So why do Christians feel the need to “push” Jesus on you? Why don’t they just shut up and keep their beliefs to themselves? In this blog posting, we will be trying to explain why those who are followers of Christ feel such an urgency to share their faith in Christ with you.
By taking a look at Romans 10:1-17 we can come to a clear understanding of why Christians desire to share the teachings of Christ to others…
THE SCRIPTURES:
Rom 10:1-17 (KJV)
1) Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2) For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4) For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5) For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6) But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down [from above]:)
7) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11) For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14) How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15) And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16) But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17) So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
THE STUDY:
In our study, the Apostle Paul’s desire to share the good news about Christ to those around him is brought into our view. His desire to share this good news is a characteristic shared by anyone who is a true follower of Jesus Christ.
Rom 10:1-17
A Christian shares his faith in Christ with you because he is concerned about your spiritual wellbeing.
1) Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Paul had written this verse to emphasize he was concerned about the spiritual well-being of the all people, both Jew and Gentile.
Remember, at this point in time, following his calling from the Lord, Paul dedicated his life to sharing the truth of God’s word to those who were lost within the Gentile nations surrounding Israel. Here, he affirms he not only was concerned with the spiritual need of Gentiles, but also with Jewish people who needed Christ.
A Christian shares his faith in Christ with you because he understands the spiritual struggle you face.
2) For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Based upon his past experiences, Paul understood that trying to be “good enough” to meet the God’s high standards was impossible for anyone to achieve. Although we all do good works throughout our lifetime, these good works can never meet the standard God has set for us.
We can be very excited and extremely dedicated to the task of meeting the perfect demands of a holy God. But because we do not understand the perfect nature of God’s righteous standard we assume we can be good enough to please God.
Paul had tried to do the same thing during his lifetime; but he found out that he still fell short of the divine demand for a perfect righteousness. (Philippians 3:4-7)
A Christian shares his faith in Christ with you because he understands that only Christ can meet your spiritual needs.
4) For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5) For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6) But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down [from above]:)
7) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
When Christ enters our life as Lord and Savior, we no longer need to labor to keep the law in the hopes of being accepted by God. Through Christ’s work on the cross, He supplied us with His righteousness, in other words His acceptance by God was placed upon us. We no longer must meet God’s righteous demands for our life because Christ has met those demands for us. We are now found acceptable by God, based upon what Christ has done for us.
When Moses gave us the ten commandments, and all the other dictates of God’s laws, he made it plain that this was the perfect standard that we must live by. We all know through our life experiences that we cannot perfectly keep these commands. When everything is said and done, the law of God only shows us our inability to be perfect… it shows us that we do not meet the high standards God has set for us. (Galatians 3:19-27, Romans 3:20-22).
His acceptance of us is freely given it cannot be found by our labors…. We cannot climb high enough to find Christ and bring Him down to meet with us, nor can we dive so deeply as to bring Christ back to the earth and meet with us as an equal.
No God, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, is higher than us, He is sinlessly perfect and accepted by His Father in heaven. We cannot trust in our labors to find Him and meet with Him, we must come to Him by faith.
A Christian shares his faith in Christ with you because he understands that if you trust in Christ, you will be accepted by God.
8) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11) For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
You have now heard that your works cannot save you, but Christ can. How does this take place in your life? By trusting in Christ.
Salvation is given to us when we:
First, realize that we have not lived up to the perfect standard God has set for us. We have disobeyed Him, we have displeased Him, we are separated from Him, and can do no good works that cause Him to accept us.
Secondly, are sorry for disobeying the Lord, we regret what we have done against Him, we have sinned against the Almighty Creator, the One to whom we owe our existence.
Thirdly, we turn from those sins, abhorring and forsaking them.
Fourth, we turn to Christ, by faith, trusting His work on the cross to save us from the debt of our sins. We come to Him willing to accept Him as our Lord, and willing to please Him with our lives.
Note that Paul mentions confession as an integral part of our salvation experience. Anyone who sincerely has come to Christ, realizing the great gift that He has given to them, will want to share that gift with others. If one who claims to be saved doesn’t want to share the way of salvation with others, there is a real question whether he has experience true salvation. (Mark 8:34-38)
A Christian shares his faith in Christ with you because he understands that it is through knowledge of Christ that you can come to faith in Him.
14) How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15) And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16) But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17) So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God…
How can you believe in One that you have never heard? This is the key to understanding why Christians want to share Christ with you. They want you to have a mental knowledge of who He is and what He has done for you… in that way, based on the knowledge you have been given about Christ, by His grace, you can turn to Him, trust in Him and receive His righteousness and be accepted by God.
Why does a Christian share Christ with you? Because Christians care about you and your eternal destiny, they want to share with you the greatest gift that a person can receive.
Remember, they are risking your rejection, and public ridicule to bring to you the good news of Christ.
Accept their message, realizing they are complimenting you. They are saying that you are worthy of their concern, their effort, their time, their prayers and most importantly, their love.
1John 4:7-11 (KJV)
7) Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8) He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.
11) Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another
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