Being a Follower of Christ, from a Muslim background, I may have different perspective on how people are called to faith in Christ
I believe that I did not take a decision for Christ...He has dragged me from the scruff of the neck...I was dragged into salvation in spite of myself. However, I can tell you when the seed of faith in Christ was planted, when the flower started to blossom, and when the fruit started to appear, or mature... We will stay sinners, whether we trust Jesus or not, but AFTER the seed is planted, we feel the emptiness in our heart that only Christ could fill…After the flower start blossoming, we start to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit for sins, repent, and lose "our addiction" to sin.
I believe that faith is a mystery...nothing that I am saying is new... How people come to faith, I believe that everyone has or need a different dynamic that calls him/her to Christ...However, the common dynamic is the WORD of God...I know that I am not saying anything new...but I believe that He drags us like fish in a net, from the sea of sin and unbelief...As an evangelist, I keep casting my net, and trust God to bring fish..
Concerning the Word of God and evangelism, I noticed, through the years, that everyone has a different "silver bullet" that brings him/ her to his/her knees, or shoot him/ her in the heart; mine was: "Love your enemies"
How many steps did you complete to receive the "free gift" of Salvation?
ReplyDeleteIs this a "free" gift?
I tell my child that I have an incredible gift for him. However, in order for the gift to be his, he must:
1. apologize for his bad behavior and sincerely mean it.
2. he must commit to change his ways and follow MY ways for the rest of his life.
3. he must make a decision that he WANTS my gift.
4. he must then approach me, hold out his hands, ask me for the gift, and cooperate with me, as I place the gift into his hands.
If he does all this, he will receive his gift. But...if he chooses to reject my gift, I will damn him to HELL!
Now is this "gift" really a gift...or a REWARD for making the right decision?
No, that is NOT a gift.
.
This is a gift: "Dear Son, I have a gift for you. Here it is. I love you more than words can describe", and then I place the gift in my son's lap. No strings attached. The gift is his. He did nothing to receive it. I did everything.
THAT is a gift!
So what is God's free gift? It is the whole salvation package: faith, belief, repentence, forgiveness of sins, atonement, and eternal life. It is ALL free... to those whom God has predestined, before the world existed, for reasons we do not know, to be his children.
http://www.lutherwasnotbornagain.com/2013/07/how-many-steps-did-you-complete-to.html