Background
All of us have been told, at one time or another, to listen when someone is speaking to us. Preparing a rebuttal in our minds while pretending to listen is wrong and foolish. Yet we've all likely done this. It’s human nature…and there is the danger!
In Proverbs 15:28 ESV, we see, “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.” And in Proverbs 29:20 ESV, we are told, “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
The Story
I was recently talking with a very spiritually mature Christian. She told me about a man whom she and her husband had witnessed Christ to over the course of several years. I was listening and rejoicing. I wasn't thinking of a response.
She added that he said he believed in Jesus. This is when I didn’t ponder my response. What I said was, “That’s wonderful, but believing and being saved aren’t the same.” My response was foolish.
Why This Matters
I heard “believed”, but some of the context around the topic led me off on an unjustified tangent. I immediately thought of James 2:19: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” But the passage I should have jumped to was Romans 10:9-11 NIV:
9 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. 10 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. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
By the Holy Spirit, our heart-faith leads us to believe in the saving power of Jesus. And our belief makes us justified (as if I’d never sinned) before God. The second part is “it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Yes, there are two parts: Believing and Public Confession. This man did both.
When we talk with spiritually young Christians, they don’t know Church lingo. Saved. Believed. Justified. Sanctified. Regenerated. Reconciliation. They learn that terminology by spending time with more mature Christians, participating in Bible studies, and hearing Biblically based sermons. We need to hear a person’s heart. She did; I didn’t.
The Take-Away
I am confident that this man is a born-again child of God. The lesson I want to pass along is this: We (I) must do more than just listen before we speak. We need to ponder what we just heard before we state our opinion. We can ask follow-up questions. But we need to let the words, the speaker’s body language, and the Holy Spirit help us form any kind of statement or declaration we make.
Words are powerful and need to be treated with respect.
Live for Jesus. That’s what matters.