Friday, April 3, 2009

AS SIMPLE AS A-B-C -- Devotional for April 3, from "Good Seeds"

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

I heard a very smart preacher make this wonderfully simple observation about Faith in Christ: “The only reason we can’t understand the ABC’s is that we are DEF!” Theologians grapple with the question, “How does one come to faith in God?” They argue over whether a man can come by his own volition, or if God first must choose him and draw him. Following the logic some conclude that God, according to the private counsel of His own mind, surely has chosen some people for paradise and the rest for perdition. Deep discussions follow about election and predestination and fore-ordination, sometimes leading down a prickly path far astray from basic Bible truth. But our question is quickly answered in one brief statement in one tiny verse: “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Faith in God originates in the Word of God, as it is preached and received. Some people think Ephesians 2:8 gives another source of faith: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Faith is a gift from God, they say, and maybe He chooses to give it to some but not to others. But the more obvious meaning of this verse is that it is salvation, not faith, that is being offered as a free gift. Indeed the next verse points to this when it says, “Not of works, lest anyone should boast.” If it’s still talking about faith, there would be no reason to say “not of works,” since faith and works are at opposite ends of the spectrum. But if it’s talking about salvation, well, many do indeed seek salvation through good works. The ABC’s, then, are simply this:
A = Admit you are a sinner in need of salvation.
B = Believe Jesus is the only one who can give you that salvation.
C = Confess Him as Savior.
Where do we get this information? A: If our own conscience and experience do not tell us we’re sinners, God’s Word will fill us in! B: How can we know about a Savior unless someone tells us, and the only reliable Someone is God Himself, through His Word, which is then preached to us. C: Again the Bible shows the way: The resurrected Son of God, who died for the sin of mankind, must be believed in our heart, and confessed by the lips. Yes, it’s as simple as A-B-C!

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