Conversation with a Dying Man

He was no longer able to speak easily, so we kept our conversation going via email. We'd spent a few hours discussing his impending death, what he wanted done with his body (donated to medical science) and exactly what he wanted to say to his wife and son and his grandchildren but couldn't do easily. My job as friend was just to listen. His next message included this, in response to him reading a book I recommended that explained who Jesus is and what He accomplished on the cross:

"I’m also wondering if it’s slow reading because it’s covering ideas in which I already believe, just not outwardly.

Doesn’t belief in Jesus, and what He did for us, and if I believe, I don’t need to “prove” it to anybody.  That’s purely between Him and me?

My response to him was as follows:

"Yes, faith is first personal in that each man has to answer for himself before God at Judgment Day the same question Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am? (This is found in both Mark 8 and Luke 9 in the New Testament.) The answer will have an impact on your eternal destination. (Heaven or Hell?)

What the Apostle Paul says to the church in Rome applies to your question- " 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

In other words, Do you believe Jesus paid the price for your sin when He died on the cross, and Do you believe He rose from the dead proving He is God in the flesh?

Now, faith is also public. So, looking at the same words from Paul above, "profess" does mean a declaration of what you believe. It's one reason people who get baptized begin with affirmation of who Jesus is to them. Just what I asked you.  

Just as with Jesus' initial followers, the Apostle Paul and other believers in Jesus past and present, your declaration of it is important. 

There is one most important primary reason faith is also public. The last and most important reason is the words of Jesus Himself, that if we acknowledge him before others, he will acknowledge them (as those who love Him) at judgment. If we cannot do that, we are not really His. (Luke 12)."

We all have to answer Jesus' question- the same one He asked Peter. And we will all face death. To think there's no eternity regardless of how we answer would just make us another "foolish mortal".

(Photograph copyright The Walt Disney Company.)