Alan Clark (27
July 2011)
"Captives
By Greg Laurie"
Captives
By Greg Laurie
Sometimes Christians will look at non-Christians as the enemy.
But they are not the enemy—they are trapped by the enemy, who is
the devil. They are like you and I once were: captives of sin.
That is how Christians need to see nonbelievers. We are told in
2 Timothy 2:24–26,
A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be kind to
everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult
people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God
will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the
truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the
devil's trap. For they have been held captive by him to do
whatever he wants.
They are in bondage, and they don't know why or how. But you
know. They are under the power of the enemy. So pray that God
will open their eyes spiritually. Pray they will see their need
for Jesus. Pray they will respond to the gospel message.
The big question is, do we really believe what the Bible says?
Because if we do, then it means that someone who doesn't know
Jesus Christ when he or she dies will go to hell. Do we really
believe this? If we do, then how can be so cavalier about
evangelism? How can we be so uncaring if we really believe what
we say we believe?
If we are disciples, then we need to go and make disciples of
others. And if we are not making disciples of others, the
question arises as to whether we are really the disciples God
wants us to be. The prescription for spiritual dryness is to go
out and try to win people to Christ and help them grow
spiritually—that is fulfilling the Great Commission.