I'm into my second month of my commitment to share the gospel with at least one person each day for 365 days, inspired by a close brother, Ryan Powell, who is going on mission to France. I guarantee that but for the accountability that comes from blogging about my experiences each day and noting what the Lord is teaching as I follow Him in fishing for men (Matt. 4:19), my flesh would prevent me from sharing daily. I'm convinced that's why the Lord sent His disciples out two by two--so when one didn't feel like it that day the other could keep him on mission.
Because my 16 year old just got his driver's license and has assumed possession of my faithful '97 Honda Accord (that's still going strong after 230,000 miles!!), I bit the bullet and bought another used Accord for myself. Yesterday (Day 33), I met with Paul at the dealership to pay for the car. In relating with Paul, I learned he just had his first child, a boy. We had a friendly conversation going, so I asked Paul if he had a Christian background. Turns out he is fairly devoted to his "religion." He attends church regularly, performs certain prescribed religious "rituals" and ceremonies, and tries live by "the Golden Rule."
Without going after his particular "religious" faith background, I explained to him that all religions except Biblical Christianity teach that good works and the things we do can earn for us the right to heaven or a "better place" after we die. In contrast, Biblical Christianity teaches that there is absolutely NOTHING we can do to save ourselves from the consequences of our countless sins against a Holy God (Rom. 3:10, 3:23). I asked him if he knew the purpose for God's moral law, as expressed in the 10 Commandments. "To show us how to live," he guessed. God's law does teach us how to live moral lives, I answered, but they also teach us that we are impossibly incapable of living up to God's moral standard and stand in desperate need of a Savior (Matt. 5; Gal. 3:24). I explained to him that both the Old Testament and the New Testament make perfectly clear that we can never be righteous enough to earn eternal life in the presence of the Lord in Heaven.
For example, the Old Testament declares: "Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people (Deut. 9:6)." "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away (Isaiah 64:6)." Similarly, the New Testament makes plain in Titus 3:5 that "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy."
Paul was very attentive. He seemed to be soaking it in. I shared with him how Jesus explained that unless we're born again spiritually through repentance and faith alone, we will NOT inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3; Mk. 1:19; Luke 13). I explained how our faithfulness in following the Lord through "religious" activities and honoring the "Golden Rule" is merely evidence that we may have been genuinely born again, but those "righteous" works can never save us. I urged Paul to repent and trust Christ alone for salvation in order to experience the new birth, and God would give him a new heart that would enable him to follow the Lord daily and lead his new-born son to do the same one day. Our conversation lasted only about five to 10 minutes, but Paul seemed sincerely appreciative. He said he wanted to lead the right example for his son. I thanked Paul for his help, and he thanked me for encouraging him in his walk.
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