PRESENTING THE WAY OF SALVATION

 

Some Thoughts by

Gary Ray Branscome

 

Something happened this week that reminded me of one of my pet peeves; namely presenting the gospel in a way that makes salvation something we do (a work) rather than something Christ has done for us. I am speaking especially of those who tell the lost that they need to accept Christ, receive Christ, ask Him into their heart, or pray a prayer.

          By saying that I am likely to arouse the ire of many who present the way of salvation in that way and see no harm in it. In fact, some who have prayed a prayer or asked Christ to come into their heart at the time they came to faith may be totally unwilling to even consider the problems that I am trying to address.  However, there are problems, BIG problems. Because of those problems, about forty years ago, almost one-hundred congregations that had been connected with Campus Crusade for Christ wound up joining the Eastern Orthodox. At the time, one of the reasons they cited was the fact that they spent much effort leading people to pray the “sinner’s prayer” only to have them never show up in church or even change their lifestyle.

          If you are trusting in Christ for salvation, then you may understand it in one way when people speak of “accepting Christ” or “asking Him into their heart,” while the unsaved understand it in a totally different way. For example: If you tell a small child that they need to “accept Christ as Savior and Lord,” that child will have no idea as to what that means. To them it may mean “keep His commandments”. And if you lead up to it by telling them that they will go to hell if they do not accept Christ, they may be left with an inner terror that stems from thinking that salvation depends upon their ability to keep His Law. I have known adults who professed to believe in Christ, yet lived in constant fear that God might punish them if they failed to obey a “still small voice” in their head. Furthermore, telling a child to ask Christ into their heart is not going to give them faith that He died on the cross for their sins.

          Instead of trying to present salvation as something we need to do, the emphasis has to be on Christ. When my daughters were little, instead of telling them that they were going to hell if they did not accept Christ, I told them that Jesus died on the cross so that they would not have to go to hell. Then when they had that assurance I could explain that we all deserve hell because of our sins, but Jesus took our place and suffered the punishment that we deserved so that we would never go to hell, but instead have eternal life in heaven with Him. My girls were little at the time, but they believed what I said, and that is what saving faith is all about.  In fact, when my older daughter was not quite three years old, she would go around saying (with a big smile) “Jesus died for my sins so I could have forgiveness”.

          That brings up another problem, namely those who never tell their children about Jesus because they think their children are too young. Baloney! Faith is a gift of God, and if God was able to give faith to John the Baptist while John was still in the womb, He can give it to anyone (Luke 1:44).

          In the early days of the church, the emphasis was not on hell, but on the hope of the resurrection; namely the good news that because Christ lives we shall live also (John 11:25). That is the good news that needs to be proclaimed to all nations. Yet, sadly, the message unbelievers often get is that we think that we are better than they are, and think that they will go to hell if they do not accept our opinions or join a church. The flip side of that is those who think that they can just keep on sinning and Christ will get them off the hook. Both views are a total misunderstanding of the message we are trying to get across, and a real hindrance to the work of the gospel.

          I am convinced that the problems just outlined are serious and need to be addressed. So please give careful consideration to what I have said.

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