I was able to lead Jessie through the Gospel conversation, all the while her mum throwing verbal volleys at me. It was like having my own personal heckler. Jessie was very humble, admitting that she would be judged by God and given hell as a punishment. But she was distracted and embarrassed by her mum’s behaviour, and said she should go.
One is now at war with the world. The hunger for more has created a dictator over everyone, accountable to no one. The depths of greed have even clouded judgement to the point of demanding that God rush to one’s side with a click of fingers like a divine butler, to fulfil all wants and desires. Of course, these will fall on deaf ears, as He bows to no decree.
He was trying to think up another way to get around this. I short-cutted this strategy, telling him that the only way to avoid his hell punishment was if someone took it for him. He listened silently as I gave him the Gospel of grace, saying that there was nothing he could do but place his faith in Christ, who did all the work for him. He was quiet for a long time, then said that it made perfect sense.
The meeting got off to an unusual start, as at right on 10 am, a Jehovah’s Witness turned up the back door. Sometimes you don’t need to go fishing when they just jump into your boat! This woman was trying to convince me that a few obscure verses in Psalms was the key to the future on earth for believers.
If I write a book, who is doing the writing, me or the pen? I am the one writing the words, using the pen. In the same way, God is is the author of His Word. He used men as His pen, to create the passages. The words are perfect because the people writing them were His instruments, compelled by The Holy Spirit to pen His thoughts exactly. That is why we can rely on it for truth.
I asked the question of if he trusted that Jesus took his sins 100%, but committed a sin, then died, would he go to heaven? He said he would go to hell because he never repented for that sin. No amount of trying to convince Dylan that Christ made a one-time payment for all of his sins was enough to satisfy him. He was making a work out of repentance, making it a pre-requisite for salvation every time he sinned.
So how can we protect ourselves and others from the sin of pride and over-confidence? Well, we humble ourselves to God alone. We ask for His protection. We submit to His will, praying “Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.”. Pride is always at the root of all sin, and it takes a humble heart for God to tear it out. If we trust in ourselves, then sooner or later we will be destroyed.
Then he brought up James regarding faith plus works. Then I knew he was lost. He was going to twist the scripture to mean we need faith plus works to be saved. But this is a false application. In context, it is saying that works is a result of faith, not a pre-requisite for it. I told him as such, to read the whole book of James instead of cherry-picking the verses you want, so that you can invent your own doctrine.
We nonchalantly cruise through life, recklessly breaking the Universe Creator’s rules. The arresting officer (death) is perpetually pursuing us. And once it inevitability catches up with us, it will haul us before the righteous judgement seat, where we will be held eternally accountable for our actions.
I told him that was how God renders justice and mercy perfectly, because His Son Jesus paid the price for us. I said, "But you don't value this, because you think that God just loves everybody and will just forgive. But that would make God a corrupt judge. That is a God made up in your head to suit yourself. You have no concept of who God really is, and are in danger of spending eternity in hell"