict me at random every so often... a migraine.. or a milder version of a migraine. These hit me about once every 3 months or so and there is no rhyme or reason as to when I get them and no real warning that I am getting one.

I say all the above to say that once that happened, the scripture came to mind from Revelation Chapter 3. God is addressing the church at Laodicea about their apathy. I normally do not like the Message paraphrase at all but it had the word vomit in it so I went with that. Look at verses 15-20 "I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.
Here's what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that's been through the refiner's fire. Then you'll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You've gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.
The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!
Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you"


I'll touch back on these verses in a second but I was watching TV the other day and I saw a commercial about Frosted Mini Wheats. A Frosted Mini Wheat was being compared in size and significance to one piece of Cheerios. In the commercial, this Frosted Mini Wheat is in a boxing match with the Cheerio piece. The Mini Wheat towered over the Cheerio for an easy knock out as the Cheerio piece basically fainted.

As I look at some who call themselves Christians, I can't help but think that most are like the little Cheerios. The trial of a little milk (spilt or not) makes them soggy, weak and not fit for consumption; insignificant when it comes to making a difference in the lives of others. Much like those in Laodicea where God tells them they are stale and make him want to vomit. As Christians, we need to be like that Frosted Mini Wheat, bold in our testimony, someone others are drawn to, able to stand firm in the trials of having milk poured on us and people that God can look at us and be pleased.

Notice in the later verses God says "The people I love, I call into account." The King James version says in verse 19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."

This is similar to the passage in Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives."


Friends, we can not live life in a shell thinking only of ourselves. We will have to give an account of how we lived our life once we become children of God. There is a vast difference between hearing "well done thou good and faithful servant" than hearing "get out of my sight. You make me want to vomit."

I believe we can learn a lesson from that square of Mini Wheat... be bold in the Lord, strong in your christian beliefs, and don't compromise them for anyone or anything.

Jesus is saying in verse 20 that He stands at the door and knocks and wants to sup or eat with us. In other words, He wants to fellowship with us like family. If Jesus was going to come eat with you in fellowship, would he be eating a big bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats or a big bowl of soggy Cheerios?

Perhaps had I been eating a bowl of Mini Wheats instead of Rice Krispies, I may have been spared the vomiting, but then again probably not. I know I will never look at a Frosted Mini Wheat the same again.

Bi Polar or Minding Their Manna

I myself am guilty of not reading the Old Testament enough. A few posts back I wrote about seeing Jesus in Noah's Ark. Now I would like to talk about seeing Jesus in the Old Testament again.. this time in the wilderness. The primary scripure text is in the Book of Numbers 21:5-9, Amplified Version.

"5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and we loathe this light (contemptible, unsubstantial) manna.
6 Then the Lord sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died.
7 And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that He may take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent of brass and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it on a pole, and if a serpent had bitten any one, when they looked to the serpent of brass [attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze], they lived."

The Israelites were whining, sniveling ingrates. God had rescued them out of bondage and was prepared to lead them into the Promised Land. God was providing their nourishment with the Manna that fell from Heaven each day, but that wasn't good enough for them. (I guess they wanted more quail). When they spoke out against God and Moses, God decided to take action so He sent serpents among them. Let me rephrase that, God didn't send the serpents. It was their disobedience to God that brought the serpents upon them. Remember, these were God's people that He loved and whom the Lord loves, He chastens. The sending of the snakes was their chastening, but within the chastening God provided an escape.
In verse 6, when the people repented (very important) God instructed Moses to place a bronze serpent on a pole and erect it in which anyone looking upon it would live.
One important thing to notice here. When the people repented and prayed to God, God did something interesting. Instead of taking away the serpents, He provided a remedy in the form of a serpent. This parallels what happened when Adam sinned and was forgiven. Just as God did not take away the penalty of sin (which is death) when Adam sinned, God provided a remedy in Jesus Christ who died in our place to pay for our sins on the cross.

Three questions...
1)Why did God use a serpent? A serpent was a reminder of the curse. It was through the serpent that Adam and Eve were seduced and brought under the curse of sin. On the cross, Jesus was made a curse for us. (see Galatians 3:13)
2) Why Brass (or bronze in some translations)? In the Bible, Brass is a symbol of Divine judgment. In Revelation 1:15 Jesus is described as having "feet like fine brass" and again in Deuteronomy 28:23 when the Israelites were disobedient this verse says ""And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron."
3) Why a pole? The pole represents the cross. In John 12:32-33 Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me This he said, signifying what death he should die."

