THE CRITICAL ELEMENT
Issue #2 7-February, 1990
"In February of 1986, the angels in heaven sang once more.
I was in church on that fateful winter's day when my pastor spoke
on 'Are you sure you are saved?' The specifics of the sermon are
vague now, but the general will always rest in my memory; he
explained that there are three kinds of people: those who do not
know of, or have rejected God's plan as their heart's desire;
those who have accepted Christ into their heart as the one who
died for their sins; and those who are giving God control of
their lives.
"I was frozen by his words. When I was eight years old, I
went to the altar at church for two reasons: (1) Another little
girl, who I thought was neat, went before me. (2) My family and
friends expected it of me. The significance of the decision to
accept Christ's love was not evident to me until that day in
February as a sixteen year old whose heart had been tugged at by
Jesus for years. I knew at that moment I was a child of God be
cause accepting Him was the desire of my heart."
Three million students on the campuses of this country claim
to be Christians. I am very much afraid that some of them have
been misled. Many people claim to be Christians simply because
they live in America. After all, isn't this a Christian country?
Others make this claim because they are not Buddhist or Moslem,
so they must be Christian. Thousands of students just like you
and I are going through life believing that they possess eternal
life when all the while they could not explain to another how to
become a Christian. They do not know what a Christian is.
I have sometimes asked people how they would explain to
another the way in which they could become a Christian. By far
the most popular answer is by going to church. Other responses
have been to do good works, or to give money to "Godly" organiza
tions. Most of these people are the same as those who claim to
be Christians. I am not saying that everyone who makes this
claim is a liar. I am saying that some people have been very
tragically misinformed.
So just how does one become a Christian? The word Christian
has the word Christ in it. Just like the word, the Christian has
Christ in him. This person has made a voluntary dedication of
his life to Jesus Christ. This dedication or commitment has
three parts: intellectual, emotional, and volitional. Let's
look at each of these in more detail.
Before you can place your trust in Christ you must first
know who Christ is. In John 10:30 Christ claims to be deity.
You can reject this claim as false. If you decide that He was a
liar, you must consider that in Luke 23 this claim caused Him to
be executed. This would have been a hard price to pay to carry
out a lie. You also could decide that Jesus was insane. If you
take time to read a few of the parables in any of the four gos
pels, I think you will find that He is not portrayed as insane.
Lastly, you could decide that Jesus was indeed who He claimed to
be.
By saying that an emotional commitment is necessary to
become a Christian, I am not suggesting that John Calvin was
right. I do not believe that in order to be saved you must have
an emotional or "religious" experience. What I am speaking of is
an act of faith or trust. Hebrews 11:6 says "...without faith it
is impossible to please Him." I have never seen Christ in per
son. I did not see Him live, and I did not see Him crucified. I
must simply have faith that these events occurred. This, howev
er, is not an act of blind faith. This is one of the reasons the
Bible was written so that we may read and be assured.
Lastly a commitment of the will is necessary to become a
Christian. It is not enough to believe that Christ came to die
for your sins and to give you eternal life. It is not enough to
have an emotional experience. You do not become a Christian
until, as an act of your voluntary will, you make a decision to
accept Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. This begins your
personal relationship with the very Son of God. It is this
relationship that is our salvation.
Unfortunately, many people who have made this three fold
commitment are still unsure of their salvation. This prevents
them from having a confident and meaningful relationship with
Christ. If you are unsure of your relationship with God, it is
not necessarily a sign of the absence of a relationship. In my
own life, there have been many times when I have doubted the very
existence of God. When I was a newborn-again, I doubted my
salvation daily if not more often. I believe that through the
study of God's word and through persistent prayer, you can be
positively assured of your salvation.
While this effort is an individual one, I would like to
suggest a few verses to help you in your efforts. Romans
10:9,10; 1 John 5:12; 1 Thess. 2:13; Rev. 3:20; 1 John 3:21; 2
Cor. 5:17; John 5:24; 1 Cor. 6:15; John 10:29. Probably my
favorite verse is Rom 8:38-9. Paul writes that he is convinced
that neither death, life, angles, principalities, things present,
things to come, powers, height, depth, or anything else will be
able to separate us from the love of God.
In the meantime consider this. "Today, the way I know I'm a
Christian is this - struggles and doubts. I, as I'm sure all
Christians do, have trials and doubts. Questions such as, 'Are
you up there God?' and 'How much longer Lord?' truly confirm our
faith. If we can make it through those doubts with Christ's
strength, then we are one step closer to Him. James 1:3 states
that 'The testing of your faith produces endurance.' This is how
we know we are Christians. Rest in that, and 'consider it pure
joy'."
You may have noticed in the opening paragraph of this letter
the three kinds of people that were mentioned. In my next letter
I will attempt to explain how you can become someone that chooses
to let God control his life.
The testimony that has been provided in this letter is that
of a dear friend of mine. I have been truly blessed by God to
have such a wonderful person in my life. Thank you, my friend.
I'm praying for you all, that you may be confident and have
peace in the Lord.
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