“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” -2 Corinthians 4:3-4

It is important for Christians to obey the Great Commission, and to preach the gospel to every creature. We ought to clearly explain the way of salvation to those that God has put us into contact with. And this gospel, with its simple message of hope that is in Jesus Christ, ought not to be thought of as being so simple that we do not need God or His Holy Spirit to ultimately bring about salvation in a person’s life.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” -John 1:12-13

Far too often, it seems as though Christians can see the gospel so clearly, that there is an inclination to simply believe that if we can convince others to see its truths, they would be saved with ease—as if the entire act of salvation is mechanical and intellectual, requiring no spiritual working by God, nor deep-rooted faith in the heart of the new believer.

There are many obstacles to faith

It would seem so simple, so basic, and so obvious to most Christians: repent of your sins, and trust in Jesus Christ to save you. We look only on the outward, to the visible things, and we see that it appears so simple, that everyone ought to be saved. Yet, we wonder why they are not.

There are many unseen obstacles—spiritual obstacles—that stand in the way of a person’s salvation:

• Spiritual blindness: Just as the parable of the seed and the sower, where the birds come and steal the seeds, there are some who, when the word of God is sown in their hearts, Satan comes and takes it away before it takes root and grows. “And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts” (Mark 4:15).

• Love of sin: People see the holiness of God, and the purity of heaven, and do not even want to go to heaven, nor be with God. If a man’s deeds are dark, then He will not want to have them exposed by the light, so he will hide and keep himself from the light of the gospel. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:19-20).

• Pride: Finally, there are some that simply like to call the shots, and be in charge of their own life. They will not bow and submit to God’s authority, and be brought under the Lordship of Christ. They do not see the richness in being a servant of Christ, but would rather forfeit their own soul in exchange for earthly wealth and prestige. “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:25-26).

In all these things, we see that it is not quite as simple as just sharing the gospel mechanically, and expecting all who hear it to believe. We ought to labor in prayer, and lovingly intercede on the sinner’s behalf, and ask God to open their eyes to spiritual realities.

Unless the Spirit of God works mightily in the heart of a sinner, there can be no hope of true salvation. It is a joint cooperation between man and God to labor toward the saving of a soul: we ought to speak the good news, but we ought also to seek the Lord and His spiritual outpouring for the completion of the work.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” -Ephesians 6:12

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” -Genesis 3:6

Here we have a view into Eve’s thinking and motives for sin. She rationalized it, and made it into something good. She saw that the forbidden fruit was good for food, and pleasing to the eyes, and would make her wise. In contributing to the moral and spiritual collapse of all mankind, she had convinced herself that what she was going was good.

“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.” -Proverbs 16:2

The problem with good versus bad

The error in using the model of good versus bad for determining whether or not we should do something is that—given enough rationalization—we can convince ourselves that anything and everything is good. No doubt in virtually any vice or sin, no matter how perverse, if we are blinded enough, we can find a good thing in it, or some shred of virtue: however mangled or distorted we have made it.

In the Old Testament, before there was a king in Israel, the Bible tells us that every man simply did what was right in his own eyes. (That’s bad.)

“In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” -Judges 17:6

And today it’s the same way, we rationalize:

I ought to steal, or else my family will go hungry.

I ought to cheat on my spouse, because they don’t show me any love any more, and I want to be happy.

I ought to cheat on my taxes, because I can give some of the money that I save to the Lord, instead of the government.

I ought to do something fun on Sunday mornings, rather than go to church, because I need to take care of myself and make myself happy, and then I’ll be able to love others.

And on and on the list goes…

How Christians ought to determine right from wrong

Since everything can be seen as “good” if we squint hard enough, and obscure our vision well enough, we ought not to see things in terms of right vs. wrong in a traditional sense—where the concept of “right” is determined by each individual person—but rather, we ought to use a very concrete and immovable standard for right and wrong.

In essence, the Bible ought to form all our notions for right and wrong. Yet even in this, we can sometimes twist Scripture and make it mean things and say things that will better suit our desires. To truly get an accurate picture of right and wrong, we must have an active relationship with Jesus Christ, and through this, we must view Scripture in the light of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and determine what it is that God commands and desires of us.

