A Come-to-Jesus-Moment By Hal Lindsey
The big game is almost over. The coach calls a timeout.
He huddles with his players near the sideline. We see him speaking to
them passionately and from the heart. He’s getting them ready to play
will all their might for the next few minutes. As we see the players on
the field, there’s a good chance we will hear the TV announcer say that
the players are having a “come to Jesus moment.”
Over the last few years, people throughout the culture
have talked about having “come to Jesus moments.” It has become a common
way to refer to any earnest, heart-to-heart appeal from one person to a
group of people.
Of course, a real “come to Jesus moment” is infinitely
more profound than a coach firing up his team. But it might not be as
emotional. Sometimes there are tears when people come to Jesus, but not
always. Sometimes it is in response to a heartfelt, emotional plea by
someone else. But it might be while they are alone, perhaps walking and
thinking, or reading.
Sometimes people go to church and have a powerful
emotional experience. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they have really
come to Jesus. Maybe they felt bad about a sin and stepped forward in
church hoping to stop that particular sin. But saying, “I promise never
to do it again,” is not the same as “coming to Jesus” and receiving His
gift of grace.
Romans 10:1-4 says, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my
prayer to God for them [Israel] is for their salvation. For I bear them
witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with
knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to
establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the
righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone who believes.”
We know from Romans 9:31, that the word “they” refers to
“Israel.” Individual Jews were being saved, but Israel as a group had
rejected Jesus. Paul’s desire was for the whole nation to be saved.
Having formerly been one of the most zealous of Jews, he understood the
zeal for God that many Jews felt. But, he said, it was “not in
accordance with knowledge.”
What knowledge did they lack? They lacked the same
knowledge that most people lack in our day. They didn’t grasp the scope
of “God’s righteousness.” Look carefully at Romans 10:3. “For not
knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own,
they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”
Notice how each phrase is proven by the next. They don’t
really understand God’s righteousness. Because of that, they think they
can create their own. That leads to the fatal error of not subjecting
themselves to the righteousness of God.
That’s what’s happening to millions around the world.
They don’t understand God’s righteousness, so they’re trying to save
themselves by establishing our own. In Luke 18, Jesus told the parable
of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. That story is introduced by the
statement, “He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous.”
You will only trust in yourself that you are righteous if
you lack an understanding of God’s perfect righteousness. And make no
mistake. His righteousness is the standard. Anything less is not good
enough.
That’s why Jesus, God the Son, became a man, and lived a
perfect human life. He could live the perfect standard as a man because
He is also God. He not only took our sins on Himself at the cross, but
to all who believe He also transfers the gift of His perfect
righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Because our goodness can never measure up to God’s standard of goodness, it is essential that we “come to Jesus.”
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