Most people never read a Bible. Sadly, this is often true of believers. But mainly in the article today I am referencing the lost, the unsaved. These people are not stupid people, they are just lost. Even the lost have the ability to observe things. It would be wonderful if they would open a Bible and turn to a simple passage such as the gospel of John and start reading and thinking. They would quickly be able to see Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. But most will not do this. The majority of Bible reading is done by the saints of God. So, how do we get them to see the need for salvation? We will look at two passages in the New Testament.
First, turn to II Corinthians 3:1-3. Paul begins this chapter asking the Corinthians two questions: Did we commend ourselves to you? Do we need letters of recommendation from you? Then he emphatically states to them that they themselves are his letters, his epistles. These Christians at Corinth are “living epistles.” The unsaved living in the city of Corinth would see the lives of these Christians and they would be the only Bible the lost had to observe. You and I are living epistles, we are living letters; we are the only Bibles some people ever read. It is constantly on my mind that people are watching us and observing how we carry ourselves.
The second passage of scripture for today is I John 4:10-12. This is the motivation for us to be good living epistles, Bibles, that others are watching. These three little verses begin with the truth that God loved us and “sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The word propitiation means that Jesus is the satisfaction or expiation. Two parts are included in this satisfaction: One, the wrath of God because our sin is appeased. Two, we are reconciled to God and have peace with God. How can these things be a motivation? We experience the love of God when we certainly do not deserve it. The unsaved are living under the wrath of God and some do not even know it. Yet, God loves them, and they also can experience being saved. Included in our motivation is “loving one another.” 4:11 tells us that “…we ought also to love one another.” We treat our brothers and sisters with love. Why? Because we, the living letters, are being read by the lost. Did Jesus not say that “by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another?” The last motivation in I John 4 is found in verse 12. If we love each other, then the “love of God is perfected in us.” The word “perfected” simply means completed or matured. We are to live, behave, and operate so that the unsaved can see Christ in us.
Over 100 years ago, William Booth founded the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army has some issues today, but during the time of its founding it was truly doing the Lord’s work with the poor and downtrodden in England. General Booth sent a telegram to all the Salvation Army officers and it simply had one word in the message, “Others.” May 29, 1914 is the date that the Empress of Ireland, a passenger ship, sank near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in Canada. 1,012 people died. The Salvation Army had 130 of its officers aboard. 109 of those officers drowned. Not one of those officers had a life jacket. Why? Because they had given them to others in the water. The testimony from the survivors was this; the officers would swim over to a person about to die and say, “Take this jacket, I can die better than you can.” They gave their lives helping others see Jesus in them. They truly were “living epistles.” They were the Bibles that others saw in the water off the coast of Canada. Have this thought take root in your mind. People are watching your life, and it is our duty to be the best Bible they read until they meet the Lord Jesus.