Conversion

Conversion – is it real

Yes it is real. It is contained in two Bible words – ‘repent and believe’.

The experience of conversion will vary from person to person. For some it is dramatic. For others it is a matter of truth believed. Yet others it is a change of life habits. Others are converted from fear to peace.

The common thread is the change of mind toward God, acknowledging that He is right and we have been wrong. Since we all are born with the inclination to wander away, going our own way, we need to turn around. All actions independent of God are offensive to God and hence the need to ‘convert,’ to facing God instead of going away from God.

The wonderful Gospel is this – in turning toward God, we find that He is not against us, but that He already loves us. He has paid the price to remove the offence of our sins, by the death of His Son – Jesus Christ. Now He offers peace and pardon along with promises of eternal life.

Thus a person is ‘converted’ from being a self orientated, lost sinner, to a believer in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus used many illustrations of this ‘conversion’ experience.

For example:

John 1.12 ‘Receiving Him’ ( the Son of God from heaven)

John 3.3   ‘ born again of the Spirit’

John 4       ‘ drinking of the water of life’

John 5.24   ‘ Hearing his word.....’

John 6   ‘eating and drinking’

Matthew 11.29   ‘Come to Me’

Mark 1          ‘Repent and believe the Gospel’

Acts 16.1    Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’

Does this create confusion? – No. This shows how God by His Spirit connects with different people in different ways. A person who has never heard the Gospel may receive a dream. Another who is highly educated may well be converted by truth. Yet another who feels the guilt of sin may be converted by comprehending the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Another lost sheep may be converted by heeding the call of the Good Shepherd to ‘follow Me’.

How kind of God to reach into our lives and with tender understanding, turn us to Himself. How serious the consequences for anyone to reject God’s invitation, yes God’s command to repent.

Let me interrupt with this – these experiences of conversion are real, but they are not to be the basis of assurance of salvation. As described in another blog, the confidence of our acceptance by God is found in the promises of God. We connect with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

John the apostle writes (1 John) of the evidences of new life in the believer – eg walking in the light, turning away from sin, loving other believers, keeping His commands. But at the end of his letter, the assurance of eternal life is not in the evidence, rather it is in the promise:

“he that has the Son (faith in the Son of God), has life” 1 John 5:12

May I mention a common problem. – we egocentric creatures are so obsessed with ‘what I have done’ that we try to find assurance in ‘our faith’ or lack of faith. Questions arise ‘ did I have enough faith?’ ‘did I truly repent?’  ‘I was not able to keep up the life’.  True conversion is looking away from self, looking to Jesus Christ the Lord. He is risen from the dead and is alive and able to save to the uttermost, all that come to God by Him.

The believer is not self occupied, but Christ occupied. We can rest in Him as our all in all, for time and eternity.

Paul put it so well in Christ’s all for him to preach the Good news:

“to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” Acts 26.18

John McKee

Eternity - can we be sure?

Can we be sure?

It was Queen Victoria who asked the chaplain .. “Can we be absolutely sure in this life of eternal safety?”

This question came close to home when my relative facing death began to doubt if all was well for eternity .

At a Bible study I presented the question ...”Can we be sure?” We all need to face up to this question, and rather than quoting what others say or do, find the answer for ourselves. For some, their confidence rests in the actions of priests or pastors. Some trust in reciting prayers. Others hope in having had a special experience. Yet others hope the judge of all the earth will assess with approval what they have done.

Well can we be sure?

The answer in brief is:

Yes - we can trust the promises of God. God has spoken and His word can be trusted. So He can be trusted.

For example:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in Him, will not perish but have everlasting life.”    John 3:16

“ If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you  will be saved.” Romans 10.9

..... and so many more great and precious promises that enable us to be sure. 

This question becomes more significant when people are getting older and facing the reality of death. It is a challenge when I am asked to conduct a funeral – can I honestly give hope and assurance beyond the grave ?  This question goes well beyond theory when one lays to rest a close relative ( as I have). Where are they today ? Heaven or Hell?

It is natural to assess people by what they have said and done, but looking at things from God’s point of view, the results of a fallen human nature, the wanderings of self will, all leaves us disappointed and uncertain. Rather, from God’s point of view, we are guilty of sin and need someone to save us.

