Do You Accept George?

Watch on YouTube – Watch on Facebook

Imagine, if you will, that someone comes to you and they say, I’ve made the personal decision to accept into my heart the truth that George Washington was the first president of the United States. And I’d like you to make the decision to accept the truth that George Washington was the first president of the United States. How would you react to that?

Odds are you’d think it’s somewhat ridiculous. Well, why? Why? Well, because you know that it’s an objective truth outside of whether or not you make the decision to believe it. It’s an objectively true statement. George Washington was the first president of the United States. End of story.

Now think of that in terms of Christianity. In Christianity, we know something that’s called objective justification. That’s the idea that Christ, when he went on to the cross, he objectively died on the cross. And he objectively, apart from you and me, and our personal decisions, he took upon himself the sin of all mankind. Objective justification. A real event that happened in history that you can’t change. It objectively happened.

So to make the statement, then I made the decision to have that apply to myself. Well does it really make sense? Well, not only is it un-scriptural, but it doesn’t really make sense. And it’s objective truth of what God has done for you and me in the work of Christ.

Now there’s really only one thing that we can do when it comes to an objective truth. We can choose to reject it. You can choose to not believe that George Washington was the first president of the United States. You can choose to believe that Christ didn’t die on the cross for your sins. You can reject it, but what you can’t do is take credit for a truth that exists objectively outside of you.

And so what I would encourage for you and myself to consider, instead of thinking about this, our faith, as a decision that we make is to ask yourself some simple questions. Was Jesus, the Son of God who died on the cross for the sins of the world? Yeah. He was. Are you a sinner, then? For whose sin he died? Yes, you are. So am I. Did God come to you? Either in the waters of baptism or maybe through the witness of a friend, or through the words of a preacher, or even in opening up Scripture itself. Did he come to you? And bring this wonderful truth into your life? Yes. Well, that’s all there is to it. Our conversion, our coming to faith. Our salvation. It’s all the work of Christ and what He’s done for us. Praise be to God for that. Amen.