The apostle Paul felt it a great privilege to be allowed to preach the Gospel. He did not look upon his calling as a drudgery, but he entered upon it with intense delight. Although Paul was thankful for his calling, his success in it greatly humbled him.

The fuller a ship becomes, the deeper it sinks in the water. Idlers may indulge a fond conceit of their abilities, because they are untried; but the earnest worker soon learns his own weakness. If you seek humility, try hard work; if you would know your nothingness, attempt some great thing for Jesus. If you want to feel how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God, attempt especially the great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, and you will know, as you never knew before, what a weak, unworthy thing you are.

Although the apostle thus knew and confessed his weakness, he was never perplexed as to the subject of his ministry. From his first sermon to his last, Paul preached Christ, and nothing but Christ. He lifted up the cross and extolled the Son of God who bled on it. Follow his example in all your personal efforts to spread the glad tidings of salvation, and let “Christ and him crucified” be your ever-recurring theme.

The Christian should be like those lovely spring flowers that, when the sun is shining, open their golden cups, as if saying, “Fill us with your beams!” But when the sun is hidden behind a cloud, they close their cups and droop their heads. So should the Christian feel the sweet influence of Jesus. Jesus must be his sun, and He must be the flower that yields itself to the Sun of Righteousness.

Oh, to speak of Christ alone–this is the subject that is both “seed to the sower and bread to the eater.”¹ This is the live coal for the lip of the speaker, and the master-key to the heart of the hearer.

¹⁾ Isaiah 55:10

In the early 80’s The Imperials (a gospel group I still like) recorded a song called “You’re The Only Jesus”. The chorus of which was:

Cause You’re the only Jesus some will ever see
You’re the only words of life, some will ever read
So let them see in you the One in whom is all they’ll ever need
You’re the only Jesus, some will ever see

I loved the song then, and I still like it 30 years later. At the same time, I have realized a few things through the years.

1. It’s certainly true that Christians are ‘salt’ and ’light’ in a pretty dark and messed up world. Whether or not our ‘saltiness’ is of good quality, or our ‘light’ is bright might be another matter. The quality of our saltiness and brightness of our lights is directly proportional to the level at which we have been transformed into the likeness of the Father’s dear Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2. There are a lot of folks out there who don’t profess Christ and might be avowed atheists that demonstrate the same behaviors and seem to have the same character traits that should be visible in Christians. Dare I say that some nonbelievers are saltier and brighter than some of us Christians?

3. Trying to live up to being quality salt and a bright light (better and brighter than my nonbelieving co-worker) can really be exhausting. Every time I blow it I know it, and here comes a guilt trip. Some might say that there’s a conflation/confusion of law and grace when too much emphasis is placed on ‘doing’/’being’ by human effort.

4. I absolutely CAN’T be Jesus for anyone. I haven’t lived a perfect life, die for anybody’s sin, or rise from the dead. That I might be the ONLY Jesus someone might see is a really scary thought. For that to be true I would need to be the only believer left on the planet, or that ‘someone’ is hit by a truck and I was the last person to see him alive. It’s still scary.

5. Even if I am doing OK in the salt and light department, my unbelieving family member, neighbor, co-worker or friend needs to connect with the gospel that has ‘words’, not just my good example. After all, it’s not really about WWJD (What Would Jesus Do), but WJD (What Jesus Did). Christ died for our sins, and conveying that message needs words in the telling, not just good deeds.

“. . .but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

The specific instruction I receive from that passage is twofold:

1. Honor God in my heart. A man’s behavior is always a reflection of what is in his heart. If God rules in my heart, He will rule my behavior.

2. Be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks. When someone asks me what makes me tick, it’s time to share Christ. If someone asks me about God, or wants to talk about God ‘stuff’ (it happens), I need to be have good answers or know where to find them.

If I focus on honoring God in my heart and being ready to give answer for the hope that is in me, “being Jesus” (whatever that means) will take care of itself. I’m called to present Christ, not ‘be’ Him.

That’s quite a relief!

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” – Romans 1:2

After about 400 years without a prophet in Israel, John the Baptist appeared on the scene with a simple message:

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” – Luke 3: 1-3

“John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark 1:4

The Gospel of Mark records the following concerning the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry:

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”” – Mark 1:14-15

You could say that the command to repent is the first word of the gospel message. Later during his ministry, Jesus spoke again of repentance, this time to

“There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” – Luke 13:1-5

Jesus spoke of repentance again after his resurrection, this time to his disciples:

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”” – Luke24:45-47

What is repentance and what is its connection to salvation?

The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action. The action is a turning away from one thing and toward another. Concerning salvation it is a turning from sin and toward Christ. To believe in Christ means to believe that he bore our sins on the cross in our place. Therefore repentance is inherent to the concept of believing in Christ for the forgiveness of our sin. To desire forgiveness for sin begins with changing one’s mind about it, else why would one ask to be forgiven? Jesus stated in Luke 13:1-5 that lack of repentance from sin results in perishing, or condemnation. We also know that the sin of unbelief results in condemnation (John 3:18). Do you see the inescapable connection between repentance and belief?