So look at the scenario.. God told Moses to make a fiery serpent of brass, fix it on a pole and invite the bitten Israelites to look upon it so they could live. This is Moses teaching them the Gospel of Grace. Notice what Moses did NOT instruct the Israelites to do.

1) They were NOT told to go find some herbs and make a serum. Religion (the Law) would offer the serum of good works, church membership, keeping the commandments, etc.

2) They were NOT told to go help others who were bitten so that they might be healed. Religion (the Law) would tell us to engage in works of charity with the expectation that relieving others would take away the deadly poison of sin which is in our souls. This is also known as the Mother Teresa philosophy.

3) They were NOT told to make an offering to the serpent on the pole. God does not ask us to pay anything for our salvation, it is a free gift. If anything is required to be paid, then grace is no longer grace. The common modern christian term counterfeit I hear a lot relating to this is "give your life to Christ." We give our lives to Christ to follow Him or be a disciple, but not for salvation.

4) They were NOT told to pray to the serpent on the pole. Religion would have the bitten person pleading with God for forgiveness and mercy which has already been freely given to those who believe. Remember when the Israelites prayed to God, He did not destroy the serpents. He provided a remedy.

5) They were NOT told to look at Moses. God instructed them (through Moses) to look upon the serpent on the pole (picture of Christ). Moses was the Law giver. Here we have a picture of the Law not saving anyone, but showing them the way to be saved. Galatians 3:24 "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." However, some are still looking to Moses (The Law) and trying to be religious with their own works to get them to Heaven instead of looking to Christ.

6) They were NOT told to look at their wounds after they were bit. Some think that they need to be more occupied with the work of examining their own wicked hearts in order to promote a religiousness that they deem necessary to qualify them for heaven. Religion can't save. Only Christ can save!

To look at the serpent on the pole is the same as looking to (trusting) Christ's death on the cross for salvation.

Going back to the scripture in Numbers 21, look at verse 9.
"And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it on a pole, and if a serpent had bitten any one, when they looked to the serpent of bronze [attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze], they lived." This is similar to the passage in James 1:23-24 "23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was."

In this passage James is talking about people who only make a casual glance at God's Word and don't "Look Upon it". The same way with the Israelites. It wasn't just a casual glance at the serpent on the pole that would save them, it was an attentive look, a steadfast look, and absorbing gaze. Not only do we need to read the Bible, we need to meditate on it and the only way to do that is to be steadfast and absorb what it is saying in us as a sponge absorbs water. God gave us the Bible as "living water" and we need to "soak it up".

Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers

I believe one of the most intimidating things for some Christians to do is to share their faith with someone. Not just share their faith, but to be able to explain to an unsaved person how to be saved. The Bible gives us clear instructions on this.

1 Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."


There are two types of people who are the most difficult to reach for salvation.... those that think they are too far gone to be saved and those who think they are so good that they don't need to be saved. The latter group is far more prevalent and far more difficult to convert due to pride.

The first group is easy to deal with. Jesus died for the sins of the entire world. Romans 10:13 states

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Whosoever means anybody at any time. No one can slip so far down that Jesus will not save them. A person may slip so far down that they will be at such a hard-hearted state that they will not seek the Lord, but Jesus rejects no one who comes to Him. This one simple verse settles the argument that anyone is beyond salvation.

The tough nuts to crack are the self proclaimed "Good People". The problem is that there are no "Good People" apart from the saving grace of God. The Bible says in Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."

The reason is that the only way we can obtain righteousness is to have it imputed to us. Impute simply means to assign to someone or put it on their account. The NIV uses the word "credited". The next time you are shopping, don't say charge it, say impute it. (or better yet pay with cash).

We can not earn this righteousness by anything we could do ourselves. This goes all the way back to Abraham. He was called Abram at the time.

"Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."

The Bible clearly teaches that belief (complete trust and confidence in God) is the only path to righteousness. Paul addresses this in Romans 10:3

"For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."

