Me: What a nice building!
Prodigal: Yes it is, the things you see when you travel around!
Me: Yes, and here is a reminder about another part of the world!
This is from the book Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore
To religious persons where I live, heaven is a lofty dream. They believe that good deeds and others’ prayers help them climb their way up to heaven. The better a person, the closer to heaven one is at death. The concept of salvation by grace is foreign, as they think it is earned.
My pastor and I were meeting with a friend to discuss her recent conversion and her understanding of her decision. Using 10 coins as an example, we posed the following scenario to her: “You are a sinner, and your debt to God is 10 zloty. How much are you going to pay, and how much is God going to pay?”
She was confused and asked for clarification.
“For example, will you pay the full amount?” We pushed all the coins toward her. “Or will God pay the full amount?” We pushed the coins away from her. “Or will you pay half and God pay half? We shifted the coins into two piles of five zloty each. “How much of the 10 zloty must you pay to get yourself to heaven, and how much of your debt must you let God pay?”
Smiling my friend placed her hands on the coins and pushed them into one pile. She said, “I want God to pay it all!”
My heart jumped for joy as I realized that she was not relying on herself for salvation. We cannot earn our salvation, for only God’s grace can save us!
Michelle, Central and Eastern Europe.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Acts. 4:12
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