But on a more practical level, our conduct ought to be governed by a simple rule:

Is this the will of God, or isn’t it?

This simple question will break us down, and strip away all of our excuses and rationalizations. It does not become a matter of right versus wrong, but instead, it’s a matter of asking: what does God want me to do in this situation?

It is not:

What can I get away with?

What do I think I ought to do in this situation?

What seems right and good in the actions that I’m thinking about doing?

Will I get in trouble with God or man if I do this thing?

We need to only ask ourselves one question: What does God want me to do in this situation? Regardless of how we feel about it, regardless of what we think might be the outcome, or regardless of whether or not it will bring ourselves the most happiness or joy; in all things we ought instead to do the will of God.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” -1 John 2:15-17

“And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” -Luke 9:5

Many times we think that simply because we believe that something is God’s will for our life, then we will automatically be successful. And while it is true, that God promises overall success to those that mediate upon and obey His word, (see Joshua 1:8) we ought to get a view of the bigger picture.

Many instances in the New Testament, from Jesus’ early disciples on to the apostle Paul, there were times that could be seen by some as failure. Yet we ought not to view failure as simply human rejection of the gospel: but we as Christians only truly “fail” when we refuse to obey God and harden our hearts against His voice.

The example of the 12 disciples

“Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” -Luke 9:1-2

You’d think that since Jesus Himself had sent them out, that they would have unbounded success wherever they went. And in the overall picture, they did have success, they also had particular failures. (We can infer this by Jesus command to shake off the dust for their feet of the houses and cities that would not receive them.)

“And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” -Luke 9:5

Rejected? Even with the divine commission of Jesus Christ resting upon them? Yes, rejected: even with the authority of God’s Son going with them, they were met with failure from time to time.

Why God leads us into circumstances bound for failure

First of all, we never know when something may be a success. We ought never to write off a certain person or project as a guaranteed failure. If God is prompting us in a certain direction, then we ought to attempt it for God’s glory, in all faith.

Secondly, as the saying goes, “it’s not if you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” God is not watching us for eloquence, or great boldness: He may simply be watching and testing us for obedience. Will we trust our own instincts, or will be go wherever God tells us to go? Will we humor Him and go on an errand that looks hopeless, or one that may bring us ridicule or shame?

“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” -Luke 16:10-11

What is boils down to is this simple question:

Who is Lord: you, or God?

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. . .” -Job 13:15a

“And he said unto them,  Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” -Mark 16:15

Many times when we read the Great Commission that Jesus gave His disciples, we are a bit overwhelmed, and think, “well, I could never do that.” Or perhaps, we cannot think of a good application where we would be able to share the gospel with others.

Yet, in its most basic form, I believe that God has a unique calling—a unique “go”—for each and every Christian. It is not so much that we must labor to find it, but that—whether we are completely aware of it or not—we have already labored to avoid God’s calling.

God has not called us to do something that is beyond our abilities. He has given us the power of His Holy Spirit, and He knows our skills and abilities, and He has asked each of us—in our own unique life-situation—to “go.” Yet we have been selfish, and have not “gone,” but we’ve rather turned back or done what seems comfortable or easy to us.

We have chosen to obey our fears, rather than God’s promptings; and not even in extremely difficult tasks, but even in the mundane everyday opportunities that we have. If we have not shown ourselves obedient to “go” in the smallest of matters, why would God chose to expand our ministry? He is testing our willpower and our obedience—not our level of skill or ability—and seeing if we will honor Jesus as our Lord and Master.

Christ’s example

Consider our Lord and Savior’s example: for He did not eagerly desire to be crucified, yet He knew that it was God’s will.

“And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” -Matthew 26:39

Was God asking Christ to commit suicide? Absolutely not.

Did Jesus have to nail Himself to the Cross? No.

All God was commanding Him to do was not back down from His will. He was simply asking Him to stand firm unto the end, and go wherever His Father willed, according to His divine plan.

