Our Desire
If you have visited our website either without a relationship to God, or at a place in your life wherein you sense your need of God, that here you can gain access to biblical counsel as to how you may come to know God through Jesus Christ and become a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20).
To learn more, follow the dropdown pages depicting different stages of spiritual development. As you do so, ask God that he may show you himself, yourself, and his Son Jesus Christ. Merely reading of these stages will not mean that you will automatically have your sins forgiven and become a Christian, but we are keen to provide something of a visual of the phases through which a person passes to fully-fledged maturity in Christ. This will help you recognize where you are at in your spiritual journey, and will offer you some insight as to ho, under God’s good hand, you can progress from there. Take heart, for God has said in his Word, that “he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
In this regard, check out our outreach publication The Way (under “Our Activities”). The publication takes hold of present-day issues to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord in a relevant, reasoned, and readable manner. Where through The Way or otherwise, it is our prayer that you come to faith in Christ through From His Fullness Ministries if you haven’t already, and go on to spend the rest of your life in his service.
Stage One: A Fresh Awareness of God
Each of us has the knowledge of God etched ineradicably on our constitutions. However, in our unrighteousness, we suppress that knowledge (Rom. 1:18-20). Thus, seeking God does not come naturally to us. Naturally, we are self-seeking. Long ago, though, Anselm (1033-1109), Archbishop of Canterbury, showed us that we may ask God for a heart to seek Him:
Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me, when I seek you, for I cannot seek you, except you teach me, nor find you, except you reveal yourself. Let me seek you in longing, let me long for you in seeking; let me find you in love, and love you in finding.
May God grant you the grace to likewise call upon God.
You have a tremendous encouragement to seek an encounter with God, for God has first come to us in Christ to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).* While our sin makes God feel very far from us, the apostle Paul’s remark to the intelligentsia in Athens in the first century A.D., reminds us that we may feel our way toward God and find him, for, actually, he is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27). Indeed, God has promised us in the New Testament that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). His Word, his character, and the experience of each believer teach us that God never breaks his promises!
To make the most of your fresh awareness of God, we advocate that you find that old Bible lying somewhere around the house. Dust it down and open it up. Alternatively, you may need to look one up online, although if you are to take God seriously you will need to purchase your own. We recommend you buy what is called a formal equivalent translation, meaning a word-for-word translation such as the New King James Version or English Standard Version. A King James Version is time-tested, too, if you prefer the older English.
Additionally, you will want to start a search for a local Bible-believing church which teaches that a person is saved by the grace of God alone, through faith in Christ alone. If you are uncertain of your choice, feel free to write to us (contact@fromhisfullness.com), and we shall do our best to get you connected. In the meantime, check out this article: Starting Your Search for a Church.
We’ll have more to say in regard to Stage Two, but, throughout, ask God to show you Himself, yourself, and His Son Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners.
The Lord bless your journey to faith in Christ!
Stage Two: Beginning Your Pursuit of God
Although getting a Bible for yourself and a church family is important for building upon your fresh awareness of God, this stage of your spiritual development is really about learning of the good news of Jesus Christ.
This can be challenging for you will learn of your true spiritual state before God. You will learn that God is just and that you have broken His law, that He is holy but you are unclean. You will come to realize that although you cannot save yourself nor contribute to your salvation, that God delights to save those who cry unto him.
There follow some sample resources to help unpack this biblical teaching for you. Check out any or all of the following:
The short article The Canyon Puppy: Have You Been Rescued?
John Blanchard’s booklet Ultimate Questions. It is available in multiple languages, and has been greatly used to help others.
If you have questions that need answers, listen in to Dr. Tim’s series of informal addresses, titled Serious Answers to Serious Questions. He poses six questions: 1. Why am I Here? 2. Why Believe in God? 3. Why Trust the Bible? 4. Why is Jesus Unique? 5. Why is Jesus Good News? 6. Why Trust Your Life to Jesus?
Find near you the course called Christianity Explored.
