Faith comes by hearing

 

Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today. We are in the midst of an exciting series on exploring relevant research findings from Teleios! See all our research on our website - Bible Benefits.

 

In a past survey about salvation, we received 244 responses. We asked what someone must believe to be a Christian, and how they explain this to others (full report here Belief survey: Understanding the gospel). Wow, we received some amazing answers!

 

Last week we discussed what extra beliefs many people add to salvation. This week, let us explore how people share the gospel. When asked ‘What is sharing the Gospel?’ the answers were:

·       Verbally telling a nonbeliever the specific message of salvation - 39%

·       Living as a good example - 35%

·       Encouraging others - 9%

·       Inviting others to church - 7%

·       Praying for others - 8%

 

Fortunately, directly sharing the plan of salvation was the most popular (39%), but as you can see there were many other answers.

 

We are fortunate that our gracious God has entrusted to us to be involved in other people's lives by telling them they can spend eternity with God. What a wonderful truth to impart to others!

 

However, we have to tell them! If you discover a good recipe or sport site on the internet or social media, and are excited about it, do you verbally tell someone else or text them to let them know? My guess is you do not depend on a wordless lifestyle that would somehow magically transmit to your friends information about your new favorite site. You must verbally relay this message specifically, of course.

 

Unfortunately, people cannot interpret our lifestyle, as important as this is for a framework in sharing the gospel. Romans 10:15-17 is very clear, that for person to come to faith, they must hear the explicit plan of salvation and believe. Here is a simple direct ‘ready to use’ gospel message.

 

1. Man sinned.
2. God is just, requiring a punishment for sin.
3. But out of love God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who by dying on the cross provided forgiveness of sins in taking man’s deserved punishment.
4.  By faith alone in Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and His resurrection, man can gain eternal life.

 

(Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9-10, 3:21-26)

 

Teleios examined why people are resistant to sharing the explicit plan of salvation at a Midwest bible-believing Church. We found the most common reason was not only social rejection, but also not knowing how to say the gospel itself. 

 

In the hundreds of Bible studies we've been blessed to teach no student could tell us clearly the gospel, even non-succinctly. This not only prevented them from sharing with others, but also at times caused doubt in their own minds because they could not coherently tell themselves that they were forgiven and really saved.

 

Unfortunately, the hesitancy sharing the gospel is one of the greatest hurdles of believers advancing in their knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-10). Further, this hesitancy is associated often with fear on one side while creating internal guilt on the other side. This self-defeating battle is unfortunate as sharing the gospel does not need to be this way. It is actually quite easy and next week we'll discuss exactly how to do it!

 

Thank you for joining us today. I consider it a privilege that you would read my blog.

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

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God chose us!

 

Welcome again to my blog. I am delighted you have taken the time to visit.  

We have been examining the Christian life in more detail to see if we can uncover some of the potential underlying causes of the improved wellbeing. This week we cover biblical statements to those who do not believe in eternal security. 

 

The fourth point of our wonderful salvation is that God chose us for himself. Again, this was all God's doing and not from our own efforts and work. Although some think this doctrine is controversial, let's look at the scriptures and you can decide for yourself. 

·       God chose us - God elected us for salvation before all time to come to faith (Ephesians 1:4-5; Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28-30). 

·       The choice was individual - God did not choose a group, such as the church, but each of us distinctively (John 6:37,44,65; John 10:28-29; 2 John 1:1).  

·       God’s character - Choosing is consistent with God's character and past actions. To accomplish His magnificent work on earth He has always had to choose those that would serve Him (e.g., Noah, Abraham, Moses and Israel). 

·       God dragging and convicting - After choosing God had to convict and drag us to Himself or we would not have come (John 6:44; John 16:8). The Bible uses the imagery here of having to ‘drag’ fish into a boat by use of a net. The fish, like us, do not come willingly!

 

By our very nature we never would have chosen God, understood Him or desired Him because of our fallen nature into sin (Romans 3:10-18; Ephesians 2:1-3). As you know from last week, he causes us to persevere. He alone keeps us in His hand and brings us to our eternal glory (John 10:28-30; Romans 8:28-30).

 

Although some think that God's choosing is unfair there was no other way and scripture says it was done out of love and knowledge (Ephesians 1:4-7). If God had not intervened all would have perished! God's glorious salvation accomplished by first free gift on the cross that we can be saved by faith alone not our own work. Every aspect of salvation is God's, and all to His glory. 

 

To review, to date we have covered now four spectacular scriptural proofs of our eternal security: 

• Direct statements (e.g., 1 Peter 1:4-5)
• Unchangeable positions in Christ noted in our recent blogs especially our: spiritual baptism, justification, sealing by the Spirit and adoption (Romans 6:2-9; Romans 3:21-26; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:13-14)
• Perseverance (2 Peter 1:12) 

·       God chose us to salvation (noted above)

 

Well, that is my blog for today. Thank you for visiting. Join me next week!

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

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Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and/or do your own research into the scriptures.