“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.” -John 18:4-6

Even though Jesus was the Creator of the universe, and had the power to thwart His abusers’ attempts at any moment, as he demonstrated in the garden of Gethsemane, He allowed Himself to go to Calvary to fulfill God’s will. He didn’t back down.

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” -Isaiah 53:7

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” -Mark 9:24

Here’s an example of complete honesty: The man in the verse above had a son that was possessed with an evil spirit, and he wanted Jesus to heal him. Jesus asked if he believed, and he replied that he did believe, but that Jesus should help him with his unbelief.

Would we have dared to be so honest with the Lord? Would we not have stopped short and simply said, “Lord, I believe!” Neverminding the fact that perhaps, deep down inside, that may very well be a lie.

Yet this man, he was honest about his own shortcomings. And when we are in prayer, and asking the Lord for something, we ought to have the same honesty.

If we pray for spiritual revival, and we do not seem to have a heart to pray, and we seem to lack a passion even to pray to be revived, we ought to coldly state:

“Lord we are in complete coldness, and we feel little passion for revival. Please awaken in us a sense of need for you. We have not the strength even to pray for a revival, and we recognize that even this request comes unto you weakly. Lord, please, strengthen us and anoint our prayers with Your Spirit’s power. Amen.”

Suppose you were given the task of sharing the gospel with the Devil himself. Now, we know that there is no salvation for Satan or his angels, and judgment has already been declared upon them all—but suppose just for illustration’s purposes, you were given the task of witnessing to the devil. Follow the dialogue and ask yourself: are you really any better than the devil, and if so, why?

Witness for Christ: Hey there, devil. I’d like to share the good news of Jesus Christ with you.

Devil: Go ahead.

Witness: Well, God’s made a way for everyone to get to heaven, and it’s really easy! Now, the first thing I would ask you is: do you know what sin is?

Devil: I’m well-versed in sin.

Witness: So you know what sin is, that’s great! Now, would you be able to admit to yourself that you are a sinner as well, and that you have done wrongs?

Devil: I’ll readily admit that I am an extraordinarily good sinner. I am quite good at it, and I love it. So to answer your question, yes, I know very well that I’m a sinner.

Witness: Well, do you know that the wages of sin is death, and that if you don’t get your sins forgiven, you’ll go to hell?

Devil: I know both that I’m a sinner, and I’m convinced that I will one day be cast into the lake of fire; though I don’t really like to think about that too much…

Witness: Well, we are making a lot of progress. You’re very up front about your sin, and its consequences. Let me ask you this: do you believe in God, and do you know who Jesus is?

Devil: I know God, and I’m terrified of Him. I know Jesus is the Son of God, and after He was crucified and was raised from the dead, I’ve found to my dismay that He is the Savior of mankind. I try to hide this from people, though. I’d like to bring as many people with me down to hell as possible.

Witness: Wow! You are really close to the kingdom of God. You know you have sin, and you deserve hell. You believe in God, and you know that Jesus is the Savior of mankind. Would you like to accept Jesus as your Savior?

Devil: Hmmm, I don’t know if I can do that. I honestly love sin, and death, and darkness. I mean, sure I’d like to have my sins forgiven and go to heaven, but what would that involve? Would I have to give up my sins, and be sorry for them? Would I need to bow my knee before the Cross of Christ, and acknowledge that He is Lord of my life?

Witness: Nah, you wouldn’t have to do that, you only have to believe. Just believe that Jesus died to save you from your sins, and you’ll go to heaven when you die.

Devil: Great! Because I already believe that God is real, (after all, I was once in His presence as Lucifer), and I know for a fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He came to earth to bear the sins of mankind. I already know all of this, and I accept it. I believe it, but I fight against it with all my rage and anger every moment of my life.

Witness: Well, welcome to the kingdom of God! Since you confessed that Jesus is the Savior, you’re born again. You’re sins are forgiven, and you’ll go to heaven when you die.

Devil: Sounds good to me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do have some wars to incite, and suicides and murders to stir up, as well as wrecking havoc and bitter malice against the church of God. Cheers.

