Winman
I have asked you numerous times but you always avoid giving an answer. What is it about you as a person that caused you to accept the offer of Salvation in Jesus Christ while others reject that Salvation?
Is it that you were a better person than those who reject Jesus Christ?
Is it that you are more intelligent than those who reject Jesus Christ?
Is it that you are more learned than those who reject Jesus Christ?
Is it that God gave you more grace to believe than those who reject Jesus Christ?
Is it that you recognized the gravity of your sin than those who reject Jesus Christ?
I would sure appreciate an answer and I am sure that all those whom you say reverse the meaning of Scripture would also.
Am I a better person than those who reject Christ? Absolutely not, in fact I am worse, because I know the difference between right and wrong, many unbelievers do not. So when I sin it is a more serious offense.
Am I more intelligent? I think I am a pretty intelligent fellow, I had a 4.0 average in college, but I've met plenty of people more intelligent than myself. Intelligence is relative, I understand music, I have played an instrument for nearly 40 years, but I don't know how to bake a cake.
Am I more learned? Depends on what subject you are talking about. I know a bit about some subjects, other subjects I know nothing about.
Did God give me more grace? Yes and no. God is good to the good and evil. However he only sheds grace on those who believe. So yes, I have received more grace than an unbeliever.
Is it that I recognized the gravity of my sin more than others? Yes. This is the answer to the matter. When the scriptures told me I was a sinner I believed it. I recognized I was not good enough to earn my way to heaven. I recognized there was a penalty for my sin.
The unbeliever does not believe this. They believe themselves good and capable of earning their way to heaven. They reject the truth of the scriptures. Go down the street and ask people if they think they are going to heaven. I have done this and I can't remember even one person that said no. Every person I have ever asked said they thought they were going to heaven. And when I asked why they always gave the same answer, they said they were a good person and so they knew God would let them into heaven. So people do not want to admit to themselves they are a sinner in need of a saviour.
But admitting I am a sinner does not earn my ticket to heaven. Some Muslims probably admit they are sinners, that doesn't mean they will get to heaven.
What many fail to recognize is that a person's good works aren't a problem. Good works are good. But no matter how many good works you do, you must still pay for your sins. Let me give you an example.
Let's say you lived all your life as a good law abiding citizen. Then one day you went into a bank and stuck a gun in the teller's face. You rob the bank and flee. The police catch you and you are brought before the judge at your trial.
You say to the judge, "Your honor, you ought to let me go. You see, I have been a good law abiding citizen all my life. Robbing this bank is the one and only wrong thing I have ever done. I have done far more good than bad."
Laugh, but that is how people think. They think if they do more good than bad that that will earn them into heaven. But that is not how the law works here on earth, and that is not how the law works in heaven.
No, that judge is going to say, "It doesn't matter that you have lived as a good law abiding citizen all your life, you robbed the bank and that is against the law, I sentence you to ten years in prison!"
That is how the law works. It doesn't matter how much good you do, you must still pay for any wrong you do. And that is how it is with God. If you lived a perfectly holy life but yet tell one single lie, then you must pay for that sin, and the penalty is death.
But admitting you are a sinner will not get you to heaven. No, you must believe on Christ to get to heaven. Judas Iscariot came to realize he had sinned and was so ashamed he hanged himself. But he did not go to Jesus and depend on him to be saved and so was lost.
What I think many do not understand is that believing is not a work. Believing is a ceasing from work. To believe on Christ means you cease from trying to save yourself and depend upon Jesus to save you. Jesus does all the work, I simply stop working and allow him to save me.
But nobody is going to believe on Christ unless they first hear the scriptures and believe them. You must accept as truth the scriptures when they say you have sinned.
The scriptures do not say the Holy Spirit regenerates a person to believe, the scriptures say the Holy Spirit reproves or convicts a person.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
John 8:4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
The word of God convicts us, it makes us realize we are sinners. Then and only then will a person come to Christ.
But even an unbeliever can be convicted, it is not some sort of magical thing.
Let me tell you a true story. When I was young (before I accepted Christ), I had a buddy who had a paper route. I used to go out with him to deliver papers and go when he collected from his customers. Well, he got tired of delivering the paper and let me take over the route. I loved it, I was making about $11 dollars a week, this was back around 1963 and I was only 9 years old. That was a lot of money back then.
Well, my Dad found out I was delivering papers and he didn't like it, because the route took me far from home. He was worried about my safety. So he told me to give up the route. I told him I would.
Well, I lied. I continued to go out and deliver the paper in the afternoon. One day when I got home my Dad asked me if I had disobeyed him and delivered papers. I got scared and lied and said no.
Well, my Dad did something I will never forget as long as I live. He said, "Son, I saw you delivering papers today, and I am very disappointed in you. You have always been a very good boy and listened to me, but today you disobeyed me, and now you have lied to me, I am very disappointed in you".
I tell you the truth, my father's words were like a sword that pierced my heart. I felt like I shrank to one inch high. I was incredibly ashamed. I loved my father very much and we were very close. I would never do anything to hurt my father in any way. And when he said he was disappointed in me, that hurt worse than any spanking or beating he could have gave me. I will never forget how I disappointed my father. I never delivered papers again after that.
So, people have the ability to hear and believe God's word. They have the ability to be convicted and feel ashamed. Anybody who denies this is denying reality, even unsaved people admit wrong and feel ashamed at times.
And this is what God's word does. It convicts or reproves. And when a man hears he is a sinner, then he will come to Christ. But those who do not want to admit they are a sinner and admit the truth will not. And this is what the scriptures say.
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
You will not accept this, but Jesus says there are two types of people, those who do evil (vs 20), and those who do truth (vs 21).
But just because you do the truth and admit you are a sinner won't save you, you must come to Jesus and believe or depend upon him to be saved.