Jesus addresses similar people in Matthew 7:22-23

"22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

These people casted out devils, prophesied or preached in Jesus' name and did many wonderful works all in the name of Jesus. However, they did not trust what Jesus did on the cross for them. This is why Jesus said "I NEVER knew you". He did not say, I once knew you but now I lost you, for that would be impossible. These people were trusting in their own brand of righteousness instead of trusting on the righteousness which is imputed based on faith in Jesus. In fact, Jesus called their righteousness as iniquity.

Many people will end up in Hell with a laundry list of good works to their name, but they will be lacking the one thing that could save them... that being trust in Jesus Christ alone.

There is no "step by step" plan, per se, to lead someone to Christ. However, every point on this checklist (with the scripture verses to back it up) needs to be included in your discussion with a lost person. (or a "good" person who doesn't think he or she is lost, but really is.... sadly, this could and does include many church members)


I. STEPS IN LEADING A SOUL TO CHRIST

A. Establish the fact that all men are sinners.
(Romans 3:10; 3:23; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; James 2:10)

B. Establish the fact that the penalty of sin is death.
(Romans 6:23; Ezekiel 18:20)

C. Establish the fact that you must be perfect to enter heaven.
(Revelation 21:27; Habakkuk 1:13; Psalm 5:4)

D. Establish the fact that a person can do nothing of themselves to obtain this perfection.
(Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16; Romans 4:5)

E. Show how God provided a sin-bearer (Jesus) & credits to man His righteousness.
(II Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9; Isaiah 53:6; I Peter 3:18)

F. Establish the fact that man needs only belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior for salvation.
(John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; John 1:12; Acts 16:31)

G. Establish the fact that man can be certain of his salvation now, and that his salvation cannot be lost because eternal life is eternal.
(John 6:37-39; 10:28; I Peter 1:5; Hebrews 10:10-14; I John 5:13)


Everyone will have their own style of explaining the salvation process to a lost person but these are great guidelines to use. For a Reader's Digest version just think of it like this:


1) We are sinners and our sin has separated us from God
2) The penalty for this sin and separation is eternal damnation in hell
3) In order to enter Heaven, we must be perfect
4) We can not achieve this perfection by any form of good works of our own
5) Jesus (by his death, burial and resurrection) has made a way for us to exchange our sin for His righteousness so that in the eyes of God we are perfect
6) The way we obtain this righteousness is by trusting in Jesus' work on the cross alone and not by trusting in any works of our own
7) Once we have trusted Christ, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit as a child of God forever and we can never lose this relationship. We can lose fellowship with God and the joy of our salvation (see David's words in Psalm 51 about restoring the "joy of his salvation, not restoring his salvation"), but not our salvation itself because it is not based on our actions, but by our belief.

Judas "Not A" Priest

I was in the public library today perusing through the "Christian" book section and was appalled at what I found. As hard as it is for me to believe, I actually found 3 books on the subject of "The Gospel Of Judas". Really???? One of the books even had the sub title of "The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel". (Emphasis mine) Judas was not "misunderstood", he was evil, plain and simple. Any good work he did was for his own gain and notoriety.

Let's look at why Judas could never have written a "Gospel". I am not saying he didn't write "something", it just wasn't God inspired. First of all, a Gospel would be scripture. As the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is inspired by God (more specifically the Holy Spirit) so that would disqualify Judas' so called Gospel right there. The Bible is also called "perfect" (James 1:25). The Biblical definition for perfect is "complete". Thus, if what Judas wrote was really a "Gospel" then it would have been canonized in the Bible or else the Bible would not be complete as written. We know Judas did not have the Holy Spirit in him because Jesus said that He knew from the beginning who it was who did not believe (John 6:64). We know from the Bible that the only way the Holy Spirit comes to someone is after they have believed. (Acts 10:44)

We need to be very careful of falling into the curiosity trap of wanting to read pieces of literary crap like these Judas books. Paul said in Galatians 1:8&9 that if anyone preaches another Gospel other than what he preached, they were to be accursed. And what was the Gospel that Paul preached but the TRUE Gospel found in 1 Cor 15:3-4. But we should not be surprised that many people want to read these type of books. The Bible speaks about this in 2 Timothy 4:2-5 that in the latter days people will not care for the sound doctrine of the Bible but with itchy ears gladly listen to what interests them and their imagination.

