"In the twelth place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the preacher tries to make people believe that they are truly converted as soon as they have become rid of certain vices and engage in certain works of piety and virtuous practices." C. F. W. Walther, Thesis 16
"If they really believed, they would be more regular in worship." "If you want to be a Christian, you have to stop being homosexual." "If you were really a Christian, you wouldn't curse so much." "If you were really a Christian, then pornography wouldn't be an issue." "All you have to do to become Christian is to say this prayer of repentance and ask Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior."
If you have heard any of the above phrases, or anything similar to them, you have heard someone speaking a message of the Good News that simply is not true. As people, really the only way we can look to see what lies in a person's heart is by looking at their outward actions. However, that really is a poor display of what someone really believes. Yes, certain elements of what we believe will reveal themselves in how we live, but we humans are also remarkably good at doing things that don't really fit what we believe.
When we get right down to it, a Christian is a person who believes that Jesus has redeemed them from the sin and fallenness of this world. In other words, it really is about the One in whom they put their trust and hope. That means, also, that it isn't necessarily a reflection of their outward actions. That also means that we cannot tell someone that they are converted to Christ simply because they stop doing sinful actions and start doing faith-related actions.
Yet, that is an untruth that pervades the Christian faith. After all, the only thing we can really see as humans is another person's outward actions. We cannot see their heart to know what they believe. We cannot see their thoughts to know what they are thinking. We can't see their relationship with God in Christ Jesus. So we judge based on what we can see with our eyes, which means that we judge based on something that can easily disguise where a person's heart truly is.
Yes, once a person is in Christ, we strive to have them give up sinful habits and practices, and to take on those which reflect God's will and design for life. However, that is a result of faith. That is not a condition of faith. We cannot say a person is more faithful because they ceased some action or habit that is deemed sinful. We cannot say that a person is more faithful because they suddenly started becoming more engaged in the practices of other Christians.
In the end, that's why the message of Good News that we bring to the world truly is that God has chosen to redeem them in Jesus. We simply cannot say that they have only received this when they stop doing certain things and start doing certain other things. It's good news, not good actions. May our Christian witness, then, be that others are redeemed, not by the changing of what they do, but by trusting in the one who suffered and died for them.
"If they really believed, they would be more regular in worship." "If you want to be a Christian, you have to stop being homosexual." "If you were really a Christian, you wouldn't curse so much." "If you were really a Christian, then pornography wouldn't be an issue." "All you have to do to become Christian is to say this prayer of repentance and ask Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior."
If you have heard any of the above phrases, or anything similar to them, you have heard someone speaking a message of the Good News that simply is not true. As people, really the only way we can look to see what lies in a person's heart is by looking at their outward actions. However, that really is a poor display of what someone really believes. Yes, certain elements of what we believe will reveal themselves in how we live, but we humans are also remarkably good at doing things that don't really fit what we believe.
When we get right down to it, a Christian is a person who believes that Jesus has redeemed them from the sin and fallenness of this world. In other words, it really is about the One in whom they put their trust and hope. That means, also, that it isn't necessarily a reflection of their outward actions. That also means that we cannot tell someone that they are converted to Christ simply because they stop doing sinful actions and start doing faith-related actions.
Yet, that is an untruth that pervades the Christian faith. After all, the only thing we can really see as humans is another person's outward actions. We cannot see their heart to know what they believe. We cannot see their thoughts to know what they are thinking. We can't see their relationship with God in Christ Jesus. So we judge based on what we can see with our eyes, which means that we judge based on something that can easily disguise where a person's heart truly is.
Yes, once a person is in Christ, we strive to have them give up sinful habits and practices, and to take on those which reflect God's will and design for life. However, that is a result of faith. That is not a condition of faith. We cannot say a person is more faithful because they ceased some action or habit that is deemed sinful. We cannot say that a person is more faithful because they suddenly started becoming more engaged in the practices of other Christians.
In the end, that's why the message of Good News that we bring to the world truly is that God has chosen to redeem them in Jesus. We simply cannot say that they have only received this when they stop doing certain things and start doing certain other things. It's good news, not good actions. May our Christian witness, then, be that others are redeemed, not by the changing of what they do, but by trusting in the one who suffered and died for them.
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