Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Why? For the forgiveness of your sins! There is no gift of the Holy Spirit without this according to the key verse. Beloved, Christianity is not about your best life now. It is not about being purpose driven. It is not about drawing circles in the sand or any other heretical idiocy man can come up with. It is about one thing and one thing only. We are sinners. It is not that we are wrong. It is that we are sinners before a holy God. According to the characteristics of God there is a price to be paid for our sin and that price is death. Spiritual death that lasts eternity. An eternity separated from our Creator. That great big hole we all feel in our hearts is shaped like God because that is what is missing. In the world we try to fill it with fame and fortune. Career and fleshly pursuits. Drugs and alcohol. But only God can fill it.
Yet despite our wretched condition before God He still was willing to save us and bring us back to Him. That is the amazing grace of God. That while we were still sinners, He sent His only Son to hang on an old wooden cross for our sins. There can be no discussion of grace alone because there is no grace without the sin we need the grace for. As sinners, we needed a Savior beloved and His name is Jesus Christ. He only ministered three years on this earth yet He turned the whole world upside down. There is a peace in Christ the surpasses all understanding! There is a love in Jesus that is indescribable. There is rest for the weary and burdened. These are the blessings of God. Not more money and bigger houses. If this is your best life now then by definition you are going to hell.
Some will argue that I make salvation more difficult than it need be but I have the Bible backing up my argument. Salvation is easy but it is not an empty gesture that many modern day snake oil salesmen have turned it into. It is not ask and receive. It is repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. It is the single most important decision anyone can ever make in their life. It deserves to be taught right. The result can be eternally devastating. Remember, not all who say Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven! But preacher, he has 45,000 people in his church - well, broad is the path to destruction and narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life. Don't use worldly measurements to try and gauge spiritual success. Don't use carnal and human logic to try and dumb down the Gospel. There were three thousand salvations on the day of Pentecost and none of them said the sinner's prayer. I am not saying that it cannot be used. I am saying it cannot be used as a band-aid when a tourniquet is needed. Some have even stopped calling it the sinner's prayer for fear of scaring would be congregants away. Now some call it the salvation prayer. That's fine because the person needs salvation. But without a central discussion about sin and the need for repentance, the prayer is empty and the salvation false. The Savior is always ready and willing to save but we need to admit that we need saving.
Reverend Anthony Wade - July 1, 2013
