| Brothers and Sisters, (John 3:16-17) 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. The greatest love ever exhibited in the history of mankind was when God gave his only begotten Son (Jesus) to die on an old rugged cross for the sins of all humanity. Jesus took upon himself the sins of every man, woman and child that has ever been born or that will ever be born. (Isaiah 53:5-6) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Many times we stop with John 3:16, however, if we continue reading on we see that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. That word “saved” is a term we use all the time in the Baptist church. Many years ago, I had a man ask me what that meant. He said what do you mean “Saved”? “Saved” from what? Have you ever tried to answer that question? Well to be honest I was kind of caught off guard. I can tell you that it’s not easy trying to explain being “saved” to a man that never grew up in church or had any knowledge of the Bible. I learned a valuable lesson as I dealt with this man. I spent several hours with him trying to convince him that he needed to be “saved”. Now that I look back on this encounter, I can see that this man was basically mocking everything we believe. “Saved, Saved from what?” Jesus gave us a warning and instructions on what to do when we come across this type of situation. Listen to what He said, (Matthew 7:6) Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Another valuable lesson I learned after this encounter was that without the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, we are wasting our time trying to convince someone to be “saved”. Again, listen to what Jesus told us, (John 6:44) No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. Unless a man is drawn to salvation, he will never be “saved” and it’s not left up to us to “save” anyone. Actually, there is no place in the scripture that calls us to “save” anyone. The great commission found in Matthew 28:19-20, states that we are to go and teach all nations whatsoever things Jesus commanded and for those who believe we are to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. These are our marching orders and leave the “saving” up to the Lord. Bro. Rick ReplyReply allForward | |
