8 June, 2001

Consider this question. If someone ‘trusts in Jesus’ (whatever that means to them) but there is no understanding of repentance, sin, a broken relationship with God, or an acknowledgment that one’s life must change direction, would this person be truly saved?

In John 3:3 we read: Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And in II Corinthians 5:17, Paul states: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

When Jesus appeared to the disciples in Luke 24, He instructed them this way: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47).

In Acts 16, when the Philippian jailer fell on his knees before Paul and Silas saying Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (v. 30), they responded, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house (v. 31). This jailer now saw himself lost and perishing, being terrified of God’s wrath in his conscience. He was obviously convicted of his sin and recognized he needed to be saved. Paul and Silas no doubt explained that Christ was the author of salvation. One had to go to Him to be saved and receive the free gift of salvation that Christ gives. But notice that repentance/conviction of sin and salvation go hand in hand.

The reason I want to remind us of this important doctrine is that I believe there are many in our churches today who have been told to ‘trust in Jesus’ to save them from their pain. Someone may have even led them in a prayer–maybe even mentioning sin.

But if the person has not understood sin, or been convicted of his or her lost state (like the Philippian jailer), and thus no real repentance and change of direction has occurred, how can the person be said to be truly saved?

As we look at the churches in our Western nations, we see many people who claim to be Christians, yet their lifestyle is no different from the world. They don’t have a fervor to proclaim the authority of the Word. They are not convicted about sin in their own life and are not abhorred by the sinful state of what they see around them. What’s wrong?

I suggest that much of the church today preaches an ‘easy believeism’–the message of ‘good news’ that Jesus loves them. ‘Come to Jesus and trust in Him,’ they are told. But increasingly we have a culture in which people no longer really understand who Jesus is. They don’t understand their sin nature–their rebellion against God. They don’t understand the holiness of God and their lost state. Because of the lack of teaching of the foundations of the gospel in Genesis–including the rebellion of Adam in the Garden, and rebutting the belief in millions of years of death and bloodshed in the fossil record–there is no understanding of sin and its consequences.

Thus I suggest that there are many in our churches today who have trusted in Jesus in an experiential sort of way. They think they are Christians, but they’ve never really understood the true gospel and its message of the ‘bad news’ (in Genesis–the Fall of man) and thus the good news (in the New Testament–the last Adam’s death and resurrection).

This was brought home to me again recently when I received a letter from an 18 year old. What a testimony! Here are some excerpts:

My name is Kate...I’m 18 and have only recently become a ‘true’ Christian...The awakening that I experienced whilst reading your book [Creation Evangelism for the New Millennium] was incredible. Within a day of finishing it the Lord gave me an opportunity to speak with a group of elders from a church...They were completely blown away by my approach to evangelism and subsequently are undergoing structural changes to their approach to pastoral and community care.

When I was young I attended church with my parents, but unfortunately as is the case with many children, when their faith wore thin–so did mine! By the time I was 17, I had changed school six times, tried drugs, had a string of meaningless relationships, moved out of home, and attempted suicide.

All the while I made regular contact with a youth group. In no way do I want to ‘bag’ the church that ran the group, but basically they did exactly what your book says not to do. They ‘pushed Jesus,’ but gave me no answers. All the while I was struggling with feelings of self-hatred, loneliness and depression–I was being told about this wonderful man named Jesus Christ who could take away my pain.

But how can he? And why would he want to save me? Where did he come from? How can you prove it? Why do we sin? Finally somebody came up with the answers. That person had just finished reading up on some of the big questions (which you discuss in Creation Evangelism). I believe that this person read some of your work. So indirectly you helped in bringing me to Christ….

I have found myself with a new zest and confidence. I look forward to presenting my semi-believing parents with the bare facts. Yes, it is important to tell people about Jesus Christ, but as it was in my case, the novelty of a saviour brought to you through [an experiential] prayer time, wears thin as soon as you start asking questions.

I now enjoy life thoroughly. I am confident that my walk with Christ is growing stronger every day.

Thank you.
Kate.

Churches are sadly full of the ‘old Kate’ who need to be turned into the ‘new Kate.’ Let’s give them all of that vital, foundational information that comes from Genesis, so we can tell them the ‘big picture’ of who Jesus really is!