Many people who feel the need for forgiveness, turn to religious experiences . Some hope that baptism will secure a place in heaven. Some have had a crisis moment when a decision was made to follow Jesus.  I know two people who had the experience of ‘a presence’ . Some evangelists push people’s emotions in an endeavour to attain in people a ‘Damascus experience’. Then there are the many formulas – four spiritual laws, signing decision cards, believing Christ has died for your sins personally, repeating personalised Bible verses.................etc.

Well some of this has value, but past experience seldom gives solid assurance when passing from time into eternity. In this generation of longevity,  much of the experience of life cannot be clearly remembered, so we need more than experience.

This is why in my blogs, I regularly refer to the Bible as our compass giving direction, and our authority, giving foundation for hope. If the Bible fails, we are left floundering. Please read my other articles that verify the reliability of the Bible. God has spoken. He is trustworthy and His promises are to be taken seriously. Most of the promises have three parts. – God at work, second our response, third God’s promised outcome.

To make eternal life possible for us sinners, God sent His Son into the world to become our Saviour. By His sacrificial death on the cross, the Lord Jesus paid the debt so that we could be forgiven and then accepted into the Fathers house. Proof of this is the fact that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead and is now in heaven, able to save all who come to God by Him. –that is God at work!

Faith responds – Yes Lord I need your forgiveness. I confess you as  Lord and trust you as the living Saviour.

The promise from the Lord remains true:

“Everyone who believes in Me has eternal life”  John 6.47

A young woman facing impending death was asked ‘did she have assurance?’

This was her answer:

“My sins deserve eternal death, but Jesus died for me.”

If anyone is having doubts, feel free to email me.

johnmckee@intenode.on.net

Compass due north

Interlinked words

‘Believing’ the facts, begins with acceptance of  the claims of  Jesus that He is the Lord from heaven and He is now risen from the dead.

‘Faith’ in the person, is acknowledging His trustworthiness and ability to save.

‘Trust’, is the yielding of the heart and soul, so as to depend on Him for everything  for all eternity.

‘Follow’ is the commitment to Him, His word, His leading, His future.

Note in Bible usage, all of these are frequently implied in the use of just one of them.

For example:

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” Acts 16.31

JRM

(PS these are not dictionary definitions. I trust that they rather are the reality in your heart)

The moral beauty of the Lord Jesus

The Moral excellence of God’s Son

Read John 5.19

“So Jesus said to them, ’Truly , Truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.”

The Lord Jesus was being accused of claiming very high ground – indeed they said, by calling God His Father, He was making Himself equal with God V18. The response is beautiful. The Lord takes the lowly place of meekness (rather like Moses). He made no claim to independent authority or power in what He was doing or saying. He rather renders the initiative and the authority to the Father above.

The case in hand was the healing of a man on the Sabbath day. So the Lord explains, that the ‘day of rest ‘ had been spoilt by sin and now the Father was in the work of rescuing souls from sickness, sin and judgement. This ongoing work could not cease until the work of redemption was complete (Hebrews 4).  And so the Lord, who could see through the fake Sabbath keeping, saw the need to be busy in recovery, restoration and redemption.

Yet within this position of meekness, lies the divine claim of knowing God as Father, knowing intimately the Father’s will and the unfettered ability to act – even to do the miraculous. As the conversation proceeds, the Lord Jesus unveils the ultimate authority committed to Him by God – Life and death, Judgement and eternal life!

I recommend you take a moment to sing the beautiful song:

‘Meekness and majesty

Manhood and Deity

In perfect harmony

........................................................

...........................................................etc

If you don't  know it, try 'google' or 'youtube'

We have reason to worship . 

JRM

The Bible

Why believe the Bible??

This question has risen several times among the children I teach at school. It is a very good question. If the Bible is not trustworthy, our faith is on very shaky ground.  I will give an outline of some of the reasons it can be trusted.

