The Home as God Intended
Part 2 – True Conversion
First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan
Rev. Bruce A. Shields
www.tawasbaptist.org
WELCOME
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 19:7 – KJV
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul”
PRAYER
We are going to begin our series “The Home as God Intended” with an important message.
All of the benefits, blessings, promises and principals in the Holy Scriptures are based on your accepting Christ.
If you have not accepted Jesus Christ, you cannot receive God’s blessings, you cannot receive God’s benefits, you cannot expect to experience God’s promises in your life, and you cannot expect God’s principals to apply to you and see the results thereof.
The principals of marriage, spiritual gifts, the armor of God, etc…
So many people claim Christianity without ever truly repenting of their sin against God.
Many don’t know their sin because they don’t know God’s law.
Without true repentance there is no forgiveness.
Without forgiveness there is no relationship with Christ.
Without relationship with Christ, there is separation from God.
In separation from God you will live and die in your sin.
And we are judged by the law.
Did you know that only 3-5% of new convert are acting Christians 1 year after accepting Christ?
In 1991 a major denomination of 11,500 churches recorded 294,000 decisions for Christ.
But they could only find 14,000 in fellowship, and could not account for the other 280,000 people.
That’s less than 5%.
What we are experiencing right now in our times is a “false conversion epidemic”.
We read in Psalm 19:7 that “The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.”
What is it that the Bible says is perfect and ACTUALLY converts the soul?
The scriptures make it clear.
“The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.”
No amount of pleading, pressure, intimidation, coercion, personality, or any other method works as the law of the Lord.
This illustration I heard will help us understand the function of God’s law by looking for a moment at civil law.
If I say to you, “I’ve got some good news for you: someone just paid a $25,000 speeding fine on your behalf.”
You would probably react by saying, “What are you taking about? That’s not good news: it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t have a $25,000 speeding fine!”
My good news wouldn’t be good news to you.
It would seem foolishness.
But more than that, it would be offensive to you, because I’m insinuating you’ve broken the law, when you don’t think you have.
However, if I put it this way, it makes more sense.
On the way to church this morning, the law clocked you going 55 miles per hour through an area set aside for a blind children’s convention.
There were 10 clear warning signs stating that 15 miles per hour was the maximum speed, but you went straight through at 55 miles per hour.
What you did was extremely dangerous, there’s a $25,000 fine.
The law was about to take its course, when someone you don’t even know stepped in and paid the fine for you.
You are very fortunate.
Can you see how telling you precisely what you’ve done wrong first actually makes the good news make more sense?
If I don’t clearly bring instruction and understanding that you’ve violated the law, then the good news will seem foolish, and it will seem offensive.
But once you understand that you’ve broken the law, then that good news will become good news indeed.
Now, in the same way, if I approach an unrepentant sinner and say, “Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.”
It will be foolishness and offensive to him.
Foolishness because it wont make sense.
The Bible says;
1 Corinthians 1:18
“18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
What we see as the power of God, they see as foolishness.
And offensive because I am insinuating he’s a sinner when he doesn’t think he is.
As far as he’s concerned, there are a lot of people far worse than him.
But if I take the time to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, it makes more sense.
If I take the time to open up the divine law, the 10 commandments, and show the sinner precisely what he’s doing wrong, that he has offended God by violating His law, then when he becomes, as James says,
“…convinced of the law as a transgressor” – James 2:9
The good news of the fine being paid for will not be foolishness; it will not be offensive,
it will be “The power of God unto salvation” – Romans 1:6
So, this being true, why are so many falling away?
Why are so many NOT experiencing God?
Why are there so many false converts?
Because we stopped delivering the good news as was intended.
What is the grace of God without first the realization of the need for that grace?
How can the need for grace be recognized without the law?
Romans 3:19
“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.”
One of the functions of God’s law is to stop the mouth.
To stop sinners justifying themselves and saying, “There are plenty of people worse than me. I’m not a bad person.”
The law stops the mouth of justification and leaves the whole world, not just the Jews, but the whole world guilty before God.
Romans 3:20
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”
God’s law tells us what sin is. It makes us conscious of it.
You see, the tragedy of modern evangelism came around the turn of the century when we forsook the law and its capacity to convert the soul, to drive sinners to Christ.
Then modern evangelism had to find another reason for sinners to respond to the gospel.
So, modern evangelism chose to attract sinners with the issue of “Life Enhancement”.
The gospel degenerated into “Jesus Christ will give you peace, joy, love, fulfillment and lasting happiness.”
When we attract people with this unscriptural promise of peace, joy, love, fulfillment and lasting happiness,
The sinner responds, and accepts the Savior to see if the claims are true.
After accepting Christ, he begins to notice the true weight of Christianity in our society.
The comments and stares from friends, family and coworkers.
However he consoles himself with the promise that was made to him of peace, joy, love, fulfillment and lasting happiness.
He decides to give Christianity a little time to work itself out.
As he waits, those same friends, family and coworkers begin to taunt, and laugh and tease.
He feels the alienation and pressure.
Over time he begins to feel somewhat humiliated or embarrassed, being mocked and laughed at for his belief.
Eventually he can stand t no longer, and he gives up on this Christianity thing.
Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because as far as he is concerned, he was told an outright lie.
His motive for accepting Christ, “peace, joy, love, fulfillment and lasting happiness” was solely to enhance his life.
The result of his experience was that he was humiliated, disillusioned, and somewhat embittered against those who gave him this so-called “good news”.
As far as he was concerned, Christianity isn’t what it was built up to be.
Instead of preaching, “Jesus enhances your life”, we should be warning of what’s to come.
Hebrews 9:27
“27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment”
When the sinner understands the true consequences of breaking God’s law, then he will flee to the Savior solely to escape the wrath that is to come.
If we are true and faithful witnesses, that is what we will be preaching.
There is wrath and judgment to come!
Acts 17:30
“… He commands all people everywhere to repent.”
Why?
Acts 17:31
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice”
You see, it’s not about happiness. It is about righteousness.
It doesn’t matter how happy a sinner is, how much he’s enjoying “The pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25), because without the righteousness of Christ, you will parish on the day of wrath.
Proverbs 11:4
“Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivers from death.”
Peace and joy are legitimate fruits of salvation, but it’s not legitimate to use these fruits to draw those in for salvation.
If we continue to do so, sinners will respond with impure motive lacking repentance for their sin against God, because they will not understand that they have sinned.
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
Is there anything in your life you have put before God?
2. You shall have no idols.
Do you cherish something more than God and His Holy Word?
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
Have forgotten the Holiness of the Lord and His name?
4. Remember the Sabbath day, keep it Holy.
Are you doing God’s work or your own?
5. Honor your father and your mother.
Are they in the Lord? If so you must honor and respect them.
6. You shall not murder.
Jesus says if you hate your brother, you have murdered him.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
Jesus says if you even look with lust, you have committed adultery in your heart.
8. You shall not steal.
Have you taken what does not belong to you?
9. You shall not lie.
God knows the truth.
10. You shall not desire nor want what belongs to others.
Has envy seeded itself within your heart?
If you came to Christ for any other reason than to be forgiven for your sin against God, then your motives were wrong.
If you feel like you were misled when you came to Christ, you can change those feelings today.
If you’ve never truly accepted Christ, or you didn’t fully understand what accepting the Lord was about, you can do that now.
ELDERS COME FORWARD
Come forward and let us pray with you.
Come to Christ for the right reason, forgiveness of your sins against God.
Confess Christ before men, here and now, and Jesus promises to confess you before the Father in heaven.
Don’t wait.