2 Timothy 4:2-4
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

Sadly, many in the modern churches fall into the itching ears category and believe whatever some preacher tells them. I don't want anyone to believe what I write in this blog because I write it. I want people to verify what I say is based on the Bible and then believe it because the Bible said it.

I would also caution anyone about reading (and believing) these books about people who claim to have been to Heaven or Hell and back. I assure you based on the Word of God, NO ONE who has gone to Hell (or Hades) has ever come back. Just look at the account of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man found no escape once he got there. He was not even able to warn his family. Many have called this a "parable" but Jesus never did. This was an historical event, not a parable. For one thing, Jesus always used the word parable when he told one and for another thing, Jesus never mentioned anyone specific by name in His parables, yet He mentions Lazarus by name. So take it to the bank, this was an actual historical event. (See Luke 16:19-31)

As for Heaven, the Apostle Paul was actually given a thorn in the flesh to humble him so he would not reveal what he saw when received an out of body glimpse of Heaven. In fact, Paul even said he heard things that it is unlawful to be repeated. (See 2 Cor 12:2-9) God made sure he wouldn't utter them by giving him that thorn in the flesh. No one is quite sure what this actually was... speculation is an eye disease but that is only speculation.

We should just keep things simple. Whether it is our personal reading or a small group study, the BEST book to use as the topic of study is The Bible. (what a novel approach that would be).

Invite Jesus Into Your Heart..... Really???????

This morning as I was getting ready for work, this phrase was running through my mind and the more it did, the more it bothered me. In fact, I got so worked up about it, I was going to use this Blog page to blast this false message. However, in perusing the Internet, I found someone who did as good of a job, if not better, of discussing this than I could have (but I will add my 2 cents in first).

Before you think I am off of my rocker and think I have turned Anti-Christian, continue reading for an explanation and hopefully you will see why I am so worked up about this. I hear it over and over again said by ministers (many of them well meaning) that all you have to do is "ask Jesus into your heart". There is a major problem with that, it is not found in the Bible. Salvation comes from obeying or believing The Gospel. And what is the Gospel? For that, we need only turn to 1 Cor 15 verses 3&4.

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."

That's it. That is the Gospel. Nothing more, nothing less. My eyes play tricks on me sometime but I do not see any mention of "asking Jesus into my heart" in these verses.
Any other presentation of the Gospel that does not include this is false. Those who preach a different Gospel are to be accursed according to Galatians 1:6-9. Let's look at this closer.

"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."

Paul was so adamant about it, he repeated himself in verses 8&9 to make sure everyone got the point.

Lets read on. The Philippian jailor asked the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts 16:29-31

"Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... how come Paul didn't tell the jailer to invite Jesus into his heart? Isn't that what we are supposed to do?

************NEWSFLASH*********

Jesus is not in my heart, your heart or anyone else's heart. He is at the right hand of God the Father until His enemies are made His footstool. If you are saved (a BIG if) then it is the Holy Spirit that en dwells you (lives in your heart if you will)

John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever."


Here is the article I was referring to earlier written by Carol Brooks. I don't think she would mind me copying it here. The web site is www.inplainsite.org and I encourage everyone to check it out. There are lots of good articles and resources there.


Why NOT To Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

Carol Brooks.



Also See Is The Sinner’s Prayer Effective?

The most fundamental, vital question that anyone can ask is what must I do to be saved?...the answer to which is perhaps the most crucial point of the whole New Testament. Yet there are no end of well meaning Christians who, in answer to that life and death question, will inform you that You have to ask Jesus into your heart. In fact you will find this phrase liberally sprinkled through the Christian world... it is found in Christian tracts, preached from pulpits and taught by evangelists. While it is undoubtedly well meaning and well intended, the questions to be asked are… Is it Biblically accurate or just a confusing cliché? Is it (like the prayer of salvation) a magic key into the kingdom or meaningless jargon that is based on emotions with little understanding of what is really involved in salvation. Is someone who has simply asked Jesus into their heart saved? Or does the whole issue boil down to a matter of mere semantics?

Here are some of the reasons never to use this man-made phrase.


It Is Very Confusing
Although the expression is common enough, I am still unsure of what it is supposed to mean even after close to twenty years of being a Christian. If I am still puzzled by this cliché, I can only imagine the effect it has on a non-Christian adult, leave alone a child… any child.

can only imagine what a non believer must think when exhorted to ask Jesus into their hearts?.. How does it work? Is it literal or is this some kind of metaphysical/ supernatural experience? Is it symbolic? If so.. What is it supposed to mean and what is it supposed to do? The confusion is completely understandable considering no good clarification of this phrase actually exists. Is it any wonder that so often presented with completely meaningless phrases that communicate nothing intelligible, much of the world dismisses us as a credulous superstitious bunch?

The confusion can only be intensified with children who think in very literal terms and who probably imagine a literal Jesus literally living inside their hearts. Lower ventricle anyone?

Bob Wilkin testifies of the far reaching implications this inaccuracy can have ..

"Years later I was teaching an evangelism course at a Bible College in East Texas. I had my students write out their testimonies after I had explained what I have recounted above. I found that quite a few of the students went through years of confusion because someone told them as children that if they asked Jesus into their hearts they would be saved. They wondered if they had done it right. They wondered if they had been sincere enough. So they asked Him in over and over again for years. They couldn’t gain assurance. Finally someone shared with them that to be saved they had to trust in Christ alone. Only then, by their own testimony, did they come to faith in Christ. Years of inviting Him into their lives had only confused and frustrated them."
[Bob Wilkin. Don't Ask]

But worse…


It is NOT found anywhere in the Bible.
If you had never read a Christian book or tract, talked to another Christian or ever attended a Christian service or evangelistic crusade, but had simply read the Bible from cover to cover half a dozen times, you would never have known that you had to ask Jesus into your heart to be saved.

Why?

Because it simply isn’t there.

The book of Acts tells us of the spread of the very early church and exactly how and what people did to be saved and become Christians. Yet there is not one single instance of anyone asking Jesus into their heart. Jesus never said it, the apostles never said it. In fact, nowhere in the Scriptures is there even one example of any individuals ever asking Jesus into their heart. So if it is never found in the Bible, why use it? Especially when the Bible is very clear about how to be saved.


It Is Not How One Is Saved.
When the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas the million dollar question, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?", note that they did not tell him to Ask Jesus into his heart.. Nor did they tell him to recite the sinners prayer, read the Four Spiritual Laws nor any of the other contrivances we have since invented. Their answer was simple and concise… "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house." (Acts 16:30-31)

Here are a few examples of what the Bible unambiguously teaches [All Emphasis Added]

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24)


It Bypasses A True Understanding Of The Gospel.
The biggest problem is not that we may phrase something a little differently, but that this ill-defined cliché, whatever it may mean, misses the point entirely. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done to save lost sinners from the just penalty of their sins. That God releases us from the demands of eternal justice on the basis that someone else paid our fine.

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ [Romans 5:1]

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)

God has also instructed believers to proclaim the Gospel to others…

And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.[Mark 16:15]

and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [Luke 24:47]

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. [2 Corinthians 5:19]

…and obscuring the primary issue is not how to do so. Anyone one, young or old, can ask Jesus into their hearts without the faintest idea that salvation is by God’s grace, based solely on Christ’s death on the cross and that it is received through faith in Christ alone. They could ask Jesus into their hearts without any knowledge of the person, work, and accomplishment of the Lord Jesus Christ, or the need to trust in and follow Him.

How exactly then can this popular phrase be construed as the Gospel? When speaking to a non believer the only issue is sin and the need for forgiveness… “Repent” and “believe” are the Biblical instructions given to any non converted person.

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." [Matthew 4:17]

and saying, " The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." [Mark 1:15]

"I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. [Luke 13:3]

"I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." [Luke 5:32]

[Perhaps the best way to realize someone’s understanding of the Gospel message is by asking them the simple question.. "If you were to die tonight and God were to ask you, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?' What would you say?". The answer to that question will tell you whether they are on track or not]


It Puts The Results Of Salvation Ahead of Salvation Itself.

The Bible tells us that on the day of Pentecost, Peter told the crowd to…

"Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [Acts 2:38]

Note that the Holy Sprit came to those who had already repented. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the result of repenting and believing.

