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In the previous chapters we said that we should use appropriate verses when we shepherd the new believers. In this chapter we will consider this matter further. Quoting the Bible can be compared to practicing Chinese calligraphy: one must practice according to set rules. For example, a beginner should practice writing in standard type, which is the foundation of Chinese calligraphy. If a person cannot write the standard type properly, he will be unable to write in running style, in script type, or in seal type. Hence, the young people who are learning to serve the Lord should practice according to rules so that they can lay a good foundation.
When a carpenter wants to make furniture, he starts off with a big pile of wood, and each piece of wood varies in texture and size. One piece may be best for a tabletop, and another piece may be best for a door. If he wants to make an end table, he will carefully choose a piece of wood that is suitable in quality, color, size, and thickness so that the end table will be beautiful and so that he will save time and materials. A carpenter who randomly selects a piece of wood will waste time cutting it to the right size, proving that he is not a trained carpenter. Similarly, when a Christian quotes the Scriptures, he should not randomly use any verse. This is inappropriate. The Bible is very rich. Although there are hundreds of verses on prayer, we cannot use them in a random way. Selecting the right verse can also be compared to selecting appropriate fabric for a spring outfit. We must not be careless. Regrettably, many Christians quote the Bible carelessly.
There are many verses in the Bible concerning prayer in the Christian life, but which verses should we use with new believers? Let us consider some verses. Ephesians 6:18 says, “Praying at every time in spirit.” This is a good verse, but it should not be the first verse that we use. First Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Unceasingly pray.” This verse is more suitable than Ephesians 6:18, but it is still not the most suitable verse to begin with. Philippians 4:6 says, “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” This is the best verse for comforting people, but it is still not suitable for helping new believers to learn to pray. Matthew 6:9-13 is commonly called the Lord’s prayer. Using these verses to teach new believers to pray is the same as being in the denominations and teaching people to recite the Lord’s prayer. Even Matthew 7:7-8, which says, “Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives,” is not appropriate to use at first. Jude 20 says, “You, beloved, building up yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” This verse is more appropriate, but the book of Jude is too deep for new believers.
John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” This verse is not speaking of how to pray. Hebrews 4:16 is more appropriate: “Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.” However, this verse does not have the word prayer. Helping new believers is like teaching children in kindergarten. We need a verse that has the word prayer. Acts 6:4 says, “We will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.” However, steadfast prayer is related to the service of the apostles, not to the prayer of new believers.
Acts 2:42 says, “They continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.” This verse is appropriate for helping new believers. Three thousand new believers continued steadfastly in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread, and in prayer. Following this verse, we should use Jude 20. When helping new believers to live the Christian life, we should first lead them to pray. The basis for this is Acts 2:42. After the first group of believers were saved, they continued steadfastly not only in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles but also in the breaking of bread and in prayer. The teaching and fellowship of the apostles and the breaking of bread are part of the church life, but prayer cannot be limited to just the church life. Prayer must be a part of a Christian’s personal life. Hence, this is the first verse that we should use. First Thessalonians 5:17 can be next, and then we can use Ephesians 6:18. These three verses are sufficient. There is no need to use many verses. In order to shepherd new believers, we must learn how to find appropriate verses. This kind of study helps us to be equipped.
Now we will consider salvation. Salvation is God Himself coming to us to be our salvation. Salvation includes forgiveness of sins, cleansing from sins, justification, reconciliation to God, and regeneration. Is a person saved and then justified and forgiven of his sin? Is a person saved and then cleansed by the blood and reconciled to God? Or is a person saved and then regenerated? Which is the first item that we experience: justification, forgiveness of sins, cleansing from sins, reconciliation, regeneration, or salvation? Is a person regenerated and then saved, or is he saved and then regenerated? We must remember that being saved is the last item. When helping others to be saved, we must be clear concerning this.