In  a basic sense, it is a history book. One hundred and fifty years ago, certain ‘scholars’ cast doubts about the historical accuracy of the Bible. Most of their objections have vanished as Archaeology and other discoveries have verified so many Bible records. I encourage you to research for yourself (Google?), the vast amount of evidence for biblical history as the most accurate continuous record of humanity in the Middle East. One of interest is the story of Hezekiah’s tunnel (2Kings 20.20). 2,700 years ago the King ordered a tunnel to be dug, to bring water into Jerusalem. Many thought  - how could it be! But sure enough a boy was digging around Jerusalem and the tunnel was unearthed and in the middle tunnel of the was an inscription about Hezekiah and how it was constructed starting from each end. It remains a mystery how they managed to meet in the middle, but here is evidence that the Bible record is accurate.

Did Jesus exist? This is verified externally by the Roman historian Tacitus, and Josephus the Jew. Both wrote of Him doing wonderful thing and being crucified. Some doubted the existence of Pilate the governor until archaeologists found an inscription with his name on it. Of course the many places mentioned in the Bible story can be visited today.

Besides historical evidence, there is a moral thread that is unusual. The story of humanity is told in the Bible with unusual honesty. Who would have recorded the failures of the founding father –Abraham. Why would you not hide the serious sin of the best King – King David? Who would want to sing and chant the so many songs (Psalms) that seem rather depressing. Why are the judgemental prophecies of Jeremiah recorded at length if they were unreliable? And in the New Testament , I would have skipped the denials of Peter if I wanted to present him as the prominent leader of the Christians. In fact the record of humanity, so often doing the wrong thing, hardly makes for some religious propaganda document.

The thing that is special is this. The book was compiled by many persons over some 1,500 years. (It is not the dream of one man), yet they all have a focus on one person – the coming of the promised Messiah, the Christ. Moses as the great lawgiver, spoke of the one greater than himself who would be raised up. Isaiah many years later prophesied of a Messiah who would suffer for the people. Then came the New Testament writings – four men wrote as recordering of the life of Jesus – some have criticised the supposed contradictions between these writers, but in reality these differences verify that the writers wrote independently from different standpoints and at different times. Dr Luke wrote his as a result of research. John wrote his record many years later, after the idea of who Jesus was had been tried and tested by persecution and Jewish contradiction. Much of the New Testament is written in letter form, from  real men to real, suffering people. It was not the product of some distant school of philosophical thought. It was real life teaching. (and interestingly gives real  life blessing today).

I pause here to ask my reader – have you read the Bible. I am reminded of the young man I worked with. He told me the Bible could not be believed, so I asked him ‘ have you read it?’.  The answer was ‘no’. So I asked if he would read it if I gave him one? He said ‘no’ – I pointed out how hypocritical it was to criticise a book he has never read. But the real point is that most criticism comes from an unwillingness to read about a God who calls all people to account.

I have read it, and the historical story of humanity,  makes sense of where we have come from and where we are at today. If we were  on some evolutionary progress to be better, the last one hundred years tell a very different story ( war, bloodshed as never before, greed and hatred overflowing etc).  In fact the recorded prophecies of the Lord Jesus, some fulfilled and some yet to be fulfilled, seem to be happening before our eyes.

It is a very satisfying study to look into the unearthing of ancient scripture portions – fragments and copies of the originals. In terms of ancient literature, the Bible stands uniquely set to withstand critics. More than 5,000 fragments are held in different places (most viewable on the internet), some being very old and show  a continuity of content that is amazing. It is very interesting to compare the Greek /Latin New Testament with the distant Aramaic New Testament. They are so similar. This dispels  the notion that the Roman Catholic church  manipulated the scriptures.

Well I come the most important point. This history is a unique record of one God who set creation into motion, and then repeatedly interrupts and interacts with humanity. The coming of Jesus did leave and still leaves an undeniable impact on the whole world for good. The power of the book brings hope to so many in hopeless circumstances. The morals of the book remain an absolute that represents the character of a holy God. The thirst by so many millions for this book is continuing evidence of its supernatural source and content.

Peter put it so well – “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” 2Peter 1.21

Perhaps one could be convinced by the abundant evidence. The greatest proof is in the eating – “O taste and see that the Lord is good”

“it is the joy and rejoicing of my soul”

John McKee

Why?

Question “Why do people believe in God?”

