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Pastors preach several messages but not all of them save sinners eternally. There is only one message that saves. It is the same message the church in Ephesus heard before they believed in Jesus Christ for their salvation.
Let me ask you: which message did you hear to convert you to Christ? Yes, which message convinced you to place your faith in Christ Jesus? I believe it is not a motivational message or a message about pop psychology.
You should rejoice if you heard the Word of truth, the gospel of salvation (Ephesians 1:13). It talks about why Christ died on the cross and rose again.
Paul wrote that only the gospel – the message about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus saves (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).
If it was necessary for the believers in Ephesus to hear such a message before they believed in Christ Jesus for their salvation, then it is necessary for everyone else.
Everyone who seeks to make heaven must hear it too. A person is not saved and safe unless he has heard this message which is foreign to all other religions of the world.
Only the Body of Christ preaches it for the salvation of souls. It is this message that sets Christianity apart and makes it unique and envious to the devil and his agents.
Knowledge of this great message should inspire us to love our God greatly and also work hard to preach it to the multitude of people who have been deceived by the devil.
It is not proper for a pastor to preach just any message and simply ask people to confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour to make them Christians.
It is also biblically incorrect for a pastor to simply quote Romans 10: 9-10 and tell people that they will be saved if they confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead. This teaching sounds interesting but it is biblically incorrect.
Unfortunately, this is what we hear being done at several places today. It is one of the challenges facing many churches today. We call people Christians when they have no understanding of what makes people Christians.
Before we tell people to confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and Saviour…we ought to have read Romans Chapter 10 properly. We should look at the 8th verse which talks about the Word of faith which must first be in the mouths and hearts of believers.
In other words, people must first have the “Word of faith” which is also called the “Word of truth” or the gospel in their mouths and hearts before proper confessions of their faith can be made to secure their salvation as Paul taught in Ephesians 1:13.
By James Quansah
