Image via WikipediaMany Chinese in China are coming to Christ. And some make their way to Canada. They make great Christians, because they know about suffering.
I like the way Ms Zhang put this. She heard something about God and thought about what she had heard. She reasoned that the power behind created things must be good. Coming to faith often entails something closer to intuition than dry rational calculation. And it rarely if ever involves the empirical certainty atheists demand. But how God rewards the heart which inclines itself to Him! I believe that when she thought to herself "the power behind created things must be good" that the Holy Spirit was helping her at that moment.
My own conversion followed a similar process of thinking about things, and, as I look back, I can see that the Holy Spirit was guiding me. Christian theologians have long recognized this, and have a term for it. It is called "prevenient grace".
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
And that's the way the grateful Ball bounces.
3 comments:
"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."
I am a fiscal Conservative but I do live by that song by John Newton a repentant slave trader. The key word is "saved". This saving does not require any overt action by you. It already has been done 2 thousand years ago.
If you have sincere heartfelt doubts, then God will know at the final judgement day and forgive you as your sins have already been forgiven. Doubts are not a sin unless when face to face with HIM you reject HIM.
Many Evangelicals do not understand God's ultimate forgiveness. I believe that our Christian God is indeed all merciful.
"This saving does not require any overt action by you."
Then the Saviour's command to "repent and believe the good news" has no real force, it's not really an imperative, more like a suggestion?
What if your doubts are not sincere and heartfelt -- this presupposes a "good heart" which Christ assures us no man has.
God commands all persons to repent -- that's the unadulterated gospel.
Thanks for sharing your views.
Very respectfully Hoarfrost you have fallen into the trap of 'then'. Christianity is not a matter of 'then' it is a matter of NOW.
John Newton's third and fourth line explicitly say but NOW am found, but NOW I see.
Christianity is not death insurance. It is LIFE itself. It is the WAY itself. It is the TRUTH itself. The evangelical church has in large part 'turtled' because of the onslaught of scientism by postponing LIFE until after death. You won't find that in the Gospels. LIFE is here and LIFE is now. Now is the time we must live in HIM. Seeking not our will but HIS WILL be done.
Post a Comment