16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ESV
Notice these important comments from Rick Phillips in Chapter 7 of Jesus the Evangelist. Love and Faith are two of the most used words in our culture. For this reason it is important to understand the meaning of these words as God intended. Phillips provides this help in this chapter.
"John 3:16 is a verse beloved by evangelists because it answers an essential question, namely, “What is the gospel?” This is not a trivial matter. The fact is that the witness of many Christians is greatly hampered by confusion over the content of the Christian gospel. To some, the gospel is simply an invitation for a person to allow God to come into his or her heart. But what does this mean? Is this what God offers the world? Given this kind of confusion, it is essential for those who witness the gospel to know what the gospel is.…
John 3:16 presents us with the Bible’s greatest theme: God’s love for us through Jesus Christ. This is a message that the world needs to hear and that our witness must proclaim. …What can Christians say about God’s love?
· The apostle Paul writes that God’s love is great … (Eph. 2:4-5a) …
· Paul elsewhere describes God’s love as unfathomable (Eph. 3:18-19a) …
· Moreover, as God is sovereign, so is His love … This was God’s explanation to the Israelites for the love He showed them in the exodus: “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you” (Deut. 7:7-8a). …
· The greatness of God’s love for the world is seen most clearly in the gift that He gave: “his only Son.” …
If God loved us by giving us His son, we ought to love Him with all that we have in return … And we should express that devotion by loving others with the same kind of love God has shown to us. We are to show a love the world does not know—a love not based on getting, but a love that says, “God has given to me, so I want to love Him by giving to others.” This giving love should beautify our marriages, enliven our friendships, glorify God in the church, and inspire in us a loving fervor in evangelism. This was John’s own application in his first epistle, having spoken first of God’s love for us in the giving of His Son”: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).
John 3:16 … is also very instructive about this greatest of all possessions—faith. The Christian witness is an appeal for faith, both in the loving God who gave His Son and in Jesus Christ, the Savior who gives eternal life. Because of this, Christians need to be able to explain just what faith is. This is an important question that is bound to come up in conversations about the gospel. What, then, is saving faith? …
Until we are born again, we cannot and do not believe, because our sinful nature is opposed to faith. Therefore, to realize that you believe in Christ—that you accept what the Bible teaches, trust it as saving truth, and have personally committed yourself to Jesus—is to receive wonderfully good news. It means that you have been born again, since Jesus says that without the new birth you cannot even see, much less enter, God’s kingdom." (Phillips, 83-98)
Faith and love are words you hear your unsaved friends, co-workers and family use constantly. Use Phillips’ definition of these terms to consider the differences between how others use these terms and how God uses them. Plan now how to engage these folks with whom you are close when they use these words. You could say something like – “I really agree with you that we need faith more than ever these days. But the object of our faith is what really matters. I would really enjoy talking about it over a cup of coffee.” Ask God to help you use common, everyday words to bring the gospel to those around you.
No comments:
Post a Comment