Some of you may think that it is good enough to lead people to salvation and question why you need to learn these items. I have seen many believers who led people to salvation but were unable to help them advance in life. There have been powerful evangelists who have not cared for the truth of the gospel. As a result, those whom they brought to salvation did not have much growth in life. While preaching the gospel, one evangelist spoke about the precious blood washing his heart and the precious blood leaking out. Many people were saved because his spirit was strong. However, it was difficult for those who were saved to be led further in the growth in life because his understanding of the truth was not accurate.
In Shangtung Province of northern China many believers in the Pentecostal movement were able to lead people to salvation. However, the content of their preaching was shallow. While bringing people to their service on the Lord’s Day, they would sing a folk chorus: “You are busy, and I am busy too. You are busy burning incense, and I am busy going to heaven.” The ones who were saved could not understand what the growth in life had to do with going to heaven. Since they were taught that they were going to heaven, it was very difficult for them to advance in life. Therefore, as we preach the gospel to bring people to salvation, we must not use the Scriptures carelessly or speak the truth inaccurately; otherwise, those who are led to salvation will not be able to progress.
This can be likened to learning English. If your teacher is so careless that you can neither differentiate nor pronounce the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, you will not be able to learn English. However, learning to recognize and clearly pronounce each letter of the alphabet will be a solid foundation toward your learning English. When I learned English as a young boy, my teacher was Cantonese. As a result, my spoken English has a Cantonese accent. It was not until I entered college that I was taught by Americans. By that time it was not so easy for me to change my accent. Therefore, as the young people begin to serve the Lord, they must learn all the basic lessons in a solid way. If they learn the lessons well, it will be a great help to them in the future.
I have studied the contents of the Lord’s salvation for fifty-five years. In 1938 I led the brothers and sisters in Chefoo to study forty-two topics of the crucial truths in the Bible. In 1949 I studied it with the saints in Taipei, and I added another eighteen topics. These sixty topics, including the relevant verses, were later published in a set of books. This compilation is entitled Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, volumes 1 through 6. In these books the matter of God’s salvation is thoroughly discussed.
The first item of God’s salvation is forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43). The second item is cleansing from sins (1 John 1:9). After we are cleansed, God justifies us (Rom. 3:26), and we are released from our sins (Rev. 1:5). Hence, we are reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10), and we are regenerated (1 Pet. 1:3). At this point, we are saved. The Bible says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). The word saved includes forgiveness, cleansing, justification, release, and reconciliation. All of these matters are accomplished in the twinkling of an eye. The Spirit of God enters into us, and we are regenerated and saved.
However, there is still the matter of sanctification. There are two different stages of sanctification: sanctification before salvation and sanctification after salvation. Romans 6:19 and 22 stress sanctification after salvation, that is, after justification. First Corinthians 6:11 speaks of sanctification before salvation, that is, before justification. This verse says, “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” According to this verse, sanctification is placed after forgiveness and cleansing, being washed, but before justification. Hence, we can say that God’s salvation includes seven items: forgiveness, cleansing, sanctification, justification, release, reconciliation, and regeneration, and then the eighth and last item—salvation. When we preach the gospel, we should speak according to this truth, not carelessly. If we do not lay a good foundation, it will be difficult to shepherd people in the growth in life. This is not a small thing; we must learn it.
First Peter 1:2 also speaks of sanctification before salvation. This verse says that we were “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” According to this verse, sanctification should be the first item of God’s salvation. God chose us in eternity, in time the Holy Spirit separates us through His sanctifying work, and then the blood is sprinkled on us. After we are sprinkled with the blood, God forgives us and cleanses us. He also justifies us, releases us from our sins, and reconciles us to Himself. Then God regenerates us, and the result is our being saved. Hence, according to 1 Peter 1 sanctification is the first item that we experience. This fellowship is to show you that it is worthwhile to study the truth. If we do not study the truth thoroughly, the truth will not regulate us when we preach the gospel.
