One told of how his uncle, a baptist minister, preached a sermon that cut to his heart. Right then and there he gave his life to Jesus and committed to exit the gang with which he had been a part since he was 7 years old. Today he is a Baptist minister with daughters who are self describes as being in God's army. As he finished his testimony he said that he, "Got saved when he heard his uncle's sermon 17 years ago."
Yesterday I listened to another man who had been living a life of addiction including drugs, alcohol, and the rest that comes with this intoxicating sin. God got through to him about 6 years ago and now he has established a non-profit entity focused on raising money to fund overseas missionaries. He has put Jesus at the center of his work life as well as the rest of his life. As he delivered the quick version of his testimony to me, he said numerous times that he got saved that day as he listened to John MacArthur and was baptized.
In both of these instances these men are definitely on fire for Jesus and a part of His kingdom because their good fruit seems quite evident. I feel blessed to have heard their testimony and to have met both of them. Maybe it's just semantics and therefore it should be dismissed, but I'm struck that in both cases it seems to reflect what Paul addressed in I Corinthians 1:10 and continued into chapter 3. For one to say that someone other than Jesus is responsible to for his salvation is not giving the credit where it is due. For every person who believes that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God and that He is the Savior of the world they are granted salvation by His death some 2000 years ago. That is right, we all have the same salvation day. The day Jesus died the death that we deserve. Let Him receive the glory for saving us and not any man!
The Holy Spirit can use good preaching or really anything to call a person to a faith in Christ, but a man's preaching, no matter how good, without the Holy Spirit can do nothing of the sort.
ReplyDeleteI always get frustrated when someone says "I've lead x number of people to Christ." because really, the Holy Spirit did the leading, and we may have just been there to witness it and to allow the Holy Spirit to do work through us. But even claiming ourselves as a "worked through" seems not very humble, don't you think.
And you are right, the saving was done long ago, but recognizing that it is available to you, and accepting that happens in our lifetimes. It is a matter of semantics usually, in that most people who say they were saved by an event do not think that that event brought about their salvation, so much as it was the point where they became aware of their need for salvation and accepted it as the free gift it is.
Love you guys!