Salvation cannot be accomplished by a bath. John 4:2 says Jesus baptized no one. If baptism were a condition of salvation, He would have been baptizing people; after all, He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).The Gospel According to Jesus 3e(54)
If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for. Sermons of Rev. C.H. Spurgeon of London ... - Page 333
You simply cannot nuance someone into the Kingdom.
There's no way to sanitize and PR the gospel into something that has no inherent offense—the aroma of death lingers to the lost no matter what soft-word-air-freshener you hang on it.
And trying is often the road to compromise.https://twitter.com/Brian_Sauve/status/1775497224992240054
If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for. Sermons of Rev. C.H. Spurgeon of London ... - Page 333
According to the Bible, converting people is not in our power. And evangelism may not be defined in terms of results but only in terms of faithfulness to the message preached. The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (79)
It is the duty of all the sons and daughters of Adam who hear the gospel preached and Christ offered to them to believe in or receive Christ, be they prepared or not prepared. I say, it is the duty incumbent upon them all.
We have toiled all day, all the days of our lives, and have caught nothing. The net of the gospel hath been always spread out, and not scarce one soul taken in it. We read Acts 2:40 that at a sermon of St. Peter's, three thousand souls were converted to the Lord, but now we may hear three thousand sermons preached, and scarce one soul brought to heaven. Men are altogether of Gallio's mind (Acts 18:17). They care not for these things. Never was there since the days of Adam so much means of grace and salvation as now. Have we not line upon line, precept upon precept, sermon upon sermon, mercy upon mercy, and yet all will not do; men stop their ears.
The key to the Columbo tactic is to go on the offensive in an inoffensive way by using carefully selected questions to productively advance the conversation. Simply put, never make a statement, at least at first, when a question will do the job.Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables of Jesus deal with money. One out of ten verses in the New Testament deals with that subject. Scripture offers about five hundred verses on prayer, fewer than five hundred on faith, and over two thousand on money. The believer's attitude toward money and possessions is determinative.
A true Christian does not see God's promise of forgiveness as a license to sin, a way to abuse His love and presume on His grace. Rather, he sees God's gracious forgiveness as the means to spiritual growth and sanctification. He continually thanks God for His great love and willingness to forgive.
Scripture does what psychoanalysis can't do-it pierces the heart, penetrates deep into the soul and judges the motives. To see yourself in the light of Scripture, is to see yourself as you really are.