Fully Persuaded

"Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." (II Corinthians 5: 11)

Christians are regularly in the habit of attempting to convert others. This involves "persuasion." To "persuade" means "to move by argument, entreaty, or expostulation to a belief, position, or course of action," and "to plead with" or to "urge." Christians, knowing the "terror of the Lord," and being informed of his promised judgment upon sinful men, and of the condemned sentence that he has pronounced upon all, are not warning sinners of mere trifling matters. Christians are not playing the role of "Chicken Little." The sky is really falling! Christians are not crying "wolf" when there is no wolf. The Christian, obviously, wants to convert and persuade others to his religion, to see sinners converted from sin and persuaded to come to Christ and accept him as Lord and Savior.

"King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds." (Acts 27-29)

Paul's pleadings with the king to believe in Christ as Messiah, and in his sacrificial death, and in his resurrection and glorification, was an attempt to persuade the king of the truth of the gospel.

The first Christians were powerful persuaders! This is not to infer that the power to convince and persuade the minds of sinners is anything less than "eternal power." The mind of sinners is naturally hardened and biased against the truth of God, particularly against that portion of it that is called "gospel."

Sinners are not without any persuasion, for they are persuaded of many things. But, they are persuaded in falsehood. Paul said to some in the early church - "This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you." (Galatians 5: 8)

The Devil is in the persuading business too. He knows all the arts and skills of debaters and Sophists; he is no mean logician and rhetorician. He persuaded Eve to rebel against her Maker. He even foolishly sought to persuade God that he was wrong about Job. Every "persuasion" that a man has will have its immediate source from God, "from him who calls you," or from the Devil. The Christian or gospel persuasion is of the Lord, but a persuasion in error is of the Devil.

No one will be persuaded of the gospel without God giving grace to believe and know. It must be "revealed" by the Lord himself.

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." (Luke 16: 30,31)

Some think just like this rich man, who testifies from beyond the grave, from Hades. He thinks that his "five brothers" would repent and believe the truth if Lazarus will just be sent back from the dead. He is wrong. Men's resistance to truth and unwillingness to repent is great. Consider also the fact that one has indeed risen from the dead! No, not the Lazarus mentioned above, but Jesus! Did the resurrection of Jesus make true believers of all? Did men still not resist what was irresistable truth? Were they not willingly ignorant?

The faith of Abraham is expressed this way - "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform." (Romans 4: 21) In fact, of all Old Testament believers, it is said:

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Hebrews 11: 13)

The faith of Christians is expressed this way - "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." (II Timothy 1: 12)

Friend, of what persuasion are you? Have you been persuaded by the Lord himself? "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened."