A Plea For Christ

Our life as a Christian is a plea to the world on behalf of Jesus Christ. We do so by our words (Phil. 2:16; Mark 16:16) and our manner of life (Mat. 5:1; 1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Cor. 3:2-3). What, then, is it we are to plea?
When we plea for Christ to the world, we are pleading for His DEITY. The apostles made this the central fact of their proclamation (Acts 2:36; 5:42; 17:2-3; etc.). We, too, are to plea that Jesus was God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:1,14).
When we plea for Christ to the world, we are pleading for His WORD–THE BIBLE. We are to proclaim that the Bible is inspired by God: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Tim. 3:16). We are to proclaim that the Bible is all-sufficient (we do not need addition, man-made creed books): “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness…” (2 Pet. 1:3).
When we plea for Christ to the world, we plea for His AUTHORITY. We must proclaim that any other religion or any philosophy of life has no authority nor validity, for: “All authority is given unto me, in heaven and on earth” (Mat. 28:18) and “There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
When we plea for Christ to the world, we plea for His NAME. A follower of Christ is a Christian–that’s all! God said He was going to name us (Isa. 62:2), and the name with which He named us is “Christian” (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Pet. 4:16). We plea to the world that God did not name us with all the various names which are used today.
When we plea for Christ to the world, we plea for His CHURCH. We plea for unity (singularity) because Jesus “pray[ed] that they all be one” (John 17:20) and division is condemned (1 Cor. 1:10). Such unity can be achieved only by (1) rejecting the divisive creed books, and (2) following precisely what the Bible authorizes (John 8:32; Rev. 22:18-19).
May each Christian, by his words and by his manner of life, plea to the world on behalf of the Deity, the Word, the Authority, the Name and the church of Christ.
Gary Henson