Sincerely Wrong

[Barb Bouldrey]

I have had people of other religions at my door who are excited about their beliefs and sincerely believe everything they want to share with me.

I have seen people on TV religious broadcasts who sincerely believe what they teach and preach.

In all religions of the world there are followers who sincerely believe what their religion believes. Some, passionately.

We remember the David Karesh's and the Jim Jones' of our world who convince their followers of their false teachings.

There are Christians who search the scriptures for themselves and sincerely believe what they have decided is God's truth on some of the issues that divide Christians.

I have met people who have been in a church all their lives and are such good people and citizens who sincerely believe that since they were baptized as babies they are Christians who will go to Heaven.

What happens to people who stand at judgement, when God tells them they were wrong in what they worshiped or believed, who say, "But I sincerely believed my beliefs were 100% correct?"

They were sincerely wrong.

I suspect that each one of us will be surprised when we get to Heaven to discover things we always sincerely believed are sincerely wrong.

What makes the difference? If what we believe is against God's plan of salvation and forgiveness, we will be lost. If we do not have a daily personal relationship with Christ, we will be lost.

I believe that any individual can find a personal relationship with God, even with faulty doctrine or faulty beliefs.

But how do you convince someone who believes sin is not sin that they are sincerely wrong? I guess on the Holy Spirit can do that.

Barb

[Kevin Rector]

But how do you convince someone who believes sin is not sin that they are sincerely wrong? I guess on the Holy Spirit can do that.

Barb

Your last sentence is the key. I believe (and I might be sincerely mistaken :basic03) that we do not have to convince people of their sin. We have to love people and let God change them.

In my sermon last week I said, "The Holy Spirit rocks, let's not underestimate His ability to convict sinners of their sin". So often we think that we have to do that. No, we just have to love people.

[Bob Jones]

Ga 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

As an evangelist, I am always looking for a graceful way to confront sin using the law. I work from the assumption that Romans 1:18ff is true and that they already know that God is invisible, powerful and the creator, and that they choose not to acknowledge Him or give Him thanks because they love their sin.

Francis Schaeffer talks about 'T' truth and 't' truth and the tension between them. I actively look to identify those points of tension.

[Barb Bouldrey]

Bob.

Our evangelist, Ben Pettit, did the same thing this week in our revival. I appreciated his knowledge and use of the scriptures and the use of the law that Christ came to fulfill.

It is more difficult to get people to admit the sin in their lives today than ever before. It is so frustrating to my pastor husband and it must be frustrating to our evangelists.

Barb

[Bob Jones]

Barb,

A lot of people have been inoculated against the gospel by faulty representations of the gospel.

I find that I sometimes have to unteach them what they think they know about Christianity.

Luke 2:22ff shows how Jesus spoke and they marveled at how gracious he was. So he spoke some more and they were filled with wrath. I think this is shadowed by the fine flour (graciousness) and salt (pungent preservative) of the meat offering.

Many of the evangelism programs that I see focus on being gracious and avoid confrontation at all costs. But we should not fear being salt. If they were filled with wrath against Jesus, we shouldn't coddle to them so they "like" us.

There was a guy in Wendover Utah that I used to visit. Unbeknownst to me, whenever he would see me coming he would hide. I was intent to see him, so I always sought him out, and when finding him in the attic of the pizza parlor would assume he was working on the lights.

Six months after I left he called me and blamed me for his salvation. I, of course denied it. But that's when he told me the story of how he felt so guilty just seeing me approach, that he had to hide. He said I used to beat him with my Bible. He went off to Bible College and is now an assistant pastor. He said he was one of the two biggest drug dealers in Wendover.

God did all the convicting of sin and all the salvation. All I did was share the law, and the parts I saw him flinch at, I'd share more often and in more detail. Admittedly, maybe sometimes I rub the salt in.... I presume that I must have been gracious to some degree, because he always allowed me to share with him when I did find him.

I like telling people about what God does, because the more I play the cheerleader, the more I get invited to the game.