Are you Saved?

"Are you saved from the wrath to come ?" I , of course would have modernized it so it would not sound so antiquated . I would have said to Sproul that God is angry with sinners and that they need to be reconciled with Him . We are under the condemnation of God . We need to be rescued and by means of Jesus Christ -- God's one and only Son we can be rescued from God's rightful judgment of our sins which have separated us from Him by a huge gulf . All people know of the impending judgment of their sins , whether they acknowlede it or not .

But Sproul's rejoiner was appropriate . He was a Christian at that time . However , many spout religious terminology without thinking about the meaning . In the late 70's the "I found it " bumber stickers were the current rage . Those who were in favor of those stickers had to have a well-thought reply . I was really against that whole mentality -- still am .

 

Before being grounded in the faith their soulwinning tactics are fueled by sincere enthusiasm . Unfortunately not much solid meat has been ingested yet . They need to be under the instruction of the Word more . Mentorship/discipleship should also be in place by a watchful eldership .

 

Let's add another variable. What if Dr. Sproul had simply said "yes."? Is there a follow-up question the young man should ask?

One question is "what are you basing that on?"

Are there others?

 

Personally, I like the way this young man witnessed to the best of his ability much more than I like the way 95% of Christians never witness for their Lord and Savior. :thumbsup:

I'm sure the young man pondered his reply and the next time answered, "From sin and from Hell."

 

AMEN!!

As a new soul winner, I was often confronted by questions that befuddled me. Actually, it was more the attitude of those I witnessed to that caused the confusion. I simply had a difficult time understanding that they didn't understand or want to understand. To me it was crystal clear. Practice makes perfect.

 

And this is one big reason why it is important to obey the Great Commission and witness for Christ! As you witness and get asked these questions, you are driven to the Word of God, your pastor, etc., for answers. In my experience, those who witness for Christ grow in the Lord more quickly.

Also, a cross cultural missionary learns his new language and culture more quickly if he gets out among the people and works for the Lord, witnessing and teaching (as long as he does not overdo it and neglect his language school homework). He uses his "book knowledge" out in the streets to learn how the people think and talk in their day to day life.

 

John of Japan is right. I have seen people who were barley literate who just read a tract to someone and then talked to them about salvation see fruit in thier work.The key is to follow the command.

In addition when we are challenged we go to our peers,pastors, and God's Word to learn to be better witnesses.We do need to do a better job in our churches of discipling and teaching personal evangelism. So the question is , if this is a shortfall in your church what have you done to help correct the problem.A witnessing church is a church that is on fire for the Lord.A witnessing church generally has a personal evangelism class going on most of the time.They also generally have something like a 12 to 20 week new Christian of new Believers class to teach new Christians basic doctrines.But then again these churches are critisized by those who are less inclined to do the same.

 

Amen, POB!:thumbs:

 

Unless Jesus' death was either insufficient or in vain on the Cross, we have all already been saved from sin; He has tasted death for every person we are told in Hebrews 2. That is either true or it is not.

Folks, when we are born again in Christ, what we have been saved from is ourselves. Our old nature is defeated and a new nature given to us, praise His name! We have been saved from ourselves. Sin was taken care of on the Cross. It is the consequences of unbelief in Him and belief in ourselves or something other than Him which is what we are saved from.

 

What do they teach in these classes?

 

Helen, Paul clearly teaches that we are saved from God's wrath, thus from Hell.

Rom. 5:9--"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.":type:

 

I really don't see that since He has tasted death for every man, every man is saved from his sin. If a man is saved from his sin, then he need not fear the wrath of God--which as I pointed out the Apostle Paul distinctly said we are saved from.

How can we be saved from ourselves, meaning our old nature, if that does not mean being saved from sin? Our old nature = our sin nature.:type:

 

That Jesus Christ is Savior, but not really until (1) one believes the gospel first, or (2) repents and accepts Him as Savior;

That each soul won is a star on one's crown;

That each soul "lost" is blood required of one's hands.

Not really verbatim, but they come up with Scriptures to that effect.

 

(1) What the Gospel is and how to give it clearly.

(2) To be filled with the Holy Spirit and have God's power, for it is after all God Who does the saving.

(3) To be filled with compassion for each lost sinner, because God is love.

(4) To hate sin, because God is holy.

(5) To pray for God to be at work, for it is the Holy Spirit Who convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment.
:saint:

 

These presumably saved people don't already know what the Gospel is? And what do they teach you in order to help you give it clearly? Can you teach something like that? I thought it was more a matter of God opening the ears of the listener rather than teachers sharpening the mouths of the speakers.

How do you teach someone to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have God's power? This is not a smart-ss question, I really want to know if they teach this and how.

How do you teach someone to be filled with compassion for sinners?

How do you teach someone to hate sin?

This is the only one that makes sense to me so far. I can see how you can teach people to pray for God to be at work. They may not do it, but I can see how you can teach people that this is something they should do, and it is certainly within our ability to do it. But, for example, I don't see how you can teach people to hate sin. Maybe you can tell them that if they are true believers they should hate sin, and why, but I don't see how you can teach them how to do it. I would add, however, that people aren't the enemy (Ephesians 6).

EDITED TO ADD: My questions aren't rhetorical. I would really like answers. However, if I taught a class on evangelism it would probably be REALLY short. IMO, it is very simple. Witnessing implies that you are a witness. You have seen something they haven't seen, and you're telling them what you've seen. Other than that, I'd tell them study the Bible. Know it. Then I'd stop teaching evangelism and start a Bible study.

 

Does anyone who attends an evangelism class not know that Jesus is Savior?

Can you be more specific? I'd love to know which scriptures they use for these points.

This sounds to me like a motivational class on how to sell, with an added "scare tactic" to motivate people even more.

 

[How can we be saved from ourselves, meaning our old nature, if that does not mean being saved from sin? Our old nature = our sin nature.

Our old nature WANTS to sin. That desire to rebel, no matter how it is expressed, rules our lives before we are saved and born again. That is what we are saved from. That nature prefers 'anything but Jesus'. The sins themselves -- the insults to God -- are gone in the sense that there is no insult not atoned for; none to stand as an affront to God eternally.

As Paul puts it in Romans, we are no longer slaves to sin, but rather slaves to righteousness. Either way, we still sin. But the difference is in what we are becoming -- a permanent horror or a future being transformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

If you don't like the idea of being saved from ourselves, then think of it as being freed from our original slavery -- being saved from the wrong master. But sin itself, all sin, has been atoned for by God Himself.