Other verses reiterate the message ..[All Emphasis Added]

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." [John 1:12]

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. [Galatians 4:6]

Therefore according to the Bible the Spirit of Jesus comes into your heart because you are already a son through repentance and belief. Telling an unconverted person to ask Jesus into their hearts is not only putting the cart before the horse, but is little more than an empty platitude.

Furthermore the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit indwells and seals every believer at the point of salvation, when they believed… an automatic process that follows on the heels of repentance and faith.

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise [Ephesians 1:13-14]


It Could Create a False Assurance of Salvation
It is to be again emphasized that there is NO instance of anyone in Scripture being saved by asking Jesus into their hearts. It is not possible for anyone to be saved by this fallacy.

However it is completely plausible that someone may fully understand the Gospel and trust Jesus as their Saviour when they ask Him into their hearts, in which case there is little doubt that they are saved in spite of this confusing cliché. But they are saved because they have been reconciled to God through their faith in Christ, not by asking Jesus into their heart. However there is still no excuse for Biblical inaccuracy.

But the other side of the coin is very worrisome.. that someone may NOT have a clear view of the Gospel and may not be trusting Jesus’ work on the cross for their salvation. That they may not know Christ died for them, but are relying on an ambiguous, imprecise instruction to save them for all eternity.

"In inviting men and women to come to Christ, we must invite them to do what the Scriptures ask them to do trust Christ to get them to heaven. We must make that clear. And to be clear, we must avoid misleading and confusing phrases. Invitations such as… "give your life to Jesus," "pray to receive Christ," and "invite Jesus into your heart," are not only not used in Scripture but can result in a person's trusting in a prayer or depending on something he or she did instead of trusting Jesus Christ and what He did” [Larry Moyer, Free and Clear. p. 42].

While asking Jesus into your heart may be an expression of the Biblical repentance and faith, it certainly is not synonymous with faith in Christ. The two may go hand in hand but are not interchangeable.


THE OBJECTIONS

It Can Not Be That Bad If So Many People Use It
If the accuracy of what we believe is determined by sheer numbers we would all be Catholics or Muslims. The issue is not how many people or even which people believe a certain thing, but whether it Biblical or not. And in this case the burning question is whether this phrase accurately communicates the truth of Scripture.


Don’t Romans 10:9 And Revelation 3:20 Support Asking Jesus Into Ones Heart?

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. (Romans 10:9)

Behold , I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

Revelation 3:20: Read the verse again and tell me where you find ask, Jesus, and your heart in it? In fact Revelation 3:20 does not even deal with personal salvation. The context is a letter from Jesus to the church of Laodicea, within the larger context of the seven letters written to seven real churches that existed at the time. The church of Laodicea was a particularly well to do church, but their material prosperity had somehow caused them to believe that they were spiritually rich as well. Jesus was warning them that He was still ‘outside’ of their church.

Using Revelation 3:20 to support this cliché is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.

Incidentally Revelation was the last book of the Bible to be written and was not available to any of the earliest Christians. Apparently they did quite well without the benefit of sharing this verse.

Romans 10:9 Unlike Revelation 3:20, at least the context of this verse does deal with personal salvation and is addressed primarily to the Jews who believed in God, but who fell short of believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, which is the cornerstone of salvation..

“believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead”

simply says that if a person sincerely and truly believe this, so that the external profession of faith corresponds with the real, internal feelings.. the person shall be saved.


Isn't This All Simply A Matter Of Semantics?"
The single most consequential decision a person will make is to determine where they will spend eternity..

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)

Yet, when it comes to pointing a person towards eternal salvation we tolerate biblical inaccuracy and doctrinal fuzziness, yet in matter of considerably less importance we demand extreme accuracy and exact wording.

As has been shown above… trusting in Jesus Christ alone and asking Jesus into your heart are not necessarily saying the same thing.

Even believers in other religion may be willing to ask Jesus into their hearts as many of them believe that He was a very wise man and a great teacher. However trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation involves a basic understanding of the Gospel and that Jesus died for your sins. It involves believing He is the only way to salvation and forsaking all other ‘gods’ and following Him come what may.

