*Almost a year ago my wife and I had a very special time with "Ellie" and her boyfriend Ali, with whom I have kept in contact by email since then. Last Saturday I had a wonderful reunion with Ali which I have written about in a separate email report.
When Allie and Ali arrived at 6:15 p.m. we could see that they were both a little nervous, especially Ellie: What would we think of Ali? We had very pleasant small talk about cats, frogs, cockroaches, coffee, careers and other random things as we enjoyed a meal of grilled chicken, rice pilaf and salad. Ali abstained from the chicken because it was not halal, but he had plenty of rice and salad. We also talked about his parents' country of origin, Pakistan. But Ali is American-born and talks like every other American boy. He wants to be a Physical Therapist and he said he would like to move back to Pakistan some day to help people there.
After dinner we asked Ali, "Why do you think you are here?" He replied that he wanted to learn a few more things about Christianity, and that he has some questions. We asked him what he thinks he knows about Christianity and how it's different from Islam. He replied that Christianity is about salvation through Jesus Christ, but Islam is about the balance of good works vs. bad works; so there is really no salvation in Islam, at least not in the same sense. True. He also said that although the works principle is a very clear one--so the more the better--a Muslim can never have assurance because he can never know his status with God. And they say they are ok with that. Then I asked Ali what he understands about the Christian concept of salvation--i.e. why we need to be saved. But he did not know. This launched JoEllen and me into a lengthy "exposition" of this subject. As we unfolded the gospel he listened intently. And we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit guiding the conversation.
In very broad strokes, we first explained that God is holy and just and righteous. He therefore has very high standards (laws) of "goodness" that nobody meets naturally. Human beings have, from childhood, a predisposition that is bent away from God, not toward Him. We read to him from Romans 3:9-12 about human depravity, and that "no one is good"; and from vv.19-20. In fact we are at enmity with God. We also read to him from Nahum 1:3 and explained that we have broken all of God's laws and are therefore guilty of "crimes against Him." And God does not excuse the guilty. We can never do enough good things to erase or cover up our offenses, any more than a few weeks of healthy eating can undo the damage of many years of a junkfood diet. Because of this all people are worthy of hell. (And Ali is still listening intently.)
This is where Jesus comes in. Jesus came to do for us what we can not possibly do for ourselves. For even if we could do more good deeds than bad, Ephesians 2:8-9 says salvation just doesn't work that way. We explained that what Jesus did when he died on the cross and rose again was to take upon himself the wrath of God that we deserve. Therefore, if we trust Christ for to his works on our behalf we can be saved. Here we tried to explain that when this "transaction" occurs a person enters into a living relationship with God and something supernatural happens within him: He goes from death to life, from darkness to light, from being outside of God's kingdom to inside, from being an alien to being adopted into God's family, to become an heir to all His riches and eternal privileges.
We read more Bible passages to illustrate these truths, such as Ephesians 2:1-7. We shared with them that those who trust in Christ in this way receive his rightoeousness and are reconciled with God through him. They receive the power to overcome the power of sin and death that is rampant in the world (1 John 4:4). This is the only way to experience the Mercy of God. Finally we shared with them that those who truly receive Christ (John 1:14) receive a sense of confidence that He is in them and they in Him; that they have been accepted by God and will inherit eternal life (1 John 4:1-7). There is no guessing.
We asked Ali if this made sense, to which he replied that it did. After this Ali also asked us about the trinity, but not in the way that many Muslims ask, to back you into a corner. Rather he listened carefully while we explained the biblical rationale for this doctrine, citing Luke 3:15-22, Colossians 1:15-18 and a few others. Still he did not protest. Then, although he did not raise it, we also addressed the commonly asked question of how we know we can trust the Bible, that it has not been corrupted, citing 2 Tim. 3:16-17, and discussing the nature of God's revelation. ...No argument from Ali here either.
For the sake of brevity I will leave off here. Suffice it to say it seemed to us that the Holy Spirit was giving them both a desire to understand rather than challenge what they were hearing. We then asked Ali if any of this sounded convincing to him, to which he replied that he would have to process a few things. We gave him a short book called Why Follow Jesus. We intend to invite them both over again as often as they will agree to come. As the Lord reminds you, please continue to pray for Ellie and Ali.
One last note: The substance of this conversation was not at all uncommon through our frequent exchanges with Muslims. Only the context was unique. How often does an Iranian/American quasi-Christian girl you hardly know bring a Pakistani Muslim guy she's dating to your house so you can teach them the gospel?
"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has
the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:11-12
"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has
the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:11-12
