Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you were blessed today walking with the Lord.  I had a slow day on campus, talking primarily with people who were Christians or claimed to be.  Some who claimed they would appeal to their good works to get into Heaven and then later said they were trusting in Christ.  A girl in the Cru group on campus tried to maintain, after appealing to her religious works, that she had a relationship with God and people “say it [the Gospel] different ways.”  I pointed out that this was not truly the Gospel if you were not telling people they had to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  I pointed out I had just talked to a Catholic woman who basically claimed she was saved by the sacraments (though the Bible nowhere teaches sacraments save you or sanctify you).  

The woman told me I should become a Catholic, asking me why I was not.  I explained that the Bible did not teach the power of sacraments to save you, but that Baptism saved you by an appeal to God for a clear conscience [1Pet. 3:21 “And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”] So Baptism must be an appeal to God by the one baptized, by the definition of scripture.  The ceremony is not a power in and of itself, performed as a rite by the Church that saves you as described in scripture.  She then told me I should pray about this, ignoring the verses I quoted to her.  I told her I had had a sacramentalist for a professor and had studied it already in Graduate school.  I had already examined her claims against the Bible and believed them to be false on that basis.  She paraphrased Jesus saying you must eat his flesh and drink His blood, but I pointed out that this metaphor is from John 6 before the Lord’s supper was instituted by Jesus (on the night before His death) much later on.  And so John 6 could not be about the same thing (as the Lord’s Supper), since before that people were saved (considered righteous Jews) by faith that Jesus was the Messiah.  So in no place in Scripture does the Bible say ordinances like Baptism or the Lord’s Supper act upon you independently to save you, take away your sin or sanctify you.  God sanctifies you by Himself with His Spirit and needs no devices (1 Thessalonians 5:23).  

Getting back to the CRU girl, I helped her understand what she needed to be certain of and what she said doing evangelism and she accepted my help and I gave her the booklet.  She had been trying to say you did not simply have faith in Jesus but also had to have a relationship with Him.  I explained the Bible says that when you have faith in His death and resurrection to save you from your sin, the Holy Spirit enters you.  And this is what it means to know God: that we are one with Him, by His indwelling Spirit, which we receive as soon as we have faith (Gal. 3:2 Rom. 8:9).  This means knowing God, thus being in a relationship with Him if you wish to describe it that way (though the Bible does not use that relational language), is a reality that exists if we have faith because the Spirit in us makes us one with God.  So being one with God would be the definition of being in a relationship with Him.  It is not possible to have genuine faith and NOT have the presence of the Spirit in you, which would then place you in relationship with God having become one with Him.  It is possible to think you have a relationship with God and even feel you are close to Him and be mistaken, IF you do not have genuine faith in the Work of God in Christ (and as Christ) on the Cross dying for you. You might even know the story of Christ’s work but have never trusted in it.  People who do not have a relationship with God and think they do are often trusting in religious feelings they get by doing religious works.  Even miracles, casting out demons and prophesying don’t cut it, it is only faith. (Matt. 7:20-23)

So I did get close to a person trusting Christ.  God was moving on Frank, a black guy, but otherwise just teaching the truth today.  Thanks for your prayers. God was with me.

In Him,

Bob
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp