Just Tellin' It Like It Is!
- "...here is the conclusion of
the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole
duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including
every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."
~Eccl. 12:13-14
why should we
fear God?
The question is often asked of us, “Why
fear God?” “Isn’t He a loving God?” “What about verses such as "For God so
loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in
Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The answer is, yes, He is a loving God,
and He is a Father to all who call on His name. He is a Father who loves and
cares for His children. After all, He is the Father who sacrificed His Son
for us... He loves us fervently.
He is a caring Father as
well
He is also a caring Father. He knows
the difficulties we face and wants to protect us, just as any loving father
would. So He teaches His children the fear of the Lord for their protection.
“Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the
LORD.” Psalms 34:11 “The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put
their hope in his unfailing love.”
~Psalms 147:11
He knows His children must look solely
and completely to Him for everything. So He makes His command for His
children, to Fear Him.
- “The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether
righteous.”
~Psalms
19:9
w hat
does this have to do with hate?
We Fear God by our statements (see
Psalms 118:4) and with our mind set.
- “To fear the LORD is to hate
evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”
~Proverbs 8:13
Christians are often accused of being
hateful by those who don't understand the fear of the Lord. As Christians
we should not hate anyone. We are called to love the sinner but hate the
SIN. To set the record straight, Christians don't hate homosexuals and
neither does Jesus! (In fact, the bible outlines sin as black and white...
not many shades of grey. That means that to God, homosexuality is as vile
as lying, which is as vile as stealing, which is as vile as...) We are
called to HATE the sin while LOVING the sinner!
h ow to use
this shirt as an evangelism tool:
This shirt has been designed to give
all who wear it, the opportunity to talk about Jesus. You may have noticed that
there are no scripture references on it! People will rarely ask you about your
shirt if they see scriptural references because they are used to seeing
Christian T-shirts. While shirts with references on them mark you as a
believer, they rarely give you the opportunity to share your faith. People
see the scripture references and assume they know the ‘religious’ ideals
of the wearer. What we want to do is cause people to ask you about the shirt.
“I don't get your shirt?” “What does it mean?” “That's Cool”
Anytime someone begins the conversation
with you, the door is open to share the Gospel and the love of Jesus with them….
and remember, they asked you!
w hat to say
when you are asked about the shirt
Most Christians, when confronted with an opportunity to share
their faith often talk “religious” (they say what they think they should say
with lots of Christian Buzz words) and turn people off. Just be yourself!
After reading the above information, you should easily be able to explain how
sin is a major threat to each of us and that there is only one antidote for the
problem. Talk to them about Jesus and what He has done for us, making a way for
us to confess our sin and come to God for forgiveness.
This is your opportunity to explain the Gospel of Jesus and
then to inquire into their relationship, if any, with Him.
i f they are
open to further conversation
At this point, the person will say “yea, whatever” and walk
off, OR want to hear more. (Remember that God’s word
does not return void. Even if the person walks off, the Word of God was sewn
into that person's life… you did not fail!) If they want to know more:
Steps to Salvation
awareness of
our sinful nature
When we talk about salvation
we must bring people to an awareness of their need for salvation. The Bible is
very clear on this point. Everyone has missed the mark or fallen short of the
standard set by God. As a race we all fall short. This is not a close call, even
the best person misses the mark by a mile.
- ...
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
-
~Romans 3:23
But the good news is that God has made provision for us. He
has a free gift, the gift of eternal life for us. (See Romans 6:23)
b elief
in Jesus Christ
God chose to fulfill His standards for us. He knew that no
person could meet them and so all would fail. We would all be in a hopeless
state, with no place to turn. So God decided to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to
live as a man here on earth. Jesus lived as a man, but He met all of God's
requirements. He met God's standard perfectly.
But this still did not deal with the problem, we still fall
short of meeting God's standard. We cannot live like Jesus, even after His
example.
The answer, God's answer,
let the one who lived perfectly die in the place of all the rest. He let Jesus
die for mankind, since no one else was good enough to do so. (If a man were to
die it would be for his short comings, it would be just what he deserved).
So God has prepared for us a gift of salvation. God accepted
the death of Jesus as meeting His standard. Then He raised Jesus from the dead.
His gift of salvation is available to every one who will believe in Jesus Christ
and the work He has done for us. (See Romans 10:8-10 and John 1:12-13)
repentance
of sins
This gift from God is a
wonderful salvation, complete with everything we need to live a full life, now
and for the future. This includes forgiveness of our sins (areas where we have
not lived up to God's standard). This forgiveness comes as we admit to our sins
and ask God to forgive us. (See Luke 24:46-47 and Acts 13:38-39)
- If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
-
~1 John 1:9
r eceiving
Jesus as savior
So now we can receive Jesus as our Lord
and Savior. He now becomes the one who died for us so we can have good
relationship with God. We can now become a part of God's family, not by any work
that we have done, but by believing that Jesus has done the work for us.
- But as many as received Him, to
them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
-
~John 1:12-13
All scripture quotations, unless
otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan
Publishing House. All rights reserved.
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