I just read in my concordance that the word witness comes from the Greek word Martus or Martur. Their meaning is to give testimony to the truth at the expense of one’s life. Our word Martyr comes from this also.
Now consider modern day witnessing. How many of us actually witness anymore? I’m not throwing stones because I find great guilt in myself. However, in this writing, I’m not so concerned with how many of us are witnessing, but the quality and depth of our witness.
The real issue is what we actually tell unbelievers. We quote; Romans 3: 23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Then we follow that up with Romans 6: 23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We try to convince them they are sinners and that they need to ask Christ to forgive them and to come into their heart to be their personal Lord and savior. What we are telling them is all designed to get them to the cross. Does that sound about right?
First off, I have searched the scriptures inside and out and cannot find in them where it says to ask Jesus into your heart to be your personal Lord and savior. We have been telling the lost this for years! But is this the correct thing to tell them? I think there is more.
Yes, we have to get them to the cross. But it is also our duty to get them beyond the cross. And that seems to be where we fail. What do I mean? Part of our problem is we don’t understand the magnitude of what Christ has done for us. He did not die just to forgive us our sins, but to restore our relationship with the Father which we lost in the Garden of Eden. It’s that restoration which He gave as a gift to us! In other words, we get the lost to where there is forgiveness, but we leave them there. The cross is only the beginning. The abundant life full of mercy and love and wonder begins at the cross.
Do we actually comprehend what it means to be born again? Most of us understand what it means to be born. Our birth certificates tell us the date and time of our birth, what hospital, what city and state, and who our parents are. So, born again must mean something in addition or obviously something different.
In the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, Nicodemus was having trouble wrapping his mind around what Jesus was telling him that he needed. Nicodemus was a leader of the Jewish law and quite righteous according to the life he lived. So, what was Jesus telling him that was missing, and not just missing, but something he terribly needed?
Nicodemus’s spirit was not breathing yet! It was lying dormant within him and needed to be quickened. Hence Jesus saying, “That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Notice how the bible capitalized the word, Spirit. Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit making Nicodemus come alive. We are truly born again when the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our spirit. That’s the new life we should be telling the lost about. It’s much more than forgiveness of sin. We must also tell the lost about their restoration with the Father. It is key to their future, their eternal future!
So, in reality, each of the Trinity is involved in the saving and regenerating of the human spirit. We must present the entire story to the lost and we must also look within ourselves and ask the pointed question; Am I really born again?
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