If we can be of any help to you as you begin to seek the Lord ~ answering sincere questions or receiving requests for prayer ~ then please contact us. We would welcome the opportunity to help you in your pursuit of God.
As you set out on your search, know that God is already seeking his own! Satan will do everything he can to deter you and to distract you, but God has promised to reward those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Do claim his promise as you proceed!
Here are some sample accounts of how others came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ:
Andy Trumper: “From Armed Soldier to Soldier of the Cross.”
Forough Pirseyedi: “Not too Far, Not too Late!”
Step Three: Learning More
Getting into the Bible is critical to your seeking after God. There we learn of Christ, through whom alone we may come to know God. There follow some tips to aid your approach to the Bible:
While reading the Bible and learning to pray for God’s help in understanding what you read, there is good literature available today to help you. There follow some tips on reading Christian literature:
How to Read Theological Literature: For Beginners
Lectura Christiana: Sugerencias Personales Para el Principiante
Step Four: Maturing in the Faith
When you are ready to go further and deeper into your relationship to God and into the content of the Christian faith, you will benefit from the following extended statements of Christian doctrine. They are helpful for summarizing biblical teaching and include:
The Belgic Confession of Faith (1561): Sometimes known as the Walloon Confession, The Belgic Confession was compiled by Guido De Bres as a defense of persecuted Reformed Christians. It was translated from French into Dutch in 1562. By 1618 the Confession had received definitive approval at the Synod of Dordrecht, becoming known with the Heidelberg Catechism and Canons of the same Synod the “Three Forms of Unity.” These forms served as the confessional foundation for all Dutch Reformed churches. The text of the Confession may be sub-divided into three units: the triune God and the knowledge of him from Scripture (Articles 1-9); Christ’s work of creation and redemption (Articles 10-23); and the ministry of the Spirit in and through the church of Jesus Christ (Articles 24-37).
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647): Actually completed in December of 1646, the Westminster Confession of Faith gained its name from the Westminster Assembly. The Assembly of Puritans met in London in order to compile a statement of faith that would express the faith of Reformed believers throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Westminster Confession of Faith is said to be the last of the classic Reformed confessions, and has been by far the most influential in the English-speaking world.
Containing thirty-three chapters, the Westminster Confession is especially noted for its mature statements on Holy Scripture, predestination, assurance, and the nature of Christian liberty. The Confession is also the first confession in the history of the church to have included substantive statements on covenant theology (7), the doctrine of adoption (12), and the distinction between the visible and invisible church (25).
The Calvinistic Methodist Confession of Faith (1823; English translation, 1827): This confession was produced to express the beliefs of Calvinistic Methodists in Wales who had earlier broken from the Church of England in 1795. The Confession became the subordinate standard of the Calvinistic Methodist or Presbyterian Church in Wales. It was the loss of the theology of the Confession under the influence of early twentieth-century theological liberalism and modernism which influenced Dr. Peter Trumper to become the first to lead his English-speaking congregation out of the Presbyterian Church in Wales in the 1960s.
Statement of Faith, World Reformed Fellowship (2011): This most recent statement of faith reminds us that the task of theology is ongoing. The World Reformed Fellowship is a promotion of Reformed partnerships worldwide in which From His Fullness Ministries is an organizational member. The Statement of Faith is distinctive in its endeavors: (1) To reflect the global reach of the Reformed faith in a way that was beyond the compilers of the aforementioned historic statements of faith; (2) To apply the theology of the Reformed faith to the global issues of the present.
Check Out: How to Read Theological Literature: For Advancers
Step Five: Sharing the Faith
It would be good from early in your Christian life to learn the importance of not only a seasonal but a year-round habit of sharing your faith in Jesus. This evangelism lifestyle is especially significant for new Christians who yet retain unconverted friends to witness close-at-hand the transformative power of Christ.
Our Motivation
Ultimately, our aim is not to fill pews or to increase the coffers of the church. Rather, we seek to glorify God by exalting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and to see the lost come out from under condemnation.
