We Must Get it Right!

I read a story recently of a person who died suddenly at an early age. You have probably heard the same accounts involving other circumstances, or sadly lost someone close to you like this.

They were healthy one day and the next they were gone. Our hearts are moved with compassion for their families as they mourn for the loss of someone so special in their lives; a Dad, a Mom, a daughter or son. As believers we must reach out to them with love and understanding ready to comfort them as only the Lord can do through us.

As I pondered about this story, my concern is immediately moved to the salvation of the one who has passed away. Were they saved? At the point when they crossed from this existence to the other, were they comforted in knowing that heaven was their destination? If they did not know the Lord Jesus Christ, why and what could we have been done to help them make certain they were saved?

Ultimately, we cannot know the heart of people, but the Word of God says that we shall know them by their fruits, and only those who do the will of the Father will enter into the Kingdom.

So, where does that leave us in our effort to come to some kind of conclusion as to how we could have made a difference?

It is only the Lord God who can change a person’s heart, and it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that the sinner is brought to repentance. Our role is that we must be obedient in proclaiming the Gospel and with love and boldness presents that Gospel with clarity, directness and without hesitation.

In other words, if the one who died, left this world without Christ, and he did so thinking he was saved but was not, then those of us who claim the Name of Christ and who were a part of his life, have failed.

If someone leaves this world lost because a preacher, a pastor, a Sunday school teacher or any believer, failed to share with him or her the true Gospel, because of fear of offending them, then God is going to hold someone accountable.

We must get it right and we must do it now! The eternities of so many are at stake and who are we to tell God, “You need help”?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16