Salvation
A few Sunday's ago, my bible study class discussed the topic of salvation. It is an interesting subject about how or when a person becomes a Christian. Basically salvation is a process that involves "our hearing the gospel call, our being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our responding in faith and repentance, and God forgiving us and giving us membership in his family, as well as granting us growth in the Christian life and keeping us faithful to himself thoughout life. At the end of our life, we die and go into his presence, then when Christ returns, we receive resurrection bodies, and the process of acquiring salvation is complete." (Grudem ,1999).
Process is the key about how a person becomes a Christian. Many people in North America have heard of the Sinner's Prayer. It's basically a prayer of recognizing sin, knowing the need of a Saviour who is Jesus, asking for repentance, being forgiven, and allowing Jesus to enter one's heart. I have found the Sinner's Prayer to be the ultimate decision maker in becoming a Christian. I think there is way too much emphasis on this one act rather than the actual process of knowing God. I know of many Christians who have prayed this prayer and then fell off the map in their relationship with God. The problem here has become pray this prayer and you'll become a Christian and if you don't you're not a Christian. We live in a society that follows a magic pill formula. But Christianity is not setup that way.
In my own life, I don't know when I crossed over to become a Christian, but I do know at some point I did. It was a process that involved learning about Jesus and following Him. I believe someone who claims to be a Christian should be one who follows Christ. It's that simple.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole word, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." (Matthew 16:24-27)
Peace.
Process is the key about how a person becomes a Christian. Many people in North America have heard of the Sinner's Prayer. It's basically a prayer of recognizing sin, knowing the need of a Saviour who is Jesus, asking for repentance, being forgiven, and allowing Jesus to enter one's heart. I have found the Sinner's Prayer to be the ultimate decision maker in becoming a Christian. I think there is way too much emphasis on this one act rather than the actual process of knowing God. I know of many Christians who have prayed this prayer and then fell off the map in their relationship with God. The problem here has become pray this prayer and you'll become a Christian and if you don't you're not a Christian. We live in a society that follows a magic pill formula. But Christianity is not setup that way.
In my own life, I don't know when I crossed over to become a Christian, but I do know at some point I did. It was a process that involved learning about Jesus and following Him. I believe someone who claims to be a Christian should be one who follows Christ. It's that simple.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole word, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." (Matthew 16:24-27)
Peace.
posted by Arnold at 1:51 PM
2 Comments:
I totally agree, it's been almost 11 years since I chose to follow Christ - some would say, "Oh, you said I want to be a Christian" but over time I realized it's a lot deeper than that.
(By the way, Roberto Luongo was very superb in Game 5... your Canucks are going to have a great goalie for years to come.)
I just wanted to say Hello =)
debbie
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