Thoughts From Luke - Day 85

                                      Luke 19:45 - 20:8

45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling.46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words. One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

5 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

7 So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

8 Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

            I grew up with the understanding that in order to be saved you had to say "the prayer". It went something like this; 

"Dear God, I realize I am sinful and separated from You and there is nothing that I can do to fix that. I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins. I receive His gift of forgiveness by faith and I will live for You from now on. Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit into my heart to give me new life. Help me to live for You from now on. Amen."

       If you said that and truly meant it, you were saved. Even within the past several months, I have been on a mission trip to Panama and led 7 people in that prayer. Does that mean they were saved? I don't know. Did they mean it? I don't know. There is nothing mystical or magical about saying words like an incantation or spell. So why do I still do it? 1 Peter 3:21 says,

"and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ"

       This prayer is a pledge to the Lord. Romans 10:9 says;

"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

        This prayer is a declaration to the Lord.

         So what does this have to do with the passage? What I see in this passage is that Jesus wants people to declare what side they are on. The Pharisees wouldn't. They thought that they could straddle the fence. The truth was that inwardly they weren't straddling - they didn't believe John the Baptist had a heavenly calling and they didn't believe Jesus was God's son. Jesus challenged them to confess with their mouth what side they were on and they wouldn't and thus never received Christ. The same is true today. You can go to Church, Bible Studies, follow Jesus all you want but there comes a time when you have to declare what side you are on. There is a time when you have to make a pledge to surrender your heart to the Lord. Is that going forward and saying the prayer? Yes! But is it also being baptized and publically identifying with Christ? Yes! Maybe that is why there is so much confusion in the church about Baptism saving people, or baptismal regeneration. In the absence of saying the prayer, baptism is a great way to declare whose side you are on. Is it maybe even the day you realize that in a group discussion you are arguing for Christ rather than against Him? I have to say, yes. After all, there is no record of the disciples praying the prayer, nor Paul, nor for that matter anyone in the Bible. But I do believe there is that defining moment where you recognize once you weren't a believer and now you are.

      Thus, like Jesus asked the disciples to leave their nets and follow Him, or when in John 6 He asked the disciples "Are you going to leave, too"?, there is a time when we leave our old life and pursue Jesus wholeheartedly. Everyone that is married has a day that it happened. Everyone that's been born has a birthday. Everyone that's been born again has a moment in time when you pass from death to life. You may not remember the day but what you can't say is "I've always been a Christian" because you haven't always been. When did it happen for you, or hasn't it? For me it was when I was 5, I came back from a back yard Bible club and told my parents I wanted to be saved and prayed the prayer. Because of my experience I continue to offer "the prayer" to people but I also have to be careful about saying, just because that's the way it happened for me it has to always be that way.