Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

What does it Mean to be Faithful?

Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV)

Definition

A faithful person is trustworthy.  He or she is dependable.  As stewards they care for things that belong to others.  They certainly have to give account of their stewardship.

Christians are stewards.   Paul says we are stewards of the mysteries of God. ” Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1 KJV).”  What are the mysteries?    Paul says they are things “which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints (Colossians 1:26 KJV).”  So the mysteries are things that were not revealed clearly in the Old Testament but which are now being revealed through His apostles and prophets in the New Testament.  

One of those mysteries is the Gospel.  Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him that he might be faithful in proclaiming this mystery.  He writes, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. (Ephesians 6:18-19 NKJV).”

The Gospel

The Gospel is good news.  The Lord preached it in His hometown.  We read, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed  (Luke 4:18 NKJV).”

It involved good news to the poor, it involved healing the brokenhearted, and freeing of captives and the oppressed as well as recovery of sight to the blind.  Now somehow I think those who were blessed by the Gospel would remember what it had done for them.

In John’s Gospel, John the Baptist bore testimony to the truth that an unbelieving world needed “light”.  We read, “This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe (John 1:7 NKJV).  Believing was the way the truth of the Gospel was to be received.  Again we read, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, (even) to those who believe in His name (or His authority) (John 1:12 NKJV).”

Can A Person Be Saved without Remembering the Event?

A question that constantly arises when the Gospel is preached to people who have been raised in homes where the Bible was read is, “Can one believe and not remember when they first believed?”  I would say emphatically, “NO!” And I lose a lot of friends when I say that.  The reason I am writing to deal with this issue is that there are so many people who think that people can go to heaven because they have always believed.  But if that is true, when were they saved?   When did they repent and believe?  When were they lost?  Again, we read, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10 NKJV).”

Normally when I am holding Gospel meetings or Bible studies and this issue comes up, I have people who have never been clearly taught about the new birth or the associated truth about being saved tell me, ” Oh, I remember when that happened to me.  I have just never had anyone explain the new birth or salvation to me Biblically before.” However, I also have those who tell me that it must have happened in their lives because they are obviously believers, but they don’t remember passing from death unto life because they were so young when that happened.  And when that happens, I find myself trying to explain that the word believe means to trust.  It’s the permanent character of the person who believes in John 3:16.  It is the “believing one.”  But since this involves a spiritual resurrection in John 5:24, I think most would remember passing from death to life.  

Two Musts

There are two musts in Scripture that we need to preach.  The first is “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again (John 3:7 NKJV).”  Nicodemus is the primary example of what this means.  He started out as a religious teacher of the Jews questioning what the new birth meant and ended up being enlightened by the old testament story of the serpent in the wilderness.  He didn’t immediately “confess” his faith as far as I can see, but he defended the Lord in John 7.   “Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing (John 7:50-51 NKJV)?” He publicly identified with the Lord when he was buried.  “After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds (John 19:38-39 NKJV).”

Peter, James and Paul all make references to the new birth and the old testament gives us examples of it.  

The second must that we need to preach is “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12 NKJV).  Both the new birth and salvation are deliverances.   Salvation is a deliverance from the penalty we deserve because of our sin.  The new birth is a deliverance for a new life that starts the moment we trust Christ for salvation and continues eternally.  The new birth and salvation are dealing with the same issue from different points of view.

So as we look at the Gospel in involves:

Repenting and believing–Mark 1:15

The new birth–John 3:7

A spiritual resurrection–John 5:24

Salvation–Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 1:15

The opening of the eyes of the blind–2 Corinthians 4:3-4

These descriptions of how the Gospel is received is what makes a believer sure that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ can be trusted.  And of course trusting in that truth is what saves and gives peace.

Hell and the Lake of Fire

Because the Bible speaks of hell and the Lake of Fire as the place for those who are not saved or born again when they die, I am trying to be a faithful steward of the truth that God has entrusted to me.  I do not want to see anyone deceived into making a mistake with their eternal souls.  I (like the Lord) am in the saving business, not in the condemning business.  I never say that I know someone who has died is in hell because I never know what happened just before they died.  Even when I hold funerals for those who have never left a clear profession of faith, I always say that the person did not leave a clear profession of faith, but if they are in heaven, this is what they believed;  and then I preach the gospel.  

I also know people who are “saved” or “born again” who express their experience differently than I do.  But my experience is that those who think they are saved but who can’t remember an event when they trusted the Lord, have never believed God that they were born sinners who sin and need a savior.  Believing that is usually the first step in trusting in the Lord.  Oh that we could all sing truthfully,

Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found,  Was blind but now I see.

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of February 2, 2025

Next Page »