The Amish Voice 10
Acts 4; 12, the Bible says: Neither is there salvaton in any oth-
er: for there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved.
The church was just in its very early stages of growth. Peter and John
had been imprisoned overnight for preaching Jesus as the most im-
portant person ever in God’s dealing with men. If you read Acts 4,
you will realize that the above statement was part of a very short
statement as to who Jesus Christ is and was. The most important
reason to believe Jesus is the Son of God is that
there is no salvaton possible any other way.
As I pointed out earlier, almost all Christan
churches have declared Jesus to be the son of
God through the ages. The Catholic Church cer-
tainly did that, but also demanded that their
practces had to be followed. It was a sad day
when the church of that day began to forbid
members to disagree on practces not given in
the Bible. Many were called heretcs and tor-
tured and killed. The church and its practces
had become more important than believing in
Jesus! There is stll pressure today to simply
cling to practces and not promote the im-
portance of Jesus being the bedrock of faith
that brings salvaton.
We can listen to all of Jesus’ great teachings
and then try to practce self denial and love for
others. We can observe communion, live a hard
life, wash feet, and sing hymns, pray three tmes a day, feed the poor
etc. and not think about Jesus being the son of God. All this can be
done even if we simply regard Jesus as a great teacher. Yet according
to what is writen in Acts this Lordship of Jesus is a key belief in
Christanity. Everything rises or falls on this statement.
What does a church look like if Jesus is not actually regarded as God?
Sadly, not a lot would change in many churches. The power of the
Holy Spirit would be absent, for one thing. New believers would not
be encouraged and helped to grow in understanding of what they
are in God’s sight. The faith that once was vibrant would falter. Peo-
ple would be taught to follow our example and teaching and to not
worry. The Bible would not make much sense to those who chose to
read it. Preaching about salvaton would lack power. Sinners might
even feel right at home sitng under a gospel message. Healing of
the sick and deliverance would not happen. The entre Christan reli-
gion would be undone. The Old Testament law would stll be in
efect. Priests would stll have to ofer sin sacrifces, frst for them-
selves, then for others.
When we sin, the only one who can forgive is
God himself. To suggest your sin is forgiven is
simply foolishness unless God has authorized it.
Jesus Christ has been authorized to forgive and
bring into the kingdom those who come to him.
As you know, I cannot act on the behalf of
someone without being authorized to do it. If
you owe $25,000 to uncle Henry, only Uncle
Henry can forgive the debt. For instance if
cousin Bill came and told you he forgave the
debt, it would not mean anything. You cannot
experience being set free from sin unless you
ask the One who has the power to do it, name-
ly Jesus Christ.
Because Jesus was a man that experienced life
as you and I do, he understands. He paid a high
price for salvaton for you and me. Don’t miss
it because you are afraid to ask.
John 6; 37 says;
All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out.
And in verse 40 it says;
And this is the will of him that sent me,
that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may
have everlastng life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The ofer stll stands. I too was a sinner that found grace when I
asked Jesus for his priceless, yet free, gif!
Eli Stutzman — Ontario Canada
Phone: (519) 866-3737
So Why is it so Important to Believe That Jesus is the Son of God?
...lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. —Mathew 3:17
Every tme I am asked to pray, I think of the old fellow who always
prayed, 'Lord, prop us up on our “leaning side.” Afer hearing him
pray that prayer many tmes, someone asked him why he prayed
that prayer so fervently.
He answered, 'Well sir, you see, it's like this.... I got
an old barn out back. It's been there a long tme; it's
withstood a lot of weather; it's gone through a lot of
storms, and it's stood for many years.
It's stll standing. But one day I notced it was leaning
to one side a bit.
So I went and got some pine poles and propped it up
on its leaning side so it wouldn't fall.
Then I got to thinking about that and how much I was like that old
barn.. I've been around a long tme.
I've withstood a lot of life's storms. I've withstood a lot of bad
weather in life, I've withstood a lot of hard tmes, and I'm stll stand-
ing too. But I fnd myself leaning to one side from tme to tme, so I
like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leaning side,
'cause I fgure a lot of us get to leaning at tmes.
Sometmes we get to leaning toward anger, leaning
toward biterness leaning toward hatred, leaning
toward cussing, leaning toward a lot of things that
we shouldn't. So we need to pray, 'Lord, prop us up
on our leaning side, so we will stand straight and tall
again, to glorify the Lord.''
We all need to be propped up from tme to tme, the Lord will do
that for you, if you ask Him.
—By Eli Stutzman
Lord Prop Us Up!