Jesus said, "no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (John 3:3). Peter said we are "born again ... through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Pet. 1:23). Paul said the same thing, emphasizing he obeyed Jesus' call to preach the word of God, "the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation" (Eph. 1:23). Jesus declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners ... to set the oppressed free ..." (Luke 4:18).
I asked Bill if he believed in heaven. "Yes ... and God," he added. "Who gets to go to heaven," I gently asked. "Those who are good enough," he answered. I asked Bill if he thought he was good enough to go to heaven. That's when he told me he had just been released from prison but believed he was trying hard enough now to get to heaven. That broke my heart! He was like a sheep without a shepherd to guide him to the right pasture. He was feeding on falsehood, not life-giving truth. (Matt. 9:35). Titus 3:5 makes clear that our salvation is "not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us." The Bible clearly teaches that our "good" deeds are like "filthy rags" in God's sight (Isaiah 64:6). Only God can "clothe us in garments of salvation" and a "robe of righteousness" that we need to enter His holy presence for eternity (Isaiah 61:10) when we place our faith and trust in His Son alone (Eph. 2:8-9).
Ricky, on the other hand, honestly admitted that the did not know what his eternal destiny would be if he were to die today. Ricky was religious. He attended Catholic rituals periodically. But he did not know what Jesus said to do in order to be born again and saved.
When Bill and Ricky learned the truth that they justly deserved to be judged guilty for violating God's moral law countless times (which they honestly admitted) and that they justly deserved to be condemned to hell like the rest of us (Rom. 3:10, 23, 6:23), they were both eager to hear what Jesus said about how to be set free from sin for eternity in order to know that his destiny will indeed be heaven. The law had done its perfect work on their hearts to show them their great need for a savior (Ps. 19:7; Gal. 3:24). They were now ready for the gospel, the good news!
But "[h]ow, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" (Rom. 10:14-15). Paul explained that "the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved .... For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures .... [T]his is what we preach, and this is what you believed" (1 Cor. 15:1-11). Paul preached that those who believe the gospel "should repent and turn to God" (Acts 26:20), just as Jesus taught (Mk. 1:15; Lk. 24:46-47). Those who believe and repent are born again, saved from the wrath to come, and eternally freed from imprisonment to their sins through the finished work of Jesus Christ (John 3:3, 14-18). And the great news is that we can know this now even though we don't deserve it (1 John 5:11-13).
I asked Bill if he believed Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to pay the penalty for his sins so that he doesn't have to. He did. So did Ricky. I asked Bill if he believed Jesus rose from the dead the third day, proving he is God's son. He did. So did Ricky. I asked Bill if he had ever repented of his sins--cried out to God for forgiveness of all his sins and turned to look to Christ alone for salvation and follow him. Bill said he was doing it right then! Praise the Lord! I pray he really did. I asked Bill if he knew what Jesus said to do to follow him. He didn't, so I explained to him what Jesus said in John 8:31-32--that his true followers continue in his word on a daily basis and seek to faithfully obey Jesus' word. The former prisoner had truly learned how to be set free and said he was taking those very steps of faith. Ricky said he didn't know what it meant to repent. I explained it to him and asked him when he was going to repent and follow Jesus. He said he didn't know. I urged him to do so before it's too late. He said he would think about it. Pray for Ricky. I may have a chance to see him again soon and will follow up with him. I will let you know how he's doing, Lord willing!
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