"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:8-10
My faith is enough for my salvation - but not for anyone else. Salvation is an individual experience. The rending of a heart before God - yielding to the Spirit of God believing that Jesus is the Christ.
"When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, 'Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?' So they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.'" - Matthew 16:13-17
Spiritual realization - out of all of the disciples in the hearing of Jesus question - only one had the right answer. The others referred to great men - Peter to a great God. And Jesus said that Peter knew that because of a spiritual revelation from God. As much as I would want it to be different. What if we could speak - share the Gospel and because of what we said - people's hearts would be changed. Well, it would be great - but that is not how it is. As much as I would want that to be true for my family down through the generations - it is not possible. I have a part to play but I can't save anyone - as much as I would like to.
So what CAN I do? I can teach about the new life. I can model the new life. But I can't give life.
"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." - 1 John 5:11-12
Our children can grow up in a Christian home. Go to Church every day the doors are open. But that does not make them a Christian. They can ride the wave of their parents' faith when they are young - but eventually they will be "surfing" on their own. If they have not placed their faith in Jesus, but only in their parents then they are going to be in trouble. The wave of the world will over take them - wipe them out. Memorizing scripture can be a mere academic exercise - like memorizing the Pythagorean Theorem - you know A (squared) times B (squared) = C (squared) without the Spirit of God in the equation.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" - Matthew 28:19
I might not be able to change hearts, but I know the One who can! So do you. If there is any one group of people we want to see in Heaven the most it is our family. Our job is to plant the seeds of faith by sharing the Gospel - not in just words but in how we live and love. To be the light. To pray and then, to trust God. It can break your heart to watch people you love struggle with life when you know the answer and they won't embrace it. We live in a dark time - I heard a quote from a Tale of Two Cities -
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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