Answers
By BGEA Admin • December 2, 2023 • Topics: Jesus Christ
Q:
As a recent graduate of a Christian college, I was taught the importance of branding Christianity effectively. I like wearing T-shirts and caps with cool logos, but I’m not too sure about the effectiveness of branding Jesus. At the ballpark, I see people with T-shirts that say, “I love Jesus and marijuana.” This doesn’t seem like a clear testimony of faith in Christ.
A:
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
For a person just to say they are “believing in Jesus” can produce a false assurance of salvation, because even the devil “believes in Jesus.” To believe in Jesus is to turn from a life of sin, receive Him as Savior, and follow Him as Lord by obeying His word. When this happens, a person’s desires change as they begin to follow His teachings found in the Bible.
When Jesus traveled the countryside, great crowds sought Him. But He knew the people desired to see His great miracles more than hear His words, so He told them, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost?” (Luke 14:28, NKJV). When He began to tell them that He would soon die and be raised to life again, many people left Him and “walked with Him no more” (John 6:66, NKJV). They didn’t want to follow someone who promised eternal life if it meant the cruelty of death. They were disciples in name only—and they walked away from the truth because their faith was insincere. Jesus paid the cost of our salvation with His blood, but there is a cost to following this wonderful Savior who came to seek and save lost souls.
The greatest testimony to this dark world today would be a band of crucified and risen men and women and young people, dead to sin and alive unto God, bearing in their bodies “the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians 6:17).
(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
