Jesus died and rose for you – whether you like it or not

Some time ago I attended a D. James Kennedy Evangelism Explosion training seminar. He’s the one who invented the “if you were to die today, would you go to heaven or hell” evangelism intro question. Nice question, right?

From there, the evangelist says that faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven. But faith is not enough. No, the evangelist goes on to qualify that faith. It needs to be a trusting faith, not just an ascent to historical facts.

The ultimate outcome of Evangelism Explosion is to get the recipient to ask Jesus to come into his heart. To be honest, I’m sure their ultimate goal is to get the audience to have that “saving faith”.

It is true, faith in Jesus is how we are righteous before God and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But I’m not sure talking about faith is how we should go about creating such faith. Christians only need to speak the facts.

Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, whether you like it or not. It doesn’t actually matter if you believe it. It happened! 

That is how we should tell others about Jesus. Christians need to talk as if it is a done deal. Because it is! We can’t make people believe it. Don’t worry about that! That’s the Holy Spirit’s business!

Want faith, more faith, stronger faith? Listen to Jesus. Read His Words. Stop thinking about whether you believe it a lot or a little. Faith is not the center of your faith. Jesus is!

He died and rose for you, whether you believe it or not. He loves you, whether you like it or not. That’s actually really, really good news! And hearing that creates, strengthens, and enlivens your faith in Him!

thejaggedword.com Reprinted with permission

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