Virgins and Veterans - by Joel Hempel Do you realize that all of us who are born-again Christians were virgin-birthed? Certainly not like Jesus, but nonetheless, reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit. By a means and a miracle beyond our understanding, and without our assistance, God entered our hearts, claimed us as his own, and took up residency within us.1 Wait a minute, one might say. I had to agree to God entering me. I’m the one who had to say, “I believe.” Every so often, I hear evangelists say, “All you have to do is make a decision for Jesus and believe.” So, no, not even God, one may contend, can change my heart without my consent! Well, that person presents a reasonable argument, but his conclusion is wrong. It is true, we Christians are the ones who speak or think the words. I believe! I believe Jesus is my Savior and Lord. I believe that on the cross, Jesus died for me and forgave me once and for all time. I believe! But you know as well as I that those words could never have even crossed our minds without the Holy Spirit tugging on our hearts, or as Scripture puts it, knocking at the door of our hearts.2 The Holy Spirit doesn’t put words in our mouths like a ventriloquist, but the Holy Spirit creates the spiritual muscle for us to open our hearts and let Jesus in. What does Scripture call the means that the Holy Spirit uses to build spiritual muscle and get our attention? Grace! God’s grace, God’s remarkable, incomprehensible grace continues reaching out to us - sometimes through parents who bring us to the baptismal font - and creates faith in us, the faith to say, I believe.3 So, yes, you were - or maybe still are - a spiritual virgin. But most of us now are spiritual veterans. And don’t you know, the Spirit is just as active now in our lives as when He was first getting our attention. As spiritual vets, we may not be thanked for our service. But God thanks us. For it is through Christian service and His Word that our Lord continues to transform us and those we serve into what He would love for us to be.4 Thank God for virgin believers and veteran servants. We thank God for our virgin birth, however many years ago it may have been. And we thank God for his grace and the Holy Spirit’s unrelenting love, which not only continues to mold us into veterans of the cross, but also gives us hope when a loved one walks away from the church and from God. 1. John 3:3-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:8-11. 2. Revelation 3:20 3. Ephesians 2:8-9 4. Ephesians 2:10 |