This very important question has several answers.

1.       1         Perhaps we have been well taught that God exists and that we should listen to His word –the Bible. That’s good instruction and for many that is enough.

2.    2   It is good to look at the evidence. As I consider human beings, I am  impressed with their ability to do things creatively, but more to observe human ability to love and hate, to calculate and make judgements, to intelligently interact with others and to control other creatures.  And yet humans seem to have an instinct to look up to someone greater than themselves and so often pray. This is one great evidence that God has been busy making mankind in His own image.

Also we can see the design, power, wisdom, intelligence of a supreme being in the world around us. I love to look into the face of a flower and wonder at it’s symmetry, colour, scent, reproductive ability and devices, particular shape, all put together using dirty dirt! Scientists rightly tell us that so  much of this is controlled by the DNA code, but who wrote the code? Someone with a distinct taste for variety and beauty. I could go on..... I encourage you to open your eyes to the evidence of power and intelligence.

3.  3   Beyond the natural world is the wonder of revelation. God has spoken as recorded in the Bible. Considering that the Bible was written by many over many years, it  is a history of God interrupting in the affairs of earth.  These occasions were where He spoke His mind, gave His directions and called humanity to Himself. The wonder of the book is its variety and honesty along with it’s unity in it’s focus on the promised Messiah. The arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ gave a new dimension to God being revealed. So much so that His claim to be the Son of God as the final revealer of God the Father, brings to us the challenge – do we believe He was a deceiver, or do we accept Him as the Son of the true and living God?

4.  4   Another pointer to the reality of God, is experience. Perhaps it is last on the list, yet it is real. So very many people have prayed and God has answered. Others have experienced a dramatic change of life from sinfulness to godliness by believing in the Lord Jesus. Many can tell of the nearness of the Lord in daily living. Some have had dreams which vividly present Jesus as the only Saviour.

5.  5   It is quite useful to study history and watch the development of human cleverness, but also the wanderings of human morality. We think we are smart with modern technology, but has it solved the problem of hate, war, greed, violence etc? Rather I see the degeneration of the human condition with God interrupting as He sees appropriate. In my younger years we thought communism would conquer the world, but God interrupted. Who would have thought that the tiny nation of Israel would have survived the onslaught of enemies? God knows what He is doing and the Bible again shines like a lighthouse describing where the world is going.

6.     6    I find it intriguing that so much effort and expense is being made to either deny God, or distract from God. I perceive there is some sinister force at work and this again points to the reality of God along with the responsibility to know God.

Paul put it so well

....evidence....... “that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us.”  - Acts 17.27

The Bible has a very searching warning. When the Lord Jesus appears again “He will inflict vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 2 Thessalonians 1:8. To some that may seem rather harsh. What it does mean is that ‘not knowing God’ is a choice, not a circumstance. Likewise refusing to obey the gospel’ is a choice for those who have heard it.

So why believe in God – all the evidence points in one direction – “He is, and He rewards those who seek Him”  -  Hebrews 11.6

J. McKee

Mercy and compassion

Mercy and Compassion beyond the terms and methods of normality

The story found is Matthew 9.19, concerning the woman with an haemorrhage.  This woman decided on an unusual approach to the Lord Jesus. As a woman in that culture, and as one ceremonially unclean, she really had no way to approach the Lord. In simple, sincere faith she thought –“ If I can touch His robe I will be healed”. And so she did, and the healing was immediate.

I do pause to ponder the grace of God responding to unconventional, sincere faith. God is not bound to the methods of men. The God of all grace discerns the motive and the faith of the heart. He responds accordingly. In Acts 19, seven men were trying to do miracles, but their insincerity was exposed. We do well to remember that the Lord looks on our heart and can truely say “I know”

The Lord Jesus was not concerned with the method of the woman, rather He commended her faith. Due to His meekness, He did not draw attention to the object of her faith, but that is unavoidably implied. He wanted her to enjoy good health, but much more, He wanted to encourage her spirit to rejoice in knowing the true Messiah, the Saviour of the world.

Sometimes it is Him touching us. Sometimes we are able by  faith to reach out and touch Him.

“ Seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near”.

J McKee