Simplicity.
It can be very good.
Back in March of this year, I posted about our need to know the Essentials of Christianity (click the link if you missed it or need a reminder of the 9 Essentials.)
And while the 9 Essentials can help us test whether a religious system is Christian or not, it doesn’t tell us whether an individual person is a Christian or not. Therefore, we also need to know the simple information of how a person becomes a Christian.
First, a person needs to hear the gospel message of Jesus: the story of His miraculous birth, His perfect life, His death on the cross for the redemption of sinful humanity, and His resurrection from the dead. When God then uses the gospel message to draw someone to Himself, the person will want to know: “What must I do to be saved?” And it is at that point that we need to have a clear and simple answer.
Jesus answered simply: Repent and Believe (Mark 1:15).
Paul answered simply: Believe and Confess (Romans 10:9).
These ideas have been pulled together as the ABCs of Salvation, which LifeWay has been using with children for many years in their Vacation Bible School materials. Most importantly, the ABCs of Salvation are biblical. But also, they are simple, they are helpful, and they apply to both young and old.
The 3 words are:
1) Admit
2) Believe
3) Confess
Admit your sins and repent.
Believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross and God raised him from the dead.
Confess that Jesus will rule your life as Lord and Master.
That’s it.
It is simple.
But that doesn’t mean it is easy, because:
–Repentance means not only walking away from ungodly behavior, but walking toward God.
–Belief requires that you trust something (and in this case, someone) that you have not been able to see with your own eyes.
–And Confessing that someone else will rule your life instead of yours requires that you die to yourself.
These are serious and difficult tasks, even though they are simple concepts to understand.
Therefore, simplicity is good, but simplicity can also require difficult decisions and commitments.
In my next post I’ll flesh this out a bit more, but for today, take time to thank God for the simplicity of the gospel!
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