The topic of my Thursday affirmation blog series is, “witnessing for Christ.” God’s salvation plan for man calls for believers to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with those who are nonbelievers so they too can be saved unto eternal life in heaven. That’s how God plans to populate heaven with his saints. When God refers to “good works” in the Bible he’s talking about witnessing for Christ. Every human being was made by the hands of God with the intention that they might fellowship with God in heaven forever. God never made anyone with the express purpose of sending them to hell. Everyone has an equal shot at heaven and the free will to choose to serve either God or Satan. We’re all equally loved by God and we’re all equally priceless in his eyes. There is no partiality with God. Therefore, witnessing for Christ to save lost souls to heaven is the thing dearest to God’s heart. How could it be otherwise? Jesus Christ is the son of God sent from heaven to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. There’s no greater proof of God’s love than that. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day to show that we too will be resurrected if we believe in his name. Before Jesus ascended back to heaven from the Mount of Olives he commanded his disciples to fulfill the Great Commission, which is to share the gospel message with all nations and all people. All believers are disciples of Christ and the Great Commission falls on us as well. It’s the number one reason why we’re here. Otherwise, our lives have no real purpose down here and we might as well go home to heaven once we’re saved.
The word redeem has a couple of definitions that are important to us. Redeem can mean to, “save someone from sin, error, or evil.” This definition applies only to God because only God can forgive our sins. One of the many names of Jesus Christ is “Redeemer” because he is the one sent from God to, “save us from our sins.” Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden was imputed to all men who came after Adam, so all of us are sinners destined to suffer eternal death in hell the day we’re born. One of the spiritual truths of heaven is, “the wages of sin is death.” Somebody had to die because we sinned. God, because of his love, mercy, and grace, sent his son to die on the cross in our place; so our sins could be forgiven. The words Savior and Redeemer mean the same thing. The death of Jesus Christ on our behalf was the “act of redeeming” us, which we refer to as redemption. Jesus is our redemption.
PRAYER AFFIRMATIONS:
Hosea 13:14 – (God speaking) – I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.
Luke 1:68 – Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people.
Colossians 4:5 – Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
Ephesians 5:15-16 – See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Galatians 3:13 – Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.
MY AFFIRMATION:
I bless the Lord my God for allowing me the honor of working alongside my King in his harvest field. And I pray for more workers because God’s harvest field is great and the workers are few. I will redeem my time on earth by diligently spreading the gospel message of Jesus Christ to all nations and all people. I will sow the gospel seed bountifully so that I will reap bountifully; by saving many lost souls to heaven through my testimony. My time is short and there is much good work still to be done on Christ’s behalf. My mantra every day is to save, “one more for Jesus.” I desire to harvest as much fruit for God as possible, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will run my race before the Lord with fear and endurance.
NOTE: The entire Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ coming from heaven down to earth to save (redeem) us from our sins. Variations of the word redeem appears 162 times in the Bible; sometimes about Jesus and sometimes about man. A second definition of the word redeem means to, “repay or clear a debt.” This definition applies only to man because God cannot owe a debt to anyone. Jesus has redeemed us to heaven if we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (i.e., Redeemer). Believers are supposed to emulate Christ on this earth by redeeming nonbelievers, by witnessing Christ to them. That’s what “redeeming the time” means in the Bible. It’s very simple. Someone once helped save us and, as believers, we owe a debt to God and other nonbelievers to help them find salvation unto eternal life in heaven. Once we become believers, it’s our sacred duty to repay our debt to God by witnessing for Christ during our brief life on earth. The Bible says we need to diligently pursue this “good work” while we are able to work because the day will come when we’re no longer able to work.
In Hosea 13:14, God is saying he will save us from eternal death but not physical death. Our frail physical bodies will die because they are full of sin but when we become saved our original sin-filled inner spirit from God is replaced with a new spirit without sin. Our inner man is the real us and the one who will go to heaven in our new glorified bodies and live forever with Jesus. The exception is those people who are still alive when Jesus Christ comes in the air to rapture his saints to the clouds to receive their glorified bodies before returning to heaven. Those individuals will never suffer physical death. The dead in Christ will rise first to meet Jesus in the air, followed by those who remain alive at his coming. God refers to believers as being “inside” the family of God; which means those not saved (nonbelievers) are considered to be “outside.” We see this reference in Colossians 4:5. God uses the term “wise” to describe believers who witness Christ to save lost souls to heaven. In Colossians 4:5 God is making it clear all believers should be actively sharing the gospel message with nonbelievers because our lifetime is short and there is much work to do.
