Here I am sitting in Burger King doing school work, (only place in PR near me with free wifi). I am studying hard and trying to stay on task and God lays this subject on my heart and I just have to share it with you.
I am currently studying Theology and it is amazing how God gives you an experience that you don't know how to handle, you pray for clarity and boom, the next thing you know God is teaching you through a Theology class the exact thing you just experienced! God is super cool that way!
Some times in life you will run into people that wish to test you. Your knowledge, your faith, your person and your God. As a Christ follower our desire and passion is to lead them to Jesus and lead them to salvation. But sometimes it seems like when you need scripture the most, the right words the most they are just not there. Personally I struggle with wondering why. How can I love Jesus so much, be so confident in the cross and willing to defend Jesus to the death and not have a word to say? Do I not study hard enough? Should I memorize scripture more? Do I not love Jesus as much as I thought? What is it? Then today God lays some heavy stuff on me. By heavy I mean really really good!.
As I am studying today the topic of study is conversion and regeneration. One word I heard before, conversion, the other I have not in this context, regeneration. As I read through Dr. Towns writings it is like my eyes had a layer of film taken off and I, by the power of The Holy Spirit, could see just a little more clearly.
You see we as Christ followers often try to convert a person to Christianity. i.e follow Jesus. But what happens when that person we are trying to convert already knows scripture? What happens when that person already knows about Jesus and God and most of what goes along with them? What happens when the one God has positioned us to talk to already has the knowledge but still rejects Jesus? In some since, conversion here has worked. This person, knows scripture and may or may not believe it. He has been converted in his knowledge of but not converted to turning to. His thinking has been altered and his mind has been converted from not knowing about God to knowing about God. So is conversion enough? Is that really our goal to convert people from not knowing about God to knowing about God? We have to understand what Biblical conversion is talking about. Biblical conversion happens when ones thinking changes and actions change where one is turning to Jesus for repentance of sin. Conversion of knowledge is not enough.
You see, this is where many of us stop. We figure, "Hey I did my part, I shared with them what the Bible teaches, this person has heard about Jesus and now they accepted/rejected Jesus." But is conversion all there is? According to towns and multiple different scriptures it does not seem to be.
You see, according to Towns, "Conversion is the human side of that experience (salvation) and regeneration is the divine side." We often forget about the role of God in leading one to Christ, which in turn can lead to frustration, confusion and doubt in our own relationship with Jesus.
One cannot truly be saved without both aspects of salvation. Conversion (mans role), regeneration (Gods role) One must personally believe and have faith and the Holy Spirit must enter in for life change to truly happen. Otherwise any one at anytime could teach something new to this person who knew about God and turn them away by teaching it enough times. We are human and this happens. We are not strong enough on our own to follow Jesus. WE NEED HOLY SPIRIT! Why do you think God sent him? That is why it is not our job to lead people to Christ. It is our job to preach the gospel, share Jesus, be Jesus to these people and walk people down the path to salvation. It is Holy Spirits job to truly save them.
Now there is much more I could go into about Gods role and mans role in salvation but I am not going into that here. The reason I feel God wanted me to share this is for this reason.
When you pour your heart into someone and they still choose not to have faith in Jesus it is not that you did not do your part. If you preached Truth than you did your part.(obviously there is more we are called to do but Im not writing a book) Sometimes man just rejects the Truth even when he knows it and it is right in front of him. You see the thing with truth and evidence is that in order to see it you have to be willing to accept it once it is revealed to you. Silly example: (If you drive a car you know what a red light or stop sign means. However, we all have seen that one person or maybe it has been you, who stops at a red light, looks both ways and continues to drive. Or the person who slows down for a stop sign, looks both ways and runs the stop sign purposely. They know the truth, "Red means stop." And yet they reject the truth by not stopping.) Just because one knows the truth does not mean they will follow the truth.
Holy Spirit will not force one to follow, but when one truly follows, Holy Spirit becomes part of you and then you truly are saved.
So lets do our part and let God do his part but remember that the one who needs to be saved plays a role too. That is responding positively to the message of Jesus Christ. Like I said, knowledge is not enough and God will not force himself on anyone.
Move forward today with a bold confidence through Jesus Christ that you are doing what you are called to do, if in fact you are sharing Truth. Leave the results up to God. May God bless you on your journey. I pray for you all and think of you often.
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