Those who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible ought especially to be concerned with accuracy in communicating the truth. Words are the means God chose to tell us the good news, and words are the means we employ to explain the Gospel to others. Therefore “a correct choice of words is important, even essential, in stating the Gospel well." [Charles Ryrie. So Great Salvation. p. 24]

Is Gospel clarity really that big of a deal? Yes, it certainly is according to Paul …

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Gal. 1:8-9)

There is an interesting verse in 1 Corinthians, which, although directly referring to the interpretation of tongues, is perfectly illustrative of the principle…

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? (1 Corinthians 14:8)

The battle is on for the souls of men and if the trumpet sound is garbled and not understood by the army, the soldiers cannot know what is required of them.

Do you?

Exercising Your Faith and Having A Dog-Eat-Dog Lifestyle That Is Pleasing To God

This post was inspired by two things... one, the excellent message given today at church and two, the perspiration I was losing when I went to the gym directly after the service. As I was exercising I could not get the message out of my mind and then it hit me how there is a parallel between bodily exercise and spiritual exercise.

As I was exercising, my body was ridding itself of contaminates and impurities (i.e. sweat). The body does this as a means to get rid of the bad in us and in the process we get the side benefit of being cooled down. This is also what is happening when we exercise our faith by worship, prayer, and reading the Bible. Those of us who have trusted Christ as their Savior have two natures in us... the old Adamic nature (named after Adam) and the new Spiritual Nature (named for the Holy Spirit). Anytime two things try to inhabit one body there is going to be conflict, and a lot of it. Metaphorically, the example used many times is that we have two dogs in us, a good dog and a bad dog. The one we feed is the one that grows. But it is not only feeding the dog, but nurturing the dog, spending time with the dog, and giving top priority to the dog that determines which dog prevails. When any of these is given to one dog, it is automatically taken away from the other dog.

The scripture reference used in the message today is from Romans 7:15-25

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

The Apostle Paul, arguably the most obedient person who ever lived and writer of 2/3 of the New Testament struggled with this very thing himself. No matter how much we think we can win this battle in our own strength, we can not. If we think we can, than we are fooling ourselves. The best liar we all know is ourselves... if you don't believe me, then you just proved my point. On the surface this sounds like a no win situation. Many Christians "cop out" and just say they can't help thinking certain thoughts, or doing certain deeds, but that is a cop out. We can help it... just not on our own. We need God's power to overcome our sinful nature and have the "Good Dog", if you will, reign in us. So, how do we do this. There are several ways but I want to focus on three:

1) Getting serious about our faith and spending quality time in the presence of God.

Going back to the physical example of exercising our bodies, if we do not spend the time in the gym or on our own putting our bodies in motion and exercising them, then we will not be victorious in that area and there will be no change in our bodies. And so it is with our Christian walk. We have to make the conscious decision to give God Priority 1 in our daily lives. We can't just fit God into our schedule... we must fit our schedule around God. For a newer believer or someone not as strong in the faith, I would suggest setting aside at least 15 minutes (don't call Geico, instead call out to God). Pray to God or open the Bible and ask God to speak to you through His Word. If you don't even know where to begin reading, pick a Proverb. There are 31 Proverbs so just pick the one that corresponds to that particular day of the month.

2) I know this will seem impossible and unrealistic, but as you slowly begin to spend more time with God, slowly begin to spend less time with the "world".

When I say the world I mean the world's influence such as TV, rock music, the Internet, sports, etc... basically anything that the world thinks is important, but only keeps you from becoming closer to God. I am not saying any of these are bad on their own, but if they take priority in your life over God, they are an "idol" and they are wrong. The Bible says we are to be "in the world, not of it".

3) If you don't already have some, choose Godly friends to spend your time with. See Proverbs 17:17 and 18:24.

Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity."

Proverbs 18:24 "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

You can see that the Bible has plenty to say about who we should be friends with and who we should avoid. A true friend is someone who makes you a better person by knowing them and by being in their presence. A true friend shares your joys as well as your sorrows and is also not afraid to keep you accountable for your words and actions.

We can not go through this Christian walk alone; we need each other. An isolated Christian is a paralyzed Christian. God never intended for us to go it alone. It is why He gave a man a wife and it is why Jesus sent his disciples out 2 by 2. Even Jesus chose not to go it alone, He had his 12 disciples.

This is just an introductory scratching of the surface, but I believe if we will begin to do these three things, then just like our bodies will have a noticeable change in them from exercising, so will our lifestyle. Perhaps then we can make Satan "The Biggest Loser".