To say that the precious blood washes our heart is not accurate, because Hebrews 10:22 says that the precious blood does not wash our heart but our conscience. Our conscience represents the law of God; the law of God corresponds to our conscience. Before God the precious blood washes us of our sins on the basis of the law, and within us the precious blood washes us of all our guilty feelings within our conscience. The blood does not wash our heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things, / And it is incurable” (Jer. 17:9). Only regeneration can renew and transform our heart.
Medical students are required to spend several years studying fundamental courses concerning the structure and composition of the human body. A medical student must acquire this basic knowledge so that he will not make mistakes in his diagnosis or prescription. Likewise, when we go out to preach the gospel, we should not be incompetent doctors. We need to learn diligently. There is no end to our learning. The young ones must receive a solid basic training before going out. Then they will not make many mistakes.
When we are clear concerning the contents of God’s salvation, we will have confidence when we preach the gospel. When we speak concerning regeneration, we will remember that regeneration comes after six items. It is not until a person is reconciled with God that the Spirit of God can enter into him and put God’s life in him. Then a person is regenerated and saved. Salvation is the last item.
Now we will consider the most suitable verses to use when speaking about being saved. The first part of Mark 16:16 says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” We can match this verse with Romans 10:13: “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Why should we use Mark 16:16 first? In verses 15 and 16 the Lord said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all the creation. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.” In Acts 16:31 Paul and Silas said to the jailer in Philippi, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” This verse is also very good. Both of these verses are good because they say that the condition for being saved is to believe. Salvation in these two verses refers to sanctification, forgiveness, cleansing, justification, release, reconciliation, and regeneration.
In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul says that we should cut “straight the word of the truth.” Releasing God’s word can be compared to a surgeon performing an operation. A surgeon cannot be careless; he must be precise. In the Recovery Version of the New Testament the footnote to this verse says that the phrase cutting straight is likened to cutting wood. Hence, to cut straight the word of the truth means to unfold the word of God in its various parts rightly and straightly without distortion. We should not be confused when we use a verse. Therefore, we need to spend time to learn the lessons.
Question: Will Mark 16:16 cause people to misunderstand baptism as a condition for being saved?
Answer: Strictly speaking, in order to be saved, one needs to be baptized. If our gospel preaching is powerful enough, a person’s salvation will include baptism. In Acts 2:37-38 after the Jews heard the gospel, they were pricked in their heart, and they asked the disciples what they should do. Peter said to them, “Repent and each one of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ.” Hence, if our gospel preaching is powerful, people will be baptized. Repentance includes baptism because baptism means burial, which is a genuine change of mind.
Question: During one of our visits, we encountered a gospel friend who had a desire to be saved, but because of the confusion in Christianity and the undesirable behavior of some Christians, he was hesitant. In his thought he could be saved only after he understood the Bible. Even though we read Romans 10:13 and Mark 16:16, because of the poor behavior of many Christians, he questioned this salvation. We attempted to differentiate between being saved and overcoming, but he could not accept our explanation. We do not know how to help him.
Answer: The question posed by this gospel friend cannot be solved with just one appropriate verse. Nevertheless, we can use the following illustration to help him. A baby needs to be in the womb for nine months before it is born. Before a baby is born, we do not know whether he will grow up to be strong. Furthermore, if a few days after birth a baby dies because of an illness, we cannot say that his birth was false. Death is a result of inadequate care after the baby was born. Hence, Christians who are genuinely saved but lack care might have inappropriate behavior. Some people are indeed saved; however, after being saved, they remain like babies. When a baby is conceived, it does not know anything. Even after it is born, it still does not know much. However, after it is born, its life has the capacity to learn. We are regenerated through God’s word and of God’s life. Regeneration is not based on our understanding. Rather, one is regenerated because he receives God’s life with its life element. After being regenerated, a person has the capacity to know and learn all things related to the Christian life. This situation shows that when you preach the gospel, not only must you be clear concerning the truth; you also need to be equipped with examples based on the truth so that you can give an illustration to help people.
