A car ride between a Baptist and a Catholic
Why will your work not send you to heaven?
Grace is a gift, paid for not by you but for you.
Today I was able to work alongside a young Catholic man (Named Matthew) who asked me what I believed. I told him I was a Baptist and we began to discuss the differences between our two faiths. By the end of the Day I had to ask him why does his faith teach them that if they are to be saved they need to perform these certain prayers and rules. He could not give me an answer except this “I don’t like the idea of buying my way into heaven, but that is what it seems like that’s what we are doing.”
We discussed it further, he said he believed the bible and so I showed him Eph. 2:8&9 and Broke it down as we talked.
Eph.2:8&9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 not of works, lest any man should boast.
Grace is what saves us.
It is through our Faith that we receive it.
WE DO NOT DO IT OURSELVES
It is a GIFT( A present we did not pay for. Like a Christmas present from your parents or a loved one.)
You can not work for this gift otherwise you would brag that you did all the work and leave Jesus out of it.
Grace: What is it? Why does God offer it?
Once I brought grace into the conversation it became a different car ride. “Well what exactly is grace. Because when I fall into sin I feel terrible and I don’t think I deserve to go to Heaven.”
Honestly Matt was right to think that, and I told him you were right to think that. Because you don’t deserve to go to heaven, I don’t deserve it either. You know we deserve, because of our sin that we have done, and the sin of our lives we deserve that death and hell and torment that the bible talks about. We deserve that torture that the catholic talk about. To that he replied “ which sucks by the way. No one wants that. “
Exactly no one wants that, not even God. I took him to Eph. 2:4&5
Eph. 2:4&5
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
I explain it to Him simply like this, Grace is God loving you so much that even though you deserve that hell and we both agree sucks. God said I will take on the death for you and the torment for us so that we may have our way to heaven.
Why would he do that, because he loves you and wants to have a relationship with you and the only to do that is to get rid of the sin that separates you two.
How can I believe this? How do I know I believe it?
I finished our shift today asking his How does he think he can be saved? He replied “By believing in the word of God.” I was stunned because I didn’t expect him to say that but I ran with it. “Ok well that word of God is that you must have faith in what Jesus did on the cross for you.” You need to have faith that even though you weren’t there to see it. That Jesus truly died for you. You say you believe the word. Have you read it? Have you heard it preached? “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17 and when you hear it does it do in your life? He went on to state that he notices little things that change in him after he hears the bible or talks about God and talks to God. I replied with that is your relationship with God growing and changing through your Faith. That is how you know you believe and have his Grace. For you are a new creature in him: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Cor. 5:17
I finished the day on that note. After work we went our separate ways and drove home. I pray he took what we discussed to heart and that a seed was planted today.
Comments
Post a Comment