Thursday, June 3, 2021

You Cannot Convert A Single Soul!

Christians...

It is our job to proclaim the Gospel and all the words of God to any and all who will listen, but it is not our job to try and sway nations or to convert souls. That is God's realm! You are not God, so stop pretending to be Him, or, worse, trying to be Him.

The world will always choose sin over righteousness, and that should not surprise us. Sinners do what comes naturally to them: sin.

You want to win someone who believes in abortion? Speak to them personally and share with them the facts. Leave the result in God's hands. If they reject reason and pursue an abortion, love them just the same. Jesus would have. Stop trying to politicize morality.

We should be striving for Christ-likeness, walking after the Holy Spirit, and living it out before an unbelieving world. After all, actions speak louder than words.

Yes, we should be trying to reach the world with the truth, but we should not expect them to act like we do. Until God gives them a new heart and spiritually regenerates them, they will continue to do what is "right" in their own eyes. It is not our job to convert people. That is the work of the Holy Spirit; to convict the world of sin and judgment.

No matter how much knowledge we may possess, no matter how great of an orator we may be, you and I can never convert a single soul; nor should we pressure ourselves into thinking we can or that it is our responsibility to do so. God is the One Who converts the soul! You and I may plant and/or water, but it is God who gives the increase.

We need to put ourselves in our place and stop trying to be God!

Before we were saved, we spent our days worshipping ourselves. After salvation, some Christians are still intent on worshipping themselves, thinking that God needs them or that it is their responsibility to convert souls. Our only responsibility is to be the salt and light and to proclaim the Gospel and the whole counsel of the Word of God. What results is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit. Whether someone is converted or not by our efforts is at the sole discretion of Almighty God.

Pay attention to the lives of Jesus and the apostles. They did not demand that governments and individuals agree wholeheartedly with them and live by their standards. What did they do instead? They lived out what they believed and proclaimed the Gospel and the truth of God's Word to any and all who would listen. Some accepted their words, many rejected them. They did not, however, become activists and make God's Word political by protesting the heathen. For you to do so and expect a different result is just insanity.

Ask yourself What Did Jesus Do?, and then look in Scripture at the life of Jesus for the nearest equivalent to what His response would have been. The woman at the well was an adulteress (she had five previous husbands, and her current husband was not her husband).