How does a person come to a place of repentance? Is it a human or divine work?

Repentance is not a work of man, but a gift from God. When Peter and his small band of Jewish believers were at the home of Cornelius the Gentile and heard Cornelius story of having been instructed by an angel to find Peter and bring him, we are told:

“When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” – Acts 11:18

When the Apostle Paul was teaching young Timothy, his son in the faith, Paul instructed him:

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” 2 Tim 2:24-26

Relevant questions.

If repentance and belief in Christ go hand in hand, why is it that we hear so little about repentance from our pulpits and megachurch stages? Why is it that in our little evangelistic 5 or 6 steps to Jesus, the term ‘repent’ is not found? Instead we begin by telling people God loves them and has a wonderful plan for them, a phrase not to be found in scripture.

by Jordan Standridge, The Cripplegate

In 1915, Coca-Cola and its bottling partners decided to issue a creative challenge to a handful of U.S. glass companies: develop a “bottle so distinct that you would recognize it by feeling it in the dark or lying broken on the ground.”

Because they believed the taste to be so unique, and the sales proved them to be right, they wanted the bottle to be as unique as the taste. They envisioned a scenario where people would reach their hand into a cooler looking for a Coca-Cola, and they wanted to make sure that the individual would be able to easily identify the bottle and grab it.

When we share the gospel we want to show Christianity as what it truly is; the only way to Heaven. We want people to walk away from the Gospel conversation understanding that there is nothing else like it. We want to make the Gospel stand-out from all other religions, in light of the fact that the Devil attempts to make all religions indistinguishable. The best way I have learned to do this is, is through the “two-religion” method.

No matter whom you are talking to, the two-religion method is helpful. Whether you are talking to a nominal Christian who still thinks he is getting to heaven based on his morality, or you are talking to a Roman Catholic trusting in his baptism to save him, or an atheist who believes that every religion is wrong, it is critical, to show the unbeliever what makes Christianity so radically different from every other religion.

So usually at some point in the conversation I explain the difference between Christianity and the devil’s religions, and it goes something like this:

I don’t know if you know this but there are only two religions in the entire world.

You might say I’m nuts.  There are hundreds if not thousands!

But there is one religion that likes to put on hundreds if not thousands of different masks on, and so ultimately there are only two: the religion of Human Achievement and the religion of Divine Accomplishment.

You see Islam, Mormonism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism and every single religion that you have ever heard of, ultimately teaches some form of a works-based salvation. They say that you have to be a little more good than bad in order to make it to heaven. These religions encourage you to hand God a resume when you face Him one day. The resume will be filled with all your accomplishments. It will list everything you’ve done for other people, every penny you’ve given to charity and every good deed you’ve done. God will look over this resume and say, “Good job! You’ve made it into heaven”.

The problem is that if you were to enter into heaven because of a resume based on your accomplishments God would get no glory; you would be the one who gets all the praise. In fact, Ephesians 2:9 would say that salvation is not of works lest you should boast! Genesis chapter one shows us that God created the entire universe including you. Everything He created is designed to bring Him glory. The problem is that sin has entered the world, and from birth we all have replaced exalting God with exalting ourselves. Everything we do from birth is geared towards bringing us glory and bringing praise to ourselves. We all have a throne in our hearts that God should be sitting and reigning on, but instead we are born with ourselves sitting on it. We are so used to it we don’t even notice it to the point where we all think that our resumes are good enough to get us into heaven.

Of course we are going to think that we are good people! Of course my mom is going to tell me I’m a good person! But what does your Creator think? He says in Romans 3:23 that we all have sinned and fall short of His glory. He also says in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. So if we stand before God and start listing accomplishments or hand Him a resume we might as well slap Jesus in the face because God is going to look at the resume and say, “I killed my only Son because you were not good enough to get to me!”

And that’s where the only other religion comes in.

The religion of Divine Accomplishment. God saw your situation, and decided that since man was so sinful and could not save himself, that He would come Himself and take the form of a man. He humbled himself, spent nine months in a womb he created, grew up with every temptation you and I face every day, but without sinning. He then died on the cross for our sins, and then rose from the dead and defeated death. He made it possible for human beings to stand before God one day and not hand Him a resume and condemn themselves further, but rather, tell God that they deserve His wrath but have placed their faith and trust in the work that Jesus did on their behalf on the cross and through His resurrection.

You see we need someone to be a substitute for us because no matter how hard we try, we can never bridge the gap between God and us. And the substitute can’t be merely a human.  It must be God Himself.

Do you see the difference between Christianity and every other religion?

Ultimately, we know that people aren’t saved based on clever marketing or slick evangelism tactics. But we want to ensure that as we present the Gospel, we do so in a way that is distinct from the impostors.

I have found this to be an effective way to explain what makes Christianity so unique.  I’m curious to hear what method you have used in your evangelism to make Christianity distinguishable. Let me know in the comment section.

Theories of the Atonement: What Happened on the Cross? | The Cripplegate

via Theories of the Atonement: What Happened on the Cross? | The Cripplegate.

The above is an excellent summary concerning various theories of the atonement!