God is not glorified when we think Christ our local church is just for us. Nor is he when we take for granted the impact of Christ on our lives, or withhold the potential of that impact from others. God is not glorified either when material or temporal matters cloud over, or crowd out, the urgency and priority of the spiritual need of our peers. Neither is God glorified when we doubt his desire and power to save people from their sins. After all, we ourselves are evidence of his desire and power! While God has not promised that all to whom we witness will be saved (Acts 13:48), it is clear they will not come to Christ without access to his word of invitation and command (Matthew 11:28-30; Acts 17:30).
Conversely, God is glorified when, through our excitement about the gospel, we are compelled to reach out to unconverted friends (Ephesians 3:14–19); when our confidence is fueled by the promise that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17); and when we are inspired by what he’s done in history. How God delights to see his people energized and obedient (Acts 8:4), yearning to see others joining us in heaven!
Our Manner
Since God sovereignly draws his people out of the world and unto himself, we have no need to coerce or to cajole others to become followers of Christ. A sense of desperation is out of keeping with the riches Christ offers. Rather, it is with a sense of joy that we convey the blessings we have in Christ (cf.,Romans 11:13–14).
In our outreach, much depends on our living, but also on our seeking of God in our interactions for the leading of his Spirit. The best evangelists are open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, knowing when to speak and how to respond (1 Peter 3:15). We need his power to loosen our tongues, his wisdom to use effectively our daily and weekly equipping with the Word (Ephesians 4:12), and his grace to believe that invitations to Christ and commands to repent will accomplish God’s purposes.
God harmonizes his sovereignty and our responsibility. Remember how Jesus wept over Jerusalem, took to task those who led the blind astray, pled with the lost with a full and perfect blend of grace and truth, and ultimately died for them. All did not believe in him, but he was faithful in dying to himself and fruitful in saving his people. It is not for us to atone for their sins—Christ has accomplished that—but we are likewise called to die to ourselves and to relinquish our reputations for the sake of the lost.
Our Method
Since it is by the foolishness of preaching that men and women come to faith in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18) we understandably aim to invite friends to public worship. How we do so can determine how effective we are.
The direct approach: Christmas and Easter are great opportunities to invite anyone along to worship, for these seasons form points of contact with society. Everyone knows something about the Christmas and Easter narratives, even if they know little about Christianity or the church. Do pray, then, to be of use to God in filling your church’s Christmas and Easter services with any and all who need an encounter with God! Christmas and Easter are not holy (in the sense of being biblically mandated), but they are very helpful for aiding outreach.
In the remainder of the year, the direct invitation to worship will best suit those with previous experience of church. Public worship—what was called in Old Testament times the Qahal (“assembly”)—remains chiefly for God’s people. Accordingly, much of the pulpit ministry is geared to the equipping of the saints for ministry during the week. The evangelism which comes through the preached word in public worship is largely geared toward non-communicant members of the church; that is, toward those with some knowledge of Christianity. This focus agrees with that of Scripture, for teh Bible chiefly addresses the covenant community.
The indirect approach: With the increased gap between the church and society, those wishing to hear the message of the church may well find it easier to connect with Christian communities by first attending a social event, an informal Bible study, or a specific course (e.g., Christianity Explored, Griefshare, Divorce Care, etc.). This does not mean to say it is wrong to invite unchurched family, friends, or colleagues, first to public worship. How could it be? God is sovereign and can bless to them the welcome, the various elements of the service, even supposing the sermon stretches them initially. Just don’t expect the pulpit ministry to do for unchurched invitees what, in the main, it is not intended to. Few books of Scripture address those from outside the covenant community explicitly (e.g., the fool in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, parts of Daniel). The Scriptures teach us that the preaching to the unchurched takes on a different form (e.g., Acts 17:16–34), and occurs outside of public worship. That’s why we suggest initially the primary use of alternative venues for reaching those with little or no experience of biblical exposition and worship liturgies.
Our grasp of this will go some way to alleviating unwarranted expectations of the pulpit ministry, while maximizing the opportunities in church life for the unchurched to hear of Jesus.
Every blessing, then, on your life and service to Christ.