Honestly, what in the world are you reading, or with what glasses? The Bible certainly does not just tell souls God loves them and leave them to figure out for themselves that they have fallen short and need a savior!
It is not enough to know you fall short, but must realize where this places you, as most believe their good deeds versus bad deeds balance sheet, with some ambiguous idea of mercy, will judge them fit to Heaven, rather than coming to Christ as damned sinners who are destitute of any merit, and who turn in their heart to Christ, wanting a new life with Him.
The vast majority of people I preach to have not heard that Jesus was put to death because He claimed to be God Himself.
That was the charge used to do so, being blind to Him being God, but they did so bcz they hated Him for He convicted them of sin. In addition, He did not simply die to show God's love, but because that is the only way only way damned+destitute sinners can be saved.
The situation that the thief on the cross was in is the same situation that the vast majority of nonbelievers find themselves in today.
That is honestly absurd, unless perhaps you are in some prison, as very very very few souls are convicted of their need for salvation as damned+destitute sinners, being under the burden of sin, as we see in Acts 2, and 16.
In fact a major error today is that preaching a message that targets a suicidal jailer convicted of his need for salvation, and who thus cries out, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
Jesus testified to the world that the things it did were evil, as in warning, "woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep." (Luke 6:24-25) For in contrast, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." (Psalms 34:18)
Honestly, what in the world are you reading, or with what glasses? The Bible certainly does not just tell souls God loves them and leave them to figure out for themselves that they have fallen short and need a savior!
***I heard a statistic that in America, 99.5% of us have heard of Jesus, and that He died for our sins. That part of the bible’s message has already gotten through. The Holy Spirit’s job is to convict of sin and He has done that already. People don’t need to hear what they’ve already heard. They need to hear what they have not heard.
It is not enough to know you fall short, but must realize where this places you, as most believe their good deeds versus bad deeds balance sheet, with some ambiguous idea of mercy, will judge them fit to Heaven, rather than coming to Christ as damned sinners who are destitute of any merit, and who turn in their heart to Christ, wanting a new life with Him.
***Then why did Christ not focus on this with Nicodemus and the thief on the cross? Because they already knew. The vast majority of americans already know that part of the message.
The vast majority of people I preach to have not heard that Jesus was put to death because He claimed to be God Himself.
That was the charge used to do so, being blind to Him being God, but they did so bcz they hated Him for He convicted them of sin. In addition, He did not simply die to show God’s love, but because that is the only way only way damned+destitute sinners can be saved.
***Non sequitur. It does not address the point I made, just glides over it and goes into something else.
Kevmo: The situation that the thief on the cross was in is the same situation that the vast majority of nonbelievers find themselves in today.
Daniel: That is honestly absurd,
***No it is not absurd. ALL of us are going to die. Most of us have already acknowledged we’re not perfect.
unless perhaps you are in some prison, as very very very few souls are convicted of their need for salvation as damned+destitute sinners, being under the burden of sin, as we see in Acts 2, and 16.
***I can see you don’t like the analogy, but I’m not the one who put it there. God did.
In fact a major error today is that preaching a message that targets a suicidal jailer convicted of his need for salvation,
***See, the Holy Spirit did His job of convicting the man. Peter didn’t have to.
and who thus cries out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Jesus testified to the world that the things it did were evil, as in warning, “woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.” (Luke 6:24-25) For in contrast, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” (Psalms 34:18)
***Again, non sequitur. If these people already know Jesus died for their sins and that they’re not perfect, then we need to focus on God’s love for them. Pretty simple.
Perhaps, we need to introduce Kevmo to God's Word and what IT does?....
"For the WORD of God is ALIVE and ACTIVE. Sharper than any double-edged sword, IT penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Heb 4:12
And it continues until we see Jesus face-to-face.
"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."
AMEN! It's the ones who truly search their soul often with His Word they will see how destitute they were before they were saved, children of the dark, and realize how much they have to be thankful for. And will say, I was really that bad when I thought I was a good person? And almost want to hide like Adam/Eve did. Without Jesus we are nothing and hopeless.