God told the prophet Hosea, “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…,” Hosea 4:6. The more I talk to people, the more I realize that verse fits our day and time so well. A couple of years ago, I was talking to a man at a local hospital in Rabun County. As we studied the Bible together, he made the following statement: “I was saved in the woods as I was by myself; I don’t believe that you have to be in a church to be saved.” This is a sincere man, however, his knowledge of God’s Word, salvation, and The Church left me flabbergasted.
- According to the Bible, one cannot be all alone when they are saved. This man had been told all his life that he would “feel” something when he was saved. From the time that Jesus sent the apostles forward into all the world, preaching the Gospel (Mark 16:15), no one that they preached to ever asked “what should I feel,” rather they did ask “what shall I do,” (Acts 2:38; Acts 16:30). The Bible clearly states that we are to confess our belief in Christ to others by our mouth (Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:9-10) and then someone must baptize us for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; Acts 8:38)
- The church is not the building; it is the people who are saved that make up the church. “Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved,” Acts 2:47. For one to enjoy salvation, he/she must be a part of the church. “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and he is the savior of the body,” Ephesians 5:23.
I sincerely pray that the aforementioned man will one day continue to search the scriptures to see what the scripture says. When talking to others about the Bible, please remember 1 Peter 4:11— “if anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.”
Don’t just tell them, show them!