Every day pray that everyone you know will either become a Christian or influence others to become a Christian, and please share this online book with others - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
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Could Paul Read People's Hearts Like Jesus?
My copy and paste feature doesn't keep the words that are supposed to be italicized, so instead of me doing it manually, refer to a Bible to see which words are italicized.
There are instances in the Bible where Jesus granted eternal life in heaven to people, and it seemed very simple. Two examples of this were the thief on the cross (Luke 23:42-43 which records, “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”) and the paralytic who was lowered through a roof while Jesus was preaching in a house in Capernaum (Mark 2:3-5 say, “And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”). You might be saying, “The thief on the cross and the paralytic didn’t contemplate all the technical things I’ve discussed.” Yes, that’s probably true, but being who He is, Jesus could read their hearts, and He knew the soil of their hearts were properly prepared to receive Him (The Parable of the Sower – Matthew 13:1-23). Unlike us, Jesus knows everyone’s heart. John 2:23-25 proves this, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” Also, why didn’t Jesus make it simple when He witnessed to the Rich Young Ruler in Luke 18:18-23? The reason is because Jesus knew the Rich Young Ruler’s heart. Since we don’t know how prepared or unprepared the soil of people’s hearts are to receive Jesus, we shouldn’t tell everyone to “just believe”. If they are willing to “repent”, they are ready to “believe” (see chapters 16 and 8 of this book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com).
Some, however, may say that Paul couldn't read people's hearts, but he didn't mention repentance or anything like that so their hearts would have been prepared to receive Jesus before they accepted Him as their Savior. A simple invitation Paul and Silas gave the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31 was that if he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, he would be saved (become a Christian). Although, if you read the events that lead up to this, you should know that his heart was definitely prepared to receive Jesus. But, Paul didn't simply witness this way to everyone, because he said in Acts 26:20 that he told those in Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. This means these people would have known that they really repented and turned to God if they began to do good works after they accepted Jesus as their Savior. They needed to be willing to begin following Jesus after they accepted Him as their Savior.
In conclusion, Paul couldn't read people's hearts like Jesus was able to do, and as a result, he told many how to prepare their hearts to receive Jesus by getting them to repent (Acts 26:20).
If you have asked Jesus into your heart, believed that Jesus is your Savior, or trusted Jesus' death on the cross and His shed blood to erase your sins and let you into heaven and believed He arose from the dead, etc., but you haven't done good works as a result, please follow chapter 10 of this book. - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
If you have not prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, please follow chapter 41 of this book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), please follow chapter 41 of this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven