Spiritual Realm Of the Gospel

Welcome to Respecting the Word Podcast.  Where the goal is respecting the Bible and its context and apply it Biblically to our lives. Scripture dictates scripture and God is sovereign over all of creation. My faith is in Jesus and him alone and not myself. I’m your host Donnie.

So we went over different evangelism conversations that Jesus had. Bringing the knowledge of sin to a person to bring them to Jesus. We discussed Lady at the well, Young rich ruler and Acts 2. The knowledge of sin was brought which brought to faith in Christ.

When Christ saved me I started learning to evangelize. The hardest part was to get the conversation going. Flip it from the natural to the spiritual. So the more I witness to people the more I notice the lack of conviction from people. They knew they were going to hell and it was like they didn’t care at all and that was what I could see but I didn’t know what came of people after I planted a seed. The see could die off or it could flourish. The parable of the sower describes what happens when we proclaim the Gospel.

So when I wasn’t seeing the fruit and it puzzled me I went straight to my Bible for answers. I didn’t ask my pastor or anyone else. Most people don’t recognize this at all. I remember what happen to me when I was saved and compared it to the word. So lets start with the Holy Spirit.

So the law is preached and there is conviction of sin. How does a person get a true conviction of sin? A person needs Godly sorrow and not worldly sorrow.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 NASB95

for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

John 16:8–9 NASB95

“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;

So lets back up though. Lets look at when we first hear the beginning of the Gospel. How many times had we heard it before and didn’t understand and just the same with reading the Bible did we not understand it. I remember in middle school reading the KJV and didn’t understand what I read. The Gospel all seemed the same and didn’t make sense. Therefore with that being said the Holy Spirit would have to open our ears and eyes to understand the Gospel. To hear and understand and to read and understand. I know after Christ saved me I could understand the KJV. I opened up to Romans without knowing anything of what I was looking at or understanding. I thought to myself as I read it “Why don’t churches teach this?”

So lets get back on track. Back to the Holy Spirit 1 Thessalonians 1:5 “for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” and John 16:8-9 ““And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;”

So with just those two verses the Holy Spirit has to convict a person. No conviction by the Holy Spirit there is no salvation.

Romans 8:9 NASB95

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

There are some groups out there that deny the Holy Spirit because they go to the extreme of wanting nothing to do with the charismatics but we can teach Biblical context to inform people. So we see here the Holy Spirit causing us to hear, understand and convict us and now with that conviction we have repentance. Now we can’t repent on our own and we have God granting that repentance.

2 Timothy 2:25 NASB95

with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,

So the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and minds to hear and understand with conviction of sin and God grants repentance and all that with comes Godly Sorrow from a person. So since we are righteous before a Holy God we now need an advocate to keep us righteous and that when we put our faith in Christ.

1 John 2:1 NASB95

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

Here is the icing on the cake for the dramatic life saving ending.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 NASB95

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

John 3:16 NASB95

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

So let this sink. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit all have a part in saving us. The wretched sinners we are and our creator saving us. He doesn’t even have to save us but he does for his glory. There is nothing special about us that we ourself can find. As Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 NASB95

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

If none of this takes place we can’t be saved at all. We are dead in our sins forever. So everyone who claims they are a Christian and they don’t have a testimony like this they need to evaluate themselves to make sure they are in the faith. So if you believe you are truly saved and aren’t familar with this please let the scriptures correct you. Remember what Jesus said to the disciples John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you....

Are you 100% sure you are saved? If died right now where would you go ? Heaven or Hell? Ever lied ever stolen? Ever lusted? If you are guilty of breaking God’s law please repent and put your faith in Christ alone. He alone saves. He took the punishment for sins.

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Now serve our God.