by Kevin Burton
“Write ‘em tight” they used to teach us in journalism school, “write ‘em tight.”
That means don’t be wordy. Get to the point.
That’s the first thing I thought of after reading a recent message from In Touch, the international radio and television ministry founded by the late Dr. Charles Stanley.
“Believers understand that Jesus is God’s Son, but we should also know His mission, how He fulfilled it, and the significance for our life,” Stanley wrote. Then he spelled it out succinctly.
“Christ had a twofold goal in coming to earth: to provide us with a tangible image of who God is, and to die for our sin.”
“What an incredible plan!”
“The omnipotent, omniscient Lord had existed since eternity past (John 1:1, John 8:58). Yet He set aside the power and strength that were rightly His in order to become like us. Since Jesus—God in human flesh—lived His life alongside men, we are better able to understand our heavenly Father Col. 1:15).”
“Through Christ’s sacrifice, we are invited into an eternal relationship with God. Scripture teaches that we all have sinned (Isa. 53:6, Rom. 3:23), and to pay for our sin, a perfect sacrifice was needed (Rom. 6:23, Deut. 17:1).
“The Savior, who was both fully God and fully man, died to rescue us. He is the only one who could lay down His life and bridge the gap between humanity and the eternal Father,” Stanley wrote.
“There is no possible way for us to earn our salvation. It is an awesome gift that God freely offers to each of us. The only requirement is that we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and follow Him.”
Of course it’s not wrong to spell out Stanley’s points in more detail. The Bible is a very big book after all. There are questions one could ask, questions springing from his message above.
“Saved, rescued from what,” one might ask.
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation,” Heb. 9: 27-28 NKJV).
To witness to unbelievers is to sometimes be subject to verbal abuse and ridicule. I have witnessed to family members and others who I knew didn’t want to hear about it. It’s not my place or my nature to be pushy or argumentative. I have a high level of “who asked me” in my nature. So it’s easier, more convenient to be silent.
But that’s not what the Bible teaches.
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matt. 28:19-20 KJV).
While witnessing I sometimes explain that I wouldn’t bring up the subject if the stakes were not so high. It is appointed once to die, then the judgment.
The Bible contains multiple descriptions of heaven and multiple descriptions of hell. But according to the Bible, there are no second chances after this life is over, and there are no eternal destinations other than those two.
So we need both the long and the short of it, articles that cut to the chase, and others that maybe tell a story people can relate to, filled with real humans and real-life situations. Whatever it takes to put needy souls on a path to salvation.
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