Salvation is Based on Divine Revelation, Not a Decision
“But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” –Galatians 1:11-12
Charles Spurgeon was converted to Jesus Christ one wintry day in the month of January, 1850. For several weeks Spurgeon had been seeking the way of salvation for the Lord was drawing Spurgeon to Himself. In the providence of God, a snowstorm diverted his intention from attending one church, to the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Artillery Street in London. The pastor was absent that Sunday morning. A substitute lay speaker took for his text Isaiah 45:22 –“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.”
In his Autobiography, Spurgeon recorded his response to the messenger.
“He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed—by me, at any rate except his text. Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, ‘That young man there looks very miserable’ … and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can, ‘Look! Look, young man! Look now!’ … Then I had this vision—not a vision to my eyes, but to my heart. I saw what a Savior Christ was.… Now I can never tell you how it was, but I no sooner saw whom I was to believe, than I also understood what it was to believe, and I did believe in one moment. And as the snow fell on my road home from the little house of prayer, I thought every snowflake talked with me and told of the pardon I had found, for I was white as the driven snow …”
As the Word of God was preached, the Lord revealed himself to the 15 year old Spurgeon. The spiritual scales of his eyes were removed, and a blind youth saw. The Spirit of God said to young Spurgeon, “Live!” and a youth, spiritually dead in trespasses and sin was made alive. Spurgeon had a dawning aware and could say, “I believe.” The gift of faith had been given to him.
Now contrast the experience of Charles Haddon Spurgeon with the experience of David Brock.
David Brock is a liberal American political consultant, author, and commentator. He is the founder of the media watchdog group, Media Matters for America. But David Brock has not always been a liberal.
Born in 1962, David Brock spent most of his adult life dedicated to conservative causes, and defending traditional values. Then, in 2002, Brock published his book, Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of a Right-Wing Hit Man. Christopher Hitchens, in The Nation, called Brock’s book, “”an exercise in self-love, disguised as an exercise in self-abnegation.”
People can read more about David Brock and decide for themselves. What I find illustrious, is that a once prominent conservative pundit had an epiphany as to who he really was in his heart. He was a man who hated God, hated Christian values, despised conservatives, and would not hesitate to destroy a good woman such as Juanita Broaddrick, who had accused Bill Clinton of rape. Her independent assertions have survived detailed fact checking.
Why is the experience of David Brock important? Because it illustrates that there is a day of dawning recognition. The ungodly, the unbelieving, the non-Christian realizes that they do not have the faith of mom or dad. They do not believe in the Christian religion. They are not a child of God. They want nothing to do with God the Father, Jesus Christ, Christians, or the church.
There are parents who have reared their children in the local Church, who are surprised when their child, as an adult, consciously and deliberately turns away from the Church, and from the faith. The child no longer attends religious services, except to be polite on a notable occasion, such as Easter or Christmas. Maybe a special musical program will attract their attention. The adult child resents any exhortation to go to Church. Why?
Some adult children are honest enough to confess they are conscious of the fact they are not a Christian. They do not believe that Jesus rose again from the dead. They do not believe they are so bad they cannot go to heaven without a personal Saviour. They do not believe God, if He exists, will judge them, and send them to hell. They are aware they love the world, and the things that are in the world.
Some children who have been reared in the Church but have departed from the faith, are not so bold as to deny the Christian dogma, but neither will they affirm it. These individuals drift in life, not caring that the current of their life is moving them to drop into the eternal abyss of eternal damnation.
Evangelical Christians need to ask non Church, goers to answer this question: “Are you a child of God?” “What is the evidence?” Then ask, “Are you a child of the devil?” “Are you aware of your spiritual status?”
Jesus said that if a person is not for Him, then that person is against Him. Neutrality is the one position a person cannot hold. It is simply a matter of a dawning awareness of whose child a person is, a child of Satan, or a child of God.
For some reader of this blog, it may be the Lord is working a work of grace in your heart. As the Lord did with Spurgeon, God is drawing you to Himself. You are on a quest. You want to know if Christianity is true. You want to go to heaven when you die. You want your sins to be forgiven. You are not happy with life. There is not much joy in the way you are living. Do not be surprised if, as you read, and study, talk, and listen, as you consider the words of the Bible, there is a growing awareness that you believe! With that dawning awareness you can say, “My goodness, I am a Christian. I do believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”
How did this happen? God revealed it to you. What a day of discovery that will be for you when you see Jesus in all of His saving glory.
“What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.”
