I often criticise the lack of interest in one another we have as a society, so I was surprised to hear someone ask me if I wanted my picture taken as I was taking a selfie with the infamous clocktower at the university of Birmingham.
I said yes, we spent some time talking. His name was Carlos and he was a student there in Birmingham. After a while, the conversation led onto faith and I asked whether he would consider trying church. He said he was a christian and was searching for a local church. However, through further conversation and asking if he believed he was saved, I gathered he hadn’t heard the true gospel. He told me his admittance to heaven was dependent on his good works, thus concluding that he won’t know until judgement.
I had the joy and privilege of sharing that I have unwavering certainty that I am going to heaven, not because of what I had done but the full and complete work of the cross. Unpacking the ideas in John 3:16, I shared that the invitation of salvation was for ‘Whoever believes’ not ‘Whoever believes and does good works’. I supported this thought with how Paul teaches the Romans to be saved: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9). I asked him if anything was stopping him from giving his life to Jesus there and then, on a bench in the middle of campus. He thought for a minute and said no, so I invited him to pray the prayer of repentance line by line after me. After we prayed, his face lit up and he was so excited that he had given his life to Christ. I assured him it was the best decision anyone could make, and the importance of getting stuck into a local church, to be discipled.
