Dilemma Solved

Bible Study

Romans 8:1 ESV; Romans 8:1-2 MSG

I’ve never understood why there are people who refuse to receive the love of a Jesus God in their lives. When I've known someone well enough to get a genuine answer I’ve been told reasons that are absolutely not true.

When we receive Jesus we are totally accepted and loved. Jesus knows everything about us and what our life has been like. There is no condemnation for us in Jesus.

Romans 8:1 tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Some manuscripts add who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit).

Increasingly I am finding the Message version relevant and that tells us from Romans 8:1-2, “With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.”

Receiving Jesus means we are set free and God’s abundant love is available to help us.

The biggest problem I’ve encountered is that when someone has heard a lifetime of negative comments about Christians or they have been treated badly by a believer, that behavior overrides anything else.

I eventually developed a different approach to nonbelievers.

I didn’t say a word that I’d learned. I simple loved the other person and treated them with kindness. After all, actions really do speak louder that words.

In many cases (when warned by the Spirit) I don’t even tell them about my background. I intentionally do not tell them I am a believer and I especially don’t tell them I have a seminary graduate degree and my life has been about ministry. In some cases when they hear that they make a quick exit.

Those are the most difficult people to reach that I’ve encountered. They have been continuously treated like a nut that is hard to crack and so they have been hammered and hammered with the words from scripture.

The zest of the person speaking the words left them numb.

I was even given an example. Once when I was a young adult someone approached me and hammered at me telling me I needed to succumb to receiving Jesus. I did not have a chance to tell them I’d been a believer since third grade.

Because I would not relent they preached louder. It felt awful and eventually I became angry. By then I wasn’t even given a chance to speak so I walked away.

When I walked away they shouted really mean words and warnings of damnation.

That experience was a great reminder of how NOT to evangelize.

That was the day I learned that love and kindness is the best way to teach about Jesus. I learned to BE Jesus to them and to kill their pain of the world with kindness.

I have found that praying for them and being kind puts the matter into God’s capable hands.

It’s a matter of trust on our part.

Trust that God is able…

Deborah

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