What is wrong with this picture?

There was one glaring omission from the witness’ gospel presentation, can you spot it? It can be summed up in one word: repentance.

Do you see how, without repentance, the devil—with all his terrible deeds and malice that he has done in the past—can “accept” Jesus as his savior and claim to be saved without abandoning even one of his foul practices. But not only that, without ever being sorry for his sins, and not even attempting to resist his devilish urges and nature, he can claim to be a child of God: simply because he “believes” in Jesus as his Savior.

This verse in James is so telling and weighty:

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” -James 2:19

Do we, even as Christians, tremble before God? Do we have the level of respect and fear that the devils have? No! As imperfect beings, marred with sin, and blinded to spiritual realities, we do not even approach the reverence that even the devils have for Jesus Christ.

And yet, are we any better than the devils of the lowest hell? If we are truly born again, we most certainly are! And why is this? Because of true repentance and spiritual regeneration.

When we are saved, we not only have an intellectual assent that we believe in God, and that Jesus died for our sins—or even a vague trust that Jesus will somehow save us when we die; but rather, we fall before Him as Lord, and recognize that He is our only hope for salvation. We have a true and deep-seated heart-surrender to God. We see not only that we have sin, but that we are sorry for it. We want to change, and submit to God’s will. And although very flawed and imperfect, we come before Him in sincere prayer, and beg Him to save us.

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” -Matthew 7:21

This is not to say that we are perfect, or that we must earn our own salvation; but it does mean that we must be sorry for our sins, and recognize that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior of our life. Recall the instance when the rich man came before Jesus, and asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to sell all he had, give to the poor, and follow him.

This wasn’t to say that in selling his goods, and giving to the poor he would be saved. But rather, Jesus was testing the man’s will to see if he would be humbled and bow before the Lordship of Christ. And he refused to give in to Jesus’ request, and left Him unsaved and full of sorrow.

If we say that Jesus is merely our Savior, and we retain the rights to being the lord of our own life, we become no better than a “saved” devil who uses every ounce of strength and power against God and His will every moment of his existence.

“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” -1 John 3:8

Let’s suppose as a hypothetical situation, I can up to you in church, and my necktie was a bit crooked. Then you ask me: “what happened to your tie, it looks a bit crooked?” And I give the following response:

“Well, there’s an interesting story behind this, because on my way to church, my car stalled across some railroad tracks, and I couldn’t get out in time, and a train came. It pulverized my car while I was in it, and the whole thing went up in a massive ball of flames. And so, that would explain why my tie is a bit off: I’ve been through a lot.”

If you were at all reasonable, you’d think I was either lying, or crazy. And why?

Because if I had truly been hit dead-on with a train, and had an encounter of the magnitude that I described, I’d be dead for sure. Or if I did survive, I would bear absolutely no resemblance to the person I had been before the train wreck.

And yet, is not salvation the same way? Is not God greater than even a giant freight train? Yet we claim to be born again, and we have only the slightest change to our lives, as if it were only a tiny adjustment to our necktie.

©iStockphoto.com/Saturated
Is this all the change that Christ has done in us?

We have so little true life in us because we have so little true death.

“For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” -Romans 6:7-12

We experience so little resurrection power because we have not tasted of that self-denying death on the cross which Christ commands all His disciples to endure:

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” -Matthew 16:24-25

True salvation: a life-changing event

The Bible tells us that those who are truly born again are made a new creature. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). There are so many verses—monumental verses—that it is almost impossible to take them to heart and not expect God to do a mighty work in your life if you come to Him in faith and abandonment to self.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” -Romans 12:1-2

Notice a key word in the second verse: transformed. Scripture does not say “changed” or “altered slightly,” but it says that we will literally be transformed by God through the working of His Holy Spirit.

The underlying Greek word is basically what we would call a metamorphosis. That is, much as an ugly caterpillar is completely transformed into a beautiful winged butterfly, so too are we promised a startling inward transformation—one which will be evident in our outward speech and actions.

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” -Colossians 3:1-3