Today, I was in the Walmart parking lot and a car pulled up next to me. A man rolled down his window and said he liked my Van, but that I had an error in the wording. This is a common occurrence since we installed the decals on the van a year ago.
I am often laughed at, sometimes the van is mocked or spit on, but more often than not, you will see someone driving down the road, reading it, and nodding or putting their head down knowing that God's Word brings conviction of sin.
We are often approached by other Christians, some who encourage us and start good conversation, others that tell us we are too bold and that religion is a private thing(a relationship with Christ is very personal, but should not be private). Today, what started out as a grammatical discussion turned out pretty well, encouraging one another and sharing insight on current events and the relevance to Christ coming for His bride. We all agreed that we look forward to our Lord's return, but that we should be out telling others the Good News while God tarries. We must be about the Father's business all the time, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Of course, after we talked, he realized that I was not necessarily quoting God's Word on the passenger side, and thus I did not put the reference on the van. The van says, "God is now declaring that all people should repent because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world." Now, if you are familiar with Acts 17:30-31 you will see that this is an overview, meant to get people to think about their sin and the righteous judgement of God. Where you see the word "should" some versions render it "must", but either way, this is not an issue of preference.
You see, repentance is necessary for salvation, but it is more accurate to say that one should repent. Let me explain that as it sounds confusing. If one refuses to repent, then they will face the judgement due for sin, an eternity in Hell with no second chance after death for those who have neglected or rejected Christ. So, my new friend was partly right, in that for salvation, we MUST repent, but God is a perfect gentlemen and allows us to continue on in our fleshly mind if we want to, not changing our mind to agree with God. We should repent, but we don't have to.
We can choose self and eternal damnation for sin, or we can choose Christ and eternal life. It should be easy to choose the right way, but Satan has blinded men's eyes whenever possible and that just reminds me more and more why we need to be out sharing the Gospel. If you look at Acts 17, you will see that God has overlooked the times of ignorance, and is now declaring that all people should repent, but He lets them decide.
Consider the other decals on my van, "You can choose your eternal destination, Heaven or Hell", "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord", and "If you died today, where would you spend eternity? www.goodnewsnow.info" We all get to choose, and pay the consequences for the wrong choice, or reap the blessings from the right choice. Which have you chosen? Who could you share this message with today, to tell them that they should repent?
