[Music] next question I have it's a similar one we just answered in another video called is accepting salvation a choice um but it's worded different I think there's some other issues in it so are people who chose for Jesus actually saved so Tara asks in the greater rounds of Christian conversation I hear a lot of when I chose Jesus or when I accepted Jesus as my savior or some other such language as they decided to be a Christian are those people so fundamentally fraud flawed as to not be saved or is it just a simply a matter of word choice because many of them seem very intellectual and godly minded as to be born again Christians but this language has caused me to think that they believe they can choose to turn away from sin and as such there is no possible way to be saved correct that's a long qu almost got to understand the question first and parse it out a little bit it's a let me just take a stab at it thankfully we're saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ and not our ability to articulate yeah God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ so I agree with Tara I agree that there's a lot of sloppy speech out there and I would want to encourage that that we realize that you know most people well most some they're just not I don't know how to say this as gingerly as I can maybe they're not as skilled or schooled in Theology and Bible as perhaps we'd like right I mean people say sloppy things I I think about you know Ministry in the past to to old folks home and hearing you know an old doll say you know the Lord spoke to me well there's a reflex in me to say well the Lord doesn't speak anymore we've got the 66 books both Old and New Testament Cannon closed but I try to think think she probably means she was reading her Bible and in there God spoke to her so so I think that with especially persons outside of the reformed Faith yeah I chose for Jesus now some of them can be flaming Armenians and pelagians that have no concept whatsoever the gospel and I certainly wouldn't endorse that but persons that are brought up in churches where perhaps they're just not taught well um they do have some sloppy speaking or some you know imprecise categories I I think the Judgment of Charity is helpful you know take their profession at face value if they have practice or they have conduct that betrays that and you're so inclined you know exhort them encourage them that sort of a thing now I I would also want to say that I think that persons in that category should tighten it up uh so I mentioned in a previous video that you know pagans can do good things right they can do outwardly moral things so it's not just Christians that sort of have the market on outwardly moral things um what distinguishes the Christian from the Pagan what distinguishes the Christian from just about everybody else it's the things that we believe right believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved so knowing that that we're to love the Lord Our God with all our heart soul mind and strength the AP tells us in Romans 12 don't be conformed to this world but rather be transformed by what by the renewing of your morals no by the renewing of your minds so Christianity if I could be so bold it's a doctrinal religion and so it is imperative that we understand Doctrine it is imperative that we know categories that we that we understand the truth as it's revealed to us in the scripture and as well you know the psalmist says that great are the works of the Lord they are studied by all who Delight in them if you know persons are interested in botany or zoology or stamp collecting why aren't Believers more interested in the wonderful grace of God most high so I think it is imperative that the people of God are in good churches where they're taught the truth of God and they learn how to speak precisely concerning the gospel of our Salvation it shouldn't be that a that a that a sinner comes to saving faith in spite of the Evangelist he shouldn't come to saving faith in spite of a bad church he should come because God In His Infinite Wisdom used means and that means was able to articulate clearly the truth as it is in Jesus and then that Sinner by the grace of God believes that truth and then that sinner who believes that truth now goes out and does likewise he knows the truth and he's able to explain it I'm not convinced every believer should do evangelism I'm not convinced that genuine Believers should be out on the streets representing Jesus you should probably have to pass a test along the way because you can do positive damage just just like I'm not convinced that everybody who can diagnose a disease on Google should be treating that disease right there there's a bit of Education a bit of knowledge uh for afraid to go to a doctor that you know has some Rinky Dink degree or which should always be lights and Witnesses may share some be lights and Witnesses and basics for sure but there's a lot of challenges when you go out and start proclaiming the truth I mean are you prepared to answer those hard questions and are you prepared to do so in a way that doesn't betray the truth of God's word yeah so there seems to me to be a lack of carefulness on the part of the people of God but there's a lack of carefulness on the part of the preachers of the word of God as well and so you know carefully thinking you know precise language articulating truth and you know today that's almost mocked well let's just love Jesus well at some point we're going to have to ask the question what Jesus are we loving if we don't Define Jesus the way the Bible presents him we may have a Jesus after our own fashioning you know there's a debate presently in in churches and seminaries about you know the early Creeds and confessions and you know no Creed but the Bible well these Creeds reflect what the Bible teaches and they understood that they needed to use outside the Bible words to protect inside the Bible words and they did so with carefully constructed statements to serve as guardrails so that the people of God in church of God wouldn't go astray so I appreciate Tara's question I've felt the same thing in my own goings and doings and dealings with people Judgment of Charity but if you have a a chance to speak more to these these these sorts of people encourage them Bible study you know lots of stuff online listen listen to RC Sproul there's a lot of wealth of material on the internet to help people think more clearly about their Prof uh their confession of faith if I could just add anecdotally to that idea of Charity uh many years ago when we started attending uh free Grace uh I didn't grow up in the reformed tradition so a lot of the reform distinctives were new to me uh I didn't understand the importance of the Lord's day I didn't understand that pictures of Jesus probably are a violation of the of the second commandment H not probably they are a violation of the second commandment and Pastor Butler came over to our house and we had a picture of Jesus up on the fridge and he didn't say anything to me uh one time we I didn't just tear it right down you didn't just tear it right down one time we're over at uh at uh someone else's house and after Sunday service and we went mini golfing instead of coming to the evening service and they didn't say anything it was being under the preaching of the word of God the theology that was taught the words that were taught the language that was taught uh that helped me grow over time and uh there was patience uh with me and so I've tried to be that as well when people come into our church that don't know um some of these distinctives we can't just hit them over the head right away with some of these things and just to be patient and gracious and uh God will give us wisdom when to speak and when to be silent and we need to pray for that wisdom with who we're speaking to but uh the the important reminder is to be in a good church and under a good church and under good preaching where those things are taught yeah the we're all in this journey of sanctification and God's working in different parts in our life sometimes it's Pride sometimes it's external sin internal sin so don't yeah just I just learned to be a lot more openhearted or large-hearted I guess the word Catholic is the word that has been used in the Church Catholic doesn't mean just Roman Catholic Catholic means Universal yeah there's a catholicity and a genuine e uh ecumenical spirit that should be em bibed not at the sacrifice of Truth obviously not but we should pursue Unity we should pursue large-hearted and loving kindness to our brothers and our sisters and if somebody you know doesn't have the nomenclature the vocabulary or the jargon you know may not necessarily mean they're not saved it just may mean they need better teaching yeah I'm just thinking I think you've quoted it or mentioned the Alistair beg quote um of this man who gets to Heaven yeah why are you here whatever you couldn't say a whole lot couldn't explain anything but the mdle cost cost told me yeah the middle man yeah yeah yeah so just yeah knowing Jesus that's right
