Category: evangelism

Jesus Plus Nothing Salvation

Most of you were with us this past Lord’s Day as Pastor Vanensio Bamwitirebye from Uganda preached from John 2:12-23 (you can find his sermon at our church website).  I had the privilege of joining Pastor Vanensio and a few other people for lunch following our service.  Among other things, he shared the story of how God brought him to saving faith in Christ.  Trusting you’ll be as encouraged as I was, here’s the written version of Pastor Vanensio’s testimony:

I was raised in a Catholic Family in a village in Bundibugyo District in Uganda.  I did well in school and I was invited to attend Catholic Seminary to become a priest.  This was a great honor for the village and for my family.  I lived in the Parish House with the Priest at the School.  One day at chapel, some missionaries from Philadelphia were invited to address the 700 students of the school.  They started explaining the Gospel from the Bible, and told us that our Salvation was based solely on our faith in Jesus Christ plus nothing.  As a seminarian this was blasphemy and I raised my hand and challenged them, that they were wrong.  Salvation was based on Christ plus Mary, the Saints, the Sacraments and our standing with the Catholic Church.  All of my friends were shouting, “Yes Vanensio, you tell them, you are the man!”  The missionary replied that I should show him the verses in the Bible that supported my position, and I answered back, that “if you will come back tomorrow, I will present the Bible verses to prove that you are wrong”.  The priests were the only ones allowed to read the Bible.  

That evening I explained to the priest about the missionaries and what they had said, and that I wanted him to give me the verses that support our Catholic beliefs about all of the church requirements for salvation, and counter this “Jesus Plus Nothing Salvation”.  He told me that the Catholic Church does not have to defend their beliefs, that they just are.  I was troubled by this explanation. 

The next morning we drove into the school yard and I saw the missionaries and all of my friends there.  I told the Priest that he must give me the verses to present to the missionaries, or maybe he didn’t know what he believed.  He simply reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tablet and a pen and wrote a note that I was no longer a candidate for the priesthood, because I had challenged a priest.  He had a truck loaded with my stuff, and I was driven back to my home in the village.  My parents were mortified and embarrassed, because I had disappointed them, the village, and the church, and they kicked me out of the house.  

I went and stayed a couple of days at my uncle’s house and cried and cried about my situation.  But something caused me to want to know what what “Jesus Plus Nothing Salvation” was all about.  I then walked 8 kilometers to where the missionaries stayed and when they saw me they said, “Hey Vanensio, we did not see you at school the other day”.  I explained what had happened and asked them about their “Jesus Plus Nothing Salvation”.   They opened the Bible and read verse after verse about Jesus’ love for us and that salvation was a free gift and we did nothing to earn it.  I listened and sobbed and sobbed, and repented of my sins before Jesus.  This is the message that I now preach wherever I am able.  

Amen – to God be the glory!!

Because Christ lives, and is returning,
Greg

Doing Our Part, Today

A healthy practice for believers is to regularly read the Book of Acts (along with the rest of Scripture)!  With 28 chapters, Acts could be read monthly at a pace of one chapter a day.  Or it could be read quarterly by reading 2-3 chapters a week, or almost twice a year by reading a chapter a week.  You get the idea!

 

I say this is a healthy practice because Acts keeps before us the reality that our Lord Jesus Christ is STILL ACTIVE in building His church!  Even now – by His Word, through His Spirit, with the participation of His people, and amid the pains of His providence – Jesus Christ is sovereignly working to gather, shepherd, and multiply His flock.

 

The question the Book of Acts continually holds before us is this:  are we doing our part in the work Christ has for us today?  Specifically, as we saw exemplified in Paul’s life and ministry last Lord’s Day (which is the focus of 17 of the 28 chapters of Acts), are we increasingly confident in the hope of the gospel, ambitious in the spread of the gospel, strengthened in the riches of the gospel, and faithful in the proclamation of the gospel?

 

The significance of these questions trickles down to the particular circumstances and opportunities of our daily lives.  Men, women, young, old, single, married, etc. – we’re all in different situations.  So particular points of application will look different for each of us.  And this is part of God’s wise design in our life together as a local church, that we might encourage, provoke, pray for, and learn from one another as we seek to be faithful in the work of Christ among us.

 

Beloved, may you and I ever more fully embrace Paul’s resolved mindset:


“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”  (Acts 20:24)

 

Because Christ lives, and is returning,

Greg

Word Work

Over the last couple weeks in the book of Acts, we’ve been learning of God’s strategy for world missions.  Simply stated, He speaks!  God accomplishes His work by His living, powerful, authoritative word.  So we have seen throughout Acts that our exalted Lord Jesus Christ is gathering, shepherding, and multiplying His flock – the church.  He’s doing this through the proclamation of His word, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with the participation of His people, and amid the pains of His providence (see these elements at work, for example, in Acts 14:19-28).

 

Because of the indispensable centrality of God’s word in all His work, God’s people must have a relentless confidence in His word.  As Paul exhorted Timothy in 2 Tim. 3:14-17 –

 

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

 

Beloved, God saves us through the preaching of His word (1 Pet. 1:22-25); He grows us through the nourishment of His word (1 Pet. 2:1-3); and He designs to use us – all of us – as ministers of His word (1 Pet. 4:10-11).  What a privilege and responsibility we have to share God’s eternal word with others (friends, co-workers, spouses, neighbors, children, parents, etc.), trusting that He will use His word for His purposes (see Is. 55:10-11).

 

To strengthen your delight in, and desire for God’s word, here are the excellent resources I mentioned at the end of last Sunday’s sermon:

 

 

Praying and trusting the Lord to keep accomplishing His “word work” in us, and through us,

 

Pastor Greg

Sober, Saturated, Steadfast, and Standing

A week has now passed since the United States Supreme Court announced its historic decisions regarding homosexual marriage.  Though we are rightly saddened and troubled by the continual outworking of sin in this world, we should not be surprised.  The activity of man’s rebellion against God Almighty has been multiplying ever since Eve ate the forbidden fruit (Hos. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-5).  As the moral fabric of our country keeps eroding at a breathtaking pace, God’s will for us as His people is clear and unchanging.  By His strength, we must be sober about sin and God’s judgment (Rom. 1:18-32); saturated with God’s grace and truth in Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:14-18); steadfast and humble in our calling as God’s “mercied” ambassadors (Titus 3:1-8; 1 Pet. 2:9-12); and standing firm in the eternal hope of God’s grace in Christ (1 Pet. 5:12).

 

For some additional perspectives about the Supreme Court decisions, and how Christians should respond, you might read the following:

 

 

Beloved, God has called us to be fully assured in the hope of the Gospel (2 Pet. 1:10-11), fully unashamed in the saving power of the Gospel (Rom. 1:16), and fully committed to the ongoing proclamation of the Gospel (Acts 1:8).  Our message and mission on this earth has not, and never will, change.  For a solid reminder of the sweeping, eternal grandeur of the Gospel, check out this 10-minute video from Matt Papa.

 

In the Living Hope of Jesus,

Greg