I chose five examples from my index card file of scriptures containing the word “redeem.” I usually use no more than three scriptures to illustrate my point but I couldn’t help myself this time because there are so many good examples to choose from. God makes it pretty clear what we must do with our life. If you’re a nonbeliever God considers you to be a “fool”, and if you’re a believer, who also witnesses for Christ then God calls you “wise.” Go be wise before God! In Ephesians 5:15-16 God is again commanding believers to share the gospel because his harvest field is great and the workers are few. The days are evil because the world is full of demons and nonbelievers going to hell. Satan is trying his best to hide the truth of God from man so he can drag them down to the pit with him. In Galatians 3:13 we know that the curse of the law is eternal death for man; but Jesus Christ died for us, so God could forgive our sins if we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You would be wise to take God up on his offer of eternal life in heaven while you yet live.
PRAYER AFFIRMATIONS:
Mark 16:15-16 – (Jesus) – Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
2 Corinthians 9:6 – But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
MY AFFIRMATION:
Before ascending back to heaven, Jesus commanded his disciples to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ, the good news of our salvation, with all nations and all people. As a believer, I’m a disciple of Christ so I’m also commanded to fulfill the Great Commission. I will give my testimony of Jesus one-on-one when the opportunity arises. I will continually witness for Christ “passively” through my Christian blog sites and my Christian tract ministry. I will sow the gospel seed of Christ bountifully all the days of my life so that I’ll also reap bountifully on the last day.
NOTE: The word gospel means “good news.” And what is this good news? Jesus Christ, the son of God, came off his throne in heaven and died on the cross for our sins; before rising from the dead on the third day and returning to heaven. If we believe that the shed blood of Christ paid our sin debt to God then we are saved unto eternal life in heaven. That’s what it means when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We acknowledge Jesus is God and he saved us from hell. In the Bible, God often refers to us as his creatures because he made us. When believers are saved they’re baptized by the holy water of God, which is just another way of saying we’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Nonbelievers are” “condemned”, which means they’re going to hell when they die. One of the spiritual truths of heaven is, “you reap what you sow.” If you witness for Christ a lot you’ll save a lot of people to heaven, and vice versa. That’s just common sense. God makes it clear in his word that believers who save lost souls to heaven are “wise” in his eyes and they will be rewarded on the last day with honor, glory, and riches based on how many people they save to heaven.
PRAYER AFFIRMATIONS:
Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Hebrews 12:1 – Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
MY AFFIRMATION:
Lord, you gave me an eternal spirit at conception. You have given me my body, this tent, as a temple for the Holy Spirit. By your presence inside me, you have made me holy and acceptable to God. Therefore, I present my body back to you as my reasonable service to the God who made me. I will do good works before the Lord in his harvest field by witnessing for Christ to save lost souls to heaven. I will run my race before God with endurance, trying to save, “one more for Jesus”, every day of my life. Lord, bless me with forty years in your service; if you are willing and there is time before the rapture comes. O Lord, help me to save many as I fulfill the salvation plan you have for my life.
NOTE: God’s salvation plan for man calls for believers to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers so they can be saved unto eternal life in heaven. If you happen to be a nonbeliever, you’re of no use to God because you still have your original sin-filled spirit, which means you’re still on the path to hell where you’ll be in pain and agony 24/7 for all eternity. Sin cannot enter heaven. On the other hand, believers are saved unto eternal life in heaven because they’ve accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Once believers are saved they’re given a new sin-free spirit by God and they’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit from that point forward, for all eternity. At this point, the believer’s body is deemed to be holy by God and a fit vessel for his use. As believers, we’re slaves of Christ and our bodies belong to the God who made us. Nonbelievers are slaves of Satan whether they know it or not.
Believers are expected to use their bodies to witness for Christ. It’s their reasonable service expected by God. God often refers to our reasonable service to him as our “race” before the Lord. Notice in Hebrews 12:1 that God says our race is, “set before us.” That means God has an individual salvation plan for each of us and it’s up to each one of us to find out what that plan is and then go out and fulfill it to the best of our ability. 90% of the saints in heaven are there through faith in Jesus Christ alone; never having saved even a single person to heaven by a witness for Christ. These are the worker bees of heaven. However, believers who save at least one person to heaven will please God because every soul is priceless in God’s eyes.
Those who save at least one person to heaven will be rewarded on the last day. How could it be otherwise? There is a pecking order in heaven and your rank will depend on the number of nonbelievers you save to heaven. How do I know this? One of the spiritual truths of heaven is, “You reap what you sow.” Scripture also says, “Those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly and those who sow bountifully will reap bountifully.” Furthermore, the honor, glory, and riches each believer will receive at the bema judgment seat of Jesus Christ will be directly proportional to the number of people we have saved to the kingdom of heaven. It’s as simple as that. Our good works for God can only occur here on earth and not in heaven. Whatever we receive from God in heaven will be based entirely on our body of good works done on earth. In heaven, we get to keep what we earn down here forever.